School was suspended, and Lu Chenzhou benefited.
He only needed to attend online classes and work on problems at home, leaving the rest of his time for practicing punches and Pile Skill. His goal was to condense the Shaochong Acupoint by April.
For safety reasons, he changed his Martial Arts Hall visits to daytime, basically squeezing it in outside of online classes. Everything depended on the results of the Pingjiang Martial Arts University exam in June. If he passed, he would transfer directly from his cultural high school into the affiliated high school of the Martial Arts University. Then after standard classes and the college entrance exam, he could study at Martial Arts University.
Cultural classes could be abandoned.
Of course, this didn't mean giving up on learning.
Martial Arts schools also offered relevant Martial Arts knowledge courses, such as "Martial Arts History," "Pharmacology," "Ancient Texts," and others related to Martial Arts. It was the era of technology, after all, and being illiterate was not realistic even for a Martial Artist.
Flying Swallow Martial Arts Hall.
"Come on, Chenzhou, let's spar a bit."
Qin Zheng was stimulated once again by the Du incident. His family was already arranging to move to another city, while he, once again, declared his renewed determination for intense Martial Arts Training. Lu Chenzhou had grown accustomed to his sporadically burning ambition.
"Swan Pass without Trace!"
Qin Zheng was a bit melodramatic, shouting out the names of his moves while sparring.
Proudly known as boosting the momentum!
Lu Chenzhou's face was expressionless as he dodged with the Backward Sweep Step from "Sea Sweeping Body," taking three steps in two, and unleashed a "Black Tiger Demonic Suppression"!
This was a Crushing Fist, fierce and powerful.
Qin Zheng flew backward and fell onto the mats.
He stood up, looking at his reddened chest beneath the protective mat.
"Are you close to Third Rank? It really hurts."
He was somewhat desperate, now truly unable to catch up with Lu Chenzhou.
Half a year ago, this guy was still a newbie.
Now, every move he made was that of a true expert.
"Not yet, just a little more."
Lu Chenzhou jumped onto a wooden pile and began practicing "Sea Sweeping Body" and "Black Tiger Fist" simultaneously. This kind of training was physically draining, but now was the time to race against the clock. He would just go back, drink some Supplement, and rest well. What was a little exhaustion? He ignored the pain of Practicing Heavenly Pile. With the chance of the Martial Arts Tree, he had to seize it! Read full story at novel~fire~net
"Bro, are you really aiming for Third Rank?"
Hearing Lu Chenzhou say "just a little more," Qin Zheng felt discouraged.
This guy couldn't possibly be sneaking in punches and crazily overachieving whenever he wasn't studying... Such a rate of progress was astonishing.
Someone shouted, and everyone looked toward the door. A figure with a resolute face and carrying a bag walked in; it was Du, who hadn't come to practice punches for a week.
Many thought that after being attacked by Void Things, Du must have been scared into stupidity.
Or maybe he didn't dare to step out of his house ever again, living in constant fear.
Real-life cases existed: some had gone mad due to Virtual Disasters, and society even had to come up with psychologists specially trained to help victims overcome their trauma.
Unless you've experienced a Virtual Disaster, it's impossible to truly understand.
Lao Zhang, as the eldest brother, asked,
"Du, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, thanks for everyone's concern over this time."
"That's good. A great disaster survived is a fortune to come!"
"Yeah, there was a news story recently about a guy who encountered a Virtual Disaster in deep mountains while escaping in panic. He found a Mountain God Temple and was saved by a Martial Artist practicing there. Not long after, that person awakened his Martial Bone Dao Embryo!"
Du was deeply moved by everyone's warm greetings.
"Right, I've taken a leave of absence from school. From now on, I'll focus solely on practicing punches at the Martial Arts Academy. Whenever anybody needs a training partner or someone to spar with, come find me."
Du closed his doors and suddenly said.
Old Zhang was surprised:
"What's the matter with you? You said nothing was wrong, so why are you taking a study leave all of a sudden?"
Qin Zheng was also puzzled:
"Yeah, brother, I remember your grades were not bad... Even a poor student like me hasn't given up on himself, you can't just resign yourself to despair."
"There were ancient heroes who broke their pots to sink their boats! I've realized that what I truly seek is Martial Arts. If I can't get into Pingjiang Martial Arts University, I'll lose interest in studying anyway. If I do get in, academic studies will be even less of a concern!"
Lu Chenzhou also admired Du's boldness in his heart.
He could not yet bring himself to do the same... because his family was poor. Although Du's family was not as well-off as Qin Zheng's, it certainly was wealthier than his, offering many more fallback options.
He could never act on a whim due to a moment of passion.
Life held too many unexpected events, and he was the pillar of support for his parents.
After throwing a welcome-back party for Du, they went back to their normal routine of practicing their punches.
"Junior brother, I've also been practicing at home. Let's exchange a few moves."
Du once again sought out Lu Chenzhou.
"Of course, senior brother."
The two exchanged punches and kicks on the wooden piles, creating a peal of thumping sounds.
In the end, Lu Chenzhou remained the better fighter, and he kicked Du off. His Qi-Blood was not far from the Third Rank, and the gap between him and Du was narrowing.
This time, Du was not discouraged.
If the terrifying Void Things couldn't break him, nothing else could!
In some ways, his resolve had also been tempered, as in olden times some Martial Artists soared to greatness after major setbacks and life changes.
After the sparring session, Lu Chenzhou sat next to Du to rest.
He hesitated for a long time but finally asked:
"Senior brother, I want to ask you something, but I'm afraid it might reopen old wounds."
"You want to ask about the Void Things, right? Go ahead."
"Yeah, you've witnessed a Void Thing firsthand... Could you recall some details and signs before and after the encounter with the Void? It would help me to be prepared and possibly prevent it."
Void Things were unpredictable.
Besides the people directly involved, there were hardly any other eyewitness accounts.
Du recounted the horrors of that day to Lu Chenzhou, trembling as he spoke truthfully about his own experience.
Finally, he advised him:
"Junior brother, if you encounter a Void Thing, listen to me, you run if you can. It's on a different level from us... Without being a Martial Artist, everyone is just ants."
He too had reached the Third Rank, and he had even taken the initiative to attack.
After a chaotic skirmish, he couldn't even see a shadow of the Void Thing, let alone cause it harm. Normal physical attacks couldn't touch those ghostly beings.
The reason the Master was able to hit it was because of that pale blue glowing energy. Du asked the Master about it, and he learned this was a method only available to those who had broken through the first shackle:
Power has shape but no substance, derived from the True Skill of a Martial Artist's cultivation, hidden within the Dantian, circulating around the body through meridians and Acupoints, and can be triggered by Martial Arts and special weapons. It has the ability to touch and affect Void Things, causing them harm!
When one breaks the second shackle, it transforms into Innate True Qi.
True Qi is even more powerful, and ordinary Void Things can't even come close to it.
After learning the situation from Du, Lu Chenzhou also felt more confident. The Void Thing that attacked him that night seemed weak, quickly destroyed by the Master with a single blow.
Like his research had shown, the killing power of many Void Things was just so-so, and some even had to resort to things like Illusion Technique and Spiritual Control to kill. They were only seen as invincible because ordinary Martial Artists and firearms couldn't touch them.
Of course, that's easier said than done.
If Lu Chenzhou did encounter one, running would most assuredly be the best strategy.