Before long, Su Chen had quietly caught up to Master Roshi in his normal state, both in total ki and in precision of control.
During a private sparring session, he deliberately exposed an opening, only to deflect Master Roshi's seemingly certain finger strike at the last moment with a faint yet exquisitely controlled thread of ki.
The old man froze, looking at his finger, then at the young disciple before him, whose breathing was steady and eyes were bright. Suddenly, he burst out laughing and slapped Su Chen hard on the shoulder. "Good! Good! Wonderful! Now I can finally enjoy the latest issue of 'Sweet Paradise' without a worry! My martial arts have a worthy successor!"
Su Chen rubbed his aching shoulder, his heart a jumble of conflicting feelings.
There was the satisfaction of the student surpassing the master, but more than that, there was a certain dread of being stained black by proximity to ink.
For he had discovered, to his dismay, that as his strength grew and he spent day and night with Master Roshi, absorbing his influence-particularly after the memories of his two lives had fully merged-some "hobbies" originally belonging to the old man seemed to be imperceptibly becoming part of his own personality.
He would unconsciously admire the graceful curves washed by the waves-specifically, the beautiful women who occasionally swam past-and develop expectations for Chi-Chi's delicious cooking that went beyond the food itself. Once, when he helped Turtle deliver a letter to a mermaid tribe, his heart had even raced inexplicably for several days.
No! This can't go on! One evening after training, Su Chen looked at Master Roshi's silhouette in the sunset, utterly entranced by a swimsuit magazine, and cried out inwardly.
*I've gained strength, but this "inheritance" is heading in the wrong direction! I