At 1:50 PM on July 2, 2081, in Binhai City, the most prosperous city in the Xia Nation, dark clouds gathered, thunder rumbled, and a torrential rainstorm seemed imminent.
"Summer thunderstorms, they come as soon as they say." In a room on the top floor of the Starry Sky Dome, a young man watched the dark clouds and lightning flash outside through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Raindrops began to patter against the windowpane.
The young man walked to the center of the room, placed his hands on the ground, and slowly and steadily performed a handstand. He first performed a straight handstand, then retracted one arm and shifted to a one-handed handstand on his right hand.
"Hurry~~~ Inhale~~~"
The sound of breathing echoed in his ears. Xu Jingming felt his core muscles tighten, and he felt the full weight of his body stimulating his right arm.
For the first three minutes, his arm felt comfortable, his muscles and tendons deeply stimulated. But after the fourth minute, his palm muscles began to clench and ache, and the fifth minute was even more painful. However, Xu Jingming had long been accustomed to it, and after five minutes, he naturally transitioned to a one-handed handstand on his left hand.
"Dad's back, I wonder if it's feeling any better today." As Xu Jingming did a one-arm handstand, his thoughts drifted to his father. His father was sixty years old, and his back injury was a long-standing issue. Yesterday, his mother called to say that his back had flared up again while he was lifting something heavy...
"I'll go back home after I'm done with this recent busy period," Xu Jingming thought.
The one-arm handstand wasn't a training method taught by the national team, but rather one his father had taught him when he was a child.
Xu Jingming's health was poor, so his father taught him martial arts to strengthen his body, including the "one-arm handstand." Because of its long-term effectiveness, it became one of his five daily exercises, practicing them in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer. He's been practicing for twenty years now, persisting even through illness and injury, and never stopping unless there's a specific reason. As the saying goes, "Practicing martial arts without practicing kung fu is all for nothing when you grow old." These so-called kung fu are the basic daily skills.
If he interrupts them for even three or five days, his bones, muscles, and other aspects will decline.
After finishing his one-arm handstand, Xu Jingming walked to his desk, sat down, drank a few sips of water, and watched the heavy rain outside the window.
"My leg starts to hurt when it gets too humid," Xu Jingming said, looking at his right leg and gently rubbing it. "I've never stopped doing rehabilitation exercises every day, but my right leg... won't heal."
"If my right leg wasn't injured, I would have a chance to become the world's number one," Xu Jingming said silently.
Injury is the most feared thing in every martial arts master's career. For Xu Jingming, a "broken leg" injury was a nightmare.
"Drip, drip..." Suddenly, a sound was heard.
Xu Jingming raised his head and said, "Xiaobai, answer the video call."
Light condensed in front of Xu Jingming and formed a two-meter-high picture. In the picture, a burly fat man was sitting in the car, smiling and shouting, "Lao Xu, we have already set out from the hotel and will arrive at your Starry Sky Fighting Arena in about 20 minutes. Haha, we haven't seen each other for more than a year. We have to have a good drink tonight."
"Don't worry, Daxiong, I have already booked a barbecue restaurant." Xu Jingming saw his childhood friend and smiled and advised, "It's raining heavily, be careful on the road."
"Don't worry." The burly fat man continued, "These guys in the provincial training team admire you very much and want to see your marksmanship. You have to teach them well later and let them understand the gap with the world's top masters."
"Nowadays, young people are better than the previous generation. I'm lucky I didn't capsize." Xu Jingming said with a smile.
"How could you possibly capsize? I actually hope you do. If you do, it means our provincial team has produced another genius," the portly man laughed. "Okay, enough small talk. See you later."
"See you later." Xu Jingming waved his hand, and the image in the air dissipated.
The ten-day training program for the Jiangnan Provincial Team cost fifty thousand Blue Star Coins, a fee that barely covered the venue fee. But for the fighting gym, providing training for the provincial team served as a publicity stunt, attracting more fighting enthusiasts to sign up for membership.
"Professional fighters need to make money after retirement," Xu Jingming said, getting up to shower and change.
Being a professional fighter sounds glamorous, but in reality, it's only a small 'appearance fee' earned during one's prime. Those with career earnings exceeding one hundred million are few and far between, and most pros barely make ends meet.
As for retirement, making money becomes even harder. Although Xu Jingming was a world-class martial arts master, he never made it past the quarterfinals in a world martial arts competition. The income in the fighting world is pyramid-shaped, with only a very small number of people at the top! The income of the top ranked fighters is ridiculously high, while the income of the second, third, fourth... will plummet.
Xu Jingming stood waiting at the entrance of the Starry Sky Fighting Arena, accompanied by several staff members. From a distance, he saw an electric bus approaching through the rain.
When the electric bus stopped and the doors opened, more than ten people from the Jiangnan Provincial Training Team got off one after another.
"Big Bear." Xu Jingming saw the burly, fat man who got off the bus first. It was his good brother Liu Chongyuan.
"Old Xu." Liu Chongyuan came over and hugged Xu Jingming excitedly, slapping him on the back with loud slaps. Xu Jingming had a bitter face, but he could only think of it as a massage.
Liu Chongyuan, who was two meters and three meters tall and weighed over one hundred and eighty kilograms, looked like a big, upright bear. Back then, he was a professional martial arts master, wielding a shield in one hand and an axe in the other. When the World Martial Arts League was at its highest, he even reached 39th place, which is why he was able to maintain his position at the Provincial Sports Bureau.
