Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Makings of a Third-Class Martial Artist

To be fair, at least in Yuan Guang County, Yang Qianqian truly deserved to be called a “genius.”

Even among Entering Grade Martial Artists, there were different tiers.

For example, someone like Yang Qianqian, who cultivated Inner Qi through a Middle Grade Skill, would be considered to have achieved a high-quality entry into the grade.

However, while graded Cultivation Skills were powerful, they were also incredibly difficult to master.

Many Martial Artists, after struggling for years without being able to master a graded Cultivation Skill, had no choice but to use an ungraded skill to reach Entering Grade.

But by doing so, their path on the Martial Dao after Entering Grade would become much more difficult to advance on.

That was why reaching Entering Grade using a Middle Grade Skill was one of the strict requirements for many Major Sects when recruiting disciples.

And Yang Qianqian, after arriving, didn’t waste any time. When she said she’d demonstrate, she did.

She had practiced the Five Beasts Pile Skill as a child.

Although this Skill was ungraded, it was a very reliable choice for building a foundation in the initial stages of martial arts training.

Yang Qianqian was beautiful, with a graceful figure. Aside from not having big “headlights,” everything else was just right and brimming with youthful energy.

The Pile Skill movements, which should have looked rather comical, were performed by her with a distinct sense of beauty.

At this moment, forget the other young men—even Zou Feng, who had just visited a brothel the previous night, found himself standing at solemn attention.

It couldn’t be helped. Since Jade Cross Building focused on being cost-effective, the girls there weren’t anything special.

Now, looking at Yang Qianqian, her stunning appearance was like a Qiu Xiang suddenly appearing in a pile of rejects.

But certain stances gave the impression of being wide open, causing thoughts like ’What a great opportunity’ to pop into Zou Feng’s mind from time to time.

He even felt the urge to use his Chaos Finger on her, just to see how she would react…

The next moment, Zou Feng shook his head hard, forcing these bold thoughts out of his mind.

’Weren’t the side effects of cultivating the Chaos Finger transferred to Yang Ling? Why am I thinking about all this weird stuff?’

After finishing her demonstration, Yang Qianqian let out a long breath and said, “Did you all understand?”

“When performing a stance, you can’t just imitate the form. The most important thing is to embody its corresponding Divine Charm!”

“When Standing Tiger Stance, you must imagine you’ve become a fierce tiger!”

In truth, Master Zhao, who had taught the Five Beasts Pile Skill before, had already explained these key points of the stances.

The problem was, knowing was one thing, but actually embodying the Divine Charm in a stance was far from simple.

“Go on and practice. Whoever performs the Tiger Stance best will be rewarded with one tael of silver!” Yang Qianqian’s final sentence instantly sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The Household Servants, as if injected with adrenaline, all began performing their stances with the ferocity of tigers.

Next, Yang Qianqian personally stepped in and actually began to instruct the Household Servants one by one.

This was far more detailed than Master Zhao’s previous instruction.

Of course, the reason Yang Qianqian was doing this was surely because she was bored out of her mind after being grounded.

But it still made the Household Servants weep with gratitude.

“Your Divine Charm is terrible! You call that a Tiger Stance? More like a Cat Stance, and a sick cat at that!”

“…Impressive. How did you manage to make a Tiger Stance look like a Dog Stance?”

“Your lower body is unstable. Did you skip a meal, or have you been frequenting the brothels too much?”

Although her guidance was meticulous, Yang Qianqian’s words were completely unfiltered.

But no one found it inappropriate. It was quite normal for a woman who practiced martial arts to be so straightforward.

Soon, Yang Qianqian arrived in front of Zou Feng.

After a few quick glances, she almost blurted out habitually, “This stance of yours is… is…”

She stammered for a moment, but the more she looked, the more something felt off, and she was left speechless.

’Almost as good as mine!?’

In the end, Yang Qianqian arrived at this unbelievable conclusion.

But after reaching this conclusion, she couldn’t accept it. She immediately circled Zou Feng, observing him in even greater detail.

But no matter how she looked at it, she had to admit: ’Damn it, what a perfect Tiger Stance…’

She couldn’t find a single flaw!

’By the way, how many days has it been since Father decided to have the Household Servants practice martial arts?’

’To think there’s such a talent among the servants of the mansion…’

Yang Qianqian was truly shocked. One had to know that it had taken her a good ten days to perfect her Tiger Stance back then.

“You… What’s your name?”

“This servant is named Zou Feng.”

With his Five Poison Palm at the level of “Entering the Hall and the Room” as a foundation, Zou Feng had no difficulty at all practicing these basic Pile Skills.

He had also intentionally “revealed his Talent,” precisely so Yang Qianqian would notice.

All of this was to lay the groundwork for his legitimate Martial Arts Entry in the near future, allowing him to escape his Lowly Status.

“Your Talent is quite good. Keep up the hard work!” Yang Qianqian nodded with a look of approval in her eyes, then tossed Zou Feng a tael of silver.

After a moment of surprise, Yang Qianqian didn’t pay it too much mind.

The reason was simple.

’He’s a talent, no doubt, but he’s too old to start practicing martial arts. At best, he’ll only ever be a Third-Class Martial Artist in the future.’

Besides, the Five Beasts Pile Skill was a basic, foundational technique—the simplest kind of Cultivation Skill.

’Although it took me ten days to master it back then, I was only five years old at the time.’

“Have you learned the other four stances?” Yang Qianqian asked again.

Zou Feng said, “Master Yang has already taught them.”

“Then perform the other four stances for me one by one. I’ll see if they’re up to par!”

The reason she made such a request was that she still found it hard to believe. How could a genius, possibly with more Talent than her own, just appear so casually?

But after Zou Feng demonstrated the remaining four stances, Yang Qianqian, still unable to find any flaws, started to get a strange look on her face again.

She had come here to instruct the Household Servants in their training because she was bored out of her mind and wanted to show off her own Talent.

But in the end, she had been completely upstaged by a mere Household Servant…

The only thing that gave Yang Qianqian some peace of mind was that Zou Feng had, after all, started his training too late.

Having missed the optimal age for martial arts training, it would be extremely difficult for him to advance much further.

Unless, of course, he took the path of the Evil Dao…

In any case, under normal circumstances, even if this Zou Feng trained his entire life, he wouldn’t escape the fate of a Third-Class Martial Artist.

He was nothing compared to a heaven-blessed prodigy like herself, who was about to enter the Celestial Essence Sword Sect and had a limitless future.

’That’s right, why should I bother competing with a servant in my own household?’

Thinking this, Yang Qianqian lost all interest in staying any longer.

“It’s so-so. You need more practice!”

With that, Yang Qianqian turned and left, her enthusiasm completely gone.

As the pampered and arrogant Miss of the Yang Mansion, she had never sincerely wanted to help the low-ranking Household Servants in the first place.

Just imagine the shock, envy, and subsequent despair shown by these low-ranking servants—who finally had a chance to practice martial arts—once they realized the immense gap between themselves and a prodigy…

For the young and proud Yang Qianqian, wasn’t appreciating this sort of human drama a form of entertainment in itself?

So even after noticing Zou Feng’s “Talent,” she wouldn’t take it seriously.

On the contrary, she would feel annoyed at being outshone.

According to her way of thinking, even if she was only five years old when she practiced the Five Beasts Pile Skill, she shouldn’t have been worse than a Household Servant of Lowly Status.

Watching Yang Qianqian suddenly arrive and then inexplicably leave, Zou Feng wasn’t surprised.

’Heh, the kind of drama where you show a bit of talent and are immediately appreciated by your master, given all sorts of better treatment, and singled out for special training? That only happens in novels.’

’A Household Servant is always a servant of Lowly Status, not a child of the Yang Family.’

’And this proud and arrogant Yang Qianqian… I can feel it… She’s clearly jealous that I have a cheat system!’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep