Several days later,
In the hallway of Xikou County Public Middle School, Fang Shuwen gazed out at the sports field. He had already gotten used to the Elite Class's pace.
He arrived at school at half past seven each morning to study.
Then came four academic classes in the morning and two martial arts classes in the afternoon.
The schedule was much tighter than in the regular classes. Even the lunch break had been cut down to an hour.
The academic classes posed little difficulty for him. With the foundation from his previous life and the review he'd done over the past few days, middle-school-level lessons were a breeze.
Even the classes related to steam technology hadn't stumped Fang Shuwen.
What truly held his attention was the martial arts class in the afternoon.
Martial arts instruction in the Elite Class was completely different from before.
In the regular classes, PE had been little more than running laps and practicing Body Strengthening Fist. The instructors turned a blind eye to everything and were satisfied as long as students passed.
But the Elite Class was different.
The instructor in charge of martial arts was surnamed Chen. His full name was Chen Zhengqing, and he had been specially assigned by the Xikou County National Martial Arts Hall.
He was in his forties, burly, and reportedly a martial artist in the late Bright Force stage.
He practiced Iron Cloth Shirt, and they said his iron-hard body could withstand even small-caliber bullets.
On the first day of class, Chen Zhengqing took his place on the sports field.
His gaze swept across the forty-odd students, and his very first words left them all stunned.
"Starting today, you'll practice here for two shichen every afternoon. If any of you can't take the hardship, you can leave right now and go back to the regular classes."
Naturally, no one left.
It was obvious the Elite Class was different. Its students had a much better chance of getting into university than those in the regular classes.
Still, after two days of training, at least a third of the students were so sore they could barely make it down the stairs.
Fang Shuwen didn't find it especially tiring.
He had already mastered Body Strengthening Fist, and had fused it with Soaring Snake Fist.
With a body strong enough to produce two bone cracks, he could handle the classes with ease.
What really interested him was the news Chen Zhengqing let slip during a casual chat after class.
"Do you know why they suddenly set up this Elite Class this year?"
It was Wednesday afternoon, after martial arts class.
Chen Zhengqing sat on a stone block at the edge of the sports field, unscrewed his canteen, and took a long drink. His gaze passed over the students' faces.
No one answered.
Chen Zhengqing wiped his mouth and continued on his own.
"Because things are about to change up top. The Great Flame New Kingdom is going to promote New Martial Arts. From now on, martial artists will hold even higher status than they did during the Great Yin."
At his words, several students who had been wiping off sweat stopped at the same time.
People today could hardly imagine just how high the status of martial artists had been during the Great Yin.
Exempt from corvée labor, half the taxes, no need to bow before officials, and free to walk the streets with swords at their sides...
It had been an era when martial artists truly stood at the top of society.
Now that the Great Flame New Kingdom had been founded, Western guns and cannons were everywhere.
Ten years of training couldn't stand up to a single gun or cannon.
And then there was the so-called Steam Augmentation, which could let an ordinary person suddenly gain the strength of a powerful martial artist.
The status of martial artists had fallen far from what it once was.
Now Chen Zhengqing was saying that after New Martial Arts was introduced, martial artists would hold even higher status than they had during the Great Yin?
How could that be possible?
Every student there was curious!
New Martial Arts?
What was New Martial Arts?
Could martial arts really be divided into old and new?
"Instructor Chen, what do you mean?" Zhang Mingcheng pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, the first to react.
Chen Zhengqing glanced at him but didn't answer directly. Instead, he pulled a newspaper, folded several times, from inside his clothes, shook it open, and handed it over.
"See for yourselves."
Zhang Mingcheng took the newspaper. His eyes fell on the front-page headlines.
The thick, bold characters stood out sharply.
<Central National Martial Arts Hall Directive: New Martial Arts System to Be Implemented Immediately; Martial Arts Classes Made Compulsory in Public Schools Across All Provinces.>
<Proclamation of President Yuan of the Great Flame New Kingdom: Martial Arts Strengthen the Nation, Letters Preserve the Way; Promote Both the Civil and Martial, Rebuild China.>
Zhang Mingcheng read them aloud. His voice grew softer as he went, until at the end it was barely more than a whisper.
