In the classroom, Li Yuan began with the basics of the Flickering Shadow Steps.
Li Yuan had always been an excellent teacher.
Now that his understanding of this Movement Art had deepened, his explanations naturally became more thorough.
In most people's eyes, the core of the Flickering Shadow Steps was speed.
When this technique was used, one's body became impossible to see clearly, leaving only afterimages behind.
Broadly speaking, the core of this lightness technique was indeed speed.
But its speed did not refer to velocity.
The Flickering Shadow Steps completed four steps in an extremely short time: gathering force, setting direction, bursting forward, and braking to a halt.
Every step involved completing those four stages.
Eliminate unnecessary movements and reduce the waste between the transitions of those four stages.
Once one could accomplish that, the Flickering Shadow Steps could be considered to have barely been mastered.
The atmosphere in the training room was quite good.
The class Li Yuan had been "randomly" assigned was a poor one.
However, perhaps due to the reputation he had gained from the Sinking Mountain Fist, the students were unexpectedly attentive during his lesson today.
Li Yuan's analysis allowed even many of the weaker students to understand.
A forty-five-minute class was certainly not enough to cover all of the Flickering Shadow Steps.
The leaders who had come to evaluate the class understood that as well.
Wherever the lesson reached would naturally be where it ended.
After teaching for forty minutes, Li Yuan left time for the students to ask questions.
Much like with the other teachers, the students' questions were fairly simple.
The evaluation team's questions afterward were the true focus of the Open Class.
Principal Yin looked at several senior teachers and nodded to them.
He signaled for them to ask their questions according to the plan.
"Regarding changes of direction in the Flickering Shadow Steps, Teacher Li, it seems there was an error in your lesson just now?
A Movement Art must always deal with complex environments. You can't use a lightness technique merely to help yourself run in a straight line."
As a senior teacher from the same school, he pointed out Li Yuan's supposed mistake in front of outsiders.
His intention to make things difficult for Li Yuan was far too obvious.
At that, everyone around them turned to look at Li Yuan.
From what they had heard just now, Li Yuan seemed to have made no mistakes.
But after hearing that question, they realized the lesson indeed had not provided an answer.
Li Yuan immediately replied, "There was no mistake. The core of the Flickering Shadow Steps is always the repetition of those four stages.
Forcibly relying on joint locks and then borrowing force to change direction is actually an inferior approach."
As he spoke, Li Yuan gave a simple demonstration, and the result was genuinely impressive.
The leaders from the education department showed even greater approval on their faces.
Just after Li Yuan finished answering, another senior teacher from Lingshan No.1 High School spoke up with a question.
His question concerned the state of the waist and abdomen when using the Flickering Shadow Steps.
It was a very detailed question, something that only needed attention during advanced study and research.
Lingshan No.1 High School was a secondary school, and the students being taught were high school children.
This sort of question was more a test of the teacher's cultivation foundation than of teaching ability.
Li Yuan did not avoid the question.
He answered directly, explaining the key points behind using the waist and abdomen.
The difficulty here was, in truth, the transmission of force.
Immediately afterward, the third senior teacher asked a question, and it was another difficult one.
Not only did Li Yuan answer it, he explained it in a way that was quite easy to understand.
At the back, Principal Yin and Director Ma wore strange expressions, their brows tightly furrowed.
"Leaders, it should be your turn to ask questions next.
There should be plenty to ask in a class about a Movement Art. We'll follow your instructions..."
Director Ma looked toward the education department leaders and spoke with a smile.
The leader seated in the center smiled and waved his hand.
"There is no need to question Teacher Li.
The questions from your First High School teachers were much harder than the ones we prepared.
He answered all three questions fluently, so there is naturally no need to mention the simpler ones."
The leader's words left several people from Lingshan No.1 High School somewhat embarrassed.
They had clearly arranged a trap for him, yet they had unexpectedly given Li Yuan an opportunity to shine.
"Let's go, let's go. It is time for the next teacher's class.
There should be no objections to Teacher Li receiving an A+, right?
The lightness technique class he chose was already more difficult, and he taught it so well."
As he spoke, the leader rose and headed outside.
Principal Yin and Director Ma followed with forced smiles and hollow laughter.
Logically, they should have been happy that a teacher from their school had performed well, but it had to be Li Yuan.
With an A+ rating, not only would Li Yuan avoid dismissal, he would also receive a twenty percent bonus.
Their attempt to use Li Yuan to establish authority seemed to have failed...
The group continued toward the next classroom.
As they walked, the education department leader asked Principal Yin, "Principal Yin, Teacher Li Yuan seems rather unfamiliar.
He is quite capable. Why have I never seen him attend seminars in the city before?"
When Principal Yin was questioned, his mouth fell slightly open, as though he were at a loss for words.
After turning it over in his mind, he finally answered.
"He is fairly competent in teaching, but his personal cultivation potential is rather ordinary.
First High School has many outstanding teachers. There always has to be an order of priority."
The education department leader smiled and continued teasing him. "Are you afraid someone will poach your talent?"
That casual remark made Principal Yin feel extremely uncomfortable.
Today's Open Classes continued.
The teachers scheduled after Li Yuan suffered greatly because of it.
Li Yuan had chosen the already difficult Flickering Shadow Steps, and he had taught it exceptionally well.
The teachers afterward had simpler topics, so any poor performance became glaringly obvious by comparison.
After today's Open Classes ended, Li Yuan returned home.
There was a faint smile on his face. At least one of his current troubles had been resolved.
Principal Yin would no longer be able to make things difficult for him through methods such as docking his pay.
With a stable income, he would have more confidence to buy nutrient solution.
Over the past few days, Li Yuan had been highly motivated in his cultivation.
His daily training produced immediate results, and he could see his improvement.
Under such circumstances, training and practicing martial arts naturally filled him with drive.
But the drain on his physical strength and energy was also enormous.
Without nutrient solution, he could not train for very long.
His current basic cultivation method was the most ordinary Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique.
This basic cultivation method was originally supposed to consume physical strength and energy very slowly.
But now, Li Yuan had grasped a deeper core of it.
When using this cultivation method, a single breath could temper his body several times.
It was far faster than his previous conventional cultivation approach.
His most urgent goal at present was to temper his physique to the limit of the Fourth Grade Realm.
The strength of one's physique was generally composed of three parts.
Cells, bones, and fascia.
The tempering performed by the Zhou Tian Dao Yin Technique during cultivation focused primarily on improving the cells.
Its benefits to the bones and fascia were not very obvious.
Li Yuan also had a plan in mind.
If he had the opportunity, he would find a more suitable basic cultivation method.
Without any nutrient solution today, Li Yuan went to bed early to rest.
When he had time, he still needed to study martial techniques and moves more.
His performance in the Open Class could not help him win back his qualification for the Youth Martial Tournament.
He had to win that match against Jin Fan!
Others thought it was impossible, but Li Yuan was confident.
He had already thoroughly mastered his current martial techniques. Next, he only needed to practice them until they were equally refined.
The outcome of this match should then be decided.
Before you continue