Swallowing the Stars: Starting with a Meteor Tear

Chapter 3 Qualified Martial Artist Assessment

"A detached villa? A base salary of 20,000 yuan?"

Upon hearing the bald middle-aged man's words, Luo Feng's face showed a look of surprise.

The scene of Zhou Yang and Luo Feng's test just now was witnessed by Jiang Nian, the instructor of this Extreme Martial Arts School, who then took the opportunity to extend an olive branch to the two of them.

According to them, as long as they agree to join the Extreme Martial Arts Academy after passing the preliminary martial arts assessment, they will receive the right to live in a detached villa and a base salary of at least 20,000 yuan.

In the Jiangnan Base City, where land is extremely valuable, even a small detached villa can be worth two or three hundred million yuan.

Although it cannot be sold, the fact that the family can live in a detached villa instead of having to squeeze into a small, low-rent apartment is undoubtedly a huge attraction for Luo Feng.

Compared to him, Zhou Yang was much calmer, after all, he already lived in Mingyue Community.

"Instructor, I need to discuss this with my family. Besides, we haven't passed the preliminary martial artist assessment yet; there's still the practical combat assessment to come."

Although he was quite tempted, Luo Feng did not immediately agree, but said that he needed to think about it.

Jiang Nian didn't show any dissatisfaction, and said with a smile:

"No rush. By the way, you're preparing for the preliminary martial arts assessment on July 1st, right? I'll be there too."

Haha, this year our Yi'an District Martial Arts School has produced two little geniuses like you! My contribution points are going to go up again. I can't wait to see the envious looks on the faces of my old buddies.

Since their meeting with Jiang Nian, the head instructor of the Yian District Extreme Martial Arts Academy, Zhou Yang and Luo Feng have become even more diligent.

Luo Feng's dream of attending military academy has been shattered, and he has instead devoted all his energy to martial arts training.

This is going to be tough on Zhou Yang.

Every morning, Luo Feng would call me to go to the martial arts gym together. In addition to basic training, we would often do some sparring practice.

It has to be said that Luo Feng truly deserves to be the protagonist of a great world; his understanding of combat is nothing short of freakish.

Despite their similar physical abilities, Zhou Yang was always the one getting beaten up when they fought.

No wonder he was able to easily defeat Zhang Haobai and two other high-level students in a one-against-three battle.

Although he couldn't beat Luo Feng in a fight, Luo Feng was still astonished and gaped when he saw Zhou Yang's unrestrained and physically demanding training methods.

It's important to understand that the early stages of martial arts training primarily focus on strengthening the body. During this phase, everyone progresses gradually, preferring to go slower rather than pushing themselves too hard, for fear of accidentally damaging their muscles and bones.

Not only would taking time to recover take time, but there's also the risk of developing serious health problems that could hinder future advancement.

However, Zhou Yang's cultivation disregarded this point entirely; he truly trained to the point of exhaustion!

To give an example, it's like everyone running a 3,000-meter race together. At the beginning, everyone will definitely slow down so that they have enough energy for the second half.

Zhou Yang, on the other hand, immediately started sprinting at the speed of a 100-meter dash, continuing until he was completely exhausted and collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.

What's even more infuriating is that every time I see him completely exhausted, he lies down on the floor, rests for ten minutes or so, and immediately becomes energetic again!

So, whenever Luo Feng finishes a set of training, Zhou Yang can finish one and a half or even two sets.

You should know that Luo Feng himself is a cultivation fanatic, and he even has the nickname "madman".

At present, it seems that Zhou Yang is more suitable for this title.

"Yangzi, tell me honestly, did you take some kind of medicine?"

During one of his breaks, Luo Feng couldn't help but ask the question.

I've heard that some drugs are circulating on the black market that can rapidly improve a person's physical condition in a short period of time.

However, most of these drugs have hidden dangers, as they work by stimulating the body and squeezing out its potential to accelerate cultivation progress.

After using this drug, a person's potential will be greatly reduced, and subsequent improvement will become extremely difficult.

This is equivalent to trading one's future for current cultivation progress, which is not a worthwhile trade no matter how you look at it.

Luo Feng was afraid that his good brother might do something rash and choose such an unwise way.

Hearing Luo Feng's words, Zhou Yang was slightly moved. It seemed that his strategy over the past six months had finally paid off, and Luo Feng truly regarded him as a friend.

"Don't worry, Feng, this is a special talent! I wouldn't do anything that kills the goose that lays the golden eggs."

After hearing Zhou Yang's assurance, Luo Feng nodded and felt relieved.

And so, the two training fanatics kept pushing each other every day, spending almost all their time at the Yian District Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

In addition to their daily basic training, the two began to spar and practice against each other relentlessly.

The two are about the same in terms of physical fitness. Although Zhou Yang is much worse than Luo Feng in terms of combat skills, he has a huge advantage: he can take a beating!

In the first few rounds of sparring, Luo Feng held back a little, but gradually he realized that his brother was really tough!

No matter how hard the punches and kicks were, this guy could easily take them all without any problem.

Then there's nothing more to say, let's just go all out and fight!

It is well known that for martial artists, having a worthy opponent is extremely rare.

Especially since this opponent is also very resilient and doesn't require much worry about getting hurt, that's even more rare!

In battle after battle, Luo Feng was completely engrossed in the fight!

He felt that this was the first time since he embarked on martial arts training that he had fought with complete freedom and truly experienced a feeling of exhilaration.

