Chapter 4  : True Martial

In the morning before leaving for school, Jack prepared the morning meal for the Salamander Avatar.

However, as they were about to leave, their mother Doris Raven, who hadn’t gone to work yet, stopped them.

At the old courtyard gate, Doris gently adjusted Jack’s collar and looked at her eldest son, who was now as tall as her, with a sigh.

“Mom, is there anything else?” asked Glenn Clark, Jack’s younger brother, somewhat puzzled.

Doris looked at her two sons and smiled gently, “There’s nothing, I just wanted to remind you both not to feel too much pressure at the beginning of the school year.”

Glenn didn’t care, “It’s just junior high school, I can easily keep up with the lessons.”

Looking at her younger son, Doris gave a bitter smile. She wasn’t worried about Glenn, who had always been smart and active and had both good grades and a healthy body.

Her concern was about her eldest son, Jack. After entering high school, one could begin cultivating True Martial Arts, but not everyone had the talent to do so.

Jack was weak and sickly since childhood and didn’t seem like someone suited for Martial Arts. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, and if he faced a setback…

Jack said calmly, “Mom, don’t worry, I understand.”

“…Alright then.” Doris opened her mouth to say something but ended up not saying anything more.

After waving goodbye to their mother, Jack and Glenn walked to school together.

On the way, they saw many students wearing uniforms heading for school as well, some alone, some in groups laughing and playing, while some rode bicycles.

Schools in the Federation were divided into districts, and all students attended their nearest school, so many of them wore the same uniform as Jack and Glenn.

Inside the classroom, class leader Sherry Lesser and Martial Art Committee Member Matt Watkins had already arrived early, and many classmates were surrounding them, chatting and making the atmosphere lively.

Just as Jack sat down, Justin Welan came up from the front and whispered mysteriously, “Yo Jack, I found out why Matt Watkins is a class leader.”

…Since when have we become so familiar? Jack thought to himself but asked curiously all the same.

“Why?”

“They say that the class leader’s parents are both strong cultivators. The class teacher must want to curry favor with her family.”

Alright, so both parents are strong cultivators.

Jack asked, “What about the other one?”

Justin replied quietly, “Matt Watkins is no simple person either, his family is wealthy and influential. Maybe they gave gifts to the class teacher before school started and made some arrangements.”

It turned out that class divisions really existed in any world.

“Don’t go around talking about this,” Jack reminded Justin in the end.

Regardless of whether it was true or false, as a student, it was best not to gossip about the class teacher behind their backs – in case the rumors reached their ears.

“I know; I only told you and haven’t disclosed it to anyone else,” Justin winked, seemingly expressing his trust in Jack.

At that moment, a Math Teacher entered the room, and the whole class fell silent.

The cultural classes in this high school world were not very difficult. After attending just one class, Jack became distracted, although in reality, he was splitting his attention to control the Salamander Avatar eating at home.

The three morning classes passed quickly, and soon it was noon.

After lunch, they took a short break.

All the high school juniors gathered and headed to the cultivation area located behind the school, which consisted of more than a dozen high-rise buildings labeled A, B, C, and D, surrounding a central stadium.

Following their class, Jack and others arrived at the cultivation classroom on the fifth floor of Building B.

In the 500-square-meter cultivation classroom, a man in his thirties with a stern expression stood on a high platform, with a giant screen measuring 5 meters high and 8 meters wide behind him.

When all the students were in place, the man slowly opened his eyes, and his sharp gaze made everyone feel as if their eyes were stinging.

Hiss!

Many students were taken aback, not expecting this teacher’s gaze to be so terrifying.

The middle-aged man spoke solemnly, “My name is Lori Parma, and I’ll be your True Martial teacher for the first semester.”

“Next, I will explain to you what True Martial is.”

As he spoke, Lori Parma pointed to a pile of cement boards prepared in advance on the stage: “Can you see the cement boards? I need some male students to help carry them up here.”

After a brief pause, Martial Art Committee Member Matt Watkins took the initiative by going first, followed by several other male students, including Justin Welan.

There were six cement boards, each one meter long and wide, and ten centimeters thick, probably weighing more than a hundred kilograms each.

Even with two people carrying it together, they still had a hard time lifting the boards, which on the other hand, seemed to show that they had considerable strength.

As Lori Parma instructed, Matt Watkins and the rest of the students stood the cement boards up on the table, forming a wall of cement braces, nobody knew what for.

Standing behind the stage with his arms crossed, Lori Parma looked down at the youthful faces of the students and said indifferently: “What is True Martial? True Martial is transforming the fake into the real.”

“A few decades ago, martial arts and cultivation were just folk legends, regarded as nothing but fancy tricks with no real combat effect.”

“Even after twenty years of hard training, it could not withstand a single bullet.”

“But everything changed with the New Era, as some pioneers discovered that they could turn myth into reality.”

“And this, is True Martial.”

Boom!

As his voice fell, a terrifying aura exploded from Lori Parma’s body, like a sleeping Giant Beast suddenly awakening.

The powerful presence was so substantial that the surrounding air emitted a dull explosive sound, forming distorted waves of wind, making his clothes flutter loudly.

Lori Parma’s figure flickered on the high platform, as if teleporting three meters in front of the table, his right hand clenched into a fist, gathering enormous strength, and each punch roared out.

Because of the immense power, transparent shockwaves appeared in front of his fist.

Boom!

Under the incredulous and shocked gazes of most people, the six stacked cement boards exploded with a deafening noise, smoke, and dust filled the air.

Under the force of this formidable strength, numerous shattered stones and mud blocks scattered like cannonballs, hitting the wall more than a dozen meters away, leaving a small pit when they smashed and shattered.

Fortunately, Lori Parma’s punch was directed sideways, otherwise, the students would have been peppered with these stone fragments, which packed the power of bullets.

Gulp!

Even Jack Clark swallowed his saliva this time.

Although the information he had found on the Internet mentioned that powerful cultivators could sink aircraft carriers and tear apart Giant Beasts, the shock of witnessing it firsthand was far more significant than mere words could describe.

Moreover, the thickness of the six cement boards was almost a meter, and even an anti-equipment sniper rifle might not be able to penetrate them, but they were now crushed by a single punch.

This display of tremendous martial power made Jack’s blood boil and filled him with anticipation for the upcoming cultivation class.

On the platform, Lori Parma stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the excited faces below, and was quite pleased with the effect of his demonstration.

Once the smoke and dust had cleared, he slowly said, “Now, let’s move on to the first step of cultivation.”

“Everyone, later please meditate according to the patterns displayed on the screen behind me. We will cultivate for one hour, followed by the Body Casting Skill training class.”

“By the way, who is the class leader?”

“Me.” Sherry Lesser from the front row took a step forward.

“You, huh? Full of spirit Qi, not bad.”

After a glance at the girl, Lori Parma nodded and said, “Later, you will explain to them what Foundation Establishment is. When someone meets the criteria for Foundation Establishment, they can come to find me.”

“As for the Martial Art Committee Member of this class, you will be responsible for maintaining order during future cultivation classes.”

“Yes, teacher.” Matt Watkins responded loudly.

Lori Parma then turned around and left, just as cleanly and efficiently as James Clark, the class teacher on the first day, leaving most of the students with a bewildered look on their faces.

That’s it?

Why did these teachers always seem so busy?