Chapter 40 You Can Call Me Brother Feng

Students, we have already won this match. Tell me, should we continue?

Hearing the camp commander's words, Zhao Rui did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned his head to look at all the students present, mustered his internal energy, and spoke in a resounding voice.

Backed by fifteen years of internal energy, his voice was by no means inferior to the loudspeakers on the martial arts training ground, instantly echoing in everyone's ears.

At this moment, the setting sun sloped westward, and a sky full of rosy clouds poured down through the gaps in the clouds, draping the earth in a layer of golden gauze.

Zhao Rui stood in the center of the field, bathed in the sunset glow. His protective gear faintly reflected a dazzling brilliance, making him look like an imposing battle god in golden armor.

Hearing his voice was like a thunderclap near the ear; seeing his figure was like a divine general descending into the mortal world.

For a moment, it actually evoked a sense of dazzling and intoxicating admiration.

"Our second brother is putting on quite a show!"

At the edge of the training ground, Jian Chongsheng quietly leaned close to the third brother Le Bin and whispered.

Le Bin looked at the dazed and mesmerized expressions of the female classmates nearby, and could not help but nod in agreement.

Envious! This is the inherent advantage of martial arts students!

"Yes!"

"Take him down!"

Under such circumstances, how could passionate college students possibly disagree? Deafening cheers instantly erupted from the sidelines.

Zhao Rui smiled, turned around, and said to the camp commander on the platform, "I agree!"

"Heh, this brat!"

The camp commander could not help but curse with a smile, not expecting this kid to seize the initiative as if he were the one in charge of the duel.

"Company Commander Hao, we can't let the students say we're bullying them. How about this, same rules as before: as long as he lasts three minutes without falling, we lose!"

Although the camp commander could see that Zhao Rui had impressive internal energy, no matter what, he couldn't imagine that the boy could compare to a company commander who had been cultivating for nearly twenty years.

"Don't worry, he won't last a minute!"

Company Commander Hao spoke lightly, but his expression was solemn, without a shred of contempt.

"This classmate, how about you?"

"Well, can we make it unlimited time?"

Zhao Rui scratched his head and vetoed the suggestion. With a time limit, how could he copy?

The previous two soldiers had used the exact same martial art, which led him to an unexpected discovery: different people using the same martial art did not affect the copying process.

The system only copied martial arts and did not concern itself with the differences among the users.

In fact, upon careful thought, it made sense. With the same martial art, everyone had different insights, and the effects and power generated would naturally vary.

In all likelihood, the system simply identified the basic information of the martial art and then, through the accumulation of time, restored its foundational technique.

As a result, for common martial arts or military routines, time could easily be piled up using sheer numbers.

As soon as Zhao Rui said this, the surrounding students were instantly stunned, and a flurry of mixed whispers immediately broke out.

"Isn't he being too arrogant?"

"He's out of his mind wanting to show off. Thought he was somebody special, humph!"

Human jealousy is innate. Whenever someone else is stealing the spotlight, there are always those who seize the moment of another's stumble to release the jealousy they have long suppressed in their hearts.

Even though Zhao Rui was nominally fighting on their behalf at this moment.

"Don't you dare talk about him! If you have the guts, go down there and fight!"

"Exactly! All you know how to do is nag and whine, and you don't even have the qualifications to step down there. Humph!"

Where there were skeptical voices, there were naturally staunch supporters, especially the girls in Zhao Rui's class. How could they possibly allow their "hero" to be slandered?

They immediately launched a collective counterattack, displaying the imposing aura of heroines among women, successfully forcing the whispering boys to swallow their taunts.

"No problem. Since this classmate has such a request, the condition will be changed to this: as long as one party falls to the ground, they lose! Vice President Peng, what do you think?"

The camp commander smiled and looked at the accompanying school leader, Vice President Peng, who was standing to the side.

"I have no objection. Our school has always respected the autonomy of our students!"

Vice President Peng laughed offhandedly. He knew very little about martial arts, but since the students made this request, he, as their representative, naturally supported it.

Since both sides had no objections, the duel quickly kicked off in the center of the training ground.

Cheers and words of encouragement rose and fell around the entire training ground, coming from both students and soldiers.

Only the two people in the center stood still, neither making a move for the moment.

Time ticked away second by second. Seeing that Zhao Rui's breathing was steady and his internal energy endless, Company Commander Hao knew that if they remained in a stalemate like this, he would definitely never wait for Zhao Rui to make the first move.

With an angry roar, his body moved like a dragon emerging from the deep sea, and his fists struck like fierce tigers descending from the Tianshan Mountains. Bursting with whole-body strength, he lunged fiercely toward Zhao Rui.

His fist momentum felt like it was tearing the sky apart, piercing through spatial distance to arrive right in front of Zhao Rui in an instant.

Zhao Rui's sword-like eyebrows knitted slightly. With an empty palm striking diagonally, he parried and deflected the fierce, direct punch coming straight at him, while setting his legs in a character-two-clamping-yang horse stance to stabilize his posture.

Instantly stepping forward, he launched a straight-line punching combo, neutralizing with attacks and fighting offense with offense.

His opponent had previously been watching from the sidelines and had seen Zhao Rui relying purely on evasion and nimble dodging when fighting his comrades.

Therefore, Company Commander Hao intended to launch a fierce, aggressive attack right from the start to seize the initiative and establish psychological dominance.

To his surprise, Zhao Rui showed no intention of dodging whatsoever, meeting his offense with counter-offense.

This instantly slashed away more than half of the momentum of his fierce onslaught. Fortunately, he was rich in combat experience and hurriedly adjusted his stance to steady himself.

This exchange between the two was as fast as lightning, and in a flash, their positions had already shifted several times.

"Good kid, I underestimated you!"

As a tier-six powerhouse, Company Commander Hao had experienced numerous bloody battles, and his combat experience far surpassed Zhao Rui's by more than just a star or two.

However, Zhao Rui's techniques were eclectic, encompassing both fists and palms. Moreover, his temperament was seasoned and completely devoid of impulsiveness, leaving Hao temporarily unable to find any flaws in his defense.

It looked nothing like the mindset possessed by a teenager in his teens.

Especially the opponent's internal energy, which was surprisingly not much inferior to his own, causing immense shock in his heart.

Such a martial arts genius shouldn't be in an ordinary class, right?

He must be a student from the martial arts academy of Dongqi University who sneaked in disguised.

These cunning intellectuals!

The more Company Commander Hao thought about it, the angrier he grew. With a sudden fierce roar, he placed both palms on either side of his waist, then swept them upward to intersect and merge in front. Gathering his Qi into a vortex, he shoved his palms outward violently.

The fierce momentum of this palm strike was like a torrential flood rushing down a mountain, unstoppable. Wherever it passed, the air itself groaned in misery.

Ever since witnessing a Grandmaster-level expert unleash their moves at the Xiaoyao Pavilion last time, this was only the second time Zhao Rui had witnessed such a ferocious technique.

It was a martial art that completely exceeded what someone of their level should possess.

The system panel in his mind also provided the information for this move in an instant.

"Fragment of the Iron Garment镇岳 (Zhen Yue) Art, available for copying!"

A fragmented martial art?

It had actually reached the stage where it could be copied—what level of martial art was this?

How could Zhao Rui dare to meet its edge head-on? He hurriedly retreated rapidly while pushing his mastery of the Cloud Hands Plucking Stars to its absolute limit.

His internal energy surged from the Dantian Qi sea, entered the Taiyin Lung meridian, and gathered at the Zhongfu acupoint. Instantly, an inner Qi born of the same origin as heaven and earth burst forth within the acupoint.

"Floating Clouds Obscuring the Moon"

"Cloud Dragon Appears Thrice"

"Stars Hanging Over the Level Wilderness..."

Zhao Rui poured out the movements of the Cloud Hands Plucking Stars in one breath, each strike intercepting the opponent's advancing palm force.

Company Commander Hao, who had previously been advancing unstoppably, felt as though his palm force had sunk into a thick, viscous cloud of mist, where his internal energy was continuously dissipated.

This forced him to increase his internal energy output to resist this resistance, which felt like swimming upstream against a swift current.

"How is this possible?"

Company Commander Hao was greatly alarmed. He had learned this cultivation method through a stroke of fortune; usually, even when facing the battalion commander, he could rely on its indomitable momentum to force the other to back down three times.

Yet now, he was actually feeling pressure from a college freshman.

This pressure made it impossible for him to execute his fist techniques to his heart's content. Once his momentum was exhausted, it would become difficult to inflict any lethal damage on his opponent.

If his martial art had a second form, there would naturally be no problem, but crucially, it didn't have one.

To the surrounding students and soldiers at this moment, Company Commander Hao appeared to be charging and crashing around like a wild bull.

Meanwhile, Zhao Rui was like a child leading an ox, constantly shifting his position in front of him and guiding the direction of his advance.

"Can't this soldier change his moves?"

"Exactly!"

"Why do I feel like they're just so-so? Look, this soldier isn't even as impressive as the previous ones!"

"Maybe they're all in on it together. I bet our school's guy has connections in the military camp and is just showing off on purpose."

Most of the students did not practice martial arts. In their eyes, they only saw Company Commander Hao charging blindly while Zhao Rui dodged and maneuvered in front of him without changing tactics.

However, in the eyes of masters like the camp commander on the platform, it was a completely different scene.

"This kid's internal energy is peculiar. Company Commander Hao shouldn't be using that move."

"If he doesn't withdraw his attack right now, he's going to lose!"

"How insidious. With a skill level like this, how could he possibly be a student in an ordinary class? I'll have to make them do extra training later!"

Neither Zhao Rui nor Company Commander Hao knew what the people outside the arena were thinking, but the two of them were already riding a tiger and unable to dismount.

