Chapter 45: He Wanqing

Covering a vast area, the Mingchan Courtyard housed not only several functional main halls, but also numerous practice rooms, martial arts arenas, and even dormitories.

However, team members rarely lived in these dormitories. It wasn't due to poor conditions, but rather that anyone who managed to survive in the martial arts team had some source of income and maintained their own private residence outside.

After listening to Senior Brother Wang Zhe explain numerous precautions, Zhao Rui obediently walked over to a practice room that was not occupied by any senior brothers or sisters, and opened the file transmitted via WeChat.

"The Prajna Palm takes emptiness as its essence and compassion as its function. During practice, one must view the five aggregates as dewdrops and lightning; when the palm strikes, all appearances are non-appearances, and when the palm is withdrawn, all dharmas return to one."

"...... Guide the internal energy through the Danzhong Qi Sea, draw the water of the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian of the foot upward, pass through the Yuzhen into the Baihui, transform pure yang into sweet dew, and channel it along the Taiyin Lung Meridian of the hand into the Laogong point in the center of the palm."

"...... The center of the palm contains emptiness, the finger joints are slightly curved, resembling a plucked flower branch or embracing a full moon, only then can one attain the subtlety of 'generating force without abiding'."

After reading through these contents, Zhao Rui was slightly stunned. It actually traversed the Taiyin Lung Meridian; didn't this overlap with the internal energy circulation route of Cloud Hands Plucking Stars?

A surge of joy instantly welled up in his heart. Since he had already opened up a vital acupoint, wouldn't practicing the Prajna Palm yield twice the result with half the effort?

No sooner said than done, Zhao Rui immediately followed the instructions recorded in the cultivation manual, circulating his internal energy and practicing the movements.

This set of martial arts consisted of a total of nine forms, implicitly containing the meaning of the Nine-Grade Lotus Throne. The postures were easy to learn; he just needed to follow the examples.

What proved difficult was the circulation of meridians.

Why did martial arts moves exist in his past life, yet possess no power whatsoever? It was not because there was something wrong with the moves, but rather because of the internal energy circulating through the meridians.

The martial arts practiced by people in his past life lacked internal energy circulation entirely, so how could they produce extraordinary power?

It was much like the difference between taking Viagra and not taking Viagra before intercourse; although the physical object was the same, the internal blood volume and hormone levels differed, and the resulting effects were naturally worlds apart.

This martial arts technique implicitly contained Buddhist philosophy, emphasizing the Zen mindset that emptiness is not emptiness, and non-emptiness is emptiness, thus placing extremely high demands on comprehension.

As for its every move and stance, even if the meridian qi circulation was identical, different levels of comprehension would result in different transformations of virtual and real energy during circulation, as well as divergent derivative changes between the moves.

Zhao Rui's temperament was inherently stubborn. Since he had chosen the path of martial arts, patience was definitely an essential prerequisite.

Practicing it once was practicing, and practicing it ten times was also practicing.

Practice when there is comprehension, and practice even without comprehension; at worst, there was the system panel to fall back on as a safety net.

This practice session lasted for an entire morning.

When Zhao Rui pushed open the door and stepped out, it was already half-past twelve noon.

However, he was not the last person remaining in the Mingchan Courtyard. Passing through the main hall, he visually estimated that at least seven or eight senior brothers and sisters were still lingering inside.

Some were meditating and resting, some were practicing martial arts, and there were even those watching videos on their mobile phones.

Everyone minded their own business without disturbing one another!

Seeing that Wang Zhe and the others were not around, Zhao Rui quietly picked up his backpack and stepped out of the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard, a few sparrows occasionally lingered on the bluestone path, hopping and playing, or pecking the ground for food, looking quite leisurely.

Beneath the massive ancient trees on both sides, two young senior sisters were half-reclining, conversing intimately ear to ear in lazy postures.

What a truly wonderful atmosphere!

Zhao Rui felt happy in his mood, and his pace involuntarily slowed down a bit as he appreciated the verdant "world".

By the time he walked out of the martial arts academy's boundaries and arrived at the nearest Eighth Cafeteria for lunch, it was already approaching one o'clock.

"A serving of beef noodles, with two eggs and a grilled meat sausage—make it the thick kind."

He had heard that eating like this was good for one's physical health.

A few minutes later, Zhao Rui carried a large, steaming bowl of beef noodles from the cafeteria window, walked over to a vacant table, and sat down.

Then he began to eat heartily with loud slurps.

"Luo Min, tell me if this is funny or not. Today, a boy from the outer courtyard actually handed me a love letter. I'm literally going to die laughing."

Just as he was eating, the voice of a girl from not far away drifted slowly into his ears.

"Luo Min?"

Zhao Rui was momentarily stunned, lifting his head slightly to look in the direction of the voice.

He saw that the speaker was a round-faced girl with long hair and quite delicate facial features, though her skin was slightly dark, and she had a strange tattoo on her arm.

However, this was not Zhao Rui's focus of attention; Zhao Rui was looking at the girl beside her.

That was a girl with exceptionally striking facial features and figure.

Zhao Rui's gaze naturally drew the other person's attention. When their eyes met, the girl paused slightly, then returned a smile.

Zhao Rui also nodded with a smile, then lowered his head and continued eating his noodles, clearly having no intention of going over to chat further.

Zhao Rui was very familiar with this girl; she was Luo Min, his high school martial arts class classmate, and also a student at the Dongqi University Martial Arts Academy.

However, the two of them were not close during their school days, and even after graduation, knowing they had both been admitted to Dongqi University, they had maintained no contact.

Except for running into each other once during military training and exchanging greetings.

After a while, Zhao Rui finished his noodles, casually grabbed his schoolbag, and walked straight out of the cafeteria door.

"Who was that?"

After Zhao Rui left, the girl beside Luo Min glanced at Zhao Rui's retreating figure and asked with some curiosity.

"A high school classmate!"

Luo Min smiled, casting a slight glance at Zhao Rui's back, and spoke casually.

"High school classmate? You had someone from your high school class in our martial arts academy too?"

The girl asked in surprise, because she hadn't seen this boy during military training.

"He used to be in the martial arts class, but when he took the college entrance exam, he chose to be reassigned through adjustment. Now he's in the Accounting School."

Luo Min explained. Actually, she also really wanted to go over and chat with Zhao Rui for a couple of sentences. Firstly, they used to be classmates and were now in the same school; secondly, she was quite curious as to why he had thought of giving up martial arts.

During the last military training, there were too many people, so she hadn't felt it appropriate to ask too much.

Pity that after nodding, the other person had simply continued eating his noodles.

This made her abandon the thought of going over for a casual chat.

The general outlet for students in high school martial arts classes was to take the examination for universities with martial arts majors. If they truly couldn't pass, they would choose vocational colleges.

If they couldn't even pass a vocational college, it could only mean that their future in martial arts was bleak and they were unsuited for this line of work.

Most students would simply give up on martial arts.

But Zhao Rui was different. His grades were not bad; failing to get into the martial arts academy of a top provincial university like Dongqi University was understandable.

For him, a martial arts academy at an ordinary undergraduate or even ordinary tier-one university was a sure thing.

Yet he had actually given it up and chosen a reassignment, meaning he chose a non-martial arts major.

How was this any different from giving up martial arts?

Regarding this point, Luo Min still very much wanted to talk to him.

"Ha, so he realized he had no talent and completely gave up!"

Hearing this, the girl beside Luo Min smiled disdainfully and continued, "Still, he's quite self-aware not to come over and harass you! Ordinary boys would have swarmed right over the moment you greeted them."

"What are you talking about!"

Luo Min rolled her eyes at her, then muttered with a hint of puzzlement: "Though it is rather strange, he usually seems unwilling to pay any attention to me and has never taken the initiative to speak to me."

