Mountain and Sea Demon Martial Arts, Starting with Vertical Pupils

The following day, at Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy.

Lu Qun threw a punch, the energy surging at the tip of his fist.

Immediately afterward, the old energy was about to dissipate, but the new energy hesitated for a moment before barely continuing.

It is precisely this imperceptible condensation that greatly reduces the power of the second layer of force.

"The flow of energy isn't smooth enough," Chen Luo, who was using his vertical pupils, pointed out. "The old energy dissipates too quickly, and the new energy is generated a little late. Your breathing also needs to be more stable. Try again after you've calmed your mind and focused your energy."

Lu Qun nodded vigorously, "Okay, I'll practice again."

Although he now completely accepts Chen Luo's guidance without question, he was actually somewhat skeptical when Chen Luo first started giving him pointers.

After all, both of them are at the same level of strength. No matter how fast Chen Luo progresses, they are still at the same level. How accurate can his guidance be?

He only tried it out of consideration for his friend's feelings.

Then, to everyone's surprise, after practicing the boxing as Chen Luo instructed, his bottleneck in his skill level, which had not improved for more than half a year, actually began to loosen!

Although his breakthrough was due to the accumulation of more than half a year of hard practice of the Nine Yang Strength, without Chen Luo pointing out some key points, he would have basically had to rely on luck.

Just like when Chen Luo faced the Huan Beast, there is only hope of breaking through the bottleneck when the opportunity comes.

This is also the dilemma of most martial arts practitioners. Unless they are exceptionally talented, they will always be stuck at a certain bottleneck. If they cannot find an opportunity, they may not be able to make any progress in their entire lives.

For this reason, Lu Qun was extremely grateful to Chen Luo and had complete faith in him.

Especially after Chen Luo broke through to the second level of strength on the fifteenth day, he trusted Chen Luo to the extreme. He did whatever Chen Luo said, and was a man of his word, hitting wherever Chen Luo pointed.

This made Zhou Xiaoliang, who was standing to the side, envious. He secretly hoped that Chen Luo would perform another miracle and break through to the third level of strength as soon as possible, so that he could also give him some pointers.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Chen Luo?" Just then, a man walked over and asked.

Chen Luo looked at him and recognized him as Lin Siwu from Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy.

Because Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy was a public institution, the managers within it were, to some extent, equivalent to county government officials, and their rank was even higher than that of Huang Chen, the grain chief.

For example, Li Jiangwei, the steward, should be officially called Li the clerk, which means that she was mainly responsible for paperwork such as registration and record making.

The same applies to Lin, the steward in front of us. As the name suggests, steward is responsible for managing the general affairs of the martial arts school, such as security and logistics.

Chen Luo guessed that he was probably sent by Instructor Li, so he raised his hand and said, "Greetings, Manager Lin. What brings you here?"

As expected, the steward bowed slightly and said, "Instructor Li means that you should stay behind for one more lesson after your evening practice tonight."

"Shall I learn something?" Lu Qun keenly noticed the key point and immediately frowned. "Did you relay the wrong message?"

Zhou Xiaoliang quickly pulled him back, returned the bow to the clerk, and said with a smile, "How could Steward Lin have conveyed the wrong message? Instructor Li must have his reasons."

Lin Siwu ignored the two of them and calmly looked at Chen Luo, "After evening practice, go to the other courtyard to find Li Shuli. She will take you to see Instructor Li."

After saying that, he turned and left without waiting for Chen Luo's response.

"A-Luo broke through the realm in fifteen days, almost breaking the martial arts school record. What was Instructor Li thinking, only giving A-Luo guidance once!" As soon as Manager Lin left, Lu Qun immediately said indignantly.

"I also find it strange. Logically speaking, A-Luo should have been allowed to enter the inner courtyard as an inner disciple." Zhou Xiaoliang frowned, then looked at Lu Qun and solemnly instructed, "A-Qun, Instructor Li must have his reasons for doing this. Although the martial arts academy is quite strict, it also has its own rules. You must be careful with your words in the future."

