I Can Replicate Martial Arts

"You broke through to Grandmaster?"

Sun Hao and the others looked on in utter disbelief. How long had it been?

You were Level 9 before, right? Even if you were hiding your true strength and were actually Level 10, this is still way too fast!

A college freshman, an eighteen-year-old in the Grandmaster Realm!

"Hey, it’s just breaking through to Grandmaster. You guys are almost there too. Keep up the good work!"

Zhao Rui said with a wide grin.

"Damn it, get him! I’ve never had such a satisfying chance to beat on a Grandmaster. Let’s make the most of it and have some fun!"

one person roared and was the first to charge forward.

The others heard this, thought it made perfect sense, and immediately swarmed him again.

"Don’t I get to save face?!"

Zhao Rui turned and bolted. He’d already announced he was a Grandmaster; he couldn’t let them "beat" him up again.

’A Grandmaster has his pride, you know!’

In the blink of an eye, he vanished.

Sun Hao and the others couldn’t catch him and could only return sheepishly. They then suddenly noticed Wang Dalong and Cai Zhengyang, who were frozen on the spot.

They immediately asked in a sinister tone, "Have you two advanced?"

Cai Zhengyang and Wang Dalong quickly waved their hands and said, "No, no, we’re very slow, very slow."

They backed away as they spoke, took a few steps, then turned and ran for it.

Watching the three of them flee in disarray, the members of the Youth Training Team were left speechless.

"Comparisons are just infuriating! Anyone could have broken through, but why did it have to be that demon Zhao Rui? Our hopes of getting revenge are gone forever now!"

"Tell Zhao Rui that after the competition, we’re all getting dinner together!"

The voice drifted leisurely inside and outside the gymnasium!

...

「The next day, the competition officially began.」

After a simple opening ceremony, the contestants prepared to enter the arena for their matches according to the schedule.

On the first day of the competition, Cai Zhengyang had a match against a junior from Taizhou College, who was a Level 9 Martial Artist.

"Go, senior!"

The students from Taizhou College in the audience stood up excitedly, shouting for their senior who was competing on the stage.

As an ordinary undergraduate college, their strongest student was the Level 9 senior on the stage.

Unfortunately, he ran into someone from Dongqi University in his very first match.

Even though his opponent was only a freshman, no one dared to underestimate him.

Everyone knew that Dongqi University had recruited many talented Martial Artists this year.

This contestant, already a Level 9 as a freshman, was surely one of those talents.

He might even be the most talented one of them all.

The Taizhou student on the stage nodded with a serious expression. ’I have to win this match. If I do, the remaining two rounds are against Level 8 opponents, and my chances of winning will be much higher.’

"Please!"

"Please!"

After the simple exchange, the two began to trade probing blows.

After being suppressed by Zhao Rui at school for so long, Cai Zhengyang could finally cut loose on a grand stage.

A fire was burning inside him, ready to erupt.

After more than ten exchanges, he saw that his opponent’s Power was decent, but his Techniques were mediocre. Delighted, Cai Zhengyang immediately used his Profound Yin Sword Pointing.

Instantly, streams of Gang Qi shot out in all directions, hitting the arena’s protective barrier with a SIZZLING sound.

The student from Taizhou scrambled to dodge and weave out of the way.

The Martial Arts he had learned was a style called Splitting Palm, which excelled in close-quarters combat.

He hadn’t expected his opponent to possess such a rare and powerful art that used Gang Qi as Finger Force.

He immediately knew this was bad. After dodging a few times, the distance between them only grew, and he couldn’t get close to his opponent at all.

’This won’t do. If this keeps up, I’m bound to lose!’

A sharp glint appeared in the Taizhou student’s eyes as he seemed to make a decision. He suddenly took a deceptive step forward, leaped into the air, and executed a swift somersault.

While still in mid-air, he grabbed his shirt and, with a RRRIP, tore it in two.

With half the shirt in his hand, the Taizhou contestant’s spirits lifted, and he immediately whipped it toward Cai Zhengyang.

Cai Zhengyang flicked his Sword Pointing at the shirt-whip. Although he punched a hole through it, the flexible fabric continued hurtling toward him with undiminished speed.

Just as Cai Zhengyang, having dodged several times, was about to change his Technique and create some distance, he found his opponent was already right in front of him.

At the same time, a pair of palms struck at him from a distance.

"You didn’t really think a Finger Technique was all I knew, did you?"

Cai Zhengyang sneered, unleashing his Prajna Palm with both hands to instantly block the incoming Palm Force.

Their four palms met, and in an instant, they exchanged more than ten blows.

Thanks to the special training at the base and Zhao Rui’s targeted sparring sessions designed to counter him, his reactions to various Techniques had already undergone a fundamental change.

He had, in a sense, "seen it all"!

The spectators outside the ring could only see the two exchanging blows as fast as lightning, seemingly evenly matched for a moment.

"Go, senior! You can outlast his Inner Strength!"

the Taizhou team members shouted excitedly from below the stage.

Just then, the situation on the stage shifted dramatically. Cai Zhengyang, who had been trading palm strikes, suddenly changed his form, bending his elbow and pointing diagonally with a backhand gesture. In that instant, a bolt of Gang Qi shot out.

It struck his opponent squarely.

The opponent staggered, wanting to press forward again, but Cai Zhengyang had already extended a finger, stopping just before his Tan Zhong Acupoint.

"I’ve lost."

The light in the Taizhou College contestant’s eyes dimmed instantly. He was already a junior; he didn’t have many chances left.

"Learn from this, buddy. You can’t be so inflexible in a fight!"

