High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: The First Battle

June 30th. In the heart of Linjiang City, within a quiet villa district nestled away from the bustling streets.

Chu Shanhe sat cross-legged on the smooth floor of his training room, his breathing long and steady.

He had just finished a round of Pile Skills training and was adjusting his condition, striving to bring his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to their absolute peak before the exam began tomorrow.

Although the matchmaking rules meant he wouldn’t face a strong opponent in the first round of the combat assessment, Chu Shanhe had cultivated a good habit since childhood: he took every single battle seriously.

The door was gently pushed open, and a middle-aged man in a well-tailored suit walked in. His features bore a slight resemblance to Chu Shanhe’s. It was his father, Chu Zhengxiong.

”Shanhe, am I interrupting?” Chu Zhengxiong’s voice was gentle.

Chu Shanhe opened his eyes and stood up. ”No, Dad. I just finished.”

Chu Zhengxiong nodded and handed him a thin data slate. ”This is all the information the family could find on that Xu Wuyi. Time was too short, and his past records are so... ordinary. The information we could gather is limited.”

Chu Shanhe took it. As he swiped his finger across the slate’s surface, a light screen activated, displaying a few sparse pages of information.

”Honghe First Middle School, Third Year, Class Seven. Life Energy Level was under 9.0 at the end of the first semester of his third year... Martial Arts Class grades are below average...” Chu Shanhe scanned the file quickly, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

”Then, in early March of this year, during the three-school joint examination, his Life Energy Level was 11.6. He displayed the True Intention of the ’Mountain’ and defeated Su Yueling...”

After that, the file was almost a complete blank, with only a note: ”Suspected to be receiving special training from Honghe First Middle School. In closed-door training. Specific information is highly classified.”

”Is that all?” Chu Shanhe looked up.

Chu Zhengxiong sighed. ”Yes. Honghe First Middle School is being very tight-lipped. That Zhang Qiming is an old fox. Our people tried to contact his former classmates, and the feedback was always the same: ’he rose up suddenly,’ ’he works hard, but his talent was average before.’”

”More specific training records, his Martial Arts lineage—we can’t find a thing. This dark horse appeared too suddenly, and his record is too clean.”

He paused, his tone tinged with a hint of regret. ”If we had known about someone like him a month or two in advance, we could have laid the groundwork and surely found some clues. But now... it’s just too rushed.”

Chu Shanhe’s gaze was sharp as he repeatedly scanned the few blurry video clips, trying to glean any useful information from them.

He replayed one moment over and over: the instant Xu Wuyi took an attack head-on before launching a fierce counterattack.

”Dad, if you can’t find anything else, don’t worry about it. This is enough,” Chu Shanhe said, offering a faint, reassuring smile.

”The fact that he took first place in the rating assessment already says a lot. He’ll definitely be a worthy opponent.”

He turned away, his eyes holding no fear. Instead, an even more intense fire for battle blazed within them.

Ever since his debut, he had been number one in Dongjiang Province for several years. Few could give him a fight where he could truly let loose.

Outsiders might think he placed great importance on his so-called title as the province’s number one, but Chu Shanhe himself had never seen it that way.

Looking at the entire Federation, he figured it would be difficult for him to even make the top twenty—or even the top thirty—of his generation. What was so great about being a mere provincial champion?

’Becoming the provincial champion only proves one thing: my peers in this province aren’t working hard enough!’

Chu Shanhe also held a firm conviction in his Martial Arts path. He had no desire to be a big fish in a small pond, and he felt nothing but joy at the appearance of any opponent worthy of a real fight.

Seeing his son’s expression, the worry on Chu Zhengxiong’s face dissipated, replaced by a gratified smile. ”Good! Spoken like a true son of the Chu Family!”

”The Martial Arts College Entrance Examination is just a small hurdle for you all. Win or lose, the road ahead is long.”

Chu Shanhe nodded firmly. ”I understand, Dad.”

...

In his hotel room, Xu Wuyi had just finished a round of Visualization for the Mountain Shifting Technique. His spirit was clear, his mind as placid as a still well.

Outside the window, the vibrant lights of Linjiang City were just beginning to flicker on, painting the night with flowing, dazzling colors.

After the rating results were announced, two days had been intentionally set aside for the examinees to travel to the examination site and adjust their mental and physical states.

Xu Wuyi walked to the window and gazed down at the ceaseless stream of headlights below, which flowed like rivers of light. The Qi and Blood circulating within his body seemed just as tranquil.

But beneath this tranquility, it was as if molten lava lay in wait, ready to erupt.

July 1st was almost here.

...

「The next morning.」

Outside Linjiang City’s dedicated examination site for the Martial Arts College Entrance Examination, a massive crowd had already gathered.

Examinees from all over Dongjiang Province who had received a B-level rating or higher were channeled into different waiting areas according to the instructions.

The atmosphere was grim and heavy, and the air seemed thick with the invisible smoke of battle.

Xu Wuyi followed the group from Honghe First Middle School, passed through multiple layers of security, and was finally guided to a separate, enclosed area.

Dozens of identical, completely isolated, silvery-white alloy rooms were scattered throughout the area. Each room had a conspicuous number and a status indicator light outside.

This was the combat assessment site.

Each room was equipped with the most advanced Energy Shields and monitoring systems to ensure the safety of the duels and prevent any information from being leaked.

”Xu Wuyi, Zone C, Examination Room 7.” A staff member checked his information and gestured for him to enter the corresponding room.

Xu Wuyi swiped his ID card, pushed open the heavy alloy door as instructed, and stepped inside.

The room was more spacious on the inside than it appeared from the outside. The floor was made of a special energy-absorbing material, and the walls shimmered with a faint, energetic glow.

Directly ahead, three familiar figures were already seated.

They were the three proctors: Chen Mingyuan, Liu Hui, and Li Liangcai.

The three of them formed a proctoring team. Meeting Xu Wuyi here was clearly no coincidence; Chen Mingyuan had specifically arranged it.

He was a senior figure in the Martial Arts Education Department, and since he had also proctored Xu Wuyi’s previous round, it wasn’t easy for others to vie with him for the assignment.

”Hello, esteemed teachers,” Xu Wuyi said with a slight bow.

Chen Mingyuan, with his usual calm and steady demeanor, gave a slight nod.

Liu Hui wore a kind smile, while Li Liangcai’s gaze was sharp, watching Xu Wuyi with implicit expectation.

”Student Xu Wuyi, we meet again,” Chen Mingyuan said. ”I presume you’re already clear on the rules.”

”The combat assessment is designed to evaluate your adaptability in actual combat, your application of Martial Arts, and the quality of your willpower. The AI will calculate your final combat assessment score based on your overall performance combined with your Life Energy Level.”

”Yes, I understand,” Xu Wuyi nodded.

Just then, the alloy door on the other side of the room slid open, and a tall, slender male student in a Lijiang First High School uniform walked in.

His features were rather handsome, but his brow was slightly furrowed, and his eyes betrayed an obvious nervousness.

A system-generated light screen scanned his body, and clear text was projected above the Energy Shield:

[Lijiang First High School, Guo Yu, Life Energy Level: 14.3]

On the other side, Xu Wuyi’s information was also displayed:

[Honghe First Middle School, Xu Wuyi, Life Energy Level: 15.5]