Leo Young withdrew his fist. Due to his insufficient Internal Breath, he was forced to stop after performing only a quarter of the fist technique. The rest was all empty form without substance, but even a quarter was more than enough.
Leo Young said casually, "Master, what did you think of this disciple's performance?"
"...Excellent." Whether or not Su Tianqing wanted to answer Leo Young this way was another matter, but he couldn't find a single flaw. To put it bluntly, Leo Young's mastery of this fist technique had already far surpassed his own.
The world of a martial artist was just that cruel.
Su Tianqing's talent was self-evident. He was Perfected Master Zhou's most outstanding disciple. The vital position of Sect Master of Zhenwu Mountain itself was being used to temper his character, which showed the high expectations Perfected Master Zhou had for him.
Looking across the entire martial world, few could compare to his martial aptitude.
And yet, a martial art he himself had barely grasped and made little progress in over many years, Leo Young learned after watching it once. After performing a single set, his mastery utterly eclipsed his own... The gap in talent between martial artists was laid bare for all to see.
There was nothing more cruel and direct in the world than this.
Su Tianqing, however, wasn't thinking that deeply; his mood was simply complicated.
Setting aside the movements, which were basic for any martial artist, the complex flow of Internal Breath, the profound and abstruse core principles... Leo Young had actually comprehended it all in a single viewing...
————In fact, for Leo Young, the most basic movements were the hardest part. This body was genuinely stiff.
Leo Young showed no hint of modesty, nodding slightly. "I thought as much."
By now, this level of strange behavior no longer fazed the trio of master and disciples. Su Tianqing deliberated for a moment before saying, "Being able to practice this fist technique is a testament to your outstanding talent. However, you must not become arrogant because of it. The path of the Martial Way is long, and a bit of talent does not represent everything."
Leo Young said, "This disciple understands."
"...Good." Su Tianqing nodded slightly, then looked toward Su He, who was responsible for teaching Leo Young martial arts. "From now on, in his training, you may follow your junior brother's ideas."
Fang Ying smiled faintly. "He's talking to you, you dunce."
*I can understand perfectly well, you damn show-off. Can you please not butt in?*... Su He expended considerable effort to swallow those words. He immediately pretended not to have heard Fang Ying and replied, "This disciple understands."
————————
That might have been said, but Leo Young was someone who didn't need a master.
An ordinary martial artist, no matter how high their Comprehension, still had to 'start from zero.' They needed someone to explain the principles of martial arts to them. Only after their martial aptitude had improved could they enter a self-study mode.
A person couldn't just learn things without any foundation. It would be like a newborn baby who could speak at birth and then immediately solve the ten great mathematical problems of the millennium. If something like that happened, who would call it a matter of talent? It would clearly be cheating.
And Leo Young was exactly that 'cheating' case. He ignored cultivation requirements and could comprehend any cultivation art or martial technique. All he had to do was bury himself in the Scripture Pavilion to learn on his own; he had no need for Su He at all...
As for Su He, he was somewhat worried at first. He had never really taught anyone before, let alone someone like Leo Young with his bizarre personality and outstanding talent. After a few days, however, he discovered that Leo Young didn't need his teaching at all.
And it wasn't that he was being difficult or had some strange sense of pride; it was that Leo Young genuinely had nothing he didn't understand...
'Nothing he didn't understand.'
Those words, put together, created an incomprehensible sense of unreality. Could such a thing actually exist in the world?
Whether Su He believed it or not, it was undeniably happening.
————————
Three days passed. Leo Young had more or less gotten used to life on Zhenwu Mountain. In truth, it was nothing more than a routine between four points.
Scripture Pavilion → Martial Arts Field → dining hall → dormitory.
Leo Young was full of interest in this world's martial arts system and invested a great deal of energy into studying various martial techniques and cultivation arts.
He didn't need to progress in every single martial art; the martial principles contained within were the key. For a martial artist, martial aptitude was the foundation of everything. After spending a few days holed up in the Scripture Pavilion, Leo Young even had some ideas about modifying the Scripture of the Heavenly Way to make it better suited for himself.
His Comprehension was exceptional, his understanding powerful, and his memory photographic. Therefore, he would flip through any book once and put it back, a process that took only a few minutes.
Once or twice, no one paid him any mind. But when this continued for three straight days, his strange actions and his speech and behavior, which gave people a sense of unreality, naturally attracted the attention of many Zhenwu Sect disciples.
Soon, news of the Sect Master's new disciple and the lone survivor of the Ling Clan spread. The very thoughts that Su Tianqing and Su He had entertained eventually made their way through the minds of these disciples. As for whether they ultimately saw Leo Young as a manipulative schemer or believed he was so overcome with grief that an evil spirit had possessed him and fried his brain—that was up to individual interpretation.
For a time, Zhenwu Mountain was abuzz with discussion.
They couldn't be blamed. The Ling Clan massacre could be called the greatest case of vendetta in the history of the martial world, perhaps without equal. As far as vendettas on the 'Jianghu' level were concerned, none had ever been on a grander scale!
To put it morbidly, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was the martial world's hottest topic at the moment.
Leo Young paid no attention to the outside discussions. If he cared about such things, he never would have developed his current personality.
...
Scripture Pavilion.
As Leo Young was flipping through a martial technique manual, a light and cheerful female voice sounded beside him.
"Hey... reading so fast, do you really understand it all?"
Leo Young looked toward the voice. There were three newcomers, all of them female.
The girl who had just spoken was at the front. Her face was like a newly blossomed peach flower, her skin delicate and fair with a faint rosy blush. She wore a ruqun dress woven from light gauze, and her long black hair cascaded down her back, secured in the middle with a simple yet elegant jade hairpin. A small, beaded flower was faintly visible in her hair, its dazzling colors shimmering in concert with her bright eyes.
However, anyone who saw her would not focus on her appearance or her disposition.
The girl was sitting in a wheelchair. The skin around her ankles was also an unnatural, pale white, indicating a serious problem with her legs.
Behind her was a middle-aged woman with a serene expression, steadying the wheelchair. Her steps were stable and her breathing powerful; even without making a move, she silently displayed a remarkable level of cultivation.
And to the side and slightly behind the girl in the wheelchair was another girl with medium-length black hair and a blank expression, giving off a faint sense of detachment.
The three of them, forming a strange group, appeared before Leo Young.
Just as Leo Young was about to reply, the panel of the girl in the wheelchair appeared before his eyes.
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