“Su Jie, you’re amazing! You actually scored 740 on this monthly exam and ranked first in the entire city again.”

In the classroom, everyone looked at the score report displayed on the screen. Su Jie was once again in first place, with Qian Zheng following closely behind at 720 points, and Ning Zixi at 719—just one point short of catching up to Qian Zheng.

However, the two of them were still far behind Su Jie.

In their senior year, they had small quizzes every day, but the real exams took place once a month.

After the monthly exam, the citywide scores would be compiled, and students would get a two-day break to relax. Otherwise, being under constant academic pressure every day would be overwhelming. Qian Zheng had been holding back his energy, determined to reclaim the top spot this time.

But Su Jie’s score made him feel a sense of despair.

It was a complete and overwhelming defeat.

Yet, when the results were announced, Qian Zheng remained expressionless, giving no hint of the turmoil in his heart.

“Su Jie, we have a two-day break. Let’s go to Qian Zheng’s combat fitness gym to train together and work on our physical fitness,” Ning Zixi suggested.

“Sounds good.” Su Jie agreed with a smile. He had spent the past month practicing, studying, adjusting his mindset, and strengthening both his physical and mental conditioning. However, he hadn’t had any real combat practice, and he was itching for a fight.

The Starshine Combat Fitness Club was one of the best training facilities in the city. It even had retired professional coaches, making it a great place to spar.

Over the past few days, Su Jie had read numerous martial arts articles, watched training videos of professional fighters from all over the world, and studied ancient boxing manuals. He had also analyzed historical matches in boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts, gaining insights into the styles and strengths of many renowned fighters.

Beyond that, he had even researched the training regimens of special forces from various countries.

This was his true entry into the world of martial arts.

However, the deeper he delved, the more he realized how shallow his knowledge was. This field was incredibly vast. Without at least three to five years of dedicated study, it would be nearly impossible to grasp the fundamentals properly.

Hearing this, Qian Zheng’s interest was piqued. He strode over confidently. “Su Jie, I see you’ve been training a lot lately. Every time you finish a test early, you head to the gym to work out. But that’s just basic fitness. Without a professional coach, incorrect movements can lead to injuries. Let’s go—Starshine has national-level professional trainers who can help with body sculpting.”

Qian Zheng had noticed Su Jie’s routine—finishing exams early and heading straight to the gym.

But he didn’t take Su Jie’s training seriously.

Especially that strange, slow-moving “Hoe Strike” technique, which he mistook for Tai Chi.

To him, it looked awkward and outdated—like something an elderly man in a park, brainwashed by a fake “Qi Master,” would practice.

To most people, “Hoe Strike”did indeed look awkward and unsightly. The movement mimicked a pecking chicken, making the practitioner appear hunched like an old monkey or like a weathered farmer digging in the dirt.

Qian Zheng found this kind of training utterly ridiculous.

“Alright, let’s go.” Ning Zixi was excited. Recently, she had been feeling great—her fitness had improved significantly, and so had her academic performance. This time, she was only one point behind Qian Zheng in the monthly exam.

The three of them left the school.

As soon as they reached the school gate, a business car that had been parked at a distance drove up. A chauffeur stepped out to open the door for them, exuding an air of luxury.

Su Jie accepted the invitation to get in and immediately noticed that the interior of the car had been customized. It was lavishly decorated, featuring a mini-bar and plush sofas, showcasing an extravagant lifestyle.

Qian Zheng took two bottles of purified water from the mini-bar and tossed them to Su Jie and Ning Zixi. “This is fresh from Fiji, airlifted just now—not the kind you find in stores. The taste is exceptionally pure. Try it.”

“The ones on the market these days are mostly fake.” Ning Zixi casually opened a bottle, took a sip, and nodded. “This is indeed sourced from deep volcanic rock aquifers—completely unpolluted. You can tell from the taste.”

Su Jie also took a sip but remained silent. He had never paid much attention to luxury brands of purified water or which country had the best ones. That was something for the wealthy and celebrities to care about.

The only water he regularly drank came from Minglun Martial Arts Academy, which was specifically designed for training purposes. It was actually quite expensive but highly effective.

Minglun Martial Arts Academy’s training water contained added trace elements, specially formulated for fighters.

Professional fighters had to undergo urine and blood tests before and after matches to ensure they hadn’t taken performance-enhancing substances. As a result, their drinking water had to be strictly controlled. Minglun Martial Arts Academy had developed a specialized brand of drinking water specifically for this purpose.

The business car soon arrived at an upscale fitness center.

The Starshine Combat Fitness Club occupied an entire high-rise building, designed like a five-star hotel with premium services.

However, after seeing the leisure facilities at Heart-Cleansing Manor, Su Jie felt that Starshine Combat Fitness Club was a level below. While it appeared grand and luxurious, it lacked a sense of true heritage.

