Guidance on Cloud Smoke Steps

Elsewhere, after bidding Wang Hui farewell, Chen Lie immediately headed to Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall.

He had arranged to teach Li Xianyu, his younger sister's classmate, the Cloud Smoke Steps at Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall that morning. He had originally planned to collect the Exotic Beast Meat before coming over, but he had not expected this incident to occur.

By the time he arrived at Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall, it was already past noon. Checking the time, Chen Lie strode inside.

Li Xianyu was in an awful mood.

Following her parents' instructions yesterday, she had signed up for the Cloud Smoke Steps Guidance Class. Yet Chen Lie's astonishing footwork had completely won her over, and he had promised that for one hundred thousand Star Dollars, he would teach her to use the technique with ease.

They had agreed that he would begin teaching her that morning, so Li Xianyu had risen early and arrived at Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall before eight to wait.

By ten o'clock, Li Xianyu was not worried. They had agreed on the morning, after all, not a specific time. But once noon had passed, she could no longer sit still.

Would Chen Xingyao's brother really stand her up? She did not even know his name.

Had he swindled her out of one hundred thousand Star Dollars and run off? But a monk could flee while the temple remained. It was not as if she did not know where Chen Xingyao lived.

Since she had no way to contact Chen Lie, Li Xianyu had wanted several times to call Chen Xingyao's Communicator and ask what was going on, but she had restrained herself every time.

Just as Li Xianyu was growing unbearably anxious, Chen Lie hurried over from the distance.

"Something delayed me, so I came late. Sorry."

Seeing Chen Lie arrive at last, Li Xianyu finally breathed a sigh of relief, as though the clouds had parted to reveal the moon. "It's fine. You finally made it, Senior."

"Then let's begin." Chen Lie set down the things in his hands.

"As the saying goes, to do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. Any footwork technique relies on coordination between the waist and legs, so before learning the footwork, I've specially devised a set of flexibility exercises for your legs and waist."

"Follow me. First step: leg stretches."

As he spoke, Chen Lie walked over to a set of training equipment and demonstrated a leg stretch for Li Xianyu.

Li Xianyu was somewhat baffled. When the instructors at the Martial Arts Hall taught martial arts, they simply started teaching. Why was Chen Lie making her stretch her legs first?

Though she did not understand, Li Xianyu still nodded, raised her long leg, and followed Chen Lie's movements.

After demonstrating, Chen Lie stood at the side and watched. Whenever he saw Li Xianyu make an improper movement, he spoke up to correct her.

Seeing that Li Xianyu's movements were becoming increasingly standard, Chen Lie nodded. "Very good. Now do the leg stretch a hundred times."

"A hundred times?"

Li Xianyu looked at Chen Lie in confusion, but seeing the seriousness on his face, she could only nod. "All right, I'll do it."

More than half an hour passed before Li Xianyu finally completed one hundred leg stretches.

Her legs were weak and numb by then. She walked over to Chen Lie and said, "Senior, I've finished the hundred leg stretches."

Chen Lie nodded. "Follow me for the next step: back bends."

As he spoke, he went to suitable training equipment and demonstrated once more.

Li Xianyu was confused. She was here to learn the Cloud Smoke Steps. What was the point of all these unnecessary waist twists and leg stretches?

"What are you standing around for? Do it!" Seeing Li Xianyu remain motionless, Chen Lie immediately urged her on.

"Oh, okay!"

Li Xianyu hurriedly gathered her thoughts and began doing back bends along with Chen Lie.

After Chen Lie corrected her several times, Li Xianyu's back bends also became standard.

"Just like that. Hold it for twenty minutes."

Thus, Li Xianyu held the back-bend position without moving.

Back bends were easy for her. After all, she was in the Grade 10 Key Class, and her Blood Qi Value was very close to 1 Ka. However, the position Chen Lie had designed was extremely demanding. In less than two minutes, she felt her waist growing sore, weak, and powerless.

Thinking of the twenty minutes Chen Lie had demanded, Li Xianyu could only grit her teeth and endure. She kept watching the time, and the instant it was up, she sprang to her feet with a somersault. Yet she nearly lost her balance and almost stumbled to the ground.

