Chapter 384: The Student Surpasses the Master

"Brother Su, the thing you asked me to do is done!"

This evening, in Jingxin Garden, Zhang Su was sparring with Ju Wuying. Lu Yubo's voice suddenly came from the walkie-talkie placed on the side, and the sound was extremely subtle. Ju Wuying, who was in the middle of the fight, didn't notice it, only Zhang Su's ears twitched and he heard it.

Dang dang, ding. 【384-

Two thin, long steel bars struck each other twice in the air at high speed, finally colliding tip-to-tip, and both of them retreated backward.

Zhang Su's movements had undergone an incredibly impressive change compared to half a month ago; back then, his leaps were wide and sweeping, giving one a sense of heavy, powerful impact, but now they had become light and elusive, and even the sound he made had become very faint, making him hard to detect, yet he had made great progress in distance, height, and speed alike!

If anyone were to duel Zhang Su and think he was light and soft with no power, they would surely suffer a crushing defeat; Zhang Su's strength had also seen a massive increase compared to before.

There were no precise barbell plates in the camp for testing, but weighing was no problem; previously, Zhang Su's bench press was 110 kilograms, but now it had increased to 160 kilograms, and his squat had risen from the original 160-plus kilograms to 260 kilograms!

But this was not his limit; because there was no standard equipment or effective safety measures, he dared not push to his limit...

The increase in strength was not the most terrifying part; the truly frightening thing was his explosive power. After mastering the Tachibana-style martial arts, Zhang Su's explosive power was far greater than before, and he had fully grasped a more advanced method of exerting force that was different from his previous one. He finally understood why Tachibana Mai-Sakura's seemingly frail body could always erupt with astonishing power!

During these past half a month, Zhang Su had shocked Tachibana Mai-Sakura several times almost every day, but as the number of shocks increased, she slowly got used to it. The jealousy she had initially felt was completely dismantled after Zhang Su mastered the sensory secret technique in just six days.

Tachibana Mai-Sakura had originally wanted to hide some secret techniques from Zhang Su, but the man was simply too heaven-defying, and his speed of learning and progress was breathtaking. She really wanted to see where Zhang Su's limit was, so she taught him everything she had realized.

Zhang Su naturally did not let down Tachibana Mai-Sakura's painstaking teaching; with the help of the backup energy slot, he was making rapid progress every day. On the thirteenth day of training with Tachibana Mai-Sakura, he was already able to use Tachibana-style martial arts to fight Tachibana Mai-Sakura to a draw.

The evenly matched situation lasted for three days without a breakthrough, but Tachibana Mai-Sakura knew that in a day or two at most, she would no longer be the opponent of the man in front of her. This feeling was quite strange; it was the first time in her life she had experienced it, and it was an indescribable sensation...

As a contemporary successor of the Tachibana clan, she was crowned with the reputation of having excellent talent within her family, but only after meeting Zhang Su did she understand what true talent was. If the speed of Zhang Su's training progress was a car driving normally, then she could at best be considered a toddler's twist-car—and the kind that could only twist along, not one that could be pedaled with feet.

"Hoo!"

Zhang Su stood still and said with satisfaction, "Let's stop here for today. It's getting late, time for dinner. I'm so damn hungry!"

"I have nothing left to teach you. All that remains is for you to practice day and night to master it. It won't take long before you surpass me in terms of martial prowess. Congratulations, you have finished your apprenticeship!"

Tachibana Mai-Sakura spoke much more fluently than she had half a month ago when the zombie horde attacked. The expression on her face was as calm as ever, but there were actually some ripples in her heart.

People always say that the blue dye is extracted from the indigo plant but is bluer than the plant itself, and most people focus on the "blue," but how many people stop to think: is the "indigo" really willing to be surpassed by the "blue"?

Tachibana Mai-Sakura was not willing, but she was still able to accept it calmly. Of course, this also had an inseparable connection to the current environment.

"Yeah, you also said it's only in terms of martial prowess. I still can't quite get the hang of using the sensory ability. Is there any special method?"

What Zhang Su found most frustrating now was this point; his use of the sensory ability had remained stagnant at the external level—that is, he could only accurately sense other people's movements and could not at all achieve the kind of advance prediction Tachibana Mai-Sakura had. In the end, he still relied on reaction speed, and the range was not large either; after testing, it was only about five to six meters, far smaller than Tachibana Mai-Sakura's ten meters!

The most crucial thing was that he couldn't sense emotions...

What he wanted most was to be able to know whether the other party was a friend or a foe. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that yet. Although it was a bit greedy, it was still frustrating!

Tachibana Mai-Sakura spread her hands: "That you could reach your current level in such a short time has already exceeded my understanding, so I cannot answer the remaining questions. You had best find the answers yourself. I suspect it has to do with proficiency; practice more."

"You say so much, it's nothing more than wanting to express that if you're bad, you should practice more..."

Zhang Su curled his lips with a strange expression.

