Chapter 202: Chapter 103: Training Trifles

Once the pairings were set, the team members began taking turns in one-on-one sparring matches.

Zhao Rui and the others were new, so they first stood to the side to watch the Youth Training Team members spar, familiarizing themselves with the process and rules.

Because it was just a regular sparring session, the Youth Training Team members knew each other’s abilities inside and out, so they were all focused on feeding each other techniques.

The fights were quite relaxed and free-flowing.

But even so, the Youth Training Team’s performance still made the visiting university students feel an immense pressure.

Although they had anticipated that these team members would be very strong before coming,

they hadn’t expected them to be *this* ridiculously strong.

They were throwing out Big Moves right from the start, with no recovery frames, and the key was that their opponents could actually block them.

This was just insane.

’Do you guys normally use Big Moves as your basic attacks?’

Besides this unconventional fighting style, in terms of sheer Power and Martial Arts mastery, these team members would be a rare breed even among the various universities.

The weakest among them were Level 9 Martial Artists.

Indeed, as the old saying goes, you don’t know how tall the buildings are if you never leave your county.

And you don’t know how gentle a woman can be until you’ve been to Red Romance.

It made sense, though. With the support and resources of the entire province, if they couldn’t even select the most elite talent, how could they possibly compete for a top spot in the national championships?

Before Zhao Rui and his group arrived, Wang Zhanshan had explained that many of these people were recruited directly from sports universities or Martial Arts Halls.

From a young age, they had received systematic, competitive Martial Dao training.

This set them apart from university students like Zhao Rui.

Their purpose in learning Martial Arts was solely for competition.

As for who was stronger, it all came down to the same thing in the end: individual talent and mastery.

The provincial Martial Arts Team also recruited exceptionally talented university students, integrating them into the official athlete system.

But Zhao Rui didn’t care whether they were strong or not. He only cared if their Martial Arts were different from the ones he’d already copied.

“Alright, you all can begin now. Make sure you follow the rules. Only by getting used to them in practice can you handle them with ease during a real match.”

After speaking, the assistant coach gestured for Zhao Rui and his group to start.

Hearing this, Zhao Rui and the others each found a spot, took their stances, and prepared to spar.

After they cupped their fists in salute, the Eastern Martial Body student in front of Zhao Rui narrowed his eyes and said coolly, “I know you! Zhao Rui.”

“Me?”

Zhao Rui was taken aback, not expecting to be so famous.

“I’ve seen the recording of your match with Senior Brother Fu. You left a deep impression on me. Senior Brother Fu also said that although your Martial Arts are varied, you’ve achieved Mastery in all of them and shouldn’t be underestimated. He said that in a couple of years, once your Power increases, you’ll be a formidable rival for him.”

“Uh…”

Zhao Rui understood at once. So this was the reputation that Fu Shaohu—the guy from Eastern Martial Body he’d fought last time—had been “promoting” for him.

“You praise me too much, you praise me too much. I’m still a long way from your Senior Brother Fu, not even worth mentioning.”

Zhao Rui cupped his fist and smiled. ’Being praised is a good thing,’ he thought. ’We should trade some compliments.’

“However, Senior Brother Fu has already been defeated by my hand!”

“…”

Zhao Rui’s face darkened. ’And here I thought you were praising me. Turns out you were just finding a roundabout way to praise yourself.’

“So…”

“So my ass! Eat this!”

Since the guy wasn’t praising him, Zhao Rui couldn’t be bothered to listen to him show off. He launched forward with a Breaking Step Splitting Fist, aiming straight for his opponent’s Jianjing Acupoint.

“I wasn’t finished!”

His opponent hastily dodged and continued speaking:

“So I want to see if you’ve made any progress this past year. Don’t disappoint the high regard Senior Brother Fu has for you…”

“How many moves do you think you can last?”

“You don’t need to guess. In future competitions, when you see me, remember me, and avoid me. My name is Luo Yongxiang.”

“…”

Zhao Rui rolled his eyes, speechless.

’It’s possible your Senior Brother Fu wasn’t defeated by you. He was probably just annoyed to death by your non-stop talking!’

Zhao Rui took two quick steps forward, giving him no chance to spout more nonsense. He instantly used Wandering Dragon Step to close the distance, then unleashed a powerful and heavy Great Strength Vajra Leg.

Snarky thoughts aside, this guy really had some skills.

Luo Yongxiang used a Palm Technique to block all of Zhao Rui’s initial offensive moves.

At the same time, a notification for copying a Martial Art chimed on the system panel.

“Discoverable Martial Art found: Great Compassion Hand. Replicate?”

Zhao Rui’s heart leaped with joy, and he quickly confirmed the copy option.

This person’s Power was no less than Cai Zhengyang’s. His Great Compassion Hand showed no trace of compassion; instead, it had the flavor of Weituo Subduing Demons.

The two exchanged several bouts in a flurry of back-and-forth attacks.

Zhao Rui wasn’t focused on winning or losing. Seeing how sharp his opponent’s Palm Technique was, he switched to Prajna Palm to counterattack.

Both were Buddhist Martial Arts, and both were well-balanced in offense and defense. It was a perfect opportunity to pit them against each other and see which was superior.

Their exchange was like a great general meeting a worthy talent, or a chess master finding their match. The fight was a back-and-forth struggle, and it was difficult to tell who had the upper hand.

Luo Yongxiang was still chattering away at the beginning, but after a barrage of attacks from Zhao Rui, he no longer dared to be distracted and was forced to focus on dealing with Zhao Rui’s endless stream of Prajna Strange Moves.

“Ouch!”

Just then, not far from them, another student from the Eastern Martial Body team was struck on the shoulder with a THUD and sent flying backward.

The sound was so abrupt that everyone present instinctively stopped their Techniques and turned to look.

The student who had fallen stood up, clutching his shoulder, his face bright red.

“Are you alright?”

The assistant coach stepped forward to ask.

“I’m fine.”

The student replied sheepishly, then resumed his stance to continue sparring with his opponent.

A few more minutes passed like this, and then with a SMACK, another student was hit. He stumbled back a few steps and fell, landing flat on his butt.

Zhao Rui glanced over and saw that it was Zheng Minghao from his own school. He was only Level 8, making his strength the lowest among this group.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep