Chapter Forty-Seven: This Grudge Is Noted Down

“Ha ha, Old Wang, long time no see! I’ve missed you!” Captain Gu’s face, marked with deep wrinkles that betrayed his age, broke into a hearty laugh as he strode forward and gave Teacher Wang a vigorous hug.

“Lost the match and still this cheerful?” Teacher Wang squinted his eyes, then suddenly opened them wide in surprise. “You broke through?”

Captain Gu smiled and nodded slightly.

“You rascal, ha ha!” Teacher Wang exclaimed with joy, punching Captain Gu’s arm. The two burst into laughter together.

“I knew it! With your skills, there’s no way you wouldn’t make it to the top sixteen.”

“Where’s Old Ge?” Teacher Wang glanced around the team and asked.

“Old Ge had some business; he stayed back at Shangdu.”

“Oh, we’ll talk about that once we reach the hall!”

With that, Captain Gu led the main team into the grand hall in a grand procession.

Once they left, the other remaining members watching nearby breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, not everything is bad.

In the side chamber, He Zhiyan stepped back and called all the sparring team members together. Then he said, “Everyone, be mentally prepared. Don’t jinx yourselves.”

After speaking, he furrowed his brows deeply and strode out of the side chamber.

Zhao Rui turned to the other members; even Zhang Kui wore a worried expression.

“What’s wrong, Brother Zhang?” Zhao Rui hurried over and asked.

Zhang Kui made a shushing gesture, then took out his phone and typed a string of words in WeChat.

“The good news is all for Captain Gu alone. The others may not be so happy.”

After finishing, Zhang Kui continued typing: “Don’t criticize for now. There’s a pervert who eavesdrops. Someone had bad luck last time because of him, and now he’s been ostracized from the martial arts team.”

Showing the message to Zhao Rui, Zhang Kui quickly deleted it cleanly.

“Whoa!” Zhao Rui was truly shocked by such a sneaky move—this was insane.

Although martial artists have enhanced vision and hearing due to training, their senses aren’t absurdly superhuman.

But when a martial artist gathers their inner energy to their eyes or ears, their abilities can become extraordinary.

Not just hearing through walls—someone with profound inner energy can detect the slightest disturbance from a kilometer away.

From Zhang Kui’s words, it was clear: a shameless official team member, twisted in mind, eavesdrops on others’ conversations whenever he gets scolded.

Then he retaliates!

And he probably started doing this as soon as he entered the hall.

Damn it all!

Zhao Rui gave a sheepish smile to Zhang Kui, then found a quiet corner and silently began meditating to cultivate his skills.

No wonder it’s called the Cicada Academy, not the Zen Academy!

Less than an hour later, He Zhiyan returned and, expressionless, told everyone, “Let’s go to the martial arts hall. Teacher Wang wants to analyze the match.”

With that, he turned and walked out.

Zhao Rui glanced at the group and silently followed.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a large outdoor structure resembling a stadium.

The building covered a vast area, surrounded by tall spectator stands, with a huge martial arts arena inside.

Various weapons and protective gear were arranged across the field.

A group of people stood in several rows on the field.

When Zhao Rui and the others arrived, other team members came along, and everyone gradually gathered in the center, forming their respective groups.

Zhao Rui stood with the sparring team, glancing at the dozen or so official team members in front.

Their faces looked grim.

It made sense—the leader broke through and couldn’t compete, and the rest were eliminated in the second round.

What did this mean? That the Dongqi Martial Arts Team was useless without Captain Gu?

No wonder Teacher Wang was angry.

The martial arts team had a head coach, Old Ge, whom Teacher Wang had mentioned before. He usually stayed uninvolved.

Daily training and mundane affairs were handled by Teacher Wang.

His name was Wang Zhanshan, strength unknown but at least at the Grandmaster level.

His face was grim as his eyes swept over the main team members in front.

“Zhong Xuan, Ye Jingqiu, you two speak first. What happened?”

The boy called Zhong Xuan glanced at the girl beside him, nodded slightly, and said, “Teacher, I was wrong. I underestimated the opponent.”

“Underestimated? How did your leg get injured? No remorse, arrogant…”

“Ye Jingqiu, what about you?”

“Teacher Wang, I have nothing to say. I admit defeat,” said the senior sister, dressed in a thin, sheer knit top over a black sports vest, the collar open to reveal her fair, flawless shoulder and slender bra strap.

She wore wide-legged pants, cinched at the waist to create a graceful curve, outlined alluringly beneath the billowing hem of the sheer top.

Her fair neck tilted slightly, her eyebrows and eyes showing an expression of proud disdain, unwilling to explain.

“Admit defeat, my foot! From now on, daily extra training on basics!”

After naming the two main members, Wang Zhanshan didn’t let others off the hook. All returning members, including Captain Gu, were scolded for poor organization.

Over thirty people on the arena stood silent and fearful, not daring to respond, obediently listening to Wang Zhanshan’s reprimand.

Today, he was a far cry from his usual lazy demeanor. His gaze was sharp and ruthless.

After scolding them for a long time, he had two team members bring over a projector, and they began watching the live replay of the match in the arena’s rest area.

This competition was the North China Plain provincial friendship tournament. Though not official and not affecting national league rankings, it was still a large-scale regional competition involving nearly a hundred universities.

Zhao Rui watched intently.

This was a level of competition he had never encountered.

“Look, this is what you call solid basics. If this step is firm—Qian position, from Qian to Xun to Zhen—how could you fail to break his palm technique?”

“And this—what is this? Crap?”

Listening to Wang Zhanshan’s coarse words, Zhao Rui’s face twitched. People truly can’t be judged by appearance. When idle, this guy was a slacker, shabby and messy.

But once serious, he was like a wildfire in the wind—fierce and volatile!

Apparently feeling the analysis was insufficient, Wang Zhanshan named a sparring team member to replicate the scene with a competing player.

Then he proceeded to dismantle the opponent’s moves one by one on the spot.

Though short-tempered, Wang Zhanshan’s martial insights were top-notch and sharp. A single glance could spot flaws in the fight.

This explanation lasted the entire afternoon until dusk, when Wang Zhanshan reluctantly dismissed everyone.

Perhaps because Zhao Rui’s level was too low, or fearing he wouldn’t cooperate, he was not involved in the sparring practice this time.

Even so, Zhao Rui felt he gained much that afternoon—not only understanding the match and martial analysis but also greatly broadening his horizons. After all, a good platform is essential!

After the session, Zhao Rui and Zhang Kui walked out of the arena together when a voice called out to them.

“Hey, you two ahead!”

Zhang Kui’s face stiffened, his expression darkening as he stopped and exchanged a glance with Zhao Rui.

Then he forced a somewhat ingratiating smile and turned around.

“Senior Brother Gongye, did you call for us?”

“Are you Zhang Kui? You’ve become more useless, ending up in the sparring team. I bet you’ll be kicked out in a couple of days.”

The speaker was a tall, handsome young man with a refined, almost princely bearing but spoke with biting sarcasm.

“Senior Brother speaks the truth!” Zhang Kui replied with an awkward smile.

Gongye ignored Zhang Kui afterward and looked curiously at Zhao Rui.

“I haven’t seen you before. How did you get in?”

“I’m a new freshman, Senior Brother,” Zhao Rui answered politely, sensing from Zhang Kui’s reaction that this senior brother was probably hard to get along with.

“So you got in through connections? Let me test your worth. When did our martial arts team start accepting backdoor entries?”

Before Zhao Rui could respond, Gongye’s form blurred and moved swiftly forward. His right palm casually swept out like a sudden gust of wind, aiming to engulf Zhao Rui’s entire body.

Startled, Zhao Rui tapped his feet and leapt aside, but the palm technique clung like a bone-eating worm, relentlessly pursuing him.

“Great Demon Suppressing Palm, copy it!”

“Damn, copy that!” Zhao Rui faced the overwhelming palm attacks that seemed to blot out the sky and earth, and decisively chose to copy.

Since he couldn’t dodge with lightness skills, he wouldn’t dodge at all.

Gathering inner energy into his Taiyin Lung Meridian and channeling it into the Zhongfu acupoint, Zhao Rui unleashed the gentle power of Cloud Hand Star Plucking technique to gradually wear down the opponent’s palm force.

