Talent

Chen Shouyi couldn't help putting himself in the examiners' shoes. He didn't know whether he could pass, but he realized he might actually do better. His body was more agile than those of the examinees, and his Basic Footwork was gradually becoming second nature.

The Robot's reactions were always delayed by the slightest fraction of a second, which meant it wasn't invincible.

As long as he kept moving at high speed and never lingered in one spot for too long, he could easily get close to the Robot.

"Next, examinee number 102, Chen Xingyue. Begin your assessment."

Chen Xingyue stood up at once.

"Don't be nervous. You can do it," Chen Shouyi reassured her.

"Good luck!" Lu Shuyuan and Zhang Qianru added their encouragement.

"Mm!" Chen Xingyue nodded firmly and walked toward the platform.

She didn't hesitate. She took a deep breath, then stepped into the sensing zone.

"Assessment begins."

Chen Xingyue picked up the Wooden Sword and slowly circled along the edge of the opponent's attack range. As she kept moving, the two mechanical arms turned to follow her.

Chen Shouyi watched his younger sister intently. This was the first time he'd seen her fight, and he couldn't help feeling nervous for her.

Then Chen Xingyue made her move. She stepped lightly forward, entering the Robot's attack range.

In the next instant, the mechanical arm shot into motion. Its spear thrust toward her with a sharp hiss, tearing through the air.

Fortunately, she seemed ready for it. She leaned slightly to one side and easily dodged the spear. Then her speed abruptly increased as she ducked low and sprinted diagonally along the spear's path.

Petite as she was, she ran with her upper body tilted close to the ground, like a Spirit Cat bursting into a sprint.

The spear was retracting. Chen Xingyue was closing in!

Just then, the Robot's other arm thrust its Wooden Sword at her.

Even at full speed, Chen Xingyue seemed to know what was coming. She rolled to the left, dodging the Wooden Sword by a hair's breadth.

Chen Shouyi watched with his heart in his throat, but soon realized her movements had been carefully planned. She must have rehearsed them countless times in her mind. This direction took her straight toward the mechanical arm holding the spear. As the spear retracted in preparation for its next attack, she was in the Robot's blind spot.

With one crisp, clean roll, she went from moving to stillness, rising back to her feet. At the same time, her Wooden Sword flashed out like lightning.

Crack!

The Wooden Sword shattered, and the Robot stopped moving at once.

"Assessment passed!"

"Yeah!" At the announcement, the two girls jumped excitedly.

Chen Xingyue let out a breath, dropped the Wooden Sword, and turned to leave the platform.

As she passed Chen Shouyi, she kept her expression composed, trying hard to look as if it had been nothing special.

But she was only fifteen, after all. The moment she was with her classmates, she could no longer hold back her delight. Her grin stretched wider and wider until she threw her arms around her friend, bouncing with excitement.

After Chen Xingyue shared the good news with their parents, the group soon found a relatively upscale restaurant to celebrate.

"Brother Shouyi, what's your WeChat ID? I'll add you," Zhang Qianru said, leaning over from the seat beside him while they waited for the food.

"Add me too. Then we can chat sometime," Lu Shuyuan said, her cheeks faintly flushed.

"I don't use WeChat," Chen Shouyi replied.

He found his younger sister's two friends far too enthusiastic. As someone who rarely interacted with girls, he felt a little uncomfortable.

The two of them looked unconvinced. In this day and age, who didn't use WeChat?

"My brother's phone is old. It can't run the latest version of WeChat," Chen Xingyue explained. "Mom keeps a close eye on him."

"Then why do you have a new phone, Xingyue?" Zhang Qianru asked, puzzled.

Chen Xingyue's expression faltered slightly. It was my reward for being specially recruited by the First High School. My brother used to be so average, of course he didn't get one. But she couldn't say that out loud. She needed a different excuse.

Before she could think of one, Chen Shouyi smiled and said, "I don't need much. I usually focus on studying, and as far as I'm concerned, a phone only needs to make calls."

Chen Xingyue glanced at him, her feelings complicated. Maybe she'd gotten too used to thinking of her brother as ordinary and unremarkable, so she hadn't noticed how much he'd changed lately. He seemed more confident now, and even around other girls, he no longer blushed at the drop of a hat and embarrassed her!

After lunch, they all went their separate ways.

