In the following days, I continued my routine of eating my fill and heading to the training base to get beaten up. However, there were clear benefits to these beatings. After only half a month, my physique had noticeably improved, with lean muscles forming all over my body.
I also noticed that each time I got beaten, my body absorbed medicinal herbs more effectively—especially those that refined the body. In less than half a month, both my physical strength and the True Qi in my dantian had significantly increased, bringing me closer to breaking through to the third layer of Nine Revolutions of Heaven and Earth.
From Mei’er, I learned that if I successfully broke through to the third layer, I would achieve the power of three tails, granting me the ability to soar through the skies!
With my progress in strength, I actually began to enjoy the daily beatings. The best part was that it was no longer a one-sided ordeal; I could now fight back and even leave a few scratches on one or two of my opponents.
“You’re improving fast, kid! You’re quite a martial arts prodigy!” Long Qingyang rarely smiled, but today, he puffed on his pipe and said it with a grin.
Normally, he wasn’t one to praise me, so hearing such words now felt a bit embarrassing.
Honestly, I didn’t have a favorable impression of Long Qingyang. In fact, I had some resentment toward him.
“You’re only realizing this now? Isn’t it a bit late?” I shot him a smug look—this was my moment to act cocky!
“I saw your potential from the start, which is why I used the harshest methods on you right away.” A sharp gleam flickered in Long Qingyang’s eyes as he inhaled deeply from his pipe, exhaling a long stream of smoke rings.
“What you lack now isn’t brute force, but combat skills.”
I stayed silent, listening intently as he continued.
“How do you improve combat skills? Through real battles. And in real battles, it’s only through failure that you discover your shortcomings.” Hearing this, I felt unexpectedly moved. I had thought this old man was just tormenting me, but it turned out that his strictness had been for my own good.
“Your body was already strong before, but now, after soaking in the medicinal pool, it has reached a whole new level,” he remarked before letting out a sigh. “Even though the herbs in the pool are valuable, they shouldn’t have given you this level of physical toughness. Ordinary blades shouldn’t harm you now.”
“Can I stop bullets too?” I had tested the effectiveness of my body under Mei’er’s hint. Blades could only leave bruises at most; they couldn’t even cut my skin.
Hearing this, Long Qingyang burst into laughter. “Foolish child, firearms are not something mere mortals can withstand!”
The meaning was clear: if someone sh0t me, I’d still die.
“Then what’s the point of this training? If someone uses a gun to assassinate my protectee, wouldn’t they still die? And if they die, what am I even here for?” I asked, puzzled.
“If you can’t withstand it, avoid it!” Long Qingyang smiled knowingly. “Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘Among all martial arts, speed reigns supreme’?” (G: who gets this reference?.)
“Of course I’ve heard it,” I replied with a grin.
“Since your body is sufficiently strong now, it’s time to focus on refining your movements!” Long Qingyang tapped the ashes from his pipe, hooked it onto his belt, and stood up.
I blinked in surprise. “No more beatings?”
“Oh, that will still continue. But you’ve had your fill for now, so take a short break.” He said this without even glancing back.
“So how do we train movement techniques?” I asked quietly, following behind him.
Long Qingyang stroked his long beard. “Just follow me.”
When we reached the doorway, my eyes were blindfolded again. Though I couldn’t see him, I knew he was nearby, so I asked, “Master, do we have to train movement techniques outside?”
“Naturally.” Long Qingyang’s eyes weren’t blindfolded, which left me puzzled as to why mine had to be.
After driving for a while, the blindfold was removed, and I found myself even more confused—the car had stopped in the middle of a bustling market. What on earth was Long Qingyang planning?
I got out of the car with him and asked in disbelief, “We’re training movement techniques here?”
“Of course. To train movement techniques, you need to be where there are lots of people.” He lit his pipe again.
“And how exactly are we supposed to train?” I muttered, frustrated by the mystery behind his methods.
“Like this!” Long Qingyang tossed his pipe into my hands, vanished into the crowd in the blink of an eye, and returned just three seconds later with a wallet in hand.
I froze for a moment, then realization struck—damn it, was he asking me to pickpocket people?
Still in disbelief, I hesitantly asked, “You want me to steal things?”
“Not only steal, but also return them!” Long Qingyang disappeared again, and when he reappeared, his hands were empty.
“Now it’s your turn.” He snatched his pipe back from me and began puffing away.
“You—you can’t be serious!” I stammered, deeply suspicious that this old man was messing with me.
“Hmph!” He snorted coldly. “Are you underestimating the art of stealing?”
“You said, ‘Among all martial arts, speed reigns supreme.’ What does that have to do with stealing?” I was on the verge of collapsing from frustration—why were his training methods always so bizarre?!
“The essence of stealing is the same as martial arts: speed, precision, and decisiveness! If you don’t believe me, you can go back to getting beaten.” With that, Long Qingyang headed toward the car. I quickly blocked his way. “I believe you, okay?”
Satisfied, Long Qingyang no longer mentioned returning to the base. “I’ll be watching you closely—don’t try to fake your way through this.”
“So, do I… start stealing now? No—start practicing movement techniques?” I stuttered, then turned and prepared to dive into the crowd.
But before I could take another step, Long Qingyang kicked me square in the rear. “Get moving!”
That kick sent me stumbling several steps before I regained my balance.
Taking a deep breath, I ventured into the crowd.
Since Long Qingyang was watching from the outside, I couldn’t fake my way through. After all, even six elite soldiers had been easily taken down by him. Compared to them, my skills were nothing.
Just then, I spotted a girl with flashy makeup ahead. Her wallet peeked out from her back pocket—an ideal target.
I stretched my fingers, cracking the knuckles, and thus began my grand mission of theft—no, “my grand practice of movement techniques”!
Sponsor Chapters at the Patreon Shop: Along with BuymeaCoffee where you can use your local currency.
The Shop section on Patreon can be used as a way to make a one-time-payment. I will be creating products in the Shop section with the title of the webnovels. It will only have an image as the product, but it will count as the payment for the Sponsored Chapters.
For example: You will buy the product with the title “Flower Stealing Master” to sponsor a chapter for the novel. As far as I know, you can buy the same product multiple times, so you should be able to sponsor as many chapters you want. I hope it was easy to understand.
Introducing CN WN Bundle ($15) for those who prefer to read only CN webnovels. This bundle gives you access to all the advance chapters of the Chinese Webnovels on Goblinslate immediately, and will stay ahead of the regular release for the month! Get it on Patreon!
That means, you get:
FSM – Four Advance Chapters! ($10)
DCFD – Two Advance Chapters! ($5)
AM – Two Advance Chapters! ($5)
IDT – Two Advance Chapters! ($5)