Chapter 37: High-Grade Vibe

Zheng Fa’s understanding of the Spirit Crane Body was unsatisfactory; he had mostly mastered the Pine-Crane Stance, but the martial art Spirit Crane Piercing the Clouds from the fourth scroll was based on the Spirit Crane Heart Scripture—and that thing was truly incomprehensible.

He studied the four scrolls of the Spirit Crane Body for over a week; if you added the seven days he spent traveling to the modern world, it amounted to more than half a month, and he learned nothing.

Training ground.

“Master Xu.” Zheng Fa handed the four scrolls of the Spirit Crane Body to Master Xu.

“What’s this?” Master Xu took the scrolls, stunned.

“Please return them to Lady Zhao for me.”

“You… gave up?”

Master Xu misunderstood.

He indeed had no intention of devoting all his focus to the Spirit Crane Body anymore; he had too much to learn: Old Bai’s mathematics, the Gaokao he still faced in modern high school, learning from Master Shen in this world, and practicing the Pine-Crane Stance.

Even with twice the time others had, he was stretched too thin.

But the main reason he returned the Spirit Crane Body to Lady Zhao was that during these dozen days of study, he had memorized all four scrolls in his mind.

The Spirit Crane Body was a top-secret martial art within the Zhao residence; keeping these scrolls in his possession for long would invite trouble.

Before he could speak, Master Xu waved his hand: “Giving up is fine—it saves time… it’s for the best.”

Saying this, Master Xu ignored Zheng Fa entirely, carrying the Spirit Crane Body back, his silhouette looking lost and dejected.

His nephew, watching from the training ground, asked worriedly: “Uncle?”

“Tell me,” Master Xu touched the three characters “Spirit Crane Scripture” on the cover, asking with a hint of guilt: “Did I scare him by telling him about my own experience?”

His nephew knew how much effort his uncle had poured into the Spirit Crane Scripture, but hesitated: “Maybe Zheng Fa just lacks perseverance…”

“No, he’s smarter than I am—he knows when to let go. I, on the other hand, still can’t give up…” Master Xu sighed: “I need to accept it.”

…

The Seventh Young Master heard Zheng Fa had returned the Spirit Crane Body to the household and merely nodded: “Even a genius like me couldn’t make sense of it. You failing? Totally normal!”

He turned and pointed at Gao Yuan: “Look at him—he hasn’t even started yet!”

Seeing Gao Yuan’s innocent, helpless face, Zheng Fa thought the Seventh Young Master had suddenly become a bit cruel—this time, he wasn’t even laughing!

…

Modern world, Old Bai’s house.

“Here.”

Zheng Fa pulled a hidden bubble tea from his backpack and handed it to Tang Lingwumin, who took it, inserted the straw, and sucked hard.

Their movements had developed a quiet understanding.

“I’m still here!” Old Bai grumbled beside them.

Tang Lingwumin blinked, looking at Zheng Fa: “You’re his master—can’t you control him?”

“How about… next time I bring him one too?” Zheng Fa hesitated, deciding to be fair.

“…Is that why I’m here?” Old Bai glanced at the fresh-faced Tang Lingwumin, then at Zheng Fa, growing more displeased: “Who says he’s my master? He taught me that crappy kung fu—I’ve trained for ages and still haven’t gotten anything out of it!”

Clearly, his three-minute enthusiasm for martial arts was fading, bordering on betrayal of his master.

Zheng Fa refused to take the blame: “It’s because your talent is poor—I estimate it’ll take about half a year before you even enter the threshold.”

“Enter the threshold? How long did it take you?” Old Bai asked curiously.

“Me? About ten days?” Zheng Fa carefully added the time across both worlds, speaking gently to spare the old man’s feelings.

“So my talent really is terrible.” Old Bai nodded, showing no discouragement.

“Aren’t you discouraged, Grandpa Bai?”

“Why should I be discouraged?” Old Bai smiled, waving his hand: “At my age, who cares about talent or speed of cultivation? It’s time to be broad-minded!”

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwumin nodded, feeling a quiet admiration.

This old man truly had a wide heart and a clear mind.

“Besides, Zheng Fa struggles with math like an under-evolved monkey—he’s not discouraged at his age, so why should I be?”

“Today, I’ll let you experience the power of the Pine-Crane Stance!”

“Heh, today I won’t hide it from you anymore! I’ve trained a secret technique for sixty years—once I unleash it, you’ll beg me on your knees!”

“What secret technique?” Zheng Fa asked, curious.

The old man flopped onto his chair, clutched his chest, twisted his face in agony, and began wailing: “Help! Someone’s beating me! I can’t move!”

Zheng Fa: …wanted to kneel.

…

“I’m not even sure I’ll live another six months—six months just to enter the threshold? Too long!”

The old man was truly backing out.

That wouldn’t do!

Whether he trained or not didn’t matter—but Zheng Fa couldn’t lose this free top-tier tutor!

At first, when learning topology from Old Bai, Zheng Fa truly didn’t understand; later, Old Bai simply started from high school math and walked him through it.

Though Old Bai had no manners, if you ignored his insults to your intelligence and extracted the teachings of a top professor from his personal attacks, you gained immensely.

It might not work for others, but Zheng Fa’s foundation was already extremely solid; sometimes he just needed one or two key phrases.

He couldn’t let Old Bai’s longing for the martial world settle down!

“Do you know that the Pine-Crane Stance you’re learning has the power to extend life?”

Zheng Fa’s tone grew suddenly grave.

“Extend life?” Old Bai’s expression shifted—he was clearly tempted; at his age, such a lure was hard to resist.

“It’s more than that,” Zheng Fa said solemnly: “The Pine-Crane Stance is merely the introductory technique of my sect’s ultimate martial art, the Spirit Crane Body—and the Spirit Crane Body is a secret art that allows one to enter the Dao through martial cultivation!”

“Enter the Dao through martial cultivation?”

Clearly, Old Bai was momentarily stunned by Zheng Fa’s seriousness—but mostly still disbelieving.

“According to my sect’s scriptures, this Spirit Crane Body was discovered by an ancestor who spent his entire life traveling countless mountains, learning from nature, and imitating every bird in the world. Once you master the Pine-Crane Stance, and if you then master the Spirit Crane Heart Scripture, you will enter the Dao and greatly extend your lifespan!”

Thank the predecessor who loved to exaggerate—Zheng Fa found it effortless to deceive the old man.

“Traveled countless mountains, learned from every flying creature? Sounds so fantastical?”

Old Bai murmured.

“Not just that—it’s said that after mastering the Spirit Crane Heart Scripture, this ancestor ascended bodily and achieved the Dao!”

Zheng Fa wasn’t exaggerating—the ancestor who created the Spirit Crane Heart Scripture had entered an immortal sect; round it up, wasn’t that achieving the Dao?

“So that’s entering the Dao through martial cultivation?” Old Bai, though skeptical of spirits and gods, still felt a touch of respect: “This ancestor was truly a great master with immense perseverance!”

“Want to learn?” Zheng Fa tempted.

“Yes!” Just the words “extend life” were enough to sway Old Bai.

“Master the Pine-Crane Stance, and I’ll take you into the sect and teach you the Spirit Crane Body!”

“Master! Your disciple is utterly loyal—I will study diligently and one day revive our sect!”

Beside them, Tang Lingwumin’s face slowly filled with confusion: “I have a question…”

“Hmm?”

“Your sect’s ancestor was certainly impressive. But wasn’t it hard to learn? If we want to watch birds, don’t we just go to the zoo?”

“Huh?”

Zheng Fa and Old Bai exchanged glances; the lofty image of their sect’s ancient ancestor had just collapsed.

Tang Lingwumin clutched her bubble tea cup weakly: “Did I say something wrong? Then… the bird and flower market?”