Chapter 8: The Power of the Lunge Thrust

Chapter 8: The Power of the Lunge Thrust

After school, Chen Shouyi quietly opened his attribute panel.

"Willpower: 11"

His eyes widened slightly in disbelief. He had checked it once in the morning, and back then, his Willpower attribute was only 10.0. Yet, in just one afternoon, it had leaped to 11—the first of all his attributes to reach this value.

Chen Shouyi recalled the Martial Arts class, where he seemed to have overcome the deep-rooted timidity and inferiority in his nature, boldly stepping forward. He remembered how effortlessly he had conversed with his classmates afterward, his mind sharp and agile...

Thinking back now, it felt almost surreal, as if he had become a different person.

So this was Willpower!

His thoughts wandered.

He truly was no longer the same.

Feeling himself instinctively hunching his shoulders again, he suddenly lifted his head and looked straight ahead.

...

Beside him, Sun Xin, walking alongside, remained oblivious to Chen Shouyi's subtle change. Scratching his scalp vigorously, a flurry of dandruff scattered before he wiped his greasy hand on his pants. "What are you guys doing this weekend?" he asked the two.

"Sleeping, gaming—what else?" Zhao Yifeng said.

"I haven’t decided yet. Might sign up for a tutoring class," Chen Shouyi replied after a moment’s thought.

The culture of Martial Arts at Dongning Fifth High School wasn’t particularly strong. The Martial Arts class mainly served to physically exercise the students, with pitifully little content. The Lunge Thrust in swordplay alone took an entire year to learn, aside from some sprinting and strength training—far from meeting individualized demands.

Moreover, his Lunge Thrust was now on the right track. The only thing lacking was the speed of muscle reaction, which required thousands, even tens of thousands, of repeated drills to hone.

The process of muscle exertion and bodily coordination needed to solidify completely, turning the Lunge Thrust into an instinctive movement. But this couldn’t be achieved in a short time.

He felt it was time to learn other basic sword techniques.

"You two are so boring!" Sun Xin rolled his eyes.

...

For some reason, Zhao Yifeng was unusually quiet today, hardly speaking a word along the way. But Chen Shouyi wasn’t the most perceptive person, so he didn’t notice anything amiss.

He wasn’t heading the same way as the other two, so after retrieving his bicycle, they parted.

...

"Dad, Mom, I’m home!"

After parking his bike in the back garage, he entered the restaurant but received no response. His parents were watching TV in the dining area, along with several shop owners from nearby.

"What’s going on?" His heart skipped a beat.

He quickly looked up at the TV, where a beautiful news anchor was speaking with solemn gravity:

"According to information obtained by our reporters, this Terrifying Bird from the Otherworld originated from Large Wormhole 13541, located 15,000 meters above the ground. It broke through the military’s fire blockade and, despite injuries, flew hundreds of kilometers before being shot down by fighter jets. It ultimately crashed in Zhongming Street, Ningzhou City..."

Chen Shouyi’s heart jolted. Ningzhou was the prefecture-level city to which Dongning belonged, merely a few dozen kilometers away.

He turned his gaze to the video, where the camera footage was shaking violently. A terrifying bird with a ferocious appearance was struggling incessantly on a bustling street, while countless people scattered in panic, their screams rising and falling.

This was a colossal bird, its sheer size occupying two entire lanes. No bird on Earth could grow to such proportions—even the largest land animal, the African elephant, paled in comparison.

Though severely injured, with many parts of its body mangled and bleeding profusely, the grievous wounds only seemed to fuel its savagery. It relentlessly pounced on the fleeing crowd, leaving behind a trail of corpses.

...

Ever since Earth merged with the Otherworld twenty years ago, incidents of terrifying beasts and barbaric beings breaking through military blockades had become commonplace worldwide.

The gravity of the Otherworld was three times that of Earth, meaning even an ordinary creature from there became an extreme danger upon arriving here, often inciting widespread panic among humans.

In truth, the greatest threat wasn’t these creatures but the viruses and bacteria from the Otherworld.

In the first few years after the fusion, over a dozen deadly outbreaks of Class A Acute Infectious Diseases erupted globally, claiming the unnatural lives of more than a billion people. Some small nations were even wiped out entirely.

Fortunately, in recent years, with the rapid advancement of medical technology and the gradual development of human antibodies, such large-scale fatalities had dwindled, becoming rare occurrences.

...

A few minutes later, perhaps due to the excessive gore, the news segment was abruptly cut off. The restaurant crowd gradually dispersed, murmuring among themselves.

"You're back." Chen Mu, her face slightly pale, seemed to finally notice Chen Shouyi's return.

"Yeah."

"Don’t dwell on it. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you." Chen Dawei pretended nonchalance as he turned off the TV, forcing a smile.

...

Chen Shouyi opened his mouth, wanting to ask, but sensed his parents clearly didn’t wish to discuss it.

"Just some greens and braised pork ribs over rice."

After a pause, he added, "This Saturday, I want to sign up for a supplementary class."

Faced with her son’s rare display of ambition, Chen Mu, despite being unsettled by the horrifying news, couldn’t help but brighten. "As long as it helps with the college entrance exams, your father and I will support you. Why do we work so hard every day if not to give you a better future—a decent job, an easier life?"

"But I want to join a Martial Arts Supplementary Class."

Chen Mu froze, her earlier delight vanishing in an instant.

"What? You’re already in your final year of high school, and you want to train in Martial Arts now?

"It’s fine to set aside some time for exercise, but it can’t be your main focus.

"Martial Arts depends on talent. If you had your sister’s gifts, I wouldn’t hesitate to let you pursue it. Our family isn’t wealthy, but we can afford it. The problem is—can you afford to waste your time?"

Chen Dawei remained silent, clearly also opposed to squandering time on this. If his son still had a chance by focusing on academics, Martial Arts offered none at all.

Chen Shouyi fell silent. In the past, under his mother's domineering presence, he would have reluctantly submitted despite his unwillingness, accustomed to enduring everything. But today, a powerful urge seemed to drive him to prove something:

"Mom, I’ve never slacked off in my studies. I’ve been working hard these days. I just want to carve out a little time to prepare for dual cultivation in Martial Arts—to have a backup plan.

Especially recently, I feel like I’ve made great progress. My body has grown much stronger. In today’s Martial Arts class, the teacher even praised me specifically. I think there’s real hope.

Dad, Mom, I’ve always listened to you. If you told me to go east, I’d never go west. I know you have my best interests at heart, but today, I hope you’ll consider my thoughts."

Chen Mu’s lips parted slightly as she exchanged a glance with Chen Dawei, both seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes.

Was this really their son—the one who was usually silent, the kind you couldn’t squeeze a word out of with three strikes?

"Then tell us first, why did your Martial Arts teacher praise you?" Chen Mu’s attitude softened slightly, but she still couldn’t quite believe it. She knew her son best—since childhood, what had he ever excelled at?

"Because my Lunge Thrust is the best in the class," Chen Shouyi said with a hint of pride.

To prove it, he grabbed a chopstick from the dining table, using it as a makeshift sword.

Seizing this rare chance to show off in front of his parents, he couldn’t help but get carried away. Without thinking, he thrust it toward the wall.

From the push of his toes, the force traveling through his body, to the final thrust—it was executed seamlessly, swift as lightning, textbook-perfect.

Thud!

The next moment, the wooden chopstick pierced through the surface tile, half of it embedded in the wall.

"Uh—" Chen Shouyi was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected his Lunge Thrust to be so powerful. He’d assumed the chopstick would snap—after all, the wall was covered in tiles, incredibly hard. In his mind, how could a wooden chopstick possibly penetrate?