Chapter 4 of 100
Chapter 4
9 min read2,157 words
"Rabbit?"
Jiang Feng carefully placed the rabbit on the table and said worriedly, "It seems to be injured, Miss, could you take a look?"
The young lady examined it closely and said, "This is not an ordinary rabbit. It should be a first-stage Bright Beast, the Luoxiao Rabbit."
Bright Beasts are a special kind of wild animal. Humans need to obtain the Bright Heart Seed to use Bright Power, but they can use it naturally from birth. Some Bright Beasts are gentle, while others are fierce. Through Bright Power, they all possess various special abilities.
Bright Beasts can be strong or weak, but even the weak ones are dangerous to ordinary people. However, there are rules in the world. Bright Beasts have very high requirements for their living environment. In the outer area of Taowu Mountain, there are only ordinary wild animals, and almost no Bright Beasts appear. But the deeper you go into the mountain, the more and stronger the Bright Beasts become. It is said that in the deep mountains, there are very powerful high-stage Bright Beasts, and no one from the Jiang family dares to venture deep into them.
Jiang Feng's small valley is on the outskirts of Taowu Mountain, which should be very safe, with no Bright Beasts. How did this rabbit appear?
The young lady found a book, flipped through it, and said, "According to the description in this book of strange beasts, this Luoxiao Rabbit should be less than a year old, with very weak abilities. It might have been driven here by other wild animals. Hmm... look, it has an injury here."
The young lady's hand gently stroked the rabbit's body, and a faint white light enveloped it. The rabbit's wounds quickly healed, and except for the fur that hadn't fully grown back, there was no visible sign of injury.
Jiang Feng raised his head and looked deeply at the young lady.
The Medicine Clan can heal themselves and others, and Jiang Feng could only make his own injuries heal faster. The young lady, however, possessed extremely powerful healing abilities, indicating that her Medicine Clan bloodline was astonishingly pure.
She was believed to have "ancestral blood," which was actually the main reason for her high status in the Jiang family.
The Jiang family is a remnant of the Medicine Clan, with ancient blood flowing through their veins. In the area around Luming Town, they are considered a large clan. However, the mixing of bloodlines has been going on for too long, making them increasingly mixed.
Bright Heart Seeds have different levels, with the lowest being the first ring and the highest being the ninth ring. Only those above the fifth ring are considered "high-grade Bright Heart Seeds."
But now, even the young people of Northern Jiang typically only receive first or second ring Bright Heart Seeds at the age of sixteen. These seeds are of such low grade that they are very difficult to cultivate. As a result, in the past ten years, very few young people have been able to pass the major exams, and even if they do, it is only the lowest level of the county exam. The Jiang family has been gradually declining.
But the young lady is different. When she was born, a rare ancestral phenomenon appeared during her bloodline test. This means that she has 90% Medicine Clan blood, with an extremely high degree of purity.
Everyone believes that as soon as she turns sixteen, she will receive a high-grade Bright Heart Seed.
Therefore, the Jiang family regards her as a treasure, carefully cultivating her.
She is exceptionally talented, mastering all the martial arts of the Jiang family by the age of twelve. The Jiang family has also gathered a large number of other martial arts for her to read. Although she doesn't have time to practice them all, in terms of breadth of knowledge, she is unparalleled in the Jiang family.
The longer Jiang Feng spends with her, the more he admires her. He believes that as long as she obtains the Bright Heart Seed and cultivates to a certain level, she will definitely pass the major exams! Not just the county exam, but the state and provincial exams as well. At that time, the Nine Heavens Continent's Zhu Tian Kingdom will see another shining star, on par with figures like Xi Longshou and Wang Qianchuan!
The young lady's long lashes flickered, and she let out a light "hmm": "So cute, it even has a birthmark behind its ears!"
Jiang Feng looked down and indeed saw a pink mark behind the rabbit's ear, resembling a cherry blossom petal. The young lady had already healed its external injuries, but its eyelids fluttered and then drooped again, still looking weak and lifeless.
The young lady examined it for a while and said in confusion, "Its external injuries are healed, and there are no internal injuries. Why hasn't it recovered?"
She observed it for a bit more and said, "Let's leave it here and see how it does."
Her snow-white fingers stroked the Luoxiao Rabbit's white fur, and her pink fingernails were as beautiful as cherry blossoms. Jiang Feng stared at her fingers for a while, and his cheeks suddenly felt warm.
He scratched his face and changed the subject: "Miss, you'll be an adult in a month, right?"
At sixteen, one becomes an adult, and the Bright Heart Seed trial is the most important coming-of-age ceremony. As long as one fuses with the Bright Heart Seed, it marks a new beginning in life.
The young lady's fingers paused, but her expression remained calm. She said, "Yes, in a month."
Jiang Feng thought, no wonder she's the young lady. If it were him, he would probably be too excited to sleep. But she is still so calm, she's amazing.
He mused, "After obtaining the Bright Heart Seed, Miss will start cultivating and prepare for the major exams, right? With Miss's abilities, you will definitely achieve excellent results in the major exams! After the exams, have you thought about which sect you want to join?"
"Which sect... " The young lady's voice carried a hint of a bitter smile, "Any of them would be good..."
Jiang Feng agreed, "Yes, obtaining the Bright Heart Seed, passing the major exams, and joining any sect would be great. But I think Miss should aim higher! Fuyun Sect? Tenglong Sect? Miss, I think you can definitely try for the four great academies!"
Mentioning the four great academies, Jiang Feng's eyes lit up.
The four great academies—Guzhu, Beihu, Xiwang, and Rixia—have existed for a thousand years in the Nine Heavens Continent. Almost all the top figures in the continent's history have come from these four great academies.
They are the dream of all young people on the continent, and everyone is proud to enter them.
Mentioning the four great academies, the young lady couldn't help but straighten her back. She murmured, "Yes, if I could enter one of the four great academies, I would die without regrets!"
...
At this moment, Lady Jiang had just returned and was angrily speaking to the Jiang family patriarch, Jiang Tengqing.
"That little ingrate, an ungrateful white eye wolf, actually kicked me out!"
She slammed the table, "The eldest son of the Cheng family from Baishi City is a match that can't be found even with a lantern! She actually doesn't even look at it, it's simply, simply too much!"
Jiang Tengqing was slowly sipping tea. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, "The Cheng family of Baishi City is not the Cheng family of Longze City. She's not wrong. The Medicine Clan, the stronger the power, the stronger the bloodline ability. Once she fuses with the Bright Heart Seed, the families that come to propose might be even better. At that time, if we spread the word, even the main branch of the Cheng family from Zhoulin might come knocking!"
The Cheng family of Baishi City is just a distant branch of the Cheng family of Longze City, and their strength is incomparable.
Lady Jiang thought for a moment, and her heart warmed. She said angrily, "Such a good match, it's really a bargain for her!"
"Whether it's a bargain or not, you know in your heart," Jiang Tengqing said slowly, "Medicine Clan bloodline... heh, of course, it's a treasure that everyone wants, but how to use it is another matter. Whether she can live long is uncertain, why get angry with her?"
Lady Jiang huffed, "That's true, no matter how good the fortune, one must have the life to enjoy it!"
The couple exchanged a knowing smile. Suddenly, a steward rushed over and reported, "Lord, just now, Jiang Twelve reported that they were beaten by Jiang Feng from Southern Jiang in Taowu Mountain."
"Jiang Feng?" As the patriarch, Jiang Tengqing couldn't possibly know everyone in the family of over a thousand people. But hearing Jiang Feng's name, his expression changed, "He's being raised in Southern Jiang, how could he have the ability to beat Jiang Twelve?"
The steward had already investigated the entire situation before coming and quickly reported, "A year ago, for some reason, Jiang Feng gained the young lady's favor..."
After hearing the steward's report, Jiang Tengqing's expression was uncertain. Lady Jiang hurriedly said, "Lord, that little ingrate has some ability. What if she trains him well and causes trouble?"
Jiang Tengqing glared at her, "Don't talk nonsense, that's our young lady! Hmph, don't worry!"
He picked up his cup again and said coldly, "To have the ability to cause trouble, one must first obtain the Bright Heart Seed! If that boy could fuse with the Bright Heart Seed, he wouldn't be here..."
"But, he can win the young lady's favor, so he must have some ability..."
Inside the room, the patriarch and his wife were talking, while outside, a young man stood by a pillar, his expression uncertain.
...
...
"Martial arts are the methods of power, and the most important power is Bright Power. Without Bright Power, martial arts are like a tree without roots, and cannot unleash their true strength."
"I know the Bright Heart Seed is the most important... but I have an idea..."
Jiang Feng bit the end of his pen, furrowed his brow, and thought for a long time. He drew a person on the paper, clearly a man. Then, he drew a woman next to him.
"The body shape, height, weight, and muscle distribution of men and women are different. No, not just men and women, every person's detailed conditions are different. Why can different people use the same martial arts? This is not right."
The young lady sat beside him, gently stroking the rabbit's body, and raised an eyebrow, "If martial arts could be tailored to different people, that would be best. But who has that ability? Moreover, even the same person can gain or lose weight, and their Bright Power cultivation can change day by day. Changing martial arts with every small change, let alone designing them, would be impossible to learn."
Jiang Feng nodded, "You have a point, so martial arts must be able to accommodate some changes. But I still think different people should use different martial arts."
He thought for a moment and wrote a few lines on the paper, saying, "How about this, we break a person down into different factors. Height, weight, strength, speed, explosive power, willpower... we add all these conditions and find the most suitable formula. In the end, we will get a result, which is what we want."
The young lady said in surprise, "This is a novel idea, but it would be very complicated to calculate."
Jiang Feng said, "Yes, but we can leave some room for improvement and optimize continuously. When the calculation is small, we get a simpler result; when the calculation is sufficient, we get a better one..."
He spoke confidently, and the young lady looked at him with a strange expression, as if she were seeing him for the first time.
This bold innovation and unique idea, if completed, would be a groundbreaking achievement!
She smiled slightly and nodded, "Not bad, let's give it a try!"
Jiang Feng nodded vigorously. He particularly enjoyed talking to the young lady like this. No matter what strange ideas he had, the young lady would listen seriously and give serious feedback. It was as if she had endless tolerance, able to accept everything about him.
His eyes shone, and he was about to continue speaking when the door suddenly burst open, and a person strode in, sneering, "A man and a woman alone in a room, how shameless!"
...
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