Targeted Training Scholarship

As part of balancing work and rest, the school didn't schedule evening classes for the senior-year Martial Arts Department on Saturdays. So once their last boxing class ended that afternoon, the students officially entered the weekend break.

On a typical Saturday evening, Chen Mochuan would train at the school's Martial Arts Arena until after nine before heading home. But now that he had a better place to go—the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall—he went there directly after school with Li Biao.

On the way, Chen Mochuan turned on his Personal Terminal, which he'd switched off during class, and found a new message.

[Card ending in XXXX: Bank account credited with 6,000 yuan at 15:30 on October 25. Balance: 15,037.84 yuan. Note: School-Level Targeted Training Scholarship (monthly payment)]

The school's review process had been pretty efficient. The scholarship for awakening his Spirit Talent had already arrived that afternoon.

What surprised Chen Mochuan a little was the amount. His homeroom teacher, Han Zhen, had told him that morning it would be five thousand a month. He wasn't sure why there was an extra thousand now, but that was certainly no bad thing. Money he'd earned through his own abilities was better in greater amounts, of course.

His parents still weren't home. They were away on a business trip.

During a video call a while ago, they'd mentioned that there'd been a last-minute change at work. What was supposed to be a short trip had turned into a long one, and they probably wouldn't be back for quite some time.

At the time, they'd transferred eight thousand yuan to Chen Mochuan to cover a month's worth of martial arts training and living expenses. They'd also told him to ask for more if it wasn't enough.

Now that he had this monthly targeted training scholarship, and ate dinner at Mingxin every day, his living expenses weren't high. His current account balance was more than enough.

He planned to tell his parents later that they could send him less spending money each month, which would ease some of their burden.

When he arrived at the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall, Chen Mochuan headed straight for the dedicated Tiger Fiend Fist Martial Arts Room.

It had punching bags, wooden dummies, and other equipment for practicing punches. It was also less crowded than the public Martial Arts Rooms, so he preferred to train here.

Feng Shi returned from university to work at Mingxin every weekend. When he saw Chen Mochuan, the student he had high hopes for, he immediately invited him to spar.

Chen Mochuan had no reason to turn down such a good opportunity, so he readily agreed.

Yet as Feng Shi deflected Chen Mochuan's incoming punches one after another, he remained relaxed on the surface, while his astonishment grew with every move.

It wasn't that Chen Mochuan's attacks were fierce and difficult to block. It was the shocking speed of his progress.

Not only had he already mastered the use of Clear Force, but his Tiger Fiend Fist was advancing at an astonishing pace, too.

Last weekend, Feng Shi had noticed that Chen Mochuan's Tiger Fiend Fist had improved considerably. Even so, he hadn't expected that after another week, Chen Mochuan would have brought the technique to the "Proficiency" level.

And judging by their sparring, the boy's rate of progress didn't seem to be slowing down. His Tiger Fiend Fist was still improving at a pace anyone could see.

"Only half a month, and he's already trained his Tiger Fiend Fist to this level... I doubt even Songcheng University has many people with such talent."

As he deflected a Tiger Fiend Fist punch infused with Clear Force, Feng Shi mused, "And why do I feel like this kid's gotten a lot stronger? His Blood-Qi Value must have risen quite a bit..."

"But he told me before that he had a problem with his body and his blood qi was increasing slowly... Could that hidden ailment have healed?"

Feng Shi knew that he had to respect people's boundaries. It wasn't appropriate to pry into such a private matter as someone's physical condition, lest he make Chen Mochuan feel offended.

All he had to do was treat him sincerely. Once the time was right, he could invite Chen Mochuan to become a core member of Mingxin. He was sure the boy wouldn't refuse.

But there was one thing that had left Feng Shi very frustrated. Half a month ago, after reporting Chen Mochuan's situation to Hong Yucheng, the Young Hall Master had replied that very day with an exceedingly brief message: one solitary character—"Fine."

After that, Feng Shi had tried contacting him several more times, but his messages had vanished like stones dropped into the sea. There had been no reply at all.

Feng Shi figured Hong Yucheng had already ventured deep into the Wilderness Zone and turned off his Personal Terminal, making him temporarily unreachable.

There was nothing Feng Shi could do about it.

However, the previous week, he'd happened to learn from the front desk at the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall that ever since Chen Mochuan had signed up, he'd come by every day to spend some time there, enjoying dinner and a massage.

He'd also learned through indirect inquiries that Chen Mochuan's family wasn't particularly well-off. So he immediately instructed the relevant staff to meet Chen Mochuan's needs as much as possible and provide him with better service.

Core members held a high position at the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall, and Feng Shi's word carried considerable weight. Naturally, the staff didn't dare neglect his instructions. That was why Chen Mochuan received an ointment better than Shuluo Powder during his massages.

At half past nine that evening, Chen Mochuan and Li Biao left the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall.

Every weekend, Chen Mochuan felt especially fulfilled. With Feng Shi there, the light screen had triggered its [High Fatigue] warning that night, and he'd sparred with Feng Shi until he reached his physical limit. He'd gained a lot from it.

Right next to the Mingxin Martial Arts Hall was a large general supermarket. For some reason, martial arts halls and supermarkets always seemed to open beside each other.

Seeing the supermarket reminded Chen Mochuan that he had only one box of Blood Qi Supplements left at home and needed to restock. He called out to Li Biao and headed inside to shop.

After picking three boxes of Blood Qi Supplements with relatively late expiration dates from the discount shelf in the martial arts section, Chen Mochuan moved on to the household goods section to pick up some daily necessities.

As he was choosing ready-to-eat food, Chen Mochuan noticed Li Biao lightly nudging him twice with an elbow. Puzzled, he looked over and saw Li Biao gesture with his eyes for him to look behind them.

Chen Mochuan turned around. A person dressed in black from head to toe, with a mask and sunglasses hiding his face, was pushing two shopping carts toward the checkout. They were packed with martial arts medicines and supplements bearing discount stickers.

Although Chen Mochuan couldn't see the person's face, his clothes, build, and strange behavior all clearly marked him as the same peculiar man he'd seen at another supermarket half a month ago.

Once the man had gone farther away, Li Biao lowered his voice. "That guy's covered up from head to toe, and he's acting weird, too. Doesn't seem like the honest sort... And he's got all those discounted items. You think he's planning to skip the bill?"

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

"Did he buy a bunch of discounted stuff then, too?" Li Biao pressed.

"Yeah. If anything, he bought even more."

"Did he pay last time?" Li Biao's focus was still as peculiar as ever.

Chen Mochuan was momentarily at a loss for words. After a long pause, he said, "Of course he paid. Otherwise, the police would've taken him away. He wouldn't be here shopping again now."

"Then he really is a weirdo... Going from supermarket to supermarket to clear out the shelves? And he only buys discounted stuff that's close to expiring. Some medicines can be dangerous if you use them after they expire." Li Biao was baffled. He couldn't understand it at all.

"Forget it. Don't stick your nose into other people's business. It has nothing to do with us, so it's better not to ask." Chen Mochuan reminded him.

Li Biao nodded emphatically.