[Mr. Lu, have you been busy lately?]
Chen Ye’s tone was still very polite.
"Mr. Chen, is there something you need me to do?"
That said, his talent cultivation contract had been signed for about half a year, and so far, Diaoist Science and Technology had only used his competition videos and likeness for promotion and had not given him any other work. This made Lu Chenzhou feel that earning 500,000 a year was quite easy.
[Hahaha, nothing serious. Do you have time to come to Diaoist Science and Technology soon? We want to change your contract and raise your cultivation fee to 1 million. There is also a competition sponsored by our company in the Jiangnan District in August that you should participate in. This competition is much higher in standard than the Su City All-Hall Showdown, mainly including academies from Magic City, Zhe Province, and Su Province...]
After listening, Lu Chenzhou asked:
"What’s the specific date, and what is the level of the competitors?"
[The specific date is not yet set. The competition preliminaries require a minimum of Fifth Rank as it’s a talent competition open only to those 18 years old and under. As you are part of the Dragon City Martial Arts University’s talent class, it’s estimated that reaching the top eight should be easy for you, with a guaranteed reward of 1 million for the top eight, and 3 million for the first place... Oh, and the rewards are all in cash.]
As Lu Chenzhou’s angel investor, Chen Ye knew early on about Lu Chenzhou’s place in the top ten in the Fangshan Martial Tournament and had even personally messaged him to congratulate him. Upon knowing that Lu Chenzhou was admitted to the talent class, he had also applied to the headquarters to increase Lu Chenzhou’s qualification rating and switch him to an S-grade talent contract, increasing the investment.
Lu Chenzhou had never refused a competition that could earn him money.
"Mr. Chen, where is the competition being held? "
[Magic City, Denglong Hall.]
"Is it where the All Nations Martial Arts Tournament preliminaries took place before?"
[Yes, this competition is already at the district level. The headquarters place great importance on it. They will arrange for many top martial arts celebrities for promotions and even invited several celebrities from the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang List as special guests. Moreover, the founder of Diaoist Science and Technology will also attend the finals to watch. Make sure to perform well. We are upgrading your contract to S-grade. But if you satisfy the founder, it might be possible to upgrade you to SS or even SSS in the future.]
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Chen."
[I’m done here. Mr. Lu, go ahead with your work. Regarding the contract change, if it’s inconvenient for you to leave the school, we can send someone to the school to meet you.]
Chen Ye knew the Martial Arts University took great care of its talents.
"Thanks for understanding."
Lu Chenzhou indeed had no intention of leaving. With food, clothing, lodging, and transportation all taken care of at the school, and being with his parents, he could practice martial arts safely and peaceably.
Chen Ye’s arranged person arrived at the school’s security office.
For safety reasons, Lu Chenzhou had never revealed his villa’s address to outsiders. All external contact was done through the school’s common address.
"Mr. Lu, this is the contract, please have a look."
"Alright, I need to discuss this with my master."
After Lu Chenzhou read it, he sent a photo of the contract to Ji Xuantong.
The master might be training and took a while to respond.
Ji Xuantong’s hearty laughter came through:
[Hahaha, I said so, your talent is S-grade to start with. They just had to assign you an A-grade, totally unnecessary! No problem, go ahead and sign it.]
"Thank you, Master. I will be participating in the Jiangnan talents competition next."
[Go ahead, with your strength, getting a placing won’t be an issue.]
[Also, there’s a smaller competition in May, in the Pingjiang District. Last year you came first, are you participating this year? If so, I’ll register you.]
Unknowingly, it had been a year since Lu Chenzhou first won a championship.
"Is there a prize?" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novᴇlfire.net
[Yes, last year’s was very successful, producing a talent like you. The District Martial Artists Association has increased the standard and rewards this time to 200,000 for first place. I estimate there won’t be fewer academies participating, maybe more than a dozen, but it doesn’t matter, you can easily take first place. It’s up to you if you want to, the venue is at Giant Elephant Fighting Hall.]
"Can I still register?"
[Of course, even if you’ve won first place before, you can still register to win consecutively!]
"I will participate."
[Hahaha, good, I’ll pick you up then. By the way, if your senior sister progresses smoothly, she will reach Ninth Rank in a few months and will come to Dragon City to find you guys. She can only go to the regular class, but I’ll see if I can arrange for her to be with Ru Yu.]
"That would be great."
Lu Chenzhou had a better relationship with Shi Ruyu, but Ji Feiyan was his master’s daughter, and like a real sister to him. He naturally wanted to take care of her with his abilities. Despite being only at Seventh Rank, the name of being in the talent class was very useful, though he kept it low-key.
After signing the contract.
"Thank you, Mr. Lu, I wish you a pleasant study and success in martial arts."
"Thank you for your company’s help."
"By the way, after converting to an S-grade contract, we will include the difference from last year in the next payment cycle, so your fee for this year will be 1.5 million."
