One incense stick later.
Taoist Longshan left with a complicated mood.
It was both joy and defeat.
The joy was that his disciple was indeed a born Martial Body; no matter what he said, Ning Qi could quickly comprehend, infer, and even grasp insights that even he hadn't thought of.
Such a prodigy joining the sect was surely a delight.
Yet, the defeat was also due to this.
When a disciple is too gifted, the master feels twice the pressure; in just a brief moment, there was a sense of being drained.
If this continues, and he is asked questions he can't solve, wouldn't that be a total loss of dignity?
A thought came to mind.
Taoist Longshan immediately found a pretext to leave.
"Master, you haven't taught me the other Stance Skills yet!" Ning Qi evidently still wanted more, unaware that he had already restrained himself quite a bit; otherwise, it would be even more shocking.
If someone else said this, Taoist Longshan would have surely rebuked, 'biting off more than one can chew'.
But at this moment, hearing the voice behind him, Taoist Longshan felt a slight tingle on his scalp.
Teach more?
If he continues teaching, his mental resilience might shatter!
"Let your senior brothers and sisters teach you."
Leaving this sentence, Taoist Longshan's figure instantly vanished into the distance.
Watching his master's slightly flustered figure, Ning Qi shook his head helplessly.
"Am I really that terrifying..."
He seemed to underestimate the impact of being a prodigy. Though he had demonstrated extreme intelligence and wit in the past three years, today was the first time his martial understanding was so apparent. He should have restrained himself a bit more, in hindsight.
Afterwards, a smile appeared on his face as he looked endearingly at Luo Wentian and Xiong Shi beside him:
"First Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother..."
The two shivered simultaneously, looking at each other and speaking in sync.
"You go first?"
"You're the First Senior Brother, you should go first."
"Nonsense, you're younger, you should go first."
"Nonsense, Master went first earlier, are you saying you are older than Master?"
Seeing the two senior brothers argue until their faces turned red, Ning Qi helplessly held his forehead:
"Don't argue, let's do it together!"
Luo Wentian and Xiong Shi exchanged a glance, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Can it be done?"
"It can be done, I can keep up."
Ning Qi's eyes sparkled; he did not want to waste time here.
After initially touching the Martial Path, especially having already reached a profound level with the Bian Stance, he had developed numerous insights about martial arts.
"So then... let's give it a try?"
After some hesitation, the two began to spar and explain together.
One incense stick later.
Both looked at Ning Qi's departing figure, beginning to doubt life.
"You taught the Qiuniu Stance just now?"
"Nonsense, don't tell me you weren't teaching the Baxia Stance?"
"So, the junior brother... learned them together?"
"Seems like he learned them pretty fast."
The two exchanged a glance, seeing the hurt in each other's eyes, wanting to cry on each other's shoulders.
His mastery isn't just fast!
It's practically lightning speed.
Compared to Ning Qi, they felt their years practicing Stance Skills were like training on a dog!
"Junior Brother is hardly human!"
Luo Wentian sighed, his face full of bitter smiles.
Xiong Shi felt likewise.
Facing such a prodigy was indeed too disheartening; they finally understood the gaze of those with ordinary talent.
"However, it's a good thing."
Though discouraged, their hearts were more filled with contentment.
...
Ning Qi left with a skip in his step.
The day's gains were substantial.
His master taught the Bian Stance, First Senior Brother taught his primary Qiuniu Stance, while Second Senior Brother taught the Baxia Stance.
Three of the True Martial Nine Stances were acquired.
"Six Stance Skills remain: Chaofeng, Pulao, Fuxi, Chiwen, Suanni, and Vengeance."
"Senior Brothers truly insisted on only teaching their primary Stance Skills, yet claimed that they weren't proficient in other stances and feared leading me astray."
Ning Qi shook his head with a laugh.
He felt this was indeed partially true, but perhaps they didn't want to be further impacted by him, or maybe they also wanted other senior brothers and sisters to feel somewhat 'involved,' simply put, to let them experience their bewilderment.
Ning Qi could only shrug at this.
There's nothing he can do, as he has already tried to restrain himself.
But he couldn't pretend to be ordinary while having unparalleled comprehension; he didn't indulge in such a pretense, especially not in front of his closest people.
"Next, I'll continue cultivating while learning the other Stance Skills."
Ning Qi made a decision.
Training just the Bian Stance wasn't enough for him. Although Bian Stance is a superior Stance Skill, Ning Qi wanted to develop a Stance Skill that suits him better, allowing faster Body Tempering and stronger foundation building.
In the past, without martial arts knowledge, the time from zero to one naturally took longer; but now, going from one to many would be much simpler.
In fact.
During his learning of three Stance Skills, Ning Qi already had many flashes of insight.
Moreover, he discovered one thing.
"These three Stance Skills, while having their advantages, seem to have something in common?"
Ning Qi became interested.
He recalled Taoist Longshan's bold claim that the True Martial Nine Sons could battle Martial Saints, thinking that this commonality might be the key.
Returning to his residence.
With no disturbances, Ning Qi could finally go all out.
He started with the Bian Stance.
His gaze changed almost instantly; even before starting, there was an aura of fierce might, like a young Bian in human guise.
Were Taoist Longshan to see, he would undoubtedly exclaim at the monstrosity.
Divine Intent of Bian!
And that wasn't the end.
Ning Qi repeatedly practiced the Stance Skills, the small courtyard resonated with roars of Exotic Beasts, reaching the Realm of Perfect Divine Intent, the highest realm achievable with the Bian Stance.
It was fortunate that the True Disciple residences were far apart, preventing the Outer and Inner Sect disciples from approaching, otherwise it would surely cause chaos.
Ning Qi grew more exhilarated with each stance, sweat evaporating, skin reddening, flesh pulsating as if a mouse was scurrying inside him.
The effect of Skin Refining was evidently intense.
The Body Tempering Eight Realms, each realm is challenging to achieve.
For example, the Skin Refining Realm, with divisions of Cowhide, Stone Skin, Iron Skin, and Jade Skin.
For those with ordinary talent, merely one Skin Refining Realm could lead to years of delay, or even be stuck in a sub-realm, making no progress.
Yet Ning Qi believed.
To achieve the Cowhide Realm, he might need only a few days.
"Training martial arts... seems simpler than Third Senior Sister described as difficult?"
Ning Qi thought.
If Ye Qinghe knew Ning Qi's inner thoughts, she would probably be speechless.
Who's heard of anyone stepping into martial arts and immediately mastering a superior Stance Skill to its highest realm?
Higher Stance Skill realms naturally yield better Body Tempering effects.
Starting with full power, who could compete with him?
Ning Qi, of course, was unaware of this.
Feeling a bit tired of the Bian Stance, he switched to the Qiuniu Stance.
Before long.
Qiuniu Divine Intent intensified, then reached Perfection.
Next was the Baxia Stance.
Ning Qi carefully experienced the unique features of the three Stance Skills.
Until he felt a stinging sensation, Ning Qi finally stopped training and decisively took a medicinal bath.
Lying in the tub, Ning Qi felt his skin membrane had become much tougher, feeling extremely satisfied.
"The Martial Path is simpler than I imagined."
The path to martial arts opened for him; when he later stepped onto the Celestial Being or even Martial Saint level, with a long lifespan, he'd naturally have more time to pursue the method of eternal life.
As for revenge, once powerful enough, it would be accomplished effortlessly.