The martial arts teacher was a well-built man in his thirties, standing at the door with a roster in hand.
"Groups of five. Don't bring any metal objects into the martial arts classroom, or they'll interfere with the equipment!"
"Yes, sir!"
When his gaze landed on Yu Bu'e, he paused briefly, then smiled.
His feelings toward this student were complicated.
He had seen every bit of effort the boy put in. He was always the most focused student in martial arts class, and his movements were always the most precise...
Yet he simply lacked the talent.
Machines hummed inside the rather empty martial arts classroom, with curtains dividing the room into sections.
Several staff members in white coats, dressed like doctors, were busy at work. The students entering the classroom knew the routine well.
Step one: attach precision motion sensors to the limbs and torso, then perform a set of the Meridian-Opening Fist in the open area.
Step two: draw blood, after which the staff would use specialized equipment to analyze their blood vitality levels.
The students emerging from the classroom's back door held their test reports. Some were ecstatic, some dejected, and some expressionless.
As they waited in line, students from several other classes arrived one after another, filling the hallway with noise.
When Yu Bu'e and Wu Yang entered the martial arts classroom, Wu Yang looked at Xu Hu ahead of them and muttered, "Just our luck!"
Xu Hu glanced back at them and sneered.
"I should be the one saying that. Yu Bu'e, there's hardly any time left. Even if you've opened ten spirit meridians now, so what? You're never getting into the Martial Arts Academy."
The male student beside him chimed in, "Hu, you already had eleven spirit meridians at your last test. This time, you've got to have at least twelve!"
"Exactly, Xu. You're set. Even with Meridian-Opening Pills, our top scholar here barely has a chance. Don't crush his spirits!"
Yu Bu'e glanced at the three speakers and shook his head. He found them childish.
"We're already seniors, and you're still forming these little cliques. Can't you be mature like me?"
"Heh. I just can't stand people who know they have no chance but still waste everyone else's time and testing resources."
Wu Yang said impatiently, "That's enough, Xu Hu. The students behind us aren't complaining, so what's your hurry? Wasting resources... what, did you donate a few hundred million?"
Xu Hu's face darkened. He was about to speak when a sharp reprimand rang out.
"You're the ones wasting time! There are other students waiting behind you. Get moving. Who's first?"
The middle-aged man in the white coat pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his face full of impatience.
Xu Hu dropped his bluster and quickly put on a smile.
"Me! I'll go first!"
He hurried forward and, with the white-coated man's help, attached the motion sensors to his body.
Each motion sensor gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the lights. Though only the size of a coin, its internal workings were incredibly intricate.
The white-coated man with gold-rimmed glasses had witnessed the entire exchange. Irritated with Xu Hu, he kept hurrying him along.
"Move faster! Aren't you the one so worried about wasting other people's time? You're dawdling, and you're all thumbs!"
But when he looked up at Yu Bu'e, his gaze grew much gentler.
"Young man."
"Huh?"
"Get yourself in the right frame of mind. Don't let anyone else affect you. There's no rush."
Sensing his kindness, Yu Bu'e grinned and nodded firmly.
Xu Hu was sweating with nerves. At those words, his face turned green.
Wait... so are we in a hurry or not?
Wu Yang and Yu Bu'e took some pleasure in his misfortune, while the other two cheered Xu Hu on.
"Come on, Xu! Believe in yourself!"
"Hu, you've definitely got this! Congratulations in advance on getting into the Martial Arts Academy!"
Xu Hu looked at them and calmed down a little. But when his gaze suddenly met Yu Bu'e's bright eyes, his heart tightened.
"Xu Hu." Yu Bu'e gave a small wave. "You'd better really have opened twelve spirit meridians."
Xu Hu frowned, unsettled by the remark, and decided to ignore him.
After performing a set of the Meridian-Opening Fist, Xu Hu followed the staff's instructions and went to have his blood drawn.
Waiting for the report was rather agonizing.
A student who had also finished the Meridian-Opening Fist sat beside Xu Hu and patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Hu. You've got this!"
The other student said with a chuckle, "Xu, don't forget us when you make it big!"
Xu Hu smiled and nodded, looking utterly confident.
But when he recalled Yu Bu'e's earlier, seemingly random remark, a sudden unease gripped him. Unable to explain why, he turned his gaze toward him.
Yu Bu'e helped Wu Yang attach the motion sensors. Once everything was ready, he patted him on the back.
"Good luck!"
"Yeah!"
Wu Yang had been reassuring Yu Bu'e earlier, but he was actually quite nervous himself.
At his last spirit meridian test, he had been just one step away from opening his eleventh.
As long as he had improved this time, he could make a final push in the time remaining and still have a chance of entering the Martial Arts Academy. Otherwise, it would be far harder, and his hopes would be slim.
After finishing the Meridian-Opening Fist, he immediately went to have his blood drawn, then returned to help Yu Bu'e attach the motion sensors.
"Bu'e, give it your best! I believe in you!"
"Yeah, I believe in myself too." Yu Bu'e grinned.
Quite a few students in the hallway peered through the windows. The classroom door was open, so the voices outside carried in as well.
"Isn't that Yu Bu'e, the top scholar from Class One? He's getting his spirit meridians tested too?"
"What's the point? Doesn't he have no talent for martial arts?"
"As far as I know, he's only opened eight spirit meridians. Why waste his time on martial arts..."
Wu Yang's expression changed at the comments, and he instinctively looked at Yu Bu'e.
The smile on Yu Bu'e's face remained calm.
"Don't worry. I won't let it affect me."
Wu Yang breathed a sigh of relief and stepped aside.
As the motion sensors pressed snugly against his skin, Yu Bu'e could distinctly feel the cold metal.
He closed his eyes briefly and cleared his mind. After a few deep breaths, he slowly settled into the right state.
It was as though he were the only person left in the world.
Set the stance, raise the hands, shift the hips, open the back, roaming dragon, circulate the energy...
The movements he had repeated countless times had long since become muscle memory, merging with his blood vitality.
It was like picking up food with chopsticks and bringing it to his mouth. He didn't need to think about where his fingers should grip the chopsticks, what angle to hold them at, or how much force to use.
The staff member in the white coat stood nearby, looking between Yu Bu'e and the monitor on the desk before him.
His pen scratched across the paper as he recorded the changing numbers on the screen. Suddenly, his hand stopped, and his expression froze for a moment.
Pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses, he stepped back twice, his eyes fixed on Yu Bu'e as he performed the Meridian-Opening Fist.
Wu Yang hadn't paid much attention at first. But as Yu Bu'e found his rhythm, he slowly stood, his mouth slightly open.
He wasn't sure whether he was imagining things.
He just felt that the Meridian-Opening Fist Bu'e was performing was somehow... different from the one he had learned.
Xu Hu and the other two had still been chatting when they suddenly heard voices from outside the window.
"Huh? Is Yu Bu'e doing the Meridian-Opening Fist?"
"It looks like it, but something feels different..."
"The angle of those punches, the transitions between moves-holy shit! Dude, I get it now!"
"Wait, isn't that third move, [Walking the Green Mountains], wrong? That's not how it looks in the instructional video!"
"Sure, but Yu Bu'e's version is clearly smoother! Now I finally understand why that move is called [Walking the Green Mountains]!"
Xu Hu turned toward the windows. The students in the hallway had all crowded around them, standing on tiptoe to peer inside, as though they wished they could toss their eyeballs into the room while staying outside.
He wasn't laughing anymore.
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