Chapter 14: Even Rotten Wood Must Be Made into Something Worthy!
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
The students watched Sun Mo’s departing figure and exchanged glances amongst themselves.
“What should we do? Teacher Sun couldn’t have been angry, right?”
Wang Hao was very worried. What would happen if Teacher Sun was angry and refused to give him a massage in the future?
“Teacher Sun isn’t that kind of person, right?”
Zhou Xu was uncertain as well. He was now regretting speaking too much yesterday.
To a cultivator, advancing successfully was something worth celebrating. When Zhou Xu had gone back yesterday, he had called his friends out, reserved a private room at the Nature Lodge, and given them a treat. While there, he naturally mentioned Sun Mo because his Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands had been the one that allowed him to advance.
Who didn’t have a few friends? Everyone was curious and wanted to come and take a look. Therefore, Zhou Xu, being someone who liked to look good in front of others, brought everyone over early in the morning to meet Sun Mo.
“Isn’t he just someone who lives off a woman? Why is he acting so high and lofty?”
Someone felt displeased after being given the cold shoulder.
“Hey, what do you mean that he lives off a woman? If you continue to talk about Teacher Sun in this manner, we might as well not continue being friends!”
Zhou Xu was feeling worried if he had offended Sun Mo. Thus, when he heard what the guy was saying, he was infuriated and rebutted harshly.
“I’m telling you that Teacher Sun’s Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands is really amazing. When trained to the extreme, he’d even be able to grab an ancient dragon, destroying its body and spirit.”
Wang Hao boasted, “It’s your loss that you guys aren’t able to see it.”
Sun Mo went downstairs to the canteen for his meal. He had slept early the night before and hadn’t waited for midnight when the lucky treasure chest was refreshed. However, such a reward wouldn’t disappear. It would be the same even if he were to open it in the morning.
There wasn’t any surprise. It was another tuft of soil.
“System, can I store these things aside and not have them in front of me all the time?”
Sun Mo stretched his body. All the young men and ladies had already woken up and were practicing their martial techniques in the field, sweating it out. Some of them were under the shade of the trees, memorizing alchemy knowledge.
“If you blink twice, you can summon out a storage cabinet. If you blink another time, the storage cabinet will disappear.”
Sun Mo followed the system’s hint and blinked twice. A black cube that measured one meter on each side floated in front of him. It was pitch-black like an inkstone. There were mysterious prints all over it, and it emitted a rustic and extravagant aura.
Kacha!
The chest was opened up, and there was a storage cabinet inside that could allow him to store items.
Sun Mo drew out the wooden blade that emitted a sandalwood scent from his belt, attempting to put it in.
“That isn’t possible. The storage cabinet can only store items that come from the system.”
The system explained.
“Tsk!”
Sun Mo was a little disappointed. He thought that he had obtained a spatial storage cabinet.
After having his breakfast, Sun Mo went to the library and borrowed the Skywolf Fist manual. He then headed for the warehouse while he studied it. Not long later, Qi Shengjia came as well. If Sun Mo hadn’t instructed him to rest well, he would have come here very early and waited.
“Go through the Skywolf Fist once!”
Sun Mo instructed.
Qi Shengjia didn’t dare to be lax and after taking a few deep breaths, he started practicing the fist technique. He tried to ensure that each move was done perfectly.
“The important thing about the Skywolf Fist is to be fast and smooth. What are you doing?”
Sun Mo frowned.
Given Sun Mo’s outstanding comprehension, after reading it for a few times, he had a faint grasp of this technique. Its trait was that it could launch quick attacks, having a specialty in speed. The prowess of each of its attacks wasn’t great, but the user could use it very quickly.
Qi Shengjia lowered his head. In order not to make any mistakes, he naturally moved slowly.
“Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. It’s better for you to miss your target than to reduce your speed!”
Sun Mo reprimanded, “One more time!”
Although Qi Shengjia was stupid, he listened to instructions and wouldn’t complain. He started practicing seriously again. Sun Mo didn’t say anything, so he continued practicing repeatedly.
Sun Mo had received the memories of the original owner of this body. Although he was said to be sponging off a woman, he still had some capability. He could guide a student to cultivate a trashy earth-tier technique.
“Not fast enough!”
Sun Mo wasn’t satisfied. “Forget about accuracy! Punch out faster!”
It didn’t take long for Qi Shengjia to be drenched in sweat. When Sun Mo told him to take a break, he sat down on the ground, panting vigorously.
“Have some water.”
Sun Mo tossed over a deer-leather bottle.
Gulp! Gulp!
Qi Shengjia wiped his mouth after having a drink. He looked at Sun Mo’s eyes and couldn’t help but praise him, “Teacher Sun Mo is really amazing. I feel that my practice of the Skywolf Fist is a lot smoother than usual.”
Ding!
+5 favorable impression points from Qi Shengjia.
Prestige connection with Qi Shengjia. Current state, neutral (56/100)
Sun Mo was stunned upon hearing the system’s notification. He then shook his head. Qi Shengjia was really an honest person to be satisfied just because his practice was a lot smoother.
What Sun Mo didn’t know was that he had cured Qi Shengjia previously, allowing him to see hope when he was in a state of despair. Also, the effects of the Circulation Technique on Wang Hao and Zhou Xu were quite good. Hence, Qi Shengjia placed great trust in Sun Mo now. He felt that it was his great fortune to be able to receive Sun Mo’s personal guidance.
“Continue after you’re done resting.”
Sun Mo wasn’t satisfied. Did he think that he’d be able to defeat his opponents and pass the battle hall’s tests with just this bit of improvement? That would be wishful thinking.
The Skywolf Fist wasn’t complicated and only had 12 diagrams. After he memorized all of them, he started to practice it himself.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He punched out like a great storm, waving his arms as fast wind as!
