Moonfang Assessment

"Side-stepping, that is the usual technique of dodging against an attack that comes straight at you. When your enemy comes and attacks you, quickly sidestep and at the same time do a counterattack -- punch, kick, knee or elbow strike, anything can be done as long as it is appropriate in the kind of situation that you are in. Do not be afraid of a swinging fist. Usually those who come up and start swinging their fists at the first moment are people who have no brains and are impulsive and rash."

On the martial arts field, the academy's battle instructor spoke while he performed actions to demonstrate. A wooden puppet's right first swept over, and the battle instructor quickly sidestep, dodging the incoming attack. Then he threw a kick at the puppet's head, stumbling it down twice.

The students were looking at the demonstration in a circle, but most of them were lacking in spirit, showing very little interest.

The academy taught a variety of courses and this lesson was the one that taught foundation of martial arts. Using fists and legs to exert oneself was too inferior to the handsome and cool attack style of the fangblade, making almost all the students absent-minded.

"The next class will be the Moonfang Spirit's usage assessment. How have you been practicing so far lately?"

"I'm still doing good. I can do three fangblades, but only a few of them actually hit. Usually I get two blades on the grass puppet."

"Mmm, that's the same like me. I specially bought a grass puppet just to practice for this in these few days."

…..

The young teens whispered to one another, their minds long gone from the lesson. They were all worried about the assessment in the next class. Just for this assessment, they had practiced hard for a long time after class, and now they were flexing their hands and feet, looking forward to the assessment.

The sounds of the students' discussion had reached the instructor's ear, and the battle instructor jerked his gaze back at them, shouting, "No talking allowed in class, all of you keep your mouths shut and watch closely!"

He was a Rank two Spirit Master, his body rather muscular. His upper body was robust and only donned with a loose robe showing the bronzed skin littered with countless scars on it. With a loud shout he showed a threatening manner, pressing down on all the students in the field.

Silence fell in the battle field.

"The foundation of martial arts is the most important among important things. Especially in the early stages of a Spirit Master's cultivation, it is more important than anything else. All of you better focus your attention on me!"

After he finished scolding, the martial arts instructor called out another wooden puppet. This mahogany colored wooden puppet was two meters tall, its huge wooden feet making sharp sounds as it stepped on the greenstone floor tiles. The wooden puppet stretched open its arms and rushed clumsily towards the coach.

The instructor dodge its attack, then fiercely striked with his knees to the wooden puppet's chest, then agilely wrapped the wooden puppet's head with his hands and striked it with his knees.

The wooden puppet resisted the blow at first, then its head was smashed broken by the instructor's follow up combo. It was paralyzed on the ground, lying motionless.

The battle instructor stood up, his breathing calm and long as always. He explained to the students, "When facing a huge and tall enemy in close combat, do not be afraid. Ruining the opponent's center of gravity is a type of sensible tactic to lose the momentum of your opponent. Just like how I did it earlier, you must find a way to stifle their movements, control the flow of the battle and then push forward with your strength. Those who have no control of the battle will put him in vulnerable spot."

The students nodded repeatedly, but most of their eyes showed disapproval. The coach saw all of this and laughed bitterly in his heart.

Every batch was like this. The attitudes of these youngsters were naturally easily attracted by gorgeous things. Without personal understanding and experience, it was hard for them to understand the importance of having a martial arts foundation. In truth, especially for a Spirit Master in his early stage, while the basic martial arts did not look promising, it was actually more important than the blade attack.

"….Remember, in close combat, your sight must not always stare at the enemy's eye. It should focus on the enemy's shoulder. No matter punching or kicking, the enemy's shoulder will always move first…."

"…In close combat your speed is very important, the speed I am talking about in this context is not the speed of your fists, but the speed of the movement of your legs…."

"….Distance is the best defense…"

"…Keep your legs elastic, then you will be able to easily burst out your strength…"

"When striking with your fists, maintain a triangle support. Otherwise you will lose your footing. The enemy has not fallen, yet instead you fell first…"

The instructor patiently explained while he demonstrated. These were all his valuable experiences that he got from sacrificing blood and tears, experience accumulated from long battles.

Unfortunately the students were unaware of this. They gradually started to whisper again, the focus of the discussion still on the next lesson's moonblade assessment.

"This battle instructor is very pragmatic, but his teaching style has some sense in it." Di Lan watched quietly among the crowd, nodding and shaking his head at times. The instructor had no discipline in his teaching; he taught completely by interest, and just taught whatever he thought of. Therefore the things he taught came out in a mess and there was a lot of complicated info. In the beginning many students listened seriously, but gradually they lost interest and diverted their attention to other aspects.

Only Di Lan listened meticulously all the way; while others were learning, he was revising. He has no combat experience, that's why, listening to others narrating or demonstrating was also a way of verification in cultivation.

