Chapter 30: 29 Master Teacher

29 Master Teacher

You?

Want to arm-wrestle with me?

Tang Zhao looked at the arm, which was thicker than his own thigh, and a thought flashed through his mind:

Are you trying to kill me?

Guan Jiao said, "Scared?"

Tang Zhao pursed his lips and said, "A little." He walked over and sat down opposite him.

Sitting this close, the sense of oppression was even stronger. It was like sitting under a towering cliff, liable to be buried by a landslide at any moment.

Guan Jiao said, "If you're scared, why come over?"

Tang Zhao said bluntly, "But I don't have a way out either." As he spoke, he placed his arm on the table.

Guan Jiao's ears twitched slightly, as if he wanted to laugh, and he said, "Stand up. I'll sit, you stand, let's try arm-wrestling."

Tang Zhao stood up as told and reached out his hand, only to be enveloped by his large hand, as if clamped inside an iron barrel.

"Come, use your strength."

As they began to exert force, Guan Jiao remained motionless. Tang Zhao felt as if he were shaking a mountain; after two bursts of effort, sweat broke out.

Guan Jiao shook his head and said, "No good. I told you to stand so you would use the strength of your body, so why are you still using the strength of your arm? How much power can a person have in their hand alone? Try using the strength of your waist."

Tang Zhao followed his guidance, sinking his waist and exerting force, leading with his arm to push, but as soon as he applied force, he nearly fell over.

Guan Jiao shook his head again and said, "Although it is called waist strength, it actually starts from the feet. Plant your feet, stabilize your center of gravity, and then exert force from the waist. Come, follow what I say." He then pointed out several key points for exerting force.

At this moment, Tang Zhao gradually forgot his nervousness and naturally followed his guidance to try. After two attempts, he sank his waist and pushed off with his legs, from waist to back, using his shoulder to lead his arm, exerting force to the limit, condensing his Qi and letting out a sound—

"Hey!"

A mayfly shaking a tree!

Tang Zhao was drenched in sweat. He glanced at the immovable Guan Jiao and truly could think of no way to move him.

Guan Jiao let go of his hand and laughed heartily, "Alright, I know now."

As Guan Jiao's strength relaxed, Tang Zhao also relaxed, first his strength, then his emotions. Once he let out a breath, even his expression became much more relaxed.

"Tired?"

Tang Zhao said, "It's alright, just my hand is sore." He had just used quite a bit of strength, so of course he couldn't say he wasn't tired, but it wasn't the kind of exhaustion from being drained, rather the fatigue from a sudden burst of excessive force.

Guan Jiao said, "Since it's alright, I won't tell you to sit down. Just keep this posture and stand, relax your whole body, don't use force, and follow the rhythm of my hand—inhale when it lifts, exhale when it drops." Having said that, he raised his palm-leaf-sized hand and waved it slightly.

Tang Zhao breathed along with his hand. Between each inhalation and exhalation, his heartbeat gradually slowed and calmed down. The hot sweat gradually turned cold, and when brushed by the cool breeze blowing in from the window, he actually got goosebumps.

He thought to himself: This has the same effect as the breathing method in the Body Refining Chapter; it seems there is quite a lot of knowledge to be found between a single inhalation and exhalation.

"Alright, sit down."

Tang Zhao sat down, straightened his body, and looked at Guan Jiao again.

Looking at him now, setting aside his burly physique, Guan Jiao's appearance was not fierce, far less frightening than the big men outside, and he lacked the pervasive gloomy aura found in the Black Spider Villa. He had a square face, a straight nose, and a firm mouth; when he kept a straight face, he had dignity, and when he smiled, he was very kind.

"Tang Zhao—" He repeated the name again, "My name is Guan Lei. Do you know why I have come?"

Tang Zhao said, "You have come to teach me martial arts."

Guan Jiao nodded and said, "Correct! I have come to teach you martial arts. Manor Master Yin found me and told me to improve you to your strongest within one month. Do you know why she found me?"

Tang Zhao shook his head.

Guan Lei patted his chest: "Because Guan is the best person at teaching martial arts within a radius of a thousand miles and among a million people."

Tang Zhao's eyes lit up. He believed it, because... anyway, Guan Jiao seemed very trustworthy.

It was no wonder Tang Zhao trusted him so rashly; this Guan Jiao spoke in the most pleasant and normal way of anyone he had met in these past few days, even more normal than Wei Zhangle.

Guan Jiao continued, "For the past ten years or so, I have been the Chief Teacher at the Giant Ant Gang. Not just the Giant Ant Gang, but elite Disciples from the Five Poisons Society are also often sent to me for training. I have rich experience, I am adept at my craft, and I have produced countless talents. I have taught all kinds of apprentices. But this time it is different. I am not just teaching martial arts, I am teaching a person. Do you know where the difference lies?"

Tang Zhao followed his train of thought and answered, "The focus is on the person, not the martial arts?"

Guan Jiao clapped his hands and said, "Correct. Usually, my primary duty is to pass down the martial arts I know, making sure everyone learns and masters them as much as possible. Then what I must refine is the martial arts. But this time, the important thing is not what to teach, but how to make one person benefit the most and progress the most, and there is only a short month of time. I have thought about it from all angles and find it difficult. Tang Zhao, you must help me."

Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "I will naturally obey your teachings, Teacher!"

Guan Lei shook his head and said, "Just listening isn't enough. I need you to exert force with me. Not only must we exert our best effort, but our strength must be directed toward the same goal. Everyone says 'maximum progress,' but where does this 'maximum' lie? It's like asking how high the sky is; there is no highest, only higher. We use human strength to touch the sky; we touch as high as we can. If you jump on the ground by yourself, how high can you reach? If I pick you up, how high can you reach? If I let you stand on my shoulders and lift you high, lift you to the highest point, and you jump upward and reach for the sky, that would be the highest, right? But if my support is unstable, it would be bad if I dropped you, and it would be even worse if you didn't exert force to jump upward but instead fell downward."

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "Of course, I will definitely not hold you back."

Guan Lei laughed, "Excellent. In this way, our hearts are already set on the same goal; is it still hard for our strength to be directed toward the same place? Then let me first talk about what we are going to do this month."

Without realizing it, Tang Zhao was listening with rapt attention, following Guan Jiao's rhythm.

Guan Lei said, "You haven't learned martial arts before, right?"

Tang Zhao nodded.

Guan Lei said, "That is very good. I like a blank sheet of paper. A sapling that has just sprouted can be straightened and will naturally become a talent in the future. Those that grow crooked from the start will remain crooked no matter how you correct them. We will start from the beginning. Martial arts—martial and arts. Generally, we call fighting others 'martial,' and training oneself 'arts'."

Tang Zhao hadn't expected him to explain it in such plain language, but it was quite easy to understand.

Speaking of this, Guan Lei asked, "You tell me, is it more important to fight others, or to train oneself?"

Tang Zhao said without hesitation, "Of course, training oneself is more important. But aren't they two sides of the same coin, inseparable?"

Guan Lei praised, "What a bright little Scholar, you understand the principle. It is said that if you practice martial arts without training your inner strength, it will all end in emptiness. If I were to polish a student from scratch, I would definitely have them train basic skills for three years before teaching them anything else. But we only have one month. If you don't learn martial arts after one month, how will you go into battle? So we must advance side by side as much as possible."

Tang Zhao nodded repeatedly.

Guan Lei said, "Then let's talk about you. Your aptitude for learning martial arts is far better than your aptitude for training."

Tang Zhao said, "My aptitude is... good?"

This was the first time he had heard this; he still remembered the martial arts hall teacher saying: "You have to pay more!"

