Besides the high barrier to entry for cultivating the Martial Dao, the biggest reason was that if ordinary people learned martial arts techniques at a young age, it could cause various problems for their still-developing bodies.
Therefore, to learn techniques in school, the minimum requirement was a Qi and Blood Value exceeding 10 points.
The technique Wang Lu displayed was clearly not learned at school, but taught by his private tutor.
For Wang Lu to actually use a Martial Artist’s technique in a combat drill, all to regain the face he had just lost in front of everyone, meant he was clearly seeing red and utterly exasperated.
But even as Wang Lu charged at Li Chang’an, willing to pay any price and risk the technique’s backlash on his body, he once again had a momentary lapse in attention and fell flat on the ground, just like before.
This time, it wasn’t just Wang Lu who was dumbfounded.
Even all the onlookers were completely flabbergasted.
As Wang Lu repeatedly fell, blood rushing to his head in anger, a sliver of doubt began to creep into his mind.
The first fall could be explained away as carelessness.
But the second and third falls... No matter how slow or unwilling to believe it he was, he had to admit something was off.
’The problem is, from my perspective, Li Chang’an hasn’t moved at all. So how did he manage to trip me over and over again?’
Wang Lu tried his best to figure out the reason, but Li Chang’an’s movements were so fast and subtle that he couldn’t spot the trick.
...
The person in the thick of it is lost, while the bystander sees clearly.
In fact, aside from Wang Lu himself, who was completely bewildered, the other onlooking students had more or less caught glimpses of Li Chang’an’s movements.
This was especially true for the instructor, Wu Yong. Being a man of considerable experience, his face was already a mask of utter astonishment!
He had just seen it with his own eyes: as Wang Lu closed in, Li Chang’an had shot his leg out at an unbelievable speed and angle, right in Wang Lu’s path. After effortlessly tripping him, he had methodically pulled his foot back.
As a result, from Wang Lu’s perspective, it looked as if Li Chang’an had done nothing at all to make him fall twice in a row.
Even he could only perceive a blurry motion as Li Chang’an’s leg shot out; the specific details were impossible to capture with the naked eye.
This left Wu Yong utterly stunned.
The shock he felt internally was no less than a magnitude-12 earthquake.
After all, his Martial Dao strength had plummeted due to severe injuries. He’d had no choice but to leave the pioneering zones on the cosmic frontier and return to the home planet that had raised him, prepared to let his half-crippled body contribute one last bit of light and warmth...
But no matter what, Wu Yong had once been an official Martial Artist with a respectable level of Cultivation.
Even if his power had regressed, his insight remained.
And it was precisely because of this that he understood, all the more, the true meaning behind Li Chang’an’s brief movements!
’A young man with such wicked talent... If not for his low initial Qi and Blood Value and weak Innate constitution, his future achievements would be limitless.’
He had fallen repeatedly and even used his ace in the hole, yet he hadn’t managed to touch even a corner of Li Chang’an’s clothing...
Wang Lu’s face had gone from flushed with rage to a ghastly pale. It was partly a reaction to his extreme physical exhaustion, and partly the ice-cold feeling in his limbs that comes after intense shame and anger.
At first, Li Chang’an had made a few interested comments, but he quickly lost interest in Wang Lu. His gaze swept around and instead fixed on a metallic, high-tech robot not far away.
’The realism on this thing doesn’t look too high,’ Li Chang’an thought, ’but its joints and movement patterns are calibrated perfectly. It would probably be a powerful combat robot.’
Seeing that Li Chang’an had simply lost interest in Wang Lu mid-fight, the surrounding students finally snapped out of their shock, all of them feeling a bit dazed.
’Wang Lu, the student so many teachers had high hopes for, actually lost just like that? And to an ordinary student no one had ever heard of? He was completely toyed with from start to finish...’
It was only then that Wu Yong snapped back to his senses. He glanced at the blushing Wang Lu, who looked like he wanted to find a hole to crawl into, then at the indifferent Li Chang’an, and said, "Wang Lu, come to my office after class..."
As he spoke, he looked back at Wang Lu and said earnestly, "You are indeed a leader among your peers, and you have a firm heart for the Martial Dao. You don’t need to take this failure too much to heart..."
"But from now on, you must remember: there is always a higher mountain. The path of the Martial Dao is endless. If you want to climb higher peaks, you must have a humble and cautious heart!"
"You’ve always been proud and conceited, and you’ve never really tasted failure. You probably wouldn’t have listened if I’d lectured you before. But now you’ve taken a tumble, and you’ve learned that there’s always someone better. This is the perfect time for a real lesson!"
Hearing this, Wang Lu’s face grew even redder with shame.
He had indeed been arrogant. After all, with his level of strength, being low-key wasn’t an option.
He just never imagined he would suffer such a massive, humiliating defeat today.
He could clearly sense that Li Chang’an’s Qi and Blood Value was extremely low—definitely no more than 5 points. And yet, the opponent standing before him had gone from being completely unremarkable to feeling like an unshakeable mountain!
Just standing in front of him made him feel suffocated by the pressure, as if Mount Tai was crashing down on him!
His face shifting between pale and ashen, Wang Lu nodded. The look he gave Li Chang’an was filled with a complex mix of emotions.
News of their battle in the stadium spread quickly, embellished by many students. After all, the fact that Wang Lu, who was perennially in the top five of his grade, was toyed with like a monkey in combat training class was explosive news for the entire Third Martial Arts Middle School.
Many people were curious about Li Chang’an’s origins.
...
And just as the school was thrown into chaos, with many people scrambling for information, Li Chang’an himself had already arrived at Wu Yong’s office.
Looking at the perfectly calm Li Chang’an in front of him, Wu Yong picked up a cup of hot tea from his desk and took a sip. After suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind, he finally asked, "How did you do that just now?"
Logically, with Wu Yong’s experience, he shouldn’t have asked such a foolish question.
But although he had seen Li Chang’an trip Wang Lu with his foot, he was truly curious about what details Li Chang’an had used to judge Wang Lu’s footwork and path, and to find the right moment to strike.
After all, when Martial Artists fought, it was incredibly difficult to predict an opponent’s line of attack.
That was only possible when the opponent was exceptionally weak and at a much lower level of power.
’But Li Chang’an is just a sixteen-year-old student! He shouldn’t have this kind of veteran experience!’
’Even if I grant the absurd—that Li Chang’an has been cultivating since he was in the womb and has extremely seasoned Martial Arts Experience—Wang Lu’s strength is still clearly superior. Logically, that bizarre scene from before should have been impossible.’
In response, Li Chang’an, who had clearly prepared his excuse, just smiled and said casually, "Teacher, you might not believe this, but I actually just relied on my intuition. I guess you could call it talent!"
He shrugged. It was a half-hearted explanation, but he knew Wu Yong would believe it.
’After all,’ he thought, ’when faced with a pile of unbelievable possibilities, any normal person will pick the most reasonable-sounding one and cling to it.’
Sure enough, when he heard Li Chang’an say it was talent, Wu Yong, though surprised, quickly accepted it.
...