Beginner Specialty: Enhanced Cognition!

Li Pingsheng reached into his robe, pulled out a small porcelain bottle, and tipped out a blackish pill.

He'd picked it off Master Scar.

The pill had barely any smell, nothing like the rich medicinal fragrance of the Bone Strengthening Pills distributed by the martial arts school.

But something an old hand like Master Scar kept close to his body was surely no ordinary item.

Li Pingsheng didn't think twice. He tilted his head back and swallowed the pill.

Within seconds, a surge of heat far more violent than the Blood Coagulation Paste exploded in his stomach.

It raced wildly through his meridians, as if it meant to burn his organs to ashes.

Li Pingsheng grunted. The veins in his forehead bulged, and beads of sweat rolled down his face.

He desperately activated his [Blood Strengthening] talent.

The qi and blood in his body surged into motion, rushing toward the frenzied heat.

The moment the two forces met, his body began to tremble violently.

Vein after vein bulged beneath his skin.

His body, strengthened by [Tiger Bone], endured the impact.

[Potential: 1.0]

It was full.

Li Pingsheng didn't hesitate. He chose:

[Divine Sense · Beginner Specialty: Enhanced Cognition]

[Potential consumed: 1.0. Specialty unlocked]

Once [Enhanced Cognition] lit up, a dark line connected it to another specialty.

[Beginner Talent—Martial Wisdom: A Mind Like a Clear Mirror. Upon unlocking this talent, the brain's comprehension transforms into peerless insight.]

His mind cleared in an instant, and his thoughts raced at least ten times faster than before.

Things that used to take him ages to figure out now appeared crystal clear with a single thought. He even remembered exactly how people had sounded and looked when they spoke.

It was like having a photographic memory.

Li Pingsheng's heart burned with excitement.

[Enhanced Cognition] improved his memory, while [Martial Wisdom] had transformed his mind beyond recognition.

He pulled the Thunderbolt Fist manual from inside his robe.

For the past half month, he hadn't understood a word of it, no matter how many times he read it.

The words felt awkward on his tongue, and the illustrations made no sense. He'd practiced for ages without even getting started, becoming a laughingstock on the Martial Practice Field.

But now...

He opened the manual again.

The first page. The first form: Thunder on Flat Ground.

The several lines of obscure fist techniques now seemed crystal clear, each word explaining how qi and blood moved.

Even the simple diagram of a human figure had come to life.

One glance, and red lines appeared in his mind, clearly marking where the force began, the path qi and blood followed, and the point where power erupted.

How to generate force from the waist, how to send it through the spine to the shoulder, then down the arm and into the fist...

Everything had become simple and clear.

"So that's how it works..."

Li Pingsheng didn't need to commit any of it to memory. It was as if the knowledge had been carved into his mind.

He closed his eyes.

Instructor Wu's movements as he practiced on the Martial Practice Field appeared in his mind.

The figure went through the first three forms of Thunderbolt Fist, each movement and detail perfectly clear.

Once... twice...

When the figure reached the third repetition, Li Pingsheng's brow furrowed slightly.

Something was wrong.

When Instructor Wu used the second move, "Lightning Flash and Thunder Roll," his waist generated force along a path that differed ever so slightly from the one in the manual.

Some of the force generated by the twist of his waist and hips dissipated before it reached his fist.

The flaw was tiny. An ordinary person would never notice it, but it was there.

"So even he hasn't really mastered Thunderbolt Fist."

Li Pingsheng opened his eyes and copied the stance in his mind: lowering his waist, settling into a horse stance, twisting his body, and throwing a punch.

Whoosh...

His first attempt was still stiff and awkward. His mind understood the movements, but his body hadn't caught up. Yet every punch followed the correct path of force to the slightest detail. By the second attempt, his movements had grown much smoother, and his punches stirred little gusts of wind. When he took the opening stance of Thunder on Flat Ground again, his qi and blood were already moving with him, and his muscles had begun to memorize the movements.

He punched. His joints crackled, and faint rumbles of thunder seemed to roll through his sinews and bones.

The wind of his punches whistled, utterly unlike before.

The next morning.

The Martial Practice Field was as lively as ever.

Li Pingsheng was the same as always, practicing slowly in an unnoticed corner.

"Look! That good-for-nothing's chasing chickens again."

"Haha, and he thinks he can keep his True Disciple status? I bet he'll make Instructor Wu laugh himself to death on the day of the assessment."

Zhao Ming and his lackeys mocked him without the slightest attempt to hide it.

Zhao Ming had already gotten the first three forms of Thunderbolt Fist down, throwing punches that stirred the wind and earning envious looks from plenty of the newly admitted disciples.

He glanced sidelong at Li Pingsheng in the corner, his eyes full of contempt.

A superior bone structure built up on pills was still useless without resources.

Li Pingsheng paid no attention to the chatter around him and continued practicing.

This time, though, his movements looked slow and clumsy, but the force behind every move and every form landed exactly where it should.

He was adapting. Learning to control it.

He was hiding that thunderous power beneath the clumsy-looking forms.

Instructor Wu strolled around the field with his hands behind his back, wearing the same contemptuous expression as ever.

He occasionally nodded at diligent disciples, but whenever his gaze landed on Li Pingsheng, all it held was undisguised disgust.

To him, Li Pingsheng was an embarrassment to the martial arts school.

He was a waste of resources, slow-witted, and had damaged meridians. He was good for nothing.

He had already made up his mind: on the day of the assessment, he'd find any excuse he could to kick this fellow out of the True Disciples.

Just as he was about to look away, the corner of his eye happened to catch something.

In the corner, Li Pingsheng had just finished his movement, striking the final form of Thunder on Flat Ground.

The lowered waist and settled stance, the explosive power of his twisting waist and driving hips, the path of his fist as it cut through the air...

Perfect.

That move had even more of the manual's essence than Instructor Wu's own version.

Instructor Wu stopped dead, his heart giving a sudden thump.

He stared at Li Pingsheng.

Li Pingsheng had already finished the move and was slowly going through the next form, his movements once again a complete mess.

"Hmm?"

Instructor Wu's brow furrowed tightly, suspicion filling his eyes.

Had he... imagined it?

He shook his head and immediately dismissed the thought.

Li Pingsheng was a piece of rotten wood. How could he possibly throw such a perfect punch?

It had to be a fluke.

Right, even a blind cat could stumble upon a dead mouse. He'd gotten lucky once.

With that thought, Instructor Wu's brief surprise and suspicion vanished, replaced by even deeper contempt.

Was he even luckier than everyone else?

Too bad luck wouldn't get you far on the path of martial arts.

He gave a cold snort, turned, and headed toward Zhao Ming, not bothering to look at Li Pingsheng again.

In the corner,

Li Pingsheng slowly lowered his fists, having seen every bit of Instructor Wu's strange expression.

He opened his hand, feeling a little pain in his knuckles from the force passing through them.

Something new seemed to hide within that ache.

The day of the assessment...

He was looking forward to it, too.