Down the Mountain and Back to the Martial Arts Association

"Driver, the Martial Arts Association!"

Early the next morning, after Qin Chen came down the mountain, he waited nearly half an hour before a taxi finally came along.

"You got it!" The driver stepped on the gas, and the car shot off.

"Young man, you look a little familiar." The driver glanced at Qin Chen several times. "Oh, I remember! You went to the Martial Arts Association a few days ago. I was the one who drove you there, too."

Qin Chen glanced at the driver as well, but didn't remember him. Still, he said, "You drive pretty far for business."

"Heh, that's the job. As long as a passenger needs a ride, I'll go no matter how far," the driver said with a smile.

"That's the spirit!" Qin Chen smiled.

"By the way, young man, you went to the Martial Arts Association for certification last time, right? Did you fail? You're going back so soon."

"Something like that!" Qin Chen nodded without explaining.

The driver glanced at Qin Chen and, seeing that he didn't seem to be in high spirits, comforted him. "Ah, failure doesn't matter. The important thing is not to give up after you fail."

"When I was young, I was just like you. I failed my first certification attempt too."

Qin Chen glanced at him in surprise. He hadn't expected the driver to be someone who could cultivate. Curious, he asked, "What happened after that?"

Most taxi drivers were fairly talkative, and this one was no exception.

Seeing that Qin Chen was interested, he said, "After that, I refused to give up. Every time I failed, I cultivated desperately, then went back for certification again and again."

At this point, he said with some pride, "I believe perseverance is victory."

Qin Chen was startled. "What happened after that? How did you end up driving a taxi?"

"I kept failing the certification, and I didn't have any other skills, so I could only drive a taxi. But even though I failed every time, I kept at it for a long time, so you shouldn't give up easily either!"

Qin Chen was immediately speechless. He'd thought he was getting a bowl of chicken soup for the soul, but who knew it would turn out to be poisoned chicken soup?

A few hours later, the car slowly approached the entrance to the Martial Arts Association.

"Young man, this is your second certification attempt, right? Remember what I told you. Even if you fail again, don't talk about giving up so easily." Looking at the Martial Artist Association ahead, the driver encouraged him once more.

Soon, the car stopped at the entrance to the Martial Artist Association. Just then, several association staff members were hurrying out from inside, led by a man in a suit and leather shoes.

"Huh? I think that's the director of the Martial Arts Association. What was his name again?" the driver asked in surprise when he saw the man in front.

"Xu Hua," Qin Chen said.

"Right, right, Xu Hua! He's the number two man at the Martial Artist Association. Looking at him, is he here to welcome some big shot?" The driver looked shocked.

The Martial Arts Association's director rarely appeared in person. In all his years driving a taxi, the driver had only seen him a few times, though he had heard plenty about him.

At that moment, Qin Chen opened the car door. As soon as he got out, Xu Hua hurried over. "Brother Qin!"

"I figured you'd be arriving around now. Good thing I wasn't late coming out!"

Xu Hua's tone was extremely courteous, and his voice was loud enough for the taxi driver to hear every word.

The driver shuddered all over, hit the gas, and sped away with a whoosh, terrified of being a second too slow.

"What kind of monster did I just drive here?" The driver's face was full of shock.

For the Martial Arts Association's director to bring a group of staff out to welcome someone, even the city lord's son couldn't have managed that in Rongcheng. There was only one possibility: his talent had reached a level that even the Martial Arts Association took seriously.

"Are taxis this fierce these days?" Xu Hua glanced at the taxi's taillights and asked in surprise.

Qin Chen smiled and changed the subject. "Sorry to trouble you this time, Director Xu. But you coming out in person leaves me flattered!"

As soon as he came down the mountain, he had called Xu Hua to say he was coming to the Martial Arts Association. There was no other reason: he wanted to get certified sooner.

Martial artist certification was different from Body Tempering certification. Martial artists had to make an appointment because there were quite a few people seeking certification every day, and he didn't have much time, so he could only trouble Xu Hua.

"There's no need to stand on ceremony with me!" Xu Hua said with a smile.

Before coming, Qin Chen had called to say he wanted to be certified as a martial artist. Leaving aside the fact that he and Qin Chen already knew each other, Qin Chen was getting certified as an official martial artist before he was even eighteen. Xu Hua had to welcome such a genius in person.

After all, it had been a long time since a genius like this had appeared anywhere in Rongcheng.

Although Qin Chen had yet to be officially certified, from what Xu Hua knew of him, he probably wouldn't have come if he weren't confident.

In the certification building, the certification hall on the first floor handled Body Tempering Realm certification exclusively. Official martial artist certification took place on the second floor and above.

After entering the building, Xu Hua dismissed the other staff members and led Qin Chen upstairs to the second floor himself.

"The second floor is for certifying one-star through three-star martial artists, and the third is for four-star through six-star. The fourth floor and above are for seven-star and higher, but they're rarely used," Xu Hua explained to Qin Chen after they reached the second floor.

Qin Chen nodded. Seven-star martial artists were rare throughout Rongcheng, so it was only natural those floors were rarely used.

When they reached the second floor, Qin Chen saw that several people were already waiting for certification.

A staff member in charge of certification saw Xu Hua and hurried over to greet him. "Director Xu, what brings you here in person?"

At the Martial Arts Association, Xu Hua was the second-in-command. He generally wouldn't come in person for something like certification.

"I brought a friend over!" Xu Hua didn't explain further.

However, the word "friend" startled the man, and the certification officer looked at Qin Chen differently.

He could tell at a glance that Qin Chen was very young, yet Xu Hua had called him a friend, not a junior or anything else.

"Director Xu, would you like to skip the line?"

Martial artist certification required people to register in advance, so those who registered first were certified first. But now that Xu Hua was here, it seemed somewhat inappropriate to make Qin Chen wait.

But he asked Xu Hua rather than Qin Chen directly. After all, he didn't know Qin Chen's personality. Some people liked that kind of power to bypass the usual order and would cut in line without hesitation, while others preferred to keep a low profile or valued the rules, and so disliked cutting in line.

"No need. Let's go one at a time!" Qin Chen spoke up directly.

"All right. There are five people ahead of you. It won't take long." The man nodded hurriedly.

Soon, he got back to work.

"Everyone, certification will now continue. I'll explain the procedure to you all one more time."

"It's very simple. First, we test your cultivation, and then we test your combat power."

The five people in line looked at him in surprise. He had already explained the certification procedure.

Someone suddenly looked at Qin Chen at the back of the line and realized the explanation was specifically for him.

"I just heard the certification officer call that man over there 'Director.' Is this the director's relative?" someone muttered.

"First, Zhang Xing. Certification level: one-star martial artist!"

After the certification officer made the announcement, a man who looked to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight stood up from the first chair in the waiting area and walked over.

"Place your hand on it and release as much of the elemental power you control as you can," the certification officer instructed, pointing to a machine beside him.

The man walked up to the machine and took a deep breath. Slowly, he raised his hand and placed it on the machine.