Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall

After leaving the little pub, Zuo Yi walked several hundred meters along the tree-lined road and arrived at Hangcheng University, where he had once studied.

It was currently summer break, and the campus was deserted. Only a handful of students were playing football on the vast field, while several teaching buildings behind them, wrapped in glass curtain walls, gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.

Zuo Yi looked at his alma mater through the fence but did not go inside.

Even though it held many wonderful memories for him.

Continuing to the intersection, Zuo Yi turned right and headed toward the nearest bus stop.

He had walked this road countless times. When he attended Hangcheng University, he often took Bus 208 from here, transferred to Bus 97 at Nanqiao Station, and returned to Riverside Town.

When he reached the bus shelter, Zuo Yi's gaze fell on the illuminated advertisement panel—Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall was recruiting fighting and swordsmanship instructors. Professional Rank Three and above, salary negotiable.

The white lettering against the red background was highly eye-catching. Apart from the two large lines of text, there were no decorative patterns, only an address and contact number underneath, making it unusually simple. It was probably a temporary recruitment ad, the kind that would be taken down after a few days.

Zuo Yi could not help but feel moved.

Just then, a bus pulled into the station. It was the 208 he had intended to take.

But he did not board. Instead, he turned and left the bus stop, returned to the previous intersection, crossed at the green light, then walked another hundred meters or so until he arrived in front of an old building.

This building, more than twenty stories tall, had clearly been around for many years. Most of the paint on its exterior walls had been washed away by wind and rain, leaving it gray and shabby-looking. All sorts of messy signs hung from it, mostly for hotels, beauty salons, training centers, and the like.

Zuo Yi easily found the sign hidden among them, bearing the words "Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall (4th Floor)."

It was still the same old sign.

Smiling, he stepped into the building and took the stairs rather than the elevator up to the Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall on the fourth floor.

Zuo Yi was no stranger to this place, or to Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall.

He had trained in fighting and swordsmanship at Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall for nearly two years. During that time, he earned a Professional Rank Three swordsmanship certificate and benefited greatly.

If not for that martial arts training and the skills he had mastered, Zuo Yi would likely have died in the jaws of a Dire Wolf when he had first crossed over to Sadeya World. There would never have been the person he was today.

That was why, after seeing Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall's recruitment advertisement at the bus shelter, Zuo Yi had come here without hesitation.

After five or six years, Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall seemed unchanged. The front desk looked even more worn-down, and behind the counter sat a plump, round-faced young woman playing on her phone.

Zuo Yi walked over and lightly tapped the counter with his fingers.

The round-faced young woman immediately snapped awake. She instinctively stood up and gave Zuo Yi a very professional smile. "Hello, sir. Would you like to learn fighting or swordsmanship? Our Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall has the best swordsmanship instructors..."

Zuo Yi quickly gestured for her to stop. "I'm here to apply for a swordsmanship instructor position."

"You're applying to be an instructor?"

The round-faced young woman was clearly somewhat disappointed, but she quickly smiled again. "Then please come in and have a seat. I'll get the hall master."

Zuo Yi nodded and followed her inside.

The round-faced young woman told Zuo Yi to wait in the reception room while she ran off to find the hall master. She did not even pour him a cup of tea.

Rather than sit and wait in the cramped reception room, Zuo Yi walked farther inside, into the training hall where the martial arts school held its daily practice sessions.

The training hall of Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall covered a little over three hundred square meters. There was a fighting ring on one side and a fencing ring on the other, while some fitness equipment stood by the windows, just as old as the floorboards.

It was hot outside, but the air conditioning was not on in the training hall, making it stuffy and sweltering. The two standing air conditioners in the corner were practically just decorations. Aside from a few people cleaning, there were no students around.

Just like before.

The scene before him left Zuo Yi rather emotional. Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall's business had never been very good, and now it appeared to be doing even worse.

It probably would not hold out much longer, would it?

He could not help wondering whether coming here to apply as a swordsmanship instructor had been the right choice.

In Zuo Yi's memory, there had been no such specialized martial arts halls twenty or thirty years ago. The martial arts schools he had seen around the city as a child had mostly been taekwondo schools, traditional martial arts schools, boxing gyms, combat sports gyms, and so on.

