Chapter 62: Chapter 46: Return

Entering the main hall, the two of them walked over to a desk in the corner.

Teacher Wang was currently meditating with his eyes closed. His rare look of concentration gave him the air of a distinguished master.

“Teacher Wang, you were looking for me!”

Zhao Rui mumbled softly.

Hearing him, Teacher Wang slightly opened his eyes and grunted in acknowledgment, his body still in a meditative posture.

“Starting tomorrow, you two will be assigned to the sparring partner group. As for your training, Zhao Rui, you will still be under Wang Zhe’s supervision. However, your usual team practice activities will now shift to sparring duty.”

After speaking, Teacher Wang turned to Zhang Kui. “Your personality is too restless; you need to be tempered for a while. You’ll be temporarily assigned to the sparring partner group with Zhao Rui… Now, go on!”

After giving his instructions, Teacher Wang waved his hand, dismissing them.

The two acknowledged him and turned to leave. Zhao Rui was in a great mood. He was finally a sparring partner.

’How many days has it been since I last earned any Advancement Points?’

Now that his wish was finally granted, how could he not be happy?

Zhang Kui, on the other hand, looked lonely and dejected, clearly displeased.

“Brother Zhang, let me treat you to some barbecue for lunch?”

With money in his pocket, he had nothing to worry about. Zhao Rui looked at Zhang Kui and made the invitation.

Zhang Kui hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded. “No, let me treat you.”

“It doesn’t matter who pays. It’s on me today. I’ll wait for you after training ends!”

“Mm! Alright then!”

Having made plans for lunch, the two went their separate ways to get back to their own business.

Zhao Rui returned to Wang Zhe’s side to ask for guidance on his Martial Arts bottlenecks.

The Prajna Palm was profound and vast. Although it was only an introductory Palm Technique for the Martial Arts Team, it was already one of the best Martial Arts he had come across.

It was far superior to the likes of the Cyan Cloud Palm or the Taihang Thirteen Palms.

Among the Martial Arts Zhao Rui currently possessed, Cloud Hand Star-Picking, the Taiyi Splitting Light Sword Technique, and Yong Chun Inquiry were the best.

His other Martial Arts were all common, run-of-the-mill stuff. The improvements they offered in terms of Inner Strength circulation and technique variation were extremely limited. Even if mastered, they were merely mundane.

As the saying goes, it’s better not to bite off more than you can chew. Zhao Rui was currently focusing on these few Martial Arts, striving to advance beyond the Master Level and achieve Integration and Mastery.

Progress in this area depended more on his own Cultivation and personal insights.

At 11:30, Zhao Rui finished his training and waited at the hall entrance for Zhang Kui, who still looked downcast. The two of them left the Martial Arts Academy together.

The Martial Arts Academy had its own cafeteria, and it was quite high-end. The buffet inside was rumored to be on par with ones that would cost over two hundred yuan outside the university.

Zhao Rui wanted to try it, but unfortunately, he wasn’t a student of the Martial Arts Academy and didn’t have the privilege.

Instead of eating near the campus, the two took a taxi to a nearby commercial street that was more bustling and had a wider variety of food.

They found a street-side barbecue shop specializing in beef skewers, found an empty table, and sat down. They ordered some skewers and beer and started to eat and drink.

The two didn’t know each other well, so they just made small talk about interesting things happening on campus.

After a few bottles of beer, Zhang Kui looked at Zhao Rui, who was still perfectly relaxed. He couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. “You’re really taking this in stride. Aren’t you the least bit anxious about becoming a sparring partner?”

He had assumed Zhao Rui asked him out for a drink because of the sparring partner assignment. But after all this time, he hadn’t mentioned a single word about it.

“I’m from the Outer Courtyard anyway, so I just do whatever the teacher tells me to do! To be honest, being a sparring partner might actually be the most suitable role for me,” Zhao Rui said with a smile.

Hearing this, Zhang Kui gave a self-deprecating laugh. “That’s true. You’re from the Outer Courtyard, so you probably don’t expect to go far on the team anyway. Sigh!”

Since Zhang Kui had brought it up, Zhao Rui naturally followed his lead.

“So what’s the deal with being a sparring partner on our Martial Arts Team? Brother Zhang, is there something wrong with it?”

“It all goes back to why our Martial Arts Team was established in the first place…”

Zhang Kui raised his glass, clinked it against Zhao Rui’s, and then downed his drink in one gulp.

Apparently, the concept of a Martial Arts Team didn’t exist in this world at first. But later, for various reasons, the international situation deteriorated, and conflicts between nations became constant.

To ease tensions, or perhaps to achieve certain goals, international Martial Dao competitions came into being through the intervention of several major powers.

Consequently, various countries began to establish their own martial arts competition teams, selecting members through a bottom-up, tiered system.

Later, as the international climate stabilized, these competitions didn’t decline. Instead, they flourished even more.

Not only did they spawn entertainment-focused martial arts tournaments, but they also drove a series of related peripheral industries, such as movies, anime, training, and education.

This gradually transformed the Martial Dao from its initial purpose of life-or-death combat for international influence into a form of entertainment and competitive sport.

The amount of money involved each year reached hundreds of billions, even trillions.

In a way, these martial arts competitions became a shortcut for many Martial Artists to get rich and reach the pinnacle of their lives.

As one of the top-ranked major universities in Dongqi, Dongqi University has always been a renowned Martial Arts Training Base in the province.

In addition to the university’s own Martial Arts Team, there are also carefully selected provincial-level professional martial arts teams housed within the Martial Arts Academy.

Zhao Rui was part of the university-level Martial Arts Team, which primarily competed in the Provincial University League, the National University League, and the B-League for adults.

Outstanding members could be selected to join the provincial professional team and participate in more advanced events like the National Martial Arts League.

For a professional martial arts student to make a name for themselves and gain fame and fortune, they need opportunities to stand out and attract the attention of social media.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep