Guidance

"Of course, Senior. You saved my life, and this isn't much of a secret."

Lu Hong immediately gave a rough account of what he had been through.

Hearing that the other man had also been sold to an assassin organization at a young age, had joined Xingyi Martial Arts Hall, and was just as exceptionally talented—

Teng Qingshan felt even more eager to nurture him.

Especially when Little Cauldron revealed that Hong would later fight monsters to the death in order to protect humanity. Teng Qingshan admired this young genius even more.

"Your past was rather tragic." After hearing Hong's story, Teng Qingshan sighed.

"It was all right, really. That first stretch was hard to get through, but things got much better after I became a disciple." Hong smiled, his expression full of acceptance of the past.

"Do you want to leave the Dark Hand organization?" Teng Qingshan suddenly asked. "If you do, I can let you train with me and teach you more advanced levels of Xingyi Fist."

"Of course I do! But..." Hong replied excitedly. Then he thought of the person he cared about most—his teacher, who was under the Dark Hand's control.

His excitement faded, replaced by dejection.

Seeing Hong's expression change, Teng Qingshan understood that he had his reasons. "Don't worry. If you want to leave, I guarantee no one will be able to threaten you."

The Dark Hand, supposedly the most powerful assassin organization in the underworld—

In Teng Qingshan's eyes, it was nothing special.

At his current rate of cultivation, once his physical attributes reached the Quasi-Martial Artist level and he awakened the mysterious Telekinesis, he would be the strongest person in the world!

With his martial arts insights from his previous life, combined with his bizarre and formidable Telekinesis—

Teng Qingshan was confident he could wipe out the so-called Dark Hand by himself.

"Senior, I do want to leave, but my teacher's family is under the Dark Hand's control. My teacher's health is also worrying, and he needs a large sum of money every year to stay alive. I have to keep taking assignments from the Dark Hand to earn money..." Hong said quietly.

Clearly, he wanted nothing more than to train in martial arts under Teng Qingshan right away, so he could reach the legendary Grandmaster realm and pursue the pinnacle of cultivation.

But reality held him back.

He could certainly leave and never look back.

With his own strength and Teng Qingshan's protection, even the Dark Hand couldn't do anything to him in China.

But his teacher and the teacher's family, who had treated him so well, would be in danger.

"Your teacher is like a father to you. You can't abandon them," Teng Qingshan said in agreement.

He understood Hong's devotion to his teacher.

After all, the Dark Hand couldn't do much to people as strong as them, but those with families to worry about were still vulnerable to threats.

"But you don't need to worry, Senior. When I return and hand in my assignment, I can apply to become a semi-independent assassin. That will give me some freedom," Hong continued.

"And with the strength I've shown this time, my position in the International Assassin Ranking is bound to rise by a lot. The organization will also be more willing to respect my choices."

"Once I become a semi-independent assassin, I'll only have to complete one or two required assignments each year. I can spend the rest of my time as I please. Then I can come back and train under you."

"That sounds good." Teng Qingshan nodded. "By the way, is there anything you don't understand about Xingyi Fist? You can tell me now. I have some time, so I'll give you some pointers."

Hong's face lit up. "Yes!"

"Senior, my greatest strengths are Dragon Form Crushing Fist and Tiger Form Cannon Fist. I made a little progress with Dragon Form Crushing Fist recently, but Tiger Form Cannon Fist is still stuck at a bottleneck. My Spear Technique is stuck too. I still can't incorporate the Conception of Dragon Form Crushing Fist into my spearplay."

"Those happen to be my strengths too. Watch." Teng Qingshan walked out to the open ground beside the pavilion and first performed Three Body Posture for Hong to study.

Then he performed a set of Tiger Form Cannon Fist.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

As Teng Qingshan practiced, the muscles and bones throughout his body shifted, sending out a series of deep tiger growls.

"Resonating Muscles and Bones!"

Hong watched Teng Qingshan slowly perform Tiger Form Cannon Fist, shocked. "He really is in the Grandmaster realm!"

After finishing Tiger Form Cannon Fist, Teng Qingshan moved on to Dragon Form Crushing Fist, Snake Form Drilling Fist, Bear Form Crossing Fist, Horse Form Splitting Fist, and other combinations of the Twelve Forms and Five Elements Fist.

Watching Teng Qingshan give off tiger roars one moment, bear growls the next, and then the hiss of a python, Hong's eyes grew brighter and brighter!

All these years,

he had devoted most of his effort to Crushing Fist and Cannon Fist from the Five Elements Fist, as well as Dragon Form and Tiger Form.

He was merely proficient in the other forms, like Drilling Fist, Horizontal Fist, Splitting Fist, and the remaining ten animal forms.

But Teng Qingshan—

He had reached the Grandmaster realm in both the Five Elements Fist and the Twelve Forms!

And every combination of the Five Elements Fist with the Twelve Forms had also reached the Grandmaster realm!

How terrifying was his mastery of Xingyi Fist?

Hong was truly in awe.

Even the Xingyi Fist Grandmasters who had founded their own schools had, at most, reached the Grandmaster realm in two of the Five Elements Fist and two animal forms.

Even that was an astonishing level of mastery.

But Teng Qingshan had completely shattered Hong's expectations.

Whoosh~

After a long while,

Teng Qingshan stopped. "Is there anything you still don't understand?"

"..."

Hong suddenly didn't know what to say. He wanted to say that he didn't understand any of it...

Every move of a Grandmaster-level fist technique could stir the body and create strange phenomena in the world around them. His comprehension was remarkable, but even that had its limits.

After seeing it only once, of course he didn't understand a thing...

"Senior's every move is far too profound. Please forgive my dullness. I gained a little from Tiger Form Cannon Fist, but I'm still completely baffled by the rest."

"Mm, you're honest." Teng Qingshan had gotten carried away earlier, so he'd simply performed all the combinations of the Five Elements Fist and Twelve Forms that he had comprehended in his previous life.

He knew what a normal Xingyi Fist Grandmaster's skill was like.

He had done this to impress Hong, a genius, so that he would follow him and learn properly from now on.

Geniuses were proud.

Only after completely winning them over would they truly submit.

"Perform the Tiger Form Cannon Fist you've comprehended," Teng Qingshan said.

"All right, Senior."

Hong began performing his own interpretation of Tiger Form Cannon Fist.

Watching Hong's every move, Teng Qingshan nodded to himself. Hong really was talented. His Tiger Form Cannon Fist already carried a hint of Cannon Fist's unstoppable momentum, along with the true meaning of Tiger Form.

If he kept practicing, he would sooner or later break through to the Master level in Tiger Form Cannon Fist.

When Hong stopped practicing,

Teng Qingshan already understood where he was stuck.

He immediately began giving Hong pointers based on his current condition, showing him how to perfectly combine his muscles with the true meaning of Tiger Form and the momentum of Cannon Fist.

Hong's comprehension was indeed astonishing.

After Teng Qingshan had guided him hands-on twice,

when Hong practiced Tiger Form Cannon Fist again, his presence was completely different from before.

"I did it!"

Hong finished the form and stood upright,

his face filled with joy.

Just now, he had broken through his bottleneck and reached the Master level in Tiger Form Cannon Fist!