Embodying Myriad Traits, I Will Ultimately Become Immortal — Part 11

"I have to find someone with a matching talent and have them practice Thunder Arts to prove all this."

"Sister Ru, what does the banner above our martial arts school entrance mean?"

Meng Chuan and Liu Ru sat across from each other in the cafeteria, drinking Tendon-Bone Elixir with the nutritious breakfast provided by the martial arts school.

"Nothing much. Director Luo wants to expand enrollment."

Liu Ru was exhausted and did not want to explain too much.

When Meng Chuan arrived that morning, he had seen a newly hung banner above the martial arts school entrance.

Gather the finest talents from across the land—if you have talent, come on in!

"Chuan'er, that was amazing!"

"Do it again! That was so satisfying to watch!"

On the training grounds, a crowd surrounded Meng Chuan as he practiced National Obligatory Basic Fist Art. After his match with Wang Yue yesterday, Meng Chuan had become the martial arts school's hottest prospect.

Meng Chuan was rather depressed. With so many people surrounding him, how was he supposed to gain insight into National Obligatory Basic Fist Art? He should have known better and come at noon instead.

"Kid, I feel like you're threatening my position. Come on, let's duel!"

Le Ping joined in the fun from the side.

"Have some shame. He hasn't even entered the first barrier yet, and you want to fight him across three realms?"

"I'll fight you. Come on, we're heading to the ring right now."

Wang Dong dragged Le Ping toward the fighting ring.

Wang Dong was the martial arts school's eldest brother, the one who had trained there the longest and was the oldest. Unfortunately, he was already in his thirties yet remained stuck at the Fourth Blood Qi Barrier.

This fully proved one thing: on the path of martial arts, what was most lacking was not perseverance, but talent.

"Brother Wang, don't! I was wrong!" Seeing the eldest brother stand up for Meng Chuan, Le Ping begged for mercy again and again.

The crowd's attention was drawn over there, and Meng Chuan was happy to finally have some peace and quiet. He began carefully contemplating National Obligatory Basic Fist Art.

By two in the afternoon, when it was time for his appointment with the director, Meng Chuan still had not broken through that final 1%.

Combining his stance training with National Obligatory Basic Fist Art had indeed made his movements more fluid, but no new insight had emerged. Had he been thinking about it the wrong way? Could stance training not help National Obligatory Basic Fist Art break past its limits?

"It's fine even if you beat me up. Bring it on."

Meng Chuan decided that he would ask the director clearly later how exactly one could reach the Grandmaster realm he had mentioned. Even if he got beaten again, it did not matter.

When the time came, Meng Chuan waited outside the training room instead of entering, because he could hear bursts of miserable screams coming from inside.

The director had run overtime today. Even though the time was up, he was still brutally beating the previous student.

"The extra five minutes count as class time. Get lost!"

The student scrambled out in a panic. As he passed Meng Chuan, he gave him a pitying look.

Meng Chuan turned sideways and walked in. Luo Guanyun was smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt from the earlier fight.

"It's you. Come in. I remember teaching stance training last weekend. Have you gotten started?"

As a Martial Arts Grandmaster, Luo Guanyun had an excellent memory.

"I have."

With that, Meng Chuan assumed a horse stance. His breath flowed from the top of his head through to the soles of his feet. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of white vapor visible to the naked eye.

"Not bad. Your exhalation is like an arrow—you've gotten started.

Pay attention to how many times you practice your stance each day. If you can afford it, drink some medicinal cuisine to replenish yourself."

Meng Chuan replied that he had been drinking Tendon-Bone Elixir from Mingde Pharmaceuticals. Luo Guanyun immediately hopped over and cracked him on the head.

"Who told you to drink supplements? Medicinal cuisine, medicinal cuisine!"

"Medicinal cuisine is all-natural, medicinal broth brewed from highly nourishing herbs. It won't leave impurities in your body like supplements do.

"Your bone structure is average. If you want to go further with Xingyi, don't let too many impurities accumulate in your body. It'll make breaking through realms difficult later on. Remember what I said today, understand?"

"I understand, Teacher." The man was a Martial Arts Grandmaster, so Meng Chuan had to listen to what he said.

Meng Chuan was obedient this time, and Luo Guanyun was quite satisfied.

"It's good that you understand. Too many people these days are impatient for success. They all want to practice high-grade fist arts and chug massive amounts of supplements. There aren't many like you who are willing to steadily build a foundation."

Meng Chuan knew full well that without the panel, he would also have switched to fist arts with greater power and stronger Blood Qi.

"By the way, how many days did it take you to get started?"

"About two and a half days. I learned it last Saturday and got started on Monday."

"Mm."

"Ah, still not quite enough. Your bone structure isn't good either."

Although the kid's perseverance was remarkable and his temperament suited Luo Guanyun's tastes, if he taught him Thunder Arts, he was afraid Meng Chuan might not even be able to get started.

"No matter. I'll teach you a fist art today."

"The full name of the fist art I'm teaching you is the Xingyi School's Five Elements Fire-Attribute Eight-Gate Cannon Fist, Cannon Fist for short."

"Cannon Fist possesses the most imposing momentum and fiercest power generation among third-grade martial arts. Some second-grade fist arts cannot compare to it in power. Its training progression is divided into three sequences, six sequences, and nine sequences. Mastering the nine-sequence Cannon Fist means it is complete, like this."

As he spoke, Luo Guanyun rose to demonstrate. His legs bent slightly, his arms formed a frame before and behind him, then his right hand suddenly blasted forward. Like thunder erupting from flat ground, it exploded with a violent BOOM.

"Mother of—don't tell me Brother Luo punched Junior Brother Meng Chuan to pieces?"

After Wang Dong had finished dealing with him, Le Ping ran over and listened outside the door.

Instructor Liu Ru also came over. She was somewhat restless, worried that Luo Guanyun had taken a liking to Meng Chuan's talent and accepted him as a personal disciple.

Luo Guanyun sensed people eavesdropping outside.

"You two outside, want to come in and learn together?"

Le Ping and Liu Ru hurriedly got up and left, not daring to linger for even a moment.

After breaking down Cannon Fist, Luo Guanyun demonstrated it several more times, and Meng Chuan memorized it.

"Show me a round."

Meng Chuan tried practicing it from memory. Thanks to his solid foundation in National Obligatory Basic Fist Art, he got the hang of it quickly, though he was still some distance from getting started, and Cannon Fist had not been recorded in the panel either.

"Mm, it's starting to look like something. Go back and practice some more."

Luo Guanyun lowered his head to check the time. Only forty minutes had passed. The foundation was indeed good. Other students needed three or four class sessions to learn Cannon Fist, yet this kid had not even used up one session and was already performing it decently.

"Teacher Luo, I'm still unwilling to give up. I truly want to break National Obligatory Basic Fist Art through to the Grandmaster realm. How exactly can I do it?"

Luo Guanyun drank the tea in his cup and glanced at Meng Chuan.

"Wasn't I clear enough that day? You still haven't given up?"

"You're still young. Your energy and experience can't keep up. To cultivate a fist art to the Grandmaster realm takes decades. There's no other way."

"Not to mention, you want to do it with National Obligatory Basic Fist Art. The great professors of the Martial Arts Association gathered their wisdom to revise it into its current form. Do you really think you can optimize it just because you say so?"

Naturally, Meng Chuan was not willing to give up after hearing that answer, so he continued asking.

"Teacher Luo, are there any other ways?"

The kid had learned the fist art well today and had not argued with him, so Luo Guanyun was in a good mood. He crossed his arms and pondered for a while.

"Mm, there are two methods that barely count as methods. One is someone born with a Sudden Enlightenment-type trait.

"After practicing a fist art to completion, they may suddenly gain enlightenment one day and improve upon the existing fist art."

"The other is a fight to the death.

"Not a match in the ring, but risking your life in a desperate struggle, finding a path forward amidst life and death. Of course, I don't recommend that. This is a society ruled by law now, and there's no situation that would require you to gamble your life."

Traits were unique talents that only a very small number of people were born with. Many useful traits were rarer even than superior bone structure.

For example, Luo Guanyun's daughter Luo Meng possessed the Empty Spirit trait. It could both accelerate martial arts cultivation and allow Luo Meng to cast aside distracting thoughts while practicing martial arts, producing more ideas and inspiration in her mind.

Her primary art, the Image Form School's Luan Form, had been personally improved from Eagle Form and was better suited to her.

After hearing Luo Guanyun's words, Meng Chuan truly felt discouraged. He did not know what his persistence over the past decade or so had been for. Did he still have a chance to break past his limits and obtain One Proof, Eternal Proof?

Meng Chuan did not practice fist arts for the entire afternoon. He merely lay alone in a corner of the training grounds, clutching the Cannon Fist manual in his hand.

As the sky gradually darkened, people left the martial arts school one after another.

Liu Ru was somewhat baffled. Why had Meng Chuan, who was usually so proactive, become so listless?

But judging from this, the director had not accepted him as a personal disciple. She still had a chance.

Martial artists rarely accepted personal disciples. Many martial artists put their own cultivation first and never accepted personal disciples their entire lives, because their energy was limited. They had to both carefully teach their disciples martial arts and take responsibility for their words and actions.

In ancient times, accepting a personal disciple was an even more solemn sect inheritance system.

Accepting a personal disciple was like accepting one's own child. Not only would they receive long-term guidance and help from their teacher throughout their studies, it was more like an inheritance of emotion and an exchange of experience.

As for the others, inner disciples depended on one's mood, while registered disciples depended on one's wealth.

For example, Wang Dong was also a registered disciple like Liu Ru. Liu Ru became an instructor to offset the cost, while Wang Dong had paid for it with hard cash.