Comprehensive Martial Arts: My Wife is the Top Scholar

In the Song Dynasty, martial arts flourished and rankings such as the Tiangang and Disha Lists determined prestige. The Hangzhou Prefect Feng Shaoqing organized a martial arts competition for his beautiful and talented daughter Feng Suzhen. Many young heroes, including the Prime Minister's son Liu Changying and the Marquis's son Dongfang Sheng, participated. The tournament was supervised by Grandmaster Tang Songting of the Tang Family, who newly arrived in Hangzhou. The competition had a round-robin format that shifted to a defending champion style on four arenas.

The central figure is Li Zhaoting, courtesy name Buyi, a nineteen-year-old from Lingnan. He was originally a time traveler from another world who reincarnated into this world. From childhood, a blockage in his meridians prevented him from cultivating qi-based martial arts, but it heightened his physical senses and strength. After his father was implicated in a palace coup and exiled, Li Zhaoting fled to Dali with his father. There he encountered a ninety-year-old eccentric Daoist with supreme martial arts but an unstable mind. The Daoist forcibly accepted him as a disciple. The moment the apprenticeship began, the Qi blockage in Li Zhaoting's meridians effortlessly dissolved, transforming his body into a perfect martial arts physique. The Daoist then put Li Zhaoting through intense cram-style training for five years, teaching him an immense variety of skills, from weapon techniques to divination and music. After passing the Daoist's test, Li Zhaoting set out to travel the martial world.

Passing through Hangzhou, he learned of Feng Suzhen's bride competition and immediately registered. Li Zhaoting entered the arena wielding only a four-foot green bamboo stalk. His swordsmanship was ethereal and elegant, yet impossibly fast and precise. No opponent could withstand more than three moves; most were knocked off the platform within one or two moves. Regardless of the challenger's background or skill, Li Zhaoting defeated them effortlessly, his expression unchanged. Tang Songting observed that Li Zhaoting had not shown his full strength, and that his level was likely equal to a Tiangang List Grandmaster, a remarkable feat for a nineteen-year-old.

Among those Li Zhaoting defeated was Wan Gui, the son of the famous "Five Cloud Hands" Wan Zhenshan of the Tang Poetry Sword School. Wan Gui intended to last five moves to bolster his reputation, but Li Zhaoting's light bamboo tapping and blurry sword shadow left Wan Gui disarmed and thrown off the stage within a single move. Wan Gui later told his fellow disciples that even eighty of them would be no match for Li Zhaoting. The aristocratic contestants, Liu Changying and Dongfang Sheng, also failed to do better. They relied on their strong family backgrounds but could not overcome Li Zhaoting's calm dominance. Even the mysterious Wen Chou, armed with a sugarcane, could not compare.

The renowned Suzhou Murong Fu, a descendant of the Xianbei imperial family and collector of numerous martial arts styles, challenged Li Zhaoting. Li Zhaoting shattered his green bamboo staff into strips and extracted a bamboo sword, the first time he had drawn a weapon. His sword technique transformed from gentle willow branches into a raging storm, overwhelming Murong Fu's Douzhuanxingyi technique and his Longcheng Swordsmanship. Murong Fu’s sword was shattered, and Li Zhaoting threw him off the stage after only two moves. After that, no one dared to challenge Li Zhaoting.

The final test was from Feng Suzhen herself. She was a master of the Way of Music, highly skilled in zither playing and internal arts. Feng Suzhen played a low and ethereal piece that felt like changing seasons and a vast calm. Li Zhaoting responded with a bamboo flute, playing a majestic and storm-like melody that harmonized perfectly with her music, producing a sound that was like high mountain and flowing water. Their duet became a collaboration of masterpieces, culminating in Li Zhaoting's solo rendition of "Phoenix Seeking the Phoenix." Feng Suzhen was pleased, and the music served as her acceptance.

The martial arts competition concluded successfully. Feng Shaoqing, who had initially only had eyes for the high-status contestants, now deeply appreciated Li Zhaoting as a son-in-law without official rank or noble title but with extraordinary talent that could protect his family for decades. He prepared a banquet and invited Li Zhaoting to the mansion. Li Zhaoting calculated an auspicious day: five days later. The preparations for the wedding were in place. The story follows Li Zhaoting's rise in the martial world: his acquisition of unmatched martial arts through the eccentric Daoist, his victory in the bride competition, and his successful match with Feng Suzhen, setting the stage for his future path.