Chapter 6 – New Professional Panel Unlocked—[Martial Artist]!

A boy who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old was repeatedly performing shadow boxing.

His eyes were focused, and every move was executed with meticulous precision.

Although many of his movements did not appear entirely standard from Lin Zhiqin’s perspective, it was evident that the boy was putting in his utmost effort.

One punch, two punches, it didn’t matter.

Every punch from the boy was thrown with the same intensity.

Sweat soaked his hair, slid from his forehead to the tip of his nose, but he seemed oblivious to it.

The aura of concentration and seriousness he exuded moved even Lin Zhiqin slightly.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a dedicated student,” Lin Zhiqin couldn’t help but recall his own youth, when he practiced martial arts with all his might, often neglecting meals and sleep.

Back then, the old master was at his peak, and the martial arts gym was much more prosperous than it is now.

With technological advancements, fewer people are genuinely willing to practice martial arts.

Most who sign up do it for the novelty, and once the novelty wears off, they lose interest.

Or they treat martial arts as a form of fitness, lacking the true spirit of a martial artist.

Who knows what the scene will look like in another ten or twenty years?

“Sigh,” Lin Zhiqin suddenly felt a bit disheartened and lost the desire to offer guidance. He turned to leave after saying, “Continue practicing on your own.”

“Huff, huff—”

Lu Yuan suddenly stumbled after throwing a punch, his limbs giving out, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Instantly, he snapped out of his state of [absolute concentration].

“How long have I been practicing?” Lu Yuan wondered, feeling that his arms were sore, swollen, and numb, completely devoid of strength.

“Are you okay?” A soft female voice came from beside him.

Lu Yuan looked up to see a girl with round cheeks and glasses standing in front of him, offering him a bottle of water.

“Thanks.” Lu Yuan hesitated briefly but then took the water bottle from the girl and drank eagerly.

He was extremely thirsty and finished more than half the bottle in one go.

“What time is it now?”

Lu Yuan noticed that many people on the training ground had already sat down to rest, some chatting and others playing on their phones.

He was the last student to stop training.

“It’s 9:50, there are ten minutes left before class ends,” the round-faced girl said after checking her phone.

“So, I’ve been practicing for less than an hour,” Lu Yuan replied, not surprised.

After all, practicing punches mainly consumed physical strength, and it was normal for the duration of [absolute concentration] to shorten significantly.

“You were really serious just now. Coach Lin watched you for quite a while,” the round-faced girl said, somewhat admiringly.

“Oh, really?” Lu Yuan smiled but didn’t say much.

“By the way, my name is Liu Yue. What’s your name?” she asked.

“Lu Yuan.”

“Are you from No. 2 Junior High School? I think I’ve seen you at school.”

“I’m from No. 4 Middle High School.”

“No. 4 Middle High School? A lot of my junior high school classmates are at No. 4 Middle High School too,” Liu Yue seemed quite interested in Lu Yuan and kept chatting with him.

Lu Yuan responded casually, but his attention was on his professional panel.

As soon as he summoned the panel, Lu Yuan received an unexpected surprise.

[Your focused practice for twenty minutes has enhanced your understanding of a new skill.]

[You have learned a new skill—[basic fist technique Level 1]]

[Your skill, basic fist technique, has improved. Experience points +3]

[Your skill, basic fist technique, has improved. Experience points +5]

[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new professional panel—[martial artist]!]

A brand-new professional panel appeared before Lu Yuan.

On the tree-structured professional panel, only the two skills at the bottom were lit up.

They were [basic fist technique] and [basic body training], both at Level 1.

The latter must have been understood when Lin Zhiqin taught strength training before. It was hidden, but now it appeared with the unlocking of the new professional panel.

[Martial artist]!

The newly unlocked profession excited Lu Yuan.

This profession sounded much more advanced than [Student], like a hidden profession in a game.

“If the ultimate goal of the [Student] panel is to cultivate me into a super scholar, then wouldn’t the ultimate goal of the [Martial Artist] be to become the supreme martial arts master, a peerless expert?”

Images of “plucking flowers to fly leaves” and “breaking steel with two fingers” instantly popped into Lu Yuan’s mind.

This made him so excited that he could hardly contain himself, feeling that the ten thousand yuan tuition fee was worth every penny.

“What’s your phone number? I’d like to note it down so I can ask you questions after class if I have any.”

The round-faced girl said somewhat hesitantly.

Lu Yuan was in a good mood and smiled as he responded, “Didn’t the martial arts gym create a group chat for our batch of new students? I’ll add you in the group later. Your name is Liu Yue, right?”

“Mm-hmm.” The round-faced girl nodded vigorously, looking very happy.

The two of them chatted casually for a while longer until someone came in at ten o’clock to announce the end of the class.

The students got up and scattered like they had been granted amnesty.

Coach Lin Zhiqin didn’t appear again.

Lu Yuan dragged his tired body to the shower. As the warm water from the showerhead quickly rinsed over him, the constant soreness in his arms slightly eased.

After finishing his shower, changing clothes, and carrying his backpack out of the changing room, he saw Cheng Peng already waiting in the martial arts gym hall.

“Lu Yuan, you finally came out.

Why does it take you so long to shower, just like a girl?”

“Get lost!”

Lu Yuan hadn’t fully recovered his strength, and his arms were still sore, so he wasn’t in the mood to banter with him.

“Heh heh.”

Cheng Peng threw his arm around Lu Yuan’s shoulders and asked with a grin, “So, how was the first day of class?”

“Not bad, much more useful than I expected,” Lu Yuan said earnestly.

“That’s good. I was worried you wouldn’t stick with it,” Cheng Peng said with a smile. “Hurry up and finish the basics, move up to my class. I can’t wait to beat you up in sparring.”

“Hah, we’ll see who beats who,” Lu Yuan shot him a sidelong glance.

This look provoked Cheng Peng, who immediately started yelling, “Wow, you’re such a show-off! My boxing power is already at fifty kilograms. The coach said I could take the rank examination soon, and you think you can beat me?”

“Rank examination?” Lu Yuan caught onto a new term in Cheng Peng’s words and quickly asked, curious.

“You didn’t know martial artists have ranks too? Let’s talk about it while we walk,” Cheng Peng said, pulling Lu Yuan toward the martial arts gym’s exit.

On the way, they bumped into Liu Yue, the round-faced girl from their class. She was standing with another girl, seemingly in the same situation as Lu Yuan, coming with a friend but not being in the same class.

Liu Yue smiled at him but seemed too shy to say hello.

Over half an hour later, Lu Yuan walked out of an Internet Cafe alone.

Thanks to Cheng Peng’s explanation and some additional research online, Lu Yuan had a rough understanding of the rank system for martial artists in this world.