“Interesting, but not enough!”

Gongye sneered, abruptly withdrawing his palm then striking again. This time, the palm technique became elusive and unpredictable.

Zhao Rui barely managed to handle two moves before Gongye’s palm struck his shoulder, sending him flying several meters.

“At this level and you still talk about backdoor entry?”

Gongye sneered, then without looking back, strode away with his companions.

Nearby members who hadn’t left quickly averted their gazes as if they hadn’t seen anything.

Zhao Rui sat up, clutching his shoulder. Just as he was about to ask Zhang Kui about this person, Zhang Kui waved off the question and silently helped him up.

“Let’s go! Training’s over!”

With that, Zhang Kui fell silent.

Zhao Rui instantly understood that this handsome Gongye Senior Brother was the infamous petty and eavesdropping fellow.

What a waste of that good looks.

At least Gongye had limits—he only lightly struck him, using little inner energy. His shoulder was slightly red and swollen, but would heal by the next day.

They left the Cicada Academy area, and only then did Zhang Kui look around and say, “Gongye Lingchen, one of our martial arts team’s four top experts. Avoid him if you see him.”

Zhao Rui nodded, not asking further. This place was still within the martial arts academy’s scope; who knew if Gongye Lingchen might be lurking nearby.

“Senior Brother Zhang, I’m off!”

“Go ahead!”

Zhang Kui looked noticeably exhausted lately, waving listlessly as he headed toward his residence.

Like Zhao Rui, Zhang Kui rented a place off-campus, though not in the same direction.

Though the martial arts academy’s dormitories were excellent, most martial arts team members didn’t live there.

The outside world was far more exciting.

After parting with Zhang Kui, Zhao Rui went straight to a nearby traditional medicine shop and bought some ointment for bruises and sprains.

That bastard. This grudge was noted!

Zhao Rui opened his system panel in his mind and saw that the progress on copying the Great Demon Suppressing Palm was only 0.1%.

Such brief encounters wouldn’t allow him to copy much.

He’d have to find a way to train more with that move.

Frowning, he pondered silently.

The autumn night was cool, stars sprinkled across the dark sky, the moonlight casting a serene glow.

...

The next day, with all official team members back, the martial arts team resumed their usual training schedule.

Mornings were for basic skill drills; afternoons for practical combat exercises.

Basics included refining inner energy and practicing forms. These forms were not just simple routines of punches; their purpose was not only to overcome opponents but also to condense inner energy and open the meridians.

Some postures differed slightly from combat stances; combined with mental techniques, they stretched tendons and guided energy flow.

This allowed the body to maximize the form’s effectiveness and generate power.

That morning, Zhao Rui continued practicing the Prajna Palm technique with Wang Zhe’s group.

Wang Zhe naturally noticed the injury on Zhao Rui’s shoulder. Many had seen Gongye Lingchen bully the newcomer yesterday; Wang Zhe knew as well.

But he only shook his head without saying more.

Around two in the afternoon, the practical combat session began.

Training mainly involved analyzing martial techniques in real fights, practicing with teammates, and specialized training for certain members.

Zhao Rui’s sparring team’s role was to assist coaches and support team members’ combat practice.

They also simulated specific opponents for targeted training.

For example, they would create special training plans for an upcoming match, with sparring team members imitating the adversary’s martial arts.

This made training precise and highly effective.

The difficulty lay in accurately replicating the opponent’s techniques—not just mimicking appearance but embodying spirit and even inner energy flow to achieve the best results.

Perhaps because Zhao Rui was new, he and Zhang Kui were assigned to second-year students.

Their primary task was to help these students improve the practical application of their martial arts.

After all, second-years had only been in the team for about half a year and might not have mastered the basics.

According to Wang Zhe, the martial arts team had four compulsory martial arts: one was the previously mentioned Calm Heart Technique, a supplementary skill.

Another was the Prajna Palm that Zhao Rui was currently learning.

The other two were only available after passing two eliminations in the second year.

At this stage, these second-year students were all learning the Prajna Palm, just like Zhao Rui.

Seeing the coach’s allocation, Zhao Rui was delighted.

A master-level Prajna Palm was right here!