Chen Martial Arts Academy

Heavenly Stems Province, Jinning Commandery.

Rain slid down and dripped onto the sign bearing the words [Chen Martial Arts Academy], leaving faint trails of water.

Chen Xu lay curled up in bed, his vision darkening as he gasped for breath. No matter how deeply he breathed, he could not seem to get enough oxygen.

He felt as though his internal organs were trapped inside an oven, about to be burned alive.

The body's previous owner had died mere seconds ago. Before another minute passed, he-a transmigrator who had arrived less than half a minute earlier-would probably follow him.

This body no longer had the strength to cry out. He could only muster what little mental energy he had left and force himself to remain conscious.

Chen Xu had an inexplicable premonition that if he truly passed out, he might never wake again.

Through his haze, he seemed to see something transparent appear before him, something vaguely familiar. There appeared to be several lines of tiny text on it, but in his current condition, he simply could not make them out.

He did not know whether it was an illusion, but after the transparent object appeared, the pain and burning throughout his body slowly faded, replaced by overwhelming exhaustion and fatigue.

Under the combined torment of mind and flesh, this young body had already reached the limits of what it could endure.

Deep in sleep, Chen Xu kept feeling that something was blocking his vision, but no matter how closely he tried to examine it, he could not see it clearly.

His tightly shut eyes snapped open. By the time he woke, the sun was already high.

Bracing both hands against the edge of the bed, Chen Xu sat up and instinctively looked toward the area where the indistinct obstruction had appeared in his dreams.

Several lines of tiny text appeared in the corner of his vision. Above them were the words [Tianwu], written in exuberant strokes like soaring dragons and dancing phoenixes.

Host: Chen Xu

Strength: 0.6

Constitution: 0.7

Agility: 0.5

Psychic energy: 5.2

Martial Dao: None

Martial arts: Chen-Style Tiger Roar Fist (Uninitiated)

His gaze lingered on the transparent panel, and a somewhat strange expression crossed Chen Xu's face.

No wonder he had thought it looked familiar. Wasn't this the character stat panel from [Tianwu], the game he had been developing before his sudden death?

In his previous life, he had founded a private studio specializing in small-scale games, serving as both its owner and a game developer, among other roles.

Just before his sudden death, he had been preparing to test [Tianwu], the text-based game he had created.

Although Chen Xu could not understand why the stat panel had followed him into this world,

he knew perfectly well that without it, he would never have survived.

The culprit behind the sensation of being engulfed in flames had been converted into psychic energy, inadvertently saving his life.

In my last life, I died because of you. In this one, you're the reason I get to live anew. Chen Xu sighed inwardly. Perhaps this was fate.

In his design, psychic energy was the key to improving the panel's stats. With enough psychic energy, there was no martial art or cultivation method that could not be learned.

Provided the transmigration had not caused any mutations, its functions should have remained unchanged.

He focused on Chen Tiger Howl Fist for about three seconds, and the Uninitiated label on the panel gradually changed to First Level.

Clenching his fair, clean hands, Chen Xu could clearly feel the increase in his strength.

He opened the panel to check:

Host: Chen Xu

Strength: 0.8

Constitution: 0.8

Agility: 0.5

Psychic energy: 4.2

Martial Dao: None

Martial arts: Chen-Style Tiger Roar Fist (First Level)

"Strength increased by 0.2 and constitution by 0.1. In exchange, it consumed one point of psychic energy," Chen Xu concluded.

This Tiger Howl Fist was the martial art passed down through the family that owned his predecessor's academy. If the academy had any apprentices, they would all learn this fist technique after completing their foundational training.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, martial arts academies were decidedly in decline.

There was a saying in Great Abyss: "Ten years of bitter training are worth less than a single handgun." That summed up how most ordinary people viewed martial arts.

As for the main reason martial arts had gradually declined, Chen Xu had already learned it from his predecessor's memories.

Seventy years earlier, Emperor Yuan Huan, the fourth emperor of the Great Abyss Dynasty, had issued the martial restriction decree.

At the same time, he had vigorously developed industry and technology. In just a few decades, the nation had become one of the world's foremost powers.

Even now, countless scholars still debated why Emperor Yuan Huan had suddenly struck back then, branding the state religion a heretical cult immediately after issuing the martial restriction decree and mobilizing the entire nation to eradicate it.

He gently rubbed the spot between his brows. Much of his energy had returned, making this a good time to sort through his predecessor's scattered memories. Those memories would help him fit into this new world more easily.

At the very least, before concerning himself with other memories, Chen Xu had to discover what had caused that searing agony in his internal organs.

Only after sorting through them did he learn that his predecessor had not been a child of the Chen family, but an orphan the old academy master had taken in. Since the boy had nothing that could identify him, the old master had simply given him his own surname.

His given name, Xu, meant the old master hoped that after inheriting his legacy, the boy would rise like the morning sun and lead the academy to glory.

Unfortunately, although his predecessor had wanted to revitalize the academy, he had lacked the talent. After completing his foundational training, he had practiced Tiger Howl Fist diligently for nearly ten years without even crossing its threshold.

The old master had ridden a crane into the next world half a month ago. His death had struck like a cudgel to the head, forcing Chen Xu's predecessor to take desperate risks and search everywhere for folk remedies that might help him quickly gain an initial grasp of Tiger Howl Fist.

If he failed to master Tiger Howl Fist before the regulatory authorities arrived, Great Abyss's regulators would revoke his right to operate a martial arts academy. If even the academy was gone, what was there left to revitalize?

To preserve the academy's legacy, he had used a folk remedy obtained from the Black Market, hoping its medicinal effects would stimulate his body and let him quickly learn Tiger Howl Fist.

The outcome needed no explanation. On a night of torrential rain, his predecessor had quietly departed this world without stirring so much as a ripple.

"In any case, I have to keep the academy open."

Chen Xu set himself a modest goal. This was the only property he had upon arriving in this world. If its license was revoked, he would receive no compensation.

After issuing the martial restriction decree, Great Abyss had intervened in the tangled mess of the martial world and established an official organization called the Dayuan Martial Pavilion. Anything concerning the Martial Dao fell under its jurisdiction, so long as it occurred within Great Abyss's borders.

By now, every city of county rank or higher had a Martial Pavilion branch overseeing it.

County, prefecture, commandery, province, and capital were Great Abyss's administrative ranks. Villages, townships, and other settlements below county rank had no Martial Pavilion branches. Any incidents there were handled by the county Martial Pavilion one level above them.

The Martial Pavilion's criteria for deciding whether a martial arts academy should remain open were simple.

One: the academy master had to last thirty seconds against a Martial Pavilion inspector.

Two: the academy had to possess at least one non-foundational martial art that it could teach.

As long as those two conditions were met, an academy could retain its name and continue its legacy even without a single student or disciple.

If the disciples it trained achieved good results in the martial examination and ultimately entered Great Abyss National University, it could also receive a corresponding funding subsidy.

The martial restriction decree had always targeted independent martial artists. If they joined the authorities, Great Abyss was willing to spend resources on cultivating them.

Having sorted through his memories, Chen Xu was just about to go to the kitchen to find something to eat when a knock came from the entrance.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Is Academy Master Chen Xu in? I'm an instructor from the Zhicheng Martial Arts Academy. Would you do me the honor of meeting with me?"

A rough, booming voice reached Chen Xu's ears through the old iron gate.

"The Zhicheng Martial Arts Academy?" Chen Xu raised his brows slightly. His predecessor had only had occasional dealings with that academy while the old master was still alive. He had no idea why someone from there had come today.

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