Chapter 58: Chapter 43: This is the Martial Arts Academy?

After hearing Zhang Kui’s explanation, it dawned on Zhao Rui that he had unknowingly become the first freshman of his year to join the Martial Arts Team.

He figured his counselor, Liu Jie, must have pulled some strings for him, and Principal Hao’s approval had surely been a major factor.

“The Martial Arts Team’s current core members are all seniors and juniors. Sophomores like us are just here to help out, at best…”

Zhang Kui explained as they walked, and before long, they arrived at a two-story building out back. It had the appearance of an ancient structure but was entirely cast in concrete, making it look like a fortress.

“You need a face scan and iris verification to get in and out of here!”

After scanning his face at the security device by the door, Zhang Kui led Zhao Rui into the small building.

The interior of the building was quite modern. A corridor was flanked by many separate rooms, and some of the doors were heavy-duty steel security doors.

“First, come with me to get your baseline stats tested. Then we’ll get you registered.”

Zhang Kui scanned his face in front of a heavy iron door, which then slid open automatically.

Zhao Rui followed him inside and saw rows of cool, blue-white light flowing down the walls like liquid quicksilver, dazzlingly brilliant.

A few holographic screens floated beneath the hexagonal, honeycomb-patterned ceiling. Streams of data unfolded and reorganized in the air like ink dropped into water.

“…”

Zhao Rui was stunned. ’Is this really the Martial Arts Academy? If I wasn’t here myself, I would’ve thought this was the college of science and technology.’

In the corner of the room stood three transparent, cylindrical pod-like structures. Optical fibers covering their surfaces flickered on and off in a breathing rhythm, as if they encapsulated the most profound nebulae from the deepest corners of the galaxy.

Hidden light-conducting fibers in the floor wove a flowing star map, and with each of their steps, ripples of energy-like waves spread out.

“Senior, what is this place?”

Zhao Rui stared, dumbfounded. It felt like watching a sci-fi movie. ’Holy crap,’ he thought, ’this is insane.’

“The Tenglong-3 Martial Dao Analysis Room, developed by the Hua Science Institute. Cool, right? I was stunned the first time I came here too, haha!”

Zhang Kui laughed heartily, as if recalling his own awkwardness during his first visit.

“Yeah, it’s really impressive.”

Zhao Rui nodded.

Zhang Kui walked over to a console and typed away for a moment. He then motioned for Zhao Rui to take off his shoes and step barefoot into one of the pod-like devices.

Zhao Rui did as he was told and went inside. He put a helmet-like device on his head, gripped two handles, and stood in a spread-eagle position.

“Circulate your Inner Strength. Use the output method you’re most familiar with. Don’t worry about crushing anything; it’s all made of high-strength alloy.”

Zhang Kui’s voice sounded from a speaker inside the sealed pod.

Following his instructions, Zhao Rui circulated his Inner Strength. He felt a strange electric current pass through his body, stimulating the Meridians that had been opened within him, bit by bit.

’This feeling…?’

’It’s strangely… comfortable!’

Zhao Rui focused his mind and carefully sensed the flow of this stimulation and the way the Energy was circulating.

Outside the pod, in front of the data display, Zhang Kui’s brows furrowed slightly. Looking at the fluctuating data charts and the multi-dimensional holographic figure, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself, ’This junior’s talent is pretty average.’

“’Meridian permeability: 50%. Dantian expansion speed: medium-low. Inner Strength viscosity: 70%…’”

“’Oh, but one of his acupoints has already opened a path to the Bridge of Heaven and Earth. Heh, interesting!’”

This continued for five or six minutes before Zhang Kui finally turned off the testing device and called Zhao Rui out.

“Senior, how’s my talent?”

Zhao Rui was quite curious about the impressive device and couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s fine, pretty good. Let’s go to the registration room to enter your biometric information!”

Zhang Kui’s reply was casual and obviously a brush-off.

“Uh, Senior, you’re not even trying to hide it. Is it that bad?”

“It’s not bad. You’re actually number one among the current team members.”

“…”

’This senior has such a burly name,’ Zhao Rui thought, ’I didn’t expect him to be such a goofball.’

Zhao Rui sighed. In truth, he was already prepared for this. If his talent were any good, he would have applied directly to the Martial Arts Academy in the first place.

If it weren’t for the boost from his system panel, he would probably still be at the level of a Third-level Martial Artist right now.

“Don’t worry, at least you’ve opened one of your acupoints. You’ve already surpassed many of the third-years.”

Zhang Kui offered a word of comfort. The two of them then left the testing room and hurried to another room.

“Master Deng, a new team member is here. I brought him to get registered.”

After entering, Zhang Kui stooped and peered inside. When he saw an old man lying on a recliner, a sycophantic smile immediately appeared on his face as he spoke.

The old man had a scruffy, salt-and-pepper beard, a wrinkled face, and half-lidded eyes, looking as if he were perpetually half-asleep.

“Oh. The machine’s by the door. Turn it on yourself. The password is…”

After speaking, the old man turned his head away without sparing them another glance.

Zhang Kui shot Zhao Rui a look, signaling him to be quiet. The two of them then tiptoed to a desk, turning on the computer and the connected equipment behind it.

