Chapter 12: Rapid Growth

Chapter 12: Rapid Growth

The next morning, he discovered his physique and strength had each increased by 0.1 points, with his strength reaching 10.6 and his physique hitting 10.5. Stunned by such an astonishing rate of improvement, he felt his confidence growing even stronger.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before he could truly pass… the Martial Apprentice Examination.

In the morning, he practiced Swordsmanship as usual.

After lunch, as soon as the clock struck twelve, he quickly rode his bicycle to the Youth Martial Arts Training Center.

He had assumed he would be the first to arrive, but to his surprise, many students were already waiting on the benches outside.

"Chen Shouyi, you signed up for this class too?" Before he could even get close, Guo Qianqian, whom he had met the day before, stood up and waved at him. Beside her sat her boyfriend, Lin Feng, who had clearly accompanied her.

"What a coincidence! I found out about this class online. I heard the Tutor’s skill level is incredibly high, so I came here because of his reputation." Now facing Guo Qianqian, Chen Shouyi could treat her with a calm demeanor, smiling as he spoke.

Lin Feng glanced up at him in surprise. This was an advanced class, and the fees were steep. Those who enrolled were usually confident about passing the Martial Apprentice Examination. He felt he had underestimated Chen Shouyi, though he didn’t dwell on it—after all, Chen Shouyi’s appearance posed little threat to him.

As the clock neared one in the afternoon, students gradually trickled in.

Including Chen Shouyi, there were eleven in total—four girls and seven boys, all seemingly high school students.

...

The Tutor strode into the classroom with light, brisk steps and clapped his hands.

"Unless otherwise notified, classes will be held every Sunday at one in the afternoon. It’s best if none of you are late.

"I assume everyone here is preparing for the Martial Apprentice Examination.

"Whether Swordsmanship is easy to pass or whether you can defeat the examination robot in combat—well, it’s both simple and difficult. The key lies in whether your sword techniques flow naturally from your mind and whether your Basic Step is well-practiced.

"Many people mistakenly believe that mastering as many foundational sword moves as possible is the way to go. That’s not true. In real combat, fights are often resolved within a few moves. Unless it’s a sparring match, prolonged stalemates rarely happen.

"Mastering one move thoroughly is better than dabbling in a hundred!

"Even if you’ve only learned the simplest Lunge Thrust, honing it to perfection can easily get you through the examination.

"Generally speaking, for a Martial Apprentice who hasn’t yet reached the level where techniques become instinctive, it’s best not to exceed three moves. Otherwise, your focus will scatter, leaving you mediocre in everything."

Chen Shouyi felt as if he had been jolted awake. The joy of learning new sword techniques the day before instantly faded. His school’s martial arts teacher had said something similar, but never with such penetrating insight.

"Any standard sword stance, with slight variations, can become a formidable sword technique. For this first lesson, I’ll still be teaching thrust techniques. You’ve already learned the Lunge Thrust. Today, I’ll teach you the Upper Thrust and Lower Thrust, as well as the application of Basic Step in combat."

...

Unbeknownst to him, nearly a month had passed since the start of the school year. The first monthly exam of his senior year was fast approaching.

Rumor had it that after this exam, there would be a Parent-Teacher Meeting. Sun Xin finally felt a pervasive sense of anxiety, vaguely foreseeing his own miserable fate.

"How's your preparation going?"

"What preparation?" Chen Shouyi snapped out of his practice problems and turned to ask in confusion.

"The exam next Monday?" Sun Xin was somewhat irritated by Chen Shouyi's calm demeanor.

"I’ve prepared everything I needed to. It just depends on how difficult the test is," Chen Shouyi replied.

Over the past month, he hadn’t slacked off in his studies. Whether his grades would improve remained to be seen, but the attributes related to his knowledge had generally increased by one point, with some even rising by two.

"Ugh, I should’ve studied harder," Sun Xin sighed. This month, he had been too busy fooling around and barely touched his books.

"You’re already in the terminal stage of laziness—what’s the point of treatment now?" Wang Dage, sitting behind them, leaned over and gloated. "Might as well spend some money to hire a ‘parent’ instead."

Sun Xin’s eyes lit up for a moment before he slumped again. "I wish I could, but no way. The homeroom teacher already visited my house. If I get caught, it might literally cost me my life."

His father was a military man—when he hit, he hit hard.

"Then there’s no helping it. Brother Yi’s got the right mindset, though. Why are you still bothering with studying so seriously? You should be able to pass the Martial Apprentice Examination by now, right?" True to his nickname, Wang Dage was tall and burly, with a booming voice that drew the attention of several classmates, all seemingly curious about whether Chen Shouyi could pass the exam.

Chen Shouyi looked up. By now, he had grown accustomed to the gazes of others and calmly replied after a moment of thought, "Still a ways off. My physical condition isn’t up to par yet. Whether I can pass the spring admissions for the Martial Arts Academy depends on luck."

Over the past ten days, through persistent practice of the optimized Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques, all his primary physical attributes—except agility—had reached 11 points. Even his agility had climbed to 10.9.

In concrete terms, his bench press had now reached 150 kg, still a considerable distance from the 200 kg standard for the male Martial Apprentice Examination.

Of course, if his progress continued at the astonishing rate of the previous month, he’d meet the standard in just over a month, maybe two at most.

But the closer his body approached its limits, the slower the improvements from the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques became. He could already feel his recent progress gradually slowing down.

"That’s still impressive. You could always take the exam next year. If I were you, I’d have dropped out already," Wang Dage said enviously. His own physique was decent, but his Swordsmanship remained hopeless—his muscles were too stiff, and no amount of practice seemed to help.

The Martial Arts Academy’s admissions weren’t limited to high school graduates. Anyone under 24 who passed the Martial Apprentice Examination could enroll for further training.

"Shao Dawei from the class next door only attended school for a few days before taking a year off to focus on the Martial Apprentice Examination. His physical strength is around 160 kg, and his Swordsmanship is far worse than yours," Hei Pi, sitting in the front row, chimed in as he turned around.

Chen Shouyi couldn't help but feel somewhat helpless. He never expected his progress to be so astonishing—within less than a month, he could already glimpse the threshold of becoming a Martial Apprentice.

He had no idea how to bring it up to his parents, how to make them believe that their eldest son, who had always been mediocre since childhood, was actually a martial arts prodigy just like his younger sister. It wouldn’t be long before he could pass the Martial Apprentice Examination.

Nowadays, though he still attended classes every day and studied diligently, it was merely out of habit—after all, he had nothing better to do.

...

The school bell finally rang. Chen Shouyi grabbed his bag from under the desk and headed out.

"Wait for me!" Sun Xin quickened his pace to catch up.

"Have you been watching that show, The War of the Divine Pantheon?"

"Nope." Chen Shouyi had been swamped every single day lately—where would he find time for TV?

"They say it’s adapted from real historical events of the divine factions in the Otherworld. It’s seriously good." Sun Xin tried to sell it, but seeing Chen Shouyi’s lack of interest, he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Ever since entering their final year of high school, Chen Shouyi had drifted further and further away from the group.

What was once a trio had now dwindled to just the two of them. For some reason, Zhao Yifeng no longer hung out with them, growing more distant by the day. Once, Sun Xin had even gone out of his way to approach him, but Zhao Yifeng ignored him and walked away alone.

Perhaps Chen Shouyi could vaguely understand Zhao Yifeng’s feelings. They used to be the same kind of people—insecure and overly sensitive, living like snails in a damp, shadowy world, afraid of getting hurt, afraid of judgmental stares. Only those like them could communicate in silent understanding.

But now, Chen Shouyi had climbed out of that mire. To Zhao Yifeng, he was no longer one of them.

Just then, a fighter jet roared past at low altitude, vanishing into the distance in an instant.

Chen Shouyi looked up at the jet, his heart sinking. There must have been another incident somewhere. This month alone, the news had reported over six Otherworld creature invasions.

The worst one involved five barbarians who had slipped into their world and brutally slaughtered entire villages in remote mountainous areas. Over a thousand people—men, women, and children—were beheaded, their corpses piled into an altar, as if conducting a blood sacrifice.

Even with the censored blur on the news, that horrifying, grotesque image steeped in religious ritualism had sent chills down his spine.