I Want to Take the Martial Arts Entrance Exam

The martial path depended on talent, but also on relentless training.

Yang Sheng looked at his hands and slowly clenched them into fists.

"One Punch Equals a Hundred Punches!"

Even with ordinary aptitude, as long as he studied and trained diligently, one day of his practice equaled a hundred days for an ordinary person.

At school, he only served as a sparring partner, so he did not have much time each day to practice his punches.

If he devoted all his energy to practicing boxing, then not only would one day equal a hundred days, it might equal two hundred days, or even a whole year!

With the boost of the Martial God Soul, he would one day make something of himself!

Hope that appeared in desperate circumstances was all the more precious.

Like duckweed floating on water or a straw hanging from a cliff, Yang Sheng clung to it tightly. This was his only chance to change his fate and achieve his dreams.

After quietly finishing his meal, Yang Sheng helped his father clear the dishes.

Only after his father left to drive the night shift did he return to his room.

So that he could practice boxing at home.

Father Yang had deliberately made Yang Sheng's room more spacious.

His own room had space for only a narrow bed.

Yang Sheng's room, however, could fit not only a wide bed but also a hanging sandbag.

Yang Sheng changed out of his clothes and put on his leather boxing gloves, cotton ankle guards, and knee pads.

Then he took up his stance, rapidly raised his legs, bent his knees, twisted his hips, and carefully performed his stretching exercises.

Stretching improved muscular explosiveness and reaction speed. It protected the body while activating strength to the greatest extent, allowing him to reach his best condition.

After finishing, Yang Sheng stood before the sandbag.

His feet were slightly apart, his toes level with his shoulders, and his knees half-bent in a standard horse stance.

He raised his right heel, twisted his waist, and drew back his fist.

All his strength flowed from his toes pushing against the ground before erupting outward.

His waist turned, and he threw a punch.

Bang!

The punch landed solidly on the sandbag.

The heavy sandbag swayed slightly.

A line of text appeared in Yang Sheng's mind.

[Bright Force (35/100)]

Yang Sheng had become a Body Tempering Realm martial artist after entering Bay City Martial Arts High School three years ago.

The Body Tempering Realm was divided into three major levels.

Bright Force, Dark Force, and the Subtlety Realm.

After reaching the Subtlety Realm, those who could sense astral phenomena could enter the Astral Martial Artist realm.

Above Astral Martial Artists were Origin-Star Martial Artists, and beyond them lay the legendary realm of Divine Path Martial Artists.

For ordinary people, if they lacked the talent to sense astral phenomena, the Subtlety Realm of Body Tempering was the ceiling of mortal cultivation.

Even so, martial artists at the Grand Perfection of Subtlety were exceedingly rare. Every one of them was a main force against alien races.

They were core assets of the Starship Federation.

Advancing to the Grand Perfection of Subtlety was also Yang Sheng's dream.

However, his current level had only just entered Bright Force and had yet to reach Lesser Completion of Bright Force.

Every class officer at Bay City Martial Arts High School needed to reach Lesser Completion of Bright Force, while some upperclassmen had even reached Great Completion of Bright Force.

As for Li Yan, he had entered Body Tempering Dark Force two months ago and was undeniably the rising star of Bay City Martial Arts High School.

That was also where his confidence in saying those things to Yang Sheng had come from.

Yang Sheng only practiced basic boxing at school. Without a teacher's guidance or medicinal supplements, his progress was extremely slow.

It was inevitable that he would fall behind the children of the Upper Registry.

But now, things were beginning to change.

After throwing that punch, Yang Sheng found insights rising in his mind.

The timing of his force was wrong, slightly too late. His hip twist was not smooth enough, and the point where his punch struck was off by half an inch, weakening its power.

These subtle issues had once been difficult for him to notice.

After awakening his Martial God Soul, every detail was magnified and broken down for him.

It was as though a Martial God-level instructor were giving him the most accurate guidance.

[Every bit of arduous training will be corrected by the Martial God Soul onto the most accurate path!]

"Ultimately, the problem lay in the initial movement!"

In only an instant, Yang Sheng found the root of the problem.

"My footing is unstable. My feet should be staggered front and back to concentrate my force."

As he spoke, Yang Sheng exerted force through his feet, placing his left foot forward and right foot behind.

All ten toes pushed at once, gripping the ground tightly.

Then he concentrated his strength at one point and once more drove his leg, twisted his hips, and threw a punch.

Bang!

As Yang Sheng threw his punch, the hundred-pound sandbag actually began to sway slightly.

That had never happened before.

[Bright Force (36/100)]

"The force from my feet is fine, but my waist twist is stiff. The connection of force isn't smooth enough!"

Find the problem, resolve the problem!

Following his insights, Yang Sheng quickly found a solution.

He took up his stance again and threw a heavy punch with a more fluid movement.

Bang!

This time, the sandbag swayed more noticeably.

[Bright Force (37/100)]

Compared to before, the power of this punch had increased again.

"Continue!"

Every punch he threw was equivalent to a hundred punches from before, or even more.

The old Yang Sheng had been like someone groping through darkness, wasting vast amounts of time for nothing.

Now, the Martial God Soul was like a guiding lamp, leading Yang Sheng onto the right path.

The feeling of gaining something from every punch fascinated him.

Fine insights filled Yang Sheng's mind, gradually bringing him clarity.

They gave him enough motivation to move forward and made him tireless.

"For a period of time, I thought practicing boxing was painful. Before I found the right method, I remained in pain, yet I persisted."

"One of the class officers once told me that punching fascinated him, but I had never experienced that feeling."

"Now, I understand that joy too. With enough positive feedback, punching is no longer painful. It is a wonderful pleasure!"

"So this is the true function of the Martial God Soul—One Punch Equals a Hundred Punches!"

"Put in one part effort, reap a hundred parts reward."

"Martial cultivation will never regress! Every bit of arduous training will be corrected by the Martial God Soul onto the most accurate path! Accumulating without end! Breaking past limits! Never-ending!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Yang Sheng entered a state of complete absorption and began throwing punches rapidly.

Countless fine insights emerged in the intervals between his punches.

He then quickly digested and absorbed them.

Each subsequent punch was more precise than the last.

The sandbag, which had once been difficult to move, not only began swaying heavily.

It even started swinging in time with Yang Sheng's rhythm.

The sandbag had become a toy entirely under his control.

With a muffled bang.

This punch did not make the sandbag sway at all.

Yang Sheng withdrew his fist. A fist mark half a finger deep had been embedded deeply in the sandbag.

His control over his strength had reached a new level.

Yang Sheng shook his head.

"Not fast enough. My fists still aren't fast enough!"

"My strength is still scattered. My body has yet to work together as a unified system."

"Legs are legs, waist is waist, fists are fists."

He closed his eyes and felt the insights continuously rising within him.

"Start from the feet!"

Yang Sheng suddenly stomped down. A thin layer of dust rose from the solid cement floor beneath his foot.

This was the Earth-Shaking Stance of the horse stance.

Yang Sheng used his boxing to drive a comprehensive improvement in the foundations of his entire body.

Even his basic horse stance had improved dramatically.

"Horse stance! Waist and hips! Shoulders and back! Fist!"

As his words fell, a force running through his entire body erupted from his fist.

Yang Sheng punched into the previous fist mark.

When he withdrew his fist, the mark that had previously been half a finger deep was now a full finger deep!

[Bright Force (60/100)]

After finishing that punch, Yang Sheng stepped back half a pace as a rumble rose from his stomach.

An intense wave of hunger struck him.

Yang Sheng looked up at the clock. He had only practiced boxing for three hours.

He had not expected the food in his stomach to have been completely digested already.

All martial arts experts needed resources piled up to support them.

Food made up the largest share of those resources.

Bay City Martial Arts High School actually had two cafeterias.

One was an ordinary cafeteria for all students, while the other was a medicinal cuisine cafeteria specially opened for Upper Registry children with such needs.

The medicinal cuisine cafeteria served food all day.

Students like Li Yan, who had just entered Dark Force, even needed to eat six meals a day.

He rushed into the kitchen.

Two steamed buns, already completely cold, still sat in the pot.

The buns were larger than his fists and had hardened after turning cold.

But Yang Sheng did not care. He took half a bun in one bite, chewed twice, and washed it down with water.

In just four bites, the two huge steamed buns were in his stomach.

Yet even the buns swelling with water could not fill Yang Sheng's hunger.

He was too hungry.

So he lit the stove and boiled water. Once it boiled, he tossed in a handful of noodles and some greens. The noodles rolled several times in the pot.

Finally, he added a little salt and took it off the stove.

Yang Sheng poured half a pot of salty noodle soup into a large bowl.

Once it cooled a little, he impatiently began wolfing it down.

In the end, he did not even leave behind any of the soup.

Only after letting out a satisfied burp did Yang Sheng feel his hunger slowly recede.

He opened the window.

May was already the beginning of summer.

The days were somewhat hot, but the nights still carried a hint of chill.

Before, he would have put on an extra layer.

But now, Yang Sheng felt the blood throughout his body being stirred into motion and powerfully pumped by his heart to every part of him.

The stars in the sky flickered in and out of sight.

The moon had also climbed above the treetops.

Under the bright moonlight, he noticed that the texture of his arm muscles was somewhat different from before.

Yang Sheng's eyes lit up.

That night, he had thrown at least five hundred punches.

Previously, that would have produced barely any results.

But with the boost of the Martial God Soul.

Five hundred punches were equivalent to fifty thousand punches, or even more!

Quantitative change produced qualitative change!

Together with the accurate guidance of the Martial God's corrections.

His understanding of boxing had reached a new level.

The clearest outward sign of this was the change in the texture of his muscles.

Alongside his thick muscle lines, slender secondary muscle lines had begun to rise.

It was precisely these small muscle fibers that gave him increasingly precise control over his own strength.

At first, when he threw a punch, the sandbag would sway.

Now, when he threw a punch, the sandbag no longer moved. Instead, it was left with a deep fist mark.

He had mastered his strength!

"Practice boxing! Practice boxing!"

At this moment, endless strength surged through Yang Sheng's entire body.

Even though night had already fallen, he did not feel the slightest bit tired.

"Another five hundred punches!"

Yang Sheng tightened his cowhide boxing gloves and rained precise, powerful punches down on the sandbag.

The sandbag remained completely still, yet one deep fist mark after another appeared on it.

Yang Sheng did not stop until dawn broke over the horizon.

By then, the sandbag was already covered in "wounds."

[Bright Force (90/100)]

"Looks like as long as I keep at it, I'll reach Lesser Completion of Bright Force today."

Yang Sheng let out a long breath.

This rate of progress had already reached an unimaginable level.

He had studied at Bay City Martial Arts High School for three years, yet he had never even touched the threshold of Lesser Completion of Bright Force.

He had still been a long way from Lesser Completion of Bright Force.

Even without the implementation of Class-Divided Cultivation, it would have taken him at least another year to reach Lesser Completion of Bright Force.

But now, he had reached its threshold in just one night.

My future still has hope!

I must take the Martial Arts Entrance Exam a month from now!