High-Tier Boxing Manuals in High Demand

With the Quarterly Assessment drawing closer, the atmosphere in Blue Martial Arts Hall changed along with it.

In the past, after morning boxing practice, plenty of chatter could still be heard on the training grounds. Now, it was different. The moment Instructor Li called for the start, everyone hurriedly focused, afraid that missing even one round of practice would leave them behind.

This was especially true for the youths who had paid to join the hall later on.

They had already started a step behind the official outer academy disciples, and now, with the Quarterly Assessment fast approaching, they could not help feeling anxious.

No one wanted to spend silver to enter, only to fail to even make the top twenty in the end.

"I heard the rewards for the top ten have changed again this time."

"What changed?"

"They replaced the Body-Strengthening Powder with a new batch. It works better than the old one."

"Really?"

In a corner of the training grounds, several youths spoke in hushed voices.

Chen Mo happened to be passing by when he heard that, and his steps paused.

He did not go over to ask.

But his ears had already perked up.

Advanced Body-Strengthening Medicinal Powder.

Of course he had heard of it.

Even ordinary Strengthening Medicinal Liquid was not cheap. Better medicinal powder was something that could not necessarily be bought even if one had the silver.

For ordinary apprentices like them, the greatest benefit of medicinal powder was not that it could instantly turn someone into an expert, but that it allowed the body to recover faster after training. Over time, the gap would naturally emerge.

So lately, a saying had spread quickly through the martial arts hall.

In the Quarterly Assessment, ranking meant resources.

The higher one ranked, the better the things one received.

Those who ranked low could only slowly grind away.

Zhou Ye had clearly taken that saying to heart as well.

These past few days, he trained more fiercely than before.

At the first faint light of dawn, he was already standing in stance on the training grounds.

When others finished practicing the Seventy-Three Forms and began resting, he was still going.

Some people advised him not to wear himself out, but he merely shook his head.

"I'm still too far behind."

"I have to catch up somehow."

Chen Mo passed by once, heard those words, and could not help saying, "Who are you trying to catch?"

Zhou Ye wiped away his sweat.

"The official apprentices."

Chen Mo looked at him, then at the wooden post beside him.

"If you chase like this, they won't stand around waiting for you."

Zhou Ye glared at him.

"Stop talking coldly from the sidelines."

Chen Mo laughed.

"I'm reminding you."

"Reminding me of what?"

"Don't chase so hard you run your own legs off."

Zhou Ye waved him away irritably.

"Get lost."

Chen Mo did not get angry. He simply smiled and walked away.

He could actually understand Zhou Ye.

Did he not want to catch up as well?

During the last Monthly Assessment, he had felt it clearly enough.

If one lacked strength, then even if one could see through the opponent's movements, it was difficult to truly gain an advantage.

He did not want to experience that feeling of being pressed down and beaten ever again.

So during this time, Chen Mo had not slacked off either.

He simply was not as desperate as Zhou Ye.

He preferred breaking down each movement and pondering it carefully.

How the fist went out.

How the foot landed.

When the body turned.

How to draw back the force after striking out.

Sometimes, in the middle of training, he would even stop to think for a while.

Zhao Chuan had never understood this.

"Why do you box like you're doing carpentry?"

"What carpentry?"

"A little here, a little there."

Zhao Chuan gestured twice.

"Others have already finished a whole set, and you're still studying the first punch."

Chen Mo curled his lip.

"That's called being serious."

"I think you're just slow."

"You're fast. Then why don't you beat me?"

Zhao Chuan immediately fell silent.

After a while, he finally snorted.

"Just wait until I learn some powerful boxing techniques. You'll have plenty of tears to shed."

Chen Mo smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Fine. I'll wait."

Neither of them had expected it after those words.

Not long afterward, a craze for Advanced Fist Manuals truly swept through the martial arts hall.

It began when the Book Repository Pavilion reopened access to several Advanced Fist Manuals.

One afternoon, after Chen Mo finished practicing and left the training grounds, he saw from afar that a large crowd had gathered at the entrance to the Book Repository Pavilion.

"Why are there so many people?"

He found it strange.

Zhao Chuan squeezed out from the crowd, sweat nearly breaking out across his forehead.

"Isn't it because they're fighting over boxing manuals?"

"Boxing manuals?"

"High-tier ones."

Zhao Chuan pulled Chen Mo toward the front.

"I heard they released several sets this time. They're all things only official apprentices could access before."

Chen Mo's interest was immediately piqued.

The two walked to the side of the corridor.

A long line stretched out before the entrance to the Book Repository Pavilion.

The disciples responsible for managing the Book Repository Pavilion stood by the door, registering names one by one.

Every time a manual was borrowed, they recorded the borrower's name and return date.

But there were clearly not enough Advanced Fist Manuals.

Each time someone at the front borrowed one, there was one less for those behind.

Anxious expressions had already appeared on many faces.

