Chapter 37: Junior Trainees
After running continuously for a month like this, the eighth class finally reached Bald Old Liu’s standards and entered the next stage of learning – hand-to-hand combat techniques.
Su Hao’s learning speed was very fast. He quickly mastered the basic routines and could perform them properly on the second day.
When it came to the simulated combat exercises among the trainees, surprisingly, no one wanted to be Su Hao’s opponent.
But for Su Hao, this was not a problem. He approached Rong Guming and pointed at him, saying, “You, be my opponent.”
Rong Guming was startled and looked at Su Hao in fear, but he didn’t dare to resist. He had no choice but to obediently spar with Su Hao. However, after getting hit several times, Rong Guming didn’t dare to retaliate. Su Hao immediately said, “No strength? Hurry up and fight back!”
Rong Guming immediately cried out, “I… I dare not!”
Su Hao had to admit, he had gone too far! He started to reflect on whether he had been too harsh during this time.
So what should he do? Many things required practical experience, and combat skills needed to be honed through battles with opponents to master the most suitable techniques.
So Su Hao turned his attention to Bald Old Liu. He walked over and said, “Teacher Liu, be my sparring partner!”
Bald Old Liu readily agreed.
Thus, Bald Old Liu became Su Hao’s personal practice partner.
Su Hao had secretly investigated and found out that Bald Old Liu was a high-level master-level warrior, very powerful. Not only him, all the yellow-robed teachers in the academy were high-level master-level warriors, and the dean, Xiao Jixuan, had already reached the level of a grandmaster. The lineup at the Lingyun Warrior Academy was quite formidable.
Su Hao’s plan was to first complete the basic skills in the academy, then build a good relationship with Bald Old Liu, and when the time was right, seek advice from him on how to advance to the master-level warrior.
Currently, he was already a high-level elite warrior, and the next step was to become a master-level warrior.
He wasn’t in a hurry to advance to a master-level warrior for three reasons. First, even though he was a high-level elite warrior, he was still in the phase of growing his body and had a long way to go. With age and physical development, he could make significant progress.
Second, he still had a lot of foundational knowledge to learn. Rushing to become a master-level warrior would leave many hidden dangers in his knowledge structure, much like studying mathematics – if you didn’t build a solid foundation in middle school, barely making it to high school would be in vain.
Third, the Warrior Academy had a rule that once you advanced to a master-level warrior, regardless of your age, you had to graduate from the academy.
So, he gave himself a year to adapt and learn, and after a year, he would focus on advancing to a master-level warrior when the time was right.
Another month passed, and they entered the next stage of learning – theory and maintenance of weapons and armor.
The theoretical part of the training was quickly mastered, and a few days later, they began learning the basics of using various weapons. This kind of skill required continuous practice.
The basics were relatively simple to grasp, but the difficulty lay in integrating and applying these skills in various situations to solve problems.
That’s where personal talent truly shone. True geniuses could use basic skills to create astonishingly creative techniques, while others could only follow the methods taught by their teachers.
So, during the first two months of learning some basic skills, everyone’s level was more or less the same. However, when they began learning the basics of weapon usage and started sparring, the difference between geniuses and mediocrities became evident.
In the training grounds, after assigning tasks, the eight teachers gathered to chat.
“Old Liu, how is that Wu Xiangwu from your class?” The head teacher of the fourth class approached Bald Old Liu and asked.
The head teacher of the fourth class was named Mo Fenghua, a young man with a 28-point hairstyle and a sharp face.
After Mo Fenghua’s question, all the teachers’ attention immediately focused on Bald Old Liu.
As expected, teachers always paid the most attention to the brightest stars. The so-called stragglers, except in comics and novels, rarely garnered any attention.
Two scars on Old Liu’s face contorted as he revealed an ugly smile and said, “It’s unbelievable. Such a genius exists in this world.”
The head teacher of the third class, a beautiful woman named Feng Man’er, with a teardrop mole below her eye, looked charming as she said with a slightly open mouth, “To earn such praise from Old Liu, he must be extraordinary!”
The other teachers nodded in agreement.
At this point, Old Liu continued, “He is indeed a genius, a talent like I’ve never seen before. I don’t know how to describe the feeling he gives me. It seems like there’s nothing in this world he can’t do, and so far, nothing has been able to challenge him…”
The old teacher said seriously, “If he can grow smoothly, give him another twenty years, and he will undoubtedly reach the legendary Ancestor-level warrior.”
The teacher from the first class was a stern-looking woman named Shui Zhi Tao. She raised an eyebrow in doubt and asked, “Old Liu, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”
Bald Old Liu smiled and replied, “Let’s wait and see! In a few years, we’ll reassess him. But in these coming years, please, all the teachers, pay extra attention to him and help take care of him.”
“Of course, no problem!”
After a moment, the topic shifted, and Feng Man’er turned to Shui Zhi Tao and asked, “Tao, isn’t there a student named Jin Dayan in your class? Isn’t he Jin Datong’s brother? I heard he’s also an extraordinary talent.”
Speaking of Jin Dayan, a smile appeared on Shui Zhi Tao’s face. “Indeed, the Jin family’s bloodline is extraordinary, and with his own efforts, his future is boundless. It’s hard to say if he can reach the highest realm. There’s also someone named Mo Xin, the pride of the Mo family; her talent is exceptional.”
Tearful beauty Feng Man’er said with envy, “Ah, I envy you. You have two exceptional geniuses in your class. In our third class, it seems like we’re struggling to find talent.”
Mo Fenghua from the fourth class, the one with the 28-point hairstyle, said somewhat sourly, “Don’t you have someone named Kong Yang in your third class? Tall and strong, I heard he’s the apple of your eye.”
Feng Man’er suddenly chuckled. She turned to an middle-aged man and asked, “Lao Wang, isn’t there a rich girl from the Jin family in your class, Jin Xiaohan? How is she doing?”
Lao Wang touched his stubble and smiled faintly, saying, “She’s doing alright.”
Soon, several teachers engaged in a lively discussion about which student was a genius and whose potential was limitless.
…
Half a year after Su Hao’s enrollment, he finally completed all the basic training. From that point on, the academy’s schedule was no longer packed with classes all day. Instead, the teachers led training for half a day and left the other half for students to freely train or study in their preferred fields.
During this half-year, Su Hao’s reputation as a genius had spread throughout the academy, not only among the freshmen but also among the older students who had heard of Wu Xiangwu’s name.
After finishing the intense training of the past six months and gaining some free time, trouble came knocking.
Several older students, clearly from higher grades, blocked Su Hao’s way back.
“Are you Wu Xiangwu?” one of the leading flat-haired men asked with his head tilted.
After a moment, all the older students lay on the ground, wailing and crying in pain.
Su Hao left gracefully, but he hadn’t gone far when he turned back. The others thought he was coming back to beat them up again and immediately begged for mercy.
Su Hao imitated the flat-haired man’s head tilt and asked, “Which grade are you guys in?”
The flat-haired man quickly replied, “We’re second-year students.”
Su Hao nodded in understanding. Second-year students meant they were in their second year of study at the Warrior Academy. Those who, like Su Hao, had not completed a full year were considered first-year students.
Su Hao said, “Where do you second-year students usually hang out? Take me there!”
