You said you would practice martial arts. Have you mastered the Tiangang Dharma?

Chapter 1 Leading the charge

Xiaguo, the eighth middle school in the outer city of Gaoyuan City, Northwestern Province.

The cold winter has passed, and the early spring is not cold. In the afternoon, the training hall is filled with sweat. Hundreds of young men in Class 8 hold down their lower bodies and stabilize their horse stances, like rows of human stakes. They roar and punch out with their right fists, then with their left fists. The unified sound of breaking wind shakes the four walls made of aluminum and iron.

The punches are exactly the same, with each thrust and retraction sweat splashes, the steps seem to have taken root, neither advancing nor retreating, and if you press down you can stand for a long time without falling.

Jiang Qiu, who was standing at the back of the team, clenched his teeth, his lower body trembling as if he was limping across a boat, and beads of sweat fell from his chin like raindrops, dripping onto the concrete floor.

Snapped.

The classmate on the left fell to the ground due to unstable lower body, and actually sat down there, supporting himself with his hands. His chest heaved like waves, and he raised his head while breathing rapidly, letting the sweat wash his face and soak his shoulders and sleeves, like a drowned chicken.

Several more students fell down after hearing the noise. The sudden shouting and cursing drowned out the sound of fists: "It's so fucking tiring. We agreed to learn martial arts in the third year of high school, but we've only been laying the foundation. From birth to now, we've been laying the foundation!"

"Haha, it's good to lay a solid foundation. When the time comes, teach me a few spear techniques, and I can go directly to the battlefield and fight monsters."

The sound of self-mockery was like a mosquito buzzing in his ear. Jiang Qiu remained silent. His ink-black eyes shone with a brighter light, and his gums trembled.

As time rolled down with the sweat, he had become a frozen crane standing alone in the flock of chickens, with his neck muscles ferociously engorged, his cheeks as hard as iron, and his legs trembling like the flapping wings of a dragonfly.

"Jingle Bell"

When the school bell rang, the students who had been sitting on the ground sweating for half the afternoon jumped up, looked miserable, and cursed all the way out the door.

Jiang Qiu let out a long breath, forced himself to hold up his aching lower body, wiped the sweat off his face, and let his classmates walk with him arm in arm. He stood there in silence, alone like a wooden stake under a torrent.

The muscles connecting the calves and thighs seemed to be broken. If I moved an inch, I would feel excruciating pain. I had to close my eyes and wait for the blood in the soles of my feet to flow upward and break through the barrier of my knees.

When the training hall was empty, Jiang Qiu silently took his right foot, paused for a moment, and walked towards the door.

In the past eighteen years, he has already gotten used to the lifestyle of this world.

Not every high school in Xia Country is pursuing the college entrance examination, but studying martial arts and entering Wuhan University is indeed everyone's dream. However, this is a northwestern province, where studying martial arts means killing and the college entrance examination means war.

Since the emergence of many secret realms a hundred years ago, wild beasts have become monsters, sweeping in like a flood, most hot weapons have been eliminated, and ordinary people have been slaughtered.

However, along with the secret realm came the awakening and breakthrough of mankind. They went against the will of heaven and fought against the inbreeding, keeping all kinds of monsters and beasts away on the plateau. They were called warriors.

In the northwest, the only institution that can train martial artists is the Northwest Martial Arts University.

Warriors who graduated from Northwest Wushu University enjoyed a high social status and privileges independent of ordinary people. They could kill foreigners and guard the country's borders.

It is precisely because of such warriors that human society was able to recover from the disaster and civilization has continued to this day.

Therefore, warriors are synonymous with status and strength, and are also the key to whether one can gain a future in the Northwestern provinces. Jiang Qiu wants to become a warrior.

His idea was very pure. If he became a warrior, he would have a house in the inner city and could eat monster meat every day. Even if he had to lick blood from the tip of a knife every day, he would not be the first to die.

After all, all the people are soldiers and the warriors are generals.

……

After school, Jiang Qiu strolled through the eighth shantytown in the outer city, carrying a pound of pork and two small bags of vegetables he had just bought.

Tin houses that looked like broken cardboard boxes were lined up, with an alley squeezed out in the middle. Large pieces of bricks underfoot were broken like spider webs, with mud hidden in the black cracks.

Passing by a public dry toilet, the foul smell of feces and urine was so pungent that Jiang Qiu's eyes were filled with sourness. He wiped it casually and walked away quickly.

Soon, he stopped in front of his small brick house, with a vermilion copper door and a small rusty lock. He inserted the key with a click, twisted it with force, and pushed the door open with a creaking sound. The smell of dust hit his face.

Since his parents died on the battlefield three years ago as low-level non-staff employees of an institution, he received a pension that would keep him from starving for six years, and also received the ownership of the house for 30 years as compensation, which was no longer a rental relationship.

The house is not solid and has no ventilation. The only advantage may be that it does not smell bad after living in it for a long time, so his biggest dream is to pass the college entrance examination to enter Northwest Wuda, become a warrior, and live in the inner city.

