Taking a deep breath, Yan Sea instructed the entire class:

"Jiang Yifan, you lead everyone in their daily training. Yu Fei, come with me for a moment."

He still had some sense left and didn’t just abandon his students, but what little rationality remained was fading fast.

In Yan Sea’s office, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

Yu Fei reined in some of his pride, not understanding why his teacher was being so serious.

"Yu Fei, can you tell me what happened to you?"

His voice was a little tense. His own student was defying common sense—no, this wasn’t just defiance, it was a complete subversion of his understanding of martial arts.

In that short moment, countless thoughts surged through his mind, only to be dismissed one by one.

Why is talent called talent?

Because a Martial Artist’s aptitude is determined at birth and cannot be changed later in life. Some people can effortlessly achieve things that others couldn’t accomplish even with a lifetime of effort.

Even heretical cults couldn’t change a person’s cultivation aptitude. It’s true that cults have methods for rapid martial arts advancement; they can rely on sinister techniques to quickly raise their realm, allowing a first-realm Martial Artist to break through to the second realm within a week. But it’s impossible for them to enable someone to master a basic Cultivation Technique to perfection in a week.

Yan Sea was afraid he had missed something. In just a few minutes, he reviewed all the information he had on heretical cults several times over, confirming that those dregs could not possibly possess such a method.

Yan Sea had always emphasized the importance of willpower, and willpower could indeed create miracles.

His master was a living example of this. That man had created a miracle in the history of martial cultivation through arduous training and a tenacious will.

But his master’s cultivation aptitude was very ordinary, even quite poor. How poor? He hadn’t even passed the entrance exam for a Martial Arts University. His master had told him this himself.

Yet it was this very person who, through grueling daily training, became an eighth-realm Grandmaster. His combat power was comparable to a Martial Saint, and he looked down upon all so-called Celestial Prides.

But even when his master’s lineage was at its peak, no Celestial Pride-level Martial Artists ever came to study under him.

For Celestial Pride Martial Artists, their superior aptitude gave them countless better options. A heritage at the Martial Saint level was their true goal.

And while his master was indeed powerful, he wasn’t a Martial Saint. His introductory Cultivation Technique was too difficult to practice, had a high failure rate, and came with side effects. This made it less appealing to Celestial Prides.

But Yu Fei... had he just blossomed into a Celestial Pride Martial Artist all of a sudden?

He was terrified that Yu Fei had gone down the wrong path and ruined everything.

Yu Fei was a little confused. "Mr. Yan, why do you ask? I just mastered two basic Cultivation Techniques, that’s all. There should be plenty of people who can do that, right?"

Yan Sea sneered. "That’s all? What arrogance! Do you have any idea what it means to master two basic Cultivation Techniques to perfection in the first realm?"

"What?" Yu Fei was taken aback. ’Is there some special significance to it?’

Yan Sea let out a long sigh and said slowly, "To master the [Ox Subduing Pile Skill] to perfection in the first realm of martial arts makes you a Quasi-Celestial Pride-level Martial Artist. In a single province, there are usually no more than a hundred such people.

"If, on top of that, you also master the [Six Harmonies Killing Fist] to perfection and comprehend Ruyi Shen Jin, then across all seventy-four provinces of the Yu Kingdom, there are only a few hundred people who achieve this each year—a little over a thousand in a good year."

After speaking, he looked down at Yu Fei with a complex expression, as if to say, ’Are you a Celestial Pride?’

Yu Fei understood Yan Sea’s meaning. He lowered his head and glanced at the red-grade talents [Void Martial Body] and [Spiritual Intelligence] in his mental space, as well as the purple [Nether Gaze] next to them. His heart instantly settled.

He looked up, his gaze firm as he met Yan Sea’s eyes, and silently declared in his heart, ’I, Yu Fei, am a Celestial Pride!’

’Of course! I’ve mastered two fundamental cultivation manuals. If that doesn’t make me a Celestial Pride, what does?’

Yan Sea thought for a moment. He would put other concerns aside for now. He needed to test the quality of this newly-minted Celestial Pride and see if the Martial Artist had gone astray. The fists would do the talking!

"Come, let’s exchange a couple of moves!" Yan Sea’s expression was solemn.

Yu Fei’s eyes lit up. ’Is Mr. Yan acknowledging my strength? Does he want to see my progress?’

"Alright, Mr. Yan, be careful!"

Without any warning, Yu Fei’s body moved like a gale. He struck like lightning, without any build-up or preparation. A single thought was all it took to switch freely between motion and stillness—this was the power of Ruyi Shen Jin.

Faced with Yu Fei’s surprise attack, an ordinary third-realm Martial Artist might not have been able to react in time. But who was Yan Sea? He had defeated even Celestial Prides of the same level as himself before.

After solidifying his foundation, Yu Fei’s Qi Blood was three times what it was before. Combined with the properties of Ruyi Shen Jin, his combat power was at least five times greater. This meant that even a hundred opponents like Ye Feng wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

He also had the sevenfold boost to his neural reaction speed from [Super Speed Reaction]. Therefore, Yu Fei estimated that while he was no match for Yan Sea, he should at least be able to cause him some minor trouble.

BAM! 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The punch that Yu Fei believed was impossible to dodge was blocked steadily by Yan Sea. He saw Mr. Yan’s fist clearly. In his mind’s eye, it didn’t seem fast, but no matter how he tried to change his fist’s path, it was all useless.

He took a deep breath, his heart pounding fiercely. Rushing Qi Blood surged through his limbs as he used his fists, feet, elbows, and knees in concert, pushing the various fighting styles of the Six Harmonies Killing Fist to their absolute limit.

But Yan Sea stood before him like an immovable mountain, blocking all of his attacks with just a single hand.

As they exchanged blows, Yan Sea got a clear grasp of Yu Fei’s condition. His Qi Blood was about three times that of a Martial Artist in the same realm, his Ruyi Shen Jin was flawless, and factoring in his perception which was approaching the ’Subtle’ level, he wouldn’t be considered weak even among Celestial Pride-level Martial Artists.

More importantly, Yu Fei’s Qi Blood foundation was completely natural, showing no signs of any artificial, post-natal tampering.

"Stop!"

The moment the word was spoken, Yu Fei’s feet came to a halt. He stood perfectly still, as if he hadn’t launched any attack at all. This was the embodiment of the word ’Ruyi’—the ability to control one’s power as one pleases, as easily as moving one’s own limbs.

Yan Sea stroked his fine, short beard. He still couldn’t figure it out.

Celestial Pride-level Martial Artists don’t just suddenly become Celestial Prides. From the moment they embark on the path of martial arts, they exhibit all sorts of miraculous traits, be it astonishing comprehension, a naturally superior physique, or powerful Qi Blood.

But no Celestial Pride had ever had a sudden epiphany midway and abruptly developed a formidable physique.

Of course, some people preferred to keep a low profile and hide their comprehension ability.

But that wasn’t Yu Fei. He trained far too diligently. If he had possessed such talent, he wouldn’t have waited until today to reveal it.

But how could this be explained?

Looking at the results, Yu Fei’s foundation was solid and his Qi Blood was powerful. In every respect, it looked like he had cultivated it himself step by step; there was nothing abnormal. If he hadn’t personally watched Yu Fei start training as an ordinary person, he would have suspected his own eyes.

"Yu Fei, if you have some secret you can’t speak of, your teacher won’t press you any further. But you must remember to always walk the righteous path. Even if we don’t speak of serving your country, you must never break the law or do anything that would harm others!"

Yan Sea instructed Yu Fei with extreme seriousness.

Yu Fei could hear the heartfelt sincerity in those words. It was the hope an elder has for a junior. Today, Yan Sea had drawn a line for him—a bottom line for being a good person.

He was deeply moved. After noticing the abnormality about him, Mr. Yan didn’t choose to probe for the truth. Instead, he simply confirmed that Yu Fei hadn’t been influenced by heretical techniques.

He had given up on seeking the truth and instead warned him about the moral line he must not cross.

A true, good teacher was exactly like this.