What is Talent? This is Talent!

With the plan settled, Huang Rong immediately signaled Lu Chen to pay.

Lu Chen then pulled a stack of notes from his bosom, counted out fifty strings, and handed them to Master Mo.

In those days, the Mongols had just completed their unification and had yet to attack the Jin Dynasty. The Jin had not yet, in turn, been beaten by the Mongols and sought to recoup their losses by attacking the Great Song. The Great Song still enjoyed peaceful times and thriving commerce. The court had not yet printed excessive paper currency due to massive military expenditures, so the notes held their value quite well and were perfectly usable.

Master Mo took the notes, verified their authenticity, and immediately broke into a beaming smile as he invited Huang Rong and Lu Chen into the martial arts school's main hall for tea.

But Huang Rong had no patience for that. She waved her small hand and said:

"Skip the tea. Master Mo, start teaching me the swordplay now."

Mm, Huang Rong intended to learn the swordplay herself first, then teach it to Lu Chen.

In her view, Master Mo's skill was far too mediocre. He hadn't even mastered his own swordplay. If a complete novice like Lu Chen learned from him, who knew how many years it would take.

So she decided to learn the swordplay herself first, thoroughly understand it, and then pass it on to Lu Chen.

After all, the Maiden of Yue Swordplay was the kind of common, low-grade technique she would never have deigned to look at before. With her talent, as long as she took it seriously, she could learn it quickly.

Seeing her eagerness to learn the swordplay, Master Mo didn't refuse. The customer was king, after all. He led Huang Rong and Lu Chen to the training ground, said "Forgive my poor display," and personally took up a wooden sword to perform the entire set from start to finish.

The widely circulated Maiden of Yue Swordplay in the martial world consisted of thirty-six forms. The moves were conventional, and the variations unremarkable. With Huang Rong's memory and comprehension, one look was enough for her to remember all thirty-six sword forms and their accompanying footwork clearly.

Of course, learning just the sword forms and footwork was useless.

Without the corresponding breathing and circulation techniques, one could never cultivate Internal Energy.

No matter how beautiful the swordplay looked or how practiced the moves became, it was all just a fancy facade with no real substance.

That was precisely why the tuition for the breathing and circulation techniques was so expensive.

Even though the Internal Energy cultivated through the Maiden of Yue Swordplay was mediocre and weak in power, it was still Internal Energy.

It might be far from sufficient in the eyes of a master, but after ten years of hard training, it was enough to throw one's weight around in front of ordinary martial arts loafers and become a local strongman in a small town.

Master Mo finished his demonstration and was about to break down the moves for Huang Rong one by one when he heard her say:

"While you're explaining the moves, go ahead and teach the corresponding breathing and circulation techniques for each form as well."

Hearing this, Master Mo felt this young lady was a bit too ambitious.

She hadn't even learned the moves yet—having only watched him perform once—and already wanted to learn the breathing and circulation techniques?

Martial arts weren't that easy!

But the customer was king above all else. Since he'd taken the money, he had to follow the customer's requests.

So Master Mo showed no displeasure. He immediately began breaking down each move while orally explaining the rhythm of breathing and circulation when wielding the sword.

Huang Rong pursed her pink lips and tightened her small face, listening very seriously. At the same time, she used her own martial arts knowledge to discern whether Master Mo was holding anything back or teaching incorrectly.

Fortunately, Master Mo's teaching ethics—or rather, his business ethics—were quite solid. Having taken the money, he truly delivered. The breathing and circulation techniques he taught passed muster even by Huang Rong's standards.

Although there were some minor flaws, those were likely because Master Mo himself hadn't fully mastered the techniques, not deliberate sabotage.

That being the case, Huang Rong was naturally satisfied. And Master Mo, thanks to his solid business ethics, had spared himself a bloody disaster.

The breathing and circulation techniques paired with the thirty-six forms of the Maiden of Yue Swordplay weren't difficult for Huang Rong either. Their complexity was far below that of Peach Blossom Island's external martial arts.

With her martial arts foundation and sharp mind, Master Mo only needed to explain it once for her to remember everything clearly.

Of course, to avoid any mistakes, after Master Mo finished his first explanation, Huang Rong asked him to go through it again. Master Mo, with plenty of patience for a big-spending customer, readily repeated the entire explanation from start to finish.

Comparing the two, they were identical from beginning to end. Confirming that the breathing and circulation technique was correct, Huang Rong grinned and nodded:

"Excellent. Thank you for your instruction, Master Mo. That's enough for today. I'll come back another time to try your family's heritage medicinal brew."

With that, she waved her small hand and led Lu Chen away.

Watching Huang Rong's retreating figure, Master Mo shook his head. He thought to himself that Miss Huang's attitude was hardly that of someone serious about learning martial arts. She was probably just acting on a whim, playing around. She'd likely lose interest in a few days.

But Master Mo didn't care.

If a young lady from a wealthy family wanted to throw her money away, how was that any of his business?

He'd already made his profit.

Even if Miss Huang never learned the swordplay and didn't pay him the remaining fifty strings, he'd still made a tidy sum.

Leaving the Mo Family Martial Arts School, Lu Chen finally spoke:

"Rong'er, you've already learned it?"

"Mm-hmm, I've memorized it all."

"Rong'er, your memory is truly incredible!"

Lu Chen marveled. He had been watching the whole time too, but he didn't have a photographic memory. He'd only remembered one-fifth of the sword forms, and of the more complex breathing and circulation techniques he'd heard twice, he now only recalled one-tenth.

At that moment, he felt like a background character, only capable of shouting "666" in awe before a heaven-blessed prodigy.

Huang Rong clasped her hands behind her back, her steps light, her eyes brimming with pride, and the corners of her mouth couldn't stop lifting. Yet her tone was casual:

"A small matter, not worth mentioning. Rest assured, I'll teach you myself. I'll be far better than that Master Mo."

Lu Chen smiled and nodded:

"I have no doubt about that."

The two of them chatted and laughed all the way back to their lodgings.

This place had been rented through a broker when they first entered the city—a small, four-sided courtyard house.

The main building had east and west wing rooms on either side, three rooms enclosing a spacious yard. In the yard stood a thick tree, as wide as an armspan could reach, with a stone table carved with a chessboard beneath it, where one could enjoy the shade and play chess when idle.

Huang Rong naturally took the main room, while Lu Chen stayed in the east wing. When they returned and saw it was getting late, Huang Rong went straight into the west wing kitchen to cook, and Lu Chen continued practicing basic sword forms in the yard.

That evening, Huang Rong made stir-fry dishes. Her divine culinary skills once again had Lu Chen eating and praising endlessly.

"I'll think it over tonight and start teaching you tomorrow morning."

"Mm, I'm not in a rush. But Rong'er, how long do you think it'll take me to develop Internal Energy from practicing this swordplay?"

"Well... that's hard to say."

Huang Rong paused to think, then explained the key points of the "external-to-internal" training method.

Cultivating Internal Energy through external martial arts wasn't as complex as internal techniques, and the demands on one's mental state were a notch lower.

After all, not everyone could quickly settle their mind and enter a meditative state while sitting still.

Many martial artists couldn't even tame their restless thoughts. The moment they closed their eyes, their minds would be flooded with stray ideas, their thoughts galloping like a Celestial Horse, unable to enter a state of stillness for a long time.

Thus, internal techniques required a higher talent for mental discipline, while external arts were simpler—just combine movement with controlled breathing. The risk of energy deviation or going berserk was much lower.

Of course, "simpler" was only relative to internal cultivation methods.

Moving one's feet in steps, wielding a sword in hand, while maintaining a special breathing rhythm—that wasn't easy either.

Beginners often ended up focusing on one thing at the expense of another. If they paid attention to hand techniques, their footwork would falter. If they managed both, their breathing rhythm would go awry. If they focused on breathing, their hands and feet would fall into chaos.

Therefore, even though the external-to-internal method was relatively easier, ordinary martial artists still needed to practice persistently for a long time, gradually forming habits until the skills were ingrained in their bones, before they could coordinate hands, feet, and mind, balancing techniques, footwork, and breathing.

After explaining this, Huang Rong said seriously:

"Your comprehension is good enough. Learning the techniques, footwork, and breathing shouldn't take long. But how long it'll take to master them, to coordinate all three until you develop Internal Energy—that, I can't say for sure!"

Lu Chen was full of confidence:

"It's just a matter of hard training. I recover quickly, so I can practice from morning till night without issue. And with you, Rong'er, as my Enlightened Master personally guiding me, it shouldn't take long to succeed."

Hearing this, Huang Rong's spirits lifted, and she patted her chest to guarantee:

"Rest assured. I'll teach you the Maiden of Yue Swordplay in the shortest time possible."

That night, Huang Rong returned to her room to study the Maiden of Yue Swordplay, while Lu Chen continued practicing the basic sword forms she had corrected for him. He trained until midnight, nearly completely exhausted, before heading back to rest.

The next morning.

Huang Rong officially began teaching Lu Chen the Maiden of Yue Swordplay.

Originally, she had prepared herself for a long struggle.

But once she started teaching, Lu Chen gave her a huge surprise.

He couldn't achieve perfect recall after one look—each technique, along with its matching footwork and breathing, had to be taught several times before he learned it.

But once he learned it, he could instantly coordinate all three: wielding the sword in hand, stepping with his feet, and breathing through his mouth—all in perfect harmony, without a single flaw.

Upon discovering this, Huang Rong wasn't just happy that her "Immortal Realm Journey" was finally seeing light; she also felt the thrill of having personally unearthed a rough gem.

If Lu Chen later achieved great success in Martial Arts, making a name for himself in the jianghu, or even shining brilliantly at the Mount Hua Sword Conference, then wouldn't she, Huang Rong, be able to make a name for herself purely as an "Enlightened Master," without relying on her father's fame?

By then, even her father might look at her with newfound respect.

Just thinking about it made her a little excited.

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