Qi Shengjia glanced toward Sun Mo every now and then, and gradually couldn’t turn his gaze away. In the end, he stopped his practice and looked at Sun Mo with great astonishment.
Sun Mo’s fist technique started off appearing stiff and immature, but soon became a lot more smooth and well-versed.
“This... this...”
Qi Shengjia stuttered. He was able to tell that Sun Mo’s Skywolf Fist was extremely smooth even with his inferior skills. There was a flowy beauty when paired with his handsome face. It looked so much better than when he was practicing this technique.
“Why is that so?”
Qi Shengjia couldn’t understand. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the diagrams of the Skywolf Fist. It was because he had borrowed it from the library in the past. Looking at Sun Mo, it was clear that this was his first time reading about the Skywolf Fist, and his first time practicing it as well. No, that was impossible. One couldn’t reach this stage when they were cultivating it for the first time.
Sun Mo came to a stop, frowning as he went deep into thought.
“Teacher, is this the first time you’re practicing this fist technique?”
Qi Shengjia couldn’t help but ask.
“En!”
Sun Mo replied, not paying it much heed. However, when Qi Shengjia heard that, he felt as if a ram that was used to break through city walls was smashed into his head, causing him to be stunned.
Thereafter, an intense feeling of disappointment appeared on Qi Shengjia’s face as he mumbled, “I really don’t have any talent.”
Sun Mo didn’t see Qi Shengjia immerse in self-grieve. He suddenly had an idea and activated his Divine Sight to read the Skywolf Fist’s diagrams.
He hadn’t expected that some data would appear.
‘Bamboo paper, west mountain charcoal ink. Duration of book’s completion, 15 years.’
These were the materials and ink source used to make the diagrams, as well as the time it had existed. However, what was important was the next bit of information.
‘The crux of the Skywolf Fist is to be fast, channeling strength into the fingertips, but not exerting full force in the punches. There must be some energy kept in reserve, and the moves must be made smoothly. This is the essence of this fist technique.’
“My Divine Sight is really amazing.”
Sun Mo was astonished. He had thought of some of these points, but having the Divine Sight listing all of them out made everything so clear. It was as if a fog that shrouded one’s eyes had suddenly disappeared.
“Qi Shengjia!”
Sun Mo spoke up, feeling even more confident in himself.
“I’m here!” Qi Shengjia quickly replied.
“You’re exerting too much force!”
“Huh? But this technique emphasizes a sharp and vicious disposition, so I need to punch out at full power. I had asked three teachers in the past and even sought guidance from a few seniors who also cultivate the Skywolf Fist. All of them said that I’m supposed to launch every punch with rapid speed and at full power!”
Qi Shengjia scratched his head, feeling confused. Could it be that Teacher Sun was mistaken? He was stupid, so he referred to the majority’s opinions to assess if something was right or wrong. The side with more people would definitely be right.
“Punching out at full power means that your strength has to reach your fingertips and not just to your palms or arms. You also have to use the strength of your entire body.”
Sun Mo walked up to Qi Shengjia and poked his chest with a finger. “Can you feel it?”
“Huh?”
Qi Shengjia seemed to have understood something amidst the perplexity.
“One more time!”
Sun Mo instructed.
Qi Shengjia did as he was told and discovered that his fist prowess became sharper and greater. He couldn’t help but cry out in surprise, “This is really the case!”
“There’s one more thing that you’ll have to take note of.”
Sun Mo knocked Qi Shengjia’s stomach. “The strength of your entire body is too fierce. Restrain some of it.”
Qi Shengjia was unable to understand this.
“Alright, face the wall and charge over at full speed. Then, in the instant before you’re about to bang into it, dodge.”
Sun Mo changed his method of teaching.
“En!”
Qi Shengjia answered and then started to dash out. With a bang, he bumped into the wall and even broke his nose.
“...”
Sun Mo was speechless.
“Teacher?”
Qi Shengjia rubbed his nose. “Did I do it correctly?”
“One more time. This time around, hold back a bit of your strength. Dodge just before you’re about to knock into the wall.”
Sun Mo made a personal demonstration.
Qi Shengjia did as he was told, but he still knocked into the wall. However, this time around, the impact was a lot lighter.
“Do you understand it now?”
After Sun Mo asked this, he saw Qi Shengjia shaking his head. For that moment, Sun Mo had the urge to draw out his wooden blade and split Qi Shengjia’s head open. As expected of someone with low potential value. He was extremely slow.
“In the two attempts of dodging, which was easier?”
“The second time!”
Qi Shengjia was able to sense this.
“That’s right. The Skywolf Fist seeks speed and continuity. However, when you perform each move with full power, there’ll be a delay before you proceed with the next fist. You should reserve some strength. The essence of this fist technique isn’t to perform it at full power, but to be continuous and fast.”
Sun Mo backed off. “One more time!”
Qi Shengjia continued to do as he was told, but he was so dense that Sun Mo had the urge to beat him.
“I must find a student with erupting potential value at the student recruitment meet.”
Although Sun Mo was complaining, he didn’t like to give up. Since he had taken on this task, he was going to do his best.
“After channeling your strength to your fingertips, punch out with 70% of your power.”
Sun Mo instructed him again. Since Qi Shengjia was stupid, then Sun Mo should use a stupid way to teach him. He let Qi Shengjia slowly increase the amount of his strength until he reached the limits in which his flow wouldn’t be affected.
After practicing for 67 times, Qi Shengjia finally understood what Sun Mo meant. He also figured out how much strength he should use in his punches.
“Teacher, I think I understand it now.”
Qi Shengjia was overjoyed. “I feel that the prowess of my punches has increased. I want to head to the combat strength dojo to test it out!”