Guan Lei said, "In my view, there is no absolute high or low in a student's aptitude, only which aspect is stronger or which is weaker. Just now I tested you; your strength is low, and your bone structure is thin. Although your strength is low because you haven't trained, once you train, the bones are just there, and they can't support much muscle, so your strength will always be insufficient. Do you get sick often?"

Tang Zhao coughed lightly and said, "A little..."

In fact, he did get sick often; when he was young, he could be considered weak and sickly. On the contrary, he had been fine for this period of time; he didn't know if it was because life was too hard that he had forgotten about getting sick.

Guan Lei said: "The foundation is a bit weak. But that doesn't matter; one purpose of practicing martial arts is to strengthen the body and maintain health. Looking at it this way, the weaker the body, the more one should practice. At most, a month's time is a bit tight. This body's aptitude in this regard is one of the aptitudes for practicing martial arts; your starting point is relatively low. On the other hand, your advantages are also outstanding: first, good comprehension, and second, the ability to connect."

Tang Zhao said: "Connect?"

Guan Lei said: "This is very important. Just like a moment ago, I taught you a trick for exerting force; you understood it, that is one. You can command your body to exert force according to the trick, that is two. Your body exerts greater power, that is three. We call people who can achieve the third step of exerting greater power 'having aptitude.' But aren't the first and second steps important? From the moment I teach you to the moment you exert force correctly, this process is fast and accurate. I call this process 'connecting'."

Tang Zhao realized, saying: "Unity of knowledge and action?"

Guan Lei gave a 'heh' and praised: "A Scholar really knows how to speak. Unity of knowledge and action... not bad, truly good words. It is exactly this unity of knowledge and action. Some children are smart and sensible, but once they understand, they can't do it; some can do it as long as they understand, but they just can't understand no matter what. There are also those born with great strength, who can swing their fists with vigor, but if you want to teach them real skills, that's enough to cost you your life. By comparison, you can do the first two steps, which has already broadened your future; that is also the reason I said you have good aptitude for learning martial arts. Since we know where your strengths and weaknesses lie, making a plan will be more accurate."

After thinking for a moment, he said: "How about this, the strategy is diligent study as the main focus, and hard training as a supplement. How is that?"

Tang Zhao tried hard to keep up with his train of thought, saying: "That means study martial arts more, and practice techniques less?"

Guan Lei laughed: "There is no such logic as 'practice techniques less' in this world. I mean you need to learn more—learn more than others, and learn things more advanced than others. Start by learning profound and difficult-to-master Sword Law; once you understand them, your efficiency will naturally be faster than others'. This is called 'sharpening the knife does not delay the wood-chopping work.' Your strength is not great enough; if you want to chop deep enough, the knife must be faster than others'."

Tang Zhao realized and said: "I understand."

And also...

Guan Lei knew there was one more key point.

There is another way to speed up the practice of techniques, and that is supplementation.

Massive amounts of food supplements and medicinal supplements.

It just so happened that the villa had allocated a sum of resources to Tang Zhao, and they were quite generous, which ensured that Tang Zhao could train even harder.

However, this had nothing to do with Tang Zhao himself.

"Then we start tomorrow." Guan Lei laughed, "We need to work hard together. I heard you are literate? There is a copy of 'Thunder Sound Lecture on Martial Arts' on the shelf; take it and have a look?"

Tang Zhao took it; this was another secret... textbook. He had always believed that one could only learn well if there were textbooks. Unfortunately, when he asked Yuan Qing before, Yuan Qing only wondered: "You still need to read books to learn martial arts? What does that mean?" She couldn't help but mock him a few times: "A Scholar's way of thinking, unable to distinguish between literature and martial arts." and "Can you become a master by reading? If reading could do it, martial arts competitions would just be changed to exams."

It seems there are still people like him who want "martial arts literature."

Seeing that he liked it so much, Guan Lei knew that the preparation he had made earlier was useful, and laughed: "Go and call your little friend in."

When Tang Zhao left, his steps were light, as if he had unloaded a heavy burden.

