Chapter 52 - 51: Academy Resources! Xiaguo Martial Arts!

Chapter 52: Chapter 51: Academy Resources! Xiaguo Martial Arts!He didn’t rush to sign his name; Jiang Shu carefully read the agreement from start to finish. As expected, even though Jiangnan Academy was in urgent need of Martial Arts Students, they had not agreed to his requests. They were only willing to lend him a thousand academic credits in advance. But this... was enough. What he wanted was to start ahead of the others. Once he became a Martial Artist, he would naturally have the ability to earn more academic credits. After scrutinizing the agreement again and making sure there were no mistakes, Jiang Shu signed his name. At this moment, watching Jiang Shu’s cautious signing, Teacher Li’s heart ached a bit. He had originally thought that coming here today and dealing with a high school student would be a breeze. But he hadn’t expected this high school student to be like an old hand at this. He didn’t doubt that if Jiangnan Academy didn’t allow him to borrow academic credits, Jiang Shu would immediately go register for the college entrance martial arts examination and list Shengjing Academy as his first choice. This student truly had them, Jiangnan Academy, in a bind, exploiting their difficulty in pivoting, hadn’t he? Could Zheng Yanbo have taught him this? With a look of grievance, Teacher Li turned to glance at Zheng Yanbo and dialed the phone number of Principal Zhang from Ji City’s Fifth High School. 「Ji City’s Fifth High School.」 Only ten days remained until the college entrance examination. The atmosphere in the high school was tense and oppressive. In the senior year classroom, piles of exam papers were stacked on the desks, and the once noisy students were now utterly quiet. The entire classroom resonated with only the sound of scribbling. A few students sitting in the back rows also had books on their desks, daydreaming, daring not to make any other sounds. Yan Dehou was sitting on the lecture platform. Suddenly, as if he saw some message, he told everyone to study on their own and walked out of the classroom. "Shuhui, have you been in contact with Jiang Shu recently?" Xu Shuhui was still sorting out her incorrect answers when her deskmate passed her a piece of paper with clearly visible writing on it. "No, not recently." She wrote back quickly. Since Jiang Shu left school, Xu Shuhui had sent him messages, but without exception, there had been no reply. It was as if that number had never been online again. "Do you think he can get into an academy? Last month, Yao Zhenghao from Class Nine managed to achieve a small success in the Horse Stance. He got directly admitted into a first-tier university! I’m so jealous. He doesn’t even need to study; I should have taken up Martial Arts too." "It’s not that easy. Look at how many first and second-year students are practicing Martial Arts, but none of them have made it. Martial Arts definitely require more innate Talent than studying. Have you forgotten? We saw plenty of Martial Arts Students practicing Horse Stance on the sports field during PE class. And still, we hardly hear about anyone achieving small successes." Setting her incorrect answers aside, Xu Shuhui continued writing, "Even if he doesn’t get into an academy, Jiang Shu has already secured a spot in a key university. Our school doesn’t have many who get into key universities; that’s quite impressive. I just don’t know where he’s going." "You’re so concerned, Shuhui, you wouldn’t actually like him, would you?" "Oh, stop it!" As if a thought struck her, Xu Shuhui’s handwriting became a bit sloppy. Just as she was about to write something else, a commotion arose from the corridor outside the classroom. Shortly after, a group of people made their presence known in the hallway. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, hang it right there..." "Move it over a bit..." Vaguely, Xu Shuhui heard Principal Zhang’s voice and Teacher Yan’s voice. But as class was still in session, the curious students in the classroom looked out the window; seeing nothing, they could only sit back down. About twenty minutes later, the noise subsided. Xu Shuhui had gradually immersed herself in her studies, not even noticing the bell signaling the end of class. After organizing her incorrect answers, she took out a practice exam and began working on the questions. She didn’t have Jiang Shu’s martial arts talent. She also lacked the innate academic talent of some study prodigies, who understood everything the teacher explained almost instantly. Her current academic achievements were purely the result of her own diligence. Her pen moved, sometimes quickly, sometimes pausing for thought. Before she knew it, only a handful of students remained in the classroom. Suddenly, her deskmate’s cry of surprise rang in Xu Shuhui’s ears, "Shuhui, Shuhui, quick, come downstairs!" "What for? Why go downstairs?" Still adrift in a sea of problems, Xu Shuhui looked up, her eyes filled with confusion. She shook her head slightly, declining to join her deskmate in her frenzy. It wasn’t mealtime or time to go back to the dorms, so why go downstairs? But before Xu Shuhui’s gaze could return to the test paper, her deskmate pulled her up. "Hurry!" Pulled by her deskmate, she walked down the stairs. By now, the area downstairs was already crowded with groups of students, all looking up, sounds of astonishment spilling from their mouths. Xu Shuhui also followed the crowd’s gaze upwards. To her shock, she saw that each of the teaching buildings was draped with red banners. On the banners, a line of large characters stood out. Clearly visible: Congratulations to our school’s Senior 3, Class 8 student, Jiang Shu, for successfully securing a place at Jiangnan Academy! Completely unaware of the great stir he had once again caused at Ji City’s Fifth High School, Jiang Shu was opening his computer, browsing Jiangnan Academy’s Martial Arts credit exchange website. "Blood Flower Pig: 10 pounds." "Deduct 10 credits?" "Yes." After placing an order, he filled in the address. Jiang Shu then clicked on the pinned video. On the computer screen, a middle-aged man stood as straight as a javelin. "Hello students, I am Xie Feichen, your Martial Arts mentor from Jiangnan Academy." "The path of Martial Arts is endless. The great circulation of qi and blood throughout the body isn’t even considered a starting point! The great circulation merely represents that you have reached the peak of human physical constitution; it does not mean that you have broken through human limits!" "What does it mean to break through the limits? It means that Inner Strength circulates within the body, and when you punch, the force explodes forth, creating a blast in the air." As Xie Feichen spoke, he suddenly threw a punch forward, and a sharp blast resonated in the air. "In the past, in Xia Country’s Martial Arts, there was a saying that ’a sound is worth a thousand gold, but hard to obtain.’ Twenty-five million in Xia Country currency could hardly buy this sound! Although this is an exaggeration, it shows how difficult it is to start on the path of Martial Arts!" "Now, as the world changes greatly, learning Martial Arts has become easier than before. But it’s easier because there are Heaven and Earth Treasure Medicine and exotic beast meats that can rapidly enhance a Martial Artist’s qi and blood." "However, the enhancement of qi and blood has its limits. It’s like you’re just a small bowl; once you’re full, no matter how much more water flows in, it’s futile." "Our practice of Martial Arts is about turning our ’bowl’ into a ’basin,’ and the ’basin’ into a ’bucket’!" "And this, resources cannot bring about. What can be relied upon is one’s own Talent alone!" "So, put away those proud hearts, maintain humility, maintain reverence!" At this point, Xie Feichen paused, then began performing a set of peculiar movements, explaining as he moved, "Visible Strength means breaking the human limit for the first time; this force is unyielding. Dark Force means breaking the limit a second time; this force is supple. At this stage, a Martial Artist’s tendons and the outer membranes of their bones are all interconnected, and Inner Strength will erupt through the pores!" "And the third breaking of the limit is Transforming Strength! Achieving Transforming Strength makes one a contemporary Martial Arts Grandmaster. It permeates the entire body, conditioning the internal organs. One’s senses become so acute that ’not a feather can be added, nor can a fly land unnoticed.’ With robust tendons and clean internal organs, reaching this Realm allows one to easily live past one hundred and twenty years." In the room, Jiang Shu’s mind was surging with excitement. Visible Strength: power is concentrated, force initially cultivated. Dark Force: permeates tendons and the outer membranes of bones. Transforming Strength: force conditions the internal organs. So, the Martial Arts of Xia Country—Visible Strength, Dark Force, and Transforming Strength—didn’t they exactly correspond to the Da Jing Dynasty’s Skin Refining, Bone Tempering, and Organ Training? In Xia Country, comprehending Visible Strength, Dark Force, and Transforming Strength required Talent. But in the Da Jing Dynasty, he only needed to grind his proficiency in Martial Arts. For him, Visible Strength, Dark Force, Transforming Strength... there were simply no thresholds at all!