Tachibana Mai-Sakura sighed and held her forehead, saying helplessly, "You are showing off."

If Zhang Su was "bad," then what was she?

A rotten vegetable leaf!

This metaphor was very bad...

"Haha, since you say so, then... the training is completely over, right?"

Zhang Su wiped his sweat and said while putting on his clothes.

Tachibana Mai-Sakura nodded and said with a complex tone, "That's right, it's over."

Saying this, she felt a thousand emotions in her heart. As a lady, it was certainly not that she was reluctant to part with the time spent alone with Zhang Su, but that the heritage of the Tachibana family had actually been learned by an outsider to a great extent in just half a month, leaving only a very small portion that even she had not yet grasped.

She had originally thought it would take a year or a year and a half, or even longer—so long that she might have found a way back to the island nation before teaching him everything. As it turned out, it only took eighteen days!

Thinking of this, Tachibana Mai-Sakura spoke again: "I have a request, I hope you can satisfy it."

"Speak, what is it?"

Zhang Su had learned a lot of real skills and didn't mind the other party making a request; even if it were a little excessive, he could consider satisfying it.

"The set of techniques you used for fighting before, is it called 'Mad Dog Fist'? Although this name is very strange, I want to learn it too."

Tachibana Mai-Sakura had previously experienced Zhang Su's Mad Dog Fist fighting style; it was a path she had never seen before. Fortunately, Zhang Su's speed and flexibility were not enough at that time, otherwise, she would have already been defeated. Now that the two were dueling, the moves were limited. If it were a real life-and-death battle, she had the answer in her heart: her chance of surviving was only twenty percent!

Zhang Su grinned, thinking the other party would make some excessive request. He didn't expect that a martial arts fanatic would be a martial arts fanatic, only interested in relevant content.

"Sure, that's no problem. 'Mad Dog Fist' is a mandatory fighting technique for our elite team. The reserve team will learn it too. You can start training with everyone from tomorrow, and I'll teach it to you then!"

Upon hearing Zhang Su's words, Tachibana Mai-Sakura shook her head and said, "I will participate in the training, but I hope to learn it separately, just like how I taught you."

"Oh, I get it. You gave me private lessons, and you want me to give you private lessons too. These are all easy to talk about; it's not difficult anyway, I reckon you'll be able to learn it in a few days!"

Zhang Su finished dressing and waved his hand: "I'm off. I'll eat a little more tonight; I've been tired all afternoon!"

After saying that, he picked up the bag on the ground, tied it to his waist, and walked toward the courtyard gate.

"Wait a moment!"

Tachibana Mai-Sakura called out to Zhang Su again.

"Hmm?"

"Can you perform that one more time?" Tachibana Mai-Sakura looked at Zhang Su with slight anticipation; rarely did such an expression appear on her face.

Zhang Su curled his lips, naturally knowing what Tachibana Mai-Sakura was talking about. He spread his hands helplessly and said, "Fine, I'll satisfy you! Watch closely..."

Having said that, Zhang Su pretentiously spread his arms to mimic embracing the sky, activated the second backup energy slot in his mind, and in an instant, his whole person was brimming with vitality.

Tachibana Mai-Sakura did not look at Zhang Su; she even closed her eyes. Only in this way could she more focusedly and intently feel the other party's changes.

Like a flame about to go out, it instantly erupted into a raging inferno, shooting into the sky with a *poof*. It couldn't be explained at all; it was harder to understand than zombies, completely violating the laws of nature.

"Satisfied now?"

Zhang Su opened his eyes, feeling the abundant strength throughout his body; it was extremely comfortable.

"Thank you for fulfilling my wish."

"I'm off!"

Zhang Su did not linger. However, just as he walked out of the courtyard gate and turned onto the road about ten meters away, a soft mutter reached his ears.

"Restless, clearly has something on his mind. What is he hiding?"

Tachibana Mai-Sakura's voice gave Zhang Su a jolt, because the other party was absolutely right. If there were nothing wrong, he would let his body recover slowly; it was impossible for him to use the energy slot recklessly!

"Damn, is there no secret at all?"

Zhang Su quickened his pace toward the foot of the mountain, and at the same time took out his walkie-talkie and said, "Bo-zai, Bo-zai, what's the situation now?"

Soon, the reply came: "Brother Su, everything is going smoothly. Follow the road; there are still several kilometers to the camp. You see if you want to be fast or slow. If fast, twenty minutes; if slow, whatever you want!"

Zhang Su raised his wrist to check the time and said, "Forty minutes, 6:20!"

"Ha, that time is exactly when the village starts dinner. Fun, okay, Brother Su, leave it to me!"

"You kid, be careful. Don't get addicted to playing and get yourself into trouble. Also, you must not let the cat out of the bag!"

Zhang Su hurriedly urged.

"Don't worry, don't worry. If I can't even handle this little thing, I'll eat shit while doing a handstand!"

Lu Yubo swore confidently.

"Damn, this guy..."

Zhang Su shook his head, speechless.

(End of chapter)