Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Master and Disciple

Faced with Yan Sea’s sincerity, Yu Fei decided to reveal part of the truth.

"Mr. Yan, do you remember when I reported those suspected cult members?"

"I do. Why?"

He was confused as to why Yu Fei would suddenly bring this up.

"Do you also remember how I can sense malice? That ability appeared suddenly, too."

Yan Sea’s heart skipped a beat. A sudden thought struck him, and he shot up from his seat, staring at Yu Fei in shock.

"Don’t tell me..."

Yu Fei nodded.

"Hush!"

Yan Sea placed a hand on Yu Fei’s shoulder and said gravely,

"From this moment on, I won’t ask you anything else. And don’t you dare tell anyone about your talent.

Furthermore, you need to remember one thing: you were injured in the past, which damaged your martial foundations. I gave you a Celestial King Wisdom Elixir, and your foundations have only recently been fully restored. You must remember this. No matter who asks, that’s the story. Understand?"

Yu Fei’s situation was simply astounding. It had always been believed that one’s innate talent was immutable, yet Yu Fei’s was slowly improving. It was unbelievable.

Yan Sea considered the future. ’When Yu Fei applies to the Seven Greats, there will be a rigorous background check. Without a cover story, the unique nature of his talent would be easily discovered.’ That was why he was using the properties of the Celestial King Wisdom Elixir to explain Yu Fei’s sudden rise.

There were too many clever people in the world; he had to be on guard.

Yan Sea was certain that most of the world’s experts would be happy to see Yu Fei succeed if they found out, and might even offer goodwill and help him along the way. But the human heart is unpredictable. If even one person harbored dark intentions, it would be a fatal blow to the still-weak Yu Fei.

After all, what happened to his master back then...

Yu Fei nodded. "Yes, Mr. Yan. I’ll remember. I won’t tell anyone but you."

In truth, Yu Fei had taken a risk. But Yan Sea was the one who had guided him onto the martial path. He had watched him progress every step of the way, from first sensing his Qi Blood to where he stood now. There was no way to hide it from him.

By now, Yan Sea’s guidance and support had long transcended the simple relationship of a high school teacher and student; they were more like a traditional master and disciple. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He didn’t want any suspicion to grow between them, which was why he had chosen to selectively reveal part of the truth.

"Oh, right, Yu Fei, hold on. I’ll send you the information on the Celestial King Wisdom Elixir. Memorize it so you don’t blow your cover if someone asks about it in the future."

’There shouldn’t be any other loose ends,’ Yan Sea thought. He had to be thorough. Ordinary people couldn’t grasp what it meant to be a prodigy.

So, what was a prodigy? First, perfecting the Ox Subduing Pile Skill meant one could begin Void Body Refining, starting the process of tempering their body with natural energy much earlier. From that point on, as long as they cultivated diligently, their chances of breaking through to the Inner Qi Realm were over ninety percent. According to over eight hundred years of data from the Yu Kingdom, a prodigy-level Martial Artist even had a thirty percent chance of becoming a Grandmaster.

Most importantly, data from the Research Institute showed that at least half of all Martial Saints had started out as prodigies.

Prodigy-level Martial Artists were an incredibly precious resource for the Yu Kingdom. They developed quickly and had a high success rate. Never mind Grandmasters or Martial Saints; even a single Inner Qi Realm Martial Artist could play a major role on the battlefield.

Yu Fei didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation. There were things he had to be extremely careful about.

’This student of mine... his future status and path of development are about to change dramatically. The level of attention and resources an ordinary student receives upon entering the Seven Greats is completely different from what a prodigy gets.’

The development of every single prodigy was scrutinized down to the last detail.

’Yu Fei’s willingness to reveal his secret shows how much he trusts me as his teacher.’ He felt a pang of shame at this, because he hadn’t held out much hope for the boy at the start.

"Yu Fei, your stance work and fist techniques have reached the mastery level, but there are some details about their application we need to discuss. Come see me tonight after school..."

Afterward, Yan Sea let Yu Fei continue training on his own. He still had teaching duties for the intensive training class.

He was a teacher, and not just to Yu Fei.

After martial arts class, Yan Sea navigated to the Martial Arts Education System’s website and pulled up a special application form. Once he filled it out, he went to the principal’s office and knocked on the door.

"Senior Brother, you’re here! What a rare sight. Please, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? Tea? Juice?"

The principal of No. 2 High, Cao Le’an, and Yan Sea had both been students of Liu Ming. Yan Sea was considerably older, so in private, Cao Le’an always addressed him as Senior Brother.

"Anything’s fine. I’m here today because there’s something I need to discuss with you. I’ll also need your signature to confirm it."

Yan Sea’s expression was calm. He wasn’t particularly close with Cao Le’an; his junior apprentice-brother was just a smooth talker who knew how to handle people.

"What could possibly be so important that it requires my Senior Brother to handle it personally?"

He said, pouring Yan Sea a cup of tea.

"Take a look at this."

Yan Sea handed him the form.

"Special Talent Certification Form?"

Cao Le’an took the form and read the title, a puzzled look on his face.

’This form looks kind of familiar...’

"Special Talent... Holy shit! Fuck! ... What the hell..."

The normally composed principal of No. 2 High was now jumping around like an excited kid.

"Is this the legendary Prodigy Certification form? Senior Brother, you can’t be pulling my leg like this! Our county hasn’t produced more than a handful of these in its eight-hundred-year history!"

Yan Sea pushed Cao Le’an’s large face away and said slowly,

"Do I look like I have the time to come here and mess with you?"

"For real?"

"For real."

Cao Le’an slammed his hand on the desk and gave Yan Sea two thumbs up.

"Senior Brother, you’re a goddamn legend! Absolutely incredible! You kept this under wraps way too well."

Yan Sea looked helpless.

"The kid’s just that good. I blinked and he’d already taken off."

"I’ll sign, scan, and upload this right now. Senior Brother, you just sit back, I’ll take care of the whole process. Damn, this is unbelievable! A prodigy Martial Artist appearing during my term as principal... Senior Brother, how do you think I should reward the student?"

"Reward him? Why?"

Yan Sea was confused.

"Senior Brother, you don’t get it. What if some other school sweet-talks this gem into transferring? We’d be screwed! We have to lock him down now!"

"That’s not necessary. Yu Fei isn’t that kind of person."

Cao Le’an waved a dismissive hand. "Don’t you worry about it. I’ll take care of it."

The Yu Kingdom placed immense value on prodigy Martial Artists. The Ministry of Education had a regulation: if any high school student achieved mastery in two basic cultivation techniques, they must be reported and certified.

A prodigy Martial Artist’s cultivation progressed at an astonishing rate. An ordinary high school might have the resources to guide a student through the first realm of cultivation, but they were ill-equipped to teach the second realm. After all, many martial arts teachers in high schools were only at the second realm themselves.

This special talent certification process existed precisely to prevent such outstanding prospects from missing out on cultivation during the most critical period of their lives due to a lack of resources.

The reason the form was unfamiliar to Cao Le’an was that he’d only ever heard of it when some bigwigs were shooting the shit, but he had never actually seen one in person.

"By the way, remember to keep this confidential. The information of all prodigy-level Martial Artists is classified until they enter university. According to regulations, only you and I are to know. I’ve already warned Yu Fei.

Besides, there are still remnants of the Illuminati in this area, so we have to be extremely careful."

Yan Sea still looked a little worried about Cao Le’an and made a point to warn him again.

"Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I’m a school principal, after all. You can trust my discretion; it’s been thoroughly vetted."