When the car pulled up outside their home, Chen Shouyi got out, and Chen Xingyue called after him.

"Brother, wait. I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" Chen Shouyi turned around, surprised to see that Chen Xingyue seemed to be struggling to find the words.

That wasn't like her.

"Brother, you... you've already become a Martial Apprentice, haven't you?"

Chen Shouyi found his younger sister's question baffling. "Are you dreaming? How could I be a Martial Apprentice?"

"Then with Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self, have you already refined all the muscles in your body?"

Chen Shouyi paused, then asked in confusion, "How did you know?"

He really had refined all the muscles in his body, though it was just a knockoff that imitated the form. He was still a long way from achieving true Muscle Refinement. Even so, it had benefited him immensely. Sword practice felt easier, and Basic Footwork was easier to master. Sometimes he didn't even need to think; his body simply moved on its own.

It had also raised his perception by half a point over the past few days, bringing it to 108.

Then Chen Xingyue immediately explained everything to him.

So that was it. He understood now. But it wasn't the effect of Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self—or at least, his knockoff version wasn't enough to produce such an effect.

The reason was that he often placed his mind inside the tutoring teacher's body. Over time, his muscles had begun to imitate the teacher's movements unconsciously.

Naturally, he couldn't explain that to his younger sister. After a moment's hesitation, he glanced around and lowered his voice. "It's not quite what you think. This isn't the place to talk. Let's go inside."

Fortunately, their parents were still busy when they got home. They excitedly asked a few questions, then let them go.

The two of them soon went into the living room.

"There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I never found the right opportunity," Chen Shouyi said, silently arranging his explanation in his mind.

He certainly wasn't going to tell Chen Xingyue about the Book of Knowledge. Something like that was no small matter; the fewer people who knew, the better.

"What secret?" Chen Xingyue was intrigued by her brother's mysterious manner and immediately leaned closer.

"I discovered a trick to Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self. It's what lets me refine all the muscles in my body so easily."

The moment he finished speaking, Chen Xingyue's eyes widened in disbelief.

Chen Shouyi was stunned. He'd never seen his younger sister make that expression before.

But he quickly collected himself and went on to describe his optimized method for Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self.

He didn't dare share his optimized version of the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms. He'd changed that method far too much. He couldn't pass it off as some ancient manual he'd found in a corner.

Behind the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms stood the nation's Martial Arts General Bureau, hundreds of related laboratories, and even thousands of laboratories around the world, along with the collective wisdom of tens of thousands of researchers.

No matter how brilliant a person was, even if he devoted his entire life to it, he couldn't produce a more optimized version—let alone an ordinary person like him.

But Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self was completely different. In the optimized version, the actual movements had hardly changed at all. You still entered tranquility first, then refined your body's muscles. What changed was the subconscious way of thinking during the process—abstract, almost metaphysical concepts.

"That's it?" Chen Xingyue said, gaping at him when he finished.

"Simple? No, it's not simple at all," Chen Shouyi said, immediately correcting her after a moment's thought. He'd been searching online for information on Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self and had read about the subconscious mind. Even a fool would understand by now how much the Book of Knowledge had changed the method.

Its improvements weren't just on the surface.

"First, you need to enter a deep state of tranquility and control your subconscious, knowing what you're going to refine next."

"It's like learning swordsmanship..." Chen Shouyi suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

"Like overturning your natural habits!" Chen Xingyue thought for a moment and offered.

"Right, exactly. Normally, when you sense your body, your subconscious perceives it as a whole. This method forces you to overturn that instinct and sense its outline instead." Chen Shouyi suddenly understood how to explain it.

Chen Xingyue looked astonished. That was much harder than changing a person's movement habits. The former was tangible; however difficult, she could learn it with enough effort. The latter was abstract and utterly elusive.

A huge question quickly surfaced in her mind, and she asked outright, "Then, brother, how did you learn to do it?"

Chen Shouyi's face reddened slightly. Then he answered with a perfectly calm expression, "Maybe it's my talent. I was born able to control my subconscious."

Watching his skeptical younger sister leave, Chen Shouyi let out a sigh of relief.

Being questioned by a clever younger sister was incredibly stressful.

If only she were a little more stupid.

If you enjoyed this book and don't want to lose track of it, remember to add it to your bookshelf.