Low-Tier Martial Arts

Zhuang Xun: “Mm.”

What on earth was “Mm” supposed to mean?!

Zhou Ziruo ground her teeth in frustration, not knowing how to respond.

If anyone else dared to speak to her like this, she would have already lashed out with biting sarcasm; she had never been one to hold back her tongue!

But she couldn't do that with Bai Yujing. She was afraid of making her senior brother dislike her.

Senior Brother, you're the only one who gets this kind of special treatment. If any other smelly man dared to do this, I would have cursed him to death already...

Zhou Ziruo took a deep breath, forcing a polite smile. “Yes, I do have something to discuss with you, Senior Brother. I wouldn't have come to find you otherwise, so please don't get the wrong idea.”

She stood her ground, refusing to say what it was, waiting for Bai Yujing to ask.

But she only saw Bai Yujing continue walking forward without looking back.

The smile on Zhou Ziruo's face began to sour, and anger welled up inside her. However, after taking a few quick steps to catch up and seeing Bai Yujing's face, her anger instantly melted away.

Honestly, how could her senior brother be so incredibly good-looking...

Seeing Zhou Ziruo blocking his path, refusing to move or speak as if throwing a tantrum, Zhuang Xun also clasped his hands behind his back and stopped. He stared back at her in silence, thinking to himself that he absolutely wouldn't ask what it was, just to drive her crazy.

The two stared at each other for a long time until Zhou Ziruo finally averted her gaze first.

A rosy blush crept onto her face, and her eyes darted around busily. “Cough... At the end of the month, my elder brother will be having his coming-of-age ceremony. He asked me to invite you to watch, Senior Brother.”

“Here is the invitation, Senior Brother.”

Invite me to watch? Zhuang Xun hesitated, not really wanting to go.

Unlike Yan Pingsheng, who was just going for fun, going as Bai Yujing meant he would have to socialize, which was incredibly troublesome.

But it wouldn't be polite to decline. The soft sword currently buckled around his waist was a gift from the Zhou family during his apprenticeship ceremony. Now that their eldest son was having his coming-of-age ceremony, it was only proper for him to attend out of courtesy.

Yes, it was definitely not because he was worried that being too cold would stop people from giving him gifts in the future.

Having Yan Pingsheng go counts as me going anyway... Zhuang Xun muttered to himself, then said flatly, “Mm, I understand.”

“So, are you going or not, Senior Brother?” Zhou Ziruo clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head and tipping her toes to look up at Bai Yujing.

“I will pay a visit when the time comes.”

“Great, then it's a promise, Senior Brother! I'll come find you when the time comes.” Zhou Ziruo gave a breathtaking smile, spun her skirt, and gracefully departed.

“Take your sword,” Zhuang Xun reminded from behind.

Zhou Ziruo's steps immediately faltered, her graceful demeanor completely shattered.

She turned around and gave a fake, stiff bow. “Oh, wonderful. Would you like me to hire someone to sweep your side cliff too, Senior Brother? Lest I end up dirtying your territory when I visit.”

“Mm, do as you see fit.” Zhuang Xun nodded slightly and stepped onto the path down the mountain.

“Huh?!” Zhou Ziruo's mouth hung open slightly as her eyes followed Bai Yujing's retreating figure, unable to believe he actually agreed to that.

...

Days passed, and the end of the month arrived.

Right before the Zhou family's eldest young master's coming-of-age ceremony, Zhuang Xun finally managed to temper Yan Pingsheng's strength to Seven Stones.

On the eve of the ceremony, Zhuang Xun, An Dafu, and Liu Xiangzhi went to find Instructor Huang to request leave.

After they explained their reason, Huang Wei agreed quite generously.

Thus, the next morning, the three of them boarded the carriage driven by An Dafu's family coachman and headed toward the Zhou Manor in Zechuan City.

The street outside the Zhou Manor was bustling with heavy traffic.

As soon as the three of them got off the carriage, a servant immediately came forward to receive them.

After asking for their purpose, the servant led them into the Zhou Manor, passing through beautifully carved and painted covered corridors, until they reached the entrance of a side hall.

The side hall was packed with guests.

Zhuang Xun scanned the room and saw that most of the visitors wore the disciple uniforms of the Wanxing Martial Academy. A small portion consisted of youths from minor families, disciples from martial arts halls in the neighboring counties, and a few rogue martial artists.

So many people... Zhuang Xun thought as he walked, scanning the crowd for any familiar faces.

“Hey! Brother Chang! Over here!” Behind him, Liu Xiangzhi suddenly waved toward a certain direction.

A sturdy youth in that direction looked left and right, searching for the voice, before finally spotting Yan Pingsheng and the others. His face lit up with joy.

“Oh! Brother Yan! Brother Liu! Brother An! You guys came too!” He strode over, grinning widely to reveal two large buck teeth.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Chang Heyou asked Yan Pingsheng, “Brother Yan, I heard your strength broke through to Seven Stones. Are you going to participate in the upcoming martial competition?”

Zhuang Xun replied, “Me? No thanks. I'm no match for you guys, so I won't go up there to make a fool of myself.”

Chang Heyou said heartily, “We both have Seven Stones of strength. Whether you can match up or not, you'll only know after a bout. Besides, it doesn't matter even if you lose. Just think of it as going up to have some fun. It's rare for us to get leave to come out anyway.”

Zhuang Xun smiled and waved his hand. “No, no, I haven't practiced any martial arts. I only have raw strength. I can't compare to geniuses like you who still have the spare time to practice martial arts while tempering your strength.”

Chang Heyou was flattered by the compliment, scratching the back of his head and saying modestly, “I've only just started practicing too. I haven't mastered it yet.”

If disciples of the Wanxing Martial Academy's Outer Court had any energy left after tempering their strength, they would generally practice one or two low-tier martial arts.

Although low-tier martial arts had many shortcomings, they also had their advantages.

The greatest advantage was that because they couldn't shape a martial physique, there was no restriction preventing someone from cultivating multiple techniques at the same time. Thus, one could practice many of them.

Moreover, the physical requirements were low; anyone in good health could practice them.

Therefore, before tempering Nine Stones of strength, most people chose to practice one or two. Although their power was only slightly better than wildly swinging flailing fists, having something was still better than nothing.

It also allowed them to deepen their understanding of martial arts beforehand, which would be highly beneficial for learning mid-tier and high-tier martial arts in the future.

Furthermore, if one could integrate low-tier martial arts into the system of mid-tier or high-tier martial arts and borrow their martial physique, they could still unleash immense power.

The Principal's Formless Phaseless Spear only consisted of combat techniques, making it, strictly speaking, a low-tier martial art.

However, because it was derived from the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method and could be enhanced by the Formless Phaseless martial physique, it became incredibly miraculous.

It was a pity that of Zhuang Xun's two clones, one cultivated too quickly while the other cultivated too slowly. Neither had delved deeply into low-tier martial arts during their strength-tempering phase.

Refining his control, he realized that after returning, he would definitely have to control Yan Pingsheng to practice them, or else he would be at too much of a disadvantage during the promotion assessment.

...

While the four of them were chatting, the coming-of-age ceremony began in the main hall next door.

Those in the side hall were not qualified to watch the ceremony. They could only go over to add to the excitement when the martial competition started. Otherwise, they had to remain where they were and could not wander around freely.

However, with food and drink provided in a comfortable environment and decent treatment, no one complained. Most were just chatting with people they knew.

At this moment, Liu Xiangzhi heard someone mention the term “Four Great Young Masters” and asked curiously, “Brother An, do you know who these Four Great Young Masters they're talking about are?”