The old man, Bai, perked up and hurriedly walked outside.
Team Leader Yang asked, “Are these people going to be under Professor Bai’s supervision?”
“Yeah, each to their own expertise… After all, he has experience and a considerable amount of professional enthusiasm.”
Team Leader Yang paused, her expression darkening:
Experience… does that refer to the stragglers from the scam group?
Professional enthusiasm… does that mean Bai has been obsessed with showing off for seventy years?
But Zheng Fa really didn’t have the time to guide these people hand in hand.
No one else was interested either.
Only Bai, self-recommending himself…
Watching Bai lead the group into the main building of the nursing home, Zheng Fa lightly tapped his fingers, and dozens of Dream Symbols flew from his fingertips, fluttering like golden butterflies toward the main building…
Now Team Leader Yang understood what these symbols were, and she chuckled:
“According to your idea, Director, we’ve selected people of different genders and age groups to come here.”
“These individuals have various professions, but either have practiced martial arts or learned some combat techniques, and they’ve all gone through rigorous background checks.”
“There’s not a single person here who shouldn’t be.”
When she said this, her tone was extremely sincere, and the subtext was clear: no one dared to interfere with this selection.
Zheng Fa nodded lightly, saying nothing, but drew a few strokes in the air, and a water curtain appeared before everyone, showing the group of people who were daydreaming in their chairs.
Above their heads, dreams floated one after another.
After a while, he pointed toward the main building and said, “Let them go.”
Team Leader Yang’s face turned pale…
She had just confidently vouched for this group, and now nearly half of them were eliminated by Zheng Fa…
She didn’t resent Zheng Fa; she only blamed herself for the lack of discernment in the screening process…
In the dreams of these individuals, they had learned martial arts, and they were probably a bit reckless.
They weren’t exactly bullying the weak, after all, this world still had firearms.
But engaging in underground fights and taking risks abroad was quite common…
Ultimately, with powers beyond the ordinary, they thought of profiting from it, even if it meant skirting the law.
Team Leader Yang understood very well that the first batch of people Zheng Fa selected could be seen as the first spreaders of martial arts—essentially, martial arts teachers.
This group’s inclination toward profit made them unsuitable for this role.
Seemingly sensing the gloom on Team Leader Yang’s face, Zheng Fa was much more forgiving than before: “This isn’t your fault… Many people’s kindness is often forced by circumstances beyond their control.”
Team Leader Yang fell silent, watching as those people were escorted out of the nursing home.
…
When Chen Sheng opened his eyes, he noticed that half the people in the room were gone—there had been around forty when they arrived, and now there were fewer than thirty.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.
Growing up watching action movies and reading martial arts novels, he had always fantasized about martial arts.
In his early teens, he had used connections and money to find a master—one with a genuine sect inheritance.
Then, his martial arts dream shattered.
In recent years, he had become a short video blogger, focusing on promoting traditional martial arts, but his following was low—most of the comments were negative, as the reputation of traditional martial arts had been thoroughly tarnished in recent years.
“This is Chen Sheng…” Team Leader Yang pointed at him, “He may not have a large following among traditional martial arts short video bloggers, but his reputation is quite good.”
“Because he doesn’t like editing… he just teaches honestly and occasionally films himself practicing.”
Zheng Fa recalled this person’s dreams and nodded.
“What we thought was, since you, Director, want to promote martial arts… we must recruit various talents. The influence of short videos is significant nowadays…”
“You’ve put in a lot of effort…”
Regardless of whether the approach was right, Zheng Fa could see that Team Leader Yang and her team were indeed working towards his goals.
He turned his gaze back to the water curtain.
…
In the water curtain, Chen Sheng was discreetly observing his surroundings.
He had been contacted by official personnel, who immediately mentioned a martial arts training program and asked if he was interested…
When Chen Sheng arrived, he was somewhat skeptical, but he soon realized that everyone attending this training program had impressive backgrounds.
There were martial arts seniors he had heard of, and he even called one “Shibo” (martial uncle).
A few people sat upright in their chairs, their backs far from the backrest… clearly military personnel.
There were also some girls who seemed to be athletes… he recognized them from live broadcasts of taekwondo competitions.
