High Martial Arts: Grinding for the Supreme Talent

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: The Three Great Martial Arts Dojos

Red Dome Martial Arts Dojo

Even after midnight, the Virtual Room was still bustling with activity. All 100 Virtual Warehouses were still running at full speed.

”Just one more match and I would’ve reached Star Rank! Dammit!” someone wailed, clutching their head as they came out.

”I was so close. What a shame. That’s 500,000 Xia Country Coins. Think of all the resources I could’ve bought with that,” someone else said, full of regret.

...

Meanwhile, on the top floor, there was an office area spanning over a thousand square meters. The overall design was red and white, with the red flame Martial Arts emblem visible everywhere.

The floor was divided into dozens of work areas. Projections flickered to life above the desks, where dozens of men and women in red and white uniforms were rapidly processing data.

In the central area, a large screen was projected, displaying the Red List, its rankings clear for all to see.

”Manager Sun, as of midnight, a total of 108 people from our Celestial Sea City have been promoted to Star Rank in the Red Realm Arena.”

A robust, middle-aged man in a black suit with a thick beard gazed at the Red List while listening to an employee’s report.

Manager Sun nodded and said,

”The number of people promoted to Star Rank is twenty more than last year. That’s proof that the quality of this year’s geniuses is quite good.”

”The Celestial Sea Monthly Exam is over, and so is the Star event. The top geniuses have finally emerged.”

”It’s time for us to make our move and sign contracts with these geniuses. We should especially focus on those who reached Star Rank; they are our primary targets.”

”With their strength, most of them are capable of signing A or B-level contracts.”

”You go ahead and organize the files. Everyone can start tomorrow, beginning with the A and B-level geniuses.”

”Yes, Manager. We’re already prepared. We finished scouting most of the geniuses a long time ago,” the employee replied with a nod.

Manager Sun let out a heavy sigh as he looked at the Red List.

’The war for talent is starting again. It’s going to be a busy few months.’

...

「The next day」

RING RING RING~

”Class dismissed!”

”Lin Qi, Jiangtao, Chen Zichuan, the three of you, come with me to my office.”

Their homeroom teacher, Yan Hong, said, looking at the three students in her class.

Lin Qi, Jiangtao, and Chen Zichuan exchanged a look. They instantly understood what this was about.

They all got up and followed Yan Hong to her office.

”Please, have a seat.”

The three of them sat down on the sofa, quietly waiting for Yan Hong to speak.

Yan Hong took a calm sip of water before speaking.

”Jiangtao, Lin Qi, Chen Zichuan, the three of you have shown significant improvement in this month’s exam.”

”Therefore, the school has decided to apply for higher-tier genius loans for you.”

Upon hearing this, the three boys’ eyes lit up as they waited for her to continue.

”Jiangtao, you’ve broken into the top ten of your grade. You can apply to upgrade from a first-class to a special-class genius loan.”

”Hehe!” Jiangtao grinned upon hearing this.

”Lin Qi, you’ve made the most progress. You can apply for a second-class loan, and possibly even a first-class one.”

”Chen Zichuan, you’ll probably only be able to get a second-class genius loan, unless you can improve further by the midterm assessment.”

Lin Qi and Chen Zichuan both nodded, not surprised by the outcome.

For Lin Qi, whether it was a second-class or first-class genius loan, it was a huge sum of money.

A look of joy also appeared in Chen Zichuan’s eyes. He currently relied solely on the money from his genius loan to buy resources and increase his strength.

With his current strength, he was still a ways off from reaching Star Rank in the Red Realm, so he naturally wouldn’t be getting the 500,000 Xia Country Coin reward.

...

「Leaving the office」

The three of them walked down the hallway.

”A special-class genius loan... talk about perfect timing. I’ve already spent almost all of my one million. The special-class loan is a full three million Xia Country Coins!”

”Subtracting the previous one million, that’s still two million left. That’ll be enough for me for a long time.”

Jiangtao was ecstatic, and Lin Qi knew why.

According to Jiangtao, he had spent half of his one million Xia Country Coins on his younger sister, Jiang Miaoyin.

He had upgraded everything for her—her food, her clothes, her living situation.

Hospital check-ups, convalescence, and purchasing a large amount of resources to replenish lost nutrients and build a good foundation—none of this was cheap.

A lovely figure appeared in Lin Qi’s mind: a beautiful, frail, yet stubborn girl who was pitiably endearing and liked to call him Brother Lin Qi.

Lin Qi saw a shadow of his own mother, Fang Huiyi, in her.

BZZZT!

After returning to his seat in the classroom, Lin Qi felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was a bank transfer notification.

[Your bank card ending in xxx has received a deposit of 500,000 Xia Country Coins. New balance: 563,128 Xia Country Coins!]

The reward from the Star event had arrived. Lin Qi was secretly pleased.

He turned his head and saw Jiangtao also taking out his phone to check.

”Brother Qi, the 500,000 arrived!” Jiangtao chuckled.

The corners of Lin Qi’s mouth turned up slightly. Now that the 500,000 Xia Country Coins had arrived, he had enough money to buy resources.

Next, even if he only got the second-class genius loan, which was 500,000, subtracting the 200,000 from the third-class loan would leave him with 300,000.

Adding the 560,000 he had now, that would be 860,000, which was close to a million. It would be enough for him for a very long time.

...

At noon, after eating two nutritious meals but only until he was about eighty percent full, Lin Qi returned to his Martial Arts Room.

After a short break to digest, he began to warm up his body, preparing for his second training session of the day.

He took out two vials of Qi and Blood Potion and poured the crystal-clear red liquid into his mouth.

GULP~

A few seconds later, a comfortable warmth started to spread from his stomach, and a hot current began to surge throughout his body.

Lin Qi looked at the few remaining tubes of Qi and Blood Potion and exhaled a heavy breath.

’As my Qi and Blood Value continues to rise, my demand for resources is getting higher and higher if I want to maintain my rate of progress.’

Lin Qi had already phased out Qi and Blood Capsules, only occasionally buying some to eat like candy.

He mostly consumed Qi and Blood Potions. He trained four times a day, and each session required two tubes of the potion.

That added up to 120,000 Xia Country Coins a month. On top of that, he often needed to take Stimulant Potions, which was another major expense.

Finally, after factoring in food and other purchases, he only had 30,000 left from his third-class genius loan.

Thank goodness the 500,000 Xia Country Coins had arrived, replenishing his cultivation funds. Otherwise, his progress would have stagnated.

WHOOSH~

BANG! BANG!!

While lost in thought, he curved his hands into claws, channeling power to his fingertips. His tiger claws struck out fiercely, stirring up gusts of wind.

Black Tiger Heart Stealing!

White Tiger Claw Offering!

Furious Tiger Penetrating the Forest!

He continuously executed the Six Techniques of the Tiger Form Fist, and a series of crisp cracks echoed from his body, vibrating through the air.

His entire body grew hot, radiating heat. Waves of warmth spread everywhere, as if a furnace were forging his muscles.

The Qi and Blood Potion was taking effect.

He had already broken through to Tier Two with his Tiger Form Fist, practicing it until it was ingrained in his very bones. He was beginning to understand the essence of the Fist Technique more and more: use intent as the spirit, generate power from the joints, use qi to drive force...

Before, he only knew the words; now, he was starting to understand them. The muscles all over his body worked in concert to generate force, and power flowed between his bones and muscles.

He could now clearly feel the fist power within his body!

With his muscles working intensely and his Qi Blood flowing and refining him, Lin Qi felt more and more powerful with every strike.

He was like a ferocious tiger hunting in the Martial Arts Room.

[Through training, your understanding of the Tiger Form Fist has deepened. Fist Technique +1%]

[Through training, your Qi and Blood Value has broken through. Qi and Blood Value +0.05]

[Qi and Blood Value: 8.2→8.25]

[Fist Technique: Tier Two 10%→11%]

...

Phew~

Lin Qi exhaled a hot breath. Seeing the improvements on his data panel, he felt a surge of joy.

It wasn’t just the increase in his Qi and Blood Value, but also the improvement in his Fist Technique. Practicing fists not only strengthened his body but also improved his control over it.

Although his Spear Technique was improving quickly, it wasn’t as fast as his Fist Technique.

And the higher his Fist Technique Realm, the more it would help advance his Spear Technique Realm.

’I hope my Fist Technique Realm can improve even faster. I can ask Instructor Zhang City about this.’

...

「Afternoon, during Martial Arts class」

After instructing one of the students, Zhang City took a sip of water and glanced at the time. There were only about ten minutes left before class ended.

He cleared his throat, looked around at everyone, and seeing that they had all finished washing up, he began to speak.

”Everyone, stop what you’re doing and gather around!”

The thirty-odd students stopped their movements and gathered around Zhang City.

”We still have a little time before class ends, so I want to talk about something.”

Zhang City’s expression was serious as he spoke, and everyone could tell that what he was about to say was very important.

”As is tradition, after the Celestial Sea Monthly Exam, the Martial Arts Instructors will explain the important points about signing with a Martial Arts Dojo to the elite class.”

”Signing with a Martial Arts Dojo?”

Upon hearing this, many students’ eyes lit up instantly. The atmosphere grew restless; this concerned everyone’s future, so they were all paying close attention.

...