Nighttime Martial Arts Hall

At night, the Martial Arts Pavilion was brightly lit.

Compared to the bustling crowds of daytime, the Martial Arts Pavilion was much quieter at night.

After passing through the first-floor lobby, Lin Ye arrived at Class Five's dedicated Martial Arts Hall on the east side of the second floor.

Pushing open the Martial Arts Hall's heavy soundproof door, he was met by the familiar scent of sweat and metal.

Although he knew the Martial Arts Hall would be quite deserted at night, the sight before him still made him pause. In the vast space, only a dozen or so people were scattered around practicing. Footsteps and breathing echoed through the empty room, sounding especially clear.

At that moment, the sound of the door opening drew several people's attention.

The boy nearest the door looked up. It was Zhao Qiang, the class sports representative. His brows lifted slightly when he saw Lin Ye, surprise flashing in his eyes, but he quickly lowered his head and continued fastening the wrist guards on his hands.

A girl in the distance also glanced at Lin Ye upon hearing the door, then continued practicing kicks against a sandbag.

Instead, Li Weiwei, the class monitor who had been stretching in the middle of the floor, stood up and walked over with a smile. "Lin Ye? You came for extra practice too?"

"Yeah."

Lin Ye nodded lightly, a faint flush rising to his face.

Although he had practiced in the Martial Arts Hall during the day as well, stepping inside at night for the first time still made him feel somewhat out of place.

Perhaps noticing his discomfort, Li Weiwei smiled. "Welcome, welcome. It's perfect that you came. Not many people from our class train at night, so it'll be livelier with you here."

As she spoke, she pointed to the people in the room and began introducing them.

"Zhao Qiang is by the door, and you should know Zhou Qian, who's practicing kicks over there. The two sparring are Wang Hao and Chen Lin. Zhang Zhen is upstairs asking the teacher questions."

She pointed toward the other end of the room, where a boy and a girl were practicing basic grappling. Their movements were clumsy, but they were serious about it.

"Here, everyone usually trains on their own at night. Sometimes we ask each other for pointers."

After introducing everyone, Li Weiwei continued, "If you run into a problem you can't solve, you can go to the third-floor office and find the teacher on duty, or ask Zhang Zhen. He's the Martial Dao class representative, and his theoretical foundation is solid. Teacher Zheng and the other teachers also come down from time to time to inspect whether everyone is practicing seriously."

"Thank you, Class Monitor."

Lin Ye listened attentively.

"No need to thank me. We're all taking the Martial Arts Stream exam. Helping each other is only natural."

Li Weiwei smiled and pointed toward a corner on the south side.

"That area is fairly empty. You can use it. If you need any equipment, just put it back where it belongs after you're done."

"Okay!"

Lin Ye nodded and walked over to that corner. He warmed up in place for several minutes, then assumed the opening stance of the Primordial Stance.

During this time, he could feel several gazes briefly fall on him—some appraising, some curious.

Ignoring all that nonsense, he closed his eyes and began regulating his breathing.

At that moment, the System Panel quietly appeared in the lower-right corner of his vision.

[Primordial Stance (Beginner): 88/100]

This time, he recalled Teacher Zheng's guidance from yesterday and today.

His ankles had to be loose but not slack, his waist and hips steady but not stiff, his center of gravity flowing subtly between his feet like mercury.

One minute, two minutes...

His calves began to ache and swell, while his thigh muscles slowly started trembling.

Lin Ye worked hard to maintain the correct posture, feeling every subtle change in his body as he tried to hold what he believed was the proper form.

Ten minutes.

The pale blue numbers before his eyes ticked over on schedule: [Primordial Stance (Beginner): 89/100].

Continue.

Another ten minutes: 90/100.

With his proficiency increasing twice in a row, he discovered that his condition tonight was indeed much better than during the day.

Perhaps because there were fewer people and it was quiet, or perhaps because after a day of practice, his body had already "remembered" the feeling of the correct posture.

However, his luck came to an abrupt end on the third attempt. When he tried to hold it again, the ache in his legs caused his body to start deforming involuntarily after five minutes, and he failed to gain any proficiency.

Lin Ye found it somewhat regrettable, but his body's reaction also told him it was time to rest for a while.

After resting briefly, he continued trying.

On the fourth attempt, he held on until nine and a half minutes. His ankles went slightly numb, but he gritted his teeth and persisted, sweat sliding down from his temples.

At last, ten minutes had passed.

[Primordial Stance (Beginner): 91/100]

Lin Ye let out a breath and slowly withdrew his stance. Though his legs were terribly weak and sore, a wave of satisfaction rose in his heart.

A moment later, he tried again.

[Primordial Stance (Beginner): 92/100]

It increased by another point, but the price was that his legs had become far too weak and sore. He had no choice but to stop practicing the stance.

Lin Ye did not force himself. After gaining the proficiency, he stopped standing the stance and sat on the floor to rest.

Ten minutes later, Lin Ye began practicing his fist technique. He assumed the opening stance of the Basic Body Tempering Fist, and the System Panel updated at the same time: [Basic Body Tempering Fist (Proficient): 260/300]

He unfolded the fist technique that had become incomparably familiar, striving to make every movement standard and precise, every sequence smooth and connected.

After the first round: 261/300.

Second round: 262/300.

By the time he reached the fifth round, he caught a flickering figure at the doorway from the corner of his eye. He withdrew his stance and turned his head, discovering someone standing at the entrance to the Martial Arts Hall. Looking closely, he saw that it was Teacher Zheng, apparently sweeping his gaze across the room to inspect whether everyone was practicing seriously.

Teacher Zheng's gaze briefly rested on Zhao Qiang, Zhou Qian, Wang Hao, and Chen Lin before finally landing on him.

Their eyes met, and Lin Ye clearly read surprise on the other man's face, as well as confusion and doubt in his eyes.

Lin Ye gave a self-mocking smile. Perhaps in Teacher Zheng's mind, he had long since given up on the Martial Arts Stream.

But that made sense. If not for the panel, he truly would have given up on the Martial Arts Stream and planned to live out this ordinary life well.

Seeing that Lin Ye had noticed him, Zheng Huai paused on him for a few seconds. His gaze swept over Lin Ye's sweat-soaked training uniform and serious expression, and he could not help nodding before turning to leave.

There was no guidance, no questions, not even a greeting as he came in.

It was only a routine inspection. Seeing that the students were all practicing seriously, he left in satisfaction.

Lin Ye let out a breath. Seeing Teacher Zheng leave, he nevertheless felt a faint sense of disappointment.

If Teacher Zheng had come in and offered a few pointers, perhaps his progress would have been faster.

But on second thought, this was fine too. The Proficiency Panel was his greatest secret. Without a teacher present, he could focus more intently on training without worrying about the teacher noticing anything unusual.

He immediately assumed his stance again and continued practicing.

Sixth round: 263/300.

Seventh round: 264/300.

Immersed in it, Lin Ye completely forgot the passage of time. Only when his strength failed and he had to rest did he snap awake, collapsing onto the floor to recover his stamina.

At this point, he noticed that Zhao Qiang and Zhou Qian in the distance had already stopped practicing and were talking quietly about something, their eyes occasionally darting in his direction.

"He's really going all out tonight."

Zhou Qian said softly.

"Just cramming at the last minute."

Zhao Qiang was dismissive. "There are only three months left until the High School Entrance Exam. Starting extra training now is too late."

"But Teacher Zheng seemed to notice him just now. It even looked like he nodded at him."

"So what if he noticed him? So what if that nod meant approval?" Zhao Qiang shook his head. "Talent is right there in plain sight. Hard work can make up a little of the gap, but it can't make up for the fundamental difference. Look at his punching movements—they're still so stiff."

Their voices were low, but the Martial Arts Hall was spacious and quiet, so parts of their conversation could still be faintly heard.

Lin Ye's expression did not change. He simply continued practicing.