Chapter 134: Chapter 101: Superiority or Inferiority?

Qin Fang opened the door with a smile.

His master was clearly taken aback when he saw Qin Fang.

"Master."

Qin Fang called out.

After a long moment, his master nodded, his expression calm. "When did you get into the city?"

Qin Fang stepped aside. As his master walked in, Qin Fang closed the door behind them and said, "Last night."

His master paused, turned to look at Qin Fang, and after a moment’s thought, said nothing more. He simply grunted in acknowledgment and walked into the house with his hands behind his back.

When he entered the main hall and saw all the things Qin Fang had bought, he paused, then said, "Even if you’re earning money now, you should still be frugal... That two hundred silver you gave me last time, take it back with you."

"That was a gift to show respect for you and the master’s wife. Why would I take it back?" Qin Fang shook his head.

His master frowned. "Your master’s wife and I don’t need anything. We have no use for silver."

"That’s your business. I’m not getting involved," Qin Fang said with a grin.

His master glared at him, but he just grinned back without a word.

After holding it in for a long moment, his master finally blurted out, "You should learn some good habits from your senior brother!"

"Huh?" Qin Fang blinked. "What does my senior brother have to do with this?"

Just as he spoke, a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK sounded at the door. Qin Fang turned his head. "That must be Senior Brother."

His master nodded, and Qin Fang went to open the door.

It was indeed his senior brother.

After the two martial brothers greeted each other, Senior Brother yelled toward the kitchen, "Master’s wife, I’m here for a free meal again! Make something good!!"

From the kitchen came the master’s wife’s laughing scold, "You little rascal..."

Senior Brother laughed, then followed Qin Fang into the house. Seeing their master, he asked with a grin, "Master, what are you and Junior Brother talking about?"

His master shot him a glance from under his eyelids but didn’t deign to reply.

Qin Fang picked up the conversation. "Master was telling me to learn some good habits from you."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Senior Brother said, displeased. "You make it sound like I’m a bad influence."

"That seems to be what Master was implying," Qin Fang nodded.

Watching the two brothers play off each other, their master rolled his eyes speechlessly, lit his long-stemmed pipe, and decided to ignore them both.

Seeing their master’s expression, a crafty look appeared in Senior Brother’s eyes. He gave a sudden cough and said, "Master, do you have any idea what Junior Brother’s Cultivation is at now?"

His master subconsciously looked at Qin Fang. The longer he looked, the more stunned his expression became. After a moment, he suddenly said, "Come here."

Qin Fang obediently walked over.

His master began to examine his body... exactly as he had when he first accepted him as a disciple.

Qin Fang didn’t move.

"Skin and membranes are firm, flesh and bone are solid, muscles and skeleton are dense... You’re at the Mid-Mingjin Stage?"

he asked, looking up.

Qin Fang nodded.

"That shouldn’t be possible..."

His master was uncharacteristically dazed. He frowned and examined him again, more carefully this time.

This time, Qin Fang felt a strange power surge into his body from his master’s palm.

The force was incredibly faint. If he weren’t so acutely sensitive to his body’s power right now, he probably wouldn’t have even been able to perceive it!

’This...’

’So this is how one’s natural aptitude is judged?’

Qin Fang finally understood.

Before, he had been too weak and his Perception of his own body wasn’t sharp enough to notice this wisp of qi-sensation.

’But...’

’What kind of power is this?’

’An application of Anjin?’

Qin Fang wondered.

’Because this clearly isn’t direct physical power!’

After a good while, the faint qi-sensation vanished.

His master lowered his hands, but the confusion on his face had only deepened.

Looking at Qin Fang, he finally couldn’t hold back any longer. "How... how did you do it?"

Qin Fang blinked and answered honestly, "I just trained according to the method you taught me, Master. And I took one Qi Blood Pill a day..."

"One Qi Blood Pill a day?!"

Before Qin Fang could finish, his senior brother, who was standing to the side, shot him a wide-eyed look that startled him.

"You’re saying you’ve taken one Qi Blood Pill every day? ...Ever since you started Martial Cultivation?"

Qin Fang was baffled, but he still nodded. "Yes."

"Where did you get that much money?" Senior Brother asked first, then immediately corrected himself. "No, wait... how did you possibly absorb that many Qi Blood Pills?!"

"I can take ten Qi Blood Pills a month at most, and even then, my Qi Blood often surges uncontrollably, making it hard to suppress... And you take one a day?"

Senior Brother was finding it impossible to remain calm.

His master, however, seemed lost in thought.

"Could it be... precisely because your natural aptitude is so poor, you can withstand taking a large amount of Qi Blood Pills? Even if there’s residual medicinal power left unabsorbed, it just naturally dissipates due to your poor aptitude and doesn’t accumulate in your body. Is that why your cultivation speed is so fast?"

His words made both brothers look over at him.

Senior Brother was speechless. "Because he can’t absorb it, it dissipates, and that’s why his cultivation is fast? ...Master, listen to yourself. Does that sound reasonable at all?!"

His master ignored him.

Instead, he frowned in deep thought, as if he had discovered some new research topic...

Qin Fang thought for a moment and seemed to grasp what his master meant...

’The medicinal power of a Qi Blood Pill is strongest at the initial burst. But afterward, some residual power remains in the body.’

’Senior Brother can’t take a large number of Qi Blood Pills because he can’t fully absorb them. That residual power would accumulate in his body, causing his Qi Blood to surge. He can only take a second pill after the first is completely absorbed.’

’But because my Talent is so poor, this residual power just naturally leaks away, so it doesn’t accumulate.’

’So, when I take another Qi Blood Pill the next day, I only absorb that most potent initial wave...’

’This would naturally lead to a great deal of waste.’

’But because of this, it also ensures that I can withstand that most ferocious wave of ’strengthening’ every day, without having to worry about placing any extra burden on my body.’

’...That must be what Master meant, right?’

"No, that’s not right. While that might explain the speed of your Physique’s improvement... how do you explain the speed of you Breaking Through?"

his master suddenly muttered again.

Qin Fang blinked...

’Breaking Through?’

’Uh...’

’...Could he admit that he’s never even felt the existence of a bottleneck?’

For a long while, neither Senior Brother nor his master spoke, clearly unable to figure out this problem.

It wasn’t until the master’s wife called them for dinner that the two snapped out of it.

His master thought for a moment, then tapped his long-stemmed pipe.

"Let’s eat first."

’If I can’t figure it out, I’ll think about it later.’

’One still has to eat.’

’Besides...’

’No matter how you look at it, this is a good thing.’

’This little disciple, whom he originally didn’t have high hopes for, seems to have given him a rather huge surprise...’

Elder Wu’s eyes flickered.