Better to Punch Than to Attend Class

"Continue practicing your fist techniques."

Meng Yongzhi patted Meng Chuan on the shoulder before returning to the living room, turning on the television and lowering the volume to the minimum.

--Yong'an City Propaganda Department:

"A reminder to all citizens: a Level 4 Demon Nest has recently appeared outside Yong'an City. The suppression team is currently being led by Huayan Martial University Principal [Riding Dragon Guanyin · Zheng Yulan].

During this period, the municipal government urges everyone to avoid unnecessary travel at night! Life comes first, and safety is paramount!"

Troubled times indeed... The traces of Heavenly Demons appearing in Qindu District must be coming from this Demon Nest. Hiss, and a Level 4 one at that.

Meng Yongzhi felt incredibly depressed. A Demon Nest appearing near Yong'an City was never a good sign, especially a Level 4 one, which had only occurred a few times in history.

The last time a Level 4 Demon Nest appeared in Guiyun Province, the Great Chu had just been founded. The ruler at the time wanted to use the situation to establish authority and dispatched an unprecedented demon-slaying lineup to air-drop into Guiyun.

Even so, that battle was won with extreme difficulty and lasted for over two months.

The land of Guiyun was originally mountainous, but after the blockade was lifted, the local residents returned to find, to their astonishment, that their homeland had been forcibly leveled into a basin.

And the Heavenly Demons were the very products of these Demon Nests.

Their specific origins date back a thousand years. At that time, folklore was filled with tales of demons and ghosts; demons would build temples, disguise themselves as monks, and eat people, while ghosts would bewitch scholars to steal their essence.

Three hundred years after the founding of the Great Chu, the national strength reached an unprecedented peak. The founding emperor mobilized the entire nation's resources to study the phenomenon and discovered a previously unknown world.

"Enemies from beyond the sky, born of demonic intent."

The founding emperor named it the "Heavenly Demon Realm."

People could not actively explore the Heavenly Demon Realm; they could only encounter it passively, as the Heavenly Demon Realm existed in the dark side of the world.

When the earth's veins shifted and magnetic fields inverted, it indicated that a portion of the Heavenly Demon Realm had intersected and collided with the real world.

This portion that appeared in the real world was named—the Demon Nest.

The creatures from the Heavenly Demon Realm that ran out of the Demon Nest were naturally called "Heavenly Demons."

Regardless of their strength, they all possessed a strange, distorted force field that interfered with the real world while protecting themselves.

Only by breaking through the First Great Limit to become a Martial Artist and mastering the power of will, or by utilizing the latest demon-slaying technology, could one break through this field.

Therefore, when ordinary people encounter a Heavenly Demon, it is best to pray that the demon isn't fast enough, or that they can run faster than everyone else...

That is why Chuan'er must become a Martial Artist.

Even a Martial Artist at the First Great Limit could protect this small family. Thinking of this, Meng Yongzhi decided to increase his investment.

At five o'clock on Monday morning, Meng Chuan stood in his bedroom practicing his morning stance.

With the window opened to its widest, as the first ray of morning vitality crept into the room, Meng Chuan successfully mastered the [Taiyi Three Talents Stance] after two and a half days of effort.

The panel underwent a new change.

[Martial Dao Limit-Breaking Panel]

[Martial Arts]

[National Compulsory Basic Fist Technique: Perfection (99%) Awaiting Limit-Break]

[Limit-Break Trait: One Proof Eternal Proof (Super)]

[Stance Technique]

[Taiyi Three Talents Stance: Human Stance (1%) Awaiting Limit-Break]

[Limit-Break Trait: Morning and Evening Hearing the Dao (Basic)]

Unlike the progress display for martial arts, Meng Chuan had seen the diagrams and knew that the Xingyi Taiyi Three Talents Stance was divided into four realms from low to high.

[Human Stance] - [Earth Stance] - [Heaven Stance] - [Three Talents Unity]

Stance training was arduous, grinding work. Even someone as strong as the Third Great Limit [Qianyuan Thunder Movement · Luo Guanyun] had not yet advanced his stance to the [Heaven Stance].

The appearance of the new trait made Meng Chuan quite happy, but his current focus remained on [One Proof Eternal Proof]. Following the mastery of the stance, Meng Chuan gained some new insights; he could feel that the limit-break was close at hand!