He went out and called Wei Zhangle in, not forgetting to make a "don't worry" gesture.

Returning to his quarters to wait for a while, Wei Zhangle also came back with a relaxed expression. Clearly, meeting Guan Lei was a pleasant thing. Even if the two had completely different temperaments and experiences, an experienced master could easily handle it.

After the two youths left one after another, only Guan Lei, who looked like a guardian lion of the manor, remained in the spacious room.

He pondered for a long time and tapped the table lightly.

"Dong dong dong—"

His movements were very slight, yet they made a sound like a beating drum; the table creaked and trembled, on the verge of collapsing.

Someone came in from outside, standing with hands tied and listening to orders without saying a word; it was the fierce-looking strong man from the doorway.

Guan Lei said: "Grind the ink."

The strong man prepared the pen and ink with familiarity; Guan Lei picked up the brush and wrote, the handwriting clear and fluid, like flowing clouds and water, definitely not the handwriting of an ordinary martial artist.

Just as he was writing, someone walked in on tiptoe.

Guan Lei did not stop his brush, nor did he look up, saying: "Miss Yuan Qing, please wait a moment, I will finish writing immediately."

Yuan Qing stood to the side with a smile, saying: "No rush. Please take your time writing."

After waiting for a moment, Guan Lei stopped his brush, blew the ink dry, folded the paper, and said: "Please trouble yourself to present this to Manor Master Yin."

Yuan Qing took it; she could not open the Manor Master's things to look, but out of some concern, she still asked: "What do you think of the children?"

Guan Lei said: "The children are very good."

Yuan Qing said: "Then..."

Guan Lei discovered that she was not asking casually, but truly concerned, so he detailed: "Both children are very good. In terms of physical quality, Wei Zhangle is slightly better, and Tang Zhao has good comprehension. Taken together, both can be considered above average."

Yuan Qing nodded and said: "Above average... that's fine then."

The Five Poisons Society recruited a mixed bag of people; let alone average people, they had recruited plenty of dregs, and Black Spider Villa was not full of geniuses either. But to enjoy the treatment of being invited by a famous master and provided with resources, merely above-average aptitude was definitely not enough; this time was an exception.

Guan Lei said: "Does your villa know that the child Wei Zhangle has a foundation?"

Yuan Qing said dismissively: "I suppose. You can tell by his walking posture; he might have a foundation in stance training. However, he has no roots in Internal and External Arts, so it doesn't count as much of a foundation."

Guan Lei nodded and said: "His foundation was originally solid, but for some reason, it has been somewhat neglected; it won't be difficult to pick it back up. Tang Zhao is starting from scratch; he is a blank slate."

His original intention was to remind Black Spider Villa that Wei Zhangle was hiding his skills; this was also in the spirit of host-guest friendship, fearing the other party might have mistakenly accepted a disciple of unknown origin. Since the villa didn't care, he cared even less.

Little did he know that for the villa, both of these youths were of unknown origin, but what did that have to do with the villa?

Yuan Qing had her own concerns and asked again: "Then do you think they... have a future?"

Guan Lei said: "It's hard to say. Basic aptitude is one aspect, but future development also depends on personal character and opportunities. Diligence, focus, resilience, courage, and luck—every single one is an element of success. I cannot tell these things yet. As it stands, Tang Zhao has good comprehension, is smart, and has insight; will he lack some resilience and steadiness? Wei Zhangle is obedient and sensible, and should be able to bury his head in hard training; will he lack some courage and boldness? But this is just my current guess; it would be arbitrary to draw a conclusion. If you really want to know, I will tell you after a month."

When Yuan Qing heard him list several conditions, she unconsciously compared them to herself and found that not many matched, so she couldn't help but blush and say: "I have been taught. Master Guan is worthy of being a famous master. It is a great blessing for the two of them to be guided by you for a month." Having said that, she took her leave.

After she left, Guan Lei was silent for a while and mocked: "A famous master? Haha, a famous master."