Is Zhang San a genius?
The answer is definitely yes. Zhang San is certainly a genius, at least in the eyes of his master and himself. You must not be fooled by his cautious and timid personality.
How long would it take for an average person to cultivate their martial arts to the Ground Rank?
At least 10 to 20 years!
As for the Heaven Rank?
That requires talent, luck and effort.
However, Zhang San started practicing martial arts at the age of 8. In just 20 short years, he has already attained upper Ground Rank in his martial arts and lower Heaven Rank in his lightness skill. This is simply extraordinarily genius. Moreover, during those 20 years, he also learned various peculiar "professional skills".
Skills like disguise, voice control, acting, masonry, carpentry, blacksmithing, medicine, martial arts research...
And he has attained the peak level in every single one of those skills.
This is even when considering that Zhang San wasted quite some time practicing that "fake" Immortal Art during those 20 years.
If a person like this is not a genius, then who is?
It can even be said that Zhang San is not only a genius in a certain field, he is a true all-round genius!
However, over the past few days, Zhang San has started to doubt whether he really is a genius after all.
How could this Wang Xiaoer have learned the disguise skill in just 3 days? It even took Zhang San half a month to master it.
Subsequently, Zhang San started teaching Wang Xiaoer about poisoning and medicine, but even more unimaginable is that Wang Xiaoer has the same photographic memory as him, and his learning speed is even faster than Zhang San's!
This has led to a very serious problem.
Zhang San's curriculum plan has been disrupted.
Due to Wang Xiaoer's astounding learning speed, Zhang San has basically taught him all he knows in an unsystematic way, just like feeding him bits and pieces over the next half a year.
Skills like acting, carpentry, blacksmithing, poisoning, tracking...
In short, during the teaching process, Zhang San just taught whatever he could think of. After all, Wang Xiaoer could remember everything, and he said he understood whenever Zhang San asked him.
As for how much Wang Xiaoer actually managed to comprehend, Zhang San had no idea.
In that half year period, although many things were taught, Zhang San still hasn't started teaching Wang Xiaoer any martial arts.
......
......
That morning, the master and disciple pair opened the door to their painting and calligraphy shop. The neighbors all knew that the impoverished scholar in that shop had a distant relative - an 8-year old child who was said to have fled from the north. The neighbors guessed he was a refugee child, but after interacting with the cute child for a few days, they had all grown very fond of him.
With his pinkish and chubby face that looked almost like a girl's, he was extremely adorable.
Right after Zhang San opened the shop door, he grabbed a too master chair from behind the counter and lied down.
As for the cleaning and other chores in the shop, they were all passed to Wang Xiaoer.
Why?
Zhang San said, if one can't even handle such menial physical tasks, how could they ever learn martial arts in the future? Anyway, he would never exploit his own disciple.
That day, Wang Xiaoer was mopping the floor enthusiastically. Occasionally, some neighbors would walk by and smile at the cute little child.
But Wang Xiaoer was very unhappy. He looked at Zhang San lounging leisurely on the too master chair, put down his mop, and asked softly: "Master, must we stay disguised like this?"
According to Zhang San's teachings, hiding in plain sight is the best way to conceal one's identity. The various shops along the streets and alleys are the perfect places for disguises.
However, to ensure a stable career, Zhang San insisted that he and Wang Xiaoer should never reveal their true appearances to others, even in their own shop.
Upon hearing the word "disguise", Zhang San's eyes shot wide open as he sat up warily, surveying his surroundings. After confirming no one else was around, he finally relaxed.
Zhang San swore under his breath: "Didn't I already tell you? For now, we are uncle and nephew. I'm an impoverished scholar and you are a refugee relative. I explained our persona and backstories clearly long ago, didn't I? Don't talk about such things in the shop, in case someone overhears. Don't you understand?"
Wang Xiaoer touched the disguise apparatus on his face and said: "I know, Master. I read and understood that book you gave me on actor's self-cultivation. But must the disguise make me look so much like a girl?"
Zhang San scolded: "What do you mean look like a girl? My disguise makes me look like a fair-skinned scholar, that's called graceful features, do you understand? The number one famous actor Yan Zhi in Dawu Country, isn't his popularity and fame built on his graceful features that attracted hoards of older women? Otherwise why do you think it's due to his good acting?"
Wang Xiaoer rubbed his head and said: "No wonder Little Hua and Little Qing from next door keep coming over to play with me the past two days."
Zhang San frowned. Weren't those the little daughters of the two neighboring families? How did they get acquainted with Wang Xiaoer?
Not good! I haven't explained to Xiao Er yet how women can influence a killer's stable career.
Just as Zhang San was about to properly educate Wang Xiao Er on how women could impact a killer's career, his sharp ears suddenly picked up faint movements. Zhang San's brows furrowed tightly.
Zhang San thought silently: Someone's coming, probably from the street entrance. But the streets are quiet in the early mornings, yet this person's footsteps and breathing...
A martial arts expert!
Soon after, a youth dressed in white appeared at the entrance of the painting and calligraphy shop.
As Zhang San looked up, he saw that the young man was wearing all white and had a refined appearance. Of course, as a man, Zhang San had no interest in checking out another man's looks. But something at the youth's waist caught Zhang San's attention - the sword.
The sword hilt was pure black and the sheath was pure white.
This was the sword of the number one righteous sect - Star Sea Sect!
What really attracted Zhang San's attention was not the origin of the sword though, but rather the extremely ordinary grass knot attached to the sword hilt as a sword tassel accessory.
That was what stunned Zhang San.
Sensing his master's odd reaction, Wang Xiaoer subconsciously prodded Zhang San and whispered: "A customer is here..."
Snapping out of his daze, Zhang San quickly stood up.
Seeing Zhang San staring blankly at his sword just now, the white-clothed youth thought he was afraid. So he laughed and said: "Brother, do not panic. I am a wandering swordsman from the Jianghu. Keeping a blade is only a precaution."
The moment Zhang San regained his composure, he immediately slipped into his "role" as a weak and bookish scholar.
Zhang San smiled politely with folded hands in greeting: "Turns out you are a heroic swordsman from the Jianghu. I wonder if my gesture is the proper etiquette among you Jianghu folks. Anyway, my humble shop does not sell weapons. May I ask what business..."
The white-clothed youth unconsciously glanced towards the street entrance again. Turning back, he returned the greeting: "Since brother is a scholar, there is no need to stand on ceremony with us coarse men. May I come in to take a look around the shop?"
Zhang San smiled. "A guest is a guest, of course you may."
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
