As the young man stepped onto the stage, his gaze turned sharp as lightning. That intense focus made Zhao Rui immediately get serious.
'This kid is definitely a Martial Dao genius.'
'Just from this aura alone, he's leagues above any nonchalant, ordinary person.'
Sure enough, the moment they clashed, Zhao Rui knew his judgment was correct. The young man's martial intuition was incredibly sharp. Some techniques seemed to come to him effortlessly. His swordsmanship was like a meteor chasing the moon—unbelievably swift, yet also exceptionally agile.
It made Zhao Rui, who was a full Level higher, look visibly clumsy fighting bare-handed.
'Fuck!'
Zhao Rui couldn't help but curse internally. 'Talent is such a bitch.'
He had to focus one hundred percent, controlling his Inner Strength while simultaneously fending off the other's stormy, relentless assault.
After less than half an hour of fighting, he was already drenched in sweat and felt immense pressure.
"Coach, have him be my sparring partner from now on. His adaptability is pretty strong!"
Sheathing his sword, the young man stood straight and looked at the coach as he spoke.
"Alright, no problem."
The coach at the side agreed.
After he finished speaking, the young man turned to Zhao Rui. "If you can't suppress your Power, you can gradually ease up on the restraint."
With that, the young man turned and stepped off the fighting ring.
Zhao Rui's face burned with embarrassment. To be disdained by a mere kid...
'Whatever,' he thought. 'For the sake of Advancement Points, I'll let your youthful arrogance slide.'
[Martial Arts: Taiyi Splitting Light Sword (5/100)]
Seeing the five percent progress on his panel, Zhao Rui felt a little better.
'If you're going to steal something, you should at least have the decency to feel ashamed about it!'
'You can't just steal from someone and then get offended when they call you trash!'
'That would be a total lack of professional integrity.'
After testing it for a while, Zhao Rui had a general idea of the system's progress standards. Basically, an hour of full-technique sparring could raise the progress bar by about ten to fifteen percent.
It was quite efficient, all things considered.
The exception, however, was High-tier Martial Arts, for which the progress slowed down considerably.
This Taiyi Splitting Light Sword Technique was clearly a type of High-tier Swordsmanship.
"Good work!"
As Zhao Rui stepped off the ring, the coach handed him a bottle of Jialebao and said with a smile, "I heard you just finished the college entrance exams. How'd they go?"
"They were alright. So-so, I guess."
"Yeah, I was watching you fight. You have an orthodox style, and your fundamentals are very solid."
"It's just from diligent practice. I can't compare to that kid from earlier. His talent is incredible," Zhao Rui said.
"Haha, he's one of our Martial Arts Hall's star disciples. A contender with a real shot at making the district's top ten. He thinks you're a good fit for him. Spar with him regularly, and I'll pay you six hundred per session!"
"Six hundred?"
Zhao Rui's eyes lit up. That was a solid six hundred yuan per session. If he could fight five or six matches a day... Ahem!
'I'll be rich!'
"No problem, Coach! I'll be on call!"
Zhao Rui's professional dedication was truly admirable!
After they each rested for a while, the young man stood up again and clapped his hands at Zhao Rui. "Let's go!"
Seeing this, the coach gave Zhao Rui a gentle push and said apologetically, "That's just how he is! Go on!"
"It's no problem!"
Zhao Rui gave a "good-natured" smile, got up, and walked into the ring.
The young man's sharp brows furrowed slightly. His sword tip angled toward the ground, his left hand formed a hand sign and pressed against his right wrist. He stood firm as a pine, his aura completely contained.
The blade of the sword trembled faintly with his breathing, humming with a subtle, mysterious rhythm.
"Taiyi Asks the Heavens, Light Splitting and Shadow Stealing!"
With a soft cry, the young man's body flickered like a phantom of light and shadow. In an instant, he was already rushing at Zhao Rui, sword in hand.
Zhao Rui's palm struck out like a mountain. He met the attack head-on with a move, Pangu Carving Stone. He secretly channeled Inner Qi into his palm, which felt like a giant boulder crashing to the earth, creating a humming sound, yet also like a massive axe cleaving through the air with the force of a thunderclap.
