"Hey, old Chen, Lu Tai, what proficiency are you at with the 8 Tigers Fist Art?"
"It's just like everyone else's, at the Foundational stage, like everyone else." Chen Zhiyu replied
"Yeah," Lu Tai agreed
Chen Zhiyu stared at Tian Qingfeng suspiciously.
"Are you at a higher proficiency level?"
Tian Qingfeng showed Chen Zhiyu and Lu Tai his screen.
"Oh wow!" Both of them exclaimed in shock
When learning martial arts techniques, there were 5 proficiency levels: Foundational, Well-versed, Perfect, True Mastery, and Spirit Enlightenment.
Not including the last two stages, the foundational stage indicates that one knows and can perform all the forms of an art without any errors, the Well-versed stage meant that one would be able to utilize the art in combat reliably, and the Perfect stage meant that one was able perfectly execute and utilize the Art to bring out the maximum amount of power that that specific art can exert in combat due to perfect execution of every form.
Tian Qingfeng, being well-versed after only 3 hours of instruction, was shocking.
"Damn, we knew you had exceptional comprehension abilities, but we didn't know it was this good."
As Chen Zhiyu and Lu Tai were making a fuss about Tian Qingfeng's proficiency level, the whole class was drawn over by the commotion and eventually learned of Tian Qingfeng's proficiency level.
That caused the entire class to congratulate and praise Tian Qingfeng.
…
After class ended, Tian Qingfeng approached Wu Haoran while Chen Zhiyu and Lu Tai were waiting for them near the door. The rest of the class had already left.
"Hey, would you be willing to go to a welcome party?"
"Sure, that seems fun. Where are we going?"
Both of them headed towards the door.
"The rest of the class has gone on ahead. They said we were going to meet up on Jade Street, near the market, close to the school."
Joining Chen Zhiyu and Lu Tai, they headed down the stairs and left the building. After passing through Sky Cloud High School's Barrier Gate, they headed towards Jade Street.
Along the way, they chatted about all sorts of things. At one point, their conversation landed on the 8 Tigers Fist Art that they were taught today. Chen Zhiyu started to grill Tian Qingfeng on how he did it.
"So how did you become well-versed in the 8 Tigers Fist Art in one session?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you think about it logically, we have only been taught how to perform the forms for like three hours. How did you, in that short amount of time, manage to understand how to use it in combat?
"It's like being able to cook a restaurant-quality meal after being taught the basics of cooking and how to process ingredients.
"That's pretty much how absurd it is for you to be able to do such a thing."
"It's not that hard. If you recall, when we were learning the 8 Tigers Fist Art, there was the base stance, and every other form could be performed from that stance.
"But since the movements were based on the core stance, they each have enough similarity with each other that you can chain the forms together.
"The forms once done right create the rumbles on their own, so the only thing I needed to figure out was how to chain them together,
"While performing the forms, I noticed that there was a slight tempo to the rumbles. Once you perform the punches to that tempo, they can be chained together.
"Also, the forms are not that rigid. You can slightly warp each form's movements to a certain degree without having the rumbles dissipate.
"The base stance also assists as a transitional state. Once I got the timing right, everything else fell into place."
Wu Haoran turned and joined in on the conversation.
"That's easier said than done, isn't it?"
"It didn't seem that hard." Tian Qingfeng replied
At this, Lu Tai scoffed
"Alright, show off."
"He he."Tian QIngfeng gave a light chuckle
As he watched the three quibble and banter with each other, Wu Haoran chimes in again.
"You guys are really close."
With that statement, all three of them look at Wu Haoran.
"Of course, we're friends." Tian Qingfeng said as if stating the obvious.
The other two seemed to agree with that statement as they both nodded.
"Does being friends make you this close?" Wu Haoran questioned
At that question, Lu Tai spoke up
"I'm not sure that every friend group is like this, but those who are good friends with each other would generally be like this."
"Hmm"
As Wu Haoran pondered upon the response, they had reached Jade Street's Entrance.
"We're here. This is the Food Street." Chen Zhiyu introduced, "Wu Haoran, have you been here before?"
"No, this is the first time." Looking at all the food stalls, he took in the thick, aromatic scent and the bustling atmosphere. A slight smile appeared on his face."It's really quite interesting."
"Come on, the rest of the class is waiting at that restaurant."
Tian Qingfeng pointed at the red sign in the distance. The sign reads [Fragrant Palace Hot Pot].
Heading over, they pushed open the door and walked inside. Once they opened the door, a burst of spicy fragrance hit them in the face.
Walking deeper in, what greeted them was a traditional old-world interior complete with red silk lanterns, wooden oak bannisters, wooden chairs, and every table was separated by corridors and rice paper partitions.
When they reached the reception counter, the lady there gave the group of four a smile and asked.
"Welcome to the Fragrant Palace. How many people are in your group?"
"We're with a group that's already here." Tian Qingfeng fiddled with his Astral Watch and pulled up a chat group, "Registered under the name Hong Wuhao?"
"Oh, you're with Mr.Hong's group; they are up those stairs in the second room."
As she said this, a waitress stepped out and gave a slight bow.
"The waitress shall guide you to the room."
Following the waitress, the four walked up the wooden stairs to the left of the reception desk and reached the second room. The waitress gave a slight bow and gestured at the room. Once the four opened the sliding door and entered the room, she closed the door behind them.
In the room was the rest of the class, split between 3 tables. Each table held a 9-section hotpot pot surrounded by dishes holding various raw meats and vegetables.
Once the four entered, the class cheered, indicating the start of the party.