Chapter 1926 — The Challenge (Part One)

Although Wang Xinyan still embraced Wei Zhao every morning, and a certain awkwardness lingered around it, that awkwardness had thinned with every passing day until habit made it natural. By now she no longer felt the shyness she once had, for Wei Zhao had never taken advantage of her, and her own gesture had been entirely unintentional; there was no reason the two of them should keep feeling embarrassed about it.

It was just as Wei Zhao said: they were good friends.

Military boxing—most of the students had heard the name, but none had ever practiced it. After all, the martial arts schools outside offered Muay Thai, Sanda, Taekwondo, even Tai Chi, yet almost none taught military boxing in any systematic way.

Everyone was rather curious about this boxing style that every soldier in the army practiced. Only the corner of You Panhu's mouth curled into a trace of disdain.

"Military boxing sounds very ordinary—a set of forms every soldier in the ranks knows, and many people assume it exists merely to build fitness." Chen Yutian paused there, then went on: "It is true that military boxing builds fitness, but it is also a style with very real combat value, and in close-quarters fighting against an enemy it produces remarkable results! Never mind ordinary soldiers—even special forces may use military boxing in a fight, so I say this: master military boxing well, and your personal safety hereafter is assured. When you meet an enemy, if you can apply military boxing with fluency, I won't promise you'll detain the villain, but defending yourself will be absolutely no problem!"

These words set a stir of anticipation running through the students present. Yes—if they learned this boxing style well, then when danger came later, surely they would not be left at the mercy of villains? Even Wei Zhao nodded in wholehearted agreement.

Military boxing was a set of forms forged through a thousand blows and a hundred refinements, teased out and summarized by the elite among countless soldiers; Chen Yutian's account was not the slightest bit exaggerated.

"Ha—" Just then, someone laughed aloud at a most inopportune moment, as though utterly scornful of Chen Yutian's words.

"Who laughed just now? Do you have some objection?" Chen Yutian's face darkened. He had not expected a student like this.

"Reporting to the instructor, I've seen it—someone in our class is very formidable too, and your military boxing might not be a match for his!" The one who spoke was none other than Huang Mao, You Panhu's lackey, the one Wei Zhao had taught a lesson.

"Oh? Who are you talking about?" Chen Yutian furrowed his brow and glanced at the color of Huang Mao's hair, a flicker of disgust passing through his eyes. This creature was likely some petty thug, throwing his weight around at school on the strength of his family's money!

But this was the army, not the school; naturally Chen Yutian would not indulge him.

"It's Wei Zhao—he's a skilled martial artist!" Huang Mao pointed in Wei Zhao's direction.

"Oh, and how do you know he's a skilled martial artist? Don't tell me you are one too?" Chen Yutian asked.

"Huh?" Huang Mao had not expected Chen Yutian to turn the spearhead directly on him, and it caught him off guard.

You Panhu frowned as well. A moment ago he had been gloating that his scheme had worked—after all, having said what he said, he had left Wei Zhao in a difficult position whether he accepted the challenge or not.

Accept it, and in You Panhu's estimation, bringing down this instructor would be easy as pie for a man of Wei Zhao's strength; but having brought down the instructor, would that not cost the man face? Would Wei Zhao's military training ever go smoothly afterward? Even if the instructor did not hold a grudge, once back at school Wei Zhao would likely be criticized by the school.

But if Wei Zhao deliberately conceded—a man strong enough to destroy even Earth Rank experts, conceding in a bout with an ordinary instructor—would that not be a suffocating, infuriating thing?

And if he refused the challenge, then Wei Zhao would be guilty of disobeying orders; failing to heed command during military training would cost him points as well.

It was only that You Panhu had not expected this conflict to be redirected onto Huang Mao.

"I asked you a question—how do you know Wei Zhao is skilled?" Chen Yutian barked at Huang Mao.

"That..." Huang Mao could not think, for the moment, how to explain.

"Since you know he's skilled, then I take it you're skilled too. You'll do—come and spar with me, and demonstrate military boxing for everyone!" The moment Chen Yutian saw Huang Mao's look, he knew the fellow meant no good, and he was minded to teach him a lesson and settle him down a bit.

Even setting aside his targeting of Wei Zhao, a thug's getup like that earned no goodwill from Chen Yutian whatsoever.

"Me?" Huang Mao was slightly taken aback, but he was not afraid. He had come here to keep the young master company in his studies; You Panhu cared about credits, but Huang Mao did not care in the least. Even if he failed to graduate, it made no difference—he was nothing but a retainer in the You household, and this diploma was of no use to him at all. So Huang Mao chuckled: "Fine, I'll go. But instructor, let's agree on terms first—if I beat your military boxing, what then?"

"Beat it? What do you propose?" Chen Yutian had not expected Huang Mao to dare set conditions, and his gaze sharpened; he wanted to see where Huang Mao's confidence came from. Unfortunately, Chen Yutian did not have Wei Zhao's kind of eye.

Internal-school experts revealed their strength only when they circulated their mental techniques within the body to drive their true qi; unless they deliberately displayed it, only in combat or when executing lightness-skill movement techniques could their true strength be exposed.

External-school experts had no true qi in their bodies and could only draw on the true qi of the natural world through sheer physical might; thus, when such a person did not strike, even Wei Zhao could not discern his strength.

"If I win, the three of us won't take part in the rest of the military training—but you must give us full marks for it, and that bonus-point business too, you have to give us that!" Huang Mao pointed at himself, You Panhu, and Zi Mao as he spoke.

"Fine. Though doing so breaks the rules, I'll agree to it anyway—because you cannot beat me, and I will show you what military boxing really is!" Chen Yutian said with a cold laugh.

"Heh, you said it yourself!" Huang Mao snickered, and began circulating the mental technique and oral formulas within his body; in an instant, the strength of the early Mystic Rank was laid bare for all to see!

A flicker of surprise passed through Chen Yutian's eyes. He had never imagined that a thug like this was in fact an expert of the early Mystic Rank!

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