Inside the room, Powder and Vi, who had been peeking through the crack in the door, witnessed the entire conversation between Vander and Lin Yan.
Any lingering wariness they had toward Lin Yan was dispelled the moment Vander said, "I'll have to ask you to help me take care of these two kids."
What followed was a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree reversal in Vi and Powder's attitude toward Lin Yan. If Vander could entrust the two of them to him, then he must be a good person!
Pacifying the unrest in the Undercity took a long time. By the time the turmoil in the Undercity had settled, more than half a month had passed.
During this period, Lin Yan diligently studied the Thunder Art passed down by the Old Heavenly Master and, under his guidance, successfully mastered the basics. Meanwhile, Vi and Powder were subjected to his comprehensive education program covering morals, intellect, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor. They would wake up at eight every day to read and learn characters, watch movies at ten, and then have lunch at twelve. After lunch, Powder would study the Heimerdinger research notes that Lin Yan had dug up, while Vi would engage in combat training with Lin Yan.
It had to be said, Vi was truly gifted in combat. Although she was only seven, her strength was only slightly weaker than an adult's. She could replicate moves from martial arts films after seeing them just once, and her neural reflexes were frighteningly fast. She was clearly prime material for learning how to fight. If possible, he could send her to study under the Blind Monk or the Sett in the future for advanced training.
As for Lin Yan, with the enhancement of the Golden Light Mantra, his speed and strength had increased by more than just a little. The stimulation of his cellular activity by the Thunder Art, moreover, was turning him into a warrior developed in both speed and power.
In the spacious courtyard, sunlight sprinkled onto the ground, forming mottled patterns of light and shadow. Vi, changed into a clean set of clothes, stood in the courtyard. Her feet were planted apart, one in front of the other, her knees were slightly bent, her torso leaned forward, her chin was tucked, and her hands were held in a flawless boxing guard. Her slender, yet muscular, arms were tightly wrapped with a thick layer of hand wraps. This not only protected her fists from injury but also increased her striking power while providing a cushioning effect.
Lin Yan, standing opposite Vi, took an opening stance from Baji Quan known as the "Closing Earth Elbow." Lin Yan's posture was stable, his gaze sharp. Their eyes met. Vi's face showed not a trace of fear; on the contrary, it was filled with excitement.
Due to Vi's small stature, she was incredibly agile in comparison. But at the same time, because of her size, her shorter attack range was her obvious weakness. However, Vi, having learned boxing from Vander since she was young, was well aware of this. Therefore, from the very beginning, she locked her targets onto Lin Yan's lower and middle sections, rather than his harder-to-reach upper section.
In the space of a single breath, Vi, who had been standing still, suddenly moved. Her footwork was light and nimble as she shifted rapidly. Taking three steps as two, she rushed to Lin Yan's side in the blink of an eye. Vi swung her left arm fiercely, throwing a vicious hook straight toward Lin Yan's right side.
Anyone who has studied boxing knows that the right side of the ribs holds an extremely vulnerable spot—the liver. And the punch Vi threw was the infamous "liver shot." If an ordinary person were unfortunate enough to be hit by such a punch, they would likely collapse on the spot, losing their ability to move for a short time.
Facing Vi's swift and fierce assault, Lin Yan was completely unfazed. He quickly bent his left arm, using his elbow to block Vi's incoming heavy fist. In that instant, a dull thud was heard!
The fist and elbow collided. Before Vi could retract her fist, Lin Yan seized her wrist, twisted her arm, and then pulled her backward. Taking advantage of Vi's center of gravity being thrown off balance, Lin Yan displayed his superior speed, his other hand forming a Phoenix Eye Fist and striking directly at Vi's temple.
Naturally, he had no intention of actually knocking Vi out. To improve in sparring, one must hold back power, but not technique. Only by knowing where you are lacking is there room for improvement.
The fist stopped just before Vi's temple, and the two of them paused. Their eyes met. Vi took a deep breath and spoke again with stubbornness, "Continue!"
With that, Vi quickly retreated. Compared to her previous all-out offense, she now adopted a more defensive posture. Her footwork also became more agile, showing a shadow of the 'butterfly step' from the boxing documentary he had shown her a few days prior.
Seeing her back off, Lin Yan took the initiative to attack. Facing Vi's guard, Lin Yan clenched both fists and closed the distance.