"What place are you in line?"

Chen Mo asked Zhao Chuan.

"Me?"

Zhao Chuan gave a dry laugh.

"I only just found out about this."

"So you're near the back?"

"Yeah."

Chen Mo patted his shoulder.

"Then take your time lining up."

Zhao Chuan glared at him.

"Why aren't you going?"

Chen Mo did not answer.

His gaze fell on those boxing manuals.

Actually, he wanted one too.

At that moment, he did not pretend not to care.

If Advanced Fist Manuals really were as people said—capable of making one's force generation more exquisite and one's moves sharper—then if he could learn one, his performance in the Quarterly Assessment would definitely improve.

Top ten...

The instant that thought surfaced, Chen Mo's heart began to itch.

If he could make the top ten, he could receive Advanced Body-Strengthening Medicinal Powder.

His body would recover faster, and naturally, he could practice boxing faster as well.

And if he became stronger, life at home would be a little easier too.

He thought of his father's leg.

Whenever rainy weather came, his father's leg would ache.

In the past, there had been nothing the family could do but endure it.

Then he thought of his younger sister.

Chen Huan had recently been talking about the town school again.

She was still young, and whenever she spoke, her eyes always sparkled. She clearly truly wanted to go and see it.

But studying required silver.

The family's circumstances were not so bad that they could not survive, but they were certainly nowhere near comfortable enough to spend money freely.

To others, Advanced Body-Strengthening Medicinal Powder was merely a cultivation resource.

But to Chen Mo, it carried another layer of meaning.

He really wanted it.

And not just a little.

"Chen Mo."

Zhao Chuan suddenly nudged him.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

Chen Mo came back to himself.

Zhao Chuan looked inside.

"Do you think if we could borrow one, we'd have a chance to charge upward in the Quarterly Assessment?"

"Probably."

"Then why aren't you going to fight for one?"

Chen Mo shook his head.

"It's too late to go in now."

"Then what do we do?"

"Wait."

"You're really able to keep your cool."

Chen Mo smiled.

"There's no use being anxious."

The line slowly moved forward.

Zhou Ye stood near the front.

When his turn came, he quickly chose a boxing manual.

The instant it landed in his hands, the expression on his face visibly changed.

That excitement was not something he had put on.

He was genuinely happy.

"Finally."

He flipped it open and read a couple of pages, so absorbed that he did not even hear someone beside him calling out to him.

Zhao Chuan smacked his lips in envy.

"This guy is seriously lucky."

Chen Mo glanced over as well.

"Let's go."

"Where to?"

"To practice boxing."

"You're not waiting anymore?"

Chen Mo shook his head.

"There are no more."

The last few boxing manuals were quickly borrowed away.

Those behind them could only leave in disappointment.

Some complained that they had come too late, while others began asking when the manuals would next be returned.

Chen Mo stood beneath the corridor for a while, watching.

Over at the training ground, some people had already begun practicing with their newly borrowed boxing manuals.

Compared with the Seventy-Three Forms, those movements truly were more elegant.

Some boxing sequences shifted with blinding speed, while others struck from tricky angles; when their practitioners turned, they even stirred up gusts of wind.

Zhao Chuan stared until his eyes went wide.

"Did you see that move?"

"I saw it."

"That's incredible."

"Mm."

Chen Mo nodded.

He did not make any bitter remarks.

Since those sets of boxing manuals had been kept hidden away by the martial arts hall, they naturally were no ordinary things.

If mastered well, they would definitely be useful.

It simply was not his turn yet.

The sky gradually darkened.

Chen Mo and Zhao Chuan headed toward the training ground together.

After taking a few steps, Chen Mo looked back once more.

Those who had obtained the boxing manuals were still practicing.

The high scores, rankings, and Advanced Body-Strengthening Medicinal Powder represented by Advanced Fist Manuals all seemed to be laid out right before him.

Chen Mo rubbed the calluses on his palm.

He truly did feel a little envious.

But at that moment, the figures of those Paulownia River Martial Arts Hall disciples surfaced from his memories again, utterly out of place.

Their weary faces.

Their battered cart.

And those words that left people feeling uneasy.

Someone had already met with trouble in the mountains.

Chen Mo frowned.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhao Chuan called to him from ahead.

Chen Mo hurried to catch up.

"I'm coming."

He did not continue thinking about it.

For now, it was still far removed from him.

The Quarterly Assessment was what lay before him.

As for the mountains to the west...

Chen Mo raised his head and glanced into the distance.

Then he quickly withdrew his gaze.

"Walk faster. If we're late, Instructor Li will scold us again."

The moment Zhao Chuan heard that, he immediately quickened his pace.

Their figures soon vanished by the edge of the training ground.

Meanwhile, the lights at the Book Repository Pavilion had only just been lit.

That very night, the boxing manuals that had just been borrowed truly entered the apprentices' sight.