Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Complex Thoughts

Zhang Qianru immediately lost interest, thinking that working hard without good results surely means being stupid!

Who knew Lu Shuyuan would curiously ask, “Your brother is so skilled in Martial Arts, why does he still study so hard?”

“My brother is good at Martial Arts?” Chen Xingyue widened her eyes, full of doubt.

“Haven’t you noticed? He walks with a natural rhythm, very similar to our Martial Arts Teacher.”

“How is that possible!” Before Chen Xingyue could react, Zhang Qianru already blurted out her thoughts.

Their class’s Martial Arts Teacher is a true Martial Artist, although left with incurable dark ailments by magic during explorations in another world, forcing him to remain at the school as an ordinary Martial Arts Teacher, yet his strength is still incomparable to Martial Arts Apprentices.

For the first time, Chen Xingyue seriously scrutinized Chen Shouyi, who was lining up ahead.

His hands were on his waist as he pondered something, standing there loosely with no semblance of posture.

In the past, seeing him like this would always make her secretly frown, lamenting her brother’s lack of steel, but now, for some reason, maybe it was an illusion, this seemingly shapeless stance made her feel like he was a crouched leopard, ready to pounce at any moment.

Suddenly, she recalled the scene not long ago where a wooden chopstick was half-embedded into the wall. At the time, she thought it was a coincidence, but now…

“Brother!” Her heart stirred, and she called out.

Immediately, she stared at his movements without blinking. In Martial Arts, humans forcibly overturn their habitual methods of exertion to harness more muscle power, leveraging the various points of the human body to enlarge and trigger force.

Anyone who’s learned the exertion techniques of Martial Arts would leave traces on their body, whether it’s walking or…

Chen Shouyi turned confusedly, “What’s up?”

Chen Xingyue was lost for a moment, but quickly recovered and said, “Nothing, just calling you.”

“What a weirdo.” Chen Shouyi thought to himself.

“Did you notice?” Lu Shuyuan blushed and spoke softly, “Normally, when ordinary people look at something within fifteen degrees to their sides, they just turn their heads because it’s the most effortless and convenient. But it’s different for seasoned Martial Arts Apprentices or Martial Artists; they engage their entire spine, including hips, knee joints, and even a series of muscles for overall synergy.

Through extensive power practice, it becomes a habit ingrained in them.”

“That doesn’t necessarily demonstrate his skill. It might just be a coincidence.” Chen Xingyue said, still somewhat reluctant to accept, her thoughts extremely complex.

“Then you haven’t noticed his walking. If you’ve seen it, you wouldn’t say that. Every step he takes is subtly performing the standard ’basic step,’ each movement is like he’s gently floating in the air.

Either he has long been a Martial Arts Apprentice, or his quiet refinement has nearly infused every muscle of his body.

“Seems that’s indeed the case, Xing Yue. You don’t seem to understand your brother much.” Zhang Qianru remarked, somewhat puzzled.

Chen Xingyue opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing, her mind tangled up.

……

At eight-thirty, the registration for the Martial Arts examination began.

The Martial Arts examination includes numerous items, just the physical tests alone have the hundred-meter sprint, bench press, lift, squat, followed by archery and the most challenging cold weapon combat.

“Number 102, Chen Xingyue, hundred-meter sprint, 10 seconds 11, passed!”

“Number 102, Chen Xingyue, bench press 155 kilograms, passed!”

“Number 102, Chen Xingyue, squat 265 kilograms, passed!”

…

The physical tests for female Martial Arts Apprentices are considerably lower than those for males. Chen Shouyi suddenly found solace realizing that if he took the female exam, he could definitely pass.

“Brother Shouyi, do you want some water?” Lu Shuyuan shyly handed over a bottle of water.

“Oh, thanks.” Chen Shouyi took a sip after receiving it and casually asked, “Are you Xing Yue’s classmates?”

“Yes, we are all in the Martial Arts class. I’m her desk mate.” Lu Shuyuan said in a gentle manner.

