Martial Arts Origins

"How many times have I taught the key points related to the origins of martial arts, from first year of high school to third year? Yet in this month's exam, two students in our class actually lost points on this?"

The history teacher pointed at a question displayed on the large screen at the front of the classroom, her tone carrying obvious displeasure.

As she spoke, she casually pointed at a student. "Li Biao, tell those two students what the origins of martial arts are."

Li Biao hadn't expected his luck to be this bad. He stood up with a pained expression, recalling the relevant material from the textbook before beginning his answer.

"On December 21st, Star Calendar 2012, Blue Star was struck by an enormous catastrophe that swept across the entire globe.

"In just three days, over a thousand earthquakes erupted, triggering massive tsunamis, floods, and volcanic eruptions. Human civilization suffered a devastating blow, and hundreds of millions of lives were lost.

"When disasters like the earthquakes finally subsided, people thought the calamity had passed and began rebuilding their homes. Then the bloodthirsty, savage 'Ferocious Beasts,' which fed on humans, crawled out from the underground fissures torn open by the earthquakes.

"They possessed strength far beyond that of ordinary beasts. Caught unprepared, humanity suffered defeat after defeat in the early stages of the war and could only defend passively.

"At humanity's darkest hour, a turning point arrived. After the natural disasters, a special extraordinary energy appeared in Blue Star's atmosphere—Spirit Power.

"The survivors discovered that by cultivating those ancient martial arts that had long been buried in dust, they could absorb Spirit Power, continuously break through the once-unreachable limits of the human body, and obtain extraordinary strength.

"Under the endless slaughter and crushing oppression of despair, the top Martial Artists erupted with inhuman power. Their sinews and bones thundered, their blood and qi surged like dragons, and they could even slaughter hordes of Ferocious Beasts in an instant!

"With Martial Arts powerhouses continuously emerging, humanity finally began to turn the tide and launch a counterattack against the Ferocious Beasts.

"From that point on, ancient martial arts were reborn, and a new era of 'martial arts revered by all, survival sought through martial arts' began."

Seeing that Li Biao had answered rather fluently, the history teacher's expression eased somewhat. She nodded and commented,

"Not bad. You've covered most of the key points... However, there's one more thing I need to add about this period of history."

"During the disaster, an island nation suffered eighteen earthquakes above magnitude nine, the most on Blue Star... This caused vast portions of its territory to sink beneath the sea. Its people suffered catastrophic casualties, and the nation nearly perished. That island nation is today's Sakura Nation."

"Memorize this point well. It could very likely appear on the College Entrance Exam!" She rapped her knuckles against the lectern, reminding the students. "If you can't even get points from a giveaway question like this, what Thirty-Six Elite Schools are you hoping to get into? All right, class dismissed!"

During the afternoon fist technique class, Chen Mochuan displayed Foundation Building Fist at Great Completion, immediately catching the attention of Han Zhen, the homeroom teacher and fist technique instructor.

"I heard from Teacher Lin this morning that your Root-Solidifying Stance had reached Great Completion. I didn't expect your Foundation Building Fist to improve so quickly as well."

"It's all thanks to the fist technique notes you gave me. Last night, while cultivating according to them, I had an insight and triggered 'Wisdom Heart,' which is why I've improved like this." Chen Mochuan hurriedly thanked him.

"I'm glad they helped." Han Zhen nodded faintly. "But this is mainly the result of your own hard work. Keep it up... The sooner your fist technique reaches Perfection, the greater your chances of getting into one of the Thirty-Six Elite Schools."

After offering Chen Mochuan a few simple words of encouragement, Han Zhen continued walking around to inspect and guide the other students.

He had always valued fairness in class and wouldn't devote excessive time to a student just because he thought highly of them.

Still, Chen Mochuan had reached Great Completion in both stance training and fist technique, and had triggered "Wisdom Heart" in both. This truly raised Han Zhen's assessment of the student's comprehension and his expectations for his future.

After responding to Li Biao's exaggerated winks and thumbs-up gestures, Chen Mochuan fell into thought.

He hadn't paid much attention when he absorbed the insights from the fist technique notes last night. But when Teacher Han had stood before him just now, Chen Mochuan suddenly felt that the calm young man practicing fist techniques in his mind bore a slight resemblance to him around the brows.

Remembering the signature "Han Hao" on the notes' title page, Chen Mochuan formed a guess about their original owner.

"I heard Teacher Han's son used to be a student at Eighth High School too. His grades were exceptionally good, and he seems to have been the only person from Eighth High School in the past three years to get into Yunhan University's Martial Arts Department."

Since the catastrophe of Star Calendar 2012, Martial Artists had long become Blue Star's most dazzling and promising profession, symbols of strength, status, and wealth.

At the same time, they bore the responsibility of fighting the Ferocious Beasts and protecting ordinary people.

For almost every child, from the moment they were born, as long as they had the aptitude to practice martial arts, the main theme of their life revolved around becoming a Martial Artist.

Getting into a university Martial Arts Department supported by the nation's resources was the best starting point for ordinary people to embark on this path.

For this reason, Hua Nation had established a clearly tiered system of higher martial arts institutions:

At the foundation were the vast number of ordinary martial arts universities. Above them stood the Ninety-Two Key Martial Arts Universities, the stronger and better-funded Thirty-Six Elite Schools, and the Big Six top institutions standing at the pinnacle of Hua Nation's universities.

Yunhan University, located in Songjiang Province, was one of the Big Six and the ultimate dream of countless martial arts students from Songjiang.

However, Yunhan University's Martial Arts Department admitted only a few hundred students nationwide each year. Its admission difficulty was even greater than that of Tsinghua and Peking in the memories of his previous life.

At provincial model high schools like Eighth High School, dozens of students entered the Thirty-Six Elite Schools every year. But breaking into the Big Six was so difficult that sometimes not even one student would manage it for two or three years.

As a native-born Songjiang resident, Chen Mochuan's ultimate College Entrance Exam goal had naturally never wavered.

Getting into Yunhan University might once have been nothing more than a distant dream before he awakened [Spirit Devourer], but now, he had the confidence to give it everything he had.

He looked forward to meeting that senior named "Han Hao" at Yunhan University someday.

In contrast to Chen Mochuan's high spirits and lofty ambitions, Lu Ren's mind was in utter chaos.

If Chen Mochuan reaching Great Completion in the Root-Solidifying Stance that morning had still allowed him to comfort himself that the rapid improvement of stance training only added a tiny amount to one's Blood-Qi Value and didn't greatly improve actual combat ability, then it couldn't affect the plan he had made.

But after seeing Chen Mochuan's Foundation Building Fist break through to Great Completion that afternoon, he was truly starting to panic.

The victory he had once considered certain was now filled with variables.

He repeatedly weighed it over. His younger brother had a Blood-Qi Value of 4.2, and his Foundation Building Fist hadn't yet broken through to Mastery. Against Chen Mochuan, whose stance training and fist technique had both reached Great Completion and whose comprehension was astonishing, what odds of victory did he truly have left?

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. A sense of foreboding hung over his heart like dark clouds.

He racked his brains, frantically searching for every possible solution. Then he suddenly remembered the person he had happened to meet some time ago, only to hesitate.

But after weighing it over and over in his heart, he finally made up his mind.