Taking a Disciple

"You're feeling much better..."

Xia Ningning looked at Yu Wanzhuo, her tone was indifferent, but her back was much straighter.

Yu Nanfeng said in a low voice, "Wanzhuo, how can you be so rude? Shouldn't you thank the two divine physicians first?"

Yu Wanzhuo seemed oblivious to his mother's displeasure, or perhaps he simply didn't care.

When blood gushed from his chest that day, he thought he was dead. He never imagined that he would be able to return to the world of the living.

I was also able to see my mother, my godmother Pan Ting... and my sister Ningning!

So, although he was recovering from a serious illness (not fully recovered yet), he didn't feel shaken; instead, he was filled with joy.

Once he regained consciousness, everything he saw made him happy.

What brought him back to his senses were these two people in front of him.

Yu Wanzhuo smiled and took a few steps, then knelt on the ground in a relaxed posture that everyone would assume he just wanted to sit down.

Few people can kneel so comfortably.

So much so that it wasn't until he straightened up and then kowtowed again that others realized he was kneeling.

Yannian quickly got up, intending to walk around Chu Tianshu to help him.

Chu Tianshu put his arm around Yannian's shoulder, his tone peculiar.

"I've seen plenty of insincere thanks and overly emotional expressions of gratitude, but such natural and heartfelt thanks are rare."

"Brother Yannian, why ruin the scenery?"

After Yu Wanzhuo finished kowtowing six times, upon hearing these words, he was overjoyed and went to shake Chu Tianshu's hand.

"Tianshu, you understand me."

Chu Tianshu deftly flipped his left hand and grasped the pulse point on his right hand.

"Whether I understand you or not, we'll talk about that later. Since you're here, let's get treatment first."

Chu Tianshu channeled a deep stream of True Qi into his body, then released his palm, revealing Four-Leaf Seal in his left hand.

Once the Four-Leaf Seal was rotated, Yu Wanzhuo felt as if he were a wound-up robot.

He straightened up and took a few steps back.

"Wait, I haven't even exchanged a few words with Ningning yet..."

"If you can speak in complete sentences while boxing, you'll naturally be able to continue the conversation."

The Four-Leaf Seal on Chu Tianshu's hand lit up briefly and then began to rotate again.

Yu Wanzhuo his chest and straightened his back, his mouth naturally closing as he gathered his strength, only a low syllable emanating from his nose as he threw a punch.

The tent is big enough that even when he's boxing here, he only takes up less than a quarter of the tent.

As the fist techniques rose and fell, the body moved gracefully up and down.

He kept humming and hawing, but couldn't utter a single extra word.

Yannian chuckled, his voice extremely low. "Didn't you just let him do as he pleased, thinking it would be a good subject for a painting? Why aren't you letting him speak now?"

"A magpie on a branch can sometimes be a subject of a painting, but when it's noisy, it's definitely noisy."

Chu Tianshu maintained his smile as he answered; in just that short time, he had already discerned what kind of person Yu Wanzhuo was.

There are too many other details to say yet, but he's definitely a talkative guy.

Xia Ningning was a little worried when she saw Yu Wanzhuo, who had been seriously injured and on the verge of death, suddenly being controlled to start punching. However, when she saw that Yu Nanfeng did not stop him, she understood.

Yu Nanfeng not only didn't stop him, but his eyes were already full of smiles as he looked at Yu Wanzhuo.

Zhang Tao glanced at it a few times, then suddenly turned his gaze to Chu Tianshu, and tapped his finger on the table.

A line of text appeared on the desktop.

[The Thunderous Sound of the Six Internal Organs, the Nine-Character Marrow Cleansing Technique—truly a magnificent style of boxing!]

Perhaps because he was more relaxed inside the tent, Zhang Tao added punctuation to his handwriting.

Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "Back when I was practicing martial arts and cleansing my marrow, I encountered some obstacles, which I overcame with the word 'kill.' Now, with my current level of skill, I can resolve them with the Nine-Syllable Mantra."

"But I didn't expect that Brother Zhang could see through it simply by using his True Qi to lightly circulate the nine syllables within his body."

[The Nine-Syllable Mantra is widely circulated and its teachings are diverse; I have also dabbled in it.]

Zhang Tao replied, "Judging from your cultivation level, breaking through the restrictions on your internal energy is just around the corner; your Sword Intent is sharp and unyielding."

[I wield thunder, and am also fierce and powerful. Would you be willing to spar with me and enjoy ourselves to the fullest?]

"Let's have a friendly competition."

Chu Tianshu shook his head. "Forget it, I definitely can't beat them right now. I don't want to get humiliated. Let's talk about it later."

He's not unfamiliar with sparring with those at the Taboo realm; he'd even tried a few moves with Lin Chucheng before. Currently, he doesn't have an urgent need in this area.

Zhang Tao looked regretful and continued brewing tea for himself.

Yu Nanfeng noticed an empty box in the corner of the tent, and a thought suddenly struck him.

Most of the boxes of essence blood that were delivered earlier are now empty.

Chu Tianshu said that only a little bit of each type was needed.

However, South Wind would certainly not be stingy with such a person at this time; they provided a standard portion of each type of essence blood.

Normally, whether it's used to prepare medicine or to draw talismans, it takes a certain amount of time to regulate the essence and blood and to chant incantations for blessing.

As a result, by the time it reached Chu Tianshu, most of it had been consumed so quickly.

He couldn't just drink it straight down, could he?!

For those who cultivate internal energy to directly drink this essence and blood is a waste of resources. Only a portion of it is suitable for making medicine and then using it as a tonic to maximize its effects. Drinking the rest may even pollute one's internal energy, requiring the expenditure of internal energy to expel it.

Unless you're still in the stage of practicing internal strength, or someone who specifically wants to pursue that path, its applicability might be broader...

Yu Nanfeng carefully examined Chu Tianshu's body.

This person's energy and blood are truly extraordinary. Is it possible that someone who has already cultivated profound internal strength hasn't stopped practicing their internal energy?

"It seems that Tianshu has already used up most of the reward from last time, but if you continue to treat children, it will not only save lives, but it will also be equivalent to teaching them a set of advanced martial arts techniques."

Yu Nanfeng smiled and said, "Further rewards will be calculated separately; I will have someone send more essence blood."

Chu Tianshu was overjoyed.

He had originally planned to go hunting after he used up all the essence blood here.

We're going to the Jinling Spirit Realm Landform No. 7 later.

But now that there are readily available supplies being delivered, that would be even better.

Chu Tianshu also wanted to test the limits of his current digestive and blood-refining abilities.

"If we're sending essence blood again, there's no need for so many different kinds."

Chu Tianshu said, "We just need to get the essence blood of birds like eagles, falcons, swallows, pigeons, sparrows, and crows."

This was the result of his previous experiments: using his physical body to circulate his essence and blood, nourishing and cultivating the Weapon Soul and the Sword Intent together.

For all kinds of essence and blood, the first use yields the best results.

Some of these essence bloodstains are not very effective even on the first use, so using them again would be a waste of time.

Xia Ningning suddenly said, "Speaking of the essence and blood of birds, in fact, since Food Is Heaven, we have been researching the domestication and breeding of Borderland Species, and have already made some progress."

"The ancients had their own six domestic animals and poultry. We live after a great catastrophe, so it's time we had our own new era's six domestic animals and poultry. It's a goal worth striving for."

"Regarding avian essence, we might have a better supply than South Wind, which could also provide Tianshu with a source."

Yu Nanfeng's smile remained unchanged, "Manager Xia, what are you doing? Tianshu doesn't belong to South Wind, why are you making it seem like you're trying to poach him with a high salary?"

Xia Ningning said seriously, "Boss Yu, I didn't mean that."

"However, in this day and age, it is clearly more conducive to survival and development for everyone to share resources and find their own suitable place."

"For example, although my strength is far inferior to Boss Yu's, I have sincerely wanted to take Wanzhuo as my disciple many times, precisely because he is indeed not suitable for learning South Wind's techniques, but might be more suited to studying here."

Yu Nanfeng unfolded his folding fan, gently shook it, and lowered his eyes without saying a word.

Yu Wanzhuo had finished the set of punches, stood up, and slowly exhaled.

Seeing that his mother did not object to taking him on as a disciple this time, he felt both surprised and a little anxious.

"Sister Ningning, I told you I won't become your apprentice."

Yu Wanzhuo around, and he smiled, "If I were to become a disciple, I should become Tianshu's disciple. I've already learned his boxing techniques."

He said he would bow, and then walked up to Chu Tianshu and bowed deeply.

"Tianshu, I dare not say that I have exceptional talent, but I sincerely wish to become your disciple and will certainly respect your teachings."

"As the saying goes, 'A teacher for a day is a father for life,' I will treat him with the utmost respect..."

Yu Nanfeng suddenly looked up, her delicate hand cupping the folding fan, her shawl fluttering slightly, her eyes fixed dangerously on that brat.

Yu Wanzhuo felt a chill run down his spine and realized something was wrong.

His mother raised him from a young age and has been widowed for many years. Now she is in the tent, and he is saying that he wants to treat someone else as his father. That is very strange.

"Respect your master as you would the Lord of the Land."

Yu Wanzhuo changed his words at the last minute, his expression very sincere.

But it was obvious to everyone what he had wanted to say earlier.

"That reckless fellow!" Xia Ningning pinched the knuckle of her index finger to suppress her laughter.

"Taking on apprentices."

Chu Tianshu poured himself a cup of tea and considered, "I quite enjoy being a teacher, but I'm used to wandering around, so I can't guarantee how long I can teach you."

"That's fine too."

Chu Tianshu smiled.

Suddenly the curtain was rolled up, and a cool breeze blew in, carrying a slight dampness.

There was a faint rumble of thunder in the sky, and a light rain began to fall.

Chu Tianshu got up and went over, then simply rolled up the curtain.

Everyone standing at the doorway could see the riverbank.

Even in the dim light of day, the air was filled with the fresh scent of a light rain.

On the wide river surface, countless ripples bloomed together.

"It's been raining quite a lot in Jinling lately."

Yannian sighed, staring at the grassy area by the river, "Speaking of which, isn't it unlucky to have the Dharma Corpse buried here and then drenched by rain? Won't that affect the people in our camp?"

Xia Ningning waved her hand and said, "As long as the body is buried well, and even with good fertilizer, the so-called bad luck associated with a corpse is either due to improper burial leading to the spread of germs, or it's just feudal superstition."

"This is a carefully treated Dharma Corpse. It's perfectly fine even if it gets rained on or struck by lightning twice."

Chu Tianshu laughed and said, "You, who study physiognomy, are mocking feudal superstition?"

I only study physiognomy as a sideline.

Xia Ningning retorted confidently, "Besides, blindly believing in something without understanding it is superstition. I study magic and painstakingly explore its true nature; how could that be superstition?"

Just then, a bolt of lightning flashed across the clouds in the sky.

The sound of thunder came from afar.

Xia Ningning looked at the lightning. "By the way, Boss Yu, have you notified the New Energy Association about the big event involving Jinling No. 7?"

Yu Nanfeng nodded. "I've informed them, and they should have someone come over to check on things."

The Jinling New Energy Association controls most of the power plants in this megacity.

Many of the association's high-ranking members held official positions before the cataclysm, and are therefore sometimes implicitly regarded as the current officials of the city.

New energy, Food Is Heaven paramount, and the South Wind are the three biggest forces in Jinling.

"The mastermind behind the big-headed monster probably never imagined that his subordinate, who could remotely control shadows, would be suddenly exposed and captured."

Chu Tianshu watched the raindrops drifting obliquely in the sky, stretched out his hand, and felt the coolness of the drops.

"I wonder if they'll make another move in the next seven days."

"But with all of us gathered here, I'm quite curious to see what kind of lineup and plan they have if they're going to make a move."

(End of this chapter)