53: Chapter 53 Talent

Early morning in Kyoto, the air held a hint of chill.

On the wide, tree-lined avenue, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows.

Su Yu and Lin Xiaoxiao walked side by side on the road to Imperial Capital First Martial Arts University.

On Su Yu's back was a long, narrow object wrapped in layers of thick black cloth.

That was the Martial Emperor-level weapon Lin Xiaoxiao had just delivered that morning—the yuanlong spear.

Although it was wrapped tightly in black cloth, the faint, icy murderous aura it exuded still made passing pedestrians subconsciously avert their eyes and give it a wide berth.

Today, Lin Xiaoxiao was wearing a well-tailored white Capital Martial Arts University uniform.

Her high ponytail swayed back and forth behind her head with her brisk steps.

Pure and beautiful.

Combined with the confident temperament unique to a young lady from a top-tier noble family, she was turning heads almost everywhere she went on the street.

But right now.

This young lady of the Lin family was paying absolutely no attention to the admiring gazes around her.

Her eyes would drift from time to time toward the long, black-wrapped object on Su Yu's back.

Her eyes were filled with irrepressible curiosity and intrigue.

Finally.

When they passed the third intersection, Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't hold back anymore.

She quickened her pace to get in front of Su Yu, turned around, and walked backwards.

With her hands behind her back, she leaned forward slightly.

Her clear, large eyes stared straight at Su Yu.

"Su Yu."

"Hmm?" Su Yu lifted his eyelids and glanced at her.

"Give me the inside scoop, won't you?"

Lin Xiaoxiao blinked, her tone carrying a rare hint of ingratiation.

"That... Form-Manifesting Spear Intent, how on earth did you comprehend it?"

Ever since she saw Su Yu conjure a solid spear with his bare hands in the apartment that morning, this question had been scratching at her heart like a kitten's claws.

It was too incredible.

It defied all common sense of martial arts.

"I went back and asked my dad yesterday."

Seeing that Su Yu didn't speak, Lin Xiaoxiao continued on her own.

"My dad said that things like Martial Will are extremely profound and mysterious."

"Even those peerless geniuses with astonishing comprehension need to hover on the edge of life and death countless times, or sit in meditation for years at a specific opportunity, before they can barely touch the threshold of 'Micro-Perception'."

"As for 'Shape-Shifting'..."

Lin Xiaoxiao swallowed hard and lowered her voice a little.

"I heard that in the entire Great Xia Kingdom, you can count the number of people who have comprehended Shape-Shifting Will before the age of thirty on one hand!"

"And you're only eighteen!"

"Plus, you only just had a flash of insight into a prototype at Weiming Lake yesterday afternoon, and by this morning, you've already achieved Shape-Shifting?!"

Lin Xiaoxiao stopped in her tracks.

She grabbed Su Yu's arm, her face full of thirst for knowledge.

"Tell me honestly, is there some special technique?"

"Is there a chant?"

"Does it require a specific breathing method, combined with some high-frequency oscillation of mental power?"

"Or..."

Lin Xiaoxiao made a meditation gesture with her hands pressed together.

"Do you have to suppress all your Qi and blood into your Dantian, and then let your consciousness sink into some state of absolute etherealness to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"

Watching Lin Xiaoxiao's earnest attempt to analyze and even explain this phenomenon using martial arts theory.

Su Yu stopped walking.

He looked at the girl in front of him, her eyes filled with expectation.

In the depths of his eyes, a twitch of utter helplessness flashed by.

Technique?

Chant?

Breathing method?

Su Yu sighed deeply in his heart.

He really wanted to tell Lin Xiaoxiao the truth.

But the truth was often more absurd than a lie.

Teach?

How could he teach this?!

Should he tell her that the so-called technique was carrying a giant suitcase to a 24-hour self-service bank in the middle of the night?

Should he tell her that the so-called breathing method was listening to the crisp mechanical friction sound of an ATM spitting out cash?

