"You know what the coach is going to talk about?"
Hu Qi glanced at him, full of doubt.
"How could you not know? With your astonishing rate of progress, you must have trained in some other fighting technique before. You have a foundation in fighting."
Song Jian raised an eyebrow, a "don't mess with me" look on his face.
"If I knew, why would I be asking you?"
Hu Qi felt rather exasperated.
'What's with this guy, acting all mysterious with me?'
However, after hearing Hu Qi's explanation, Song Jian was still full of suspicion.
Nevertheless, he still began to explain:
"Coach Chen is probably going to talk about the Red Scale Club's core class."
"Core class?"
Hu Qi's interest was piqued.
"That's right."
At this point, he glanced around and lowered his voice a little.
"As far as I know, here at the Red Scale Fighting Club, only by entering the core class can you come into contact with more powerful fighting techniques, as well as Dharma Gates that can break through the limits of the human body!"
'More powerful fighting techniques? Dharma Gates that can break through the limits of the human body?'
Hu Qi was shaken.
Just as he was about to ask for more details, the two who had gone to the restroom happened to return.
Seeing this, Chen Wu spoke again.
"Now that everyone's here, I'll make an announcement.
"Over this period, you've all more or less mastered Mixed Martial Arts. Some of you have even reached the level required for the lowest professional certification."
His expression turned serious. His gaze swept over the group, pausing for a moment on Hu Qi and Song Jian before he continued.
"But having reached this level, you've only just stepped through the gateway of fighting. You're still a great distance from becoming true masters."
"However, there is now an opportunity before you. Whether or not you can seize it is entirely up to you.
"I believe some of you are already somewhat familiar with our Red Scale Club.
"The main reason many of you joined was for this very opportunity.
"Now, that opportunity has arrived.
"In one month, this year's new core class will begin."
Hu Qi's expression flickered.
He clearly heard that after Chen Wu finished speaking, the breathing of Song Jian, who was next to him, couldn't help but grow heavier.
This made him even more curious about the so-called core class.
"Coach, what is this core class?"
Someone in the crowd shouted.
Chen Wu glanced at the person, then swept his eyes over the curious and probing gazes of the crowd.
He smiled faintly.
"The core class… you can think of it as the true inner circle of our Red Scale Club. Those who can enter are all true masters."
"It might be too complicated to explain, and you don't need to know all the details.
"All you need to understand is that once you successfully enter the core class, you'll be able to learn more powerful fighting techniques.
"Trust me, this is a rare opportunity for every single one of you.
"I can't reveal any more than that right now!
"Also, after entering the core class, you won't have to pay any fees. You'll even receive a fixed monthly income, with a minimum of ten thousand."
As his voice fell, aside from a few people, including Song Jian, the rest of the crowd erupted in an uproar.
Although most of the people who could afford to learn fighting techniques here were from well-off families, the chance to learn more powerful fighting techniques and get paid for it was an offer too good for anyone to pass up.
Hu Qi was no exception.
'However, getting into the core class surely won't be that easy.'
As he thought this, Hu Qi also spoke up, asking this very question.
Upon hearing this, Chen Wu smiled.
"Naturally. The core class only recruits true geniuses.
"Following past precedent, there will be at most five spots this time."
There were a total of five classes in the Red Scale Club.
Their current class was Class Two, with over twenty people.
The five classes combined had over a hundred people, at least.
With over a hundred people vying for those five spots, one could imagine the difficulty.
"Don't be too discouraged. When the time comes, specialists from above will come to conduct the assessment.
"If you have some special Talent or unique aptitude that catches their eye, you can be admitted by exception. It's not like there isn't a precedent for this."
Seeing the expressions on their faces, Chen Wu added, "Of course, whether or not you ultimately make it into the core class still depends most importantly on your own strength. So, within this month, I hope you all put in two hundred percent effort to improve your abilities as much as possible."
...
Afterward, because of the information Chen Wu had revealed, the students were all incredibly pumped during the next few training sessions, as if they'd been shot up with adrenaline.
During this time, Hu Qi had also sought out Song Jian to ask what exactly the so-called "Dharma Gate to break limits" was.
But it seemed that guy didn't really understand either.
He only said that the core class definitely had something like that, and his entire reason for coming here was to join it.
'The growth of my strength seems to be slowing down. Am I reaching my limit?'
Hu Qi practiced a round of Mixed Martial Arts.
He sensed the condition of his body.
His brows furrowed involuntarily.
Ever since his Mixed Martial Arts reached Perfection, the strengthening effect on his body had been continuous.
But as time went on, over the past few days, the intensity of this strengthening had become weaker and weaker.
Now, it had almost stagnated.
Seeing this, he understood it was time to make a change.
Continuing to practice Mixed Martial Arts now held little meaning, offering negligible improvement to his strength.
Thinking of this, he stopped his movements and walked over to Chen Wu, who was sitting off to the side.
Seeing Hu Qi approach, Chen Wu, who had been sitting to the side, couldn't help but look over.
"What is it?"
Chen Wu naturally had an impression of Hu Qi.
Although the two hadn't spoken much, the potential Hu Qi had shown, as well as his astonishing rate of progress, had long been noticed by him.
It was no exaggeration to say that Hu Qi's current strength was already number one among the batch of students he was teaching.
Therefore, his attitude toward Hu Qi was naturally much better than toward the other students.
"Coach, I'd like to learn some other types of fighting techniques. I was wondering if you have any available here?"
Hu Qi didn't bother with any unnecessary pleasantries and stated his request directly.
After all, he had paid his tuition, so there was no need to feel embarrassed about making such a request.
"Hm?"
Chen Wu's brow furrowed slightly.
"Can you tell me why you're thinking this way?"
"I feel like I've hit some sort of bottleneck. I want to use other fighting techniques to see if I can find some inspiration."
Hu Qi's expression was calm.
He had already thought of a reason before coming over.
"A bottleneck?"
Chen Wu's expression was odd.
His gaze sized Hu Qi up and down.
After a moment of thought, he still tried to persuade him.
"You should know, no matter how much of a genius a person is, their energy is still limited. Practicing other fighting techniques will inevitably divide your focus and even delay your progress. I personally don't recommend you do this."
"Don't worry, Coach. I know what I'm doing! I just want to use them for reference, not necessarily to practice them."
Hu Qi smiled.