Chapter Seven Teaching

  The next morning, the sky was slightly bright. In the west garden of Xu's mansion, a young man stood alone in front of Xu Hua's door, waiting quietly without making a sound. He waited for half an hour before the door finally opened, revealing Xu Hua's figure.

  "Good morning."

  "You've been waiting for a long time, haven't you? You're earlier than me!" Xu Hua said softly, looking at Luo Cheng's shirt which showed heavy signs of sweat.

  Luocheng's eyes shone with a strong sense of anticipation as he stood by waiting for Xu Hua's orders.

  "Today's first task is to read and recognize characters. If you can't recognize characters, even if a rare martial arts manual is placed in front of you, you won't be able to recognize it, and you'll miss the opportunity. Therefore, reading and recognizing characters is very important. For the next few days, you must study hard."

  As Xu Hua's voice fell, Chunmei and Qiujie next door walked out of the house with a "hatchet".

  "Master, why are you up so early today? Don't you usually sleep in for another half an hour?"

  Luo Cheng stood on one side, hearing this and revealing a shy smile. Xue Hua also showed a faint smile, saying: "Thank you two sisters for your hard work. Today, we will still trouble the two sisters to teach Luo Cheng to read and recognize characters."

  He casually pulled out a handwritten book from his bosom and handed it to Chunmei. Chunmei took the book, looked at the three characters "Na Qi Jue" engraved on the cover, and gave Luo Cheng a strange look. Autumn Chrysanthemum looked at Xu Hua with some uncertainty and said: "Young master, this book..."

  "That's right, it's this one. Make sure Luo Cheng recognizes all the characters in the book as soon as possible. I have something to attend to, so I'll leave first and report back to me tonight on the progress."

  Watching Xu Hua walk away, Chunmei and Qiujie stared at Luo Cheng for a while, making him feel embarrassed. He rubbed his forehead with one hand and said, "Sisters, is there something wrong with my face?"

  "Hehe...this isn't it, I just don't know why you're so lucky, making both of us sisters a little jealous." Looking at Luo Cheng's embarrassed face, the two girls' faces were filled with smiles, and they threw away their doubts.

  Luo Cheng was confused and couldn't help but smile foolishly, finally following Er Nu into Xu Hua's study to read books and recognize characters.

  In the backyard of Xu's mansion, a large area of mountain forest, due to the early hour, flowers and grass, trees were all covered with dew, Xu Hua walked lightly among the grass and woods, her clothes naturally stained with a lot of dew, touching the skin inside, there was a faint coolness.

  After walking for seven or eight miles, there was no sign of human activity here, and from time to time, various wild beasts could be heard crying out. Perhaps the beasts had a stronger ability to predict danger, and on the way, Xu Hua did not encounter any wild beasts, only seeing a few small squirrels jumping wildly in the branches of the pine trees.

  Proceeding forward for another half li, there is a small pool of water here, about 7 or 8 zhang long and 4 or 5 zhang wide. The mouth of the small pool floats with strands of cold air condensed into mist, the water is crystal clear but can't see the bottom, it seems to be very deep.

  Xu Hua had never been this far before, and didn't know there was a small pool here. Looking at the ripples on the water's surface, Xu Hua muttered to himself: "I wonder if there are any ferocious monsters in this pool?"

  Before, Xu Hua had seen many strange and bizarre stories, among which there were many people who had seen various ferocious monsters in this small pool, such as water pythons and dragon-like creatures, but mostly water pythons. The dragon-like creature, which was evolved from the water python, had a strong and powerful body with a hint of true dragon blood, making it extremely powerful. This existence was at least a fifth-level demon lord, if Xu Hua encountered it, there would be no escape, however, even if it were a python-like monster, he wouldn't be able to deal with it easily.

  The python-like demon beasts are quite miscellaneous, with first-class, second-class, and even fifth-class or sixth-class ones. However, the one living in a deep pool is unlikely to be a first-class one, at least it's a second-class one. But in a place like Qing Shan Town, it's possible that there's only a third-class demon beast, otherwise, with Qing Shan Town's strength, it would not be able to withstand it, how could it have been hiding in this cold pool all the time?

  Xu Hua cultivated the "Life-Devouring Skill" and was sensitive to the vital energy of living things. He carefully sensed the surroundings by the small pond, but did not detect any strong life aura in the water. However, Xu Hua's sensing limit was only about 20 zhang (a unit of length) around him, so he didn't know how deep the pond actually was or if there were any living things beyond that depth.

  Fortunately, nothing dangerous was found, and it's unlikely that there would be any major danger here. Xuhua breathed a sigh of relief and began to practice his boxing moves beside the small pond.

  Xu Hua used to dislike practicing martial arts, and only knew one high-level Huang Jie Wu Jue "Na Qi Jue" and one low-level Huang Jie Wu Ji "Sui Shi Quan". In the Xu family, almost all of the Xu family's children practiced "Na Qi Jue", but those servants and maids were not so lucky. The previous Xu Hua was not good at martial arts and did not want to hurt people with martial arts, so when choosing a Wu Ji, he chose this low-level one.