Should he tell her that the so-called state of absolute etherealness was piling ten million in cash on the carpet, then watching it evaporate into thin air, feeling so heartbroken he couldn't breathe?!

Su Yu scratched his head.

His usually calm face revealed a rare trace of conflict.

This kind of "pay-to-win" thing.

It couldn't be taught!

He couldn't really teach her how to become a heartless cash-withdrawal machine, could he?

What's more, the system was his biggest secret; even when facing Lin Xiaoxiao, who had helped him all along, he absolutely could not reveal a single word.

"Can you... teach me?"

Seeing Su Yu scratch his head, Lin Xiaoxiao thought he was hesitating.

She shook Su Yu's arm, her tone softening, carrying a hint of a young girl's coquettishness.

"Although I practice fist techniques, not the spear."

"But Martial Will leads to the same destination regardless of the path."

"If I could also comprehend some kind of Fist Intent or something, then in the future at Capital Martial Arts University, let's see who would dare mess with us!"

Su Yu looked at her.

He remained silent for a full five seconds.

Then, he averted his gaze and looked toward the street in the distance.

His tone was flat, forcing himself to put on an inscrutable appearance.

"There is no technique."

"And there is no chant."

Su Yu bit the bullet and began to spout nonsense.

"It was just... a natural progression."

"Yesterday, I stared at the broken spear in the center of the lake for a while. When I slept at night, I had a very long dream."

"In the dream, I was waving a spear the whole time."

"After I woke up, I felt it."

"And then I comprehended it."

Su Yu finished, even he felt this was utter nonsense.

Achieved Shape-Shifting just by dreaming?

If an old monster like Director Chu Kuang, who had practiced the spear his whole life, heard this, he would probably be so angry he'd cough up three liters of blood on the spot.

However.

Lin Xiaoxiao was stunned after hearing this.

She didn't doubt that Su Yu was lying to her.

Because in her perception, Su Yu was an out-and-out peerless monster.

The world of a monster was something ordinary people could never understand anyway.

"Just... a dream, and you comprehended it?"

Lin Xiaoxiao let go of Su Yu's arm.

On her pure and beautiful face, a deep sense of loss and defeat was visibly emerging.

She lowered her head.

Looking at her own fair, slender hands.

These hands had been soaked in priceless high-grade medicinal baths since she was a child, throwing thousands of punches every day, and even had subtle calluses on the knuckles.

She thought she had worked hard enough and that her talent was outstanding enough.

But in front of Su Yu's "unreasonable" flash of insight.

All her efforts seemed so pale and powerless.

"Yeah..."

Lin Xiaoxiao sighed softly.

Her voice was a bit low.

"Talent is something that can't be taught anyway."

"What you can see through at a glance, others might spend their whole lives failing to even touch the threshold."

She kicked a small pebble on the side of the road.

The pebble rolled and fell into the sewer grate.

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat heavy.

Su Yu watched Lin Xiaoxiao's dejected appearance, opened his mouth, wanting to say something to comfort her.

But the words stopped at his lips, and he swallowed them back.

After all, he couldn't really pull out a stack of cash and tell her, "You can get stronger too as long as you pay."

Just as Su Yu was considering whether to change the subject.

Lin Xiaoxiao, who was in front, suddenly paused her steps.

Immediately after.

She suddenly lifted her head!

The previous loss and dejection were swept away in an instant!

In her beautiful, large eyes, an incredibly bright light was rekindled!

Her ponytail whipped through the air in a proud and stubborn arc.

"However!"

Lin Xiaoxiao turned around, hands on her hips.

Lifting her snow-white chin slightly, she looked at Su Yu like a proud little swan.

"Don't think you can shake me off just like that!"

"My talent isn't bad either!"

Su Yu was slightly taken aback.

Looking at this young lady whose mood shifted shockingly fast, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Lin Xiaoxiao watched Su Yu's expression, feeling exceptionally satisfied.

She gave a light hmph, and a smug smile curled at the corners of her mouth.