A Gentleman Gone for Three Days Must Be Viewed with New Eyes!

How long had it even been...

Just a few sentences... and he had mastered the Top Elbow Strike?

Even Li Shuxing, the Baji Quan grandmaster hailed as the Divine Spear, was beginning to doubt his life.

"Master, you said just now... how long did it take you to master the Top Elbow Strike back then?"

The young woman could not help asking.

"..."

Li Shuxing fell silent for a moment. With his hands clasped behind his back, he raised his head to gaze at the sky with an unruffled expression. "Three sentences. This young man isn't bad. He's almost catching up to how I was back then."

Three sentences?

Suspicion appeared in the young woman's eyes. Judging from her master's mouth just now, he had clearly been about to say the word "days."

But on second thought, her master was the renowned Divine Spear Li Shuxing. Even this utterly ordinary-looking young man could master the Top Elbow Strike in just a few sentences. If her master had been just a little faster...

It should...

Be perfectly reasonable, right?

"Eh?"

At that moment, the young woman saw the middle-aged man reveal the smile of an accomplished senior as he prepared to walk toward Huo Yuanhong. Her expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly said,

"Master, don't tell me you're planning to take him as a disciple?"

"What? Is this little fellow not good enough to be your junior brother?"

Li Shuxing chuckled.

"Of course that isn't it. In terms of talent, he has more than enough." The young woman shook her head, but hesitated. "But... the Jin Gate Martial Assembly has already set down rules. Martial Arts Halls are forbidden from taking in members of the Commoner Faction. If we break the rules, I'm afraid we'll invite everyone's united hostility."

"He is worth it."

Looking at Huo Yuanhong's profile, Li Shuxing's eyes brimmed with undisguised admiration. "Such a fine seedling for martial arts should not be delayed by prejudice over family background. I will bear the pressure from the Martial Assembly myself."

The young woman fell silent for a moment, knowing it would be difficult to persuade her master.

After all...

The talent of the young man before them was simply too good.

So good that her master was willing to turn against the Martial Assembly and the great aristocratic families behind it just to take him under his wing.

But... was it truly worth it?

The young woman sighed to herself.

She also understood that this young man possessed extraordinary talent. If he were given twenty or thirty years to grow, his future achievements might even surpass her master's.

But in the current state of the world, forbidding martial arts to the Commoner Faction was the tide of the age. Before such a tide, anyone was merely a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

No matter how formidable the Divine Spear Martial Hall was, faced with the joint siege of the great families and Martial Arts Halls, it would not be able to protect him for long.

To pay such a tremendous price merely so this young man could practice martial arts for one or two more years...

Was it worth it?

By then, Li Shuxing had already walked up to Huo Yuanhong and spoke with a genial smile.

"Young man, I see you have decent talent. Are you interested in becoming a disciple under me, Divine Spear Li Shuxing?"

Divine Spear Li Shuxing!

Upon hearing that title, Huo Yuanhong was immediately shaken.

This man was a living legend, peerless in both fist and spear!

His fists had never known defeat! Neither had his spear!

The Instructor from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall whom he had once wanted to study under was nothing more than a firefly before the bright moon compared to him.

Even if all five Hall Masters of Sword Inquiry Martial Hall rushed him together, they probably would not dare claim that Li Shuxing could not beat them all to death before his strength ran dry!

If he became this man's disciple, he would no longer need to slowly deduce the later methods of Baji Quan—Manifest Strength, Dark Force, Transformation Strength, and even higher realms. Obtaining better secret medicines for internal consumption and external application would also become far easier! He could save more than half the time and master greater power at a faster pace!

If he had originally possessed only a twenty or thirty percent chance of beating Gentleman Sword to death in the grand competition, then now he had a ninety-eight percent chance!

More importantly...

Thinking of the conversation between his father and Aunt Wu that afternoon, a long-suppressed emotion surged within Huo Yuanhong.

His father had actually always known that he had been doing poorly at Sword Inquiry Martial Hall, that despite working hard for ten years, he had still failed to become the disciple of any Instructor.

He had also always known that Huo Yuanhong had been deceiving him, telling him that he was doing well at the Martial Arts Hall and had hopes of becoming a core disciple.

But...

If he could become a disciple under Divine Spear Li Shuxing and a core disciple of the Divine Spear Martial Hall, which was even stronger than Sword Inquiry Martial Hall, then the image of a "genius son" he had once fabricated would become real!

Father...

Surely he would be able to hold his head high as well.

"Huo Yuanhong pays respects to Master."

Huo Yuanhong did not doubt the identity of the man before him in the slightest. After all, the last person who had dared impersonate Li Shuxing no longer even had grass growing on his grave!

"Good! Good! Good!"

Li Shuxing said "good" three times in succession, a heartfelt smile appearing on his face.

"From this day onward, you are my, Li Shuxing's, sixth disciple!"

"Come, this is your fifth senior sister, Fang Yu, the daughter of Jin Gate's richest man. If you ever lack money, just go to her!"

"Senior Sister."

Huo Yuanhong stepped forward and offered his greetings.

The young woman felt somewhat helpless at the sight, but since her master had already made his decision, she could not say much more.

She touched her waist and realized she had not brought her purse. So she removed the jade bracelet from her wrist and stuffed it into his hand.

"Here, take this. Consider it a meeting gift from your senior sister."

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

Huo Yuanhong accepted it openly. After thanking his senior sister, he said to Li Shuxing, "Master, my original apprentice status should still be at Sword Inquiry Martial Hall. I wonder if..."

Over the past few days, he had never received a letter of expulsion from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall. When he went there to ask, no one paid him any attention.

That bastard Gentleman Sword had not taken him seriously at all. He had even neglected to order anyone to process the removal of his status.

"A small matter."

Li Shuxing clapped his hands. An elderly man immediately emerged from behind the distant trees. He wore the steward's uniform of the Divine Spear Martial Hall and moved without a sound, like a ghost.

"This is Old Xu. He has followed me for decades. Let him take you to Sword Inquiry Martial Hall and retrieve all your identity records."

"Thank you, Master."

Huo Yuanhong thanked him, then followed the old steward onto a rickshaw and headed for the Sword Inquiry Martial Hall where he had spent the past ten years.

The rickshaw puller ran swiftly. After a journey of barely more than a quarter of an hour, the two saw the enormous plaque painted with gold lettering.

They had arrived.

Huo Yuanhong got out of the rickshaw and followed the old steward into the familiar Sword Inquiry Martial Hall.

The arrival of a steward from the Divine Spear Martial Hall was a novelty to those within the hall, naturally drawing quite a bit of attention.

Yet whether they were gatekeeping disciples or patrolling experts, the moment Old Xu swept them with a glance, they instinctively moved aside as if possessed, opening a path.

Thus, the two of them reached the Registration Review Room, where the records were kept, without hindrance and retrieved the identity documents they needed.

"Eh? Senior Brother, look. Isn't that the apprentice from your old courtyard? What was his name again, something Yuanhong?"

As they were leaving, someone in the distance recognized Huo Yuanhong and hurriedly spoke to Gentleman Sword, who had just arrived.

"The one beside him seems to be from the Divine Spear Martial Hall, judging by his clothes..."

"Hm?"

Gentleman Sword's gaze swept past them. It did not linger on Huo Yuanhong at all, instead falling directly upon Old Xu, the steward dressed in Divine Spear Martial Hall attire.

"This guy sure knows how to climb the ladder. He was just expelled from the Martial Arts Hall by Senior Brother, and now he's immediately latched onto a steward from another hall."

Someone beside him said with a laugh.

"Let's go. There's nothing worth seeing."

Gentleman Sword withdrew his gaze and spoke indifferently.

He had never regarded this apprentice as worthy of notice. Even if the other man had immediately latched onto a steward of the Divine Spear Martial Hall, or even a master of Transformation Strength, he still would not care.

Before entering Sword Inquiry Martial Hall, he had also gone to try his luck at the Divine Spear Martial Hall, where several masters of Transformation Strength had taken a liking to him and competed to accept him as a disciple.

But he had always been proud and lofty. He believed Transformation Strength would not be his limit, and he was unwilling to be bound by ordinary masters who had only reached Transformation Strength. He had wanted only to study under a supreme existence beyond Transformation Strength.

Although the Divine Spear Martial Hall was known as the strongest Martial Arts Hall, it possessed only one supreme existence beyond Transformation Strength: Li Shuxing.

When he failed to catch Li Shuxing's eye, he had turned instead to the Hall Master of Sword Inquiry Martial Hall—an expert who was inferior to Li Shuxing, but had likewise surpassed Transformation Strength.

At that moment, Huo Yuanhong had already completed the procedures and completely removed his identity from Sword Inquiry Martial Hall's roster.

"True Disciple, it's getting late. I'll take you to the Martial Arts Hall first."

Old Xu, the elderly steward, said.

"Thank you for the trouble."

Huo Yuanhong replied.

"True Disciple?!"

Hearing that form of address, Gentleman Sword, who had just turned and taken a few steps away, suddenly froze. He then whirled around and looked toward Old Xu, the steward dressed in Divine Spear Martial Hall attire, as well as Huo Yuanhong, whom he had ignored all along.

His eyes were filled with indescribable shock!