A smirk appeared on Cai Zhengyang’s lips.

"Winner, Cai Zhengyang of Dongqi University!"

Following the referee’s announcement, a collective groan of despair rose from the Taizhou College students in the audience.

Cai Zhengyang shot a smug shrug at the opposing side and leaped gracefully from the stage.

He had just walked back to his rest area when he got a slap on the back of his head.

He was still basking in the glory of his victory, so for someone to dare smack him on the head... He glared and spun around.

But he saw Zhao Rui frowning at him. His bravado instantly vanished, and he said sheepishly, "But I won!"

"You won with such difficulty, what’s there to be proud of? And who told you to show off like that? This is a competition. Can’t you be a little more low-key?"

Zhao Rui said, displeased.

The kid shouldn’t have shrugged at the opponent’s fans. It just creates resentment.

It’s not like this is the only match; it’s better to keep a low profile.

"Oh."

Cai Zhengyang agreed reluctantly, thinking to himself, ’So you’re allowed to act all high and mighty, but I can’t even show off a little?’

Zhao Rui took one look at his expression and knew what he was thinking. He said coldly, "The day you can beat me is the day you can show off however you want!"

Cai Zhengyang scratched his head sheepishly and sat down quietly.

Listening to the two of them, Wang Zhanshan took a very satisfied sip of his tea, leaned back leisurely in his chair, and waited for the second match to begin.

Although their team’s matches were over for now, there were still a few heavyweight bouts to come, featuring contestants who had ranked high in the last provincial tournament.

They needed to watch the matches and observe the competition.

And so, over the course of a week, everyone on the team finished their first-round matches.

With the exception of Zheng Minghao, everyone else advanced smoothly.

Although Zheng Minghao had only recently reached Level 8, his strength was not weak. Unfortunately, his opponent was a veteran Level 9 powerhouse, one of the top fifty from the provincial tournament.

His loss was indisputable.

After the first round of matches ended, the second round began immediately.

The one good thing about an elimination tournament is its straightforwardness: the strong are strong, and the lucky are lucky.

There’s no room for strategies like "Tian Ji’s Horse Race."

After all, in a battle between Martial Artists, victory and defeat are decided in an instant. Life and death are a matter of fate; you don’t get second chances.

The entire competition was divided into two stages. The first was an elimination phase to screen for the top thirty contestants.

After that, the top thirty contestants would compete in a round-robin tournament to determine the final top ten rankings.

After all, the skill gap among the top thirty was relatively small. At this point, it was necessary to select the best of the best and avoid a scenario where top-tier fighters met early and one was eliminated prematurely.

The competition had a long duration and many matches, posing a huge psychological test for the Martial Artists.

Fortunately, the competition was scheduled for after June, so the students had plenty of time.

The only downside was that their vacation was gone.

Zhao Rui attended the competition for two weeks. When his teammates finally had a few days off with no matches, he seized the opportunity.

He quickly asked Wang Zhanshan for leave and took a car back to Lin City.

A student’s life without a vacation is an imperfect one.

After returning home, Zhao Rui took his parents to the bank and deposited the several hundred thousand yuan he had into a fixed-term account.

With this money secured, Zhao Rui felt much more at ease.

He was a Martial Artist, after all. Even if his life wasn’t as perilous as ’licking blood from a blade’s edge,’ he had still been through several life-or-death situations.

Coupled with the recent string of unexpected events, Zhao Rui couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive.

Seeing their son bring home so much money, Zhao Jincheng and his wife were astonished.

"It’s good to save it. This can all be money for your future bride price!"

Zhao Jincheng said with a sigh.

Two sons meant immense pressure!

"Dad, why would I need to pay a bride price? Women will be lining up to pay *me*!"

Zhao Rui chuckled.

"You’re talking nonsense," Xue Wenhui said, chiding him gently. "Who gets married without giving a bride price? If you don’t offer one, what girl would agree to be with you?"

"Okay, okay, I get it!"

’No need to argue with my parents. We come from different worlds, and they’re just speaking from their own reality and experience.’

’Ultimately, they just want what’s best for me.’

After they finished at the bank and returned home, his younger brother, Zhao Ke, came over and sat beside him.

He said, "Bro, I ranked in the top twenty in the entire school on my final exams. I’m thinking about applying to Dongqi University, too."

"Top twenty? That’s great progress, much better than I ever did. But you don’t have to apply to Dongqi University."

"You should look at other places. The world is a big place, and with your grades, you’ll have plenty of options,"

Zhao Rui said.

Dongqi University was one of the best in Dongqi Province, but outside the province, it was just average.

There were plenty of better schools out there.

His brother was a regular student on the science track; there were better schools worthy of his consideration.

Hearing Zhao Rui’s words, Zhao Ke thought for a moment and said, "It’s just an idea for now. It still depends on my final scores."

"Right. Keep up the good work! When you get into college, I’ll get you all set up with a new laptop, phone, everything!"

"Really? Thanks, bro!"

Zhao Ke was instantly delighted.

After chatting with his parents and brother at home for a while, Yang Fan called, unable to wait any longer.

He had originally planned to go watch Luo Min’s competition and meet up with Zhao Rui, but his girlfriend absolutely refused to let him go.

He was so angry he almost dumped her.

As for why he didn’t?

It was because she was also a Martial Arts Student. Although not a particularly strong one, she was still a Fifth-level Martial Artist.

Much stronger than him.

So, as soon as he heard Zhao Rui was back, he immediately rushed over with his girlfriend in tow.

He needed his bro to back him up!