  Xu Hua, as the third young master of the Xu family, can even cultivate the first two layers of the Xu family's ancestral martial art, "Kai Shan Zhang". Although it is only the first two layers, "Kai Shan Zhang" is still a low-level Xuan-class martial skill. Even if it is only the first two layers, the power it unleashes is stronger than that of a Huang-class high-level martial skill. However, Xu Hua, who is naturally kind and benevolent, gave up this opportunity, driving countless Xu family descendants who wanted to learn but were not qualified to madness.

  "Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!"

  By the small pond, young Xu Hua threw punch after punch, with bursts of fist wind surging between each punch, emitting a faintly piercing sound that shattered the air, startling the birds perched on the surrounding treetops.

  "Boom!! Boom!!"

  These are also unknown species of birds, not too big in size, but making a lot of noise, the flock flies eastward, forming a human-like shape, as if blocking the rising red sun.

  "The Shattered Stone Fist" is a low-level martial art, but it's still an extraordinary skill. When mastered, it can allow a warrior to shatter a large stone with one punch. However, its power is not enough to produce the kind of movement Xu Hua made, which was more due to his exceptionally strong physical body that surpassed ordinary humans. His internal energy was not abundant, but he relied on his extraordinary physical strength that exceeded 1,000 jin. This was something many warriors envied, even those born with divine power didn't have such strength at the age of 14. Moreover, people born with divine power were extremely rare, and it's unlikely to find one among millions. Each of them was a martial arts prodigy, with an unlimited future ahead, at least becoming a strong existence comparable to the Martial Emperor. If Xu Hua continued to rely on the "Life-Draining Technique" to absorb the life force of all living things to become stronger, his future achievements would definitely surpass those of the martial arts prodigies born with divine power.

  He had practiced the "Shuishi Fist" three times, and Xu Hua's movements became more fluent with each repetition. It seemed as if he had grasped something intangible, his understanding of the "Shuishi Fist" deepening, the whirlwind of fists speeding up to the point where it was about to transform into a shadow. Xu Hua's blood and energy were boiling like scalding hot water, large amounts of gas escaping through his skin pores and condensing into visible heat haze, an eerie and abnormal sight.

  "Hmm...hmm..."

  Xu Hua finally stopped, standing still on the spot, and finally let out a deep breath. The breath shot out like a sharp sword, piercing the trunk of a giant tree five zhang away.

  "Crack..."

  A crisp cracking sound spread in all directions, the roots of the big tree snapped loudly, and the big tree quickly fell down after losing its rock-like base, knocking over many flowers and small saplings along the way, finally crashing to the ground, causing the surrounding earth to shake slightly.

  "Hiss..."

  Xu Hua's mouth was agape as he stared at the series of changes, his eyes filled with astonishment. It was hard to believe that all this was his own doing. After a moment of contemplation, a smile crept onto his face, and he muttered to himself: "I didn't think I was so powerful, just exhaling a breath of air can cut down a thick tree trunk like a sharp sword. With this ability, it should be enough for me to protect myself, right?"

  Actually, Xu Hua himself wasn't that powerful, being able to cut down a giant tree with just one casual breath was probably something only a high-ranking martial artist could do. The reason Xu Hua was able to do it was because he had practiced the "Shi Shi Quan" (Stone Shattering Fist) several times earlier, causing his body's energy and blood to surge and burst out in a powerful force, which then shot out of his body along with his breath. His actual strength wasn't that great, but being able to achieve this level was extremely rare even among martial kings. There weren't many people in the Martial King realm who could reach this level of physical prowess.

  "It should be the best time to absorb the essence of life now!" Xuhua thought to himself, and then sat down in a meditative position, circulating the "Life-Draining Technique" to absorb the life energy from the surrounding plants.

  Xu Hua had just finished three rounds of "Shi Shi Quan" and his whole body was surging with energy, his flesh and blood were excited, and a large amount of life energy was pouring into his body. Xu Hua's entire body, including his flesh, internal organs, meridians, and bones, began to greedily absorb this life energy. He could clearly feel that every cell in his body was actively absorbing the life energy that had entered, rapidly becoming stronger. It was as if a giant dragon that had been sleeping for many years was slowly awakening, and once it truly awakened, it would be the time when it would dominate the universe.

  A gentle breeze caressed Xu Hua's cheek, blowing up his scattered hair and covering half of his face. From a distance, he looked like a lone martial artist who had been in seclusion for three years, practicing diligently every day.

  "The Devouring Life Skill" is too overbearing, previously Xu Hua had been suppressing it so the overbearing nature of this strange skill hadn't been revealed yet. Now that he's using it with all his might, within a radius of twenty zhang, the life force and vitality of the plants rapidly dissipate, causing them to wither at a speed visible to the naked eye, truly terrifying beyond measure.

  Soon, the life energy of all the plants within a radius of several hundred feet was sucked dry, and the surroundings turned yellow and withered, looking bleak and devoid of any vitality. However, Xu Hua had not stopped cultivating his energy yet, and the life energy of the plants twenty zhang away from him also began to surge into his body.

  Twenty-one zhang, twenty-two zhang...

  Twenty-eight jō...

  It wasn't until it reached a range of thirty zhang around his body that it stopped, changing from twenty zhang in diameter to thirty zhang in the distance. From now on, Xu Hua's absorption efficiency of life essence would be greatly improved, but at this moment he was focused on absorbing life essence with his physical body and didn't notice this change.

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