Extraordinary Realm from Persuasion System

Chapter 102: Chapter 98: Grandmaster’s Qualifications!

Having made up his mind, Liu Yi rested for a while. After the chronic pain in his right shoulder had become more bearable, he resumed his exercise with the assistance of a man.

He trained until three fifty in the afternoon, panting heavily and dripping with sweat. Liu Yi then went into the bathroom to take a shower, changed into clean clothes, and drove to Shi University for his appointment.

Before long, the car was parked in a spot in front of the main gate of Shi University. It was afternoon, and the entrance wasn’t crowded. Students moved in and out in groups, chatting and laughing, embodying the leisure of university life.

Liu Yi got out of his car and straightened his clothes, ready to walk into Shi University. Just as he was passing the entrance,

”Oh?”

Liu Yi caught a glimpse of a man getting out of a van nearby from the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow.

Why was he here?

Narrowing his eyes, he blurted out the man’s name, ”Chen Fenghua?”

Upon hearing his name, Chen Fenghua, who had just exited the car, paused. He turned to look and, seeing Liu Yi, his face immediately broke into a smile.

Chen Fenghua walked over, respectfully saying, ”Good afternoon, Master Liu. I was just thinking about visiting you. I can’t believe I ran into you as soon as I got out of the car! What a coincidence.”

Although Chen Fenghua was only a few years younger than Liu Yi, there was a significant generational gap between them, so he spoke respectfully and dared not act presumptuously.

”Yes, I also didn’t expect to meet you at the school entrance at this time,” Liu Yi responded. He then noticed the pink bag in Chen Fenghua’s hand. Curiosity piqued, he asked, ”Fenghua, what brings you to Shi University, and what’s with the bag?”

”Ah, it’s just my daughter,” Chen Fenghua chuckled and lifted the bag to show it. ”You know, the weekend just ended. She stayed at home for two days and forgot her bag when she went to school today. All her jewelry and makeup are in this bag. The maid found it while cleaning the room and handed it to me. I was free anyway, so I decided to bring it to her.”

”I see!” Liu Yi understood.

No wonder Chen Fenghua, a prominent CEO, wasn’t busy at his company but had come to Shi University. It turned out he was there to deliver items his daughter had forgotten, as she was quite scatterbrained.

”Speaking of which, Master Liu, have you just finished work?” Chen Fenghua asked out of courtesy.

Liu Yi shook his head. ”No, I’m not working today. I’m here to see my disciple.”

”Oh, I see. It seems Master Liu thinks highly of Brother Zhang. By the way, Master Liu, are you in a hurry? If not, why don’t we go together?”

”I’m not in a hurry. Let’s go together. I can show you the way.”

Saying this, the two men walked onto the campus of Shi University.

As Zhang Beixing had set the meeting for five in the afternoon, Liu Yi was not in a hurry. So, he first took Chen Fenghua along to find Chen Rourou. Since they were acquaintances, he was happy to show him the way.

They first asked around for Chen Rourou’s whereabouts. Upon learning she had last been seen in the Karate club, they set off to find her.

「...」

At the moment, the Karate club was very quiet. Except for the faint sound of breathing, there were no other sounds. The Karate club members were currently quite baffled.

They stared at Chen Rourou, who stood in the center of the room, practicing a fist routine as leisurely as elderly folks in a park. They exchanged glances, clueless.

After a long moment, someone quietly asked, ”Hey, what’s up with Sister Rourou? Why is she suddenly practicing Tai Chi out of nowhere?”

”I don’t know either. And that’s not bloody Tai Chi; it’s clearly the Eight Pieces of Brocade, alright? Don’t you have any common sense?!”

”Let’s put common sense aside for now. I’m wondering why Chen Rourou is doing this. Didn’t she used to hate martial arts the most? Could it be because of that Zhang Beixing?”

”Very likely. Remember, just a few days ago, that Zhang Beixing came to our Karate club, asking for Junior Chen by name. He met with her, and a few days later, Junior Chen turned out like this!”

”Damn it! He’s blatantly trying to poach from our Karate club! Brothers, can we stand for this?”

”Why don’t you go talk to Zhang Beixing and tell him not to do this anymore?”

”Err... on second thought, I guess it’s not that unacceptable, haha. What Student Chen wants to learn is her freedom, and what Student Zhang Beixing teaches is his. Students should be harmonious like this, right?”

”Smooth. When it comes to bullying the weak and fearing the strong, you’re the expert, kid. Others just make me scoff in comparison!”

”...”

In the Karate club, people huddled together, whispering.

Chen Rourou certainly heard their discussion, but she couldn’t be bothered to explain anything. Because right now, cultivating the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade was of utmost importance to her.

Indeed, Chen Rourou had previously posted some derogatory remarks about Great Xia’s martial arts online. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t distinguish good from bad!

Deep down, Chen Rourou was very aware of how strong Great Xia’s martial arts truly were. It was precisely because of this awareness that after being repeatedly refused by Elder Chen and Chen Huafeng when she asked them to teach her the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade, her love had turned to resentment. Her attitude towards Great Xia’s martial arts shifted from admiration to bitter jealousy.

But now...

Maybe I should withdraw from the club and then set up a ’Traditional Martial Arts Club,’ asking Zhang Beixing to be the leader... He would surely appreciate this if he were to find out!