He quietly observed the people and the environment around him, understanding that they were also watching him.
“Ahem!”
The old man Bai, who had brought them in, cleared his throat and began to speak.
With a smile on his face, he looked kind: “You all know why you’re here, right? You’re here to learn martial arts…”
Everyone listened, but there was a hint of skepticism on their faces—after all, they were all insiders; who didn’t know the current state of traditional martial arts?
“But don’t get me wrong, what I’m going to teach you today isn’t the garbage you’ve learned before!”
“…”
Bai seemed to understand their doubts, gently stood up, shook his shoulders, and let his coat slide off, revealing his bare upper body.
In front of the water curtain, Teacher Tian quickly covered her eyes, her expression one of despair, as she explained:
“He practiced that shake ten times.”
“…”
In the water curtain, Bai’s upper body muscles rippled like mountains, and having already mastered the Five Thunder Method (Wu Lei Fa), his skin was nearly flawless…
He struck a pose, feet apart, hands moving up and down, addressing the stunned crowd: “No matter what I say, you won’t believe me… Since words are not enough, let’s see the real deal.”
“In one minute, I’ll stand while you lie down.”
He was like a jade elder, exuding an overwhelming aura.
Zheng Fa couldn’t help but look up at the sky, then glanced at Teacher Tian, who was nodding in pain: “He’s repeated that line twenty times…”
Team Leader Yang was dumbfounded, murmuring, “How… did Professor Bai pass the Dream Symbol’s review…”
Zheng Fa opened his mouth, took a long time to respond: “...It’s all about feelings getting in the way…”
…
For Chen Sheng and the others, although Bai was showing off, he was genuinely formidable!
In just forty seconds, there wasn’t a single person left standing in front of Bai.
Chen Sheng stared at Bai, recalling the earlier scene—
Not only did he have no power to fight back, but he couldn’t even see the old man’s figure, unsure of who he was supposed to hit.
From his perspective, the old man’s moves were even more exaggerated than those edited videos from other bloggers!
Chen Sheng didn’t suffer too much injury, but he felt his legs go weak, unable to stand.
Bai gently put on the coat from the chair, and when he turned around, he saw a group of people looking at him with a mix of fear and admiration, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction.
He spoke: “...Want to learn?”
Everyone quickly nodded.
“Then why aren’t you standing up to listen to me teach martial arts?”
Chen Sheng stood up with the others, his eyes shining as he looked at Bai, his heart racing with excitement—finally, he was seeing the real deal!
“Let me clarify, our nursing home doesn’t teach you martial arts for free…”
Bai continued.
“…”
Everyone listened intently.
“If you want to learn martial arts, you’ll need to sign this contract…”
He pointed to a folder on the table.
“You will join the Jiu Shan Martial Arts School and become an instructor there, earning a salary, but you won’t have much freedom…”
This was the result of discussions between Zheng Fa and Team Leader Yang.
The Jiu Shan Martial Arts School, like the Jiu Shan Grain Company, was also a partnership between the nursing home and the higher-ups, primarily responsible for promoting martial arts.
This was actually suggested by Team Leader Yang, as the higher-ups wanted to clarify that the rights and reputation of martial arts belonged to Zheng Fa and the nursing home—probably after being intimidated by Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa was also a hands-off manager; the main person in charge was Bai, who had now been promoted to the chief instructor of the Jiu Shan Martial Arts School.
He was quite pleased with himself.
“Isn’t Professor Bai’s martial arts beyond ordinary skills?” Team Leader Yang hesitated to ask.
It certainly wasn’t; Bai’s foundation was the Five Thunder Method, which was more powerful than typical martial arts.
“This is like going to a temple to worship Buddha…” Cheng Yun, who was nearby, spoke with experience, “If it doesn’t work, it’s because your heart isn’t sincere…”
Team Leader Yang rolled her eyes.
Looking up, she saw three or four more people leaving the water curtain.
Her expression darkened slightly, but Zheng Fa didn’t care.
Cheng Yun added, “Professor Bai… actually hasn’t mentioned the most important point…”
“Hmm?”
“This job has a structure…”
Team Leader Yang nodded, thinking to herself that after all, Professor Bai was old and didn’t understand the thoughts of young people…