Lu Chenzhou was actively preparing for the competition and diligently practicing his Martial Arts.
Buds had sprouted beneath the leaves of the Martial Arts Tree; he was halfway to Perfection, and by the end of the year, he would be able to condense the third Divine Seed.
Everything was getting better.
Soon, it was November 10.
Tomorrow would be the first day of the Hundred Schools Tournament, which lasted a week: the youth division for the first two days, followed by the adolescents, adults, and seniors.
Only the champion of the youth division would qualify for the Quest of the Ninth Form. This was the main event and drew the most attention because they had the potential to become Martial Artists.
The adults and seniors were just extras.
Before dawn, in Tiger Garden.
After drinking the last vial of Bright God Potion, Lu Chenzhou invigoratedly practiced fist techniques for two hours, increasing his proficiency in the Tiger Supreme Fist slightly.
Lu Chenzhou then checked his Qi-Blood level, which had reached 3.21.
He was determined to win tomorrow’s competition.
On the way to the cafeteria, Lu Chenzhou passed by the training field.
He saw students from the first-year class freely practicing.
"It’s Senior Chenzhou."
"Wasn’t he the one who defeated our class leader recently?"
Hearing everyone talking, Wang Caiying, who was painfully practicing the Heavenly Pile, couldn’t sit still. She finished her Heavenly Pile, flexed her muscles, and hesitantly caught up with Lu Chenzhou.
"Um... Senior, when will we have a chance to spar?"
Lu Chenzhou thought about it and said, smiling,
"Why not today instead of picking another day?"
He had been at the Sixth Rank for almost half a month now, and even his classmates didn’t know he had made a breakthrough. He didn’t want to leak his cultivation level to his competitors before the match. So, these days, he had refrained from sparring. Since the competition was tomorrow, it didn’t matter anymore. Besides, he was itching to test his strength.
Wang Caiying would be perfect.
If he could defeat her, winning the championship shouldn’t be a problem.
Wang Caiying, full of spirit, saluted with her fists and said,
"Senior, be careful. My ’Black Dragon Eighteen Hands’ has reached Small Success!"
Lu Chenzhou smiled slightly and gestured with his hand,
Tap, tap, tap! Wang Caiying rushed in. She took the initiative to attack, but she was much more conservative than before. After a few feints, she quickly pulled back, not daring to get too close to Lu Chenzhou.
"Interesting, she’s become wiser... too bad I’m at the Sixth Rank."
Lu Chenzhou, like a home swallow flying low on a rainy day, leaned forward in an arrow step and became a blur, crossing a distance of ten feet in a single breath. His four fingers joined together like a bird’s beak, then he continuously stabbed forward with both hands, each strike aimed directly at Wang Caiying’s throat and other vital areas.
Swallow Return Fourteen Forms·Neighboring Swallow Double Flying Peck!
Wang Caiying cried out in shock, hurriedly changing her moves to counter Lu Chenzhou’s ferocious new attack pattern. The sharp pecking strikes hit her joint weaknesses in an instant. There was once a Martial Arts called Clothes Sticking Eighteen Falls, which targeted only the joints.
"Senior... Which fist technique are you using? It’s not the Tiger Form Fist, right?" Follow current novᴇls on Nove1Fire.net
Wang Caiying’s rhythm was disrupted, and her face turned red.
"I cultivate both the tiger and swallow styles."
Lu Chenzhou didn’t stop his attacks, increasing his strength. The Great Success-level Sea Sweeping technique actually overwhelmed Wang Caiying, who used First Class Martial Arts.
Lu Chenzhou realized,
"Real combat must adapt to the situation; one must not be confined to martial levels. In different environments, against different enemies, one must be flexible. It is said that some powerful Martial Artists are not bound by any specific set of Martial Arts techniques. Every movement is the most powerful strike in accordance with nature and combat instincts—the state of Freedom Extreme Intent."
Wang Caiying barely adapted to Lu Chenzhou’s Sea Sweeping technique, but in the next second, Lu Chenzhou smoothly changed to the tough and unbeatable Black Tiger Crossing the Mountain technique.
Lu Chenzhou’s fist technique, sometimes fierce, sometimes agile, resulted in what appeared to be a clever victory in a punch, but was actually infused with the immense power of Breaking Stone.
He didn’t even need to use Hard Qigong to corner Wang Caiying. Stubborn as she was, clearly struggling, she refused to admit defeat, putting up a desperate resistance.