They registered his name and personal information, then collected his facial data, iris scan, and fingerprints…

After completing the process, Zhang Kui said to the old man’s back, “Master Deng, we’re leaving now! We turned off the computer for you!”

“Off you go, off you go!”

The old man couldn’t even be bothered to lift his arm. He mumbled a few words and then fell silent.

Seeing this, Zhang Kui quickly led Zhao Rui out, closed the door, and hurried away from the registration room.

“Senior, who was that…?”

“No idea!”

“…”

’You don’t even know him? You acted like he was some hidden master and totally had me on edge.’

Zhao Rui couldn’t help but roll his eyes. ’I should probably keep my distance from this guy from now on.’

“The senior who handled my registration was the exact same way. In the second semester, when the new freshmen come, you can be the one to handle their registration, ha!”

“…Senior, I’m a freshman too!”

“Oh, I forgot! No worries. You’ve done it once, you’ll be an expert the second time. You can’t expect your senior to keep doing it, right?”

And just like that, Zhang Kui happily passed the torch of future registration duties to Zhao Rui.

After finishing the registration, the two returned to the main hall the way they came.

When Teacher Wang saw them return, he casually tossed a USB drive over. After Zhao Rui caught it, he said, “Inside is the Mental Tranquility Technique. It’s suitable for Martial Dao Cultivation for those above Level 7 but below the Grandmaster Realm. Go back, memorize it, and practice diligently!”

After speaking, he waved his hand, dismissing Zhao Rui.

Zhao Rui said goodbye to Teacher Wang and Zhang Kui, and walked out along the bluestone path.

As he reached the main gate, before he even got close, it swung open automatically with a CREAK.

Zhao Rui’s face twitched. ’So much for profound Inner Strength… It’s just a damn automatic door!’

Back in the main hall.

Teacher Wang looked at the data table on the computer screen, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Zhang Kui, “When you first arrived, what was your meridian permeability again?”

“Eighty-six percent, Teacher!”

“Mm, alright. That’s all. You can go.”

With that, he waved his hand, dismissing Zhang Kui.

…

Night slowly descended upon Dongqi University, trailing the twilight clouds to envelop the brightly lit campus buildings.

Zhao Rui was in his dorm room playing a mobile game with his roommates. They had just returned from dinner after attending two classes in the afternoon.

Just as the game was getting exciting, there was a knock on the dorm room door. Le Bin, who was closest, casually opened it while still staring at his phone.

“Excuse me, is Zhao Rui here?”

Two male students he didn’t recognize came in.

Hearing his name, Zhao Rui looked up slightly and replied, “I’m Zhao Rui. And you are?”

“Oh, we’re from the department’s student council. My name is Luo Zhengwen, and I’m the vice-president. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about, if you have a moment?”

The young man in the lead wore square-rimmed glasses and looked polite and cultured.

’The student council?’

Zhao Rui frowned. ’I’ve never had anything to do with them.’

But they were, after all, the “governing” body for students, so Zhao Rui smiled, put down his game, and nodded. “I’m free. Should we talk here, or go outside?”

Seeing Zhao Rui agree, the man breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “Let’s talk outside the dorm.”

Zhao Rui nodded and went out of the dormitory building with the two of them.

When they reached the small plaza by the entrance, Luo Zhengwen got straight to the point. “Here’s the thing. We came to invite you to join our student council. If you join, you’ll be made a vice-president.”

“Huh?”

Zhao Rui was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood. He then smiled and said, “I’m just an ordinary student. I’ll be sure to stay out of your way.”

During military training, Zhao Rui had become the standout figure among the department’s freshmen. On top of that, his personal Combat Power was on par with students from the Martial Arts Academy.

How could the student council not take notice?

Although they didn’t know if Zhao Rui would be a troublemaker in the future, it was better to be safe than sorry and pull him into their organization beforehand.

By bringing him into the fold, their interests would be aligned, which should solve most potential problems, right?

“Our president has also spoken with your faculty advisor, who also spoke highly of your capabilities.”

“No, thank you. I’m pretty busy and not interested in joining the student council.”

“Well…”

“If that’s all, I’ll be heading back.”

Zhao Rui smiled, then turned and went back to his dorm.

“So…”

After Zhao Rui left, the student standing behind Luo Zhengwen spoke up.

“It’s fine. We’ve said what we needed to say. Let’s go. We’ll report back to the president.”

Luo Zhengwen turned and left the small plaza.

Back in the dorm, Jian Congsheng asked curiously, “What did the student council want with you?”

“It was nothing. Just some Martial Arts Academy stuff.”

“Oh!”

Matters of the Martial Dao were over Jian Congsheng’s head, and seeing that Zhao Rui didn’t want to elaborate, he dropped the subject.

In his heart, he understood that he and Zhao Rui were on different paths. Although they shared a dorm, their lives were completely different.

Even their futures would be different. Even if Zhao Rui made no further progress in the Martial Dao, with his current skill, he would still do very well in society.

But since fate had brought them together in the same dorm, it was best to stay on good terms.

Students are far more pragmatic than adults give them credit for.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, after finishing his morning major-specific classes, Zhao Rui took his course schedule and hurried to the Martial Arts Academy.

It was his second time here, but Zhao Rui was still amazed by the quaint, ancient-looking Zen Monastery.

’It must have cost a fortune, no doubt about it!’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep