Chapter 50

Hua Su looked at Jiang Feng and asked, "What did you see just now?"

Jiang Feng described it truthfully: "I saw outside my body. I was a ball of bright light, and there were two even brighter lights nearby, which should be you and Pingluan Mountain. In addition, there were many other lights..."

He looked towards the other end of the courtyard, gazing at the pear trees, and muttered, "They should be them. They also absorb Ming Force like humans..."

Hua Su was silent for a while, then sighed, "If it weren't for your impure bloodline, you would be a prodigy! You haven't even entered the realm, yet your consciousness can already sense the world of Ming Force!"

He nodded and said, "You're right. Everything in this world relies on Ming Force to survive. Martial cultivators, ordinary humans, plants, trees, birds, and beasts—all depend on Ming Force. Continue to feel it, and look at this world with a different perspective!"

His words were filled with many emotions, and Jiang Feng, moved, nodded and said, "Yes, I will!"

Hua Su took a deep breath and turned to ask, "What about you? What did you feel?"

Pingluan Mountain loudly said, "The Ming Force at noon feels great, like drinking a fine wine!"

Hua Su stared at him for a while, then suddenly sneered coldly, resuming his usual sarcasm, "Congratulations, you truly have a childlike heart." His expression then turned serious, "Your perception ability is even worse than a complete novice!"

He waved his hand and walked into the room, turning back at the threshold, "You two took one and a quarter hours for the previous task, which exceeded the time limit. Lunch today is canceled."

Only then did Jiang Feng and Pingluan Mountain remember Hua Su's previous words. They exchanged a glance, and Pingluan Mountain huffed, "Just absorbed Ming Force, who needs to eat!"

He wasn't wrong. After cultivation, the energy of Ming Force filled their bodies, bringing a strong sense of satisfaction, and they didn't feel hungry at all.

However, their training didn't end in the morning.

After the midday training, Hua Su led them to the backyard and said coldly, "Today's afternoon training is this."

Hua Su tapped the stone table, where ten black cylinders were neatly arranged, dull and unremarkable.

Pingluan Mountain picked one up and weighed it, surprised, "Stone?"

Hua Su said, "It's called ancient flint. Your task for this afternoon is to make them all bloom."

Pingluan Mountain was shocked, "Stone? Make stone bloom? Are you kidding?!"

Hua Su gave him a look filled with his usual sarcasm and picked up another one without a word.

Suddenly, a pale golden light floated on his palm, flowing like water towards the base of the stone cylinder.

The dull ancient flint gradually began to shine, as if something was about to surge from its depths.

The ancient flint became brighter and brighter, and Jiang Feng squinted his eyes. He noticed that the surface of the stone seemed to be changing!

Sure enough, cracks appeared on the stone column, growing larger and larger, eventually breaking into stone flakes. The flakes flipped outward, layer upon layer, indeed like a stone flower blooming!

Finally, the entire ancient flint turned into a black flower, with a lustrous glow on the petals, as if it had suddenly come to life.

Hua Su placed the stone flower in a dish on the table, and Jiang Feng, enlightened, said, "It can absorb Ming Force and change!"

He picked one up and felt it in his hand.

As soon as he injected Ming Force, the sensation was very clear. Inside the ancient flint, it seemed to have a network of veins, through which Ming Force could flow.

However, these veins were not very smooth, and some areas required effort to open. Only when Ming Force filled every corner of the stone veins would the stone flower bloom.

In essence, this was still a Ming Force control training, but this time, the required control was even more refined.

Hua Su took another one and placed it on the table, pointing to the dish, "Ten, two hours. As usual, if you don't finish, no dinner."

He looked Pingluan Mountain up and down, smiled sardonically, and turned to leave.

Pingluan Mountain was stunned, pulling Jiang Feng and calling, "Hey, tell me, what does he mean? Does he look down on me? He definitely looks down on me!"

Jiang Feng rolled his eyes and shoved the ancient flint into his arms, "Less talk, you're indeed not very good at this. If you don't want to be looked down on, show him!"

Pingluan Mountain shouted, "I'll do it!"

...

...

Hua Su was unlike any teacher they had ever met or imagined.

His training methods were varied and strange. Some were clearly for a specific purpose, but others, even Jiang Feng couldn't explain.

He always spoke with sarcasm, feeling uncomfortable if he didn't mock them ten times a day.

Moreover, for some reason, he was particularly unfriendly to Pingluan Mountain. Any small issue would be magnified a hundred times, and he would mock in various ways.

Jiang Feng was slightly better off, but only in that he was mocked less often.

Hua Su didn't care what they thought, only if they completed his training tasks. Even if they did, he would always find something to mock them; if they didn't... needless to say, either no food or double the next training, always making them suffer.

Every two days, Hua Su would change the training method. But there was one task they did every day: making the ancient flint bloom. Ten flowers a day, without fail.

Moreover, the time he required was getting shorter, from two hours to one and a half hours, and finally to half an hour...

Jiang Feng and Pingluan Mountain became more familiar with the stone veins of the ancient flint, and the speed of making them bloom increased.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Feng and Pingluan Mountain had been in Linxi County for ten days.

For ten days, they hadn't stepped out of the Far Mountain Martial Hall, completing all their training inside.

That afternoon, Pingluan Mountain was extremely depressed—according to the usual routine, he had been found an excuse by Hua Su and mocked with sarcasm and bitterness.

To be honest, he had already gotten used to Hua Su's attitude over these ten days, but he didn't expect that the other party could still break the limits and mock him until his face turned red.

He fell onto the stone table and said in a low voice, "Old Jiang, tell me, what does Mr. Hua have against me? I can't take it anymore!"

Jiang Feng was speechless and shook his head. He could see that although Hua Su had a bad personality, his attitude towards Pingluan Mountain was very different from his own. He occasionally saw Hua Su staring at Pingluan Mountain with a gloomy look, as if seeing something else through him.

Jiang Feng said, "Just assume that Mr. Hua's words are not directed at you."

Pingluan Mountain shouted, "But he's clearly targeting me!"

Jiang Feng patted his shoulder comfortingly. He reached out and picked up a piece of ancient flint from the table. After a few breaths, golden light spread over the stone column, and a black flower bloomed at a visible speed. Compared to the beginning, his speed was more than ten times faster!

He said, "No matter what, I think the training methods Mr. Hua uses are still very good. I can feel the obvious changes."

He clenched his fist and could clearly feel the Ming Force flowing through his muscles, bringing an incredibly vibrant vitality, more vivid than before.

Due to his bloodline limitations, the amount of Ming Force he could use was less than others, so controlling Ming Force became even more important.

He put down the stone flower and lightly tapped his finger in the air, and small sparks surrounded his finger, making a soft crackling sound.

This was another improvement to his Lightning Palm. With stronger control, he could use it more freely.

Pingluan Mountain rolled his eyes and muttered, "Skill and character are two different things... and skill..."

"Finished?"

Hua Su's voice suddenly sounded behind them.

Pingluan Mountain, caught talking behind someone's back, jumped in surprise and looked at Hua Su nervously.

Hua Su walked behind them, said nothing more, just glanced at the table and said, "You've been here for ten days, it's time to go out and try."

Pingluan Mountain's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Go out and try? Where?"

Hua Su sneered, "Is practicing martial arts just for show?"

Pingluan Mountain, long accustomed to his way of speaking, had even brighter eyes, "So, we can finally go out and fight?"

Hua Su hummed and threw each of them a leather bag, "Your task today is to go to the Twilight Forest and fill these bags."

These were special leather bags for storing materials from strange beasts. Jiang Feng and Pingluan Mountain immediately understood, exchanged a glance, and nodded simultaneously, "Understood!"

...

...

The Twilight Forest is located in the middle of Yushui Prefecture, roughly fifty times the size of Linxi County.

In the forest, ancient trees towered, and ordinary wild animals were very rare. Most were Ming Beasts.

Jiang Feng had seen descriptions of this place in books before. The books said that the forest had existed for thousands of years, and powerful Ming Beasts lived deep within, making it absolutely forbidden to venture too far.

The forest's most distinctive feature was the abundance of Ming Plants.

Ming Plants are a special type of plant, similar to Ming Beasts, with a core inside. Due to the core, Ming Plants have a certain degree of independent will, are more aggressive, and can use various special abilities.

However, these details were only theoretical for Jiang Feng. He had never seen Ming Plants before and had no experience dealing with them.

Pingluan Mountain was the same. The area around Luming Town was all hills, with sparse forests that lacked the conditions for Ming Plants to grow.

Hua Su brought them to the edge of the Twilight Forest and said casually, "As long as you live, you will always face new situations. Go, experience it well, and come back alive... if you die, it's just bad luck."

Pingluan Mountain secretly spat twice and muttered, "Words of a child, may all be well... I will definitely come back alive!"

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Feng had already darted into the forest like a gust of wind. Pingluan Mountain called out, "Old Jiang!" and followed quickly.

---

fatfox911 and zhesha, thank you! Also, welcome new friend zhing! A friend in the book review section mentioned that the previous chapter had a feel of a master of mechanisms. Yes, that's the style I like...

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