After calming his mood, Meng Chuan practiced the Guoyi Fist a few times, only to find that the panel showed no changes, and his body felt slightly fatigued.

Because after mastering the stance, every cycle consumed a great deal of mental and physical energy. After his first time mastering it, Meng Chuan felt sore and weak after standing for less than half an hour.

After resting for a moment, Meng Chuan drank a bottle of Tendon and Bone Liquid. It tasted bitter, so he grabbed a peach from the table and gnawed on it while heading to school.

By noon, Meng Chuan felt his body had mostly recovered, which he attributed to the Tendon and Bone Liquid his uncle had bought for him.

According to Liu Ru, for someone like him who had just mastered the stance, depending on their constitution, they could only stand for one or two cycles a day; any more would leave them feeling drained and weak.

Sure enough, one still had to spend money. Wouldn't this allow him to find the "feel" of the Guoyi Fist a few more times?

Action followed thought. He tossed his half-finished homework aside and, taking advantage of the lunch break, stood in the hallway to practice his stance.

Just then, his homeroom teacher happened to pass by.

The Great Chu governed the nation through martial arts. Even in schools that taught both liberal arts and martial arts, the requirement for a homeroom teacher was at least 3 levels of blood energy.

"Yo, Meng Chuan, started learning stance techniques?"

Meng Chuan replied, "Yeah, just mastered it."

The homeroom teacher rubbed the side of his nose and observed for a moment:

"Just started? Your form is quite standard. Where did you learn it?"

Ping'an High School is not a professional martial arts academy; it only teaches stance training to students in the martial arts track after they choose their specialization in the second year of high school.

This is because some students have congenital physical deficiencies or other reasons, such as personality, and prefer to study liberal arts rather than practice martial arts.

It is fine to have these students throw a few punches, but forcing them to perform painful stance training is truly asking too much.

"It's the Infinite Martial Arts Hall at Greenland Plaza. I feel like they teach quite well."

"Your uncle is doing alright for himself. Infinite Martial Arts Hall isn't cheap, and I've heard from others that your hall master is extremely formidable.

You need to take the initiative to latch onto him; don't be lazy. If you can become his disciple or something, you'll be set for life, kid."

Although he had only just started his first year of high school, the homeroom teacher still had a strong impression of Meng Chuan. He had decent natural talent, but he was as stubborn as a mule and wouldn't listen to a word anyone said.

Saying this, he didn't expect the boy to actually take it to heart; he was simply fulfilling his duty as a teacher. Today, the kid had started practicing his stance, which might be a good change—a prodigal son returning to the right path?

The homeroom teacher felt thirsty from talking, so he lowered his head to take a sip from his teacup. When he looked up again, Meng Chuan had already started practicing the National Compulsory Basic Fist Technique.

"..."

In the blink of an eye, it was Saturday.

Over these past five days, Meng Chuan had dedicated about ten hours each day to gaining insights into the Guoyi Fist. To do this, he skipped his classes and ran to the sports field every day to practice.

The liberal arts teachers couldn't control him, so they reported him to the homeroom teacher, who then called his uncle.

"Officer Meng, your Meng Chuan has been skipping class every day recently."

"That can't be right, Teacher?"

In the mind of Meng Yongzhi, Chuan'er wasn't the type of person to do that.

"He runs to the sports field to practice boxing and doesn't attend his liberal arts classes."

"Alright, thank you, Teacher. Hey! Don't run! Stop right there! Sorry, Teacher, I'm currently on duty and quite busy. Sorry, I have to hang up first. When Meng Chuan gets back, I will definitely give him a good talking to..."

Homeroom teacher: "Beep, beep, beep..."

Meng Chuan was taking medicine while practicing his stance. He hadn't neglected his stance training while practicing his punches, but unfortunately, progress was slow. After five days, the panel hadn't budged at all.

Taiyi Three Talents Stance: Human Stance (1%)

The progress of the stance training was truly too slow, but Meng Chuan knew clearly in his heart that without the panel and One Proof Eternal Proof, he would just be an ordinary person. There was no reason to be discouraged.

If he persisted, everything would change once the Guoyi Fist broke through its limits. Only by keeping his spirits up and continuing to work hard could he live up to this extraordinary encounter of his.