The next morning, the weather was exceptionally good again.
Feeling refreshed, Chen Ming got up. While passing by his elder brother's courtyard, he heard someone practicing martial arts with grunts and got curious. Who else in the family could be training?
He peeked around the corner and surprisingly found his young nephew, Chen Lide, swinging his little arms, seriously practicing fist techniques.
The little guy saw him and immediately panicked, as if he had done something wrong, and dashed away before Chen Ming could speak.
Chen Ming found it amusing. His nephew was secretly practicing martial arts. It seemed the little one had a desire for the Martial Dao.
The nephew was practicing a Long Fist, a foundational fist technique for martial arts enlightenment that their father had taught the two brothers when they were young.
During breakfast, Chen Ming learned that his brother had left home before dawn, and his sister-in-law was likely still asleep. So his nephew took advantage of this time to practice martial arts secretly.
At that moment, he heard his nephew's exceptionally loud reading sound coming from the backyard, which made him chuckle, as he could easily imagine the little guy's guilty expression.
…
When Chen Ming arrived at the Huo Family, it was approximately nine in the morning, just after the initial period of the si hour. It was an hour later than yesterday.
The timing was perfect, as the group of young people had just completed their morning Pile Skill training, and after half an hour of rest, they could start sparring.
"The seventh senior brother is here too."
When Chen Ming arrived at the martial arts field, he saw Wen Zehao and Hong Mingquan sitting together, drinking tea and chatting. He greeted them.
Unexpectedly, Wen Zehao's face turned cold, and without even looking at him, he left him hanging there.
He sneered, "Fifth senior brother, isn't it laughable? Anyone can call us senior brothers nowadays."
Hong Mingquan felt a bit embarrassed and didn't know what to say.
Chen Ming, having drawn a lot of undeserved disdain, naturally wouldn't stay there and retreated from the pavilion.
"Strange, did I offend him?"
Yesterday, we were friendly, greeting and even planning to drink together. Why did he suddenly change today?
What exactly happened here?
After a while, Wen Zehao left.
Only after seeing his figure disappear did Chen Ming go over to greet Hong Mingquan, "Fifth senior brother."
Hong Mingquan asked him, "How did you offend the seventh junior brother?"
"I also have no idea. Everything was fine yesterday. Perhaps my attitude wasn't respectful enough and displeased him."
Hong Mingquan pondered briefly, "Are you familiar with the junior sister?"
"Junior sister?" Chen Ming was puzzled, "Could it be that Old Huo recently accepted a female disciple?"
"It's Qianqian."
So, it was talking about Huo Chengkun's granddaughter.
However, calling the granddaughter of the master 'junior sister' would certainly mess up the seniority.
Chen Ming grumbled inwardly and said, "Not familiar. I've never spoken to her."
"Well, that's odd." Hong Mingquan saw he wasn't lying, and said with surprise, "I heard that the junior sister pleaded with the master, which is why you're allowed to stay."
"Really?"
Chen Ming was quite surprised.
Hong Mingquan continued, "You might not know, but the seventh junior brother has always held affection for the junior sister, waiting to propose to the master after she comes of age."
So that's the reason.
Although Hong Mingquan didn't say it outright, Chen Ming had already understood that Wen Zehao was jealous.
Someone as proud as Wen Zehao likely already considered the junior sister his woman and wouldn't tolerate anyone else approaching her, especially someone he looked down upon.
It's like a school heartthrob discovering his dream girl is getting close with someone outside school, suspected of having a secret affair—that's heart-wrenching enough to make one feel like killing.
From this, it can be seen that between Wen Zehao's apparent friendliness, he actually despised him deep down. Otherwise, he wouldn't react so strongly.
The key point is that he truly doesn't know Huo Qianqian. Who knows why she spoke on his behalf?
Next time, he should find an opportunity to ask her.
Hong Mingquan changed the topic and chatted about other things.
Chen Ming understood that Hong Mingquan didn't want to get involved in this issue.
Simply put, they had just met, and the friendship hadn't reached that level. Wen Zehao was his close junior brother, after all.
He felt a sense of intrigue that even in a small Huo Mansion, there was a world of martial arts.
If it doesn't work, he wouldn't be a sparring partner here.
Besides, there are several martial arts schools in the city, so he wouldn't struggle to find a place to be a sparring partner.
…
Half an hour later, the trainees had rested enough. When they saw Chen Ming approached, each was eager to start.
Young people are inherently combative; sparring with others is far more exciting than practicing stances and fists.
Hong Mingquan said, "Who wants to spar with Chen Ming first?"
"Me."
"I'll go first."
"Me, me."
"…"
A group of young people fought for the opportunity.
"I will!"
Suddenly, a voice drowned out the others. When everyone looked, nobody dared compete.
It was Li Jinchuan, stepping forward with a look of determination and extending a courtesy to Chen Ming, "Please teach me."
Seeing his demeanor, Chen Ming felt a stir in his heart. This guy likely came prepared and might have a trump card ready.
He thought for a moment and made a decision, opening his panel and adding all the remaining 25 points to the "Three Talents Fist."
Instantly, his mind gained more understanding of this fist technique.
[Name: Chen Ming]
[Level: 3]
[Current Points: 0]
[Cultivation Technique: Iron Horse Stance (Second Level 5/200+)]
[Martial Skill: Three Talents Fist (Proficient 66/200+), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Beginner 12/100+)]
Chen Ming knew he absolutely could not lose. If he couldn't even defeat a thirteen or fourteen-year-old, he'd have no face to be a sparring partner in the future.
He smiled slightly, saying, "Come on."
Humph!
Li Jinchuan snorted coldly, without any politeness, charging forward with a fist aimed at Chen Ming's chest, with a fiercer momentum than yesterday.
Indeed, he came prepared.
Chen Ming quickly responded, sidestepping and forcefully leaning his shoulder, ready to send this small frame flying if the hit landed.
Li Jinchuan swiftly transitioned with a "White Crane Spreads Wings," skillfully evading Chen Ming's shoulder attack, and backhanded towards his neck.
The connection between these two moves was extremely clever, something no novice in their first six months of practice could think of.
Chen Ming was even more certain that someone was guiding him, and it had to be a true Martial Artist.
His mind flickered like lightning, and his hands moved quickly, employing "Overlord Lifts the Cauldron" to deflect that crane peck.
Right then, Li Jinchuan's right foot rapidly kicked towards his chest. This unexpected move wasn't part of the "Three Talents Fist," yet it was fast and aggressive, catching people off guard.
Luckily, Chen Ming was cautious and reacted promptly, ducking narrowly to avoid the kick.
These moves were so thrilling that the spectators could hardly breathe. Many were already cheering, eager to jump in on behalf of Li Jinchuan and knock down the sparring partner.
Unfortunately, after three moves, Li Jinchuan was suppressed, and his performance didn't match the previous level.
After thirty-six moves, Chen Ming defeated him once again.
Li Jinchuan looked utterly unwilling but had to concede. He thought the three moves taught by Uncle Rui would catch him off guard, but still lost.
He silently retreated into the crowd, pressing his lips tighter.
Standing his ground, Chen Ming said nothing. He looked at the prompt before him, immersed in joy: [You have once again defeated an enemy at LV3, gaining 5 Experience Points.]
Apparently, defeating the same person a second time still grants Experience Points.
Although the Experience Points are only half as much, it's already tremendously good news for him.