"Ha, there really are boys like that? Could he be gay?"

"Talk nonsense, he's my classmate at least."

"Haha, I remember him now."

The girl laughed even more uninhibitedly.

...

With a cultivation technique and an organization, Zhao Rui's days finally returned to the lifestyle of being obsessed with martial arts as before. He simply moved out of the dormitory and directly relocated to a rented apartment.

He had mentioned this matter to his counselor Liu Jie, who considered Zhao Rui's special circumstances and readily agreed.

Before leaving, the moods of the other three people in the dormitory could only be described as rather complicated. On one hand, they were reluctant to see Zhao Rui go.

After all, with a backing like Zhao Rui around, who would dare bully them?

On the other hand, they also wanted Zhao Rui to go; serving a ruler was like serving a tiger, and who knew what kind of temper and personality Zhao Rui had?

They had only known each other for a little over half a month, and each other's true natures were still not fully understood. What if someone accidentally provoked Zhao Rui in the future? Wouldn't that be miserable?

Zhao Rui understood as well; with a simple wave of his hand, he bade farewell to this brief period of college collective dormitory life.

Returning to the rented apartment, Zhao Rui instantly felt a wave of physical relaxation. He threw himself onto the bed, splayed out his limbs, and shook his head.

The feeling of freedom was truly wonderful.

Others might not know, but for his part, he had no desire to sleep in a collective dormitory.

Unless, of course, they were all beautiful girls.

After lying on the bed for a while, Zhao Rui rolled over, got up, and walked to the kitchen, preparing to cook some good dishes to reward himself.

Having been single for so many years in his past life, although his cooking skills couldn't compare to a master chef's, they were still sufficient to satisfy his own culinary cravings.

"Sweet and sour spare ribs, spicy stir-fried pork, deep-fried shrimp kernels, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes!"

Mhm, four dishes would do nicely.

After washing his hands and just as he was about to start cooking, his cell phone rang.

Zhao Rui walked into the living room, glanced at his phone, and answered the call.

"Zhao Rui, you're not living at school anymore?"

The voice speaking was soft and sweet, undoubtedly belonging to a girl.

"Mhm, I rented an apartment outside."

"Oh, that's great! Can I go visit?"

"Uh..."

"I'll bring my dorm mates along too, alright? Consider it a housewarming party for you!"

"Alright then!"

Zhao Rui shrugged. Since the girl had put it that way, refusing to invite them over would seem somewhat lacking in human warmth.

"Great then, we'll be over in a bit. Send me your address via text."

With that, the girl hung up the phone.

This girl was Zhao Rui's classmate, and also the girl who had fainted during the initial military training. Her surname was He, and her given name was Wanqing, taken from the Tang dynasty poet Li Shangyin's lines: "Heavenly providence pities the secluded grass; the human world cherishes late clearing!"

Her name was beautiful, and she looked quite nice too, or else Zhao Rui wouldn't have carried her on his back for over ten miles.

Since the girls were coming over shortly, Zhao Rui naturally couldn't just prepare four dishes.

Sorting through the vegetables he had bought today, he found there were still quite a few left. He picked several varieties, bringing the total to eight dishes, and began to cook.

Today was Saturday and there were no classes. He Wanqing and the other three arrived at Zhao Rui's place half an hour later.

Before coming, they had specifically stopped by the supermarket and bought some fruit and deli meats.

"Ta-da! Look, we even brought duck wings, duck necks, grilled sausages..."

Just as the door opened, He Wanqing giggled and held up the plastic bags filled with deli meats in her hands.

"You came to visit, you didn't need to bring food. Isn't this too formal!"

Zhao Rui smiled and took the plastic bags from the girl's hands.

"Of course we had to! Wow, this—Zhao Rui, you actually know how to cook!"

As He Wanqing and the others stepped inside, a mouth-watering aroma wafted over to them.