Diaoist Science and Technology was still quite conscientious.
Back at the villa, Lu Chenzhou finally took a breather.
"The money will come after I complete the competition in August. First, I’ll return 600,000 to Qin Zheng, then send 200,000 for family expenses. By then, my supplement reserves will also be about depleted, leaving 700,000 to solve urgent needs."
Now three months into his enrollment, thanks to the Fangshan welcome package, he had been able to concentrate on his cultivation till today. He planned to visit Fangshan at the end of the month. Besides Wang Gang, who came to train Hard Qi Gong with him on rest days, he hadn’t seen other friends for a long time.
During the Heavenly Pile Class.
"Teacher, I have opened the Daling Acupoint."
Wu Zun was wondering where to go fishing after finishing his practice today, lost in his thoughts. He was awakened by a voice and looked at Lu Chenzhou, who appeared expectant. Curiously, he asked,
"How long do you practice Pile Skill each day now?"
Wu Zun sighed inwardly but smiled on the surface,
"This 16th Acupoint, named ’Yangxi,’ once opened, transforms the damp Yin energy from the Hegu Acupoint into fierce Yang energy. It is the most important acupoint for cultivating Yang attribute True Skill. Opening this acupoint can also effectively restrain Floating Level Void Things!"
After class, Old Tian called everyone in the genius class to stay.
"Everyone, prepare well for the practicum in this period. If possible, it is best to buy a set of Void Protection Suit and Void-breaking Gloves... If not, tell me, and I will apply for a rental quota from the training committee, one Great Merit per day."
Lu Chenzhou thought to himself,
"What a rip-off, ten thousand a day..."
He didn’t know it was possible to rent before, and he wouldn’t have rented if he did.
He would rather spend the money to buy it outright so he could give it to his parents once he outgrew it.
The six members of the Tenglong Group didn’t say much and left on their own.
Old Tian looked towards Lu Chenzhou.
"I’ve got it too, class leader."
Lu Chenzhou went to test his Qi-Blood again.
[Qi Blood Value 4.02]
"Indeed broken through the fourth, Eighth Rank is hopeful in June."
Lu Chenzhou got up early in the morning, checked his phone, and the messages popped up.
[Your Hidden Dragon score has increased by 201 points...]
[Hidden Dragon List ranking: 2700.]
Lu Chenzhou glanced at the list.
"Senior sister is behind me now."
In just a few months after enrolling, he had climbed up 300 ranks, and once the practicum was over, his score would surge again. This was just the beginning.
Lu Chenzhou had finished a round of Swallow Return Fist early in the morning, paired with Sea-sweeping Body. Inside the villa’s wooden pile area, he moved like an unceasing tern, turning into a phantom. This round was exceptionally smooth. The mysterious power born in his acupoints transformed his limbs and organs, while the Light Spirit Swallow Form Dark Force grew stronger. Tiger Form Dark Force and Swallow Form Dark Force intertwined like two snakes, endlessly entwining.
He threw a light punch, like a tern pecking, landing on the wooden pile with the force of ten thousand jun, Tiger Form Dark Force exploding and completely shattering it into dust.
"With this punch, who can tell whether I am a tiger or a tern?"
Lu Chenzhou looked contentedly at the Martial Arts Tree.
[Swallow Return Fist: Perfection]
On the Martial Arts Tree, light blue flowers bloomed, nurturing a new Divine Seed.
[Divine Seed·Returning Swallow (First Rank), hidden in the Shaoshang Acupoint.
All swallows return, entering my nest.
Effect 1: Swallow Wit Level One, slightly enhances general fist technique comprehension.
Effect 2: Swallow Form Level One, slightly enhances Swallow Form fist technique comprehension.
Effect 3: Swallow Nest, swallows naturally like you.]
"The first two effects are not much different from Black Tiger Fist... just enhancing general fist technique comprehension and specific fist style comprehension, but the third one is interesting."
It was the rainy season in Jiangnan by then.
Lu Chenzhou gazed at Stone Lake, cumulus clouds stretching on endlessly; swallows dashed through the rain. A thought struck him, and he jumped from the window to the shore to practice fist techniques. Gradually, swallows began to circle around him as if performing ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix.’
Chirping sounds were incessant.
After finishing his fist techniques, Lu Chenzhou tried stretching out his hand.
A cute, clever little swallow landed in his palm.
The little cutie observed this somewhat fierce-looking human without any fear, even placed a caught mosquito down as if feeding a young swallow, allowing Lu Chenzhou to ’eat.’
The group of swallows departed, scattering across the sky.
"All swallows return, entering my nest... is this the power of Swallow Return Fist?"
Lu Chenzhou murmured to himself.
He suddenly realized that this third effect didn’t seem very useful at the moment; he couldn’t command the swallows to do tasks, couldn’t do like some novels where one can see through the eyes of a swallow, overlooking the city. Its only use seemed to be street performing...
Well, as long as it boosts comprehension, what more could he need?