Breaking Up the Fight

"A truly wise person disdains to harm the weak!"

Huo Qubing's views were very idealistic, and once he made up his mind, they were very difficult to change.

Wei Shao'er felt that after so many years of struggling to survive by singing for a living, he had indeed neglected Huo Qubing's education, while Wei Qing's education had been somewhat rough, and as for the Marquis of Pingyang's education, he had been too indulgent.

Thinking of the Marquis of Pingyang, and recalling how Princess Dou addressed him as "Your Majesty" last night, Rao Wei Shao'er felt a little uneasy.

Many years ago, Wei Shao'er had taken advantage of the chaos to sneak into the palace and steal.

At that time, she was young and impetuous, believing that the emperor was the richest person in the Great Han Dynasty and that there was nothing wrong with robbing the rich to help the poor. Wei Shao'er's ideas even leaned more towards those schools of thought that were suppressed.

As she grew older, Wei Zifu entered the palace, and Wei Qing became an important court official. She also enjoyed the convenience brought by the Pingyang Marquis's residence, and many of her ideas were constantly changed.

In reality, she discovered that the imperial court and the emperor were not as wicked as she had imagined.

If the new emperor was Huo Qubing's adoptive father, many of his actions could even be considered lenient and benevolent.

"Study hard from now on and strive to become a true strong person, so as not to disappoint your godfather!"

On the first day of her recovery, Wei Shao'er discovered that her child was difficult to educate.

Huo Qubing had seen far too many powerful individuals, often cultivators at the Divine Ability Realm and those with top-tier techniques.

While it may seem that she is demonstrating her methods of educating Huo Qubing, Wei Shao'er actually feels more like a monkey jumping around on the ground.

This did put pressure on Wei Shao'er, and she could only use the new emperor's influence to suppress Huo Qubing, since Huo Qubing was very obedient in front of the new emperor.

After hearing this, Huo Qubing readily agreed, indicating that he would definitely study hard and go to the Imperial Academy to study diligently the next day.

"Take your mother as an example, how many times do you think your uncle could beat me?"

Huo Qubing became more reserved and humble, and Wei Shao'er couldn't help but want to hear Huo Qubing's inner thoughts and see what his understanding was really like.

"Under normal circumstances, my uncle can fight eight mothers," Huo Qubing replied without hesitation. "But if you launch a sneak attack, he can only fight three mothers in his hasty response!"

"And what about your godfather?"

"He can take on six mothers, and he can even take on four mothers who ambushed him!"

When Wei Shao'er became a standard of strength, she found herself somewhat desperate, feeling that she had no place in Huo Qubing's heart.

What about Dongfang Shuo?

"Ten, ten, I already said ten!"

"Mother attacked us!"

"That's still ten!"

Huo Qubing answered without hesitation.

Only when comparing him to Zhang Xuezhou did Wei Shao'er feel somewhat at peace, realizing that Huo Qubing's words were just childish talk and shouldn't be taken seriously.

"Mother, I'll beat ten of them too," Wei Shao'er said, clenching his fist.

"Mother's Qi and Blood are extremely well concealed, but the power of such Qi and Blood when it bursts out is limited," Huo Qubing shook his head and said, "You are skilled in assassination but do not have a top-quality sword, which puts you at a particular disadvantage when fighting among a group of experts. If you miss one strike, you're done for. You'll have a hard time taking on ten!"

"Mother, earn money to buy a sword!"

"A sword that money can buy might not even be as good as the one you have!"

Huo Qubing smacked his lips.

The world of the painted demons unfolded before him, presenting a completely different perspective.

This is a very interesting perspective. Huo Qubing could not only observe the human body in a two-dimensional state, but also capture parts of the human body's image in his mind for comparison. After continuous comparison, he had a relatively vague data comparison in his mind.

If Wei Shao'er's combat ability is marked as one, Zhang Xuezhou in his cognitive state can indeed be marked as ten, while the new emperor, Wei Qing, and others each have their own numbers.

However, this kind of counting is not entirely accurate; if you change the reference point, the data for each person will be quite different.

For example, if the new emperor could fight ten Wei Shao'er in both situations, and Zhang Xuezhou could fight twenty, this does not mean that Zhang Xuezhou could fight two new emperors. In fact, the two are very close, and they can achieve a one-for-one exchange where both are severely injured.

In comparison, Wei Qing, who was even more capable than the new emperor, was inferior to Zhang Xuezhou.

If the comparison were made with Chen Zhang instead, the data would be drastically different; in comparison with Zhang Xuezhou, the difference could even be tenfold.

The data presented by Zhang Xuezhou was somewhat chaotic, but he wasn't the only one. The data from the strange-faced old Daoist priest whom Zhang Xuezhou had previously encountered was also very chaotic. The amount of data compared was enormous, making it not surprising that one person could defeat a hundred Wei Shao'er.

Huo Qubing's judgment of the strong was based on evidence, and he felt that this comparison was also quite accurate.

If the comparison were made with himself, Huo Qubing would also be able to estimate the gap between himself and others at the Imperial Academy.

He repeatedly endured being called a "bastard." Huo Qubing was only willing to suffer humiliation because he was truly unable to defeat him. He repeatedly asked Zhang Xuezhou for instruction, perhaps harboring the thought of regaining his honor after improving his strength.

But the techniques Zhang Xuezhou taught were not designed for actual combat.

As Huo Qubing quickly recalled what he had learned at the Imperial Academy, a thought inevitably crossed his mind.

Compared to yesterday, his judgment seems much clearer today.

The vague sense of judgment turned into more accurate numbers. Huo Qubing wondered for a moment if something was wrong with his body again, and then wondered if Zhang Xuezhou's teachings had had an effect.

"Mother, tell me, is there any cultivation method or Realm Technique that is unrelated to martial arts skills and doesn't generate Technique Method abilities?!"

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou through the pavilion area back to the inner hall of the mansion, Huo Qubing asked the somewhat dejected Wei Shao'er in a low voice.

"You mean studying?" Wei Shao'er asked suspiciously. "Don't try to play tricks on your mother. Studying will make you wise. It wasn't easy for our family to get into the Imperial Academy. You must persevere!"

"I'm not talking about studying, I'm talking about cultivation methods," Huo Qubing said in a low voice. "If there is such a cultivation method that requires a lot of time and is difficult to practice, what is its purpose?"

"Where did you get such a bizarre cultivation method?" Wei Shao'er asked. "It's completely useless, what's the point of learning it?"

"Given by a master from the East!"

"Then practice seriously. At least he won't harm you!"

"That's because you haven't seen how he hurt me!"

Wei Shao'er trusted Zhang Xuezhou immensely, but whenever Huo Qubing thought of how Zhang Xuezhou had treated him like dirt in the secret Shanglin Garden, he couldn't help but have some reservations.

Zhang Xuezhou may not have any malicious intent, but he certainly doesn't have much goodwill, a stark contrast to his adoptive father.

If he wants to get benefits from Zhang Xuezhou, he'll have to suffer some hardship first.

Thinking of the complexity of Zhang Xuezhou's teachings on the cultivation of the soul, Huo Qubing couldn't help but feel worried.

He fell asleep after meditating for half an hour last night, and today he was restless and unable to calm down after meditating for half an hour, and even had a headache, so he could not continue.

Moreover, after Huo Qubing discovered that he was practicing cultivation, all sorts of uncontrollable thoughts popped into his mind.

For example, although he was talking to Wei Shao'er at the moment, Huo Qubing kept recalling the memory of Wei Shao'er capturing Zhang Xuezhou in just three seconds.

In those brief three seconds, Zhang Xuezhou didn't move an inch, allowing Wei Shao'er to capture and pin him with a fluid, effortless maneuver.

But after comparing the two scenarios, Huo Qubing felt that Zhang Xuezhou could kill Wei Shao'er in several ways within those three seconds.

Huo Qubing didn't know what method Zhang Xuezhou would use. He only felt that all of this was being compared and repeated in his mind, trying to find a real answer, but he just couldn't come up with one.

If he didn't get an answer, Huo Qubing felt that this visual thought would keep swirling in his mind, and he didn't know how long it would take to stop.

He felt that the cultivation method taught by Zhang Xuezhou might have amplified his flaws, or it might have a positive effect on his improvement in the future.

It's true that I'm grateful for Zhang Xuezhou's guidance, and it's also true that Huo Qubing had a headache.

He felt that Zhang Xuezhou didn't treat him like a child who needed care at all, and didn't consider the difficulty of teaching him at all, which was even more inhumane than the Five Classics Doctors at the Imperial Academy.

"Oh dear! Someone come quick! His Majesty and the Empress Dowager are fighting! They're really fighting! Is Lord Dongfang home? If so, hurry and break them up!"

Huo Qubing was pondering how to cultivate himself, how to understand what Zhang Xuezhou was teaching, how Zhang Xuezhou had defeated ten Wei Shao'er, and how to defeat the nobles and elderly geniuses at the Imperial Academy who looked down on illegitimate children.

Various thoughts swirled in his mind, yet remained independent of each other.

He barely managed to shift his attention when the cacophony of noise pierced through the air.