Now that I looked at the surroundings, many men are quite quiet…
I suspect it is because of Liu Mang defeating everyone before fighting me, for he is my brother in law and not a direct clansman…thought could his friendly visit be a part of a deeper scheme?
Hmm…But even if that is, why would the announcer not announce my victory? I defeated my until now undefeated rival!
Is he surprised?
“This…Wu Xiang is victorious!” the announcer finally shouted out. Many people cheered…
Then a rumbling laughter suppressed the cheers entered my ears, as my father exclaimed “Good!” three times.
On his face was an expression of joy…
An unusually great amount of joy.
“Xiang’er come here,” he said with a smile.
“Um, yes father,” I said as I jumped down the martial arts field.
My walking was quite fast, so in a few breaths, I arrived in front of him.
“I didn’t know you reached such a level of strength! Truly wonderful!” he laughed.
Hmm…before I fought in this tournament, I spent the last three years focusing on improving my martial arts.
It is likely that due to having a smaller amount of reference materials, I failed to see that my strength is considerable.
“It is but some meager brute force,” I said politely.
My father laughed and looked at me with a kind gaze.
“Do not demean yourself,” he said,” amongst the younger generation your strength is unrivaled! Even Liu Mang, who has a great bit of reputation in the jianghu as a genius, lost to you!”
“I see,” I said, unsure of how to reply to this.
Hmm...I suppose I did improve with rather great speed in the last three years.
“Well, you can go to the martial arts library to choose the skills you want,” he said as he threw something.
I caught it, and it was a seal with the character WU on it.
“Give it to the guardian at the library and he will let you even on the third floor!” he said.
“Very well father,” I said,” then excuse me!”
Thus I walked to the library.
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“Patriarch, do you think it is wise to let him onto the third floor?” an elder said.
“Hmm? Why would it not be?” the patriarch questioned.
“Well…the second Young Master is quite young-“Before the elder could finish, the rumbling voice of the patriarch interrupted.
“Third Elder, it is because my son is so young that I let him!” the patriarch said,” it is even a bit of a test for him.”
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The Third Elder looked surprised, as he put his hand on his forehead to think,” The token lets him choose martial arts of great quality…so it will test his decision making skills and his vision! Not only that, but it also forces him to make an important choice with so many options, so it can also show his decisiveness!”
“Exactly!” the patriarch said with a smile,” He is a great martial artist, who can even beat Liu Mang, a renowned genius several years older than him! But the patriarch of a clan must not only have valor.”
“The patriarch is unrivaled,” the Third Elder bowed, as did many others,” but I must say that the second young master has given various intelligent suggestions in the last three years…”
With a faint smile the patriarch spoke,” He did,” then suddenly he showed a powerless expression on his face,” but from what I’ve seen, those suggestions are strokes of brilliance he sadly can’t quite properly explain….”
“True…”
While such a discussion was held, Wu Xiang arrived to the martial arts library.
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“Halt!” the guardian Wu Guang said, then a weird expression appeared on his face,” Huh? It’s you?”
“Indeed! It is nice to see you, elder!” I said.
The man in front of me was tall, but thin, with an aged appearance and a long white beard. It was this man who helped me greatly.
“Why are you here?” he said as he recovered,” Your comprehension is utter shit! You barely learned the Great Strenght Technique! And that’s the simplest martial art I could find!”
Why is he mad? Does he think that I've decided to use my young master privilege to get some other technique?
The Great Strength technique is perfectly good for me! If I return to my imperial body, it is likely I would still be able to use it!
The old man is a retired elder, who served the family for many years. So I refer to him as ‘elder’, though I am unsure whether he outranks them.
“Sir, I won the martial arts tournament, so I want to pick more techniques from the third floor,” I said, keeping it to the point.
“Huh?” he made a weird face,” You? With Liu Mang, it’s not your turn to win-“ and before he finished I showed him the token with the symbol Wu.
“This!?” he looked surprised,” Well…I guess you brute forced your way to victory…” he faked a cough as he continued as he pointed upwards with his index finger,” Military spearmanship is one of the few counters to sword techniques! So learn it well and no pretty faced boy will be your match!”
“Thank you elder for your guidance,” I said with a salute, the corners of my lips going upwards.
He once caught me practicing it, and instead of wondering how I got it he gave me various instructions to reduce my openings.
“You-alright. Now, let me check your bones and muscles,” he said, and I complied.
For the sake of the tournament I wore simple robes today, so I took off my upper garments rather easily, and the elder started touching my musculature.
“To think that you have developed such a robust physique,” he muttered quietly,” and to achieve this level with the Great Strength technique…”
Is he admiring how I reached this level of strength with the Great Strength technique in merely three years? Is my physique a proof of it? Or is he admireing my physique?
“Is it hard to do so?” I questioned.
“Of course it’s hard! The Great Strength Technique is simple to understand and straightforward to progress with! Yet the diligence it requires for it to be effective is enormous! Else do you think it would be your turn to defeat Liu Mang?”
Now this is some genuinely interesting information.
“You are so knowledgeable, elder!” I praised him sincerely.
“Heh, of course,” he said with a chuckle as he faked a cough,” the Great Strength Technique was made in ancient times for talentless people to achieve something great. Now imagine if someone with a good talent such as you practiced it! Your Qi and Blood will obviously be richer than normal, so you will have greater strength than many warriors, especially those your age, and master other methods with greater ease!”
“Is that so?” I said,” Then I must thank you elder! You paved the way for my future!”
“No such things,” he said as he waved his hand dismissively,” It is you who made it work. Now, let me tell you about the token.”
“Elder, please advise!” I said.
The old man faked a cough as he looked at me,” The third floor is the foundation of our Wu family. But, you have that the patriarch’s token. Now, you must know that this is a rare opportunity for you, as out of the many martial arts you can find there, you can choose two.”
“I see! I will be careful with my choice!” I said.
“Of course, you will! Who wouldn’t be careful when choosing martial arts? But do you even know enough about them to choose? I hope you won’t choose some flowery skills,” he said.
Well, appearing handsome is not my priority, else I would not master military spearmanship as my main skill. Though I mastered it in my original body…but still!
“Of course, I won’t! But isn’t there the elder to guide me anyway?” I said.
The old man laughed,” You kid…All right, I’ll help you choose.”
And so, I got up to the third floor, and looked onto the vast collection of books and scrolls in front of me…