Chapter Eighteen: Zhuo Fei

At eight o’clock in the morning, Longxi Qu arrived at the office and saw his apprentice tidying up his desk.

He asked, “Xinyue, did the master of the cultivation technique get in touch?”

“Oh, Master, they hadn’t replied before we left yesterday. I’ll check the emails now,” Jiang Xinyue replied, then went to her seat and opened the computer.

Five minutes later, a sharp scream broke the silence in the office.

“Ah, Master!”

Longxi Qu, who had been repairing a cultivation technique, was startled nearly to the point of a heart attack by the sudden scream.

He shook his head helplessly. His apprentice was earnest and grateful but lacked composure.

“What’s the matter now? Making a fuss all of a sudden,” he asked.

“Master, the cultivation technique master from yesterday replied.”

Jiang Xinyue’s voice came from outside the office before she even entered.

“How? Did the master agree to meet?” Longxi Qu asked eagerly.

“No, Master. The master has completed all the cultivation technique repair tasks we posted at the Warriors’ Guild.”

Longxi Qu was stunned by this news, then quickly asked, “Are you sure it’s the same person who took the tasks?”

“All submitted from the same account, so it should be correct!” Jiang Xinyue answered immediately.

Without further delay, Longxi Qu strode to his apprentice’s computer and looked at the newly repaired Level One Breathing Techniques: Breath of Gathering, Breath of the Great Wind, Thunderbolt Breath, and Explosive Flame Breath.

These Level One Breathing Techniques were the ones he had doubts about during his repair process, which was why he had posted all of them openly. He hadn’t expected all of them to be perfectly repaired now.

Suppressing his excitement, he opened the pinned Breath of the Great Wind and began to read through it thoroughly.

As he read, his fingers constantly moved, calculating and deducing. His expression fluctuated between frowning and enlightened, showing signs of discovery.

Occasionally, he muttered phrases like, “Is this possible? So that’s how it is! This works too…”

His tone shifted from initial skepticism to sudden realization, sometimes even shock and disbelief.

His female apprentice beside him began to wonder if her master had gone mad because she never imagined hearing such words from him before.

“Master, this is definitely a master—the other party is the true master!” she whispered.

If the other party had only perfectly repaired one Inner Alchemy Breathing Technique, it could be a coincidence.

But to flawlessly restore all four Breathing Techniques proved that the person was truly a master.

Moreover, Longxi Qu saw different approaches and ideas within the four repaired techniques.

Thus, after reading all four, he felt he had gained immensely.

“Xinyue, find a way to contact this master. I’m sure the techniques are flawless. Transfer the money immediately,” he instructed.

Jiang Xinyue had never seen her master like this before, so she did not hesitate and arranged the transfer and left a message at once.

But the message was met with silence.

Longxi Qu was disappointed.

“Master, the other party has been taking tasks at the Warriors’ Guild. We can ask the Guild to help us find out,” Jiang Xinyue suggested, seeing her master’s downcast expression and feeling sympathetic.

“Randomly investigating others could offend people,” Longxi Qu warned. Although tempted, he respected the principle of “Do not do unto others what you would not want done to yourself.”

“Master, it’s not an investigation, just assistance. We only need to find out what this master looks like through surveillance. Then we can ask the Guild staff to notify us immediately upon seeing him. That’s not really investigating,” Jiang Xinyue persuaded.

“That’s true,” Longxi Qu considered and found no fault in the idea. “Alright, I’ll leave this to you. If you find this master, I’ll let you try repairing a Level One Breathing Technique.”

Jiang Xinyue jumped up excitedly. “Thank you, Master!”

She had wanted to try repairing a Level One Breathing Technique for a long time but had been denied. Now her master agreed so easily.

…

Zhuo Fei was born ordinary, with common parents. Fortunately, he had good talent and worked hard at cultivation, so he passed the college entrance exam and was admitted to a prestigious university as a warrior.

For ordinary people, this was an inspiring story because becoming a warrior was a great honor.

But once he actually became a warrior, he realized how difficult the path was.

During university, many classmates who had less talent or effort than him surpassed him easily because they came from wealthy families and had abundant resources.

Facing this, he was unwilling to accept defeat. He tried hard, even gave his all, but little changed. There were too many people like him—born at the bottom, somewhat talented, but lacking resources.

After graduation, accepting reality, he returned to Song City and opened a martial arts school.

Because he excelled at the Crushing Fist technique, he named it the Crushing Fist Martial Arts School.

As the owner, he earned some money but knew his life would probably remain as it was.

Still, he was not willing to give up. After all, everyone wanted to achieve something in life.

So he started training Crushing Fist intensely, hoping to reach the master level and eventually enter the Hall of Fame.

That would make his life meaningful.

Unfortunately, mastering Crushing Fist to perfection was extraordinarily difficult.

He spent three years refining it to an expert level, but the final step—true mastery—remained out of reach.

More than ten years had passed, and honestly, he feared he might never reach that ultimate level before he grew old.

This had become a mental burden.

Yet he kept these thoughts to himself and never shared them.

Earlier today, while he was negotiating outside, his subordinate sent a message: his top apprentice had been defeated in a Crushing Fist duel at their school.

He was stunned.

If it were just a loss in a fight, he wouldn’t be surprised. But losing in Crushing Fist was unacceptable.

His top apprentice was incredibly talented and had already reached the expert level in Crushing Fist, just like him. Not only in their school, but in all of Song City, who could defeat his apprentice?

Upon hearing the news, he returned to the school immediately, eager to learn what had happened.

At that time, Chen Nan had already woken up.

Upon seeing Zhuo Fei, instead of feeling ashamed, he stood up and said, “Master, I’ve discovered a genius!”

“That Yang Feng has definitely mastered Crushing Fist to the expert level!”

Zhuo Fei frowned. “Who is Yang Feng? Tell me everything carefully.”

Chen Nan then recounted the entire incident to his master.

“Master, Yang Feng is undoubtedly a genius. We must recruit him to our Crushing Fist Martial Arts School!”

“Are you sure he has truly reached the expert level?”

It wasn’t that he disbelieved his apprentice, but this was truly astonishing.

“Master, you can check the footage!” Chen Nan urged.

In this world, it was normal for warriors to spar, but accidents could happen. To prevent disputes over intentional harm, every arena was equipped with several cameras.

This ensured no quarrels would arise after incidents.

Soon, the security personnel retrieved the footage.

On the computer screen, the image replayed Yang Feng landing a single punch that sent the burly Chen Nan flying.

The scene was undeniable proof.