Later, these many different kinds of schools had gradually been replaced by unified martial arts halls. A nationwide Martial Arts Alliance and martial arts competitions emerged as well, establishing a martial arts assessment system ranging from Amateur Rank Five to Professional Rank Nine.

Later still, the World Martial Arts Alliance Tournament was born. Held once every two years, it became a martial arts event watched by the entire world.

Other than strengthening his body, Zuo Yi had learned martial arts and swordsmanship mainly to protect his mother. He had considerable talent in both fighting and swordsmanship, but he had never considered taking the professional path, so he simply used his spare time to train at the martial arts hall.

Back then, Zuo Yi's interest in martial arts had been more about novelty and curiosity. He had never looked deeply into what was hidden beneath it all.

Now that he stood at an entirely different height, looking back at the emergence of martial arts halls, the Martial Arts Alliance, martial arts tournaments, and the martial arts assessment system, he could clearly see a complete reserve training system for Transcendent Beings.

It was like the knight selection system of Sadeya World. Through basic training for large numbers of commoners, outstanding elite talents were selected for focused cultivation, thereby stimulating them to awaken transcendent power.

However, Sadeya's system had existed for more than three eras and had been perfected in every aspect.

By comparison, Blue Star's martial arts system still had a long way to go, and its reach was relatively narrow.

Zuo Yi did not know much about the situation abroad, but that was at least the case within Daxia.

As he was thinking, the front desk young woman from earlier approached with a tall, slender young woman.

The woman wore a clean, neat, plain white martial arts uniform. She had a graceful figure and beautiful features, with a hint of heroic spirit between her brows.

When she saw Zuo Yi, her brows drew together slightly as if she were deep in thought.

Zuo Yi took the initiative to greet her. "Senior Sister Shang, long time no see."

This beautiful woman was named Shang Yulin. She was the daughter of Shang He, the hall master of Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall, and also a swordsmanship instructor.

In fact, Shang Yulin was two years younger than Zuo Yi. But according to the martial arts rule that seniority depended on who entered the path first, not on age, Zuo Yi, who had trained at Tianhong for two years, had to call her Senior Sister.

"You're Zuo Yi!"

Shang Yulin finally confirmed Zuo Yi's identity. After all, they had not seen each other for five or six years, and Zuo Yi had changed quite a bit since then.

"It's me."

Zuo Yi asked, "Senior Sister Shang, isn't Master Shang here?"

He had just heard the front desk young woman say she was going to fetch the hall master, yet Shang Yulin was the one she had brought out.

Although he had paid for his training, Zuo Yi had shared a half-master-and-disciple bond with Shang He. Thus, he called Shang He Master Shang rather than Hall Master Shang.

At the mention of Shang He, Shang Yulin's eyes dimmed. "My father passed away half a year ago."

"Master Shang passed away?"

Zuo Yi was instantly shocked. "How did that happen?"

When Zuo Yi had trained at Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall, Shang He had only been in his forties, not yet fifty. He had been a middle-aged martial artist with a strong physique and vigorous vitality. How could he have suddenly died only a few years later?

Shang Yulin shook her head, seemingly unwilling to say more, and changed the subject. "Zuo Yi, are you here looking for work?"

Zuo Yi said, "I saw Tianhong's recruitment advertisement at the bus stop over there, so I came to take a look. I didn't expect..."

After hesitating for a moment, Shang Yulin said, "Let's talk inside."

Zuo Yi had no objections and followed Shang Yulin into an office farther inside.

Zuo Yi had first met Shang He here back then. The room was very small, furnished with only a desk and two old sofas. On the bookshelf to the right of the door stood Shang He's memorial portrait, with a small incense burner before the frame.

Zuo Yi saw incense sticks and a lighter beside the burner, so he said, "Senior Sister Shang, I'd like to offer Master Shang an incense stick."

Shang Yulin silently nodded.

Zuo Yi took three incense sticks and lit them with the lighter. Holding them in both hands, he bowed three times toward Shang He's portrait.

He placed the incense sticks into the burner and silently said in his heart, "Master Shang, I still don't know the cause of your death, and Senior Sister is unwilling to speak of it. If you died wronged and unjustly, I will certainly clear your name and seek justice for you, so that you may rest in peace in the River Styx."

As soon as that resolve formed in Zuo Yi's heart, Knight's Heart immediately responded. The Faith Imprint representing the keeping of promises suddenly trembled.

It had recorded his vow!

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