Slowly, another half month passed. Wei He counted the time: he had been stuck at the bottleneck for two months now. It was about time to quietly inform Old Zheng.
From the time he began practicing Huishan Fist until now, it had taken him five months to break through to Ox Hide, nine months to accumulate his Qi and Blood, and another roughly two months to break through to Stone Hide.
Compared to Xiao Ran, who had broken through in just three months, he was much slower, but he was still faster than the rest of his fellow disciples.
It seemed that after the Boundary-Breaking Pearl filled up, his Qi and Blood no longer had to be divided away, making it accumulate much faster.
He had heard that Jiang Su had apparently taken more than a year to break through to Stone Hide back then. This worked out perfectly.
If he broke through to Stone Hide within a year, he ought to receive more attention than Jiang Su.
Finally, during one noon break, he went alone toward the room where Old Zheng rested.
Then, while Old Zheng was absent, he slipped a letter he had written through the gap in the window, letting it fall onto the desk beneath the windowsill.
Since he wanted to keep things discreet, he would not say it face-to-face. Once Old Zheng saw the letter, he would understand what he meant.
After doing this, Wei He quietly left, returned to rest, and waited for good news.
What happened next would depend on Old Zheng's reaction after reading it. If he cared, he would naturally summon Wei He alone and give him the subsequent training method. If he did not care, that would only prove Wei He was inconspicuous enough that he need not worry about drawing attention like Xiao Ran.
Old Zheng's full name was Zheng Fugui. Though his name sounded rather ugly, he had struggled and fought his whole life to reach his current position. That was no small achievement.
He had originally thought he could properly train a few good disciples to support him in his old age. Yet Xiao Ran, in whom he had placed such high hopes, had actually suffered such a calamity during the last fist-fighting match.
The frustration in Zheng Fugui's heart was difficult to dispel. He had not rested well these past days, and his spirits had declined along with it.
He was already old, and he had suffered many hidden injuries in his younger years. Now that his mind was exhausted, his vitality and vigor immediately became far worse than before.
It was noon. The sunlight outside the window was brilliant and the room was brightly lit, yet Zheng Fugui's heart was ice-cold.
He calculated in his heart that among those in the academy, there truly was no one who could support him in his old age, inherit Huishan Fist Academy, and maintain its current situation.
His eldest disciple, Zhao Hong, remained stuck at the Stone Hide level without budging. His talent had reached its limit. Already twenty-four, he would never have another chance to break through in the future.
Without External Martial Arts at the Iron Hide level, trying to hold Huishan Fist Academy steady was nothing but a fool's dream.
His second disciple, Xiao Ran, had finally shown promise. He truly possessed that potential and might have broken through to Iron Hide in the future.
But now... this grave injury had harmed not only his body, but also his time and constitution. Whoever had struck him had been truly vicious!
Whenever he thought of this, Zheng Fugui felt as though knives were carving through his heart.
But what could he do? He could not even find out who had done it. They said it was the Tian Family, but did he have proof? Even if he did, could he contend against a great family like the Tian Family?
The Seven Families Alliance was joined branch and root; moving against one was the same as moving against them all. They had ruled Feiye City for so many years, their roots deep and firmly entrenched. How could an old man like him possibly shake them?
The third was Cheng Shaojiu. His talent was decent and his connections broad, but he lacked perseverance and had wasted his family background and talent for nothing. Otherwise, he would have had some hope as well.
Then there were Jiang Yan and Jiang Su.
Jiang Yan had merely come here to go through the motions and have some fun. He came from the Jiang Family of the Seven Families Alliance in the Inner City, and he had chosen Huishan Fist Academy on a whim.
Even Zheng Fugui himself did not dare speak too harshly to him, much less anyone else. Besides, with his Jiang Family background, there was no possibility of him supporting Zheng Fugui in his old age.
As for Jiang Su, Zheng Fugui placed even less hope in her.
Jiang Su was a woman and would marry sooner or later. Her talent was only on par with Jiang Yan's. Though she had reached Stone Hide now, breaking through to Iron Hide would be difficult, difficult, difficult!
Judging by her progress, Jiang Su had spent more than a year just breaking through the Stone Hide bottleneck back then.
She was far inferior to Xiao Ran.
Having taught disciples for many years, Zheng Fugui could roughly judge in his heart which disciples had hope and which did not.
To outsiders, these top-ranked disciples were all core members whom he valued greatly.
But in his own eyes, all of them combined could not compare to one Xiao Ran who had hope of breaking through to Iron Hide.
"Alas." He was already fifty-four this year, his body riddled with injuries and illness. In a few more years, he might not even be able to teach disciples anymore.
When that time came, what would he use to protect the foundation he had built? His head?
Zheng Fugui sighed mournfully in his heart.
Xiao Ran's injury had nearly crushed all the drive from his heart in one blow.
To have any chance of breaking through to Iron Hide, one had to reach Stone Hide within at least a year.
Until now, only Xiao Ran had met that requirement.
But now, Zheng Fugui could do nothing about it.
Things were an utter mess on his daughter's side as well. He had to prop everything up by himself.
Returning to his bedroom, Zheng Fugui stood with his hands behind his back and looked at the empty room. Thinking of Xiao Ran lying on his sickbed just moments ago, he felt even more lost and sorrowful.
He walked to the bed, dropped down onto it, and reached for the smoking pipe on the bedside cabinet.
But after thinking about it, he withdrew his hand.
He remembered the little black dog he had raised when he was young, named Iron Rod.
Whenever he was upset, Iron Rod could sense something was wrong and would run to his legs, rubbing its head against him to comfort him.
But sadly... Iron Rod had long since died of old age.
Dogs lived at most ten or so years, and that was only because he had cared for it well.
Zheng Fugui sighed, rose to his feet, and slowly walked to the table, preparing to begin his daily accounting.
Yes, every day he had to calculate all the income and expenses from every one of his businesses. Only then could he know whether someone was cutting corners, secretly skimming off him, or stealing benefits behind his back.
These were the savings he would rely on in old age. He could not miscalculate a single bit.
That was why he calculated them once in the morning and once in the evening every day.
Those outsiders thought he arrived at the academy so late every day because he was sleeping in?
Ridiculous.
He had been doing the accounts!
What the hell did a bunch of little brats know?
Zheng Fugui pulled out a chair and was about to sit when his gaze suddenly fell on a sheet of letter paper that had somehow appeared on the desk below the window gap.
"Hm? Did... did I take out any paper yesterday?" He could not quite remember, so he reached out to take it and unfold it for a look.
Knock, knock, knock.
Suddenly, someone knocked urgently on the door.
"Old Zheng! Xiao Ran is convulsing all over. It looks like his injury has flared up again! Please hurry and take a look!"
"Alright!" Zheng Fugui's expression hardened as he quickly rose and opened the door.
Outside stood the sturdy woman from the Inner Court who was specifically responsible for cleaning the rooms.
"Clean up my room. Change the quilt and bedsheets too! When I return later, I'm going straight to rest!"
"Alright." The sturdy woman nodded repeatedly.
Zheng Fugui nodded and hurried away.
Only then did the sturdy woman push open the door and enter, swiftly beginning to tidy the room.
At a glance, she spotted the somewhat messy desk.
"This desk is such a mess. Better tidy it up quickly." With one sweep of her large hand, she gathered the messy paper balls and other clutter from the desktop into her hand.
As she turned around, her vision suddenly blurred. Old Zheng, who had just left, had returned in an instant.
"Old Zheng, you?"
"I forgot something." Zheng Fugui had returned for what he had left behind. He suddenly reached out and pulled Wei He's letter from the sturdy woman's hand.
"I don't have this kind of paper here. What is this?" Through the creases where the paper had been crumpled, he vaguely saw writing inside.
Zheng Fugui frowned and quickly unfolded it.
Line after line of upright, clear handwriting met his eyes at once. It was all personally written by Wei He, requesting the subsequent training method after his breakthrough to Stone Hide.
The more Zheng Fugui read, the wider his eyes became.
He had a deep impression of Wei He, the disciple who had only broken through to Ox Hide with two days left before the deadline last time.
Doing the calculation in his heart now, he could roughly work out how long Wei He had taken to go from Ox Hide to Stone Hide.
Less than a year!
"It really is... less than a year!" Zheng Fugui was both shocked and delighted.
He was shocked that such an outstanding little genius had suddenly emerged under him without him discovering it.
He was delighted that the boy knew to hide his abilities and quietly write him a letter.
After what happened to Xiao Ran, Zheng Fugui had become somewhat frightened as well. If another incident like Xiao Ran's happened, he would truly feel like dying.
"Good... good." Zheng Fugui suddenly compared the two in his heart. Wei He's breakthrough time was far less astonishing than Xiao Ran's, which meant he would certainly attract far less attention than Xiao Ran.
In the past, he might not have felt so fortunate about that. But after Xiao Ran's incident, he understood.
Perhaps someone like Wei He was the truly steady type.
He had hope of breaking through to Iron Hide, yet would not draw too much attention.
"Good, good, good!" With that thought, Zheng Fugui's heart settled, and all his previous confusion was swept clean away.
Thinking of the contents of the letter, he could not help shaking his head.
Wei He thought Jiang Su had reached Stone Hide within a year, and that her talent was roughly equal to his.
But he had no idea that Jiang Su had not reached Stone Hide within a year. Rather, after accumulating Qi and Blood Perfection, she had spent a full year breaking through the bottleneck.
The bottleneck alone!
In truth, including the time she had spent accumulating Qi and Blood, Jiang Su had taken at least a year and a half.
At that thought, Zheng Fugui suppressed the delight in his heart, put away the letter, and turned to leave without even looking at the sturdy woman.
First, he would deal with Xiao Ran's situation, then go directly to see that boy Wei He!
He suddenly felt that he had perhaps overlooked Wei He a little too much before.
Could this boy be the type of genius who bloomed late?
By the time Wei He received word that Old Zheng wanted to see him, it was already the next day.
Early the next morning, he respectfully arrived outside Zheng Fugui's bedroom, stood still, and quietly waited.
The sky had only just begun to brighten.
Old Zheng was already awake, and a lamp was lit on the table by the window.
Through the window, Wei He could see a figure beneath the lamp, head lowered as he wrote furiously.
From time to time, the sound of abacus beads knocking together could also be heard.
Wei He waited patiently. Apart from greeting him when he first arrived, he remained motionless and silent.
A full half hour passed.
The sky had completely brightened, and the blazing sun slowly lit up the heavens.
Creak.
Only then did the door slowly open.
Zheng Fugui stood in the doorway and slowly walked out.
He leisurely circled Wei He once.
"You brat, not bad!"
He slapped Wei He on the shoulder.
"You've seen blood before, haven't you? Looks like I misjudged you."
The more Zheng Fugui looked at him, the more he liked him.
Wei He's talent was decent. Though far inferior to Xiao Ran's, it was still above average, and he had hope of breaking through to Iron Hide.
Moreover, his temperament was steady and his character cautious. Perhaps there truly was hope that he could support Zheng Fugui in his old age.
"It is because Teacher cultivated me so well." Wei He lowered his head.
"Not bad, not bad." Zheng Fugui considered for a moment. "As for your matter, I'll first pass on the training method to you, then make it public two months later. That will avoid trouble. No problem with that?"
"I will follow Teacher's arrangements in all things." Wei He hurriedly nodded.
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