Chương 4: Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao (2)
Xu Jingming left the bedroom and walked to the basement. The basement was more than 100 square meters, and there were three spears placed against the wall.
Xu Jingming casually picked one up—the spear was silver-grey in color and was 2.56 meters long. The speartip also had a cushioning layer.
Although he was very relaxed and casual when he was chatting with Senior Brother Fang as well as during dinner with his good friend, Liu Chongyuan, Xu Jingming felt a fire burning in his heart.
"White, activate Training Monitoring," Xu Jingming said.
"Copy that."
Lights lit up in the basement as the cameras started to turn on.
Xu Jingming produced a vibrating sound when he pulled the spear with both hands.
Xu Jingming's way of holding the spear was reversed. Traditional spear users usually held the end of the spear with their right hand and the middle of the spear with their left, but Xu Jingming did the opposite.
As he advanced swiftly, he exerted his strength and thrust his spear forward.
Pu! Pu! Pu!
The spear shot out like arrows—like seven or eight arrows that were about to pierce through all the enemies in front of them. Every spear tore through the air with a sharp whistle.
Data appeared on the wall—18.2m/s, 18.6m/s, 17.9m/s, 18.1m/s… It accurately produced the maximum speed of each thrust.
Boom!
The spear in Xu Jingming's hand suddenly stabbed forward. There was an ear-piercing explosion, and the spear became a blur. The projection on the wall displayed: 25.3m/s.
Xu Jingming's most famous move: Shadowless Thrust!
Everyone in the industry knew how terrifying the speed of such a strike was. When it came to melee combat, even the world's top experts wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Xu Jingming took two steps and arrived beside a heavy sandbag. He then rotated his waist like a huge spinning gear and transferred all of his strength into his arms, sweeping the long spear across the sandbag.
The sandbag weighing 300 kilograms was suspended from the track above; it was a specially customized overweight sandbag.
Bang!
A low rumble sounded.
The projection on the wall displayed: 625kg.
It was precisely this terrifying force of over 500 kilograms that sent those provincial team members' spears flying with just a touch!
Xu Jingming moved as he unleashed his spear at the heavy sandbag. Every time he swung and struck, a deep and mighty sound would erupt.
The 300-kilogram sandbag kept shaking from the impact, and the projection on the wall kept updating: 656kg, 689kg, 630kg…
Suddenly, he stopped. Xu Jingming suddenly took a step forward, his entire body akin to a cannonball. His spear seemed to be one with his entire body—the tip of the cannonball that crashed into the sandbag.
"Bam!" The heavy sandbag was blasted to the other end of the suspension and flew up high.
A number appeared on the wall: 1138kg.
Xu Jingming's other ultimate move: Mountain Shattering!
Xu Jingming had received his father's guidance since he was a child. He had learned the Eight Extremities, Poking Foot, and the Six Directions Spear! In modern society, the martial arts schools also drew upon the essence of each other. Many schools created training methods that employed the concepts of applying force in different ways.
When he was 20 years old, Xu Jingming's right leg was broken by his opponent's shield during the World Martial Arts Tournament. After that, he focused on theorycrafting his spearmanship while recuperating.
Xu Jingming studied physics in university and dissected traditional martial arts techniques from a physical point of view. He always believed that all forms of force delivery were in line with science. The bones, joints, and muscles of the body were also levers, bearings, and power sources.
Thanks to his deep foundation built from a young age, he had a deeper understanding of how to exert force from a physical point of view. He constantly tried to adjust the technique of force delivery. Finally, with the traditional 'One-Inch Punch' as a foundation, he created Shadowless Thrust.
He had also used the force delivery technique in 'Eight Extremities Iron Mountain' to create 'Mountain Shattering.'
Moreover, the other techniques of his spear art had also improved to a certain extent. Blocking, grabbing, breaking, hacking, sweeping… Xu Jingming's strength could be increased by a huge margin from a seemingly casual application of force delivery. With this spear art, even though Xu Jingming's movement suffered from his leg injury, he still managed to enter the top 8 at the following year's World Martial Arts Tournament during his comeback at 25 years of age.
The importance of footwork could be said to be half of the actual combat experience. Xu Jingming's footwork had major flaws, yet he was able to make it into the top eight. This was testimony of his terrifying spearmanship. He had also been ranked by the World Martial Arts Alliance as one of the top ten spearmen in the past 30 years, earning him the title of 'Spear Demon.'
But during that competition, Xu Jingming realized that having a wounded leg made it impossible for him to become world number one unless there was a qualitative change in his spearmanship. Also, his participation in more competitions would only serve to aggravate his injuries.
Hence, he announced his retirement after that competition.
Professional gladiators were at their prime at the age of 26, but Xu Jingming retired with injuries.
