Huh? You're Really a Master?

Drawing on a bit more [Expectation], Shu, filled with excitement, tried it several more times.

He broke off the wooden dummy's other arm with another punch, then tested sprinting, then running up walls.

Every improvement made Shu feel a surge of surprise.

"Right, now that I'm so much stronger, why not try those moves Fu Hua showed that day?" After getting excited for a while, Shu suddenly remembered the moves Fu Hua had practiced on the balcony that morning back in Nagazora City.

Kiana wasn't the only one with martial arts dreams.

Even if he couldn't grasp the essence of Fu Hua's moves, he could still imitate the form and replicate some of it.

"Let me think, how did Fu Hua throw that punch again…"

Shu carefully recalled, while his body began to subtly shift, gradually adopting the stance Fu Hua had demonstrated.

Fist pulled back to his waist, palm half-extended in front of him, standing sideways, power generated from the legs…

[Expectation] flowed quietly within his body. Fu Hua's movements became clearer and clearer in Shu's mind. As he thought and combined it with [Expectation], Shu even had some new insights about force exertion and angles.

Finally, everything clicked naturally. Shu took a deep breath and threw a fierce punch at the armless wooden dummy in front of him.

Not the cracking sound he expected. Instead, the wooden dummy's upper body exploded with a roar, shattering into wooden fragments of all sizes, scattering across the courtyard.

"Holy crap!" Alas, the instigator wasn't cultured enough; he could only express his shock with a "Holy crap!"

"Did I do that?" Shu looked at the wooden dummy, now just a torso, in astonishment, then looked down at his hand, still finding it hard to believe.

How different was breaking a wooden dummy's arm from blowing up its entire upper body? Shu didn't know, but every dummy here showed signs of use, which meant this was definitely not something ordinary people could do.

As for why Shu thought this way…

Could he honestly say that he'd only replicated Fu Hua's balcony punch and hadn't even surpassed it?

Was Fu Hua really that strong?!

Just as Shu was marveling, a sharp cry erupted from the side.

"Ah! Seventh Shishu's dummy is smashed!" Sushang wailed, covering her face with her hands. The mop that had supported her for the whole morning lay pathetically discarded on the ground.

Oops, busted for damaging public property. What to do? Online, waiting anxiously.

"Ahem, ahem!" Shu coughed twice, nonchalantly retracting his hand and strolling over to Sushang, who was still frozen in her wailing pose.

"Um, you…" Shu just started to say something to salvage the situation when he heard Sushang's excited voice.

"Could it be… you're really a martial arts master who came to challenge the gym?!"

Shu was silent, deciding to hear what Sushang could come up with.

Sushang looked at Shu, then at the shattered wood fragments scattered all over the ground behind him, and the wooden dummy that was now just a torso. She couldn't help but gulp.

Whoa, is he a master on the same level as Shifu?!

And that punch last night… it landed on her body…

Eeeek~ Wouldn't she have turned into Li Da-pillow-filling then?

Damn it… Looks like 30 years still isn't enough… Make that 31 years east of the river…

Sushang thought indignantly, but she felt the hope of winning back her sword growing even dimmer.

Even if Shifu came back, it would probably be hard to win against him in a short time…

pēi pēi pēi, what am I even thinking! Shifu is the strongest! Gym Master even said Shifu is the most talented martial artist in the last few centuries!

Shifu will definitely win! This guy can just wait to be defeated by Shifu!

At this moment, Fu Hua, carrying two large boxes of various medicine and equipment on her way back, suddenly sneezed: "Achoo!"

Back at the martial arts gym, Sushang's gaze towards Shu was clearly much more cautious.

Before Shifu comes back, I'll humor this master for now!

But she wondered how long she'd have to train to reach this level…

Shu raised an eyebrow.

He'd caught all of Sushang's changing expressions. The admiration in her heart naturally couldn't escape his perception either.

"Want to learn?" As if possessed, Shu blurted out a classic line.

Sushang nodded decisively, then immediately shook her head, then nodded again, and finally, after much hesitation, lowered her head.

"I don't need you to teach me. Shifu's is the best." Sushang muttered.

Shu agreed.

The power consumed by that punch he just threw was about the same as when he enhanced his body to break the wooden dummy's arm, but the actual effect was worlds apart.

Of course, this conclusion was after Shu excluded the exorbitant cost of fusing with the thought.

Thinking of that consumption made Shu's heart ache. He'd been too engrossed in recalling the moves and hadn't realized that nearly 1/5 of his remaining [Expectation] had vanished again.

One-fifth! That was almost equivalent to half a Chariot-class Honkai beast!

Shu felt the sting, but he didn't feel like he'd lost out.

Because unlike body enhancements, the byproducts of [Expectation] fusing with thoughts had been retained in his mind.

Even without [Expectation] now, Shu could still unleash a weakened version of that punch based on that experience.

He could also analyze moves and master them, and the acquired knowledge didn't need [Expectation] to maintain.

Another important piece of information.

Looks like he'd have a chance to properly learn from Fu Hua. Even if most of the moves still needed [Expectation] to unleash their full power after learning them, it was still better than just randomly throwing punches and hoping for a miracle, right?

Wait, speaking of which, he couldn't just use [Expectation] whenever he wanted, right? The reason he could experiment now was because of that [Prayer] that kept refreshing from who-knows-where.

There was no one else here, so this constantly refreshing prayer was most likely coming from the little loli in front of him. Did he have to take Sushang with him everywhere from now on?

It's not like it's completely…

No way that'd work! Shu was already doing well just to support himself. Did he really have to take care of a kid everywhere he went?

Shu thought of the spotless floors, neatly folded quilts, and clothes…

Maybe this kid was even more capable than he was?

Okay, now it really was "not completely impossible."

But Shu figured Fu Hua probably wouldn't agree, though.

So, he still hadn't found a solution to the [Prayer] problem… Looks like he'd still have to adventure with Kiana and the others in the future.

Speaking of which, how were Kiana and the others doing now…?