NOVEL WEB Chapter 154 Simulation: Arena Competition
"Young man, do not try to challenge this iron chain bridge."
Someone on the cruise ship shouted, "If you walk halfway and fall, it's still okay because there are rescue personnel patrolling under these four bridges at all times; but if you walk halfway and then stop, too scared to move and collapse in the middle of the bridge, that would be very troublesome."
Su Jie waved his hand and smiled at the kind reminder, indicating that he understood.
Obviously, since these four bridges were built, quite a few tourists had wanted to challenge them, leading to many amusing incidents.
He had seen such news in the past and had always laughed it off, thinking, "I can handle it myself."
However, it was only after he actually took the first step that Su Jie realized overcoming his inner fear was not an easy task.
On the contrary, it required great courage.
Taking a deep breath, amidst thousands of thoughts, Su Jie took the second step, then the third and the fourth, slowly making his way towards the center of the bridge.
"Why won't this guy listen?"
"But he seems to be walking quite steadily."
"Could he be a martial artist going to a competition?"
"That shouldn't be right. Competitors usually pass over these four bridges at five in the morning and don't leave until nine at night; they wouldn't show off in front of strangers."
"I guess he's either a tourist trying to show off or someone here to train their courage."
"There's going to be a good show to watch."
"..."
The nearby people were no longer in a hurry to board the ship, and those who had already boarded hoped the ship would depart slowly so they could enjoy the show.
However, Su Jie didn't stop halfway as others had guessed he might.
Instead, his steps became increasingly steady.
When he reached the center of the bridge, the wind over the lake grew stronger, making the entire iron chain bridge sway, and Su Jie had to hold onto the chains on either side to stabilize himself.
But he kept moving forward.
At this moment, his eyes appeared dazed, fixed on the front, assuming a pose of the Eight Extremes Fist, yet not a rigid stance, but one that swayed with the movements of the bridge.
The body moves at will, and the will follows the heart.
Gradually, he even let go of the chains he was holding and began to stride boldly.
As it goes:
The body must be upright, toes grasping the ground firmly.
Knees slightly bent, loose hips make it easy to twist the waist.
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Elbows match the knees, free and unfettered in all directions.
At this moment, Su Jie, using the swaying of the bridge, comprehended the essentials of the footsteps of the Eight Extremes Fist, standing on the iron chain bridge as solidly as if he were on the ground.
With a broad lake and swaying chains, a figure strides freely above.
For a time, Su Jie had a feeling of "pondering the vastness of the universe."
"He actually made it across!"
"Definitely a master!"
"His life force must be at least 0.7!"
The tourists exclaimed, and having reached the other side, Su Jie, unaffected by the strange glances from a woman in a nearby pavilion, decided to walk back.
He wanted to feel that sensation of being 'free and unfettered in all directions' once again.
"That's it!"
"This place can train my stepping technique!"
Su Jie was overjoyed, completely immersed in the moment, his mind solely focused on this, his walking speed also getting faster.
With such single-minded focus, he wasn't in any stage of deep sleep but resembled more a state of light meditation.
Su Jie, in this training, skipped the stages of deep sleep and directly entered a light meditative state, uniting his mind and body as one, truly in harmony.
After walking back and forth more than twenty times, Su Jie noticed that the food he had eaten in the morning was being digested and absorbed more, and even his life force had risen again, reaching 0.9.
"Could I be a genius?"
Su Jie emerged from his light meditative state, various thoughts crowding in, "No, if I were a genius, how could I have difficulty even entering the first stage of deep sleep?"
"Just now, it must have been an epiphany."
Afterward, he went to a small pavilion nearby and had his life force measured by a woman through a window.
The life force measuring device, provided by Minglun Biomedical, was similar to a weighing scale; one simply stood on it, and it could scan most of a person's bodily conditions, thereby assessing the individual's life force.
And indeed, Su Jie's life force, as he had sensed, had increased by 0.1, reaching 0.9.
"Here, this is your qualification for the competition," the lady handed him a bracelet, black, with a metallic luster on the surface, seamless yet highly flexible.
It was said that this type of material, obtained by Minglun through communication with a dimension in Taixu Illusory Realm, possessed strong tensile and memory properties.
Moreover, this metal could release an energy field that activates Qi-Blood, and wearing it year-round could promote better health.
Of course, topics like other dimensional worlds were, for the general public, merely an impractical subject.
After all, apart from the higher-ups at Minglun Martial School, it seemed no one else had truly traveled to other dimensional worlds ...
"Thank you."
Su Jie took the bracelet and wore it on his right wrist, feeling a hint of chill that was refreshing but not bone-chilling, similar to eating an ice pop on a hot summer day.
The sensation was exhilarating!
