Chapter 43: I Have Mastered It

Seeing Gao Yuan and the other two carrying lunch boxes, the Xu Sect Instructor retracted his fist: "Let's eat first. Zheng Fa, you've been hungry all day."

All four were martial artists and didn't fuss much; they simply placed the rice and dishes from their lunch boxes on the green stone slab before them, sat cross-legged in a circle, and ate while chatting.

"The 'Spirit Crane Body' is truly mysterious. When I sparred with you just now, I felt it. Your internal Qi hasn't actually increased much, has it?" Holding his bowl, the Xu Sect Instructor couldn't help but praise.

Gao Yuan couldn't help but glance at the Xu Sect Instructor's nephew beside him, seeing the same surprise in the other's eyes.

Zheng Fa has mastered the 'Spirit Crane Body'?

"Indeed so." Zheng Fa's chopsticks paused in mid-air as he frowned, recalling: "When I struck, I always felt a strange power flowing around me according to my will. Most of the power of those moves didn't come from the strength within my body, but from the outside world."

"This sounds a bit like those legendary immortals who borrow the power of heaven and earth?" said the Xu Sect Instructor, his eyes filled with barely hidden deep envy.

"Is this entering the Dao through martial arts?" the Xu Sect Instructor's nephew couldn't help but ask.

"How would I know? I haven't mastered it!" The Xu Sect Instructor shook his head, somewhat emotional: "But Zheng Fa has practiced martial arts for less than one percent of my time, and the strength in his body is now surely less than one-tenth of mine. Yet just now in the fight, he was already no weaker than me. Besides entering the Dao through martial arts, I can think of no other reason."

"That's because the Instructor was holding back on me," Zheng Fa corrected.

"I am only slightly stronger than you now, mostly because of my years of sparring experience." The Xu Sect Instructor was quite open-minded: "Perhaps in less than a few months, I won't be able to beat you."

Zheng Fa wanted to offer comfort, but the Xu Sect Instructor waved his hand: "I've practiced for over twenty years and still can't even get into the basics, yet you mastered it in twenty-plus days. If I don't look at it this way, I might as well find a rope and hang myself."

Having finished speaking, he glanced at Gao Yuan and his own nephew beside him, suddenly offering a worried reminder: "You two should look at it this way too; don't compare yourselves with Zheng Fa in the future."

Gao Yuan was stunned, glancing at the Xu Sect Instructor's nephew who was also dazed.

"Before, I urged you two because I wanted to use Zheng Fa to motivate you. Now..." The Xu Sect Instructor fell silent for a moment: "Better not to aim too high or seek quick success and instant benefit."

Gao Yuan couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart.

Just now, hearing the Xu Sect Instructor's nephew's words, he had thought they made a lot of sense.

In the past, when the Xu Sect Instructor was very strict with him, he had not been without complaints in his heart.

Now, although the Xu Sect Instructor's words were exactly what he had hoped to hear, he felt no joy whatsoever in his heart, only a heart full of bitterness and sourness.

The Xu Sect Instructor's nephew beside him lifted his cup and drained its contents in one gulp.

Seeming to notice Gao Yuan looking at him, the Xu Sect Instructor's nephew turned to face him, his eyes slightly red, and said with a smile: "This wine is a bit spicy today."

Gao Yuan looked at the wine cup in his hand and fell silent.

What we were drinking was clearly water...

"Having a meal?"

The Seventh Young Master walked into the training ground, sat down heavily beside the four of them, rubbed his stomach, and said: "Bring me a set of bowl and chopsticks."

Zheng Fa picked up a clean pair of chopsticks and handed them over, asking with some confusion: "Young Master, you haven't eaten yet?"

It was already a bit late for this time.

The Xu Sect Instructor and the others were waiting for Zheng Fa, but the maid in the Seventh Young Master's room should have served him his meal long ago.

"I forgot earlier." The Seventh Young Master's fingers stiffened for a moment, then he took the bowl and chopsticks and said casually.

Zheng Fa looked at him, feeling that the other's behavior was somewhat abnormal.

The Seventh Young Master lowered his eyes, not looking up, and ate absentmindedly, as if he had no appetite at all, picking up grains of rice one by one with his chopsticks and putting them in his mouth.

Seeming to notice that Zheng Fa had been staring at him, the Seventh Young Master raised his head, looked around at everyone, and asked with a smile: "What were you just talking about?"

Zheng Fa felt he was deliberately avoiding his gaze, as if he had a guilty conscience.

"We were saying the 'Spirit Crane Body' is really amazing..."

Gao Yuan answered, but looking at the Seventh Young Master's expression, he couldn't continue.

Hearing the three words 'Spirit Crane Body', the veins on the hand holding the Seventh Young Master's chopsticks stood out, and his expression became even uglier.

Now, not just Zheng Fa, but the other three also noticed his abnormality.

Everyone fell silent.

"Haa..." The Seventh Young Master let out a long breath and smiled: "You three go down first; I have something to say to Zheng Fa."

The Xu Sect Instructor and the other two looked at each other, then at each other again, not understanding why, but they all stood up anyway.

"Wait, Xu Sect Instructor, you stay too."

The Seventh Young Master suddenly spoke.

The Xu Sect Instructor's face showed even more confusion.

After Gao Yuan and the other two had walked far away, the Seventh Young Master lowered his head, his breathing heavy, as if struggling constantly in his heart.

After a long silence, he finally raised his eyes and looked at the two of them, saying: "Before I tell you something, I hope you will first promise me one thing."

Zheng Fa and the other two couldn't help but become serious; they knew the Seventh Young Master's character well and he had never been this serious before.

"Zheng Fa, the matter I speak of today is ultimately because of me. If you have resentment, resent me, but do not resent my mother."

Zheng Fa frowned.

The Seventh Young Master raised his palm to stop him and said to the Xu Sect Instructor: "Xu Sect Instructor, if there were any wrongs done to you by the household in the past, I apologize to you first."

The Xu Sect Instructor's mouth hung open, not understanding what he was saying.

"Listen to me to the end, do not interrupt me; I fear I will not have the courage to say it again!"

The Seventh Young Master raised his palm, stopping the two from speaking, and continued in one breath on his own:

"'Spirit Crane Body' cannot be mastered! It is not that you are incapable; it simply cannot be mastered."

"My mother gave it to you because she wanted you to be frustrated, to keep your place, and serve my family!"

"So, Zheng Fa, do not think about the 'Spirit Crane Body' anymore. Xu Sect Instructor, the fact that you haven't comprehended the 'Spirit Crane Body' in twenty years is not your fault either."

Having said these words, he couldn't quite describe the expression on his face, but he was obviously much more relieved.

Seeing the two staring at him in a daze without speaking, the Seventh Young Master felt a bit uneasy again and said to Zheng Fa: "Zheng Fa, my mother did this for my sake... Xu Sect Instructor, if you wish to leave..."

"Seventh Young Master!" The Xu Sect Instructor suddenly interrupted him, his face very serious: "You should not say such things."

"I don't want to say it either; I actually wanted to bury these things in my heart! But today... I can't even eat!" Speaking thus, the Seventh Young Master showed a rare look of determination on his face: "I have figured it out. She is my mother; if she did wrong, I will bear the responsibility."

"I know you and the Lady do not get along, but you still should not fabricate such matters to slander the Lady!" Xu Jiaotou acted as though he hadn't heard a word, looking at him like a misbehaving child.

The Seventh Young Master glared at Xu Jiaotou: "What I'm saying is true! The 'Spiritual Crane Body' truly cannot be cultivated!"

Seeing the Seventh Young Master's anxious demeanor, Xu Jiaotou nodded, as if he understood something, and his expression softened slightly.

"I know, I know. Seventh Young Master, you mean well; you say this only because you don't wish for me to lose confidence in the martial path."

"That's not what I meant!" The Seventh Young Master scratched his ears and cheeks in frustration; he had anticipated countless reactions from Xu Jiaotou and the other—anger, hatred, even tearful outbursts or furious cursing.

He had steeled himself psychologically for all of it.

But he never expected that Xu Jiaotou would simply refuse to believe him.

The Seventh Young Master stood dumbfounded; under Xu Jiaotou's gaze, which mixed gratitude with disapproval, he was on the verge of collapse: "Why won't you believe me!"

"I believe you, I believe you. Just don't say such things again, lest the Lady strike you."

The Seventh Young Master tasted it; wasn't this still disbelief!

They were just humoring a child!

To one side, Zheng Fa watched the two talk past each other, and a look of comprehension flickered across his face.

"I have succeeded," he said.

"Succeeded at what?" The Seventh Young Master, hearing Zheng Fa speak so suddenly, was somewhat bewildered.

"I have succeeded in cultivating the 'Spiritual Crane Body'."

"Ah?"

The Seventh Young Master stared blankly, watching Xu Jiaotou nod at him kindly, that dark face wearing an indulgent smile of one who sees through everything but chooses not to speak.