The old lady’s eyes constricted in shock as she heard him say, “Wha—That’s impossible. Not even the greatest of geniuses can alter our core technique which has been refined through the long passage of time.”
The surrounding disciples’ eyes also widened in shock at his revelation.
“That is for me to decide, even if I can’t do it I want to try at least. Now can you please register these jade slips to my name?” Shen Yuan answered her before asking her to finish her work.
“Ah yes, sorry, just a minute. I will enter your data into the file first.” She was flustered at Shen Yuan’s monstrous comprehension ability.
The number of disciples gathered around continued to increase, yet they still couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening.
“How much do I have to pay for these?” He asked politely for the price of the techniques.
“For new disciples, starting 3 techniques are free.” The old lady calmed down and replied in a weak voice.
Shen Yuan’s eyes lit up, “Really? Damn, I missed a good opportunity today.” he lamented.
[Why are you acting such a miser? You are rich enough to buy all the techniques of the outer sect with your current fortune.]
Yue Lan’s mocking voice sounded in his head.
‘You don’t understand, I need to keep a frugal mindset for when I ascend to a higher plane else I get slapped in my face with poverty.’
He shook his head and headed towards the gate and soon saw Wan Ling coming out of a section of the library.
She approached him with a curious look on her face, She held a small manual in her hand, clearly excited about something that she had found inside of the library.
“Did you find what you were looking for, Senior Brother?” she asked with a bright smile after coming close to Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan nodded with a smile, “I did. The Radiant Lotus Cultivation Art will be good enough for me until I get inside the Inner sect. And I choose a few martial techniques as well. What about you? You seem quite happy with whatever you found.”
Wan Ling blushed a little, “I found a light-based defensive technique called Lotus Shield Formation. It’s not too high-level but it will help me until I reach the Inner sect as well.”
Shen Yuan glanced at the martial technique manual in her hand and smiled, “That’s a good choice. Defense is as important as offense, after all. And now, you have me as well, I’ll help you in training.”
Wan Ling’s eyes lit up with excitement, “Really? You will train with me, Senior Brother?”
‘Will Senior Brother really train with me?’ She thought as she still had lingering suspicions since her life was going too well.
Shen Yuan gave her a reassured smile, “Of course, after all, cultivating all the time gets boring and won’t have as good of an effect if you are not focused fully. It is good to take rest sometimes.”
Wan Ling nodded eagerly. “Thank you, Senior Brother. I’ll make sure to train hard.”
Shen Yuan gestured toward the exit. “Let’s head out then. We’ll begin our training today.”
Shen Yuan and Wan Ling left the library together, making their way back to the training ground. The sun had already risen high in the sky.
Wan Ling was still clutching her manual, glancing down at it from time to time. Seeing this Shen Yuan chuckled softly, “Why don’t you just put that in your storage ring?”
Wan Ling’s face turned a little red from embarrassment, “Cough, I’m just excited to get a new technique after such a long time.”
Shen Yuan chuckled softly at her response and didn’t ask more about it. Soon they reached the training grounds.
“Should we get a Combat Chamber to train now?” Shen Yuan asked lightly after looking at the packed training grounds.
Wan Ling’s cheeks flushed a bright pink as she thought, ‘Wait, wait, wait!! Training inside a private room, all alone with Senior Brother Shen Yuan?!?’
Shen Yuan saw her face heating up and asked, “Are you alright? What happened to you? You seem to be burning up.”
“Ahaha, nothing, nothing.” She hurriedly responded. “Yes, let’s take a private room, the training grounds are already filled with disciples.”
Shen Yuan nodded in agreement and went towards the Battle Chambers, where he paid for the room. The recipient blushed to see Shen Yuan as she was one of the disciples who listened to his speech yesterday.
“Th-thank you for your speech yesterday, Senior Brother. It really inspired me to continue working hard.” She gathered her courage and thanked Shen Yuan.
He smiled in response, “No need to thank me, I was just talking about what came to my mind. I hope you prosper on your path.” He bid her farewell and brought Wan Ling together with him.
The disciple looked at Wan Ling with a hint of jealousy in her eyes but soon shook her head and continued working.
Shen Yuan and Wan Ling soon entered the Battle Chamber, it was a huge room with reinforced walls and practice dummies for training. There was a rack of weapons as well to practice with.
He turned towards Wan Ling and said, “Let’s not use the new techniques just yet. You need more time to fully comprehend it before you can start practicing with it. Else you risk injuring yourself.”
Wan Ling nodded in agreement, “You’re right, Senior Brother. I haven’t had time to even read all of it properly. Then what should I practice for now?”
Shen Yuan smiled and stretched his arms, loosening his muscles as he spoke with a smirk on his face, “Simple. I want you to attack me with everything you’ve got.”
Wan Ling blinked in surprise, her eyes widening slightly. “Attack you? But Senior Brother…you are much stronger than me. I don’t want to get a one-sided beating.”
Shen Yuan chuckled, shaking his head, “Don’t worry about that. It’s the best way to learn and it’s faster as well. You’ll get valuable experience as well as I can help you identify your mistakes. Now, don’t hold back and attack, I won’t hurt you.”
Wan Ling hesitated, she knew the vast difference in their battle powers, even if the cultivation base was the same they were on two different worlds. The mere thought of attacking Shen Yuan, who had effortlessly broken records made her nervous.
“I-I don’t know, Senior Brother… I don’t want to hurt you, even though it’s unlikely that I can do it.” She still refused to attack him.
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow, amused by her hesitation. “Hurt me? You have got it all wrong. You have better chances to become immortal than to hurt me in your current state. You just need to think about how you can improve yourself rather than worrying about me. Now, come attack me.”
Wan Ling bit her lip, then took a deep breath, her eyes focusing on Shen Yuan. She got into her fighting stance, gathering her Qi and focusing it in her palms.
Her energy flared around her body as she launched a swift palm strike towards Shen Yuan.
