A Genius's Cultivation

Lu Chen had been learning martial arts from Huang Rong for a month. Although most of his daily time was spent practicing the sword, even cultivating true qi from the outside in—without needing to sit in meditation—still required knowledge of meridians and acupoints.

Thus, long before he had developed any internal energy, Huang Rong had already taught him these foundational concepts.

Now, following her guidance to circulate his true qi, he stamped his feet against the ground and leaped over five feet into the air.

This standing jump height already far surpassed the best basketball players from his previous life, and even in this "Main World," it was a height ordinary people could never reach.

Of course, in the eyes of a movement technique expert, a leap of over five feet was still far from impressive.

But there was no helping it—Lu Chen's skill was shallow, barely enough to support such a jump.

After teaching him the standing leap, Huang Rong went on to instruct him in how to increase running speed, how to breathe and regulate his qi while sprinting to drastically reduce consumption, and the secrets of sudden leaps, abrupt stops, and sharp turns during a dash.

These seemingly scattered techniques were, in fact, the superior movement arts of Peach Blossom Island.

Since Lu Chen had already cultivated true qi, learning to apply these techniques came naturally to him.

In less than half an hour, he could already glide over a zhang in a single stride, and while dashing, his leaps, stops, and turns were all smooth and effortless. His posture was even quite graceful and free-flowing, capturing much of the spirit of Peach Blossom Island's movement arts.

With the breathing technique Huang Rong had taught him to reduce qi consumption, his still-meager true qi could sustain him for a long time. He felt he could run for an hour straight without exhausting either his qi or his stamina.

After teaching Lu Chen the movement technique, Huang Rong told him to continue practicing while she went to the main house to prepare a bedroom for Huang Yaoshi. She then obediently invited her father inside to rest.

Seeing that his daughter had placed him in the main house, with only a quiet room separating it from her own bedroom—such a short distance that she could no longer slip out at night without him noticing—Teacher Huang concluded that, after securing favorable terms for Lu Chen, she had accepted his arrangements and was willing to obediently return to Peach Blossom Island to wait for Lu Chen to fulfill his bet. Greatly relieved, he went to his room to sit in meditation and rest.

Of course, even while meditating, he kept part of his attention on the small courtyard, lest Rong'er try to trick him.

Huang Rong did not try any tricks.

On that first night of her father's arrival, she made no unusual moves. She washed up early and went to her room to rest.

In the courtyard, only the rustling of Lu Chen's clothes as he tirelessly practiced his movement technique remained, continuing until midnight.

Huang Yaoshi initially thought that Lu Chen was putting in this late-night effort just to leave a good impression on him.

But he never expected that before dawn the next day, the sound of a sword cutting through the air would once again ring out in the courtyard.

By the time Huang Rong came out yawning, the sky was already bright.

Huang Yaoshi stood under the eaves of the main house, hands clasped behind his back, watching Lu Chen, who was completely focused on practicing the Stabbing Sword Style—repeating this most basic move hundreds or even thousands of times without a trace of boredom or impatience. He said to Huang Rong:

"Is this how he trains every day?"

Huang Rong, also with her hands behind her back like her father, looked at Lu Chen, her small face full of pride:

"That's right. He practices until midnight every day, then gets up at the fifth watch to continue. Ever since we met, it's been like this every single day, rain or shine, without a single lapse."

Huang Yaoshi frowned:

"Then doesn't he only sleep two or three hours a day? You haven't taught him internal cultivation either. Training external techniques so hard like this—aren't you afraid he'll ruin himself?"

Huang Rong laughed:

"Lu Chen has a natural gift—his recovery is extraordinary. No matter how exhausted he gets, sleeping two or three hours fully restores him. Rong'er didn't believe it at first either, worried there might be hidden problems. But after carefully checking with my internal energy, I found that he truly recovers completely, without leaving any hidden injuries or damage."

Huang Yaoshi was slightly surprised:

"That is indeed a rare talent."

But given the vastness of China, there had always been extraordinary individuals throughout history—those born with divine strength, those born with all meridians open, those born with exceptional intelligence. Lu Chen's unusual recovery ability, though something Huang Yaoshi had never heard of, was not so strange as to be impossible.

Yet even with such a gift and astonishing recovery, maintaining such persistent, hard training still required extraordinary willpower and perseverance.

Huang Yaoshi himself was far from a dedicated martial artist, and his daughter shared this flaw. But he did not dislike those who trained hard and diligently; in fact, he had once hoped his daughter would focus more on her martial arts.

Unfortunately, her temperament was too much like his own, and he could never correct it. Unable to bear being too strict with her, he could only let things be. As a result, despite Rong'er's exceptional talent, insight, and bone structure—none inferior to the legendary Lin Chaoying in her youth—and despite having a Five Greats Grandmaster as her personal teacher, her martial arts were only mediocre.

As for Lu Chen, with his peerless talent and such focused diligence, if he kept up this momentum, he might well reach the level of the Five Greats before the age of thirty.

And he was not a simple martial arts fanatic either—his knowledge and literary talent were also quite impressive...

Huang Yaoshi glanced at Huang Rong beside him. Seeing the smile at the corner of her lips, her bright, lively eyes fixed on Lu Chen's sword practice, filled with pride and expectation, a surge of irritation flared in his heart. He simply flicked his sleeve and went inside, preferring not to see it.

Seeing her old father lose his temper for no reason again, Huang Rong curled her lips, made a funny face at his back, and skipped off to the West Wing to make breakfast.

After breakfast, she tested Lu Chen's movement technique and then began teaching him the "Falling Blossom Swordplay."

Lu Chen was quite looking forward to this—after unlocking "Sword One," to continue unlocking the second layer of the "Sword Intent of Extermination of Immortals," there were two prerequisites. First, mastering two more Extraordinary Sword Techniques; second, achieving full control over "Sword One."

Mastering "Sword One" only required continuously comprehending the Sword Intent Imprint and practicing tirelessly to raise proficiency. Eventually, he would be able to unleash and control it at will.

But Extraordinary Sword Techniques were not so easy to come by.

In the Martial Arts World, sectarian prejudices ran deep. Every school and sect had rules forbidding the leakage of their martial arts.

Aside from common sword techniques like the Maiden of Yue Swordplay, advanced arts like "Falling Blossom Swordplay" could only be learned by formally kowtowing as a disciple and joining the sect—even the Maiden of Yue Swordplay had only been obtained by Rong'er at great expense. As for becoming a disciple or joining a sect, that depended on whether they were willing to accept him.

Without some luck or the favor of an Enlightened Master, even finding the sect's gates didn't guarantee entry. And Lu Chen was not just an "ordinary person"—he was a rootless man with no background, not even a guarantor to vouch for him in a normal apprenticeship...

Now, thanks to Rong'er, he could directly learn a high-end sword art like "Falling Blossom Swordplay," and the first prerequisite for unlocking "Sword Two"—"two Extraordinary Sword Techniques"—would soon be half fulfilled.

As one of the primary precursor sword techniques to Peach Blossom Island's core ultimate art, the "Falling Blossom Divine Sword Palm," the "Falling Blossom Swordplay" was exquisite and intricate in its moves, blending the real with the illusory, unpredictable and ever-changing—far more difficult than the common Maiden of Yue Swordplay.

Previously, Lu Chen could only learn three moves of the Maiden of Yue Swordplay in a single morning.

But ever since he comprehended "Sword One" and touched upon the Ultimate Sword Principle, his swordplay comprehension had begun to skyrocket. Learning the more exquisite and intricate Falling Blossom Swordplay, he actually picked it up faster than the Maiden of Yue Swordplay. In just one day, he had already learned a little over half the set of Falling Blossom Swordplay.

That evening, he practiced the half-set of moves he had learned on his own. Huang Yaoshi sat on the stone table, playing chess with Huang Rong while occasionally casting a glance his way. After watching for a while, a look of surprise gradually surfaced in his eyes.

When Lu Chen first practiced the Falling Blossom Swordplay, like all beginners, he copied each move by rote—standard and unremarkable, with nothing outstanding.

But after a few rounds of practice, his swordplay gradually began to gain spirit. The originally rigid and formulaic sword techniques seemed to come alive, giving off a feeling of effortless grace and unrestrained ease.

And for Huang Yaoshi, this "effortless grace and unrestrained ease" was precisely the essence of Peach Blossom Island's Martial Arts.

Huang Yaoshi hadn't expected that Lu Chen, a beginner who had only learned a little over half the sword techniques and practiced them just a few times, would so quickly grasp the divine charm of Peach Blossom Island's martial arts!

"Is this what a sword genius looks like?"

The sword talent Lu Chen displayed at this moment, even by Huang Yaoshi's standards, was unprecedented, and he couldn't help but marvel inwardly.

Thinking of Lu Chen's bold spirit—"daring to sit as equals with emperors, what care I for riches like clouds?"—and then looking at his sword talent, along with that unrestrained ease when wielding the blade, Huang Yaoshi couldn't help but wonder:

This boy—could he be a born disciple of Peach Blossom Island?

Two more days passed, and Lu Chen had learned the entire set of Falling Blossom Swordplay. He wanted to spar with Huang Rong to test his skills, but Huang Rong flatly refused—

With just the Maiden of Yue Swordplay, he could already fight her to over three hundred moves. Now that he had also learned Movement Technique and the Falling Blossom Swordplay, if she really sparred with him, wouldn't her "undefeated record against Lu Chen" be shattered?

That absolutely wouldn't do.

So Huang Rong acted spoiled and begged her old father to step in and instruct Lu Chen instead.

Over these three days, Huang Yaoshi had actually long been itching to try his hand. But with his stubborn temperament and pride in his status, even though he greatly admired Lu Chen's sword talent, he had held back from personally teaching him.

Now, with his daughter acting spoiled and pleading, he took the perfect opportunity to save face. Pretending to ponder for a moment, he put on an air of being unable to resist his daughter's coaxing, accepted the wooden sword she offered with both hands, rose, and walked over to stand before Lu Chen.