Super Soldier

Chapter 238: Dumbass’s Breakthrough

Mu Tingchuan and Master Hou sat in a pavilion while the beautiful Tang Xueyan danced among flowering shrubs.

Mu Tingchuan took a sip of warm tea, raised his head and looked at Master Hou as he grinned. “Master Hou, you look several years younger in just a few days.”

Master Hou smiled, “Really?”

Mu Tingchuan turned his head and fixed his eyes on Tang Xueyan who was surrounded by flowers. “Is it because of her?”

“Yes…” Master Hou sighed, “She looks so much like her. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“She’s certainly a spitting image of her.” Mu Tingchuan could understand Master Hou’s feelings. He once loved this girl. He was even willing to die for her. Yet afterward, she became his greatest anguish for the rest of his life.

Mu Tingchuan himself was in a complicated frame of mind, but he remained rational. He looked at Master Hou and asked, “Master Hou, did it ever occur to you that this girl suddenly showed up while we are at a crucial war with the Long Family…”

Master Hou smiled, “Perhaps this is a present from the gods. Maybe she’s her reincarnation, a chance for me to redeem my sins.”

Mu Tingchuan smiled bitterly, “I’m the one who should make atonement if it’s necessary. But I fear that it’s some kind of a plot.”

“What plot could it be? Zhuge Jiangnan’s counsel is totally ignored. Do you think Lord Long will win, given his brains? Besides, even if it’s some kind of a plot, I’m willing for it even if it costs me my life.”

Mu Tingchuan sighed, “Master Hou, that doesn’t sound like you.”

“People become old and old people will change…” Master Hou said gravely, “Anyway, I will not let the same incident happen again…”

“I understand,” Mu Tingchuan sighed.

“Zihou, come and take a look at this. The ants are moving.” Squatting on her heels, Tang Xueyan turned and looked at Jiang Zihou with a pure smile on her face.

Laughing, Jiang Zihou strode towards her. “What’s so interesting about ants moving?”

The old man and the young girl did look like a couple. Tang Xueyan was too shy to speak in front of the others and she only smiled happily when she was with Master Hou. Sometimes Jiang Zihou would wonder if it was all destined.

“It’s not boring at all. I sometimes feel happy watching the ants moving.”

“Really? Why is that? Explain it to me.”

Jiang Zihou stood up with a faint smile on his face.

Pointing at the ants lined up on the ground, Tang Xueyan explained while smiling, “They all line up to do one thing. Isn’t it a happy event? To accomplish one thing with the others? No one will bear unnecessary thoughts to do harm to others. I believe that’s the most joyful thing in the world.”

Jiang Zihou pondered for a moment and grinned, “You do have a point.”

Tang Xueyan sighed, “But people will always do something they dislike as long as they’re still living in this world. Happy or not, few in this world truly live for themselves.

Looking at this pure-hearted young girl, Jiang Zihou suddenly sensed a faint sadness in her. He felt sad too because what the girl said made him recall many things in the past, especially what happened dozens of years ago.

Jiang Zihou sighed, but then he put up a smile. “Maybe losing your memory is a good thing. If you never remember what you have been through in the past, then you can just live in this mansion without worry about anything for the rest of your life.”

Tang Xueyan stared at him and said, “I don’t why you are so kind to me, but I thank you, Zi Hou.”

Smiling, Jiang Zihou suddenly gave Tang Xueyan a gentle kiss on the forehead. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s all I ever want.”

Xiao Bing did not know how Master Hou had been the last two days. He was with Yezi. After he was wounded, Yezi seemed extremely afraid of losing him. So she had been accompanying him every day. She did not even go to the company, which almost broke Xiao Bing’s heart. She looked very strong on the outside, yet she had too much to bear in her heart. Xiao Bing could even imagine the reason for her fear, especially after all that had happened to her family.

Other than being with Yezi, Xiao Bing also went to the noodle house. But he wasn’t there for business but to teach martial arts to Dumbass and Zhan Hongyan. He even learned something after he exchanged opinions about martial arts with Gao Fei.

Currently, Xiao Bing was a master of the innate, and his comprehension was beyond Gao Fei’s imagination. Dumbass and Zhan Hong’s progress was tremendous under Xiao Bing’s guidance.

As a matter of fact, Dumbass was talented. Some people in this world are born to be powerful martial artists. But they are rare. Dumbass was of them. He was making huge progress with Gao Fei and Xiao Bing teaching him in turns.

As for Zhan Hongyan, though Gao Fei did not take her as his student, he taught her everything he knew. So she was gradually better at the way of killing. Now Dumbass had reached the pinnacle of Concealing-strength while Zhan Hongyan was at mid-level. Since Xiao Bing was enlightened in terms of comprehension, Dumbass could reach Transforming-strength at any time. A master of Transforming Strength could be regarded as a powerful martial artist who was cultivated both internally and externally. Though he was still not Mr. Buddha’s match, he was powerful enough in the underground world.

“Brother Bing, what’s wrong with me? Every time I fight I want to kill. I’ve never attained that perfect realm you told me about.”

They were both in the woods. Xiao Bing sat on the ground with his legs crossed. His eyes suddenly snapped open and fixed on Dumbass. Xiao Bing smiled as he stood up, “I get it. I get it.”

Bewildered, Dumbass scratched his head and asked, “What did you get? I’m so confused.”

Xiao Bing suddenly took a step forward, seeming to swat Dumbass with his palm. Dumbass gasped. It was as if the whole universe was covered by the palm. It came to him like Buddha lowering his palm. The power that came with it seemed about to crush every bone in Dumbass’s body.

Dumbass growled before it happened. He did not flinch. He didn’t even plan to defend himself. The earth quaked madly and cracked as he roared like a thunderbolt. Several gigantic trees were even uprooted and tumbled to the ground.

Dumbass delivered a counterblow with his palms. And immediately there were some changes. The concealing strength and the clear strength combined to form a formidable force. He had been stuck at the pinnacle of concealing-strength, but now he’d broken through.

Xiao Bing’s palm disappeared the moment Dumbass broke through and Dumbass’s counterblow ended up hitting at nothing.

Panting, Dumbass looked at his two hands. His eyes were aglow with excitement when he felt the power inside his body. It was several times stronger than before.

The sound of clapping hands drifted in from afar. Gao Fei strode towards them with Zhan Hongyan trailing behind. “I didn’t expect him to break through so fast with your help. It’s much quicker than I thought. But Hongyan has also reached the pinnacle of concealing-strength. I guess it won’t be long before she reaches Transforming-strength.”

Xiao Bing exclaimed with delight, “Really? That’s good to hear.”

Curious, Gao Fei asked, “How did you do it? I know Dumbass is a very talented man, but his ability to comprehend, the most important thing to reach Transforming-strength, is not that exceptional.”

“That’s true. Could it be that it’s easier for me to break through when I’m in a crisis? Is that why Brother Bing attacked me?”

Xiao Bing smiled, “It is, but not entirely. I’ve been contemplating on why you just couldn’t acquire that perfect realm. Then it occurred to me that the so-called perfect realm is normally considered as the union of attack and defense and the combination of hardness and softness. You are a simple-minded man. I assume that even if you spent ten years practicing, you wouldn’t have made a breakthrough.”

Dumbass scratched his head, “Am I that stupid?”

“It’s not because of that. It’s because we approached it the wrong way. You are different from others, so I need to think of a new way to train you. For you, the combination of softness and hardness is not important. Because you don’t need softness at all.”

“So what’s important to me?”

“It’s your fearlessness, the courage to fight even when you know you will die. When you were staring at death in the face, you weren’t thinking of ways to survive. Your instincts drove you to attack relentlessly. That’s what the gods endowed you with. The breakthrough came when you figured that out.”

Gao Fei pondered for a moment and nodded in approval. “Boss, you do have an exceptional understanding of martial arts. I assume even Lord Long is inferior to you on that matter.”

Xiao Bing grinned. Lord Long was a prodigy in martial arts. He could not have become what he was today otherwise. But he was still less powerful than Xiao Bing before the latter’s power was sealed. However, his comprehension was not sealed. It was the difference in physical strength that made him unable to defeat Lord Long.

Xiao Bing looked at Gao Fei and asked, “Now do you still think it’s wise to stay?”

Gao Fei hesitated for a moment, then he said, “If you were given ten years, you might stand a chance against Buddhism. But now…”

“I understand.” Xiao Bing sighed, “If we fight, we might survive. But if we flinch, we all will die. The most fearsome thing in life is faint-heartedness. If you flinch even once, you will never get the chance to fight for yourself…”

Gao Fei pondered for a bit. Then he suddenly bowed before Xiao Bing. It was the first time he had been impressed by Xiao Bing. “You taught me a great deal.”