The fist suddenly smashed out, and Ricken was abruptly sent flying backwards, knowing he had probably misspoken again. He stood up silently, waiting for his father’s reprimand.
"I demand strictness from you, not so you can just get first place in some minor exchange tournament, but for you to become a fighter! A fighter, do you understand?"
Unlike Ji Xuantong, who had only one daughter of intermediate root bone, Rickett had three children at once, all of whom turned out to be of low class root bone.
Of these, Ricken had the best comprehension.
Years ago, Rickett had crossed the ocean to Da Xia to strive for success on the land where Martial Arts were strong, forging his own enterprise — he needed a successor.
But without the cultivation of a fighter, how could one inherit the Fighting Hall?
Thinking of how Ji Feiyan had already reached Eighth Rank while his own disappointing son was only at Third Rank, and his other two sons were nothing more than clubbers and womanizers, he felt aggrieved. Despite his own excellence and efforts, why were his offspring so useless?!
Ricken said with his head lowered,
"I apologize, Father. I will become a fighter!"
"Show some spirit! I am waiting to pass the ’Mammoth Fighting Skill’ on to you so that our Giant Elephant School can thrive in a foreign land and pursue the realm of the Holy Image!" This content belongs to novel(ꜰ)ire.net
In the Giant Elephant School, the supreme realm was known as the "Holy Image."
Back in the day, a native of America had achieved this realm, his strength comparable to a present-day Fighting Grandmaster who had broken the fourth shackle and could navigate amidst firearms.
Reaching this realm meant one would normally stand about ten feet tall. Unleashing their power, they would resemble a mighty elephant, akin to the mythological "Holy Image King Belifant" from American legends.
Hence, he was also known as: King of the Holy Image!
Having calmed down, Rickett said,
"Among these opponents, I remind you to watch out for Lu Chenzhou. At only 16 years old, he has already attained Third Rank Cultivation. According to my intel, he just entered the rank six months ago... Such progression suggests sudden enlightenment, not to be measured by common standards!"
Ricken’s expression grew serious.
"Then, we indeed need to take this individual seriously."
Youlong Martial Arts Hall.
"Chen Qingyuan, do you have confidence in placing in the top three of the youth group in this battle?"
Jiang Jiao Chen Zhen sipped his tea, looking at the determined youth in front of him.
"Master, rest assured, top three won’t be a problem!"
"Hmm, if you find yourself against Ricken, remember to be cautious; if you can’t win, decisively concede. Don’t injure yourself and affect the upcoming Pingjiang Martial University exams. As for the others, except for Wang Chong, with your strength, you should be able to handle them with ease."
"Thank you for your concern, Master."
Golden Lion Martial Arts Hall.
"Junior brother Wang Chong, your ’Dancing Lion Step’ has improved again. You must be close to reaching Mastery... Securing the top two in the youth category should be secure this time."
A young man with long hair and an upright stature smiled.
He was Lin Jianxing, the eldest son of the Dancing Sky Lion Lin Hong, 27 years old, having reached Seventh Rank a year ago, he was the highly respected senior brother of the Golden Lion Martial Arts Hall.
Across from him was a short but compact and energetic youth.
It was Wang Chong, the true inheritor of the Dancing Sky Lion.
"I dare not claim second place for certain, since Chen Qingyuan’s strength is on par with mine. Our match will depend on our performance; it’s hard to say who would surely win."
Wang Chong, though young, was stable and mature.
He recalled something and cautioned,
"Do take care, senior brother. The Flying Swallow Martial Arts Hall has a new true inheritor who seems to be a Pingjiang Martial Arts University graduate at 23 years old, a Seventh Rank expert. Not simple at all."
News from the Pingjiang District Association arrived, setting the date of the Martial Arts Hall tournament for May 21st, 2221, with Flying Swallow Martial Arts Hall as the designated venue.
"That’s great, it’s our home ground!"
Du sensibly rubbed his hands together, brimming with confidence.
Lu Chenzhou stepped down from the wooden stake. "The 21st? That’s good, we all have some time to prepare, and by then we might be able to improve our strength a bit more."
In just a month and a half, where’s the chance for any improvement, bro.
You think everyone is you!
Lu Chenzhou stared at the Martial Arts Tree, calculating in his mind.
"This period should be enough for me to open six apertures. The ’Black Tiger Fist’ might be hard to achieve Great Success, but I should be able to make it past 60% completion, with some improvement in my Qi-Blood as well. The ’Sea-sweeping Body’ has a chance to sprint towards Small Success, my trump card for a surprise victory!"
