What are you after?

The Seventh Young Master reached up to scratch his head. "My mother lied to me again?"

There wasn't a trace of annoyance on his face from being deceived, but rather a hint of a smile.

"Madam probably didn't lie," Zheng Fa said after a slight hesitation.

The Seventh Young Master and Instructor Xu froze. The smile gradually faded from the Seventh Young Master's face. He looked at Zheng Fa, seemingly unwilling to believe his words: "Then you didn't succeed?"

Instructor Xu, standing nearby, also frowned, clearly having the same question.

"I was able to succeed, but most people probably wouldn't be able to."

The two people before him were actually people Zheng Fa trusted a lot, but he didn't reveal anything about modern times.

However, some things couldn't be hidden. From the Seventh Young Master's words, it was clear that Madam understood the difficulty of mastering the Crane Body Technique.

As soon as Zheng Fa mastered the Crane Body Technique, Madam would guess that he harbored secrets.

He had been mentally prepared for this; it was inevitable as his strength grew.

Hiding it would only arouse suspicion. It was better to be like this now—not explaining, but not concealing either.

As expected, the Seventh Young Master and Instructor Xu exchanged a look. They seemed to have some guesses, but neither asked.

Only then did a dejected expression reappear on the Seventh Young Master's face: "So my mother didn't lie to me."

He looked like he would have preferred to be thoroughly deceived.

Zheng Fa looked at Instructor Xu. "So the Seventh Young Master is right. Instructor, you don't need to doubt yourself."

Instructor Xu's expression shifted back and forth, and he finally let out a long sigh. "So that's how it is..."

The Seventh Young Master's voice was a little low. "Instructor Xu, it was my mother..."

"Madam didn't have to go to such lengths."

"Ah?"

Instructor Xu looked at the Seventh Young Master and smiled. "Seventh Young Master, you probably forgot. I'm a family retainer, my indenture is with the Zhao Manor."

The Seventh Young Master was stunned.

"If she didn't want me to leave, Madam's word would have been enough. If not for maintaining this master-servant relationship, why would she have gone to so much trouble?"

Zheng Fa nodded. Instructor Xu's reasoning was sound.

From his perspective, his life belonged to the Zhao family, and Madam's methods could be considered gentle.

It was just that Zheng Fa, with his modern experiences, didn't quite agree with such personal dependency.

As for the Seventh Young Master... Zheng Fa glanced at the dumbfounded young master. This person was simply too foolish to have thought of it.

"But Instructor Xu, you've wasted twenty years..."

The Seventh Young Master was still a little conflicted.

"No one forced me. I just valued the Crane Body Technique too much."

Instructor Xu smiled genuinely, as if he truly didn't blame Madam.

The Seventh Young Master's expression slowly improved.

"I have some friends, they were all like my younger self, yearning for the martial world," Instructor Xu continued. "They rushed in headfirst and never came back."

Zheng Fa and the Seventh Young Master listened quietly.

"And I, I've been safe and sound in the Zhao Manor for twenty years. Now I even have grand-disciples. Thinking about it, Madam might have even saved my life." Instructor Xu patted Zheng Fa's shoulder. "My only regret before was this Crane Body Technique. Now that Zheng Fa has shown me what this martial art is truly like, what regrets do I have?"

The Seventh Young Master thought for a moment and clapped his hands. "So, my mother actually did a good thing? And made me hold back for so long!"

Seeing him smile with relief, Zheng Fa glanced at Instructor Xu and said nothing.

"It's late. You two should head back," Instructor Xu said to them.

Zheng Fa and the Seventh Young Master bid farewell to Instructor Xu. The instructor, with his hands behind his back, watched their receding figures.

In the middle of the night, Instructor Xu's nephew, getting up for a night-time visit, saw a dark figure standing in the moonlight. He was so scared he woke up completely. Only when he recognized the person did he breathe a sigh of relief and rub his eyes, asking, "Uncle, why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Didn't you tell me before that you wanted to venture into the martial world?"

"Why are you bringing this up? You never agreed, Uncle."

Hearing his nephew's slightly complaining voice, Instructor Xu didn't turn around. He just gazed at the sliver of moon in the sky and said, "Go ahead. In a couple of days, I'll go ask Madam to retrieve your indenture. After today, Madam should give me that face."

"But you said you wanted me to stay in the manor and take care of you in your old age..."

"Remember to write often and tell me what the martial world is like, what I haven't seen."

The Crane Heart Sutra brought Zheng Fa some unexpected changes. When he woke up the next morning and reached out, he saw a thin layer of skin peeling off his arm. The bed was also covered in white skin flakes.

When he washed his face, the reflection in the bronze mirror made Zheng Fa almost not recognize himself.

In his early years, he had always helped his mother with farm work. Under the sun and wind, his skin had become dark and rough.

The face in the mirror, however, was pale to the point of glowing, its skin so delicate and smooth that pores were invisible unless one looked closely.

The Seventh Young Master's study.

Zheng Fa noticed that Gao Yuan beside him had been staring at him and kept inching closer.

"Something wrong?"

"Zheng Fa, you... smell so good!"

Gao Yuan said, leaning his nose towards Zheng Fa as if to get a better whiff.

"Stop! If you sniff again, I'll hit you!"

Zheng Fa swore he had never been so scared.

"I didn't realize it until Gao Yuan mentioned it, Zheng Fa, you really do have a fragrance about you." The Seventh Young Master, sitting at his desk, also looked up, scrutinizing Zheng Fa for a moment.

"Why is your face so pale? Did you put on makeup?"

"Put on what..." Zheng Fa was stunned. He touched his face and guessed, "It's probably because of the Crane Body Technique."

"You're saying you've mastered the Crane Body Technique, your face turned pale, and you're also emitting a fragrance?" Gao Yuan's eyes widened, his tone filled with deep envy. "To enter the Dao through Martial Arts, it's truly miraculous."

The Seventh Young Master, however, seemed to have thought of something and stroked his chin. "I heard my mother say that the Crane Body Technique seems to be about cultivating some kind of Dao Body through acquired practice."

"Dao Body?" Zheng Fa recalled the strange power he had sensed after mastering the Crane Body Technique, a flicker of understanding dawning on him.

"Zheng Fa, how did you manage to cultivate the Crane Body Technique? Once I get the hang of the Crane Pine Stance, I'll ask Madam to bestow it upon me too."

Gao Yuan didn't know the secret to cultivating the Crane Body Technique. Hearing the Seventh Young Master say this now, he was clearly interested in this martial art.

More importantly, the miraculous changes Zheng Fa had undergone after practicing it had captivated him.

The Seventh Young Master beside him remained silent, his eyes shining as he looked at Zheng Fa, appearing equally curious.

"The most important thing is probably visualization, visualizing various birds." Zheng Fa had nothing to hide.

The two nodded, looking as if it sounded incredibly impressive.

The Seventh Young Master even commented, "A visualization technique, I've seen it in storybooks. Truly a divine method."

Zheng Fa, however, frowned, voicing the doubt he'd had since mastering the Crane Body Technique. "But why is visualization effective? What exactly is visualization?"

He looked up and found that the Seventh Young Master and Gao Yuan weren't listening to him at all. Instead, they were huddled together, enthusiastically discussing everything from visualization techniques to recently read storybooks.

Seeing Zheng Fa's continued frown, the Seventh Young Master looked up and said, uncomprehendingly, "If the visualization technique works, isn't that enough? Does the 'why' even matter?"

"It doesn't matter?"

The two shook their heads, looking at Zheng Fa with utter incomprehension.

"Mother, why did you call me here?"

"Zheng Fa, have you really mastered the Crane Body Technique?"

"I have!" the Seventh Young Master said with a smile.

"What are you smiling about? Do you know what it means that he's mastered it?" Madam said exasperatedly, looking at her foolish son.

"What?"

"It means he has at least one Nascent Soul True Person behind him, and perhaps they have some scheme against our Zhao Family!"

The Seventh Young Master froze. He blinked, seemingly not understanding, and slowly pieced the words together. "A Nascent Soul True Person, targeting our family, with a scheme?"

Madam nodded.

"No, what would he want with us?" the Seventh Young Master asked sincerely. "Are we even worth it?"

"..."