However, eating an ice pop was momentary, while the bracelet was for the long haul!
"You're only seventeen today, yet your Qi-Blood has reached 0.9. You're quite talented," the lady said with a blooming smile, "Do you have any plans for the future?"
Su Jie laughed, "I haven't decided yet, but I will definitely apply to Minglun Martial School."
"Then I wish you all the best in achieving quick success," the lady said, clearly understanding from his words that Su Jie was not yet a student of Minglun Martial School but had joined through a registration for a training class.
Yet, the summer training class had only been halfway through, and if this young man studied earnestly, he could certainly break through to 1.
Moreover, participating in the competition at this age, his future was boundless.
"Then thank you for your kind words, sister," Su Jie also put on a playful smile and, following the lady's directions, passed through a path paved with cobblestones, walked past a park lush with green grass, and finally arrived in front of the Bird's Nest.
This Bird's Nest building was modeled after the Olympic Bird's Nest in Kyoto, but the interior facilities were solely various sized competition arenas.
Because this was a martial arts competition arena!
Upon entering the Bird's Nest, the interior was not open-air, but the floor tiles were made of large blocks of bluestone, very hard and sturdy, strong enough to withstand any hammering without breaking.
At that moment, a woman in sportswear approached him with a formulaic smile, "Sir, you look new here, are you here to fight?"
"Yes."
Su Jie nodded, "It's my first time here; could you introduce it to me?"
"No problem."
The woman smiled lightly, "My name is Bai Jie. There are mainly eight levels here, each level generally has nearly fifty competition arenas. The higher the level, the lower the Qi-Blood."
Su Jie did not understand, "Why is the Qi-Blood lower on the higher levels?"
Generally, one would think it should be higher up, right?
Rising step by step!
That's one of the cultural characteristics.
Why here does it become higher downwards?
Bai Jie smiled warmly, "Because the higher the Qi-Blood, the stronger the destructive power. If someone with high Qi-Blood fights on the upper floors and carelessly collapses the floor, it would be disastrous for the ones below."
After Bai Jie's vivid explanation, Su Jie understood the reason.
After all, reality is not like a game, where the higher you go, the stronger the building materials. Foundations are always most solid at the bottom, naturally less stable upwards.
Nowadays, human technology has not yet breached outer space...
However, Su Jie believed that Minglun;'s technology must have done so.
"What's your Qi-Blood level?" Bai Jie asked.
"0.9," Su Jie said.
"Then let's go to the top level."
Under Bai Jie's guidance, Su Jie reached the highest floor of the Bird's Nest, the eighth level. Many people were there, many of his age too.
Groups of three or pairs talked together, dressed simply and modestly, likely all competitors.
"Are the people here students of Minglun Martial School?" Su Jie asked.
"None of them," Bai Jie shook her head. "Students of the school must have at least Qi-Blood of 1, and to graduate from the external department, they must reach at least 2."
For Qi-Blood levels up to 10, every increase of 0.1 represents a qualitative leap.
To graduate with Qi-Blood at 2!
Doesn't that mean that the students graduating from Minglun Martial School are ten times stronger than when they entered?
No wonder talent from Minglun Martial School is eagerly sought after by major groups and companies.
"The people here are either martial arts enthusiasts living in Minglun City or, like you, trainees from the martial arts classes in the teaching district."
"Their Qi-Blood levels are between 0.8 and 1," Bai Jie explained. "Although at your level, a difference of 0.1 is very significant. However, each person has learned different skills, has different personalities, and different tactics. Moreover, the rules of the arena are different. Some deadly moves cannot be used, and scores are calculated based on points."
Su Jie understood.
Arena combat wasn't about life and death fights or street brawls. It wasn't about killing the opponent but about determining a winner through friendly competition.
To put it more plainly, it's about prolonging the match time by restricting various rules.
After all, commercial aspects are always associated with competitions.
A match where one knocks out the opponent with a single punch isn't very entertaining.
"So, do fixed matches happen here?" Su Jie asked.
"We at Minglun do not support fixed matches," Bai Jie's smile gradually faded. "However, if you want to participate on your own, we won't oppose it. After all, we just provide a platform. It's their own business if individuals and the forces behind them have vested interests."
"But I can assure you of one thing—"
"If students from Minglun Martial School participate in a fight, they absolutely do not involve in fixed matches but strive to defeat their opponents as much as allowed by the rules of the contest."
Su Jie nodded. In this world, once people enter society, they hardly control their own fate, but students related to the large Minglun group need not worry about these despicable troubles.
Minglun is indeed a prestigious label!
Of course, if a student from Minglun were to commit crimes and stray off the right path, Minglun would also revoke their diploma, stripping them of their Minglun student status, and the responsible persons at Minglun would publicly apologize...