“This building has sixty-two floors. The upper levels house a hotel, while the lower levels include the combat gym, fitness center, yoga studio, and spa. There’s even a panoramic restaurant on the top floor…” Qian Zheng introduced the place enthusiastically. “My family developed this property years ago. Over the past ten years, its value has increased more than tenfold.”

Su Jie could clearly hear the sense of superiority in Qian Zheng’s words, but he didn’t argue. He simply smiled and nodded.

This, however, dampened Qian Zheng’s enthusiasm.

Qian Zheng had actually wanted to see Su Jie’s shocked reaction, which would have given him a sense of superiority.

“Let’s go to the combat area,” Ning Zixi suggested to ease the atmosphere.

The combat area was quite large, with clearly defined sections: karate, kendo, judo, Muay Thai, boxing, and taekwondo. Each section had specialized instructors, and many people were training intensely.

Su Jie took a look around and noticed that most of the practitioners were elite white-collar professionals or wealthy second-generation heirs who were passionate about sports.

This was very different from Minglun Martial Arts Academy and Xixin Manor.

The students at Minglun Martial Arts Academy were mostly from less privileged families, often sent there for discipline, or foreigners eager to learn real martial arts. There were also people like Su Jie, who had once traveled from afar just to test himself. These students generally had lower social status.

On the other hand, Xixin Manor was purely a high-end retreat for the ultra-rich to train and rejuvenate.

Xingyao was somewhere in between. Most of its members were from the middle class. Even those wealthy second-generation heirs who were passionate about sports, while rich, had no real access to the upper echelons of society.

Su Jie had seen enough of the world to make an easy comparison. Ning Zixi and Qian Zheng came from wealthy families, but compared to Zhang Manman, they seemed to lack a certain aura.

“Nice!”

“Great strike!”

“Impressive punches and kicks!”

A burst of enthusiastic cheers echoed through the hall. The energy was familiar to Su Jie. Without even looking, he could tell that someone was competing in the ring.

Hearing those cheers, Su Jie felt a familiar itch deep inside—an uncontrollable excitement and urge to fight.

“Looks like my self-discipline still isn’t strong enough,” Su Jie said with a smile.

“What? Are you interested?” Qian Zheng raised an eyebrow. “I see you practicing traditional martial arts in the gym every day. Why not step into the ring and give it a try? We have small matches here daily, streamed live. Anyone can participate, and winners get prize money.”

Without responding, Su Jie turned to look at the competition rules posted on the wall.

The rules were a direct copy of Minglun Martial Arts Academy’s small-scale ring matches. However, the overall venue, the number of participants, and their skill levels were far inferior.

“Alright, I’d like to give it a try,” Su Jie said, feeling a hint of excitement.

“Great!” Qian Zheng’s eyes lit up. “The participants here are all highly skilled. Look at those two in the ring right now—one is a provincial Muay Thai champion, and the other is a veteran who has competed in many international fights. They’re both instructors from other martial arts gyms who come here to make money. If you fight them, you’ll definitely lose—it’d be pointless. Why don’t we fight instead? I see you training so diligently every day; you must have some skill.”

“That sounds perfect,” Su Jie nodded.

“I’ll go make the arrangements,” Qian Zheng said, afraid Su Jie might back out. He immediately went to inform the staff.

The two instructors who had been fighting in the ring stopped and turned their attention to Su Jie and Qian Zheng as they stepped onto the platform.

“Gloves and protective gear,” the referee, who was also a coach, handed them their equipment.

“Ready?” Qian Zheng immediately raised his guard, assuming a fighting stance. However, as he observed Su Jie, he noticed his opponent showed no intention of making a move. A trace of contempt appeared in his eyes.

Only amateurs acted like this.

“Begin!” The referee dropped his hand between them and stepped back to give them space.

Bang!

Qian Zheng fell flat on the ring.

“What just happened?”

Neither the referee nor the audience understood why he had suddenly fallen. The two fighters had barely made contact, and no punches had been thrown.

“Did I slip?” Qian Zheng got up, looking confused.

But since it was a match, there was no time to dwell on it. He quickly readjusted his stance and seized the opportunity to launch a fierce assault on Su Jie—throwing a flurry of punches.

Yet, just as he reached Su Jie, he tripped over something and lost his balance, crashing to the ground again.

This time, he saw it clearly—Su Jie had subtly extended his leg, hooking him just enough to make him stumble.

“You’re using dirty tricks!” Qian Zheng was furious. He had thought he could easily overpower Su Jie, using this match to vent his frustration from his recent exam failures. But instead, he had been thrown to the ground twice, completely humiliating himself.

“Now that I know what to expect, you won’t trip me again so easily. Once I catch an opening, I’ll make sure you regret it,” Qian Zheng vowed in his mind.

Lowering his stance and keeping his center of gravity stable, he cautiously advanced toward Su Jie, paying close attention to his footing.

Su Jie simply smiled, then hooked his foot again with a movement as swift as a snake’s tail.

Bang!

Qian Zheng was tripped once more and fell to the ground again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep