Teaching Martial Arts

Seven days later, at Liu Zhengde's estate.

It had been seven days since the wedding feast, and even the funeral banquet had already been held.

Although Edward had died like a clown, one thing he had indeed predicted correctly: Old Master Liu, who was already a hundred years old, hadn't been able to withstand the turmoil. He had passed away before the fighting on Liu Tian's side was even over.

As it happened, the guests hadn't all left yet, so they simply held the funeral then and there, saving themselves quite a bit of trouble.

Origin Point: 1.

Shadow Seeking Dragon Step: Level 7, Effects: Light Body (Level 6), Illusionary Body cannot be upgraded or fused

Heavenly Martial Killing Dao: Level 6, Effects: Robust Body (Level 6), Light Body (Level 6), Killing Intent (Level 5), Dominating Thought (Level 5); cannot be upgraded or fused

Thunder Hand: Level 1, Effect: Extreme Speed (Level 1)

As seven days passed, the Prism Pillar embedded over his heart provided another Origin Point, and Liu Tian had also used his free time over the past few days to formally master Thunder Hand.

Although Liu Tian hadn't been especially gifted by nature, Secret Martial Arts were fundamentally a process of transforming oneself and continually evolving. Now that he had surpassed the level of a fighter in two martial arts, he could no longer be considered mediocre.

That was why, even without much training, Liu Tian had still mastered Thunder Hand with ease, thanks to his superior foundation and greater talent.

To Liu Tian's surprise, unlike Shadow Seeking Dragon Step, whose effects only became apparent after he advanced to the fighter level, Thunder Hand's effect was simple but brought about a very noticeable change.

After mastering Thunder Hand, Liu Tian could clearly feel that his reaction speed had increased, if only by a little.

But one shouldn't underestimate that little improvement. It had come on top of the effects of Robust Body (Level 6) and Light Body (Level 6).

In other words, in certain respects, the Extreme Speed effect at Level 1 had already outstripped the effects of those two Level 6 abilities.

Clearly, Thunder Hand improved something different from Heavenly Martial Killing Dao and Shadow Seeking Dragon Step. Their effects could stack.

From this, it followed that by continually practicing different Secret Martial Arts and evolving his body, Liu Tian could keep progressing even without using Origin Points to force his way past his limits.

It was destined to be a long process.

But Liu Tian wasn't the least bit daunted. Over the past few days, he had discovered another use of [Effort]—locking in his growth!

Unlike ordinary people, who might push themselves to make three steps' worth of progress, only to wake up the next day having lost two, any improvement seemed to be permanently locked in by [Effort]. Three steps forward meant he had truly advanced three steps; an increase of one point meant a permanent increase of one point. His progress would never reverse just because he grew old and weak.

When I think about it, everything I've achieved has been solidly earned thanks to my talent, [Effort].

Without [Effort], all my hard work would be meaningless.

Liu Tian blinked, closed the panel with a thought, then lay back on the lawn and lazily watched the sun.

Though he understood this, Liu Tian wasn't ashamed of it. On the contrary, he was proud.

After all, being able to cheat was a skill in its own right.

If he couldn't cheat, he might as well give up martial arts early, tinker with a few inventions, and settle down as a wealthy man. What was the point of dreaming about being number one under heaven, invincible in the world?

The world was unfair by nature. Some things were decided at birth: better resources, superior talent.

Without a cheat, an ant could spend its entire life trying and still never catch up to a divine dragon.

And all Liu Tian had was a more exceptional [Effort] than most.

Which powerful figure in the multiverse didn't have a cheat?

With effort and hard work alone, you'd never catch up to the truly overpowered ones in a lifetime.

Besides, wasn't [Effort] part of Liu Tian's talent?

"Brother Tian!" Just as Liu Tian was enjoying the warm sunlight, a boy with sweat pouring down his head ran over, calling out as he came.

It was Liu Wenqian. Following behind him were his three friends, Bai He, Li Hua, and Chen Qichao.

Starting today, the four of them would train under Liu Tian for a month and rebuild their foundations.

The battle before had made many of the guests vomit and even left some of them traumatized.

But how could a family that had stood for so many years really be foolish?

They might have vomited, and they might have been afraid, but after seeing a Martial Artist's power firsthand, they all understood one thing.

Perhaps one day Martial Artists would leave the stage of history. Perhaps someday, a lifetime of martial arts training wouldn't compare to the crack of a gun.

But that day wasn't today!

So the various families once again began pressing their heirs to train in martial arts.

And if they were going to train, they needed a good teacher. With so many fighters in the area having been killed, their best choice was clearly Liu Tian, who had already demonstrated his overwhelming strength.

Since ancient times, there had been no first place in literature, but in martial arts, there could only be one champion.

How could a powerhouse like Liu Tian fail to inspire fear—and respect, admiration, and even instinctive support?

But this decision left the old man named Feng Tianxiang, who had previously been teaching Liu Tian about the importance of the 'heart,' looking livid. He had even returned to his hometown early.

They had felt some regret before, but after news of what Bai Cinan had done in the imperial palace spread, they tossed that little bit of regret who knew where.

The senior brother is already that powerful? Surely the junior brother can't be too far behind.

If they could make Liu Tian take a liking to them and accept them as disciples during their studies, then this deal would be even more profitable.

This was a peerless Martial Artist who had been number one under heaven for two generations running!

And each generation was stronger than the last. The master had been said to be an army unto himself, while the disciple had actually become an army unto himself!

Even if the third generation couldn't surpass the second, learning just a tenth of what the second generation knew would be enough to secure their future!

Feng Tianxiang of the Five-Lang Eight Trigram Staff? Who's that? Do you know him?

Never heard of him!

For that reason, when the various families returned home, they were thoroughly prepared to gather antiques from the Lost Empire as Liu Tian's tuition. This even sparked a new local trend of collecting artifacts connected to the Lost Empire.

But that had nothing to do with Liu Tian now.

The boys had just finished running five laps around the estate, which was a thousand meters around. Liu Tian merely got to his feet, checked each of their physiques, glanced at the sky, and gave his orders. "Wenqian, your task today is thirty laps!"

"Bai He, you're doing fifty! Li Hua, twenty! Chen Qichao, thirty!"

"If you don't finish today, then you can forget about training tomorrow, too. Go back where you came from..."

Liu Tian had set the number of laps according to each of the four boys' limits. Just like Tian Dao in the past, he could now gauge a person's limits with only the slightest bit of information.

And since he had agreed to teach them for a fee, Liu Tian naturally wouldn't go easy on them like he had with the children in the kingdom.

The children in the kingdom had only practiced martial arts to build up their health. For some, it had practically been a 'kindergarten.' But Liu Wenqian and the others were training to make a living, so of course the standards were different.

"Ah..."

Though all four of them found it extremely painful, Liu Tian's authority still held sway. Even Liu Wenqian, who was the least afraid, only let out an "Ah" before obediently setting off to run.