21: Chapter 21 Teaching Skills

Arriving in the courtyard, Meng Li and Tie Ruyun began to spar.

Based on his previous impressions, Tie Ruyun felt that Meng Li's Martial Arts were mediocre, so he didn't take it seriously at first.

But after a few rounds, he was taken aback.

In his estimation, even if he wasn't trying, Meng Li should have only been able to barely parry for a few rounds before losing. It wasn't that Meng Li had poor Aptitude, but rather that the Meng family's ancestral Martial Arts were truly average. Furthermore, Meng Li usually had to handle business affairs and didn't have much time to Cultivate, so his Martial Arts were naturally unremarkable.

Tie Ruyun's decision to spar with Meng Li this time did indeed have a hint of 'venting' his feelings, but more than that, he wanted to guide the other's Martial Arts and teach him the Tie family's ancestral Martial Arts.

He hadn't taught him before because their relationship hadn't reached that level yet.

The word 'ancestral' was not to be taken lightly.

No matter how good a relationship was, without the formal status of being 'one family,' ancestral Martial Arts could not be easily passed on. Even with that status established, Tie Ruyun's decision to pass his Martial Arts to Meng Li was due to special circumstances.

First, he had no son, only a daughter, Tie Xinlan, who was already betrothed to Meng Li.

Second, he knew Meng Li's character well and was satisfied with him.

Finally, Meng Li said that in the future, he would let one of their children take the Tie surname to continue the Tie family line.

With all these factors combined, Tie Ruyun finally considered teaching him Martial Arts.

However, after sparring with Meng Li this time, he unexpectedly discovered that the other's Martial Arts had changed significantly.

At first, it was similar to before, but after a few Moves, Meng Li's Moves changed. It was no longer just the Meng Family Fist; he had added some other Moves. Although they were still average routines, there was a difference after all.

Besides the Moves, there was also the Internal Energy.

Previously, Meng Li practiced the ancestral Meng Family Mind-Cultivation Technique. The Internal Energy produced by this Internal Skill was balanced and peaceful. Its drawbacks were slow progress and low efficiency, but its advantages were stability and solidness, with no risk of Qi Deviation. Even if his power was damaged, it wouldn't cause too much harm to himself.

Tie Ruyun had sparred with Meng Li's father in this world several times, so he naturally knew this.

But now, the Internal Energy Meng Li unintentionally revealed while attacking was tyrannical and domineering. In terms of quality, Tie Ruyun felt it was not inferior to his own Internal Energy.

This change greatly surprised Tie Ruyun.

Therefore, he quickly stopped and asked Meng Li with furrowed brows, "Why have your Martial Arts changed so much?"

Meng Li replied after some deliberation, "I had a fortuitous encounter while I was out and obtained a superior martial art, so I switched my cultivation."

“So that's how it is,” Tie Ruyun realized. He didn't ask further, but stroked his beard and said, “Seeing that you and Xinlan are betrothed and that you plan to have a child take the Tie surname to continue our line, I originally decided to teach you the ancestral Lionheart Skill and the Raging Lion Iron Palm.”

“But the Internal Energy you just revealed is not inferior in quality to the Internal Energy produced by the Lionheart Skill.”

“Presumably, the Internal Skill you obtained from your fortuitous encounter is not weaker than the Lionheart Skill.”

“It would be detrimental for you to switch back to the Lionheart Skill.”

“In that case, I will teach you the Raging Lion Iron Palm to make up for your lack of combat Moves.”

Meng Li looked delighted upon hearing this and cupped his hands, saying, “Thank you, father-in-law!”

Tie Xinlan, standing nearby, also said happily, “Thank you, Father.”

Tie Ruyun glanced at his daughter and smiled while stroking his beard, but he sighed inwardly.

The Lionheart Skill and Raging Lion Iron Palm were the Tie family's ancestral Martial Arts. Their quality was decent, but they followed a path of pure Yang and fierce strength, which was not suitable for women. Therefore, Tie Xinlan did not practice them, but instead practiced other Martial Arts he had collected.

Those Martial Arts weren't bad, but compared to the two ancestral techniques, they were ultimately a bit weaker.

Fortunately, Tie Xinlan herself did not like fighting, and he didn't intend for his daughter to live a life of killing.

Putting his thoughts aside, Tie Ruyun composed himself and began to teach Meng Li the Raging Lion Iron Palm, and then...

