Huang Wei walked among the disciples, offering a word or two of guidance whenever he passed one.
Before long, he arrived in front of Bai Yujing.
What graceful movements... Huang Wei nodded slightly.
Huang Wei had a very deep impression of this disciple who had been the center of attention from the moment he arrived. Just as he was about to give some serious guidance with all his expertise, he suddenly froze.
Huh? Why are his movement habits... exactly the same as mine?
Even the force of his strikes seems to match what I just demonstrated down to the finest detail?!
Huang Wei could not believe his eyes. He blinked and looked again, only to discover to his utter astonishment that the youth was actually performing the movements even better than he could.
His mouth fell open, his shock plain for anyone to see. After hesitating on the spot for a long time, he silently walked over to the next disciple.
Only after correcting the mistakes of a dozen or so disciples did the feeling of dejection in his heart slowly melt away.
As expected, a monster like that is just an anomaly. I doubt even many of the true disciples in the Inner Court can compare to him... Practicing in such a messy, disorganized way like these others is what's normal.
Huang Wei grabbed An Dafu's shoulder and gave it a sudden shake.
“What on earth are you practicing? Is this how I just taught you? Straighten your elbow!”
“Learn more from the guy next to you.” He pointed at Yan Pingsheng beside An Dafu.
“He's practicing quite well, though his movements are a bit stiff. Make sure to stretch your muscles and bones more on ordinary days.”
“Yes,” Zhuang Xun nodded.
“Mm, work hard.” Huang Wei took a couple of extra looks at Yan Pingsheng.
He also had a deep impression of this disciple, who had only passed the academy entrance exam on his second attempt. He hadn't expected that while his Skeletal Structure was mediocre, his Comprehension was actually quite decent.
After guiding all the disciples once, Huang Wei went to look at Bai Yujing again.
This time, he recalled his own feelings when he had first watched an instructor demonstrate the Wanxing Body-Tempering Technique at their age.
—He hadn't been able to make heads or tails of it.
Huang Wei walked up to Bai Yujing and said in a consultative tone, “Come with me for a moment?”
Zhuang Xun controlled Bai Yujing to slowly bring his stance to a close. Without speaking, he gestured for Huang Wei to lead the way and then followed him.
Seeing this, the surrounding disciples craned their necks and whispered among themselves, only to immediately resume practicing the Wanxing Body-Tempering Technique when Huang Wei barked a scolding at them.
The two arrived at a corner of the martial arts field.
Huang Wei asked, “Have you learned a few moves from someone before?”
Zhuang Xun shook his head. “Never.”
Huang Wei said in astonishment, “You mean... today is your very first time encountering body-tempering techniques, and you've never seen or learned them before?”
See how amazing your Brother Zhuang is... Zhuang Xun nodded.
Huang Wei gasped and believed him.
With Bai Yujing's ethereal appearance, anyone who looked at him would feel that he was above lying.
He sighed with emotion for a moment, then came to terms with it. “So there really are people in this world who can master a martial art the moment they lay hands on it. Your talent is truly the greatest I have ever seen.”
“I expect no one will be able to shake your position at the top of the rankings in this month's Grand Competition. I'll go try to apply for you and see if we can get you the benefits of the monthly competition's first place in advance.”
Is that true, brother? You're too generous!
Zhuang Xun had heard a bit about the benefits of placing first in the Wanxing Martial Academy's Outer Court Grand Competition.
All dining hall expenses were waived, they received a daily dose of medicinal soup, and a weekly supplement of precious meat.
For him, whose pockets were currently a bit tight, this would greatly relieve his financial pressure.
“But it's not a guarantee. I'll try for you first.” Huang Wei recalled the Principal's instructions from two days ago to pay more attention to Bai Yujing. He felt there was a good chance of success, but since he wasn't completely certain, he didn't want to make any absolute promises.
Zhuang Xun cupped his fists in salute. “Whether it succeeds or not, Yujing will keep this kindness of yours in mind, Instructor.”
“Heh, no need to be polite.” Instructor Huang grinned.
...
After the two returned to the ranks, Huang Wei taught the Wanxing Body-Tempering Technique for another half an hour before leaving the disciples to practice on their own. He then hurried off to parts unknown.
