Chapter 179: Isn’t This Talent a Little Too Good?
Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Isn’t This Talent a Little Too Good?
The next day, after finishing a session of instruction with his disciples, Zhu Ge was resting at the peak of a mountain overlooking the valley.
As it happened, Zhu Ge needed to go out and recruit more people, so his disciples would have time to practice their martial arts.
Once he had more men, these disciples could also join the army formations.
After all, the commanders here were different from the generals Zhu Ge was familiar with.
It was a world of soldiers against soldiers, and generals against generals, in the truest sense.
If a commander wasn’t strong enough, possessing only strategy but no personal might, it was entirely possible for them to be beheaded in the midst of their own army.
So, while it was one thing for Decurions and Centurions, ranks like Thousand-Man Commander and Commander required true strength to support the position.
Otherwise, they could be killed in a single blow, and their troops would instantly be left without a leader.
’A little rest, and then I’ll finish up by cultivating the Great Sun Glaze Body.’
Zhu Ge took a deep breath and began his cultivation.
The air currents at the mountain peak were quite strong, but for the current Zhu Ge, they were perfect.
After long-term training, his Wind Refining had reached the stage of mastery, allowing him to easily withstand the tempering of the gales at the summit.
Moreover, this improvement was comprehensive.
Previously, when he had taken Su Feibai’s attack, his defenses hadn’t even been broken. His body had already become incredibly tough.
"Haaa..."
After cultivating for three minutes, his daily Wind Refining practice was complete, and Zhu Ge opened his eyes.
He then took an ointment he had bought from Shihu Pavilion out of a woven grass bowl and began rubbing it onto his arms.
This ointment could increase the toughness of the skin and muscles in his arms. It was a high-grade, Spirit Level medicinal treasure personally refined by the Pavilion Master of Shihu Pavilion, with Cui Xu acting as his assistant.
The ointment felt cool as it was applied to his arms, but a second later, a gentle warmth spread through them, as if his arms were submerged in lukewarm water.
In an instant, the thin layer of ointment was absorbed into Zhu Ge’s arms.
He casually pinched his arm; it felt like squeezing a piece of leather.
’I’ve never used medicinal treasures and Spirit Pills before. No wonder they say the Martial Dao burns through money.’
Zhu Ge reflected with some emotion.
Zhu Ge had only managed to break through to the Mountain Shattering Realm by relying entirely on the accumulated knowledge from his past life and the life-or-death crises he had faced in this one.
It was only after befriending Mr. Langhao and the others that Zhu Ge had finally begun to use medicinal aids.
And once he started, he couldn’t stop.
Thanks to the Spirit Pills and medicinal treasures, while his overall power level hadn’t increased much, his explosive strength, toughness, durability, and endurance had all grown by leaps and bounds.
At this point, he reckoned that even the Raincoat Fisherman’s hook from back then wouldn’t be able to pierce his defenses, even if it struck him square in the eyeball.
Never mind getting hit in the eye; against a physically fragile opponent like the Raincoat Fisherman, Zhu Ge wouldn’t even get touched now.
After all, the Cultivation Techniques he’d obtained from the Raincoat Fisherman, "Dotting Incense" and Tea Swordsmanship, were both arts of finesse.
With his mastery of "Dotting Incense," he moved like a wraith. The Raincoat Fisherman probably wouldn’t even have time to react before Zhu Ge was right on top of him.
’I really do have a talent for the Martial Dao.’
Zhu Ge couldn’t help but feel pleased with his own talent for the Martial Dao.
Just then, a presence rapidly approached him from the foot of the mountain.
"Master!"
Clad in white, Bai Chi was like a wisp of smoke, her form suddenly appearing before Zhu Ge.
She was like a little white kitten, only her expression was somewhat blank, likely from a lack of frequent interaction with others.
Zhu Ge was taken aback when he saw her.
"Dotting Incense... Mastery?"
he asked, a little uncertain.
"Mhm." Bai Chi nodded slightly.
"But..." Zhu Ge swallowed hard. "Didn’t I just teach you that yesterday?"
"Mhm." Bai Chi nodded slightly.
Zhu Ge took a deep breath. "Alright. I get it."
’A genius!’
’Now this is a true genius of the Martial Dao!’
It was a case of ’master one thing, master them all.’ Zhu Ge’s own ability to possess the Heart of Origin and pick up any martial art with ease was entirely a gift from the great civilization of his past life.
’And even with that, it still took me half a month to master it!’
’Someone like the Raincoat Fisherman hadn’t even reached the entry level with it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so helpless before he died.’
’But Bai Chi?’
’Incredible!’
Zhu Ge sighed to himself, resolving to be more careful with his words in the future.
He had previously claimed it took him three years just to reach the entry-level of "Dotting Incense," yet Bai Chi had mastered it in a single night.
Wasn’t that a huge slap in the face for him as her master?
"Very good." A faint smile appeared on Zhu Ge’s face. "To achieve mastery in a single night... you have not disappointed my faith in you, nor my expectations."
"I was waiting here for you today. Had you not arrived before noon, I would have been very disappointed."
’Whew, good thing I stalled for a bit, otherwise that would have been so embarrassing!’
Zhu Ge celebrated inwardly. He had almost lost face in a major way.
Still, Bai Chi’s talent far surpassed his imagination, which was a pleasant surprise.
"Thank you, Master," Bai Chi answered softly.
"This is the result of your own effort." Zhu Ge smiled, and after a moment’s thought, he took out the manual for the Xu Family Rain Swift Fist, a mid-grade Spirit Level martial art.
’A mid-grade Spirit Level technique... that should keep her busy for at least a couple of days, right?’
He didn’t have anything of a higher grade unless he himself reached the Third Realm of the Martial Dao, the Venerable Realm, and could write down his own techniques.
"This is the Xu Family Rain Swift Fist, another martial art known for its speed," Zhu Ge said with a smile. "With the ’Dotting Incense’ Body Technique and the versatile Tea Swordsmanship, you can now focus on training your explosive power and speed."
Zhu Ge handed the book to her.
Logically, he should have hand-copied a few of these manuals to build up a stock, perhaps setting up a Scripture Pavilion or some similar place to store them.
But he hadn’t found the time these past two days, so that would have to wait.
"Rain Swift Fist..." Bai Chi’s eyes sparkled as she took the book from Zhu Ge’s hands. She then knelt in gratitude. "Thank you, Master!"
"Study it well and practice hard," Zhu Ge nodded. "You may go."
Bai Chi immediately took her leave.
Zhu Ge stood up, preparing to go recruit more followers. After that, he would make a trip to Jianshui City to ask the various families, Martial Arts Halls, and academies what they had decided.
Bai Chi’s visit had suddenly given him a sense of crisis.
Cultivation Techniques! Martial skills!
His Six Paths Palace had just been established. He couldn’t go recruiting with great fanfare only for new disciples to arrive and find there were no cultivation techniques for them to learn.
’I need to find more techniques and skills, fast!’
However, he then saw another person walking up from the foot of the mountain.
It was the woodcutter he had taught the Thirty-Six Paths of the Giant Pendulum and the Waist and Horse Skill to just yesterday—the one who only wanted to be a stonemason and a carpenter.
The corner of Zhu Ge’s eye twitched.
...
By the time Zhu Ge had finished meeting with the thirteen disciples who had already successfully cultivated their techniques, it was nearly dinnertime.
All thirteen disciples had become Anger Realm Martial Artists, having cultivated their first wisp of Blood Qi.
Compared to Zhu Ge, who had started with Body Refinement, these thirteen disciples had reached the Anger Realm with astonishing speed.
After all, those who practiced Body Refinement had to possess a heart filled with "anger" to reach the Anger Realm; one could not become a Martial Artist with a placid state of mind.
Those who practiced Qi Refining, however, simply needed to cultivate their qi.
Although these thirteen disciples had never practiced a cultivation technique before, they all had a solid foundation, and their basic fighting skills were decent.
Thus, what happened last night was a case of their accumulated potential bursting forth.
Zhu Ge simply had them take turns circulating and reading the few cultivation techniques the Six Paths Palace currently possessed.
Besides himself, Hua Liusha had also committed these techniques to memory, so she was the perfect person to instruct them.
After that was settled, Zhu Ge set off with Liu Jianjian.
Time to recruit!