Lin Yan's Baji Quan was taught by the Old Heavenly Master. To Zhang Zhiwei, there was nothing worth learning in worldly martial arts. After all, as the supreme fighting force in the world of Under One Person, he was already strong enough to suppress all his peers in his youth, becoming a peerless master. By the time he was old, he had long since integrated martial arts and Daoist techniques, reaching a state of perfection. But the 'techniques' that Zhang Zhiwei felt were not worth learning were, in Lin Yan's view, skills that were never a burden to have. After all, not everyone was Zhang Zhiwei. If he could, he would want to learn everything he possibly could.
Wind seemed to generate at Lin Yan's feet. His figure moved like lightning, closing in on the defensively postured Vi with the speed of a thunderclap that leaves no time to cover one's ears. However, in just a blink of an eye, Vi's seemingly tight guard was broken wide open by Lin Yan's sudden advancing elbow strike, as if it were made of paper-mache.
Baji Quan was known for its fierce and powerful nature, emphasizing brutal strikes that force an opening. It was extremely aggressive.
Taking Lin Yan's blow head-on, even though Vi's fists and arms were tightly wrapped, she still couldn't completely block the powerful impact. For a moment, she felt an intense pain, as if her bones were about to break under the blow. But strangely, this sharp pain did not make Vi flinch one bit. Instead, it made her even more excited. In her eyes, this was precisely the power she yearned for. And only with this kind of power could she one day get her revenge on the Topside!
With her defensive gate forced open, she didn't dare hesitate, her feet quickly carrying her backward. Lin Yan pressed forward relentlessly, a rain of fist shadows falling upon her. Vi continuously dodged, retreated, and blocked.
'Just blocking will only leave me in a passive state. I have to seize the right moment to counter-attack...' Vi's blue eyes constantly observed Lin Yan's movements. Finally, she spotted a fleeting opening.
Instantly, she lowered her body, dodging a punch aimed at her face, and explosively shot out her leg in a groin kick. In a flash, a gust of wind whistled straight toward Lin Yan's lower body.
Lin Yan sensed the sudden disturbance below and reacted immediately, moving to block it with a palm slap. However, just as his palm was about to make contact with Vi's kicking leg, the groin kick, which had been aimed directly at his vitals, suddenly and without warning changed direction mid-air, redirecting itself to slam viciously into Lin Yan's ribs.
A switch kick. A fighting technique designed to surprise an opponent by suddenly changing the target of attack. When used effectively, it could catch an opponent completely off guard. If Vi's body wasn't so small right now, this switch kick likely wouldn't have just been an attack from below aimed at his ribs, but could have turned directly into a kick to Lin Yan's head.
—Thwack!
He caught Vi's redirected kick with one hand. "Not bad," Lin Yan praised. He raised his other hand, about to counter-attack—when the courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open, interrupting the two's burgeoning sparring session.
The man looked at Vi's posture and Lin Yan's motion to throw a punch. A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes, but he still slowly walked into the courtyard. The man was gaunt, his left eye was a cloudy white, and a sharp dagger was tucked at his waist. His hair was combed back, he wore common clothes, and his expression was impassive.
Silco.
Seeing that Silco had arrived, Lin Yan's expression showed no surprise at all. Vi, upon seeing Silco, was about to say something, but the words caught in her throat, frightened by his scarred, pale eye.
"Go back inside. We have things to discuss," Lin Yan said faintly, retracting his fist. Vi obediently pulled Powder, who had been sitting on the steps reading a book, back into the house.
Only after Vi and Powder had returned to the room did Silco speak, looking at Lin Yan. "Vander left them in your hands?"
"Left? It's just temporary care," Lin Yan corrected.
Hearing this, Silco gave a noncommittal nod, his single eye scanning Lin Yan up and down, as if trying to discern whether the person before him was the same as the one described in the letter.
"I heard from that dear brother of mine that there is an Arcanist here who can foresee the future. I wonder if you are the person he spoke of." A hint of suspicion flashed in Silco's eye. Foretelling the future? That sounded far too ethereal... Whether it was true, as Vander claimed, remained to be verified.
"If there's no one else here, I imagine he was talking about me." Lin Yan pointed to the pavilion in the courtyard and took the lead, walking to a stone bench and making a "please" gesture to Silco. "Since you were able to come here, it means you don't completely doubt my identity."
"So, tell me. Why did you come here?"