Chapter 7 – Amateur, Professional, Ninth Rank

The levels are mainly divided into amateur and professional.

Each level is divided into nine ranks.

First rank is the lowest, ninth rank is the highest.

Different ranks have varying requirements for mastery of martial arts, strength, speed, etc.

Lu Yuan glanced over it and noticed that even for an amateur ninth rank, a boxing power of over 300 kilograms was required.

“In my previous life, this would be considered top-tier heavyweight professional level,” Lu Yuan thought to himself. He was beginning to believe Cheng Peng’s earlier description that the coach at Yuan Martial Arts Gym could punch a 100+ kilogram boxing stance seven to eight meters away.

If amateur martial artists are already this strong, professional martial artists must be even more formidable.

“It seems that the martial arts level in this world is much higher than in my previous life. Top martial artists might really be like ‘superhumans’.”

Not only that, Lu Yuan also discovered that martial artists with official certification from the Martial Arts Association receive significant bonus points when applying for universities.

Some prestigious top-tier universities even have strict requirements in this regard.

For example, Air Force University requires at least an amateur seventh rank in martial arts to apply.

“Air Force University is the cradle for pilots, astronauts, and even members of the mechanical power armor units. Having high physical fitness requirements is normal.”

Because of the existence of the [Student] professional panel, Lu Yuan had indeed considered applying to a prestigious university during college.

But his goal was just an average prestigious university, aiming to become a researcher or a business elite in the future.

He had never thought about becoming a pilot, astronaut, or even a mech warrior.

Now, his thoughts had changed somewhat.

“The exploration of space by humans in this world far surpasses that of my previous life. The top echelons are even starting to engage in extraterrestrial colonization.

If the opportunity arises, it would be nice to leave the surface and see the stars.”

“However, the way I allocate attributes will also need to change accordingly.”

Standing at the bus stop outside the Internet Cafe, staring at the gray-blue sky above, Lu Yuan thought silently.

By the time Lu Yuan got home, it was already 11:20 AM.

Zheng Qiuling, was still sitting in the shop watching TV.

When she saw Lu Yuan come in, she immediately put on a smile and called him over.

“How was the extracurricular class?”

“It was fine, pretty good.”

“Good is good. You need to practice well. Your dad spent quite a bit of money to enroll you in that class.”

Zheng Qiuling reminded him earnestly, “But you still need to focus primarily on your studies.”

“I know.”

Lu Yuan nodded and then asked, “Where’s Dad?”

“He went to the hospital to accompany your grandfather. He’s already prepared lunch for you. Go upstairs and eat.”

“I’ll bring it down and eat with you.”

Lu Yuan quickly ran upstairs, took out the martial arts uniform soaked in sweat from his backpack, and threw it into the washing machine.

Then, he made several trips to carry the dishes from the table downstairs to the first floor.

Using a small table about half a person’s height, he and his mom started eating together.

As the saying goes, it’s easy to open a store but hard to keep it running.

The small grains and oils shop at home relied almost entirely on his mom, which was really tiring.

Don’t think that sitting in the shop every day watching TV is easy.

Try not leaving the shop for a single step, 365 days a year, for over ten hours a day. Think you can handle that?

Lunch was similar to yesterday’s, with the braised pork replaced by braised fish and the winter melon sparerib soup replaced by corn sparerib soup.

Lu Yuan ate heartily.

The morning’s physical exertion made him exceptionally hungry now, and he didn’t stop until he had eaten three bowls of rice.

Normally, he would only eat up to two bowls, and the second one would barely reach the rim.

Today, all three bowls were packed tightly.

While eating, Lu Yuan glanced at his professional panel attributes, which were still the same as before.

Expecting a significant improvement in physical condition after just one day of training was obviously unrealistic. Once training becomes regular, he would likely see an increase in strength and physical condition.

“It seems signing up for the extracurricular class was a good idea. I have a great appetite today.

Eating more is good; eating more helps you grow taller and stronger.

You’re only in Senior Year 2 this year. You probably have another year to grow. If you can reach 1.8 meters, that would be even better.”

Zheng Qiuling smiled as she watched Lu Yuan eat. After he finished, she stopped him from moving and got up to clear the dishes herself.

Lu Yuan didn’t argue with his mom, knowing she had been sitting all morning. It would be good for her to get up and move around a bit.

“Twenty for the white pack, thirty-five for the red pack. Which one do you want?”

“The white one. And a lighter, please.”

“A lighter is one yuan.”

Lu Yuan skillfully attended to a customer buying cigarettes. With his mom still not back, he picked up the remote on the counter and changed the TV channel.

While massaging his sore and swollen arms to relieve the pain, he watched TV to pass the time.

He switched to their local Jiaoyan TV channel, which was broadcasting the midday news.

“Recently, the old town renovation project has entered its second phase, with an important notice issued by the city’s housing and urban development committee.”

“On the afternoon of June 6th, our city’s newly built sports center stadium officially opened. It is understood that over ten sports events and large-scale activities are planned to be held there in the second half of this year.”

“Hiss”

Lu Yuan inadvertently pressed on a torn muscle in his arm, causing him to gasp in pain.

At that moment, another piece of news appeared on the screen.

“Recently, several missing person cases have occurred in the west district of our city. The public security bureau is taking this matter very seriously and has established a special task force to handle these cases.”

Lu Yuan was taken aback by this news.

The west district? Isn’t that where his home is?

Missing person cases, and he hadn’t heard anything about it.

“If it’s serious enough to catch the attention of the public security bureau and warrant a special task force, it’s probably not just ordinary missing person cases. Maybe a lot of people are missing? Or could it involve murder?”

Lu Yuan speculated to himself.

Just then, Zheng Qiuling came in through the back door and hurried him upstairs.

“It’s hot down here. Go upstairs.

Remember to read after your nap. You have school tomorrow.”

“Got it.”

Lu Yuan nodded, stood up, and took a few steps forward.

Suddenly, he stopped, turned around, and asked Zheng Qiuling seriously.

“Has our family recently not been able to collect a large sum of money?”

Zheng Qiuling was taken aback, her expression immediately dimming a bit. “Yes, there’s an old customer of over ten years who took a large batch of goods and then suddenly disappeared without settling the payment. Your dad has been worried about it lately.”

She then suddenly put on a stern face and urged him, “Go, go, go, hurry upstairs. Why are you worrying about adult matters? It’s not your business yet.”

Lu Yuan pursed his lips and said nothing, then turned and went upstairs.

After lunch, he was alone at home again.

First, he took the freshly washed martial arts uniform from the washing machine and hung it on the balcony to dry. Then he went into his bedroom, turned on the air conditioner, and lay down on the bed.

At this point, he didn’t want to move at all. His arms felt increasingly like they weren’t his own.

[Absolute Concentration] works like this: when you’re utterly focused on something, you forget the passage of time and don’t realize your body is being overworked.

He had definitely overdone it.

“Let’s see the results of this morning’s training.”

Lu Yuan focused his attention and opened the attribute panel in front of him.

Now he had an additional profession, and his professional panel could switch between [Student] and [Martial Artist] at will.

On the [Martial Artist] panel, it showed•

[Martial Artist Level 1 (13/100)]

[Basic Professional Skills: Basic Body Training Level 1 (22/100)]

[Basic Fist Technique Level 1 (53/100)]

There are advantages to intense training.

In just one morning, the experience points for the basic fist technique he had just learned had already passed the halfway mark.

It wouldn’t be long before he could level up to Level 2.