Chapter 66: Chapter 48: Finally Able to Copy the Prajna Palm

In a corner of the Martial Arts Arena, six students—five sophomores and one freshman, Zhao Rui—stood in a single line. With their hands clasped behind their backs, they listened intently to the instructions of assistant coach Zeng Hongyi.

The Martial Arts Team had three assistant coaches, all of whom had previously been away with the official team members for an out-of-town competition.

Now that they were back, they naturally took over the training of the younger team members.

Wang Zhanshan was the second head coach, but also the de facto head coach, who focused more on the Martial Arts Team’s primary responsibilities.

During the last martial arts competition, Elder Ge had gone to see a friend, so another coach had taken the team to compete. That was why Wang Zhanshan had remained behind.

“As they say, technique without power is unrefined, and power without technique is ineffective. Theory alone is useless… Real combat is the only true test of one’s training…”

Zeng Hongyi was true to his name—an upright man who liked to teach with patient and earnest guidance, moving his students with words.

But to these sophomores, he was honestly a bit long-winded. ’Who doesn’t understand these grand principles!’

After lecturing for about ten minutes until his mouth was dry, Coach Zeng had everyone begin sparring practice.

Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui would have to spar in turn with the four sophomores present, each match lasting no more than ten minutes.

During each match, the others were to observe from the sidelines, identify the strengths and weaknesses of both combatants, and then analyze and summarize their findings in relation to their own skills.

“Zhang Kui, you’d better go easy on me later!”

A sophomore standing beside Zhang Kui raised an eyebrow, his voice laced with ridicule as he spoke.

Both were sophomores who had joined the Martial Arts Team together. But now Zhang Kui was just a sparring partner, so the speaker naturally felt a sense of superiority.

Zhang Kui remained silent at his words, but his gradually reddening complexion showed that he wasn’t as calm as he appeared.

“Brother Zhang, let me go up. You can rest first!”

Zhao Rui had naturally overheard their exchange and quickly spoke up.

Zhang Kui was about to refuse, but when he caught sight of Zhao Rui’s genuinely determined gaze, he changed his mind. “Alright!” he said.

“Ooh, it’s just sparring, not a competition. Are you shy? Oh, right, I forgot this is your first time as a sparring partner.”

The corner of the sophomore’s mouth curled into a sneer. He clearly wanted to provoke Zhang Kui into sparring with him.

Zhang Kui still said nothing.

“Alright, let’s begin. First up is Cao Guannan. Who from the sparring partner group is going up?”

A moment later, Coach Zeng, who had finished setting up the sparring monitoring equipment on the side, glanced at the time and called out the question.

“Coach, I’ll go!”

Zhao Rui immediately answered, afraid that Zhang Kui would change his mind.

Seeing that it wasn’t Zhang Kui stepping up, Cao Guannan, who had been provoking him, shot Zhang Kui a sidelong glance and then shook his head in disdain.

“Junior Brother, please guide me!”

On the sparring platform, after the standard exchange of bows, Cao Guannan crossed his palms, shifted his steps, and squatted slightly, assuming the opening stance of the Prajna Palm as he fixed his gaze on Zhao Rui.

“After you, Senior Brother.”

The words had barely faded when, in a flash, Cao Guannan suddenly thrust a palm toward a vital point on Zhao Rui’s chest.

Zhao Rui had kept his shoulders low and body bent, wary of an attack. Seeing him lunge, he quickly retreated a step and struck out with a palm of his own, also using the Prajna Palm.

As their two palms met, their bodies jolted. Each knew the other’s Palm Force was considerable.

But Cao Guannan wasn’t surprised. Instead, a look of delight spread across his face.

He had heard that this year’s freshman class had a few prodigies who, at their young age, had already reached Level 7 or 8, their strength rivaling that of sophomores and juniors.

He had assumed that Zhao Rui, this freshman who had popped up out of nowhere, was one of them.

But after that first exchange, he realized that while his opponent’s Power was impressive, it was still a sliver weaker than his own. ’Clearly, he’s no Martial Dao prodigy.’

Greatly relieved, he unleashed a fluid set of Prajna Palm techniques, each move aimed straight for Zhao Rui’s vital points.

Seeing the aggressive assault, Zhao Rui used the Prajna Palm’s principles of feints and real attacks to barely parry a few blows before quickly switching to Cloud Hand Star-Picking to defend against his opponent’s endless stream of Killing Moves.

After all, he had only recently learned the Prajna Palm and was far from being able to execute it fluidly.

“Junior Brother, you’re a little slow! Faster!”

Cao Guannan yelled as he attacked, his arrogance growing by the second.

Martial Artists come in all dispositions. Some are reserved, so naturally, there are also flamboyant ones like him.

You couldn’t say he was stupid for not hiding his full capabilities. The path of the Martial Dao places great emphasis on cultivating one’s mind. Only when one’s martial arts are in harmony with their inner self can their true power be unleashed.

This was a true reflection of his inner state when facing an opponent.

Power is born from the mind, energy from the spirit!

Only then can one achieve unity between warrior and technique!

Zhao Rui ignored his taunts, continuing to struggle against the torrent of Palm Force that rained down on him like a violent storm.

He retreated, leaping and dodging around the platform to evade his opponent’s Killing Moves.

’Prajna Palm Copy Progress: Five percent… Six percent…’

’Watching Cao Guannan attack with such vigor, Zhao Rui really wanted to say, “Keep it up, Senior Brother!”’

They exchanged nearly fifty moves in an instant. Although Zhao Rui was struck by a few palms, he managed to protect his vital points, so the hits were superficial.

Seeing his prolonged assault yielding no results, Cao Guannan’s expression darkened, and a vicious glint flashed in his eyes.

Just as he was striking with his palm, he suddenly planted a foot, launched himself into the air, and twisted his body. Bracing himself on the ground with one hand, he unleashed a powerful and heavy side kick while airborne.

This move was completely outside the scope of the Prajna Palm.

A sharp glint flashed in Zhao Rui’s eyes. He executed a downward pressing block to parry the side kick, then shifted into a stable, clamping stance, using his opponent’s momentum to neutralize the surprise attack.

TWEET!

“Cao Guannan, that’s a foul!”

Watching from the side, Zeng Hongyi immediately blew his whistle, stopping the match.

“I’m sorry, Teacher Cao. I lost control for a moment.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep