Guiding Cloud Smoke Steps

After parting ways with Wang Hui, Chen Lie went straight to Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall.

He had promised his sister's classmate Li Xianyu that he would teach her Cloud Smoke Steps there that morning. He had planned to pick up the Exotic Beast Meat first, but he hadn't expected things to go wrong.

By the time he reached Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall, it was already past noon. He checked the time and hurried inside.

Li Xianyu was in a terrible mood.

Yesterday, at her parents' urging, she had gone to sign up for a Cloud Smoke Steps Guidance Class. But Chen Lie's astonishing footwork had won her over, and he had promised to teach her to use the technique with ease for a hundred thousand Star Dollars.

They had agreed to start that morning. Li Xianyu had gotten up early and arrived at Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall before eight to wait for him.

At ten, she hadn't worried. They had agreed on the morning, not a specific time. But once noon passed, she could no longer sit still.

Had Chen Xingyao's brother stood me up? I don't even know his name.

Did he take my hundred thousand Star Dollars and run? But it's not as if I don't know where Chen Xingyao lives.

Without Chen Lie's contact information, Li Xianyu had nearly called Chen Xingyao several times to ask what was going on, but each time she held back.

Just as Li Xianyu was growing desperate, Chen Lie strode over from the distance.

"Something held me up. Sorry I'm late."

At the sight of him, Li Xianyu finally relaxed. The wait had felt endless. "It's all right. You made it, senior."

"Let's get started." Chen Lie set down what he was carrying.

"To do a job well, you need the right tools.

"Any footwork technique depends on coordination between the waist and legs. So before you learn the steps, I've put together a set of exercises to loosen up those muscles and joints."

"Follow me. First, leg stretches."

Chen Lie went to a piece of exercise equipment and demonstrated a leg stretch for Li Xianyu.

Li Xianyu was confused. Instructors at the Martial Arts Hall usually went straight into teaching the technique. Why was Chen Lie having her stretch first?

Still, she nodded, lifted a leg, and copied his movements.

Once Chen Lie had finished demonstrating, he watched from the side and corrected her whenever her form was off.

As her movements grew more precise, Chen Lie nodded. "Good. Now do that a hundred times."

"A hundred?"

Li Xianyu looked at him in confusion, but his expression was serious. She could only nod. "All right."

More than half an hour later, Li Xianyu finally finished her hundred leg stretches.

Her legs felt weak and numb. She went over to Chen Lie. "Senior, I've done all hundred."

Chen Lie nodded. "Next, bend at the waist. Follow me."

He moved to another suitable piece of equipment and demonstrated again.

Li Xianyu didn't understand. She was here to learn Cloud Smoke Steps. What good were all these extra stretches and bends?

"Why are you standing there? Do it!" Chen Lie urged when she didn't move.

"Oh, right!"

Li Xianyu hurriedly pushed aside her doubts and bent at the waist alongside him.

After Chen Lie corrected her several times, she got the posture right.

"That's it. Hold it for twenty minutes."

Li Xianyu stayed bent at the waist, motionless.

Ordinarily, holding a bent posture would have been easy for her. She was in the Grade 10 Key Class, after all, and her Blood Qi Value was close to one Ka. But Chen Lie had designed this particular posture to be tricky. In less than two minutes, her waist began to ache and lose strength.

Remembering that Chen Lie had demanded twenty minutes, Li Xianyu gritted her teeth and held on. She kept watching the time. The instant it was up, she flipped to her feet, only to stumble and nearly fall.

Her legs were numb, her feet ached, and her waist felt too weak to put any strength into it. She went to Chen Lie. "Senior, the twenty minutes are up."

"Mm. Next are your ankles."

"Senior!"

Before Chen Lie could finish, Li Xianyu cut him off. "Can we start learning Cloud Smoke Steps?"

She didn't want to waste any more time. None of this seemed useful to her.

"Can't wait any longer?" Chen Lie remembered that he had important business tomorrow and wasn't exactly short of time today, so he said, "All right. Let's start learning Cloud Smoke Steps."

Chen Lie began instructing her. First, he had Li Xianyu perform Cloud Smoke Steps carefully from start to finish. Then he pointed out several flaws and showed her how to correct them.

Chen Lie's understanding of martial arts was at the Grandmaster level. His experiences in the Central Galactic Empire had given him insights far beyond those of Blue Star's native Grandmasters. And as a steward of the Scripture Library at the Martial Arts Academy in Tai'a Star Province, he had often watched the academy's mentors guide their disciples.

When it came to teaching, even a Martial Arts Grandmaster renowned throughout Dongchuan Province might not measure up to one percent of Chen Lie's ability.

As Li Xianyu practiced Cloud Smoke Steps, she felt as though she had help from above.

Every word of Chen Lie's guidance struck her as invaluable.

Compared with her former instructor at the Martial Arts Hall, she felt the hundred thousand Star Dollars had been worth every bit.

Her old instructor's advice had always sounded reasonable, but she had never known how to put it into practice. Chen Lie's guidance made everything click. She could see exactly where she was falling short and began correcting herself without being told.

Li Xianyu was immersed in the joy of practicing Cloud Smoke Steps and improving rapidly when Chen Lie's guidance came to an abrupt stop.

"That's enough for today. We'll practice again tomorrow."

"Wh-what?"

Pulled out of her rhythm, Li Xianyu looked at him in surprise.

"I have something urgent to take care of," Chen Lie said. "I'll continue teaching you tomorrow."

"We're done for today?"

That was far too short, wasn't it?

Even counting the stretches and waist bends, Chen Lie had spent less than two hours actually teaching her.

She admitted that those less-than-two-hours had helped more than ten days of classes with an instructor at the Martial Arts Hall. But it had still been far too short.

"Yes. You can stay here and practice on your own. I also have something to do tomorrow morning, so come to the hall and wait for me in the afternoon," Chen Lie said.

"Tomorrow... afternoon?"

Chen Lie felt he was being a little irresponsible. He had taken a hundred thousand Star Dollars from Li Xianyu just yesterday, yet had taught her for only a couple of hours. "I really do have important business tomorrow. If you're worried, you can come with me. I'll make time to guide you."

Li Xianyu could only nod. "I'll come with you, senior."

If Chen Lie's teaching had been as slow-going as the Martial Arts Hall instructor's, she would already have accused him of being irresponsible.

But after those two hours of instruction, she knew she was the one getting the better deal. Even if she had paid two hundred thousand Star Dollars for the hall's Cloud Smoke Steps Guidance Class, the entire course would not have helped her as much as Chen Lie's guidance just had.

She was also afraid that a rude remark might offend him.

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

"I'm Chen Lie. Open your Communicator and I'll send you my contact details."

"Okay!"

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

"I'll be going, then."

With that, Chen Lie picked up the Spirit Nourishing Flower and twenty pounds of Raw Exotic Beast Meat and left the Martial Arts Hall.