Time ticked away by seconds and minutes.
Finally, it was Lu Chenzhou’s turn to compete. As the last to enter from the talented class, gazes from all around focused on him in an instant. Except for the mascot Xiao He, the performances of the talented class were extremely impressive, and everyone was eagerly anticipating Lu Chenzhou’s performance.
The boat approached the platform, and he leapt onto it with the grace of a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface. The platform swayed continuously, as unstable as if one were standing on a raft.
After steadying himself, Lu Chenzhou looked at his opponent.
From the shore, Liu Huan and others shouted loudly.
"Class 1’s Lu Chenzhou will fight Class 2’s Lan Cai’er!"
Lan Cai’er felt a mix of nervousness and anticipation inside.
As a friend of Shi Ruyu, she knew Lu Chenzhou was strong.
But just how strong, she had no idea.
"Come on! I would be honored to receive instruction from Brother Lu!"
Lan Cai’er stepped forward with her right leg, slightly retreated her left, tilted her body sideways, hid her left hand inside the sleeve of her training clothes, and with her right hand formed a hook pointing to the ground.
This pose resembled a mantis teetering on a branch.
Lu Chenzhou clasped his hands in a bow and said with a smile,
"I’ll try out the lady’s Mantis Fist."
Mantis Fist originated in Qin lands, emulating the form of a praying mantis.
Among the many styles, it was renowned, varied, and complex—Tai Chi Mantis, Meihua Mantis... endlessly intricate.
Lu Chenzhou had never crossed fists with Mantis Fist practitioners before and was somewhat curious.
Lan Cai’er’s Dark Force surged from the soles of her feet. Accompanied by the crisp sound of a mantis flapping its wings, her form skimmed low, and her right hand formed a claw, aiming for Lu Chenzhou’s throat. This text is hosted at Nove1Fire.net
Mantis Fist’s angles were tricky, blending feints and strikes, with change as its essence. Among them, the hook hand was the most formidable, comparable to the Snake Form as one of the double pinnacles of trickery. Once deployed, it aimed for the throat or eyes, attacking the typical vulnerable areas and gaps.
Lu Chenzhou, still until he was not, and then he moved like thunder. His Shock Step exploded, the platform seeming ready to crumble, and with a twist of his body, his Tiger Form Claw sprung out like a coil, swatting Lan Cai’er’s hook hand to the side. Lan Cai’er, not daring to clash directly, retracted her hand swiftly. Lu Chenzhou glided forward, his fists thrusting straight at her chest like tiger heads. Lan Cai’er, seeing Lu Chenzhou’s unguarded attack, felt elated. Like a mantis, she skimmed the ground, floating to Chenzhou’s rear.
"Big Saber Split Mountain!"
She executed the strongest move of the First Class fist technique "Mantis Mountain Splitting Fist," her whole body’s Dark Force aiding the downward chop aimed at Lu Chenzhou’s vulnerable side. But Lu Chenzhou, like an apparition, ghosted away with dragging steps, easily dodging her ultimate move.
Lan Cai’er, missing her mark, rapidly retreated. The next moment, with a fierce stomping sound, the platform undulated like waves, water from the lake splashing upon it. A figure moved across the water—Lu Chenzhou, exhibiting the Sea-sweeping Body technique, moved effortlessly here like a fish in water.
Five forward sweeps, four left shudders, three upward slides... Lu Chenzhou’s footwork was as calculated as pieces being played in Go, each step pressing Lan Cai’er to the edge.
Lan Cai’er bellowed fiercely, making a desperate bid. With a crackle of Dark Force, her body vibrating like a mantis, she charged at Lu Chenzhou while her hook hand targeted his throat. If it were anyone else, they might have been taken by surprise and defeated, but when she hit Lu Chenzhou’s chest, she felt the helplessness of running into an iron tower.
With just a bit of exertion of the Yin Yang Umbrella Spin Vortex Force, Lu Chenzhou spun, deflecting the impact, at the same time his left hand encircling Lan Cai’er’s waist and his right hand, like a collapsing mountain, landing on her chest.
As Lu Chenzhou’s words fell,
Lan Cai’er was sent flying, landing in the waters of Stone Lake.
Her head resurfaced, with wet hair sticking down, she clasped her fist and said,
"Thank you, Brother Lu, for showing mercy."
From this exchange, she deeply understood that with his skill level, Lu Chenzhou didn’t need to spar with her for so long. He had shown leniency out of consideration for Shi Ruyu.
With a smile, Lu Chenzhou replied,
"Your Mantis Fist is also very formidable. Let’s continue to learn from each other when there’s a chance."
He wasn’t letting Lan Cai’er win; he simply wanted to spar with masters from different sects for a while to get a preliminary understanding of their techniques. Should he one day encounter a formidable foe from the same sect, he wouldn’t be caught unprepared; he was learning during the sparring.
Not only learning from his own sect.
But also slightly grasping that of his opponents.
To know both the enemy and yourself ensures you won’t be endangered in a hundred battles.
"Wonderful, brilliant!"
Old Ji sat next to Teacher Qingtian Cang, applauding with excitement.
Qingtian Cang also beamed with a smile,
"Not bad, all three of my disciples made it into the top 32."
Qingtian Cang changed the subject and asked,
"When will you break through the second rank? Surely Chenzhou won’t reach that before you? How much longer will you keep ’polishing’?"
Old Ji’s face turned red with embarrassment, and he hastened to reply,
"That’s absolutely impossible."
Lan Cai’er returned to Class 2’s boat, and Shi Ruyu said with a smile,
"How about it, how competent is my junior brother?"
Lan Cai’er, wiping her drenched hair, sighed,
"Fighting him was beyond anything I heard."
Even among the Eighth Rank, she was considered skilled.
Yet compared to Lu Chenzhou, she felt fragile as an egg.
The fellow was definitely Ninth Rank by now.
Not even a year into school and he had already broken through three ranks. Could a human really achieve such a feat?
The regular class students sighed as well,
"The gap between regular and talented classes is so big."
"Yeah, they say Lu Chenzhou had an epiphany when he was in freshman year... I also had an epiphany when I was a freshman, and here I am at Sixth Rank, while he’s probably Ninth Rank already."
By ten in the morning, the top 32 list was released.
There were seven from the talented class and twenty-five from the regular classes.
Lu Chenzhou glanced at the list; there were only six at Eighth Rank Cultivation.
The rest were starting from Ninth Rank, but aside from those in the talented class, the average age of these Ninth Rankers was 29, with the two senior sisters being quite young.
These students all harbored hopes of advancing to Martial Artists.
But to go further than that would be difficult.
Soon, the matches for the top 16 were announced.
Lu Chenzhou looked at the big screen.
[Lu Chenzhou (Class 1) vs Xu Qing (Class 2)]
He checked his phone and found that his senior sister had sent him a message.
[Junior brother, Xu Qing practices Snake Form. Be careful. He must have broken into Tenth Rank three months ago. He’s probably ranked in the top three in our class.]
Class 2 had several older students who were already Third Rank masters.
[Thanks, senior sister. I’ll be careful.]
"This time it’s bad luck, encountering a Tenth Rank expert so soon."