In a clash as fast as lightning, the two exchanged blows seven or eight times. Their footwork a blur, Zhao Rui managed to close the distance to within half a foot of the young man.
Unflustered by the danger, the young man reversed his grip on the hilt. With an elbow strike and a side step, he swung his sword in a wide horizontal arc, forcing Zhao Rui to retreat.
"Again!"
Caught up in the heat of battle, the moment they separated, they lunged at each other once more.
'Ten percent, twelve percent, fifteen percent...'
By the time the young man's breath grew ragged and he withdrew his sword, ending the exchange, the progress bar in front of Zhao Rui's eyes had reached fifteen percent!
The young man was exhausted, but Zhao Rui was hardly any better off.
He was now keenly aware of how difficult this job was. He had to serve his "customer" well while also avoiding injury.
'A working stiff just can't catch a break!'
"That's it for today. Cheng Bin, go to the Meditation Chamber and reflect on that last exchange!"
The coach called out to the young man, Cheng Bin.
The young man nodded, then turned and left the ring.
"That was a good fight," the coach praised Zhao Rui. "You put pressure on him, but you also brought out the natural flow of his techniques perfectly!"
"It's exhausting. No wonder so few people want to be sparring partners! Coach, how's the pay calculated for that half-hour?"
"Don't worry, it's three hundred for the half-hour!"
"Great! Coach, I'll take a half-hour break. Let me know if another customer comes up!"
Beaming, Zhao Rui stepped off the ring, grabbed the bottle of water he'd left underneath, and GULP, GULP, GULP, chugged it down.
The coach was taken aback for a moment by Zhao Rui's words, then he broke into a smile.
Although there were many students at the Martial Arts Hall, not many of them hired sparring partners. After all, most spent their time honing their own Techniques and Power.
Zhao Rui waited by the ring for the better part of the day. Eventually, he simply sat down and began to meditate and cultivate.
As he allocated his points, his Misty Divine Skill had now reached the equivalent of eight years of Power.
This included the bonus from Advancement Points invested in three Cultivation Techniques: Taihang Thirteen Palms, Cloud Hand Star-Picking, and Yong Chun Inquiry.
He had acquired Yong Chun Inquiry from his last sparring session with Bai Xuening before the college entrance exams.
After learning the technique, he had practiced it once but found it wasn't his style. After a brief familiarization, he had shelved it.
He ended up in Cultivation for two hours. When he finally heard the coach's voice and opened his eyes, it was already eleven o'clock.
"Time to knock off for now. You can come back this afternoon, or if you live nearby, just wait for my call. We usually have more students who want to spar in the evenings."
The coach explained the general routine at the Martial Arts Hall.
Zhao Rui nodded, then grabbed his backpack and strode out of the Martial Arts Hall.
Outside, the scorching sun hung high in the sky, making the air exceptionally muggy. Even with his Inner Breath regulating his body, it still felt quite uncomfortable.
Just as he got out of the elevator downstairs, his phone started ringing.
The call was from Yang Fan. "I'm taking you somewhere tonight!"
Yang Fan's voice was low and mysterious, full of sleazy insinuation.
"I've got something to do tonight. It'll have to be after nine."
"Damn, don't tell me you're on a date? Spit it out, who is it? Someone from our class? Bai Xuening?"
"What are you even thinking? I just found a part-time job to make some extra cash!"
"A part-time gig as a gigolo?"
"Something like that."
"Holy shit, did you get a job washing people's feet?"
"Fuck off, I'm a Martial Dao sparring partner!"
"You scared me for a second. If you're really that hard up for cash, just tell your bro. Don't go selling your body! And if you do, you'd better sell to me first!"
"Fuck, you're a real animal. You wouldn't even spare your own brother!"
"Haha, you're finding that out a little late!"
Yang Fan chuckled sleazily. "I'll grab a cab and pick you up tonight. Make sure you dress sharp."
"Got it."
Zhao Rui replied before hanging up.