A new week began, and Yu Fei started looking forward to the next martial arts class.
On Monday morning, Yu Fei was the first to arrive at school. Uncharacteristically, he didn't go for a run.
He activated the marking vision of his Reversal Bead and scanned the talents of all his classmates.
He found that over half the class were just background characters with no talent. Of the rest, there were fifteen gray, four white, two green, and one blue—far better qualifications than the average person on the street.
Some people are just born to be protagonists.
Yu Fei watched Jiang Yifan, who was chatting with the class beauty, Zhang Qingyu.
A wealthy family, a refined demeanor, a superb intellect, and outstanding martial arts talent.
He was the only other person in Class 2-6, besides Yu Fei himself, who possessed a precious blue-quality talent.
Jiang Yifan's future looked like a smooth, open road. All his teachers gave him high marks, and at his current pace, he was sure to get into a good Martial Arts University.
Zhang Qingyu was one of the two green-talent holders in their class.
The two of them consistently occupied the top two spots in the class rankings.
A golden couple, it seemed only they were worthy of each other.
Yu Fei fell into deep thought.
'A young man's life shouldn't be too smooth, or it'll hinder his growth. I must become a stumbling block on Jiang Yifan's path.'
'I need to find an excuse to start something.'
He had no choice. The Reversal Bead's mechanism for copying talents required him to either defeat or kill the target.
"Fei, what evil scheme are you cooking up? You've been looking all gloomy and sinister this morning."
Lei Xiaoqiang sat at the desk behind him. The two were good friends, but the kid was a real smartass.
Yu Fei looked at the green light above Xiaoqiang's head and sighed at the unpredictability of life.
"Your head is green!"
He teased him. From Yu Fei's perspective, Lei Xiaoqiang's hair was bathed in the emerald-like glow, a verdant green spreading over him.
"Green? How's that possible?"
Xiaoqiang made an exaggerated face. He held up his right hand, examining it, and said proudly, "My righty would never betray me!"
Yu Fei facepalmed, speechless.
He thought to himself,
'How does a guy like this have a green talent? Is being a dumbass a talent too?'
Li Mengyao's reading faltered for a moment. She decided she would talk to that guy less in the future.
'But I wonder if Yu Fei uses his right hand too?' she thought, involuntarily glancing at Yu Fei's right hand from the corner of her eye.
Perhaps from years of training, Yu Fei's hands were long and slender, but also a bit rough and unrefined, looking full of power.
Thinking of certain images, Li Mengyao's face flushed hot, and she couldn't help but raise the volume of her reading.
Yu Fei glanced at Li Mengyao, who was suddenly acting strange, and found her very odd.
Lei Xiaoqiang was good at neither academics nor martial arts; his entire style revolved around being a wild and shameless flirt. Yu Fei suspected his green talent wasn't anything serious and decisively gave up on the idea of copying it.
His copy attempts were limited. He had to be cautious!
After thinking it over, he still felt he needed to give Mr.Jiang a bit of a challenge.
Yu Fei spent the entire day trying to figure out a reasonable way to beat Jiang up.
At this stage, no one had completed their Skin Tempering, so martial arts had a limited effect on their actual strength. If he waited too long and Mr.Jiang broke through to the Skin Tempering stage, Yu Fei would probably be the one getting pinned down and beaten.
Time flew by. While Yu Fei was still racking his brain for a plan, the first martial arts class of the week began.
This time, Yan Sea taught a new set of fist techniques. If he delayed any longer, the promising sprouts in the class would go to waste.
According to Yan Sea, this Six Harmonies Killing Fist was a foundational method for all kinds of martial techniques. It included the correct ways to generate and apply force from all parts of the body. Though named a fist art, it actually covered a wide range of unarmed combat skills.
If one mastered this fist art, they could easily transition to any advanced martial technique.
Yan Sea no longer required training in the Ox Subduing Pile Skill today. A month had passed, and anyone who still couldn't sense their Qi Blood had insufficient talent. It would be difficult for them to achieve much on the martial path.
Before teaching the fist techniques, there was one more thing to do. He wanted to set up two benchmarks in the class, making them compete with each other and giving the other students something to chase.
In the end, martial arts training was all about letting your skills do the talking.
Yan Sea gathered everyone to speak.
"You've all been training for a month and have made some progress. But martial arts isn't just about training. A Martial Arts Grandmaster is never just trained—they are forged through combat.
The reason I emphasize the importance of willpower is for actual combat. A Martial Artist's raw power is determined by their martial realm and the number of techniques they've mastered.
But how much of that power they can unleash in a real fight depends on the strength of their will.
Enough talk. All of you, stand within five meters of me."
Once the students were in position, Yan Sea closed his eyes and assumed a fist-fighting stance. Then, his eyes snapped open, a sharp, piercing light seeming to shoot from them.
He threw a light punch forward, and an explosive crack echoed through the air.
The students instantly staggered and fell in a heap; only a few managed to remain standing.
The moment Yan Sea opened his eyes, Yu Fei felt as if the teacher had transformed into a terrifying beast. He could hear Yan Sea's Qi Blood rushing toward him like a great river, and he felt as if a hand was choking him, cutting off his breath.
When the punch was thrown, the beast that was Yan Sea leaped forward. Yu Fei was its prey.
It was like being stared down by a natural predator; he couldn't muster a shred of strength, and every cell in his body seemed to be screaming in fear.
Yu Fei instantly pushed his Super Speed Reaction talent to its limit. The beast before him suddenly slowed, then vanished. His vision returned to normal.
There was no beast. There was only Yan Sea, standing in place, having thrown a punch.
"Is this what martial arts is?"
Yu Fei muttered to himself. Yan Sea's punch had shattered his worldview.
'So things like auras actually exist.'
'Then could a stronger Martial Artist kill a normal person with just a single glance?'
For the first time in his fifty years of life, Yu Fei craved power more than anything.
He had once thought that martial arts might be like the wuxia dramas from his past life—leaping off cliffs and running up walls, shattering boulders with a single punch, or, at most, wielding a forty-meter-long greatsword.
But now, he saw that wasn't it at all.
After a short while, the students of Class 6 stood before Yan Sea once more.
But some had a fiery passion in their eyes, while others looked terrified. Not everyone had the courage to face death.
Seeing the reverence and awe in the youths' eyes, Yan Sea revealed a satisfied expression. He cleared his throat and said,
"Before we officially begin practicing the Six Harmonies Killing Fist, I want to see your understanding of combat.
I'm going to choose two of you to fight right now. In a month, those same two will fight again, so you can all understand the importance of martial techniques.
So, Jiang Yifan, you were the first in this class to sense your Qi Blood. You'll be one of them.
And for the other... let me see…"
Hearing this, Yu Fei quickly raised both hands and rushed in front of Yan Sea, shouting,
"I'll do it! Mr. Yan, I'll be Mr.Jiang's opponent! I volunteer!"
Yan Sea was taken aback. He had originally intended to choose Du Mingxuan.