Chapter 103: Chapter 27: Competition, Judging Martial Skills
Ouyang Tiezhu felt there was some truth to it, he didn't think too much, and asked, "Did you come here looking for Master?"
"Yes, is Master here?" Shen Qing nodded.
"He just went to the back room, he should be here soon."
Shen Qing said, "Then alright, I'll wait here for Master."
"We still have some time, how about a little sparring, Junior Brother? At the stage of Practicing Killing Skill, actual combat is very important." Ouyang Tiezhu smiled and beckoned to Shen Qing.
Shen Qing glanced at the study, the door was open, and Li Linfeng was indeed not inside.
"Alright, let's practice."
No sooner had Shen Qing finished speaking than Ouyang Tiezhu rushed forward in a leaping step, aiming a jab at Shen Qing's chest.
This was a common initial move in Wind Defying Finger, aimed at breaking through the opponent's 'gate'.
Shen Qing was not sloppy either; he spun on his heels, turned around, and dodged this finger while also pointing out with his finger.
His Qi-Blood was immensely robust, augmented by long-term stimulation of precious medicines as well as the conditioning of the Blood Dominance Technique.
Even though his cultivation was at the Bone Refining Realm facing Ouyang Tiezhu, he did not fall behind in the slightest, and was even a bit faster than Ouyang Tiezhu.
Ouyang Tiezhu was also experienced; he slapped with one hand and blocked Shen Qing's attack.
He had already completed Bone Refining and was attempting to break into the Skin Forging Realm.
Theoretically, his power and speed should have been a notch above Shen Qing's, but the reality made him doubt his own cultivation.
Ouyang Tiezhu realized he couldn't suppress this junior brother who was only at the Bone Refining Realm.
The two continuously exchanged moves, stirring up the dust on the ground with each clash.
In an instant, dozens of moves were exchanged.
Ouyang Tiezhu landed a flicking finger on Shen Qing's shoulder, making Shen Qing's body go numb, forcing him to retreat several steps.
Both were holding back, not using their full strength.
Otherwise, that one finger could have made Shen Qing bleed.
Indeed, sparring with someone rich in combat experience was different from the ordinary person.
"Again."
Shen Qing calmed down, carefully observing Ouyang Tiezhu's habits and movements.
When Li Linfeng taught him, he often mentioned that the most important thing in combat against others was observation.
To discern the opponent's strength, find the opponent's weakness, thus doubling the effort and achieving the effect of surprise.
Ouyang Tiezhu "heh"ed, and charged straight forward.
His movement looked familiar to Shen Qing.
After breaking through to the Bone Refining Realm, Shen Qing's senses had become extremely sharp, exceeding that of an ordinary person by a dimension.
Combined with his Never Forget skill, he quickly dismantled Ouyang Tiezhu's movements and found his habitual tendencies.
There was a flaw.
Shen Qing lowered his body, dodged to the right in a sidestep, easily avoiding Ouyang Tiezhu's attack.
Then he quickly moved behind Ouyang Tiezhu and lightly pressed on his back.
Ouyang Tiezhu felt as if he was electrocuted, involuntarily staggering forward.
If it weren't for his stable movement technique, he might have fallen face first.
The others looked on as if they had seen something marvelous, staring wide-eyed at Shen Qing.
He had actually defeated the eldest senior brother.
How long had he been practicing martial arts?
Such talent was truly freakish.
Shen Qing hastily stepped forward, grabbed Ouyang Tiezhu, and bowed, "Eldest senior brother, my apologies."
Ouyang Tiezhu was very open-minded, clapping his hands and saying, "No worries, it's just that my skill isn't as good as yours. Junior brother, your progress is really fast, worthy of Master's praise that you are natural martial arts material, even several of me combined can't compare to you."
"It's all thanks to Master's good teaching," Shen Qing said modestly, bowing his head.
Ouyang Tiezhu said, "Your ability now surpasses that of an ordinary martial master. An average person would stand no chance against you—you could easily handle any number, and being in charge of a household or guarding an estate, you could earn a good sum in just a month."
"Let's talk about making money later. Right now, I need to focus on improving my Martial Arts."
While they were speaking, footsteps echoed through the corridor.
"The master is coming."
Shen Qing bowed to Ouyang Tiezhu and said, "I'm going to see the Master first. We'll chat more later, elder brother."
After he spoke, Shen Qing followed behind Li Linfeng and entered the study.
Once Li Linfeng was seated, Shen Qing stepped forward and respectfully called out, "Master."
"What brings you here?" Li Linfeng asked with a steady gaze towards Shen Qing.
Shen Qing took out five Martial Arts Secret Manuals from his chest, which he had collected from the Eagle, and said, "Master, I found some basic Martial Arts elsewhere. I hope you can take a look and see the quality of these techniques."
After finishing his words, Shen Qing reached into his chest and placed the five Martial Arts Secret Manuals on Li Linfeng's desk.
"Illusion Breaking Fist, Netherworld Ghost Steps, Eight Extremities Collapse, Wuji Tiangang Kick, Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt."
Li Linfeng spread out all five manuals and glanced through them.
He casually picked up one of the manuals and began reading it intently.
After a while, having finished one, he proceeded to the next.
While reading, he took a pen and made corrections and annotations.
After spending several hours, Li Linfeng had read and corrected all five manuals.
He stacked them together, pushed them towards Shen Qing without any hint of greed, and said, "These techniques are generally accurate, with no major flaws. I noticed some minor errors and have corrected them for you."
Shen Qing's face lit up with delight as he hurriedly said, "Thank you, Master."
"Among these techniques, only the Eight Extremities Collapse is somewhat interesting. It shares some unique similarities in power with my Wind Defying Finger technique. You might want to study that one more for inspiration. As for the others, don't bother."
Li Linfeng waved his hand and advised, "The biggest fear in learning Martial Arts is breadth without depth. At this stage, it's better for you to concentrate on cultivating one technique. Engaging in too many could dissipate your energy and prove counterproductive."
"I understand."
Shen Qing nodded, pulled the corrected manuals towards him, and briefly scanned through them.
Seeing the annotations, Shen Qing knew he had done right by consulting Li Linfeng.
This saved him a great deal of trouble.
With this thought, Shen Qing fetched some paper and, relying on his Never Forget memory, transcribed another manual before speaking in a hushed tone, "Master, please look at this one too."
Shen Qing didn't dare to practice the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Skill given to him by Zhou Yu directly.
The best course was to have someone knowledgeable review it first to identify any potential issues.
Li Linfeng looked oddly at his newly accepted direct disciple.
He couldn't figure out how he had suddenly produced so many Martial Arts manuals.
And even transcribed one on the spot.
Did his family run a Martial Arts wholesale business?
But he was well-cultured and knew this disciple was not ordinary, so he refrained from commenting further.
Li Linfeng picked up the manual Shen Qing had placed on the desk and studied it carefully.
Noting the fresh ink, Li Linfeng's brows furrowed slightly.
He patiently turned to the first page and began reading seriously, finding it somewhat reasonable.
Turning to the second page, he thought, "Oh, so Qi-Blood can be trained like this."
By the third page, he became restless.
The technique was straightforward and even touched upon the essence of simplicity.
Without a doubt, from his perspective, this was not only a technique but also a True Martial Arts manual—a good technique indeed.
Enthralled, Li Linfeng read until the very last page before suddenly snapping out of it, feeling a sense of loss.
He looked at Shen Qing and sternly asked, "Where did you get this Martial Arts technique from?"