Eidetic Memory

The process of widening one's hips is extremely agonizing. Lu Ming endured the pain, spreading his legs little by little until he reached his limit.

Then, gritting his teeth, he pushed past that limit.

Crack!

A crisp sound of bones grinding together echoed, and Lu Ming immediately grimaced in pain.

However, he didn't give up. He gritted his teeth and persevered. Once he slowly adapted, he spread his legs further.

This was naturally even more painful.

But he forced himself to endure it.

"Breathe steadily, keep going!"

Lu Ming kept encouraging himself. It wasn't until about half an hour later that he stopped, drenched in sweat.

His crotch felt like it had been torn apart, extremely painful.

However, the effect was also very noticeable. Thanks to this body not being fully developed yet and being highly malleable, he could now perform a side split.

Next up was the front split, but he couldn't practice that anymore for now.

With his legs aching and swollen, Lu Ming walked into the kitchen in an extremely awkward posture. The porridge had already been cooked and was even a bit cold.

Perfect, it was convenient for him to eat a large portion.

After a simple breakfast, Lu Ming didn't do anything else but lie down to rest and recover his torn muscles.

"It seems I need to make time to visit the bookstore in the city and see if they have any dictionaries."

After resting in bed for a while, Lu Ming felt he was wasting time. If he had a dictionary, he could use this gap to study cultural knowledge.

This idea had actually occurred to him a few days ago, but he had been busy improving his living environment and hadn't rushed it.

Now that he was free, he felt a sense of urgency.

He decided to act on it. Once the pain in his lower body gradually subsided, Lu Ming got up and walked out of the house. It was still early before noon, so it was a good time to go out.

As he passed Old Man Zhao's yard, he saw him lying on a chair basking in the sun again and called out a greeting.

"Where are you going, little one?"

This time, Old Man Zhao didn't close his eyes to rest. He was engrossed in reading a book.

Lu Ming didn't hide his plans. "Old man, I'm going to the city bookstore to look for a dictionary or something to learn the written language."

"Learn the written language?"

Old Man Zhao asked, puzzled. "Didn't your family fall on hard times? What, you didn't learn to read and write before your family declined?"

Lu Ming gave an awkward smile. "I didn't have time."

"Alright, then you don't need to go. I know this city like the back of my hand; they definitely won't have dictionaries. If you want to learn, I can teach you."

Old Man Zhao sat up straight and said.

"Ah?"

Lu Ming was a little disappointed at first, but when he heard the latter half, he was overjoyed. This was truly a turn of events.

"What 'ah'? You don't want to?"

Old Man Zhao sounded a little displeased.

"Of course, I do! Thank you, old man."

Lu Ming quickly walked into the yard and bowed.

"No need for thanks. I find you likable, and I'm just bored anyway."

Old Man Zhao said, tossing the book in his hand onto a nearby table, and got up. "Follow me."

Lu Ming quickly followed.

Old Man Zhao's house didn't look large, but it held hidden secrets. Lu Ming followed his steps and soon arrived at a study.

Seeing the room packed with books, he couldn't help but open his mouth in surprise.

"May I ask what you did before, old man?"

Old Man Zhao, already immersed in the sea of books, casually replied while searching:

"I can't remember the distant past. I only recall working as a scribe in the City Lord's Mansion for the last decade or so."

Lu Ming nodded. This explained why he had so many books; he was a man of letters.

"Finally found them."

A moment later, Old Man Zhao came out with three slightly yellowed books. He threw them at Lu Ming and said:

"These are three character primers. They contain basically all the written characters."

Lu Ming quickly took them and opened one. He found it filled with densely packed characters, neatly arranged, and purely text without any annotations or rhymes.

It would be impossible to self-study without someone to teach him.

Without looking further, he followed Old Man Zhao back to the yard.

"Take a seat first."

Old Man Zhao returned to his lounge chair and gestured for Lu Ming to sit down as well.

Lu Ming didn't stand on ceremony and obediently sat down.

Old Man Zhao said again, "Open that blue-covered book. I'll read a sentence, and you'll follow along and memorize it."

Lu Ming quickly did as he was told, but he was a little confused as to how the other man could read without a book. As if seeing through his thoughts, Old Man Zhao pointed to his own head.

Lu Ming understood instantly. It was all in his mind. He immediately sat up straight.

"Listen carefully." Old Man Zhao, satisfied with this, stroked his beard and slowly spoke the first sentence.

Lu Ming quickly repeated it after him. Then, facing the book, he memorized the pronunciation and the characters simultaneously.

Perhaps it was due to his transmigration, but his memory was exceptionally good. He memorized these few characters instantly, as if he had read them hundreds of times.

It left a deep impression.

In fact, he had discovered this trait long ago. For example, the ordinary book he obtained from the stone coffin, the parts he had flipped through were stored in his mind like a video recording.

Even though he didn't recognize the characters, he could perfectly transcribe them by comparison.

Now, this ability had been proven once again.

"Have you memorized it?"

Old Man Zhao paused after teaching one sentence, giving Lu Ming time to memorize it.

"I have," Lu Ming nodded directly. It was only one sentence.

Old Man Zhao didn't say much more. Hearing this, he began to teach the second sentence.

Lu Ming started memorizing again.

As time passed, a hundred characters were taught in the blink of an eye. Old Man Zhao then said:

"Alright, we'll stop here for today. Make sure you fully memorize what we've covered so far."

Lu Ming looked down at the thickness of the three books and calculated that at this pace, it would take several months to learn everything.

He didn't want to waste time, so he said, "Old man, I've already memorized everything from before."

"Oh?"

Old Man Zhao was startled, then said, "Then recite it for me."

Lu Ming recited the hundred characters word for word. Then, Old Man Zhao randomly picked some characters and asked him to write them on the ground with a wooden stick.

The result was, naturally, flawless.

"I didn't expect you to have such a good memory, kid."

After the spot check, Old Man Zhao's eyes showed appreciation, but he wasn't overly surprised.

Lu Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief. So, having a good memory wasn't some earth-shattering ability in this world. "It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, old man."

"Enough with the flattery."

Old Man Zhao snorted lightly. "Then let's continue. I want to see where your limit is."

Lu Ming quickly focused his attention.

After another thousand characters.

"Have you memorized everything from before?"

Lu Ming hesitated slightly. Seeing this, Old Man Zhao said, "Don't be so hesitant, kid. Reaching a certain level of Eidetic Memory isn't that unusual."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming no longer held back and nodded, "I've memorized it all."

Next, he recited it, and again, not a single character was wrong.

"As expected, you have a good memory. For someone your age, with only a trace of inner energy, to achieve this proves you have extraordinary talent. At the very least, your comprehension isn't lacking."

The appreciation on Old Man Zhao's face deepened.

Lu Ming hadn't expected his situation to be seen through by the other party so quickly, but he soon came to terms with it. It was only natural for someone with a higher realm to see through someone with a lower realm.

Of course, this didn't stop him from thinking that the old man in front of him was not simple.

"Old man, can I ask you a question?" he asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Go ahead," Old Man Zhao said nonchalantly, stroking his beard.

Lu Ming then asked, "Are you a hidden peerless master?"

"Hmm?"

Perhaps he hadn't expected Lu Ming to ask such a question, Old Man Zhao's hand, stroking his beard, paused. He looked at Lu Ming with a strange expression.

"Why do you ask?"

Lu Ming recalled the Wuxia novels he had read in his past life and replied:

"Because I've heard others say that some peerless masters like to disguise themselves as ordinary people and wander the mortal world, and these masters are often old."

"Do I look like one?"

Old Man Zhao sat up straight.

Lu Ming took a close look and nodded, "Very much so."

"Like hell I do."

Lu Ming suddenly felt a rap on his head. "Where do you hear all this nonsense? If you're talking about old people, Shuofeng City has them everywhere. Are they all hidden martial arts masters?"

Lu Ming rubbed his head, not arguing.

Seeing his reaction, Old Man Zhao chuckled again and said:

"It's almost noon. You don't need to go back, just eat here. The kitchen is over there. Go make some food. Oh, and there's a leg of lamb inside, cook that too."

"Alright."

Seeing that it was impolite to refuse, Lu Ming agreed and got up to cook.

"This kid is getting more and more interesting."

Watching Lu Ming walk into the kitchen, Old Man Zhao shook his head with a smile and then comfortably lay back down.