Fate Arrives

"Hahaha, young friend, you truly have a sense of humor." The old man chuckled.

Having lived so many years, this was the first time he'd encountered a reply like Lu Xingshi's. Anyone else would have offered some commentary or evaluation, but a response like Lu Xingshi's was rare.

"Not bad, I guess." Lu Xingshi curled his lip. The content of the Rumor Report was mostly about sword duels between so-and-so, someone-or-other heading north, or friction between major sects.

As for the headline, it was definitely the Tianshan Sword Debate—basically a bunch of sect-founding grandmasters with nothing better to do, gathering for a brawl.

All to determine who was superior.

As the saying goes, literature has no first, but martial arts has no second—someone was bound to be dissatisfied.

Aside from that, there was news about the Bearman Mutant, occupying a small section, likely a local story from Youping County.

The credit fell on Gao Li, and Lu Xingshi hadn't stolen it. But the Youping County Magistrate was also involved, which opened his eyes a bit.

Looking closely, the article subtly belittled Gao Li while making the Youping County Magistrate look wise and heroic.

He figured it out—this was credit-stealing.

They only dared to do this because Gao Li was injured and Que Mi Village had no Rumor Report. Otherwise, they wouldn't have pulled it off.

"Have you read it? If not, I'll give you this copy." Lu Xingshi said.

In his eyes, this Rumor Report was more like a tax on stupidity. He'd fallen for it once and wouldn't buy it again.

It was just for fooling low-level martial artists.

"I haven't yet, so I'll gratefully accept." The old man was startled, not expecting Lu Xingshi to say that.

Lu Xingshi shoved the Rumor Report into the man's arms and said, "Take your time reading. I've got things to do, so I'll be off."

With that, he left directly. They were just passing acquaintances—why make it complicated?

Seeing Lu Xingshi's decisiveness, the old man couldn't help but smile. "Such a temperament, such talent—truly extraordinary."

His eyes flickered, and a thought of taking on a disciple suddenly arose.

He had naturally noticed the techniques Lu Xingshi was cultivating. To have reached perfection in the Qi Guiding Art, Breathing Exercise, and Primal Chaos Art at such a young age was truly rare.

These techniques were indeed common, but that didn't mean they were easy to cultivate. They were easy to learn but hard to master, with low returns, which was why few practiced them.

"But I'll need to test him first. This lad suits my fancy." The old man wasn't displeased by the other's repeated surprises; instead, he found him gifted.

As for attitude, when one was well-disposed, it was called being neither humble nor arrogant.

When disgusted, it was naturally called lacking manners.

Though the thought of taking a disciple had arisen, he couldn't just blurt it out. He'd have to observe the other first and find the right opportunity to accept him as a disciple, rather than jumping out abruptly.

After leaving, Lu Xingshi pondered whether to buy some light body techniques. Winning or losing didn't matter, but he had to be able to escape.

He found a bookstore and began browsing.

The light body techniques for sale were few and far between, all common stuff. Good things wouldn't be sold here.

"Wrap up these three light body techniques for me." Lu Xingshi quickly made his choice.

Water Surface Floating, Grass Surface Flying, and Vertical Leap Technique—these three covered a comprehensive range of light body skills.

Three silver taels gone just like that. Lu Xingshi also wanted to buy a fist and foot technique, but when he saw the price—starting at five taels—he twitched.

Killing techniques were expensive.

Still, fist and foot techniques included some cultivation methods, body movements, and footwork, since they were for combat, so the higher price made sense.

In the end, Lu Xingshi didn't buy any. He simply couldn't afford it.

He only had so much money, enough for food and lodging, and he didn't want to cause trouble like the wealth-exposure incident in Floating Goose Town.

He flipped through the books, learned them instantly, and the Game Villagers followed suit, reaching perfection.

"My movement speed just shot up." Lu Xingshi was delighted. If he'd had these three perfected light body techniques back then, he could have cut the time to Youping County by two-thirds, at least.

That was just the passive boost. Active use would be faster, but it consumed Inner Force.

"He learned it just like that? No, he perfected it!!!" The old man watched as Lu Xingshi entered the bookstore, bought three light body techniques, and after flipping through them, his speed suddenly surged.

From the way the other walked, he could see traces of Water Surface Floating, Grass Surface Flying, and Vertical Leap Technique.

After observing further, he confirmed that the other had truly reached perfection on the first try.

"What kind of talent is this..." he murmured.

He'd seen geniuses, but never one like this. Others at least had to practice, but you—you didn't even need to cultivate, just straight to perfection.

Light body techniques weren't like internal arts; they were more like skills, requiring hard training. These three were indeed easy to learn and practice.

But that still wasn't a reason to reach perfection without training.

"Let's test him once more!" A glint flashed in the old man's eyes.

If Lu Xingshi's talent was this monstrous, he'd skip the tests and just take him as a disciple. If the other refused, he'd take him away first.

Lu Xingshi walked along the road, wondering where to sleep for the night.

He definitely wasn't going to an inn—he simply had no money.

So he just needed to find a place without wind and tough it out.

Just as he was thinking this, a child stopped him.

"Young Hero." The child spoke as he handed Lu Xingshi an oilcloth bundle. "An old gentleman asked me to give this to you, as repayment for your Rumor Report."

"Ah, well... alright, please thank that old gentleman for me." Lu Xingshi looked around but didn't see anyone, though he still accepted it and replied.

The child left immediately. Lu Xingshi opened the bundle and saw it was a manual called the "Five Elements Art."

"This manual... seems a bit different in origin."

"In quality, it blows the 'Primal Chaos Art' out of the water by ten streets."

"So I've run into that cliché of a hidden expert playing in the mortal world?" Lu Xingshi was stunned. This time, it took him a full ten minutes to learn the "Five Elements Art."

Seeing this, Lu Xingshi understood one thing—his Three-Dimensional Attributes were about to start getting points allocated!

If he had learned it within five minutes, he could still accept it. Ten minutes meant he himself could no longer keep up with the quality of the technique, and he had to make a change.

After all, falling behind meant getting beaten.

"Tch, only seven layers, not reaching the full ten. I need to find a place to grind this technique to completion." Lu Xingshi sighed and muttered. The days of learning something and maxing it out instantly were gone, which he really couldn't accept. That experience had only lasted a short while before it expired.