Chapter 5: Martial Arts Grandmaster

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Martial Arts Grandmaster

The next day was Sunday.

There were no classes.

Gu Qing didn’t sleep in. He got up and went out to buy breakfast just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

He bought two tea-leaf eggs and a cup of soy milk.

He didn’t take it back to his dorm to eat.

Instead, he ate slowly as he strolled along.

He observed the tags above everyone’s head along the way.

As he passed a private on-campus gym,

he stopped in his tracks.

Yesterday, he had increased his Physical Strength by two points, greatly improving his physical condition.

’I wonder how strong I am now.’

’I should go in and test it...’

Thinking this, Gu Qing walked into the gym and bought a ten-yuan temporary trial pass.

He took a lap inside.

Even on a weekend morning, the gym was still packed with students working out.

’People who work out are really disciplined,’ he thought.

Gu Qing scanned the tops of everyone’s heads and discovered that anyone with even a hint of a trained physique had a [Bodybuilding Champion] tag floating above them.

’I wonder what kind of Attribute I’d get from working out with someone who has a [Bodybuilding Champion] tag.’

’Right, I almost forgot I need to test the Attribute acquisition mechanics of the tags.’

’This is the perfect chance to test it.’

Soon, Gu Qing zeroed in on a guy with a pointy head, an honest-looking face, and clearly defined muscles. A [Bodybuilding Champion] tag floated above his head.

He deliberately went over to work out next to the guy.

Whatever the other guy trained, he trained.

He settled in to wait for an hour to see if he could trigger the tag’s Attribute acquisition.

The honest-looking guy was working out diligently.

As soon as he finished his chest, he immediately started on his abs.

Then he moved on to his back and legs.

He barely stopped to rest the entire time.

"Dude, what the hell? Why do you keep following me everywhere? You’re not gay, are you?"

The honest-looking guy had finally had enough. After moving to several different spots to work out, only to have Gu Qing immediately follow him each time, he frowned and confronted him.

Gu Qing denied it. "It’s a complete misunderstanding. It just so happens that my workout routine is the same as yours."

The honest-looking guy didn’t say anything after hearing that. He just moved to another spot to work out.

Seeing this, Gu Qing silently followed.

"And you say you’re not gay?!"

The honest-looking guy suddenly stopped, spun around, and snarled through gritted teeth.

After saying his piece, he shot Gu Qing a harsh glare, then left the gym, muttering curses the whole way.

Gu Qing glanced at the timer on his phone. More than an hour had passed.

However, no text notification had popped up before his eyes.

’This means I can’t acquire Attributes from strangers.’

’Hmm, I’ll have to find a chance later.’

’I need to see if I can successfully acquire an Attribute if we know each other’s names.’

As he was thinking, Gu Qing suddenly remembered his original purpose for coming to the gym—to test his own strength.

He looked around.

He did a quick test of his bench press, deadlift, and punching power.

The numbers were as follows:

Bench Press: 110 kg.

Deadlift: 180 kg.

Punching Power: 162 kg.

Gu Qing was a little surprised.

’I can’t believe all three of my stats broke 100 kg.’

’That’s insane.’

’But my punching power is only 162 kg, which seems a bit low in comparison.’

’After all, my bench press is already at 110 kg.’

But Gu Qing didn’t dwell on it for too long.

’I’m not a professional boxer, after all.’

’It’s normal that I don’t know how to generate power properly in a punch.’

After testing his strength, he left the gym.

Gu Qing didn’t head back to his dorm. Instead, he went straight to the track field, wanting to test his speed.

...

Upon arriving at the track field, he did a simple warm-up.

Not wasting any time, Gu Qing took out his phone, started the stopwatch, and began to run.

He tested his 100-meter, 400-meter, and 800-meter times.

The results were as follows:

meters: 10.98 seconds.

meters: 52.11 seconds.

meters: 2 minutes and 7 seconds.

The first two met the standard for a Class II athlete.

Only the 800-meter was a little short.

Overall, his current strength and speed were both outstanding.

His endurance was just relatively weak.

But compared to an ordinary person, even this level of endurance was explosive.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a human pile driver.

Just then, a beautiful figure in the center of the field caught Gu Qing’s attention.

It was a girl with a [Martial Arts Grandmaster] tag above her head, practicing spear forms with a Red Tassel Spear.

The girl had her hair in a high ponytail. Her figure was tall and straight, with sleek, firm lines. She had a delicate and radiant face with clear eyes, and her skin was a healthy, attractive wheat color that spoke of long hours training under the sun.

As she swung the spear in wide arcs, the hem of her shirt would occasionally lift, revealing perfect V-cut abs. The sight was both neat and powerful, and very easy on the eyes.

"Hey, there."

Gu Qing smiled and walked up to strike up a conversation. "You handle that Red Tassel Spear beautifully. I’ve been interested in traditional martial arts since I was a kid. Could you teach me?"

’That pickup line seems a bit forced.’

’My technique needs improvement.’

’But I’m a stat monster; I don’t need technique.’

"Sure."

Seeing how handsome Gu Qing was, the girl agreed without a second thought.

Gu Qing introduced himself, "My name is Gu Qing. I’m a third-year student at the School of Foreign Languages. And you are?"

The girl smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, senior. My name is Xia Shuran. I’m a freshman at the Sports College this year."

"Oh, so you’re my junior. Nice to meet you."

Without wasting any more time, Gu Qing got straight to the point. "So, Shuran, do you have time to teach me how to use this Red Tassel Spear now?"

"Mhm, I have time."

Xia Shuran nodded with a smile.

Seeing her agree so readily, Gu Qing also smiled and said, "You’re really nice, Shuran. Here, let’s add each other on WeChat. As your senior, I’ll treat you to a meal another day."

As he spoke, he took out his phone, opened his WeChat QR code, and held it out for her.

From the initial self-introduction to asking about the Red Tassel Spear, and now to adding her on WeChat—

every word Gu Qing spoke was aimed at testing the tag mechanism.

After adding each other on WeChat,

soon, with Xia Shuran’s patient instruction, Gu Qing began to practice awkwardly with the Red Tassel Spear.

During this time, the two of them chatted intermittently.

Gu Qing learned that Xia Shuran wasn’t just an ordinary sports student.

She was a specially recruited student with a talent for martial arts performance.

The university had recruited her specifically to represent the school in competitions and win awards.

He also found out that her family had been Martial Artists for generations and currently ran a martial arts hall.

"Your dad runs a martial arts hall? He must be incredible, then. Can he fight ten people at once, like the heroes in wuxia films?"

Gu Qing asked curiously.

Xia Shuran shook her head, her tone tinged with self-deprecation.

"Maybe in the past, but with how fast modern combat sports have developed, traditional martial arts have long been obsolete in actual combat. They’ve been reduced to a kind of performance art for staying healthy. There’s not much fighting power to it."

"Is that so..."

Gu Qing was a bit surprised.

He had seen the [Martial Arts Grandmaster] tag floating above Xia Shuran’s head and thought her family’s traditional martial arts would be something special. He hadn’t expected it to be just for physical fitness.

Sensing that Gu Qing was genuinely interested in traditional martial arts, and not just using it as an excuse to hit on her, Xia Shuran took the initiative to dive deeper into the topic with him.

"My family’s martial arts hall has been challenged by people who practice boxing, judo, and MMA before. Guess what happened?"

...