With her fists at her waist, she changed her hands to palms, stretching them out to the left, right, front, and back. Chen Rourou guided the Qi within her body to open these acupoints and meridians, thinking to herself.

The reason she had joined the Karate club was twofold: partly because, being beautiful, she felt the need to learn a fighting technique for self-defense, and partly to aggravate her father and Elder Chen, expressing her dissatisfaction at not being able to learn the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade.

But now, through Zhang Beixing, she had learned the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade she had always dreamed of, and her unbalanced mindset had been restored. There was no longer any need for her to stay at the Karate club.

Just as Chen Rourou was considering how to explain this to the Karate club president later, she failed to notice an unusual sound at the door.

KNOCK KNOCK—

A dull knocking sounded. Someone heard the noise and went to open the door, only to see Chen Fenghua and Liu Yi standing outside, smiling.

After they introduced themselves and their purpose, the two were welcomed into the Karate club by its members. After all, one of the visitors was associated with Shi University as a master; they wouldn’t dare to be disrespectful.

Chen Fenghua, carrying the bag, had just walked a short distance behind Chen Rourou and was about to call out to her.

”Rourou...”

But before the word fully left his lips, he looked as if he’d seen something utterly astonishing. His pupils contracted sharply, and he froze on the spot, stunned.

Liu Yi, too, after walking in with Chen Fenghua, glanced around. His gaze eventually settled on Chen Rourou, who stood in the center of the room. He didn’t recognize Chen Rourou, but at this moment, he too was slightly startled.

Because he saw Chen Rourou’s movements!

For some reason, the instant Liu Yi saw Chen Rourou’s movements, an overwhelming sense of familiarity washed over him.

What’s going on? This sense of familiarity couldn’t possibly be an illusion.

So, Liu Yi frowned slightly, pondering for a moment. Before long, he figured out where this familiarity came from.

”Is this... the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade?” Liu Yi spoke, a soft exclamation escaping him.

Although he had never learned the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade himself, he might not have eaten pork, but surely he’d seen a pig run?

In earlier years, before he retired from the martial world, Liu Yi would frequently visit the Chen Family home, often sparring with Elder Chen to hone his martial arts. Over time, Liu Yi had become thoroughly familiar with the movements of the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade.

Even though Chen Rourou’s movements were hesitant and labored, with her form far from perfect—almost comically so—Liu Yi could still recognize that she was performing the fourth form of the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade: ”Turning Back to Gaze at the Five Exhaustions and Seven Injuries.”

Only... the Chen Family’s Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade has always been passed down to males, not females. How did Chen Rourou learn it? Liu Yi frowned slightly, completely puzzled.

Even as times changed and technology advanced, lowering the barrier to entry for martial arts training, rules like ’passed only to males, not females’—a threshold with no room for alteration—could not be lowered.

Thus, many women of the Chen Family knew the movements of the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade, but only in theory. And in the Chen Family’s several-hundred-year history, not a single woman had ever learned the Eight Pieces of Brocade. This seemed to be an established fact, beyond question.

But now, what was happening?

”Fenghua, don’t tell me you convinced Elder Brother Chen to remove this ancestral rule from the family regulations?” Turning his head to look at Chen Fenghua, Liu Yi asked. ”Who taught Chen Rourou this Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade? It seems she just learned it, but it actually looks quite authentic.”

For Chen Rourou to perform the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade so proficiently, she could only have been taught by one of those two. Because in the Chen Family, apart from the older generation like Elder Chen, Chen Fenghua held the highest seniority in their generation, their ’eldest brother.’

Little did Liu Yi know that upon hearing his words, Chen Fenghua, who had just snapped back to his senses, was equally bewildered and utterly astonished.

Unlike Liu Yi, who was an outsider to the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade, Chen Fenghua had been practicing it for nearly twenty years. He knew its essence. This allowed Chen Fenghua to perceive far more in Chen Rourou’s movements than Liu Yi could.

The very first thing that struck him was Chen Rourou’s breathing!

Chen Rourou’s breaths were very long and slow. With each breath, her movements would also change. This change wasn’t a consciously controlled physical action. Rather, it was subconscious, as if the action was inherently supposed to be that way, performed with effortless, natural grace.

Rourou has actually mastered ’Qi’?! Seeing Chen Rourou’s demeanor, this thought involuntarily surfaced in Chen Fenghua’s mind, shocking him immensely!

Mastering ’Qi’ wasn’t particularly difficult. The real challenge lay in how to circulate it correctly after mastering it, in order to successfully perform the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade. This method of circulation was a secret passed down within their Chen family.

The Chen family guarded this secret closely. Chen Fenghua was absolutely certain that he had never, ever revealed this operational method to Chen Rourou. Altering the family rules was out of the question; it was an ancestral mandate!

But how has Rourou learned it now? And how is she executing it so correctly?

Could it be that my daughter, Chen Rourou, possesses the aptitude of a Grandmaster?!

Watching Chen Rourou perform the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade, Chen Fenghua inwardly exclaimed, his mind reeling, struggling to process it all.

But upon further reflection, he sensed something amiss. If Chen Rourou’s talent was truly so formidable, she should have figured out the cultivation method for the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade on her own years ago. Why then would she have resorted to such unorthodox and rebellious actions?

Something wasn’t right. In fact, it felt ninety-nine percent wrong!