A few days later.
Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong, who had completed the Hidden Weapons transaction with Su Ran, had already gone to find someone to build and assemble the parts.
At Peach Blossom Spring Academy, in the classroom.
The four students, who had eaten breakfast after their morning exercise, were all seated on time.
Su Ran stood on the podium and said calmly:
"Today, a new student will be joining our Peach Blossom Spring Academy. You should all be quite familiar with her; she is Xiao Wu from the former Shrek Academy next door. I hope you can all be united, friendly, and get along well from now on."
"Xiao Wu, come in. You can sit in the seat next to Zhuqing during class from now on."
From outside the classroom, a girl with a scorpion braid, looking much healthier, walked in and officially met the four students of the Academy as arranged by Su Ran.
"Hello everyone, my name is Xiao Wu, and I am the teacher's fifth student. Hello, senior brothers and sisters. Please forgive me if I made any mistakes in the past."
Xiao Wu cheerfully introduced herself to Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and the others, and even bowed to everyone.
Being able to study here was something she had long looked forward to.
Ah~ The air at Peach Blossom Spring Academy is sweet~
"Alright, alright, seeing that your attitude is pretty good, I'll accept you as a teammate. But you have to listen to your senior sister from now on! I'm the eldest senior sister, Ning Rongrong. You can call me Captain or Senior Sister Rongrong."
"Hello, my name is Meng Yiran, you can just call me Sister Meng Yiran."
"You can call me Wang Sheng, Saint Son, or Brother Sheng, anything is fine," Wang Sheng said honestly.
Zhu Zhuqing just exchanged glances with Xiao Wu and didn't say much. She and Xiao Wu had already known each other when they were at Shrek.
Sitting in the seat next to Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu quietly said to Zhu Zhuqing:
"Zhuqing, you're so smart. If I had half your intelligence and decisiveness, I wouldn't have suffered so much later. I wish I had come to apprentice with you back then."
A faint smile appeared on Zhu Zhuqing's cool face, and she said calmly:
"It's good that you're alright. At least, you still made the right choice in the end."
"Mm!" Xiao Wu nodded vigorously, her eyes fixed on Teacher Su Ran on the podium.
Teacher Su Ran was like a beam of light, a light refracted from the Immortal Palace of the Nine Heavens, which could guide them forward and lead them on the right path.
Most importantly, Teacher Su Ran was incredibly handsome!
"Alright, today we're distributing report cards. Come up and collect your assessment sheets. The scores in each assessment reflect your strengths and weaknesses to some extent. You need to learn to summarize your shortcomings, utilize your strengths, and cultivate well."
"Learning without thinking leads to confusion, and thinking without learning leads to danger. Hard training, thinking, and comprehension are all very important. For the rest of the time, you will stay in the classroom and meditate."
"Xiao Wu, come out with me."
Su Ran distributed the assessment sheets he had graded and summarized over the past few days, along with teacher comments, to the four students, and then took Xiao Wu out of the classroom to the training ground.
"Teacher actually called Xiao Wu out alone, hmm~"
Ning Rongrong looked at Xiao Wu's retreating figure as she followed Su Ran, feeling a bit envious. It had been several days since the teacher had personally guided her cultivation.
Looking down at the teacher's assessment comments for herself, her face immediately turned red:
"[Strong in appearance but lacking in substance, many ideas but little practice, unable to let go of airs. Next time, a slap on the hand.]"
Teacher, what does'strong in appearance but lacking in substance' mean?
You haven't even tried it yet, how do you know if it's lacking in substance?
Hmph!
Zhu Zhuqing: "[Amidst effort, more thought is needed. Stubbornness is undesirable.]"
Meng Yiran: "[Intelligent and spirited, but all energy is focused on Hidden Weapons, severe academic imbalance.]"
Wang Sheng: "[Although brute force is foolish, it indeed solves the problem of insufficient comprehension.]"
...
"Teacher, you called only me out. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Standing on the training ground, Xiao Wu blinked and asked Su Ran.
Su Ran pointed to a padded area on the ground, nodded, and said:
"Xiao Wu, stand over there."
"I understand, Teacher. You want me to demonstrate yoga poses on this mat, right?"
In a flash, Su Ran saw Xiao Wu twisting her soft and delicate body, striking blush-inducing poses on the mat.
Xiao Wu was a Soft Bones Rabbit, as the name suggests, her bones were much softer than those of ordinary people, and amidst that softness, there was also a certain toughness. Therefore, she could effortlessly perform all the poses recorded in yoga.
"Xiao Wu, this yoga can only assist you in cultivating your body's flexibility. It's not difficult for you; it's just an introductory technique. You don't need to demonstrate it to me."
Su Ran said, "What I want to see is your Soft Technique."
"Ah? Soft Technique?"
Xiao Wu nimbly returned to her normal posture, Stunned for a moment:
"Teacher, my Soft Technique cannot be demonstrated alone; it requires a target."
"Then just use me as your target."
Su Ran said calmly.
"Is that alright? Would a student attacking a teacher be disrespectful?" Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue.
"This is allowed by me, so it's naturally fine. And you can even use Spirit Ability," Su Ran said.
"Alright, then Teacher, be careful. The power unleashed by my Soft Technique is still quite considerable."
Soft Technique was Xiao Wu's innate transformation skill, which she had mastered at the age of six. Among them was a very powerful Instant Kill Eight Stage Drop, which, combined with her Spirit Ability—Waist Bow, Charm, and Teleportation—formed its own system.
This might also be the reason why Xiao Wu's aptitude could reach S+, as her skills and her excellent physique were perfectly combined.
