Targeted Scholarship

Considering the balance between work and rest, the school does not schedule evening classes for the senior Martial Arts Department on Saturdays. Therefore, after the final fist technique class ended in the afternoon, the students officially entered their weekend break.

On typical Saturday nights, Chen Mochuan would usually train at the school's Martial Arts Arena until past nine before heading home. However, now that he had a better destination in the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall, he went straight there with Li Biao after school.

On the way, Chen Mochuan turned on his Personal Terminal, which he had powered off for class, and discovered a new message.

[Account ending in XXXX received a deposit of 6,000 yuan on October 25th at 15:30. Balance: 15,037.84 yuan. Remark: School-Level Targeted Training Scholarship (Monthly Disbursement)]

The school's processing efficiency was quite high; the scholarship for awakening his Spirit Talent had already arrived that afternoon.

What surprised Chen Mochuan slightly was the amount. His homeroom teacher, Han Zhen, had told him it would be five thousand per month. He didn't know why there was an extra thousand, but it certainly wasn't a bad thing. Since he earned this money through his own ability, the more, the better.

His parents still hadn't returned home; they were still away on business.

During a video call a while back, they mentioned that their work situation had changed unexpectedly. The short-term assignment they had originally agreed upon had turned into a long-term one, and they estimated they wouldn't be back for quite a while.

At that time, the two of them had transferred eight thousand yuan to Chen Mochuan to cover his martial arts training and living expenses for the coming month, telling him to ask for more if it wasn't enough.

Now, with this monthly targeted training scholarship and the fact that he ate dinner at Mingxin every day, his living expenses were low, and his current bank balance was more than sufficient.

He planned to tell his parents later to send him less living money each month to help ease their burden.

Upon arriving at the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall, Chen Mochuan headed straight for the specialized Martial Arts Room for the Tiger Fiend Fist.

It was equipped with sandbags, wooden dummies, and other facilities to assist in fist training. Moreover, it was less crowded than the public Martial Arts Room, and he preferred training here.

Feng Shi returned to Mingxin from the university every weekend to oversee the hall. Seeing Chen Mochuan, a student he held in high regard, he immediately took the initiative to invite him for a sparring session.

Faced with such a good opportunity, Chen Mochuan naturally had no reason to refuse and gladly accepted.

However, as Feng Shi parried Chen Mochuan's incoming fist techniques one by one, he appeared relaxed and composed on the surface, but his heart grew increasingly astonished.

It wasn't that Chen Mochuan's fist techniques were fierce and difficult to block, but rather that the speed of the young man's progress delivered a powerful shock to him.

It was not just his mastery of the Clear Force, but the rapid advancement of his Tiger Fiend Fist.

Last weekend, he had observed that Chen Mochuan's Tiger Fiend Fist had improved significantly compared to before, but he hadn't expected that after another week, the boy would have brought this fist technique to the "Proficient" level.

Furthermore, judging by his state during the sparring, the boy's rate of progress showed no signs of slowing down; the momentum of his improvement in the Tiger Fiend Fist was still visibly growing.

"To reach this level in the Tiger Fiend Fist in just half a month... even looking across Songcheng University, it's hard to find many people with such high comprehension."

Blocking a Tiger Fiend Fist strike from Chen Mochuan that carried the Clear Force, Feng Shi pondered inwardly: "And why do I feel like this kid's strength has increased quite a bit? It seems the growth in his Blood-Qi Value is not small..."

"But he clearly told me before that his body had issues and his Blood-Qi growth was sluggish... Could it be that his hidden ailment has already healed?"

Feng Shi knew well that one must maintain boundaries when interacting with others. Private matters involving personal health were not appropriate to probe, lest the other party feel offended.

He only needed to treat him with sincerity. When the time was ripe to invite him to become a core member of Mingxin, he believed the boy would not refuse.

However, one thing made Feng Shi very frustrated. Half a month ago, after he reported Chen Mochuan's situation to Hong Yucheng, the Young Hall Master had only replied with an extremely brief message that same day: a solitary "Approved."

Afterward, Feng Shi tried to contact him many times, but the messages were like stones cast into the sea, with no further response.

He figured Hong Yucheng must have ventured deep into the Wilderness Zone and turned off his Personal Terminal, making it impossible to reach him for the time being.

Feng Shi was helpless regarding this.

However, he had accidentally learned from the front desk at Mingxin Martial Arts Hall last week that ever since Chen Mochuan opened his membership, he had come here every day to spend time, enjoy dinner, and receive massages.

Through indirect inquiries, he learned that Chen Mochuan's family situation was average, so he immediately instructed the relevant staff to meet Chen Mochuan's requests as much as possible and proactively provide better service.

Core members held a high status at Mingxin Martial Arts Hall, and Feng Shi's words carried great weight. The staff naturally dared not be negligent, which was why Chen Mochuan was able to enjoy a better ointment than the standard "Shuluo Powder" during his massages.

At nine-thirty in the evening, Chen Mochuan and Li Biao left the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall.

Every weekend, he felt exceptionally fulfilled. Because Feng Shi was there, he had triggered the [High Fatigue] warning on his light screen tonight and pushed himself to his physical limit during their sparring, resulting in a bountiful harvest.

Right next to the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall was a large comprehensive supermarket. For some reason, martial arts halls and supermarkets always liked to open together.

Seeing the supermarket, Chen Mochuan remembered that he only had one box of Blood Qi Supplement left at home and needed to restock, so he called Li Biao to go to the supermarket to shop.

After selecting three boxes of Blood Qi Supplement with relatively good dates from the clearance shelf in the martial arts section, Chen Mochuan turned to the daily necessities section, preparing to pick up some household items.

While he was choosing instant food, Chen Mochuan noticed Li Biao beside him suddenly nudge him twice with his elbow. He looked at him in confusion, only to see Li Biao gesturing with his eyes for him to look behind them.

Chen Mochuan turned around and saw a person wrapped in black clothing, face obscured by a mask and dark sunglasses, pushing two shopping carts filled to the brim with martial arts medicines and supplements bearing discount stickers, heading toward the checkout counters.

Although he couldn't see the person's face, judging by their attire, physique, and bizarre behavior, it was clearly the same strange man he had seen at another supermarket half a month ago.

After the man walked away, Li Biao whispered: "This guy is all covered up, and his behavior is so strange; he doesn't look like a decent person... and he took so many discounted goods. Could he be planning to skip out on the bill?"

"I saw him at a supermarket near my house half a month ago."

"He bought this many discounted items then, too?" Li Biao pressed.

"Yeah, if not more."

"Did he pay last time?" Li Biao's focus remained peculiar.

Chen Mochuan was momentarily speechless, and only after a while did he say: "Of course he paid, otherwise he would have been taken away by the police long ago. How could he be here shopping again?"

"Then he really is a weirdo... sweeping up goods from every supermarket? And specifically targeting expiring discounted items. Some medicines can be dangerous if used after they expire." Li Biao was very confused and expressed his lack of understanding.

"Forget it, don't meddle in other people's business. It has nothing to do with us; it's better to ask less," Chen Mochuan reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Li Biao nodded heavily.