Lu Qun took a deep breath and said in a muffled voice, "I know."

"It's alright, I also think Instructor Li has his reasons," Chen Luo said with a smile, patting the two of them on the shoulder.

He discovered that although his two friends seemed to be laughing and joking together all day, their personalities were actually quite different.

Zhou Xiaoliang is usually carefree, but he can remain calm and composed in any important situation.

Lu Qun, on the other hand, always carried a reckless spirit, especially after the Huan Beast Demon Disaster that day, even his martial arts training was imbued with a ruthless edge.

These are all rare and valuable qualities. Chen Luo vaguely realized that although Qingshan County was surrounded by demons, it was actually a place where people could be tempered.

The people he came into contact with, whether they were Song Ruokui, Zhou Xiaoliang, Lu Qun, or those mountain guards, were all quite extraordinary in character.

Even that Lin clerk from earlier, his words and actions exuded an air of composure and order, and he seemed to be a top choice.

Thinking this way, the evening practice ended quickly.

As they were heading towards the villa, Chen Luo suddenly called out to the two who were about to leave, "By the way, Liang, would you like to come with me to find Instructor Li?"

Zhou Xiaoliang was taken aback. "Huh?"

"Did Instructor Li not call Ah Liang over?" Lu Qun also wondered.

"Hey, the martial arts academy doesn't have a rule against bringing a companion when receiving guidance." Chen Luo smiled indifferently. "I can help Lu Qun out, but you, A Liang, have been stuck at the second level of strength for almost a year. One session of guidance might be the key to your breakthrough."

"How can that be?" Zhou Xiaoliang waved his hands repeatedly. "Only outstanding disciples have ever been allowed to receive guidance in the back courtyard. I am not qualified."

"Heh, this is just a common practice, not a written rule. What's there to be afraid of? At worst, you'll get a scolding, it's not like you'll lose a piece of flesh." Chen Luo said seriously, "Opportunities are earned."

"I think A-Luo has a point," Lu Qun's eyes lit up as he chimed in, "So what if you get rejected? They're not going to lock you up in jail, are they?"

"But..." Zhou Xiaoliang hesitated.

He was indeed tempted, but he also felt it was too bold.

"No buts."

Chen Luo said goodbye to Lu Qun, hooked his arm around Zhou Xiaoliang's shoulder, and half-dragged him towards the villa.

Upon entering the steward's office in the separate courtyard.

Li Jiangwei was still writing at her desk when she saw Chen Luo arrive. Her gaze swept over Zhou Xiaoliang, who was standing awkwardly beside him, and she paused for a moment, "And who is this?"

Zhou Xiaoliang, usually so witty and easygoing, blushed and felt somewhat guilty in front of Li Jiangwei. He regretted coming here even more and stammered, "Greetings, Manager Li, I am..."

Seeing him stammering, Chen Luo pursed his lips and quickly bowed first: "Greetings, Steward Li. This is my good friend Zhou Xiaoliang. He has been stuck at the second level of strength for a year, only one step away from the third level, but he has not made any progress. He is unwilling to give up, so I thought I would bring him here to ask Instructor Li for guidance."

Zhou Xiaoliang lowered his head even further.

"That's not impossible, but whether or not to offer guidance depends on Instructor Li's opinion," Li Jiangwei said gently.

Martial arts academies are places for teaching and imparting knowledge and skills, so it is only natural for them to help disciples who are stuck at a bottleneck.

However, this was partly because he came with Chen Luo, so he could offer some pointers.

If Zhou Xiaoliang had come alone, she would probably have declined.

After all, Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy has thousands of disciples. If every one of them came to ask for individual instruction, Instructor Li would probably not even have time to eat.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look at Chen Luo again, a strange light flashing in her eyes.

This disciple had impressed her with his gentle smile during the initial registration, then astonished her by breaking through to the second level of internal energy in fifteen days, and now, having finally gotten a precious opportunity to receive guidance, he was dragging others along...

"It's truly extraordinary every time," Li Jiangwei thought to herself.