He was surprised to find that his son-in-law learned extremely fast. After demonstrating it only once, the other party had learned seventy to eighty percent of it, only lacking the internal keys to exerting force.

Once he pointed them out, Meng Li was quickly able to master them.

Could it be that he is a Martial Arts genius?

Tie Ruyun was pleasantly surprised.

What he didn't know was that the issue lay with the fortuitous martial art Meng Li had just mentioned.

The Yi Hua Jie Mu Version of the Marrying Clothes Divine Skill had two aspects that could be called bugs: first, absorbing others' power for one's own use; second, once the practitioner has achieved success, when they fight a target, they will automatically and invisibly absorb the opponent's Internal Energy, thereby mastering the Martial Arts they have learned.

Those who do not understand the Wedding Dress Divine Skill can hardly detect this latter characteristic.

This truly lived up to the saying: 'You spend year after year embroidering with gold thread, only to make a wedding dress for me in the end.'

Although Meng Li and Tie Ruyun had only sparred for a short time, he had already mastered the Martial Arts the other had learned, including the Lionheart Skill and the Raging Lion Iron Palm.

The reason he pretended to be a beginner was merely to cover his tracks.

Because the Wedding Dress Divine Skill was famous and feared in the original story, its exposure would inevitably lead to trouble.

While Meng Li wasn't afraid of trouble, he disliked it.

As it turned out, he found that the situation was slightly different from what he had expected.

Tie Ruyun did not recognize the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, and didn't even suspect it.

After thinking about it, Meng Li understood the reason.

It was true that the Wedding Dress Divine Skill was famous in the Jianghu, but not many people practiced it.

In the original story, besides Jiang Yuyan, there were only Yao Yue and Hua Wuchuan.

There was no need to mention Jiang Yuyan; her fate line had already been changed.

Yao Yue mostly stayed in Yihua Palace.

As for Yihua Palace, ordinary Jianghu people didn't dare to go there. If they did, they would either lose their lives or be imprisoned; there was no other possibility. After all, at this moment when Transferring Flowers and Grafting Trees hadn't appeared and Yan Nantian's account was 'banned,' Yao Yue was the ceiling of combat power in the entire Jianghu.

Even if she used the Wedding Dress Divine Skill, information about it would be hard to spread outside.

As for Hua Wuchuan...

He hadn't completed his apprenticeship yet.

In the original story, Jiang Biehe only learned about the Wedding Dress Divine Skill after seeing Hua Wuchuan's performance at the Heroes Convention and asking Little Hongye, who was in charge of the Red Leaf Pavilion. Information from the Red Leaf Pavilion cost money, and Tie Ruyun didn't have much contact with them, so he naturally had no way of knowing about the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.

Therefore, it was reasonable that Tie Ruyun currently didn't know Meng Li's 'extraordinary talent' came from the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.

This was also related to the fact that Meng Li did not actively absorb Tie Ruyun's Internal Energy.

Otherwise, with his experience, he would have surely realized it.

Because in the current Martial Forest, there were only two Martial Arts that could absorb people's power: one was the Absorbing Qi Technique, and the other was the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.

The former was the exclusive martial art of Liu Xi, the director of the Eastern Depot. Given his temperament, it was absolutely impossible for him to pass it on to outsiders.

Although the latter was the Legacy divine skill of Yihua Palace, there was a possibility of it being leaked. This was because there were rumors in the Jianghu that the final stage of the Wedding Dress Divine Skill had been hidden in a curious object called the Liu Ren Divine Dice several hundred years ago. The Liu Ren Divine Dice was lost in the Western Regions, and its whereabouts remained unknown to this day.

And the excuse Meng Li had just used was a fortuitous encounter.

Fortuitous encounters were all about the word 'extraordinary'; no one could say for sure, and they were hard to replicate.

If someone was struck by great luck, it wasn't impossible for them to pick up the Liu Ren Divine Dice while walking on the road.

This was one of the reasons why Tie Ruyun didn't ask further after listening. Another reason was that it involved Martial Arts. For people in the Jianghu, the Martial Arts they learned were their foundation for survival; even if they were very close, it wasn't polite to pry too much.

Although he didn't know the inside story, it didn't stop Tie Ruyun from being happy.

With the halo of a 'Martial Arts genius,' he felt that Meng Li's only shortcoming—his Martial Arts—had also been compensated for!

Although he wasn't considered powerful yet, with the talent he had shown, he would surely achieve something in time.

And Meng Li did not disappoint Tie Ruyun in the time that followed...