In the basement, Xu Jingming's face was covered in sweat. He walked to the wall and gently placed the spear down.
Looking at the three training spears in front of him, Xu Jingming fell silent. So what if he was good with spears? In modern society, martial arts fighting was just a sport. Facing Cheng Zihao's coercion, he could only endure it. There was no other way.
"Jingming." The pajamas-wearing Li Miaomiao walked down the stairs and looked at her sweaty boyfriend. "What's wrong?"
Normally, Xu Jingming rested when he returned after a day of training at the center. He rarely practiced his spear.
Moreover, as she looked at the back of her boyfriend—who was standing by the wall—she could faintly sense his bad mood.
"I'll tell you when we get upstairs." Xu Jingming turned off the lights and brought Li Miaomiao to the living room on the first floor.
In the living room.
"Five, bring me two bottles of juice," Xu Jingming said as he and Li Miaomiao sat on the sofa.
The latter asked, "Jingming, what happened?"
At this moment, a female robot came to Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao's side with a bottle of fruit juice in each hand. She handed the juice to the two of them—Five was very familiar with the juice that her master and mistress often drank.
Five was a butler robot; she could do housework, cook meals, chat with others, be a bodyguard… She was capable in every aspect and had reached level-three intelligence. The price of such a smart bot was comparable to a luxurious sports car.
"Spill it." Li Miaomiao poked Xu Jingming's shoulder while drinking.
"As you expected, Cheng Zihao has followed up and forced me to lose my job." Xu Jingming shook his head and said, "He's insane; he has no bottom line. Forget it. I only joined the center thanks to Senior Brother's invitation. With my spearmanship, I can make a living anywhere."
"Calm down." Li Miaomiao hugged her boyfriend's arm and comforted him. "It's not worth getting angry over a scumbag."
Xu Jingming looked at his girlfriend and nodded.
His girlfriend, Li Miaomiao, was a talented singer. She didn't sign with a company, nor did she have a manager. She attended Binhai Music Academy for university. During her university days, she did her first live-stream on the Internet, and a song that she had composed herself, 'Pearwood,' went viral on the Internet.
Her voice was very clean, and her songs had a special, magical power that soothed the soul. During her university days, she wrote more than 30 songs. Just based on the number of downloads, she earned tens of millions.
She was one of the special few in the music industry. She didn't participate in any variety shows and didn't have a company or a manager. She would live-stream her singing once a month and would occasionally post some videos. Other than singing videos, she streamed video games.
Her favorite game was 'Pugilist OL.' In the game, she was a high-level feline swordswoman.
There were many professional gladiators who played Pugilist OL.
Xu Jingming occasionally played and got to know Li Miaomiao's smurf account. Li Miaomiao had never seen a player use the spear that well, so she immediately added Xu Jingming as a friend and used various methods to pull him into a team… Through the game, Xu Jingming's heart was stirred by this feline swordswoman, and the two gradually got together.
"Cheng Zihao is a scumbag." Li Miaomiao hugged her boyfriend's arm and said, "He claims to be celibate, yet he has so many girlfriends. How can I be interested in him? If I wanted fame and fortune, I wouldn't be live-streaming only once a month."
Although they had never met in real life, Cheng Zihao chased after Li Miaomiao relentlessly. Despite knowing that the latter had a boyfriend and that she was getting married, Cheng Zihao didn't stop.
Xu Jingming sighed with emotion. "Miaomiao, you're quite straightforward. You blocked him and even changed platforms to open an account on another live-streaming platform, 'Microcosm.'"
"I only broadcast once a month," Li Miaomiao said with a smile. "I can still slowly accumulate fans even if I switch platforms. Microcosm's platform also has nearly half Tiger Shark's traffic. It's not bad."
"I think you're the only one who doesn't mind switching accounts after taking years to accumulate millions of fans," Xu Jingming said.
"I earn money from my royalties. As for live broadcasts, I'll leave it up to fate." Li Miaomiao drank her fruit juice and said, "Life is all about happiness after all. If I'm unhappy, I'll just switch platforms."
Xu Jingming was quite touched. Faced with threats and alluring promises, Li Miaomiao didn't hesitate to block the other party and change platforms!
"Actually, our income is high enough. We don't have to tire ourselves out," Li Miaomiao comforted her boyfriend.
"Yeah." Xu Jingming nodded.
The two of them had already talked about blocking Cheng Zihao's contact details. After all, out of sight, out of mind.
"Are you planning to return to Mingyue City?" Li Miaomiao asked.
"Yeah, it's easy to open a center and do high-end private tutoring in Mingyue City," Xu Jingming said. "Are you planning on returning with me? We'll be registering our marriage on New Year's Day, so you should go back early to meet your parents-in-law."
Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao had a good relationship. They both agreed to register their marriage on New Year's Day, a special date that meant they would be one this one life. Their parents had also met and given their blessings.
"Let's go back to Mingyue City. It will be permanent." Li Miaomiao looked around the living room. "Many things here have to be moved over too. I also have to bid farewell to my friends in Binhai City. I've been here since university. It's been so many years—I really can't bear to leave so suddenly."
"If you really can't bear to…" Xu Jingming said.
"Let's go back. I want to go home too." Li Miaomiao smiled faintly. "My parents and grandparents are all in Mingyue City. I want to go back too."
They were indeed fated. They met in-game, and both hailed from Mingyue City.
"Head back first and clean up the house in Mingyue City. Get everything ready," Li Miaomiao said. "I have to bid farewell to my friends. I also have to make arrangements for my assistant."
She had hired two assistants, who were in charge of her commercial matters. Her two assistants had to follow her to Mingyue City, so she had to make arrangements to relocate them.
"Okay." Xu Jingming nodded. The house he bought had been left empty for several years, but his parents often brought robots over to clean it.
"Go take a shower first. You reek of alcohol and sweat. Didn't I tell you not to drink?" Li Miaomiao said angrily.
"Bear came. We haven't seen each other for more than a year, and I only drank some beer," Xu Jingming said immediately. "I'll go take a shower."
Then, he immediately ran out of the living room.
Li Miaomiao sat on the sofa and thought about her life in Mingyue City with Xu Jingming. She felt very happy.
"Beep."
An image appeared in front of Li Miaomiao—it was a middle-aged man and woman.
"Dad, Mom," Li Miaomiao greeted happily. "Have you had dinner?"
"We've already eaten." The middle-aged man said, "Miaomiao, your uncle came to our house tonight."
"Uncle? Hasn't he not visited in years? He didn't come when we invited relatives over in the year I attended university." Li Miaomiao was puzzled.
Her uncle's wife had an important figure on her side of the family. After her uncle's family managed to cozy up to the important figure, they managed to become a tycoon after years of work. They had more than a billion in assets. Her uncle and his wife looked down on the poor relatives of the Li family and rarely interacted with them.
"Would he visit for no reason? He came because of you." Mrs. Li scoffed.
"Me?" Li Miaomiao was puzzled.
"He wants you to be the girlfriend of the Cheng family's scion, Cheng Zihao. He came to our house to persuade the two of us," Mrs. Li said angrily. "If this shameless old man wants to get rich from selling daughters, he should sell his own daughter! He wants my daughter to jump into the fire? Cheng Zihao is a playboy. He has said many times in variety shows that he doesn't want to marry. How can a playboy like him be worthy of my daughter?"
Mr. Li added, "Your mother and I scolded your uncle until he left. That Cheng Zihao is a profligate, nothing like Little Xu. Your mother and I support you."
"Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Mom." Li Miaomiao smiled. Her parents were determined to support her, so she no longer had many worries.
"Miaomiao, your future husband is the one who will be by your side the longest, not us." Mr. Li looked at his daughter. "Your mother and I are old, so you have to choose a good husband! A woman's marriage is like a second reincarnation. The ancients have a saying: the worst thing for a woman is to get married to the wrong man. Little Xu is an honest martial arts practitioner. Even after his retirement, he still spends most of his time practicing martial arts. I'm still quite a good judge of character."
"Yes." Li Miaomiao nodded.
After chatting for some time, Li Miaomiao ended the video call with her parents.
...
On the other end of the video call.
Mr. and Mrs. Li sat in the living room.
"Honey, you have to take care of Miaomiao in the future," Mr. Li said.
"Chen'an, are you really going to hide your illness from Miaomiao?" Mrs. Li's eyes turned red.
Mr. Li shook his head and said, "You know that this is a terminal illness. Even if I use all kinds of medical treatments, I will only be able to live an additional one or two years, and it will be miserable. Undergoing conservative treatment and leading a happy life still allows me to live for a year or so; that's enough. I just want my daughter to get married happily and not let them worry about me at such a time. When they get married and I can no longer keep my illness under wraps, I will tell them about it in my final month."
"It's useless to tell her now. It will only add to our daughter's troubles." Mr. Li chuckled. "In life, the fewer troubles a person has, the better. The happier the days, the better. I just hope my daughter can have more happy days."
"You lead your entire life always having others in mind," Mrs. Li said with reddened eyes.
"Didn't I just scold my brother today? Did you see his face? I can't believe I dared to give him a piece of my mind." Mr. Li laughed. The closer he was to death, the clearer he saw things.
Life was just like that. The most important thing was to be happy.
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