So Lu Chenzhou showed no mercy in his strikes.
Wang Caiying found an opportunity, repeated her old trick, and wrapped around Lu Chenzhou from behind, hugging his waist while her knee aimed a direct strike at his groin.
"Here it comes again... You should get down!"
Lu Chenzhou’s right foot performed a Shock Step, he twisted to the side and, with a downward left arm blocking the knee, he used leverage to fling Wang Caiying away while simultaneously bursting forth with a palm strike to her abdomen.
That was harsh. Apart from not using Dark Force, Lu Chenzhou exerted seventy percent of his strength. Wang Caiying cried out in pain and was thrown to the ground below. She clutched her stomach, struggled for a moment, then sat up, her face red with pain, sweat streaming down.
"Class president... are you alright?"
The other students hurried to help her, but Wang Caiying pushed them away.
"I’m fine. I’ll go back myself!"
She looked at Lu Chenzhou on the platform, his expression unchanging.
She could say nothing when her skills were inferior.
With her bruised hand, Wang Caiying bowed with clasped fists, "Senior brother, it seems you’ve also reached Sixth Rank. I’ll come to challenge you again when I have the chance."
Despite repeatedly losing, she was quite resilient.
Lu Chenzhou didn’t say much, but thought to himself:
"It seems I still wasn’t harsh enough... But this was just a spar and she is the descendant of Master Wang, so I had to save her some face."
He had defeated a Dragon Form Fist expert of the same cultivation level twice.
Lu Chenzhou had thus dispelled any biases about the Dragon Form.
In fists, there is no superior or inferior; power lies within the person!
"What? Lu Chenzhou reached Sixth Rank?"
"Wasn’t he just Fifth Rank during the summer exams?"
"Damn, that was too quick."
That day, the news of Lu Chenzhou advancing to Sixth Rank caused a sensation in the second-year class. Liu Huan and others looked at Lu Chenzhou as if he were a freak. Is this guy even human?
It had only been a few months since he entered Fifth Rank, and now he’s broken through to the Sixth?
Everyone knew that Lu Chenzhou’s rank in the winter exams was secure, and it wouldn’t be long before this transfer student would skip a grade to university. Without the king of the class, they felt strangely unwilling to let him go.
Lu Chenzhou was in high spirits and treated everyone to a good meal.
At the summit of Fangshan.
Master Wang looked at his great-granddaughter, whose face was clouded with unhappiness.
"Why are you here again?"
"I... I still couldn’t defeat Lu Chenzhou."
Master Wang fell silent, then asked after a moment:
Now, the silence shifted to Wang Caiying.
"Great-grandfather, do you really think I’m inferior to Lu Chenzhou?"
Master Wang, usually blunt and straightforward, wanted to say, "Nonsense, how can you compare with Lu Chenzhou? He’s a Martial Bone Daoist, suspected to have awakened after just one year with Sixth Rank and is now a key focus of Dragon City Martial Arts University." But his heart softened.
"Wang Caiying, there are always higher heavens and stronger people. Let me be honest with you, don’t even mention higher root bones... even among the lower root bones, there are extraordinary individuals all over the world. You’ve grown up in a family and your perspective is limited. Clan power is significant, but compared to the vast world, what is it?
The era of commoners practicing martial arts has ended the glory of noble families. I sent you to Fangshan to practice martial arts, and you should have felt it by now. Just in the small high school of Dragon City, it’s full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. There are 24 martial arts schools here, and these over two thousand people are the cream of the crop from Su City; Da Xia has so much more."
Wang Caiying seemed to realize something and asked:
"How can I defeat Lu Chenzhou?"
Master Wang sighed deeply:
"Why are you so fixated on that boy? There are so many young talents in Dragon City High School that you could spar with to regain your confidence... You’re not fated enemies. I think you’ve been reading too many novels. Go back to class."
Wang Caiying descended the mountain.
Master Wang muttered to himself, thinking it was right to let the young girl experience the world. Without going through some tough fights, she might still think she was a protagonist among those with lower root bones.
"Talents emerge in every generation and each leads for hundreds of years! Where in this world is there a true ’child of destiny’? Didn’t those old predecessors from the twenty-four schools each play a leading role in their times? Now, they’ve stepped aside to make way for the Cangtian Dragon King, retreating to secondary roles."