Zhou Yang didn't suffer the beating for nothing. Through countless battles and sparring with Luo Feng, his own combat skills improved significantly.

Amidst this bittersweet experience, the ten days or so passed in the blink of an eye.

Soon, the day arrived at July 1st.

Zhou Yang did not go to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District today, because today was the day of the monthly preliminary martial arts assessment.

The location for the assessment, the headquarters of all the extreme martial arts schools in Yangzhou City—the Extreme Club—was located in the Mingyue residential area where he lived!

Early in the morning, Zhou Yang was waiting at the entrance of the residential area.

Around eight o'clock, Luo Feng, dressed in loose training clothes, walked over from a distance.

"Ah Feng, over here!"

Zhou Yang waved vigorously, and Luo Feng, seeing this, quickly ran over.

Looking at the magnificent detached villas in Mingyue Community, Luo Feng's eyes were filled with longing.

"Yangzi, you're so much better than me! You can go to the club without even leaving the neighborhood!"

Hearing Luo Feng's words, Zhou Yang laughed heartily:

"Haha, Feng, don't be envious. With your strength, passing the preliminary martial artist assessment will be a piece of cake. Then you can just join the Ultimate Martial Arts Academy, and a villa will be yours. Maybe we'll even become neighbors!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Feng smiled faintly, but a more determined look appeared on his face.

"The preliminary martial artist assessment is a must!"

With Zhou Yang leading the way, the two quickly arrived at the Extreme Club located in the center of Mingyue Community.

The preliminary martial arts assessment began at 10:00 AM, and Zhou Yang and Luo Feng sat in the rest area, chatting idly while waiting.

More people arrived one after another, but the two did not recognize any of them.

Just as the time was about to arrive, a familiar face finally appeared.

"Ha, Luo Feng, Zhou Yang!" A loud voice rang out.

Zhou Yang and Luo Feng turned around and saw a lean man with a hideous scar on his face walking over: "You've come here for the preliminary martial artist assessment too?"

"Brother Yang?"

Zhou Yang and Luo Feng stood up and went to greet them.

This person was Yang Wu, a good friend Luo Feng had met at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District.

"Brother Yang, how's the preparation going? Are you confident?"

Luo Feng asked with a smile.

The lean man, Yang Wu, scratched his head and smiled somewhat hesitantly:

"It should be fine, right? It's embarrassing to admit, but I tested it last month. Unfortunately, the speed only reached 24.9 m/s, just a tiny bit short! It really frustrated me!"

As Yang Wu spoke, he sighed, clearly still troubled by his previous test results.

"I believe you'll pass this time, Brother Yang."

Luo Feng smiled and offered a word of comfort.

The three chatted for a few more minutes, and soon a middle-aged man wearing loose-fitting training clothes came to their rest area.

"Everyone, follow me upstairs. We'll be undergoing the preliminary martial arts assessment immediately. Remember, behave yourselves once we're upstairs. Our head instructor's old friend is here today, so don't cause any trouble."

"yes!"

Everyone, including Zhou Yang and Luo Feng, responded respectfully and then followed the middle-aged man into the elevator.

The elevator went straight to the 6th floor, and when the elevator doors opened, a huge martial arts training hall came into view.

A dozen or so people were gathered in the training hall, including Jiang Nian, an instructor whom Zhou Yang and Luo Feng knew.

"They're here, stop talking."

A middle-aged man with long, loose hair spoke to the dozen or so people in the hall and gave them an order.

Zhou Yang lived in Mingyue Community, so he naturally recognized this person as Wu Tong, the head instructor of the Limitless Club and a warrior-level martial artist in Yangzhou City.

However, the original owner's martial arts talent was not very good, and he basically never came to the martial arts school here.

After Zhou Yang transmigrated, he had been training at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Yi'an District to connect with Luo Feng, so this was the first time he had met Wu Tong in person.

He glanced around and saw about a dozen other people in the hall, who were probably also some of the formal martial artists from the Limitless Martial Arts Academy.

"Ready for the test!"

At this moment, Chief Instructor Wu Tong said something casually, and someone immediately went to adjust the punching power testing device.

"First up is the punching test. First up, Tong Guan!"

As Wu Tong's voice rang out, a burly man with a thick beard immediately stepped forward, his eyes widening as he raised his left hand to shield his face and his right fist slammed into the giant punching bag in an arc.

The punching target trembled slightly, and the number immediately appeared on the screen of the punching power testing machine—'986kg'.

"Next, Luo Feng."

The head instructor casually swiped the second ID card across the device, glanced at the detailed information recorded on it, and exclaimed in surprise:

"Huh, eighteen years old? Old Jiang, this is your Yi'an District, right? When did such a talented young man appear?"

He casually flipped through it, then exclaimed in surprise again:

"There's another one here, Zhou Yang, also eighteen years old. Are all the geniuses clustered together?"

"Haha, luck, luck!"

The instructor Jiang Nian standing next to him couldn't help but smile smugly.

He knew what was going on, but the dozen or so martial artists around him didn't quite believe him.

One of the very obese old men chuckled and said sarcastically, "Maybe he's just here to broaden his horizons; he doesn't have much ability."

Jiang Nian merely glanced at him, a smug look on his face: "Just admit you're jealous, I won't stoop to your level."

As he spoke, he called out to Luo Feng, "Luo Feng, show them what you've got, and let these senior members see the strength of our Yi'an District students!"

"Yes, instructor!"

Luo Feng stepped forward and responded loudly, then walked towards the punching power testing machine.

(End of this chapter)