Chapter 7: Rules
【You have defeated an LV1 enemy once again, gaining 1 experience point.】
【You have defeated an LV1 enemy once again, gaining 1 experience point.】
【You have defeated an LV2 enemy once again, gaining 2 experience points.】
……
Each time Chen Ming exchanged blows with one of the boys, a notification like this would pop up, and the experience points he earned were all halved.
He could barely contain his laughter.
After fifteen sparring rounds, he gained another 23 experience points.
It was simply an unexpected bonus.
He had originally thought that defeating the same person a second time would yield no experience at all. Unexpectedly……
“Looks like there’s probably a time limit.”
On the way home, Chen Ming pondered the difference.
Last time in the cell, the interval had been too short.
This time, a day had passed.
Of course, there might be other possibilities.
This needed further testing.
In any case, this was definitely major good news.
Just as Chen Ming was lost in thought, he suddenly heard an angry voice, “...You don’t even know him, so why are you begging Master on his behalf?”
Eh, wasn’t that Wen Zehao?
It sounded like he was arguing with someone.
Chen Ming had no interest in meddling.
He immediately turned and walked away, not bothering to listen to what they were fighting about.
……
Huo Qianqian stared at Wen Zehao, whose face was twisted with jealousy and fury, her own face flushed red, her eyes shimmering with aggrieved tears.
The always gentle and refined Seventh Senior Brother was actually scolding her so fiercely over such a trivial matter.
Even Grandpa had never scolded her before.
Anger surged in her chest as she snapped, “Who do you think you are? Since when do you get to control me? I’ll plead for whoever I want!”
“You—”
Wen Zehao’s chest burned with even greater rage, to the point of near explosion.
Seeing his ferocious expression, Huo Qianqian was momentarily frightened, then fury welled up in her heart, “What, you want to hit me now?”
Wen Zehao froze on the spot.
In the end, he didn’t dare to raise his hand against her.
Seeing him fall silent, Huo Qianqian turned on her heel and stormed off.
Wen Zehao, left with nowhere to vent his seething anger, punched a tree.
With a crack, a tree as thick as a bowl snapped in half and crashed to the ground.
……
Chen Ming had no idea he’d missed such a good show.
He was preoccupied with thinking about how to allocate his points.
After much deliberation, he finally decided to dump the bulk into Three Talents Fist.
That Li Jinchuan today had given him quite a bit of pressure. If he hadn’t decided on the spot to pour all 25 experience points into Three Talents Fist, he might’ve really lost face.
Same old routine: 3 points to Iron Horse Stance, 20 points to Three Talents Fist.
【Name: Chen Ming】
【Level: 3】
【Current Points: 0】
【Internal Art: Iron Horse Stance (Second Layer 8/200+)】
【Martial Arts: Three Talents Fist (Proficient 86/200+), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Beginner 12/100+)】
After allocating the points, the sensation of becoming stronger was simply intoxicating.
……
Over the next few days, Chen Ming ran quite a few experiments and finally confirmed his earlier speculation.
Sure enough, there was a time limit.
Defeating the same person twice on the same day meant getting no experience the second time. There had to be more than a day’s gap.
And the more times he defeated the same person, the fewer experience points he earned.
The good news was, no matter how many times he defeated them, he would always gain at least 1 experience point.
So starting from the fourth day, the experience points he earned each day became a fixed 15 points.
Through these endless days of sparring, his strength was increasing at a rate unimaginable to ordinary people—growing stronger every single day.
……
In a flash, half a month had passed.
“Junior Sister, I really know I was wrong.”
In the backyard, Wen Zehao was cautiously apologizing to Huo Qianqian, trying to coax her with care.
Over the past half month, Huo Qianqian had refused to see him at all, clearly genuinely angry.
Their Master had even summoned him, subtly scolding him for upsetting Qianqian. He was truly starting to panic.
“You’re my senior brother. How could you possibly be wrong?” Huo Qianqian still spoke with a sarcastic edge.
“I was being petty. Junior Sister, it’s just that I care about you too much. So when I heard you pleaded for another man with Master, I went mad with jealousy and lashed out at you. I really know I was wrong…”
Under such an emotional assault of sweet talk, Huo Qianqian’s attitude finally softened. Her cheeks turned slightly red as she playfully scolded, “You’re really something, jealous of anyone and everyone. You think I’d be interested in a guy like that?”
“I just turn stupid whenever it’s something to do with you.”
“If you ever dare yell at me like that again, I really won’t talk to you anymore.”
“……”
……
After leaving Huo Qianqian, Wen Zehao headed to the martial training grounds to find Third Senior Brother Zhang Mingyu.
Zhang Mingyu teased, “Judging by that spring breeze on your face, I take it you’ve made up with Junior Sister?”
“Senior Brother’s insight is sharp as ever.”
Wen Zehao smiled, still feeling a bit proud.
Today, he had successfully held Junior Sister’s hand.
Their relationship had taken another step forward.
Of course, such details didn’t need to be shared with Senior Brother.
Just as they were speaking, a sudden cheer rang out nearby.
Wen Zehao’s expression instantly darkened.
Without even turning his head, he knew it was the students under Fifth Senior Brother sparring with Chen Ming.
Chen Ming!
Just the thought of that guy made him feel sick.
For half a month, he’d been focused entirely on trying to win Junior Sister’s forgiveness, neglecting that punk.
He hadn’t expected that guy to still be bouncing around in front of him.
If not for that bastard, he and Junior Sister wouldn’t have fought in the first place.
A cold glint flickered in Wen Zehao’s eyes.
Zhang Mingyu noticed the change in his expression and asked curiously, “Why the sudden foul mood?”
“Third Senior Brother, I want to ask you for a favor.”
“We’re brothers—no need for formalities. What do you need?”
Wen Zehao said, “I don’t like that Chen Ming. Can you think of a way to drive him away? You know, Master personally said to keep him here, so we can’t embarrass Master. Best if he leaves of his own accord.”
Zhang Mingyu immediately laughed, “That’s all? Easy. Leave it to me. I guarantee I’ll make him lose face in public so badly, he won’t dare stay.”
“In that case, thank you, Senior Brother.”
Zhang Mingyu replied, “A small matter. Just bring me a couple more bottles of good wine next time.”
With that, he waved a student over. “Qi Jun, come here.”
A tall, lean, dark-skinned young man walked over. “Third Senior Brother, Seventh Senior Brother. What are your orders?”
Zhang Mingyu said, “Find an excuse to give that guy Chen Ming a beating in front of everyone. You can take your time humiliating him.”
The youth named Qi Jun’s eyes lit up at first, then he hesitated a bit. “But… wouldn’t that make Fifth Senior Brother lose face?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Fifth Junior Brother. You just go all out. Do you have the confidence?”
Qi Jun laughed heartily. “If I can’t even handle that punk, I might as well go back to the countryside to shovel dung!”
That Chen Ming guy—he had observed him on the very first day. His Iron Horse Stance was, at best, at the second layer. Only his Three Talents Fist was halfway decent.
His own Iron Horse Stance had long since broken through to the third layer.
He could flatten that punk with one hand.