Consequently, it didn't take long for some disciples to start slacking off, and as time passed, their numbers only grew.
After nearly an hour, Zhuang Xun felt a wave of soreness and exhaustion wash over Yan Pingsheng's body. Realizing that continuing to practice would yield little benefit and might even harm his body, he went over to sit and rest beside An Dafu.
Meanwhile, Zhuang Xun felt increasingly energized the more he practiced with Bai Yujing's body, so he continued training with it.
Zhang Tie scanned the area and saw that two of his roommates were already resting. Instantly losing any desire to continue practicing, he walked toward Yan Pingsheng and An Dafu under the shade of a tree.
“Alright, you two. Slacking off without calling me, huh?”
He sat down next to Yan Pingsheng, glanced at Li Zigeng, who was still practicing the Wanxing Body-Tempering Technique, and said to Yan Pingsheng and An Dafu, “It has to be Zigeng. He really has perseverance. I can't keep going anymore.”
An Dafu chuckled. “Zigeng is going to be the first in our dorm to become a martial artist.”
Zhuang Xun said, “We'll be relying on Zigeng to carry our dorm in the future.”
Zhang Tie laughed. “You're the one who practices the body-tempering technique the best in our whole dorm, yet you're saying that. Watch you suddenly become a martial artist first.”
“How could it be that simple?” Zhuang Xun shook his head with a smile. “My Skeletal Structure is mediocre, so I can only put more hard work into the body-tempering technique.”
An Dafu grumbled, “If putting in hard work could make one this good, I'd put in hard work too. Stop being so modest, Pingsheng.”
“Exactly. And then there's Zigeng. No, we can't let him keep practicing.” Zhang Tie stood up and waved at Li Zigeng.
“Zigeng! Zigeng! Stop practicing, stop practicing! Come over and sit with us!”
Not far away, Li Zigeng hesitated. Feeling too embarrassed to refuse, he came over and sat down beside Zhang Tie.
An Dafu scanned their surroundings. Seeing no sign of Huang Wei, he let out a sigh of relief and said to Yan Pingsheng and Li Zigeng, “Pingsheng, Zigeng, you two are really dark horses. Out of over a hundred people, only a handful were praised by the instructor.”
Zhuang Xun sighed. “What do I amount to? Even the instructor said my movements are stiff. There are plenty of people who practice better than me.”
Li Zigeng waved his hands repeatedly. “I didn't actually practice that well either. It's just that Senior Brother Bai happened to be right in front of me, so I secretly copied him, which is why the instructor praised me.”
“Tsk, that guy. It's one thing for him to have great talent, but he's also so handsome. He really leaves no way out for the rest of us.” Zhang Tie looked enviously toward the shade of a distant tree, where a flock of female disciples had their eyes glued to Bai Yujing.
“Tell me about it,” Zhuang Xun said, the corner of his mouth curving up slightly as he joined in the sigh.
Suddenly, someone shouted that the instructor was back. The disciples who had been slacking off under the shade of the trees scattered like startled birds, hurriedly rushing back to their ranks.
Huang Wei glanced at the crowd but said nothing. He cheerfully went to find Bai Yujing and informed him that the matter was settled.
Thus, at noon that day, Zhuang Xun controlled Bai Yujing to enjoy a wonderful buffet in the dining hall.
He devoured five pounds of beef and a massive bucket of rice.
The appetite and digestive capacity of Bai Yujing's body were simply ridiculously powerful; even after eating so much, he was barely eighty percent full.
Since he had to take a midday nap soon and sleeping on an overly full stomach wasn't good, Zhuang Xun stopped there. He returned to his dorm room in high spirits, took off his outer coat, flopped unceremoniously onto his bed, and fell fast asleep.
At this point, the sheer power of Bai Yujing's body had to be mentioned once again.
Zhuang Xun had used it to practice the Wanxing Body-Tempering Technique for the entire morning, yet he hadn't broken a single drop of sweat, remaining completely clean and dry.
Unlike Yan Pingsheng, whose practice robes were completely soaked through; Zhuang Xun still had to drag that exhausted body to the well to draw water and wipe himself clean before he could finally get into bed to rest.
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