Li Xianyu only felt numbness in her legs, soreness in her feet, and limp weakness in her waist, with not an ounce of strength left. She went up to Chen Lie and said, "Senior, the twenty minutes are up."

"Mhm. Next are the ankles."

"Senior!"

Before Chen Lie could finish, Li Xianyu interrupted him. "Let's start learning the Cloud Smoke Steps already."

She did not want to waste any more time. She felt these exercises were completely useless.

"Can't wait any longer?" Chen Lie remembered that he had important business tomorrow and was short on time as well. "Fine, then let's begin learning the Cloud Smoke Steps."

Chen Lie began instructing Li Xianyu. First, he had her carefully perform the Cloud Smoke Steps once, then he pointed out several flaws and corrected them.

Chen Lie's understanding of martial arts stood at the Grandmaster level. His experiences in the Central Galactic Empire had given him insights far beyond those of Blue Star's native Grandmasters. On top of that, he had served as a Scripture Library steward at the Martial Arts Academy of Taia Star Province, and had often watched the academy's instructors teach their disciples.

When it came to teaching students, even a long-renowned Martial Arts Grandmaster from Dongchuan Province might not possess one percent of Chen Lie's ability.

As Li Xianyu practiced the Cloud Smoke Steps, she felt as though divine help had descended upon her.

Chen Lie's advice sounded like pure wisdom, every word precious.

Compared with the instructors at the Martial Arts Hall, Li Xianyu only felt that the one hundred thousand Star Dollars had been incredibly well spent.

The Martial Arts Hall instructors' guidance made sense to her, and she felt that things should indeed be done that way, yet she had never known where to begin improving. Chen Lie's guidance, however, enlightened her completely. It made her clearly understand where her shortcomings lay and drove her to correct them herself.

Just as Li Xianyu was immersed in the joy of practicing the Cloud Smoke Steps and improving rapidly, Chen Lie's instruction abruptly came to a halt.

"That's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow."

"Wh... what happened?"

Her momentum interrupted, Li Xianyu could not help asking.

Chen Lie said, "I have an urgent matter to deal with. I'll come guide you again tomorrow."

"Today is over?"

That was far too short.

Including the back bends and leg stretches from earlier, Chen Lie's actual instruction had lasted less than two hours.

She admitted that Chen Lie's less than two hours of guidance had been more useful than ten days of classes with the Martial Arts Hall instructors, but the time really was too short.

"Yes. You can practice by yourself at the Martial Arts Hall. Also, I have something to deal with tomorrow morning, so come wait for me at the Martial Arts Hall in the afternoon," Chen Lie said.

"Tomorrow... afternoon?"

Chen Lie also felt that he seemed somewhat irresponsible. After all, he had only accepted Li Xianyu's one hundred thousand Star Dollars yesterday, yet had taught her for only a few hours. So he said, "I truly have important business tomorrow. If you're worried, you can come with me. I'll guide you when I have time."

Hearing that, Li Xianyu could only nod. "I'll go with you, Senior."

If Chen Lie's guidance had progressed as slowly as the Martial Arts Hall instructors' lessons, she would certainly have started accusing him of being irresponsible.

But after Chen Lie's two hours of teaching, she understood that she was actually the one getting the better deal. Even if she spent two hundred thousand Star Dollars on the Martial Arts Hall's Cloud Smoke Steps Guidance Class, the entire course would absolutely not compare to Chen Lie's two hours of instruction.

She was also afraid that speaking carelessly would offend this senior.

"But Senior, I still don't know your name or how to contact you," Li Xianyu added softly.

"My name is Chen Lie. Turn on your Communicator, and I'll send you my contact information."

"Okay!"

Li Xianyu took out her Communicator and quickly saved Chen Lie's contact information.

"Then I'll be leaving."

As he spoke, Chen Lie picked up the Spirit Nourishing Flower and twenty jin of Raw Exotic Beast Meat, then left the Martial Arts Hall.