A Spirit Master's method of fighting is usually divided between melee and ranged. The fangblade attack is a type of ranged attack, but when strictly speaking, it is considered mid range due to its effective distance only being ten meters.

When it came to close combat Spirit Masters, the battle instructor was the best example. Melee Spirit Masters would usually choose Spirit that amplified their own body strengths and cultivate. These Spirits would give them superhuman strength, agility, responsiveness, endurance etc.

Just like this battle instructor, his whole body was covered in bronze skin. This was of course not his own skin colour, but it was a type of Nincaja's effect. The Nincaja Spirit is a cicada heavenly spirit, it can increase the Spirit Master's skin toughness and increase the agileness of his body, letting the Spirit Master be able to endure more damage or swiftly dodge the enemy's attack.

"A single fangblade would consume 12% of spiritual essence. How many times can a Spirit Master throw a fangblade during battle? The number is few, especially for beginners who have difficulty forming effective blows. It can only be used as a type of trump card, the terrorizing factor is greater than its lethality. To a Rank one Spirit Master, the truly useful skill would be martial arts. This is because the martial art offence is more durable and reliable. It's a pity that this fact is something that they will not understand unless they face it with their own experience."

Di Lan lightly glanced around at his peers, a faint sneer somehow forming on his lips.

The basic martial arts class was finally over. After a short rest, the student's eyes were filled with anticipation; the academy elder was late. He waved his big hand, pointing at the row of grass puppets in front of the bamboo wall. He went straight to the subject and said, "Alright, today is the day to check the results. I want five people in a group coming up in proper sequence, using the fangblade to attack three times."

Swoosh.

The first group of students went up, and the fangblade danced in the air. After three rounds, only nine fangblades hit on the grass puppets.

The academy elder shook his head a little, feeling slightly displeased. This hit rate was too low, the key being that among these five only two managed to successfully throw out two moonblades.

"You all better practice properly after this, especially you, and you." The elder reprimanded in a short sentence, then he waved his big hand and said, "Next group."

The two that were reprimanded dropped their heads and left the field in dismay. One of them was a girl, her eyes a little red and her heart grieving. She was only a bronze grade talent, yet she could not bear to use primeval stones to quickly recover her spiritual essence. Thus in these three days she practiced very little, resulting in her unskilled throwing of the fangblade.

A Spirit Master needed money to refine Spirit, raise Spirit; even practicing to use Spirit's skill needed cash. But where was she able to get so much money? Even though her two parents were supporting her from behind, but every family had their own problems. To be short of funds was often the dilemma that a Spirit Master faced.

"Anyway I don't have the slightest chance of getting number one. I might as well give up and save on spiritual stones, that is better for me." As she thought of this, her heart became calm once more.

There were actually quite a number of people who thought the same way as this young girl. Because of the lack of practice, many of the students performed poorly. The academy elder's brow deepened more and more.

Di Lan watched, secretly shaking his head. "These people are really pitiful and sad. Just for a small amount of spirit stones, they gave up their own chance to make progress. Spirit stones are meant to be used; if you want to become a miser and accumulate spirit stones, then what did you become a Spirit Master for?"

In other words, those who are shortsighted would often haggle over every penny and chase after less important things. As for those with lofty aspirations, they usually showed a tolerant and generous attitude, and had the strength to give up and let go of things.

"It's finally my turn." At this moment, Mu Mo Chen's monkey face lit up in a confident smile all over, and he walked up to the field. His stature was stout and gave out a fierce and strong aura. After standing still he raised his hand and threw three fangblades – all three of them hit. Among the blades, two of them hit on the puppet's chest, while the other blade hit the puppet's left arm, shaving away a few green grass.

This result naturally caused the young teens to burst with admiration.

"Well done." The elder's brow slightly smoothed out.

The next group came up, Mu Shi Cheng standing among them. He had a small and short body, his expression bringing a slight nervousness.

He sent out three fangblades continuously and all three hit on the puppet's chest, cutting out three intertwined scars. The scars went from deep to shallow and restored back to its original appearance after a few breaths, due to the puppet's self-healing ability.

However this outcome was already tied to Mu Mo Chen's result, and also received the elder's praise. Shi Cheng held his head high as he walked out of the field, looking at Mo Chen defiantly in the eye on the way.

"Hmph!" Below the field, Mu Mo Chen gave a cold snort, but he did not return Shi Cheng's glare. Instead, he continued looking at Mu Di Lang who had not gone up yet.

His heart clearly knew that the real threats were only Mu Shi Cheng and Mu Di Lang. The previous was the same like him – a silver grade talent while also having the constant supply of primeval stones. The latter was a Gold grade talent; while Di Lang did not have as many primeval stones as them, but just by relying on his own natural recovery speed thanks to his grade talent, he would also be able to practice a lot in a short amount of time.

Right now Mu Shi Cheng's results have appeared, showing a tie to Mo Chen, and only Mu Di Lang was left.

In the last few groups, Mu Di Lang finally came up to the stage.