You don't need those eyes

Ultimately Sou Long did not mind the mood of Karl Zeal. Did he think he came here to fiddle? It was a serious business. Although Sou Long didn't care about Zeal's expression, it was still better to give him time to digest the little he had given him. So he waited for a while for him to settle down before he continued:

"I would unveil each training when you are ready to begin them; there is no need to know anything ahead of time before you ruin yourself."

Sou Long paused again. One unique thing about his explanatory pattern was the unusual style of dropping the icy dead sentence at the end of each paragraph. This situation could easily shatter the spirit of anyone who wasn't ready. However, Zeal was expressionless. But in fact, he had died more than ten times since the explanation. 'What the hell was this old man saying?' he thought. Although Zeal was dissatisfied with such strenuous death training, he anticipated it too. Risk comes before achievement (he admonished himself).

Sou Long gazed toward the anciently designed ceiling and smiled coldly. At one time, it may look like he was recollecting some set of events, but the other time his expression told Zeal he was missing something. In fact, they were complex and complicated emotions, and only Sou Long knew his thought. Then he spoke.

"There's something I didn't tell you."

"What is it, Master Sou?" Zeal asked this question with utmost care because he had also noticed those myriad changes in the expression of Soul long. Even he loved his life. In fact, there was no need to meddle in someone's loneliness.

"Mhm! There are sets of beings that have unique visual prowess. They could combine their extraordinary abilities with their eyes; it made them somewhat unstoppable. You remembered what I said previously, right?"

Zeal nodded.

Sou Long continued, "These beings mostly fell under non-human immortals. Of course, out of sheer luck, there could be some Human-immortals that possessed basic visual prowess."

"Mhm!" Zeal nodded his head gently in understanding. He then thought of something that boggled his mind. This situation made his expression to transit between dull and bright. Obviously, he was considering if it was best to ask or not. As Sou Long noticed his behavior, he furrowed his brow. This situation made Zeal panic a little.

"What's the matter?" Sou Long asked indifferently.

"Ah, it's nothing." Zeal wanted to evade the question and pretended he never gave birth to such ideas. However, Sou Long continued to frown. It uncontrollably made Zeal panic. "I… I wanted to ask how you knew about these deep things. I don't believe anyone can come up with this knowledge." Karl Zeal said fearfully.

Sou Long passed a baleful glance at Zeal. It immediately created an awkward moment for him; he didn't know how to react. At this moment, Zeal cursed himself crazily for being a fool. He shouldn't ask most things. Of course, these things were under Zeal's assumption. After all, silence could suggest a lot of things.

"You only need to know that I'm a scholar, and I have the knowledge of so many ancient martial art records that people may have even lost. So knowing these things were only natural." Sou Long answered with a cold light in his eyes, blocking Zeal from probing him further. He understood that the child was unusually gifted and sharp-witted. It could be a wonder if he didn't know the actual origin of Zeal. After all, people like Zeal had more than a thousand years of developed minds. Why wouldn't he be gifted? Regardless, Sou Long wasn't about to travel this path.

"I'll train you for three years, and by the time you return—you should be eight years old, a perfect time to enroll in the western school of element and Techniques. Of course, I won't permit you to go home during these three years. You can only succeed or die; there is no point giving your mother hope; I've already explained this part to her." Sou Long said impassively.

Sou Long paused and smiled coldly; even as he explained all these things, he never stopped observing the condition of Zeal. He examined him every time to see if he would freak out. But contrary to his belief, the small boy had the tenacity of a termite. So he continued.

"Like I said before, having this visual was a rare opportunity because only non-human immortals could possess it. But from my years of research—" Sou Long paused unexpectedly again; it makes one wonder what demon tea he was brewing. Zeal naturally opened his mouth and his eyes wide in thoughtful expectation.

However, Sou Long's eyes became cold and emotionless. He wanted to make Zeal understand that he was not here for a game. "Today, I want to train the weakest part of your body—your eyes. So beginning today, you no longer need your eyes. You will continue with a blindfold till the end of three years."

At this moment, no matter Sou Long's impassiveness and stoned face, Zeal couldn't help but laugh childishly. It was as though he had heard the funniest joke in his life. A millennial funniest joke! That was Zeal's first thought. Was the Old Man going senile? He couldn't just believe his ears. Was he a non-human immortal? But in fact, Zeal laughed for quite a while, but Sou Long was unaffected. He still remained serious and cold-looking. Looking at him, anyone would break out a feverish sweat. This outcome immediately depressed Zeal and frustrated him. 'Did the old man think of him as an instrument or a peerless genius?' he couldn't help but curse.

"Now that you plan to blindfold me. How do I move freely, how do I walk into my room, and how do I even train?" Zeal asked; he just wanted to complain.

Humph!

Sou Long snorted indifferently as his voice became more steady and stern. "As I said, the more you pass your challenges, the better. I've already prepared your blindfold for you. Put it on!" After a strict warning, Sou Long brought out a blindfold and threw it to Zeal. He commanded him to put it on.

Zeal passed a baleful gaze at Sou Long. His childish face was full of complaints, but Sou Long totally ignored them. In fact, he continued speaking after Zeal put on the blindfold.

"Now remember! I've put a destructive energy ball on that blindfold, and once you mischievously want to remove it to peek, your face and eyes would explode. At that moment, you would permanently lose those eyes that you are so proud of." Sou Long said straightforwardly. He knew he had given Zeal enough fear; he smiled coldly. Of course, Zeal couldn't see him at this moment because he was blindfolded.

"Come out and have a feel for your surrounding. Your training begins now!" Sou Long said with a majestic voice as he stood from his seat and gracefully walked outside.

But Zeal, on the other hand, took his precious time to find his way out. He tried to use the conventional way to feel his environment: his legs and hands. However, this method vastly consumed his time, but he managed to make it out. When he felt the outside breeze, he began to holler the name of Sou Long.

"Master Sou! Where are you?" Zeal called out to him with a complaint. The Old Man greatly angered him with the first training. It pained him because someone wanted to make a fool out of him. But how could a child have that kind of consciousness? He was Zeal, after all; he still had his level-headed mind.

Unbeknownst to Karl Zeal, he stood in front of Sou Long. He used his arm to feel the statue in front of him. The feeling he got from the monument was bizarre; it was not as though he had felt a sculpture: they were rough and rigid. In fact, even when they were smooth, they could never be soft. But the one in front of him was different. Understanding the facial features of Sou Long, Zeal decided to test his hypothesis. He initially wanted to climb the statue like a tree but gave up the idea. Zeal leaped up and moved his hand toward the middle point of the pillar as he tried to grab what he thought looked like a plaited strand of hair. Of course, he missed many times. But Sou Long still pretended to be a statue with no intention of revealing himself. However, at this moment, Zeal finally grabbed that specific strand. Sou Long let out a low groan and stepped away. Of course, he had already given away his position with this act.

"Brat, remember when walking without your eyes, the first thing you should do is to feel your environment with detail. Visualize the surrounding with your mind. Use the picture of the environment that you saw when you first came. Of course, that would usually lead to false information, but it is good for a start. However, I would advise you not to pay too much attention to it." Sou Long gave a long sermon only to give Zeal a chance not to embarrass himself.

Even though Zeal grumbled: what choice did he have? So he could only salute. "Yes, Master Sou." He said in his childish voice.