Click. Blue flames burst out from the iron core of the gas stove. After a short while, the one-square-meter kitchen was filled with the aroma of oil, and a meat dish and a vegetable dish were served on the small square table.

In the past, he didn't dare to eat meat so recklessly, but now that he is in the second semester of his senior year, he has to do high-intensity training almost all day long, and he can't sustain it by eating only vegetarian food.

Although the training was nothing more than standing still, boxing, and push-ups, Jiang Qiu did not neglect it. What was worrying was that the pension that Ben had to live on for six years would be used up by the end of his senior year.

If I fail to get into Northwestern Wuhan University, and I'm just a high school graduate who still wants to make money to survive, I'll have to become a non-staff employee and die on the battlefield, or move bricks and do infrastructure construction and die on a construction site.

"drop……"

Jiang Qiu was eating voraciously when suddenly the screen of his mobile phone on the table lit up and a message popped up.

[Class 8 head teacher Wu Shan: @All members, there are still three months left before the college entrance examination. Your foundation should be very solid, but you have not yet learned spearmanship. Now I will upload a video teaching the first eight styles of ancient martial arts spearmanship.]
[Class 8 head teacher Wu Shan: Prepare for the college entrance exam. Your attitude in practicing tonight will determine whether you can live a good life in the future!]
[Li Xueming: But teacher, we only practiced ancient martial arts spear techniques for one night, how can we learn anything?]
[Class 8 head teacher Wu Shan: The teaching video has been sent. You have practiced basic skills for seven or eight years. If you can’t practice your spear skills well, it means you are not working hard enough. Then why do you continue to take the college entrance examination? Why do you want to be a martial artist? In the northwest, moving bricks can help you live for decades longer! ]
[Class 8 head teacher Wu Shan: Most of the students in Class 1 can master the style in one night. Are you so bad? I will come to check it myself tomorrow. If you are qualified and determined, you can learn the complete ancient martial arts spear technique after three days of practice. Otherwise, you will not be qualified to take the college entrance examination, and you will not die in vain!]
Jiang Qiu was stunned when he saw this. At this time, another classmate was already using a lot of swear words and cursing in the private group.

Being a leader is not just about getting a sharp tip, but more importantly, it is about gaining recognition from the school.

For students who receive the spear, the school provides martial arts resources free of charge and teaches the essentials of spearmanship. In short, they are trained as candidates for the college entrance examination.

There has never been a student who has not been admitted to Northwestern Wuhan University. This is an iron rule.

Furthermore, if you sign up for the college entrance exam without getting a chance to get a certificate, your teacher may advise you not to die, lest there be no one to move bricks and rebuild the ruins in the outer city.
"Instead of working hard until you are 40 or 50 years old and being a low-level person for the rest of your life, it is better to practice spearmanship and try your best to get into Northwest Martial Arts University and become a martial artist."

"The Northwest is not Jiangnan after all. The lower classes will serve the warriors and die in the war."

Jiang Qiu finished his meal in a few bites, washed the dishes, wiped the water stains on his waist, and stared at the teaching video of the first eight forms of ancient martial arts spearmanship on his mobile phone.

In the video, the Liuhe spear in the hands of an old man in black training clothes is twisted like a flying dragon. With every move, he is unable to break free from the skinny figure. The old man is as soft as a civet cat and as tough as a red tiger. The spear moves and the cold light breaks through the air.

The eight styles of ancient martial arts spear techniques are displayed in great detail. Unlike the tricks circulating on the Internet, they are extremely lethal and are engraved with a watermark that reads "Not to be passed on to outsiders."

Jiang Qiu pushed the tables, chairs and other sundries in the living room to the sides, squeezing out an open space of less than three meters in radius. After watching the video, he placed his phone in the corner to replay it.

Holding a one and a half meter long cracked hard rubber tube between his hands, he imitated the others and started to dance with it.

Bang, snap, click.

The table corner was moved, the wooden chair was overturned, and the pipe mouth cracked into two pieces.

The spear skills are indeed somewhat similar, but each move is like a monkey dancing with an eel, the muscles are exerted in a weird way, the water pipe in the hand is weak, and the momentum is not even as strong as the simplest straight punch.

It turns out that the video did not explain the key points of exerting force and holding the gun, and it looked similar in form but not in spirit, with many loopholes.

Jiang Qiu took a deep look at the shallow marks on the corner of the small square table, gritted his teeth and lowered himself into a horse stance. Even if he was learning to walk in Handan, if he could practice well, he would have a chance to get the spear.

Wow——hum——whoosh——

After practicing the eight styles of ancient martial arts spear techniques, Jiang Qiu stood up with his body supported by a water pipe, took two deep breaths, and shook his twisted forearm.

"How can I learn these eight moves properly in one night just by watching videos without explanations?"

"Does it mean that I deserve to be born at the bottom of society and live a miserable life?"

Just as Jiang Qiu was smiling bitterly, his expression suddenly froze, and a few words floated into his sight.

【Ancient Martial Arts Spear (Not yet started)】

[Practice once]

[1/100]

After confirming that this was not an illusion, Jiang Qiu's brows relaxed, his face became clear, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

(End of this chapter)