Chapter 91: Chapter 59: The Soft Persimmon Hardens

“Draw from the strengths of many schools, absorb them as your own, and through Integration and Mastery, you will discover your true self!”

Zeng Hongyi scanned the crowd and said slowly, “I hope all of you can be like Zhao Rui, adept at analyzing and innovating. If not for the grandmasters who came before us and forged new paths, how could the Martial Arts of today be so prosperous!”

“We understand!”

The students replied in unison.

Zeng Hongyi nodded in satisfaction. While these students weren’t exceptionally talented, they had a solid foundation. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been admitted to Dongqi University’s Martial Arts Academy.

There was certainly a gap between them and the true geniuses, but on the Martial Dao, many factors contributed to success.

If one gave up on the Martial Dao simply because of a lack of talent, there wouldn’t be so many peerless masters who had started from behind and surpassed everyone else.

Among the martial arts masters he knew, there were quite a few who had been mediocre in their youth but later encountered a series of fortuitous events and broke through their own limitations.

…

“Third-year unofficial members, report to me!”

Two days later, during training practice, Zeng Hongyi also called over the few remaining unofficial third-year members.

According to Wang Zhanshan’s new arrangement, he would focus on training the first-year freshmen. The other assistant coach, Tian Lei, would be responsible for training the official team members and the fourth-years.

As for Zeng Hongyi, in addition to the second-year members he already managed, the unofficial third-year members were now added to his group.

The three coaches had clearly defined roles, a major improvement over the somewhat chaotic training methods of the past.

Clearly, Wang Zhanshan had much higher expectations for this new batch of freshmen.

Anyone with eyes could see it.

Zhang Kui and the others patted Zhao Rui’s shoulder in encouragement. After all, this new arrangement was equivalent to kicking him out of the “reserve talent pool.”

“Hey, what are you guys doing? You’re making it look like I’m heartbroken!”

Zhao Rui looked at them, speechless.

“It’s alright. We understand how you feel.”

Zhang Kui nodded seriously.

“Fine! I admit it. Senior Sister Qin, can I borrow your shoulder to cry on?”

Zhao Rui said, looking at the beautiful senior sister beside him with a sorrowful expression.

“Sure!”

A cold smile played on Qin Rui’s lips. She slowly raised a slender hand, her delicate fingers forming a pincer-like gesture.

“Let’s see just how tough your skin is!”

As Qin Rui spoke, she even made a show of gritting her teeth.

“Never mind, never mind! I’ll just use Senior Brother Zhang’s!”

Zhao Rui pretended to be scared and quickly leaned toward Zhang Kui.

“Oh, now you come to me? Too late. These shoulders don’t support men!”

“Sigh!”

Zhao Rui was instantly “overcome with grief,” sighing dramatically.

WHAP!

Li Xinran, unable to watch any longer, walked over and gave Zhao Rui a kick on the butt. She scoffed, “You’re so dramatic. I still haven’t perfected my Reincarnation technique. You can be my training partner.”

With that, she dragged Zhao Rui toward a sparring ring to the side.

Zhao Rui strained against her pull, turning back to his friends and shrugging. “She won’t even give me a moment to grieve!”

“You don’t deserve it. Slackers don’t have the right to be sad!”

“Sigh!”

After a few more jokes, the group went their separate ways for their Cultivation.

The newly added third-year members watched them fooling around and couldn’t help but shake their heads.

’What a hopeless bunch.’

Compared to these “carefree” second-years, they were the ones who were truly in a bad mood.

They had originally thought that with the fourth-year seniors leaving the team in less than a year, they would become the focus of the training.

After all, this group of second-years had no one who was particularly outstanding.

For at least the next year or two, the entire Dongqi Martial Arts Team would have to rely on them, the third-years, to hold the line.

But reality had dealt them a heavy blow. Before they even had a chance to shine, they were “demoted.”

Under these circumstances, it would be a wonder if any of them looked happy.

“What are you all standing around for? Get to your Cultivation! You’re not practicing Martial Arts for the Martial Arts Team. If you don’t work hard yourselves, you can’t count on anyone.”

Zeng Hongyi clapped his hands from the side, rousing the dazed third-year members.

After they dispersed, Zeng Hongyi couldn’t help but glance toward the main hall, his expression complicated.

…

With the addition of the freshmen, the entire Martial Arts Team felt more lively, and the training became much more structured than before.

Physical conditioning, equipment training, weapons combat, aerobic and anaerobic recovery, static simulation, hydrotherapy…

Seeing the treatment the freshmen were getting, Zhao Rui finally realized that for the past few months he’d been here, Wang Zhanshan had clearly been slacking off, with no real intention of managing the Martial Arts Team.

’Unbelievable…’

’Forget it. Getting angry isn’t worth it.’

However, putting his personal feelings aside, the current training was actually quite good for Zhao Rui.

At least it was finally structured.

And with the new members, his potential sparring partners would increase, which in turn meant he could earn more system benefits.

Perhaps because Zhao Rui had “impersonated” a senior before, some of the more arrogant first-years were slightly annoyed with him.

As soon as the sparring practice class began, several freshmen called out Zhao Rui by name, asking him to be their training partner.

Wang Zhanshan had intended this combat practice class as a way to test the practical fighting skills of the new first-year members, while also giving them a chance to show off in front of the entire team.

He wanted all the team members to understand why he placed so much importance on this group of freshmen.

Seeing a few of them step forward, everyone’s gaze turned to Zhao Rui, who was standing with the second and third-year students.

No matter how easygoing he had been when he first met these freshmen, in their eyes, he was still an outsider.

A Martial Arts Student from the Outer Courtyard, who had somehow gotten into the Martial Arts Team on his own.

His talent was said to be average, too.

No matter how you looked at it, he wasn’t one of them.

That’s just how people are. They often harbor the greatest malice toward those who are not their own kind.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep