Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

"Zhang Shijie, stop being so arrogant!"

From the group of poor students, a dark-skinned, lean, and wiry young man strode forward, veins bulging on his neck. Pointing at the wealthy young man opposite him, he shouted resentfully:

"So what if you come from a good family? Your Zhang family used all their resources to build up your cultivation level. What kind of real skill is that?"

"You bully us because of your family's wealth, and you have the nerve to swagger around like this?"

Upon hearing this, the young masters from the opposing aristocratic families sneered, while Si Tianhu laughed loudly, fiercely defending his master:

"Hahaha, pouring out all resources? That's the biggest joke I've heard all day!"

"You're talking nonsense!"

"Our young master Zhang began refining his flesh at eight, his bones at ten, and his bones at thirteen. Now, of the two hundred and sixteen pieces of his body, only sixteen remain unrefined."

"Such talent, yet you still rely on drugs! Idiot!"

Zhang Shijie stood in the morning light, his posture dignified, a look of disdain on his face. He lazily yawned and arrogantly uttered, "Ha!"

He stepped forward, surveyed the group of impoverished youths, and declared loudly, "Since you're not convinced, how about we make a bet?"

"What bet?"

"Spit it out!"

"How about a martial arts duel between us aristocratic playboys and you bunch of poor geniuses a month from now?"

"The competition will be divided into three levels: Skin Refining, Flesh Refining, and Bone Refining, best of three rounds! If we win, for the next year, all the rights to use the Martial Hall's medicinal herbs, equipment, and so on will belong to us!"

"Even items given to you privately by your instructors must be handed over!"

"What if you lose?"

From within the group of people from humble backgrounds, a voice shouted out.

Behind Zhang Shijie, Si Tianhu stepped forward, chin held high, his face full of arrogance, and raised his voice to mock:

"Why don't you take a piss and look at yourselves in the mirror? You bunch of poor, peasant bastards, even if you train for another ten years, you still won't be able to even touch the hem of Young Master Zhang's clothes, yet you dare to dream of winning the competition?"

As soon as Si Tianhu uttered his sarcastic remark, Zhang Shijie instantly frowned and glanced at Si Tianhu.

Si Tianhu shuddered and immediately fell silent, standing still and not daring to breathe.

Zhang Shijie then turned around, stroking the jade pendant in his palm, looking down contemptuously at the group of poor young men, his tone flat:

"There's no point in arguing. I'm not going to take advantage of you. If you win, the Martial Hall will give you all its resources for the whole year. My Zhang family isn't a stingy bunch, so we'll give you the same amount of resources as a reward. Consider it my charity."

He raised his chin, a mocking smile playing on his lips, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt:

"I've laid out my conditions. Let's see if you bunch of peasants dare to accept them!"

Zhang Shijie's words caused an uproar among the underprivileged youths.

They had long been fed up with the open and covert contempt and exclusion from the scions of aristocratic families.

At this moment, Zhang Shijie, in front of everyone, relinquished the bet in a condescending manner.

The pent-up frustration and resentment surged up.

The thin, dark-skinned boy who had spoken earlier took a deep breath, not waiting to consider the pros and cons, and gritted his teeth to agree:

"Go ahead! What's there to be afraid of? Wait till I beat you to a pulp!"

In the group of students from poor families, the young men echoed each other, their emotions running high, and a fierce passion burning in their eyes.

From the side or rear of the crowd, Wang Meng, the head instructor of the martial arts academy, wearing a long robe, slowly walked into the training ground, stopping between the two camps:

"Young people should have the spirit of youth. Since you both voluntarily made this bet, I will be your witness today!"

He paused slightly, his expression becoming more solemn, and then laid out two rules:

"Firstly, the competition will end when it reaches the end. The competition will only be judged on the superiority of the skills. It is not allowed to maliciously injure or destroy a person's martial arts foundation. However, fists have no eyes. If someone is accidentally left with a disability, no action will be taken after the competition."

"Secondly, since it is a voluntary competition, the outcome depends on the individual's ability. During the competition, participants may bring their own medicines and weapons, but long-range hidden weapons are prohibited."

"If either of these two rules is violated, the person will be expelled from the Martial Arts Hall without exception."

These words only fueled the arrogance of the aristocratic scions:

"Did you hear me? Bring your own elixirs! I really want to see what kind of elixirs you peasants can come up with!"

"Bring your own pills and weapons? Why should we? That's unfair!" Someone in the poor family camp immediately objected loudly.

Wang Meng's face darkened, and he shouted sternly, "Outrageous! Martial arts training in the Martial Hall depends on individual opportunities and resources. If you feel it's unfair, you can give up your resources and refuse this bet."

Wang Meng's words, ostensibly about following the rules, were in fact an undisguised show of favoritism.

The poor boy was in a fit of anger, and these words provoked him even more, making him even less willing to back down.

The thin, dark-skinned youth's neck veins bulged as he said, neither humble nor arrogant, "Let's compete! Even without pills or weapons, we might not lose!"

"Good, that's spirited." Wang Meng praised indifferently, his gaze sweeping over the two groups of people, a hidden smile in his eyes, and he nodded slightly to Zhang Shijie.

Then he turned to look at the poor boy and began to scold him:

"Your families are poor, and it is truly not easy for you to have the opportunity to study at the Martial Arts Academy and hope to turn your lives around. From now on, you must behave yourselves in the Martial Arts Academy and not cause any more trouble or waste your martial arts opportunities."

"Since that's the case, let's all go our separate ways! Use this month to hone your skills!"

Lin Ji glanced at Wang Meng, the head instructor who rarely spoke, and frowned slightly.

As the head instructor of the martial arts academy, he always favored the children of aristocratic families, while reprimanding the poor boys.

This is no notary at all. Wang Meng has clearly colluded with the scions of powerful families. This is a deadly trap set up for poor young men under the guise of "rules".

The underprivileged students were in the heat of the moment, and no one questioned the bias in the instructor's words, simply assuming that the head instructor was giving impartial advice.

Wang Meng was about to leave the training ground.

A cold, questioning voice rang out crisply from a corner of the training ground:

"Instructor Wang, the martial arts academy's resource allocation has always been fair. What is the meaning behind your privately finalizing the bet and deliberately favoring the scions of aristocratic families?"

Lin Ji looked toward the source of the sound. Gu Yanqiu walked steadily, his feet barely touching the ground, and in the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of Wang Meng.

Wang Meng's expression changed slightly. Seeing that the students had already gone far away, his feigned benevolence and impartiality completely vanished, and he let out a sneer:

"Instructor Gu, those who understand the times are the heroes."

"In these turbulent times, with the crackdown on martial arts intensifying, in another year, martial arts will decline, martial arts schools will close down, shouldn't skilled fighters like us find a safe place to settle down in advance?"

"These poor kids, without roots or support, will find it difficult to amount to anything even if they enter the martial arts world. It would be better for them to befriend powerful families now and pave the way for their future!"

Wang Meng's pragmatic arguments were all biased, which infuriated Gu Yanqiu. Her brows furrowed, and she rebuked him in a deep voice:

"We have entered this martial arts hall, and we should uphold the virtues of our teachers! The path of martial arts does not discriminate based on social status. If you curry favor with the powerful and wealthy, do you still have the true heart of martial arts?"

Gu Yanqiu moved swiftly, striking out with such speed that he was left as a mere afterimage.

Wang Meng's pupils contracted sharply. He hadn't expected Gu Yanqiu to make a move in public. Caught off guard, he hastily raised his hand to block.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud echoed through the training ground, the force of the punch spreading in all directions, causing the leaves of the bushes at the edge of the training ground to flutter and fall.

A powerful surge of internal energy invaded Wang Meng's body, causing him to stagger back three steps before finally stopping.

Wang Meng's internal organs trembled, and he suffered excruciating pain in his chest. A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth and splashed onto the training ground.

He calmed himself for a moment, his eyes filled with fear, and looked up at Gu Yanqiu, his eyes filled with disbelief. Ignoring the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, he growled in a low voice:

"Internal strength! When did you break through to the internal strength level?"

Gu Yanqiu abandoned his stance, stood still, and remained expressionless.

"While you're spending your days figuring out how to climb the social ladder, curry favor with powerful families, and neglecting your martial arts."

In the distance, Lin Ji stood quietly, taking in the entire process.

Hearing Gu Yanqiu's words, a sense of gloom inexplicably settled over him.

With privileged families monopolizing resources and teachers currying favor with the powerful, poor children have nowhere to turn.

But he was not a student of the martial arts academy, and his status limited him. Even though he was full of emotion, he could not fight on the stage for these young people.

Lin Ji's mind was once again filled with Zhao Qiaosheng's words from yesterday about Chinese martial arts and the backbone of the Chinese people.

Looking at Bai Xiaonian, who was standing in the distance, he thought to himself, "It's just as he said."

The sky was bright and clear, the morning light had faded.

On the training ground, Gu Yanqiu, dressed in a martial arts outfit, personally led the team in practicing boxing.

Gu Yanqiu stood tall and straight, his punches were sharp and clean, and his gaze was serious as he scanned the ranks.

The students practiced diligently, gritting their teeth, their fists thumping loudly, afraid that Gu Yanqiu would see the slightest slackening.

Suddenly!

A deep, resonant shout suddenly echoed through the training ground.

The sound of the punch cutting through the air was crisp and clear, completely drowning out the sounds of punches thrown throughout the arena.

Everyone paused in unison, their eyes fixed on the source of the sound.

Lin Ji, who was leaning on a broom, also looked up.

Bai Xiaonian stood with his back straight, his skin taut and flushed.

"drink!"

Bai Xiaonian shouted loudly, his eyes flashing with a sharp light, and his previously stagnant martial arts bottleneck was instantly broken through.

The Skin Refinement Realm! Success!

"He's broken through! Bai Xiaonian has broken through!"

The surrounding children from impoverished families were both surprised and delighted; their eyes shone brightly as they stared at Bai Xiaonian with anticipation.

"Bai Xiaonian, represent you in the skin-refining battle! You're guaranteed to win!"

"That's right! You could already do leatherworking before you even reached the next level! Go for it!"

"Okay!" Bai Xiaonian glanced around at the expectant gazes of the students, clenched his fist, and agreed in a deep voice.

Gu Yanqiu looked at the young man, a rare expression of approval on his face, and nodded slightly: "You have a solid foundation and a resilient character, which has not been in vain for your hard work."

She immediately had someone bring a porcelain bottle, from which she poured out five pills the size of soybeans and handed them to Bai Xiaonian:

"These five Blood-Replenishing Pills are a reward provided by the Martial Hall to students who break through to the Skin Refinement stage. It's a reward you deserve. Continue to hone your martial arts skills and stabilize your realm!"

The praise from his companions and the recognition from his instructors flooded Bai Xiaonian, but Bai Xiaonian clenched his drooping fist tightly, feeling the power within it, and was slightly lost in thought:

From now on, my sister won't have to work so hard and save money to support herself anymore! He now has real skills! He can support the two siblings with his own fists.

In addition...

He can now repay the debt of gratitude he has owed over the past few days.