Li Su naturally started joining the sparring sessions after he fought Xuandu.
Xuannan, Xuanku, Xuanji, and Xuanbei.
They took turns each day, sparring without pause.
Li Su naturally still relied on Cotton Palm to face his opponents.
But fighting Xuannan and the others was nothing like fighting Xuandu.
After a few days, he was covered in bruises, gritting his teeth in pain, every inch of him aching.
Still, Arhat Divine Art had a protective effect. It hurt, and he was black and blue, but by the next morning, his injuries had mostly healed.
Faced with this result, Li Su was all the more convinced that he had been right to set aside the Nine Yang Manual.
He reckoned that once Arhat Divine Art reached great mastery, it should be about equal to Nine Yang Divine Skill at minor mastery.
After that, if he focused on Muscle Tendon Changing Classic or Indestructible Diamond Divine Art, then at great mastery, they should be evenly matched, though each had different strengths. After all, Nine Yang Divine Skill at great mastery was only on par with Shaolin Temple's top-tier arts.
Of course, it should save quite a bit of time.
That was good. This way, in his next life, he should be able to become a master quickly. And since he would already have experience cultivating a supreme art, even if he mastered Nine Yang Divine Skill in his next life, he would stay calm. He wouldn't get carried away thinking he was the greatest under heaven and rush out to show off.
"Xuanwu, how about a fight? Just one!"
Xuanci was at it again.
Li Su shot the bastard a glare. This little shit never did anything a decent person would do!
Look at Xuancheng. Once he understood how strong Li Su was, he settled down and hadn't asked to spar even once.
Li Su still sorely lacked combat experience. When faced with Xuannan and the others' shifting moves, he would get flustered. A proper fight would have to wait until he had another three to five months under his belt.
Xuanci was different. From the second day onward, he came looking for Li Su every day.
That little bastard really thought Li Su couldn't see through his intentions?
Ever since Xuanci had lost to Xuancheng twice in a row, he hadn't asked Xuancheng to spar again. Even when Xuancheng invited him, he immediately conceded.
For months, he had sparred every day with Xuanbei and the others, especially Xuandu.
Recently, he'd found Xuanbei a bit of a handful and realized he had to work for a win, so the bastard had immediately set a schedule, changing their matches from once a day to once a week.
And the worst part was that when he fought people, he almost always aimed for their faces.
Nine out of ten moves went straight for your face. He'd pull his strength at the last instant, making you yelp in pain and leaving you bruised and swollen, but not too battered to fight back. Then he'd beat you to a pulp until even your master wouldn't recognize you, and only then would he stop.
Could you act like a human being for once?
Having seen through his intentions, how could Li Su let him have his way?
Although, given Arhat Divine Art's effects, even if he really fought Xuanci, he would probably have recovered most of the way by the next morning's lessons, he still had no desire to spar with the bastard.
If they were going to fight, it would be after Li Su could beat him—and that day wasn't far off.
Their sparring had convinced Li Su that he was extraordinarily talented, both in martial arts and in internal cultivation.
As for martial arts, his main problem was a lack of experience. He wasn't good enough at adapting in the heat of battle.
How to put it?
When someone threw a punch at him, several ways to counter it would flash through his mind. Some of his moves were downright unconventional and unexpected. But by the time he'd thought of one, the other person's fist was already there, and he'd end up reacting in a rush.
There was no real solution. He just had to keep fighting, get used to it, and build up experience.
After a few days, he could handle Xuannan and Xuanku with ease.
Xuanji and Xuanbei still put him a little on the defensive, but it wasn't a big deal. After a while longer, he should be able to manage them too.
As for Xuanci...
Xuanji had also learned Vajra Hand, Great Strength Vajra Palm, and Dragon-Capturing Skill.
He hadn't learned Vajra Finger, but that was a finger technique, not a striking art.
Once Li Su got used to those few martial arts, Xuanci could dream on if he thought he'd be able to beat him.
Another five or six days passed.
That afternoon, Li Su was delayed. He first stopped by the Scripture Library to return the Lanka Sutra and Cotton Palm, then headed over.
Then he froze.
The usually lively Xuanci was squatting alone in a corner, muttering something to himself.
Meanwhile, Xuanji and the others had surrounded Xuandu, excitedly chatting about something. When they saw Xuanwu, they looked at him with burning eyes.
"Xuanwu, I won!!!"
Xuandu was overjoyed, so excited he called out loudly.
Huh?
Li Su was stunned. He'd won? Seeing the other monk's bruised and swollen face, had the poor guy been beaten stupid?
He took out his charcoal pencil and wrote: "What happened?"
Xuancheng spoke up, smiling broadly. "Xuandu just beat Xuanci!"
Huh?
Xuanci had actually been beaten by Xuandu?
"Didn't you tell Xuandu to ask the master for a body-hardening art? The master taught him Iron Cloth Shirt, an external training skill. He made rapid progress, and after sparring with Xuanbei and the others every day these past few days, he just reached minor mastery."
As Xuancheng spoke, Li Su couldn't help twitching his mouth. He glanced at Xuanci in the corner, a hint of pity in his eyes.
That was what you got for always hunting geese—you'd eventually get pecked in the eye.
He knew Xuandu was a simpleton, but he hadn't realized he was that much of one.
He'd remembered every word Li Su had said.
When he went in, he didn't bother matching moves with Xuanci at all. He just took Xuanci's attacks head-on, then, bruised and battered, grabbed him and lifted him up. One Iron Head Skill later, Xuanci was seeing stars and knocked out cold.
When Xuanci woke up, his whole face was green.
Li Su wasn't surprised. Against their level of skill, Iron Cloth Shirt at minor mastery was nothing much.
Under normal circumstances, Xuanci's Vajra Finger and Great Strength Vajra Palm—and probably even his Vajra Palm, which he'd trained to a considerable degree—should have been more than enough to break through it.
But instead, he'd started off using Dragon-Capturing Skill to fight. Xuandu hadn't dodged or retreated, just closed in. Xuanci hadn't had time to use even nine-tenths of his skills before Xuandu knocked him unconscious.
After waking up, Xuanci had shut down completely.
Everyone knew Xuandu had won only because he'd gotten lucky and Xuanci had been careless.
Even so, a win was a win. It hadn't even been ten days. Before this, no matter how lucky he got, Xuandu could never have beaten Xuanci.
And it was all thanks to Xuanwu. For a moment, all of them looked at him, hoping he would offer them some pointers.
They were close with Xuanci, and they could sense what he was like, but even Xuancheng wanted to beat him up.
The bastard was such a pain, and he fought dirty too.
Even Xuancheng had once let his guard down and taken a punch to the eye socket from him. The swelling lasted three days.
During those days, even Xuancheng, a martial arts fanatic, had ground his teeth in anger at every morning lesson.
Li Su's mouth twitched. He rolled his eyes and said nothing. He'd recommended the tanky route for Xuandu mainly because the man was so physically powerful and wasn't suited to fancy techniques.
Xuannan and the others were clearly in a different situation.
Still, after thinking it over, Li Su wrote: "You can all learn some body-hardening arts, but don't make them your main focus like Xuandu. Do the opposite."
They were taken aback.
Li Su wrote: "Look at Xuanci. He has the strength, but once Xuandu got his hands on him, he was knocked out. We're only sparring among ourselves, so there's no real danger. But if you ever travel the martial world, bad people won't pass up an opportunity like that. Learning body-hardening arts can help keep you alive."
Of the seven of them here, by the time they reached the Heavenly Dragon Rank, only the crippled Xuandu, Xuanji, and Xuandu would survive.
It was better to give the others some way to protect themselves too.