Chapter Forty-Five: Failing to Recognize Kindness

Feng Yisheng’s face darkened with anger as he snapped, “Why do you care?”

The woman called Xiaoyun was stunned, caught completely off guard. Never before had any man dared lose his temper at her. For twenty years, every man she met in life treated her with nothing but the utmost respect.

Xiaoyun fell silent, but her grandfather, a little embarrassed, offered an explanation. “Young man, forgive us. I have practiced Tiger Cannon Boxing since childhood—sixty years now. But in martial arts, who doesn’t get injured? For the sake of training, a bit of pain and hardship mean nothing.”

Seeing the old man’s evasiveness, knowing there was something he was unwilling to say, Feng Yisheng decided the old man simply did not know what was good for him. He replied, “Since you insist, I have nothing more to say. I need to get home. Until next time, then.”

As Feng Yisheng turned to leave, the old man called after him, “Young man, until we meet again,” and made a fist-salute.

…

Watching Feng Yisheng’s figure recede into the distance, Xiaoyun stuck out her tongue at his back and muttered, “That boy is so rude. I don’t get why you’re so polite to him, Grandpa.”

The old man gazed after Feng Yisheng’s departing silhouette, his tone thoughtful as he spoke to his granddaughter. “Xiaoyun, I truly cannot see through this young man. The feeling he gives me is reminiscent of last year, when I visited the Shaolin Monastery with your father and met the venerable old abbot. Xiaoyun, you mustn’t be rude. If you encounter this young man again, you must apologize properly.”

Xiaoyun said nothing, shocked to her core, for her grandfather had never offered such praise to any young man before. Moreover, the old abbot of Shaolin was ranked fourth among the ten greatest martial artists in China—and yet this boy was seen as his equal? Had she really misjudged him so completely?

…

As for Feng Yisheng, he returned to the gate of his apartment complex, finished his breakfast in less than twenty minutes, and then went home. Back in his room, he spent another two hours circulating the Pure Yang Mantra, but sensed not the slightest sign of a breakthrough.

He probed the storage ring with his spiritual power and found that the diamonds within the ring still contained spiritual energy, but he remained unable to use it.

With a sigh, Feng Yisheng muttered, “There’s no help for it. I’ll just have to keep practicing the Pure Yang Mantra diligently.”

Although the ancestor on Mount Tai had told him that even if he did not actively circulate the mantra, his body would still passively absorb the surrounding spiritual energy, the process was unbearably slow. He needed to find a way to acquire something that would allow him to absorb more spiritual energy.

As the thought struck him, Feng Yisheng slapped his forehead and scolded himself, “Idiot!”

He suddenly realized that since the diamonds in his storage ring held spiritual energy, even if he couldn’t absorb it, perhaps he could buy some diamonds and see if those from the outside world were usable.

But almost immediately, he dismissed the idea—diamonds were simply too expensive. A single gram cost two or three thousand. Even though he wasn’t short of money, and could sell the gold or diamonds from his storage ring to buy more, the ones in his ring were far more valuable than anything outside. Besides, even if he couldn’t use the spiritual energy now, perhaps he could once his cultivation improved. As for seeking other sources of spiritual energy, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

With this realization, Feng Yisheng broke into a smile.

…

After lunch, Feng Yisheng took a short nap. In truth, his so-called rest was just another session of the Pure Yang Mantra.

Soon it was afternoon. Having promised Zhou Chuyi he would join his League of Legends team in April, and with less than three weeks until the tournament, Feng Yisheng had agreed to spend every Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the internet café to practice with the team.

Although his own skills in League of Legends were solid, the game had reached its ninth season, and the current version made it impossible for even the best player to carry four incompetent teammates. To help Zhou Chuyi win, Feng Yisheng needed to play a few matches with him and the other three teammates to assess their abilities.

Arriving at the appointed internet café, Feng Yisheng bought a bottle of water and went inside, spotting Zhou Chuyi already in a game. Most internet cafés now featured rows of five linked computers—a setup especially popular with League of Legends players.

A glance told Feng Yisheng that the four people beside Zhou Chuyi were likely his teammates.

He walked over and saw that Zhou Chuyi was playing the jungle position. In League of Legends, there are five roles, each important in its own right, but the jungler is usually best positioned to lead the team to victory.

Zhou Chuyi’s champion was Jarvan IV, one of the best junglers for controlling the tempo in the current patch. The opposing jungler, as Feng Yisheng saw when Zhou Chuyi tapped the TAB key, was playing Lee Sin—a champion popular in both ranked and normal queues, though this particular Lee Sin had struggled to find an opening so far.

Feng Yisheng glanced at the timer in the upper right corner of the screen: 6:18.

The kill score was 1:2 after six minutes—quite normal, suggesting the skill level in the three lanes was fairly even. Neither side was being steamrolled, which meant the outcome would likely hinge on how the junglers influenced the game.

Zhou Chuyi was doing well. His jungle pathing suggested he had no intention of invading the enemy’s jungle. Playing on blue side, his blue buff was still up at six minutes, yet he was already level six—higher than any of the eight laners on both sides. The enemy Lee Sin had just shown himself mid, where the blue team’s Vladimir was relentlessly pressing the enemy Lissandra.

In that situation, the jungler often had no choice but to help mid push out the wave. Lissandra kept getting poked down to kill range by Vladimir, making it dangerous for her. To keep her alive, Lee Sin was forced to stay and help, both sides apparently waiting for their ultimates or for a potential dragon fight.

As Feng Yisheng expected, by seven minutes and fifty seconds both supports on lane had even reached level six from soaking experience.