Fang Shuwen sat by the window, his gaze passing over the newspaper as his brows drew together slightly.
New Martial Arts.
This wasn't the first time he'd heard the term.
The last time had been at Old Master Zheng's place. When the old man brought up New Martial Arts, his tone had carried an indescribable wistfulness.
"During the Great Yin, martial artists held high status, but in the end they were still just 'brutes.' After New Martial Arts is introduced, martial artists will no longer be brutes, but..."
Old Master Zheng had stopped there, shaking his head without saying more.
Now Chen Zhengqing's words carried the same tone as Old Master Zheng's had then.
"Instructor Chen, what exactly is New Martial Arts?" Han Tieshan asked, though he rarely spoke up.
Chen Zhengqing put away the newspaper, his gaze turning somber.
"I don't know the specifics of New Martial Arts myself. But I know this: once mastered, it makes the human body comparable to Bio-Armor."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over every student present.
"I'm telling you this so you know what's coming. The Elite Class isn't a game. You've come along at a good time. Whether you can seize the opportunity is up to you."
With that, he screwed the cap back onto his canteen and left.
The sports field fell quiet for a moment, then erupted into a clamor.
"Martial artists will have higher status than they did during the Great Yin? Does that mean..."
"If my dad finds out I got into the Elite Class, he'll go crazy with joy!"
"Don't celebrate too soon. Didn't you hear Instructor Chen? In the future, those who know martial arts and those who don't will be two different kinds of people. With the little we know right now, what kind of martial artists are we?"
Voices rose and fell, and every face showed a mix of excitement and unease.
Fang Shuwen said nothing. He quietly packed up, slung his cloth bookbag over his shoulder, and walked out of the classroom.
New Martial Arts.
He didn't know what it was yet.
But one thing was clear to him.
Old Martial Arts or New Martial Arts, getting stronger required resources, and resources required money.
And right now, he was short on money.
Before he knew it, the weekend had arrived.
Fang Shuwen had the rare luxury of sleeping in. By the time he got up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Old Fang was nowhere to be seen, as usual. A bowl of warmed porridge and two steamed buns sat on the table, with a plate of pickled vegetables beside them.
He took his time finishing breakfast, slung his cloth bookbag over his shoulder, and headed out.
Today, he planned to set up a chess stall on East Street.
The money he'd taken from Liu Mang last time, along with the silver dollars he'd picked off those two punks, Guo Ziming and his sidekick, still hadn't run out.
But he couldn't live off his savings forever.
Besides, he needed to save up to buy Ghost Jade.
After fusing Soaring Snake Fist, he had only two skill points left.
The next time he wanted to improve, whether by upgrading a martial art or raising one of his four attributes, he'd need more skill points.
And skill points could only be obtained from Ghost Jade or similar items.
He followed his familiar route to East Street, set up his chessboard at the usual spot at the crossroads, sat down on a low stool, and propped up his sign.
"Play a game of chess. Winner gets one yuan; loser pays five jiao."
He'd written the words himself in neat regular script with a calligraphy brush.
He waited for about the time it took to drink a cup of tea. No customers came, but an acquaintance did.
"Well, young friend, setting up your stall here again?"
The voice was old but full of vigor, with a smug edge that made one's teeth itch.
Fang Shuwen looked up, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Blue robe, cane, and a white-and-gray goatee.
It was Zheng Yuanpei.
The old man seemed to be in a good mood today. He wore a brand-new silk long gown, and his hair was combed without a strand out of place.
He'd replaced his cane too. A piece of emerald-green jade was set into its handle, gleaming in the sunlight.
"Old Master, did you... come all this way just to see me?"
Fang Shuwen raised an eyebrow.
"Come to see you?"
Zheng Yuanpei lifted his chin and snorted.
"I was just passing by. Passing by, do you understand? Who would go out of his way to see a brat like you?"