The Almighty Ring

Jiang Fei followed old man Hai down a path. As they passed through a small patch of trees, they could hear strong winds pass through their ears. Some shouts were occasionally heard. The sun was barely up, but many people were already out here training.

Jiang Fei could vaguely see silhouettes of people leaping about in the forest. However, he recalled old man Hai’s warning and paid heed to not stare intrusively. At most, he stole them a glance or two.

“Alright! We will stop here!”

Old man Hai had brought Jiang Fei to a clearing in the forest.

“What are we doing here?” asked Jiang Fei.

“Nonsense. Of course, we are going to train! How did your master teach you? Do you not even know this?”

Old man Hai rolled his eyes at Jiang Fei.

“Oh!” answered Jiang Fei in a mumble. He had not yet started training. He knew nothing about training. The only thing he was familiar with was the reactive ability he had gained from being beaten up consecutively by Chen Xi and Han Tianyu. He had no idea how to actively train.

“Why aren’t you training? Are you afraid that I will steal your moves?”

As Jiang Fei stood there without moving, old man Hai clearly misunderstood him.

“My master does not allow me to train outside…”

Right then, Jiang Fei could only continue lying. He had no choice but to maintain the guise as long as possible!

“Hehe, your master is such a miser. What secret is there about External Toughness technique…” said old man Hai as he laughed. He did not say anything else thereafter.

“Old man, do you think that I am capable of learning Inner Qi?” asked Jiang Fei after a moment of hesitation.

“What’s the matter? Are you bored of the stuff your master teaches you?” asked old man Hai as he laughed and glanced at Jiang Fei.

“It’s still alright. I just thought it would be better to be well-rounded!” answered Jiang Fei.

“Forget it, you should just focus on External Toughness. Once you master that, you should still fare very well!”

Although old man Hai did not say it explicitly, his clearly thought the same as Han Tianyu.

“Oh! If that’s the case…”

Jiang Fei nodded dejectedly. It seemed like he truly was not gifted for it.

“Young man, show me your fist techniques!” said old man Hai suddenly.

“Ah?”

Jiang Fei was stunned. He knew nothing about fist techniques. The only thing he could remember was the army training which he had also nearly forgotten entirely. If he displayed that now, wouldn’t he just be embarrassing himself?

“What’s there to be secretive about? Show me, and I will help you to improve!”

Old man Hai’s intentions were apparent. He meant to observe Jiang Fei and teach him. This were the benefits that he had promised earlier. Old man Hai had kidnapped Jiang Fei to fight with his made-up master. He had no evil intentions. To make it up to Jiang Fei, he had promised to reward him by teaching him something.

“I don’t know how…”

Jiang Fei could no longer keep up with the lies.

“You don’t know? Don’t lie to me!”

Old man Hai still thought that Jiang Fei was finding an excuse not to train.

“I really don’t know… My master never taught me…”

Jiang Fei had no choice but to bring up the made-up master once again.

“He did not even teach you this?”

Old man Hai was stunned. However, he recalled the day when Jiang Fei had blown him away. He looked just like any other gangster on the streets, and was nothing like a martial artist. He had merely thought Jiang Fei was venting his frustration. Now he knew that this young man truly knew nothing about martial arts!

“What kind of weird old hermit do you have as a master?” mumbled old man Hai. He had never heard of such a training regiment. He had taught him the Steel Cloak technique to such an extent, but not a single offensive technique. Was he using External Toughness as a way to enforce his meditative Qi Gong?

“Forget it! Since I have promised to compensate you for it, would you be keen to learn my fist techniques?” asked old man Hai after giving it some thought.

“I am!”

Jiang Fei immediately nodded. This old man Hai was most definitely an expert among the experts. Anything he taught had to be effective. Only a fool would reject the offer!

“I have no idea when your master will be coming to see us. You should make the best use of our time.”

Old man Hai nodded.

“Hehe, don’t you worry. I have all the time in the world. My master won’t show up, even if you wait ten years!” mumbled Jiang Fei under his breath.

“Alright, I’m not going to say much. Pay attention!” said old man Hai, as he started a live demonstration.

There were a total of twelve styles in the branch of the fist, with thirty-six transformations. It was one of the better sets that old man Hai had learned during his youth. Based on old man Hai’s predictions, Jiang Fei’s master must be very capable indeed, for him to acquire such mastery over the External Toughness at such an early age. If he only taught Jiang Fei some regular fist techniques, he would certainly be made fun of by the boy’s master. Therefore, old man Hai had picked out such a set with careful thought.

Old man Hai soon provided Jiang Fei a very flamboyant show of his fist techniques. Jiang Fei could barely blink his eyes. Luckily, Jiang Fei had improved his Intelligence and Spirit. Otherwise, he would not have been able to keep up with old man Hai’s speed, let alone remember his techniques.

Of course, old man Hai had intentionally slowed down, or else Jiang Fei would only be seeing a flashing figure before him, and not the actual techniques.

Once he was done, old man Hai still seemed as energetic as ever. He approached Jiang Fei and asked with a smile, “What do you think? Was my set of fist techniques alright?”

“It was amazing!”

Although Jiang Fei did not have much knowledge, he understood that this set of fist techniques was much stronger than Chen Xi’s catch and grapple techniques!

“How much of it can you remember?” asked old man Hai.

“Slightly more than half, I guess…” answered Jiang Fei with an embarrassing laugh.

“What?!”

Old man Hai was shocked. How could Jiang Fei have remembered more than half of that? Could he have seen the set of fist techniques before?

That was impossible. This was a unique creation. Nobody else could have known!

“Hehe, you were too fast earlier, I could not catch the whole thing…” Jiang Fei thought that old man Hai was calling him out for being dumb. Who could have known that it was his eidetic memory that sent chills running down that old man’s spine?

“Show me what you remember!”

Old man Hai clearly did not believe Jiang Fei.

“Alright!”

Jiang Fei was eager to try it out himself. After all, he had witnessed such an amazing display of prowess. He too wanted to make an attempt.

In the end, Jiang Fei realized how difficult it was once he started moving. Remembering and executing the moves were two completely different things!

Although he had excellent physical qualities, and decent dexterity, he did not have any foundation in fist techniques whatsoever. Although he could carry out the poses like some Chinese opera show, they only imitated the appearance and none of the power.

Even so, it was enough to make old man Hai blink repeatedly. Was Jiang Fei even human? He had truly remembered more than half of the fist technique by just observing it once! He must be some kind of martial arts genius!

As for Jiang Fei’s ridiculous display of fist techniques, old man Hai did not think much of it. As he had not provided any verbal cues, being able to remember this much through observing alone was already a great accomplishment. Such expertise from a single observation was not something that not even old man Hai could accomplish, and this young child Jiang Fei had done it with ease!