He still wanted to try if he could push the Black Tiger Fist towards Great Success.
One hundred thousand, that was equivalent to half a year’s income for his family.
The second place was only fifty thousand.
Perhaps other competitors were fighting for fame and honor.
Lu Chenzhou was different, he was fighting for money...
"I need to spend more time practicing my fist during this period, which means cutting down on study time, and no clue when Dragon City Martial Arts University will give out their evaluation results."
Lu Chenzhou was troubled by the task of squeezing time from the sponge that was his schedule.
Once he was sure he could enter a Martial Arts School, he could temporarily say goodbye to his cultural subjects and devote himself entirely to Martial Arts training. He could always come back to studying later if needed.
In this era, diplomas were easy to get, but Martial Arts were hard to come by!
Da Xia boasted the largest land area.
The North has always been martial, and in the old world of martial clans, the nomadic tribes of the steppes were an essential part and often invaded the Central Plains, their Martial Arts experts constantly waging battles.
After the establishment of the new Da Xia, with a grand unification of all ethnic groups in the North, they erected top-level Martial Arts Schools including Yinshan Martial Arts University, Yellow River Martial Arts University, Imperial Capital Martial Arts University, Dragon City Martial Arts University, and Galaxy Martial Arts University, sending waves of Martial Arts talents into the Northern Martial Arts World!
Dragon City Martial Arts University was located in Jin Province’s capital.
Jin land had a long history, witnessing the rise and fall of the great Da Xia. In fact, it was home to three top-level Martial Arts Universities, including Dragon City Martial Arts University, Wutai Martial Arts University from the ’Five Buddhist Schools,’ and Beiyue Martial Arts University of the ’Sword Discussion Six Colleges.’
The former was a famous Buddhist mountain, and the latter a part of the Five Mountains, both possessing profound Martial Arts foundations. But the economic center of Da Xia was actually in the south, and since there weren’t many people living in the North, the country initiated a vigorous ’North Martial South Adjustment’ project.
The top-level Martial Arts Universities in the North responded to the call and set up branches in the densely populated South, to balance the development of Da Xia Martial Arts and address the increasingly frequent Virtual Disasters.
The main campus of Dragon City Martial Arts University.
Qingtian Cang had just finished a meeting about the ’North Martial South Adjustment’ project. The Taihu Virtual Calamity had been difficult to suppress, potentially indicating a protracted battle, and it might become a persistent issue. The Martial Arts Department requested that Dragon City Martial Arts University establish a branch in Su City as soon as possible, to put it into use early.
He might be assigned to the South as well.
"I’m getting on in years; if I have to go, so be it. The water towns of Jiangnan are quite nice."
Qingtian Cang laughed self-deprecatingly; the South was indeed a nurturing place.
The phone rang; it was the voice of Ji Xuantong.
"Teacher, how about those two True Inheritances of mine?"
Qingtian Cang laughed:
"It’s only been a few days and you’ve asked several times already."
"Sorry, Teacher... I just couldn’t help it."
"Shi Ruyu is fine, the review committee initially determined she had a moment of enlightenment. Since the school is establishing a new campus in Su City, I’ll get her in there, but she still needs to go through the formal assessment process and have her root bone measured again."
"Hahaha, that’s great! I knew she was a promising talent. What about Lu Chenzhou, Teacher? I feel like my third disciple is even more impressive."
Qingtian Cang’s tone changed, causing Ji Xuantong on the other end to tense up.
"Is he... not good enough?"
All of a sudden, Qingtian Cang burst into hearty laughter:
"He’s also fine, temporarily treated as an enlightenment, continued observation will follow. Let him prepare to transfer schools, starting at Su City’s Dragon City Martial Arts affiliated high school."
The affiliated high schools of the Top-Level Martial Arts Universities were established in the millions-populated cities across Da Xia. They accepted only a few students, far less than the main campus, making it extremely difficult to get in.
An Intermediate root bone was just the basic threshold for admission. Being able to get inside was akin to an assured entry into Dragon City Martial Arts University. Ji Xuantong, played by Qingtian Cang, sounded somewhat resigned.
Soon a restrained laughter followed.
"Hahaha, both of the disciples I recommended made it."
Though they were not Martial Bone Dao Embryos, enlightenment could still bring significant benefits to the Martial Arts Hall and him personally, and the two might still have a chance for further awakening in the future.
"Don’t celebrate yet. When will you break through to Second Rank, Ji Xuantong?"
Old Ji on the phone hastily replied:
"I’ve got some urgent matters here; I need to hang up now, please don’t be offended, elder."