If either party withdrew their attack, they would suffer the backlash of the opponent's move. If they didn't withdraw, they could only remain in this stalemate until Zhao Rui's internal energy was exhausted and his movements slowed, allowing Company Commander Hao to seize the opportunity for a heavy strike.

Alternatively, Company Commander Hao's internal energy would be depleted, or he would suffer the backlash of withdrawing, resulting in Zhao Rui's victory.

However, this did not align with Zhao Rui's intentions.

What he wanted was to stall for time and copy the military skills as quickly as possible.

Although this martial art was wondrous, it was merely a fragmented technique, and the copying time was definitely not enough yet. It would be far better to quickly copy conventional military martial arts to maximize his benefits.

"Company Commander, there's no point in us fighting like this. I'll count to three, and how about we both withdraw our attacks at the same time?"

Zhao Rui condensed his voice into a thread, transmitting the words directly into Company Commander Hao's ears.

"Deal!"

Company Commander Hao had nowhere to vent his full strength and had long since grown tired of this stalemate. Seeing that Zhao Rui was willing to withdraw simultaneously, he naturally had no reason to disagree.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

As Zhao Rui uttered the third word, his figure retreated abruptly while bringing his palms together in front of his chest to guard against a sudden counterattack.

Simultaneously, Company Commander Hao stamped his feet on the ground, retracted his fists to gather his strength, and forcefully channeled his entire body's momentum down into the soles of his feet.

Then, leveraging and discharging the force as he retreated, he left several clear footprints on the thick blue-brick ground.

This exchange had completely exceeded everyone's expectations. After the two stood their ground, the scene fell into a sudden silence.

"What kind of fight was that? It wasn't even as good-looking as the previous ones! Such a show-off!"

Among the spectator students, a male student from another department who had一直 (constantly) resented Zhao Rui for stealing the spotlight spoke up again to provoke him.

He originally thought someone would echo him and throw in a few more sarcastic remarks, but after he finished speaking, no one answered.

He hurriedly tugged on the classmate next to him, thinking they hadn't heard him speak.

However, he saw that classmate sidestep directly to avoid him and say, "If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"

The boy was stunned, only to see that classmate point to the arena and say, "Take a guess: are your bones harder than those blue bricks?"

The boy peeked forward, and his body instantly turned cold, a chill shooting straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He saw that the blue bricks Company Commander Hao had stepped on in the arena had long since been shattered into fine powder, which blew away with the wind along with the swirling yellow sand.

Damn it!

He had been too busy enjoying the thrill of mouthing off!

This was a martial arts student! If he found out that someone was bad-mouthing him behind his back...

At this thought, the boy never dared to stick his neck out again. He curled his body up instantly, terrified that someone would remember him and report him to Zhao Rui.

"Company Commander Hao, shall we continue?"

In the center of the training ground, Zhao Rui checked the progress bar for the Hundred Battles Cloud-Splitting Fist on his mind's system panel. It was only at forty percent—still a long way to go!

Company Commander Hao wore a stern expression. Looking again at the young face with its lingering trace of youthful innocence, the slightest bit of contempt in his heart vanished completely.

Just as he was about to voice his agreement, the camp commander on the spectator stand gave a light cough.

"Let's end the match here. The two of you are evenly matched; if you keep fighting, it'll be dark. This time, the college students' team wins!"

With the final sentence, the camp commander intentionally raised his volume, instantly carrying it across the entire training ground.

"Yay!"

"Awesome!"

"Zhao Rui, I love you!"

"Zhao Rui, I want to have your babies!"

Instantly, the surrounding college students jumped up in excitement.

Had the counselors and instructors not been there to maintain order, this group would surely have charged onto the training ground to vent their emotions.

"It was a pleasure sparring with you!"

Zhao Rui cared not a whit about the crowd's reaction; his mood was just recovering from a sense of disappointment.

Fighting a pointless match without earning a single advancement point—what was there to be happy about?

Looking at the young man with a fair face that still carried a hint of youthful immaturity, Company Commander Hao let out a long sigh, nodded, and reached out to shake hands with Zhao Rui.

"Kid, you're not bad. Let's spar again when you have time!"

"Really? When?"

"..."

Company Commander Hao was left dumbfounded. That was just a polite pleasantry!

"Can I add your contact information? Let's make an appointment again, shall we? My admiration for you is like a surging river..."

"Damn it, no wonder a kid like you could fight me for so long. Turns out you're a martial arts maniac."

Company Commander Hao spat lightly, though he generously stated his mobile phone number.

The two had struck up a friendship through blows, and he was quite eager to test how Zhao Rui's martial art managed to suppress his Zhen Yue Art in the first place.

Kudos to you! My name is Hao Feng, you can call me Brother Feng!"

"Alright, Brother Feng! Let's take a photo together, shall we?"

"..."

Although the duel had a few minor twists and turns, it ultimately "perfected" the training theme of the military and the people being as one family.

After Zhao Rui returned to his formation amidst the eager gazes of the young women from his school, the entire military camp experience segment ushered in the final event of the activity.

A bonfire party!