When they saw the spare ribs still simmering in the pot in the kitchen and the sizzling dishes with both appealing color and fragrance flipping in the wok, they were pleasantly surprised.

"Just whipped up a few things, so we didn't have to go out to eat," Zhao Rui said with a smile.

"We wouldn't go out anyway! Let me taste."

"I want some too! Ouch, so hot..."

The girls picked up their chopsticks one after another to taste the deep-fried shrimp kernels Zhao Rui had just finished making.

"So delicious!"

"Zhao Rui, why don't you just yield to our Wanqing? Then we can come over for free meals in the future."

One of the girls blurted out straightforwardly.

He Wanqing's pretty face instantly turned pink, and she playfully scolded, "What are you talking about! Even eating can't keep your mouth shut."

"Aigo, Wanqing is blushing. Tee-hee! Hey, stop tickling, it tickles!"

The two girls instantly started horsing around together.

After acting playfully for a while, the four girls began helping Zhao Rui with his chores.

Pinching stems off vegetables, chopping vegetables, washing fruit, and setting the dining table—the division of labor was quite clear-cut.

With helpers, the speed of cooking improved significantly. Within an hour, an entire table of dishes was fully prepared.

Zhao Rui and the girls sat down at the dining table, raising their glasses for a small toast of beer to celebrate his housewarming before picking up their chopsticks to eat.

Zhao Rui, do you know any other boys like you who know martial arts, are good at cooking, and know how to take care of people?"

One of the girls had drunk a little alcohol, her cheeks flushed a bright red, and she muttered with a pout.

"If you put it that way, I really can't find anyone else!" Zhao Rui said with a smile.

"Then what should we do?"

"Just bear with it!"

"No way! Wanqing, give Zhao Rui to me!"

"Say that again and I won't talk to you!"

He Wanqing felt somewhat embarrassed, her tone carrying a distinct trace of annoyance. After all, joking like this was fine the first time, but if repeated too often, it lost its playful flavor.

"I was just joking, is that any reason to get mad!"

The girl pouted, looking somewhat uncomprehending of why He Wanqing was angry.

"Let's eat, let's eat! Eat more spare ribs; you can't get this many ribs at the school cafeteria."

Zhao Rui smiled and quickly interrupted the conversation between the girls.

The girl who had spoken earlier pouted even more exaggeratedly.

Zhao Rui couldn't help glancing at He Wanqing, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

Catching his gaze, He Wanqing helplessly puffed out her cheeks slightly and let out a playful sigh.

Although there was a minor interlude, it didn't affect the gathering. After a few remarks, the girls were back on good terms as before.

After finishing the meal and resting for a short while, Zhao Rui didn't let them stay too long; instead, he personally escorted them back to the school.

After all, they had drunk a little alcohol, and Zhao Rui wasn't entirely at ease leaving them to go alone.

Under the warm autumn sun, a gentle breeze swept across their slightly flushed cheeks, raising a faint rosy glow.

The four girls linked arms with one another, chatting and laughing as they followed closely behind Zhao Rui.

From time to time, they exchanged remarks that elicited peals of crisp, giggling laughter.

After safely delivering the girls back to their dormitory, Zhao Rui turned around and headed straight back to his rented apartment.

Before he even reached home, a message popped up on WeChat from He Wanqing: "I won't bring them along next time."

"Mhm!"

Zhao Rui's reply was simple and clear.

...

During the week that followed, Zhao Rui devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating the martial art technique of the Prajna Palm, and by this point, he had achieved a minor mastery of it.

On this day, as he was consulting Wang Zhe about a change in movement within the Prajna Palm, Zhang奎 hurried over from the direction of the main hall.

From afar, he shouted to Zhao Rui, "Instructor Wang is looking for you!"

Hearing this, Zhao Rui hurriedly said a word to Wang Zhe, then walked over at a brisk pace and headed toward the main hall shoulder to shoulder with Zhang Kui.