Second Apprentice-Brother

Over the next few days, Tony stayed home, busy using the cultivation accelerator he had built himself to improve his physical fitness and make himself "stronger." He did not come over to bother the other disciples.

Zhan Liu was happy to enjoy a few peaceful days, focusing on answering the disciples' questions and clearing up their doubts.

Previously, because of Tony, quite a few beautiful women had come to become disciples, and many people nearby had even begun learning Chinese because of it.

Now that Tony was no longer coming around, those beauties taking Chinese lessons, along with the playboys lured over by the beauties, naturally dispersed as well.

However, the people running Chinese tutoring classes did not close up shop because of this. Instead, they set their sights on new customers.

This time, the customers were wealthy figures from high society. They had been drawn in by Stark's sudden transformation into a "strong" living advertisement, but their Chinese was too poor for them to successfully become disciples.

After going through the entire package Tony had once enjoyed—clichéd offers of benefits, threats, getting thrown out, and so on—a small number of them finally decided to honestly learn Chinese before coming back to become disciples.

These people became the target clientele of the Chinese tutoring schools. They were all rich, with money to spare. Unlike the old small-group classes, they now went straight for one-on-one private tutoring, and the profits had increased by who knew how much.

As for the rest, they did not want to learn Chinese, so they began coming up with all sorts of crooked ideas.

For example, secretly hiring disciples as private tutors, or sending people to sneak in and plant listening devices.

Zhan Liu could not be bothered to inspect every bug and listening device one by one. So every morning when he got up to practice, he simply swept the courtyard with Ten Thousand Volts of electricity, or unleashed a high-energy EMP across it with Magnetic Field Rotation. At the same time, it let the disciples observe it up close with their own eyes, strengthening their determination and confidence to train.

As for those disciples working as private tutors, without Zhan Liu's Magnetic Field Acceleration, if they could still master Current Drive, they would undoubtedly be gifted prodigies. Zhan Liu would not mind taking on another disciple.

But the disciple who leaked the cultivation method... hehe...

After Zhan Liu had enjoyed a few quiet days, that rascal Tony came again.

"Hey, Master, look at this current of mine!"

Tony tugged at the roiling Lightning Dragon between his hands, showing off before everyone like he was performing a juggling act.

It seemed Zhan Liu's earlier bluff had worked. Tony had actually gone to learn Chinese. This time, he was not wearing a translator; instead, he directly communicated with everyone in stiff, awkward Chinese.

The disciples quickly backed away, staring at Tony with both fear and eagerness as he toyed with the bucket-thick lightning as if it were a plaything.

This thing was at least Ten Thousand Volts. As it rolled around Tony's body, everyone could clearly smell the burnt stench of air being pierced and ionized.

"Senior Apprentice-Brother, you should be more careful. We're only flesh and blood. If we accidentally touch that thing in your hands, we'll definitely turn into charcoal on the spot," one disciple complained from far away.

"Ah, all right. I didn't think it through." Tony looked thoroughly disappointed as he casually tossed the Lightning Dragon toward Zhan Liu. "I never should have expected ordinary people like you to understand the world of geniuses."

Zhan Liu grabbed the Lightning Dragon and extinguished it in one motion, smiling as he said:

"Tony, you have the realm now, but you do not have moves that match it, which is why your control is so poor. I have many martial arts techniques here. As long as you master them, you will not have to worry about losing control and hurting others. You could even precisely control the current to kill one person without harming the people beside him in the slightest."

"Forget it. I'm not killing anyone, and I'm even less interested in any of your martial arts techniques." Tony lazily played with the sunglasses in his hand. "All I need is to keep getting 'stronger.'"

As he spoke, he winked his right eye at Zhan Liu.

Zhan Liu was speechless. There was simply nothing he could do about this old lecher.

Tony did not want to learn, and Zhan Liu could not exactly force him to, could he?

Fortunately, not knowing any techniques would not affect his progress in realm, so Zhan Liu decided to let him be for now. They could talk about it after Tony broke through to the Magnetic Field Rotation Realm.

At his Current Drive Ten Thousand Volts realm, even missiles could not kill him, so there was no need to worry about his safety.

"Do as you please. I hope you can stay this carefree for the rest of your life."

"And in the future, do not come here showing off when you have nothing better to do. You're seriously interfering with my teaching." With a disgusted wave of his hand, Zhan Liu threw Tony out the door.

Tony twisted his body outside, landed steadily, then casually walked back in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! How did you throw someone out with just a wave of your hand? Is this the power of Magnetic Field Rotation?"

"Want to experience it again?" Zhan Liu glanced sideways at him.

"No, of course not." Tony immediately refused. "I'll figure it out. Electricity produces magnetism, that's all. It can't be anything more than a closed circuit. I've just had a lot of dates lately, so I've been busy and haven't had the time."

"Then why aren't you chasing your girls? What are you doing here?"

"I'm going abroad in a few days. There's some group business I need to deal with. It can't be helped—too many things in the group can't function without me. I really envy how carefree you all are, spending every day like this."

Tony bragged in that pretentious way, drawing countless looks full of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

"Oh, goodbye. Have a safe trip. Come back later." Zhan Liu waved his hand again and threw him out once more.

Tony flew through the air, shouting, "I was afraid you'd miss me, so I came over specially to say goodbye!"

He twisted at the waist again and landed steadily, then shouted through the doorway, "After I come back, I'll throw a huge party. Everyone should come and have fun."

After shouting that, he muttered to himself, "They'll definitely be looking forward to my return, so I'll... spend a few extra days having fun outside."

After Tony, that troublemaker, left, the other disciples had one less source of distraction, so they naturally put even more effort into their training.

A few days later, a white teenage boy suddenly raised his right hand and cheered.

"I did it! Look, I did it!"

The people around him saw the electric arc dancing at his fingertips. Though faint, it was unmistakably clear. Everyone began cheering as well, because only half of the three-month period had passed, and someone else had already succeeded.

This boy was merely a high school student, not some genius like Tony Stark. There was no reason that if he could do it, others could not.

The boy's success was positive encouragement for everyone. It practically represented the dawn of hope, guiding them all to press forward bravely.

When Zhan Liu heard the commotion and came out, he saw the boy surrounded in the center like the moon among stars.

"Very good, young man. From today onward, you are my formal disciple and everyone's Second Apprentice-Brother. Tell everyone, what is your name?"

The boy was beside himself with excitement. In stammering Chinese, he said, "Peter Parker, sir. My name is Peter Parker. I'm a student at Midtown High School."