Perhaps it was because he had swung the sword a thousand times in the afternoon, but Qin Yi felt sleepy as soon as night fell. After climbing into bed, he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow, and did not wake up until the sun rose the next morning, just before breakfast.
Qin Yi opened his eyes, stretched comfortably, then lifted his head and glanced at the sun through the window. His expression suddenly changed. He hurriedly put on his clothes, jumped out of bed, and slipped on his shoes while muttering to himself:
"Ah! Yesterday I said I would wake up early today to help Mother with the housework, but I actually overslept."
It had been quite a while since he last practiced his Housework Skill.
After putting on his shoes, Qin Yi ran out of the room and shouted toward Zhen Niang, who was busy in the kitchen:
"Mother, I'm heading out!"
Before Zhen Niang could respond, he had already rushed out of the courtyard.
Zhen Niang had wanted to remind him of something, but when she leaned out to look, Qin Yi had already disappeared.
"This child is getting harder and harder to keep at home. Yesterday we didn't even get a chance to talk…"
She was beginning to miss the old Da Tou who used to cling to her all day long.
When Qin Yi arrived, he saw the Young Master already standing in the center of the courtyard, watching him.
Panicking slightly, Qin Yi ran over, bowed, and explained with his head lowered:
"Young Master, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, but I slept extremely deeply yesterday and only woke up just now."
Qin Xu carefully examined Da Tou and discovered that there were no signs of exhaustion or hidden injuries in his body.
Yesterday, Da Tou had used the Huichun Secret Method frequently. Even though the Yangyuan Soup had minimized the side effects, it still placed a heavy burden on the body.
Originally, Qin Xu had planned to observe Da Tou's condition and let him rest for one to three days before adjusting the intensity of sword training according to his recovery.
But looking at him now, his body showed no negative effects at all.
Qin Xu thought to himself:
"Unexpectedly, the recovery ability of Da Tou's ordinary bones is even stronger than I previously believed."
Not only could it accelerate recovery while using the Huichun Secret Method, but even during sleep it restored his vital energy and could even repair hidden injuries.
Since training wouldn't kill him, then he might as well keep training.
"Alright, let's begin. Just like yesterday—studying characters in the morning and practicing swordsmanship in the afternoon."
Seeing that the Young Master was not angry, Qin Yi sighed in relief and loudly replied:
"Yes, Young Master!"
"Today in the morning we will learn directions: center, east, south, west, north, front, back, left, right, up, down, inside, and outside."
"Directions are extremely practical and frequently used in daily life. However, they are not ordinary. Like the numbers we learned yesterday, they can extend into a profound field of knowledge called Yu. Directions are only the simplest and most basic concepts within Yu."
"Of course, you are still at the stage of learning basic characters, so you don't need to study Yu yet. I'm only mentioning it to broaden your knowledge."
"Alright, let's begin with the character 'Center'."
While Qin Yi was studying direction-related characters with the Young Master in the Village West Courtyard, Zhuzi was standing on a dirt mound in the wasteland on the east side of the village.
Below the mound, a circle of children surrounded him, looking up with eager expressions, waiting for him to tell his story.
Feeling immensely heroic, Zhuzi began narrating loudly and dramatically:
"Let me tell you! Yesterday Da Tou already passed the Young Master's test and began learning martial arts from him!"
"You ask what martial art he practices? Since Da Tou is the Sword-Holding Boy, what else could he practice besides swordsmanship?"
"What? You want to know how he passed the test? Don't rush—I'm getting to it!"
"The Young Master first told Da Tou that he would teach him martial arts. But martial arts cannot be passed down casually—it requires a test!"
"But the Young Master didn't have a practice sword for Da Tou. What could be done? Who is the Young Master? He's practically a celestial being!"
"With a single gesture of his right hand, a wooden stick flew into his palm. Then with a sweep of his left hand, he crafted a wooden sword and handed it to Da Tou, saying this would be the sword he would use for practice."
"Then the Young Master flipped his right hand, and a celestial sword glowing with blue light appeared out of thin air! He performed a sword technique as graceful as a soaring swan and as fluid as a swimming dragon!"
"Since Da Tou was chosen by the Young Master as the Sword-Holding Boy, his talent in swordsmanship must be extraordinary. After watching it just once, he learned it!"
"Hey! Don't interrupt! With Da Tou's talent, that part was easy. That wasn't the test—the real test came next!"
"The Young Master said: 'Practice this sword technique one thousand times before sunset. If the movements are incorrect, it won't count. If you can't complete one thousand repetitions, don't come back.'"
"When Da Tou heard this, he thought—what a terrifying test! Just performing the sword technique once was already exhausting. One thousand times? Even if he died of exhaustion, he couldn't finish!"
"This test was simply too difficult!"
"But Da Tou didn't give up. Gritting his teeth, he practiced again and again."
"Of course, the Young Master isn't heartless. He said that the azure immortal dew—just one sip of which could keep someone full for an entire day—would be provided without limit!"
"Relying on the azure immortal dew and his powerful willpower, Da Tou finally persevered. At the very last moment before sunset, he completed one thousand repetitions and passed the test!"
Zhuzi's story attracted not only the children.
Some adults heading to the eastern fields for farm work were also drawn in by the story and stopped to listen.
After Zhuzi finished speaking, the adults finally continued on their way, chatting as they walked toward their farmland.
"What do you think? How much of Zhuzi's story is actually true?"
"Heh. I'd say not even ten percent."
"Yeah, it's way too exaggerated…" The speaker suddenly realized something and quickly corrected himself. "I'm not talking about the Young Master. There's no exaggeration about him. I'm talking about Da Tou. Zhuzi exaggerated Da Tou's talent too much—learning after seeing it once? Practicing a thousand times in a single afternoon? That's completely unrealistic."
"Exactly! Haven't we all practiced martial arts before? How could someone learn it after seeing it once? Even the simplest blade technique took the fastest person in our batch three months to master. Learning it in one try? Completely fake!"
"Ah, he's just a child. Why take him so seriously?"
"Right. How could it possibly be true? Haha… Let's just treat it as a story for entertainment."
Qin Yong was bent over in his field pulling weeds when he heard their conversation.
He had no intention of standing up to argue with them.
Without even pausing his work, he recalled what Da Tou had told him yesterday and shook his head slightly.
"You don't believe it? But that's the reality."
Sometimes, reality is just that cruel.
The gap between a genius and an ordinary person is even greater than the gap between a human and a dog.
But when he remembered that Da Tou was his son, he couldn't help grinning foolishly.
"That brat Da Tou… worthy of being my son. Such talent—he definitely got it from me."
(End of Chapter)