A Drastic Change in Attitude

The next morning brought another beautiful day.

Chen Ming rose refreshed and invigorated. As he passed his elder brother's courtyard, he heard someone beyond the wall grunting as they practiced boxing. Curious, he wondered, Who else in the family is training?

Peering around the corner, he found that it was his little nephew, Chen Lide, swinging his tiny arms and practicing his punches with utmost seriousness.

The moment the little fellow saw him, panic flashed across his face, as though he had been caught doing something wrong. Before Chen Ming could say a word, he turned and ran off like a wisp of smoke.

Chen Ming laughed. His little nephew was secretly practicing boxing. It seemed the boy also yearned for the martial path.

What his nephew was practicing was Long Fist, a basic boxing art for martial enlightenment that the original owner's father had taught the two brothers when they were young.

When Chen Ming asked over breakfast, he learned that his elder brother had left before dawn. Elder Sister-in-Law was probably still asleep, so his nephew had taken the chance to practice in secret.

Just then, he heard his nephew's especially loud reading voice from the rear courtyard and could not help laughing. He could already picture the little fellow's guilty expression.

By the time Chen Ming arrived at the Huo Family, it was around nine in the morning—Si Chu.

This timing was just right. The youths had only just finished their morning stance training. After resting for half an hour, they could begin sparring.

"Seventh Senior Brother is here too."

When Chen Ming arrived at the training ground, he saw Wen Zehao sitting with Hong Mingquan, drinking tea and chatting merrily, so he greeted them.

To his surprise, Wen Zehao's expression turned cold at once. He did not even spare Chen Ming a proper glance, directly leaving him hanging there.

He sneered, "Fifth Senior Brother, don't you find it laughable? Just anyone can call us Senior Brother now."

Hong Mingquan looked somewhat awkward and did not know what to say for the moment.

After receiving such a thorough rebuff, Chen Ming naturally had no intention of lingering and withdrew from the pavilion.

Strange. Did I offend him?

Yesterday, Wen Zehao had warmly greeted him and even invited him out for drinks. Why had he suddenly turned hostile today?

What exactly had happened here?

After a while, Wen Zehao left.

Only after watching his figure disappear did Chen Ming go over to greet Hong Mingquan. "Fifth Senior Brother."

Hong Mingquan asked, "How did you offend Seventh Junior Brother?"

"I'm somewhat baffled myself. Everything was fine yesterday. Perhaps my manner was insufficiently respectful and displeased him."

Hong Mingquan pondered for a moment. "Are you familiar with Junior Sister?"

"Junior Sister?" Chen Ming asked curiously. "Could it be that Old Huo recently accepted a female disciple?"

"It's Qianqian."

So he meant Huo Chengkun's granddaughter.

But if you called your master's granddaughter Junior Sister, wouldn't that make the generations a complete mess?

Chen Ming grumbled inwardly, but said, "Not at all. I've never even spoken with her."

"Then that is strange." Seeing that he did not seem to be lying, Hong Mingquan said in surprise, "I heard that Junior Sister pleaded with Master, and only then did Master agree to let you stay."

"Such a thing happened?"

Chen Ming was greatly surprised.

Hong Mingquan said, "You may not know this, but Seventh Junior Brother has always had feelings for Junior Sister. He has merely been waiting for her coming-of-age ceremony before asking Master for her hand."

So that was it.

Hong Mingquan did not say it outright, but Chen Ming understood. Wen Zehao was jealous.

A proud man like Wen Zehao had likely already regarded Junior Sister as his own woman. How could he allow anyone else to lay a finger on her? Much less someone he looked down upon?

It was like a high school heartthrob discovering that the goddess of his dreams was rather close to some blond-haired punk from outside the school, with a suspected secret affair between them. How could that not leave him beating his chest and stamping his feet, murderous thoughts rising in his heart?

This showed that although Wen Zehao appeared friendly toward him, he actually looked down on him from the bottom of his heart. Otherwise, his reaction would not have been so extreme.