At this moment, Xiao Wu pushed off with her feet, like a spring, rapidly springing out and rushing towards Su Ran, attempting to entangle his body. This was the essence of Soft Technique, which required close-quarters combat.
Su Ran, who usually moved with great grace in both his fist and sword techniques, started very slowly this time, appearing to be full of openings.
"Teacher, you're slow!"
As Su Ran slowly placed his hands in front of him, Xiao Wu had already reached him. Her small hands gripped Su Ran's large hands, attempting to pull him into an embrace for a sudden throw.
But just as Su Ran was about to have a close face-to-face embrace with her, and Xiao Wu was about to lock his body, unexpectedly, Su Ran used the force from Xiao Wu's pull, and his chest collided with her small, soft chest, directly sending Xiao Wu flying several meters away.
Xiao Wu landed hastily, somewhat disbelieving that she had been so close to embracing the teacher just now, yet was suddenly sent flying by him.
However, the teacher smelled so good!
Xiao Wu was very willing to spar with the teacher using Soft Technique, because that meant having physical contact with the teacher in a legitimate way!
But the next few attempts, her attacks, left Xiao Wu very frustrated.
Although the teacher's movements seemed very slow, making her seem to always grasp an opening, as soon as she exerted force, her strength seemed to be either absorbed or somehow returned with even greater force, causing Xiao Wu to repeatedly suffer setbacks.
Not only did she gain no advantage, but she also took every hit. And the more force she used, the stronger the force the teacher returned to her.
Now she knew what the mat was for—to prevent her from getting injured by falling.
Finally, Xiao Wu simply sat on the ground and refused to get up:
"No more, no more. Teacher is already stronger than Xiao Wu. Both his strength and speed are greater than Xiao Wu's. Xiao Wu's Soft Technique is completely ineffective against Teacher."
"Xiao Wu, actually, I barely used any of my own strength. Most of the strength I used was borrowed from yours."
"Borrowed from mine? Can strength be borrowed?"
Hearing Su Ran's words, Xiao Wu was stunned.
"Of course it can be borrowed. This is Tai Chi—using an opponent's force against them."
"Tai Chi?"
A wind vortex surrounded Su Ran, and as he began his posture, it transformed into a yin-yang diagram, leaving Xiao Wu completely bewildered.
Su Ran said calmly:
"Every one of my students will learn a foundational Secret Skills. Wang Sheng has Tiger Form Fist, Rongrong has Golden Bell Cover, Zhuqing and Meng Yiran have movement and hand techniques. You also need to practice a foundational Secret Skills to perfect yourself."
"So, Teacher, what you've prepared for me is this Tai Chi that uses an opponent's force against them?"
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. She was also very smart. Her Soft Technique's greatest fear was actually strength-based and weight-based enemies, because once the opponent's strength and weight surpassed hers, she would be helpless and dare not approach.
But if, as the teacher said, she could use an opponent's force against them, then even when facing enemies stronger than herself, she could still use Instant Kill Eight Stage Drop to throw them.
"It's not just about using an opponent's force against them. Your Soft Technique focuses on offense and lacks counter-attacks. This Tai Chi uses four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds and leverages skill to overcome strength, allowing you to achieve true balance of hard and soft, with proper advance and retreat, and integrated offense and defense."
"Xiao Wu, watch carefully as I demonstrate this Tai Chi for you. You can remember this chant or not, the important thing is to comprehend its meaning."
"Its expansion and contraction, bending and extending, no one knows; all relies on pushing, leaning, and Binding."
"Chopping, striking, pushing, pressing, gaining ground; sweeping, lifting, horizontal plucking, also hard to defeat."
"Hooking, propping, forcing, embracing, everyone knows; flashing, startling, taking advantage, who knows?"
"Feigned defeat, faked retreat, who says it's a loss? Luring, turning, rushing back, leading to victory."
"Rolling, tying, supporting, sweeping, subtle and exquisite; horizontal, vertical, chopping, hacking, even more wondrous."
"Intercepting, advancing, blocking, stopping, heart-piercing elbow; meeting the wind, stepping up, red packet punch."
"Two changes, sweeping, pressing, face-hanging kick; left and right side pins, solid leg."
"Intercepting front, pressing back, seamless lock; feinting to the east, striking to the west, must be familiar."
"Upper cage, lower lift, you must remember; attacking, retreating, dodging, do not delay."
"Hiding the head, covering the face, found everywhere; piercing the heart, chopping the ribs, rare in the world."
"..."
When Su Ran finished his set of fist techniques, the falling peach blossoms around him were all drawn by the force of his fists, gathering at his feet to form a marvelous Tai Chi pattern. Teacher Su Ran, with his otherworldly posture, stood calmly within it, slowly retracting his stance.
That figure overlapped with the unparalleled immortal beauty in her heart.
Xiao Wu was already mesmerized, her skin covered in goosebumps, and a blush spread across her fair complexion.
Owuu~
Watching the teacher perform the fist technique was so exciting~
Truly, when the teacher walks by, the female rabbit's eyes blur.
"..."
"Xiao Wu, did you remember the Tai Chi I taught you?"
"To answer Teacher, I only remembered most of it."
"And now?"
"Now only a small part is left."
"And now?"
"I've forgotten most of the moves... Teacher, am I very stupid?"
"No, this means you're about to grasp the basics."
"Remember, Xiao Wu, Tai Chi is about having no moves but being better than having them. The important thing is its essence, not its specific moves."
Xiao Wu seemed to understand, yet not quite: ⊙ω⊙ Oh!