Training Session
Xu Jingming, observing their expressions, guessed what was going through their minds. He smiled and said, "I've seen your information. There are currently eleven members of the Jiangnan Provincial Team who wield spears, and all of you are here this time. Three of you are high school students, specially recruited. Take turns, little ones, and put on your armor."
In martial arts competitions, armor and helmets are mandatory, along with neck guards and other essential equipment.
Cold weapon combat, unsharpened and covered with cushioning material, still packs a terrifying punch. Without specialized equipment, it can be fatal.
Xu Jingming also donned his armor and helmet, peering at the players through the face mesh.
"Everyone enter," Xu Jingming said, spear in hand, as he entered the arena through the iron mesh gate. The eleven players and their team leader, Coach Liu, followed him in.
"Everyone else, stand aside. Feng Yu, go first, Liu Hao, get ready," Xu Jingming said.
In a regular competition, the arena should only contain two competitors, but this was merely a coaching match, a twenty-by-twenty-meter area... For Xu Jingming, coaching the provincial team, such a large space was unnecessary, so he invited the other team members to come in and observe. Without the barbed wire obstructing the view, the view was clearer.
"Look carefully, everyone! If your marksmanship could be even half as good as Coach Xu's, you'd make it to the World Martial Arts Competition," said team leader Liu Chongyuan. The other team members watched intently, breathlessly watching a master like the Gun Master Xu Jingming in action up close.
A young man, also in armor and holding a spear, approached Xu Jingming, ten meters away.
"Referee system, activate," Xu Jingming said.
Light and shadow descended from above the arena, condensing into a giant face that looked down and announced, "The match begins."
Nowadays, martial arts competitions are judged by intelligent referees, whose cameras can slow down the image by a thousand times, ensuring accurate and flawless calls.
"Come on," Xu Jingming observed the immature boy, Feng Yu. High school students specially recruited are generally relatively weak, chosen solely for their potential and the intensive training they receive.
"Coach, be careful! When I compete, many competitors can't even take my shots," the young Feng Yu exclaimed confidently.
"If you're capable, run into me first," Xu Jingming teased.
Feng Yu confidently leaped forward, his speed and ferocity unmatched. In just a few steps, he reached the target, his momentum transforming into a powerful thrust with his spear, sending a whistling sound through the air.
To achieve this, Feng Yu practiced 500 thrusts daily, each one with all his might. He began training at the age of twelve, and after five years, his spear now lashed out with the speed of a shadow, capable of piercing even thick armor! Even with the rounded, cushioned tip of the competition spear, the impact still packs a force exceeding eight hundred kilograms.
"Bang!" The sound of the spear ripping through the wind was clearly audible, yet Xu Jingming merely took a step back.
The spear tip stopped twenty centimeters from Xu Jingming, missing him completely.
"Huh?" Feng Yu was startled, then immediately shifted his spear technique, forming a circle with the tip of the spear, pointing it towards Xu Jingming.
Each thrust was a threatening attack, but Xu Jingming, like a cat, simply shifted his steps, making all the thrusts miss.
"A high school student on the provincial team." Xu Jingming thought of himself back then, so immature.
"Isn't his leg injured so bad that his footwork is weak? Why can't I reach him? Only twenty or thirty centimeters each time?" Feng Yu, unwilling to give up, attacked repeatedly, his spear skills dazzling, but he couldn't touch Xu Jingming at all.
After dozens of shots, Xu Jingming, who had been moving all the time, attacked for the first time. He raised his spear, and the moment it touched Feng Yu's angry spear, the shadow of Xu Jingming's spear blurred, and suddenly, a terrifying burst of power erupted.
"Bang!"
A low, crashing sound, the sound of spears colliding, sent Feng Yu's spear flying.
Feng Yu's eyes widened, his hands trembling as he stared blankly at the spear, which had fallen to the ground in the distance. "I have at least two hundred kilograms of grip strength in one hand. How could it have slipped out of my grasp with just one touch?"
He had been gripping the spear with both hands, and the mere collision of the spear shafts sent his hands numb and sent the spear flying.
"That's a bit gimmicky. Your footwork is weak, and your spearmanship is average," Xu Jingming commented. Such an opponent wasn't worthy of his full armor, but martial arts competitions didn't tolerate carelessness, which could lead to lifelong regrets.
"I don't know much about marksmanship." The team leader coach Liu Chongyuan laughed and said, "But this kid's footwork is weak. In our eyes, it's like slow motion."
Feng Yu looked at Xu Jingming with some confusion: "Coach, even if my footwork is weak, I can't touch you with a spear that's more than two meters long?"
"Your arms and spear are only this long. The maximum attack distance is fixed." Xu Jingming explained, "Based on your steps, you can determine the maximum range that your spear can reach. As long as you keep your distance, you can prevent him from being touched at all. This is the basic skill of a professional player."
"The maximum attack distance is fixed? If you keep your distance, you can't touch me?" Feng Yu murmured. He felt it just now. Xu Jingming's movements were very simple, but he couldn't touch me even if he used all his marksmanship.
"The essence of footwork is nerve reaction, spatial control, and body balance," Xu Jingming said. "You are very rough in all three aspects. Just like your coach Liu said, your footwork is like slow motion in the eyes of professionals."
"This kid was just recruited into the provincial team after the college entrance examination," said Liu Chongyuan. "He has a wild style and needs to work hard on his footwork."