“We are all good friends with Xing Yue!” Zhang Qianru leaned over energetically from the side, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally brushing against Chen Shouyi’s arm.

The soft touch of a young girl made Chen Shouyi tense up.

Fortunately, Chen Xingyue returned at that moment, allowing Chen Shouyi to breathe a sigh of relief: “Ah, Xing Yue has passed all the physical tests!”

Chen Xingyue returned expressionless, seemingly not too excited, with a complex and gloomy look directed at Chen Shouyi.

He was puzzled but didn’t dwell on it, “Why not take a rest for a while before the archery exam?”

Chen Xingyue nodded, said nothing, took a sip of Lu Shuyuan’s water before sitting nearby to meditate.

After about ten minutes, Chen Xingyue stood up, headed to the archery exam area, and started the archery test.

Archery exam consists of two items, fixed target and moving target, both have strict time requirements.

Shooting ten arrows in ten seconds means one arrow must be shot every second.

The bow used is a modern recurve bow, powerful and accurate.

Chen Xingyue easily passed this session too, be it fixed or moving target, every arrow hit close to ten rings with heavy impact.

Upon passing the test, Chen Xingyue’s mood didn’t relax but grew more tense, her expression tightened with a hint of chill.

“Xing Yue, your Swordsmanship has always been the best, you’ll definitely do well,” Zhang Qianru cheered her on.

“Even the teacher, who is a true Martial Artist, said you can do it, so you definitely can!”

Chen Shouyi reassured her, “It’s really not that important. If you fail this time, there’s always a next time.”

Regarding her brother’s jinx, Chen Xingyue rolled her eyes at him in frustration, not wanting to talk but felt somewhat relieved actually.

The group accompanied Chen Xingyue for half an hour before heading to the cold weapon combat arena.

Cold weapon combat exam involves battling not a human but a testing robot; it looks nothing human-like and is fixed on the platform with two mechanical arms, one holding a wooden sword, the other a three-meter long spear.

The passing criteria are simple: using a weapon to deliver sufficient attacks on its alloy body.

Currently, someone is about to take the test on the platform.

It’s a middle-aged man in his thirties, looking serious, pacing step by step onto the platform.

The platform has a sensing zone; once stepped into, the robot identifies the examinee and initiates the combat exam.

The middle-aged man paused before the sensing zone, hesitating.

Chen Shouyi noticed cold sweat starting to seep from his forehead, he took several deep breaths, deliberated for a few seconds before stepping into the platform resolutely.

“Examination begins!”

With the mechanical voice sounding from the robot, the two arms swiftly started moving.

He shouted excitedly, stepping on the basic step, crossing over two meters, instantly entering the robot’s attack range, at which point the robot’s right mechanical arm with the spear responded abruptly, moving with astonishing speed.

Mid-air, the spear wielding right mechanical arm slightly bent at the joint, then darted forward like a bolt of lightning.

The middle-aged man’s basic skills were sharp, with a twitch of his arm, he parried the spear with his wooden sword, and carried the momentum to advance several steps, closing in to two meters from the robot.

Yet, that’s where it came to a stop; the left mechanical arm holding the wooden sword all along seems to have waited patiently, suddenly shooting out like a poisonous snake, swiftly aiming for the middle-aged man’s head.

Chen Shouyi almost exclaimed in shock.

Luckily, the robot didn’t make an error, preventing a tragedy, the wooden sword abruptly stopped less than an inch from the middle-aged man’s forehead.

“Examination failed.”

Whether startled by the near-dangerous situation or unable to handle the blow of the failure, the middle-aged man remained in place, pale, taking several seconds to regain composure, staggering off the platform.

The second examinee, failed again

The third, likewise.

A string of failures left Chen Xingyue increasingly tense.

Chen Shouyi noticed her hand gripping so tightly, her knuckles had whitened.

PS: Seeking recommendations, the competition in the new book list is too intense.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep