Chapter 45: Drop Out

Zheng Fa could never have guessed that Lady had logically yet absurdly deduced from his mastery of the Spirit Crane Body that a Nascent Soul True Person was hiding behind him.

Now his problem was that the old man behind him—Bai Lao—had grown tired of studying.

No, he wanted to drop out.

One evening, after tutoring Tang Lingwu, he suddenly said to Zheng Fa: "Little Zheng, I probably won't have time to practice martial arts anymore."

Bai Lao's progress in martial arts was too slow, with no visible results, so his enthusiasm naturally dwindled day by day.

Zheng Fa had been watching all along and had long anticipated this day.

Looking at Bai Lao, Tang Lingwu couldn't help but suspect: "Grandpa Bai, you're giving up because martial arts is too tiring and painful, right?"

"Giving up?" Bai Lao retorted firmly: "I have other important matters—I'm too busy to spare time! Don't you understand? Important people are always busy!"

"What important matter could a retired person possibly have?" Tang Lingwu clearly didn't believe him.

"Don't you dare doubt it!" Bai Lao lifted his head: "Just the other day, someone from Jingcheng University Press called me, saying they're waiting for my new book!"

Upon hearing this, both Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu were slightly startled.

"You're still writing books? I never heard you mention it before."

"Do you think I'd brag to you two kids?" Bai Lao smirked: "I'm retired, old and useless, but they're begging and crying for me to write!"

Hearing this, Tang Lingwu grew suspicious: "What kind of book are you writing?"

At this, Bai Lao sighed: "You don't know—some of our university textbooks were written back in the last century. They're not bad, and they were authored by great scholars. But now people realize: hmm? They could be written better, and some new knowledge hasn't been updated."

"So you're writing a textbook for Jingcheng University?"

Tang Lingwu's tone turned reverent.

"Just one, just one book," Bai Lao waved his hand modestly: "It's not an important book at all—just that they're pressing me hard, and honestly, I really don't have time!"

Seeing he wasn't bluffing, Zheng Fa began to view the old man with new respect.

"So it's not that I've given up martial arts—I simply have no time," Bai Lao explained again. "When I think of those students still learning outdated textbooks, starving for knowledge, I'm frantic! I can't even sleep!"

Hearing this, Tang Lingwu glanced at Zheng Fa, a hint of worry creeping into her expression.

Sure enough, Bai Lao continued to Zheng Fa: "Little Zheng, if you have questions in the future, come to my house on weekends—I'll spare one or two hours to explain them to you. As for topology and such, you don't need it yet; you can learn it after the college entrance exam."

Tang Lingwu opened her mouth as if to say something, but didn't know how to phrase it.

Zheng Fa nodded, yet held no resentment toward Bai Lao.

Zheng Fa had truly benefited from a period of private tutoring by Bai Lao. Though he hadn't yet grasped university-level topology, he was confident he'd gained far deeper insight into the college entrance exam math topics.

As for Bai Lao… he'd practiced the Pine Crane Stance for some time now, and had achieved absolutely nothing.

To be honest, he'd been the one gaining the advantage.

As for Bai Lao's current change, one reason was certainly that martial arts offered him insufficient positive feedback.

The other reason was that Zheng Fa was indeed learning too slowly.

Disciples choose masters, and masters choose disciples—this was even more true in the Xuanwei Realm.

Bai Lao had taught the brightest students of Jingcheng University; it was only natural he looked down on Zheng Fa's progress.

Moreover, he wasn't without good intentions—in his view, Zheng Fa's primary task was the college entrance exam, not learning topology from him.

Zheng Fa actually felt a touch of gratitude: Bai Lao letting him come over on weekends for guidance was a significant gesture, especially since Bai Lao now had nothing to gain from him.

Seeing Zheng Fa nod calmly, Tang Lingwu exhaled softly, then seemed to notice something, fixing her gaze on Zheng Fa's face with deep puzzlement.

"Why are you staring at Zheng Fa?" Seeing her fixed stare, Bai Lao grew flustered and scowled.

"He… looks different?"

Bai Lao squinted, scanning Zheng Fa up and down, but saw nothing unusual: "No change—still one nose, two eyes."

"You're far-sighted, of course you can't see." Tang Lingwu ignored him entirely, staring intently at Zheng Fa's face: "Zheng Fa, what skincare products have you been using lately?"

Zheng Fa knew this was Tang Lingwu noticing the changes after his mastery of the Spirit Crane Body.

"I've recently made some progress in Wu Gong."

He explained to Tang Lingwu.

"Wu Gong!" Tang Lingwu's mouth opened in surprise—she hadn't expected this answer.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought…" Tang Lingwu glanced at Bai Lao, who was rummaging for his reading glasses: "you were just fooling Grandpa Bai."

Bai Lao, now wearing his reading glasses, leaned close to Zheng Fa's face, scrutinizing him as if conducting research.

"Can you see the change?" Tang Lingwu asked.

"No!" Bai Lao replied.

"Then why did you stare so long?"

"I don't know what he looked like before—how can I spot any change?" Bai Lao replied confidently: "I'm not some little girl staring at boys all day!"

"…."

"So you're saying you mastered a Wu Gong, and your skin improved?"

Tang Lingwu, as if ignoring the old man, asked Zheng Fa curiously.

"Yes. One morning, I woke up and felt like I'd shed an entire layer of skin."

"And the longevity claim—was that true too?" Tang Lingwu's eyes shone brighter than ever.

"Of course it's true. Do you think I lied to you?" Zheng Fa asked her, then turned to Bai Lao: "Do you think I was lying to you too?"

Both nodded.

"Then why are you still practicing?"

"It's just… retired and bored, so I practiced for fun."

Bai Lao chuckled awkwardly.

"Incredible…" Tang Lingwu extended a finger, as if to prod Zheng Fa's cheek, then stopped.

"No, is that really the image I have in your hearts?"

Zheng Fa felt a bit depressed.

Were these two just playing house with him before?

"There are just too many scammers on short videos."

Both of them smiled at Zheng Fa, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Do you believe it now?"

"Believe, believe, believe!" Bai Lao and the other nodded frantically, staring at Zheng Fa's face.

After a while, Bai Lao's expression suddenly became coy: "Little Zheng... I want to learn martial arts again."

"Want to learn again?"

"Yes!"

"But aren't you quite busy?"

"Busy with what? Not busy! I'm a retired old vegetable; who cares about you?"

"Aren't you supposed to be writing a book?"

"I can write it slowly too."

Zheng Fa slowly shook his head: "That won't do. Your students are waiting eagerly every day."

"Let them wait; they won't starve to death!" Bai Lao didn't care at all: "What am I? I'm not some great mathematician, am I? Do I really take myself seriously? The book I write is so hard it's good for wiping my butt; it's not important, not important."

Zheng Fa couldn't bear to look at his sycophantic old face and turned to look at Tang Lingwu.

Tang Lingwu used one finger to push the unopened milk tea from today toward Zheng Fa.

"?"

"I want to learn too." There was a kind of enthusiasm in Tang Lingwu's eyes that was rare on her: "I'll treat you to milk tea in the future."