The key was that he really did not know Huo Qianqian. Who knew why she had spoken up for him?

I'll have to find a chance to ask her next time.

Hong Mingquan changed the subject and began talking about other matters.

Chen Ming understood that he did not want to get involved in this affair.

To put it plainly, they had only just met; their friendship had not reached that point. Wen Zehao, on the other hand, was Hong Mingquan's own junior brother.

Chen Ming felt somewhat emotional. Even a small Huo Manor was a jianghu in itself.

If it truly came to it, he could simply stop being a Sparring Partner.

After all, there were several martial schools in the city. He would not have to worry about finding another place to work as a Sparring Partner.

Half an hour later, the students had more or less finished resting. When they saw Chen Ming approach, every one of them was eager to give it a try.

Youth were warlike to the bone. Trading blows with someone else was far more interesting than holding stances and practicing punches.

Hong Mingquan said, "Who wants to spar with Chen Ming first?"

"Me."

"I'll go first."

"Me, me."

"..."

A group of youths rushed to be first.

"I'll do it!"

Suddenly, one voice drowned out all the others. When everyone looked over, none of them dared compete any longer.

It was Li Jinchuan. He stepped forward, battle intent in his eyes, and saluted Chen Ming. "Please instruct me."

Seeing him like this, Chen Ming's heart stirred. This kid had probably come prepared. Perhaps he had some trump card up his sleeve.

After a brief thought, he made his decision. He opened the panel and added all twenty-five remaining points to "Three Powers Fist."

At once, countless new insights into the boxing art flooded his mind.

Name: Chen Ming

Level: 3

Current Points: 0

Cultivation Method: "Iron Horse Stance" (Second Layer 5/200+)

Martial Skill: "Three Powers Fist" (Proficient 66/200+), Bagua Saber Technique (Beginner 12/100+)

Chen Ming knew that he absolutely could not lose. If he could not even defeat a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old youth, he would have no face left to serve as a Sparring Partner.

He smiled faintly. "Come."

Hmph!

Li Jinchuan snorted coldly. Without another word of courtesy, he lunged forward, his fist shooting toward Chen Ming's chest. His punch carried even greater ferocity than yesterday.

Sure enough, he had come prepared.

Chen Ming immediately responded. With a sidestep, he slammed his shoulder forward. If that blow landed solidly, it would be enough to send Li Jinchuan's small frame flying.

Li Jinchuan swiftly changed moves. With White Crane Spreads Wings, he nimbly avoided Chen Ming's shoulder strike and countered with a blow toward the back of his neck.

The connection between those two moves was exceptionally ingenious, not something a youth who had trained for merely half a year could have devised.

Chen Ming became even more certain that someone was guiding him from behind the scenes—and that person was definitely a true martial artist.

A flash of lightning ran through his mind, but his hands were no slower. With Overlord Lifting the Tripod, he knocked aside that crane-beak strike.

At that very moment, Li Jinchuan's right foot snapped out, kicking toward his solar plexus. This strange move was not part of Three Powers Fist, yet it was swift and urgent, catching one completely off guard.

Fortunately, Chen Ming had kept an extra measure of vigilance and reacted in time. He ducked low, narrowly evading that kick.

Those exchanges were dazzling enough that the onlookers barely dared breathe. Quite a few had already begun cheering, wishing they could take Li Jinchuan's place and knock down that Sparring Partner themselves.

Unfortunately, after three moves, Li Jinchuan was suppressed. He no longer displayed the earlier brilliance.

After thirty-six moves, Chen Ming defeated him once again.

Li Jinchuan's face was full of unwillingness, yet he had no choice but to concede. He had thought Uncle Rui's three moves would surely catch this man unprepared, but he had still lost.

He silently retreated into the crowd, his lips pressed even tighter.

Chen Ming stood where he was without speaking. Looking at the prompt that had appeared before him, he fell into wild delight.

You have defeated an LV3 enemy once again and gained 5 experience points.

So defeating the same person a second time could still earn him experience points.

Although the experience gained was only half as much, it was already tremendous news to him.