Flower Shifting Palace—or maybe it should still be called Flower Shifting Village for now. In the princesses’ bedchamber, Princess Embroidered Jade stood quietly on the balcony, gazing below. A hundred or so yards away, there was a clearing, serving as a temporary training ground for the palace maids to practice martial arts. Right now, Night Lily was instructing a group of maids and supervising two people.
Princess Embroidered Jade asked calmly, "So this was your idea?"
"Yep!" Princess Flower Shifter clapped her hands with a cheeky grin. "Photographic memory, instant mastery, unity of man and nature, spiritual emptiness and extinction. The last line doesn’t even make sense. The third one can’t really be tested, and who knows what ‘unity of man and nature’ even means. But the first two are clear enough—especially the second one."
Photographic memory is a pretty straightforward ability, and it’s easy to test. The most direct way is to hand someone a book and, after reading it once, have them recite it forwards, backwards, sideways, or even while rolling around—if they can do that, it’s definitely photographic memory. But the problem is, just because someone can’t do it doesn’t mean they don’t have the No-Dust Mind State. After all, even with photographic memory there are levels to it.
If someone can pass the college English test after flipping through the dictionary for three minutes, does that count? What if they spend a whole day flipping through it—does that still count? What about ten days? In short, the No-Dust Mind State is beyond ordinary, but it doesn’t defy all logic. You can’t just draw a hard line and say yes or no.
Now, the second line—instant mastery—is the real key. It’s like memorizing the multiplication table; just because you can recite it doesn’t mean you’ll ace every math problem. Memorizing and truly mastering are two different things.
It’s like those science whizzes who never pay attention in class, never do homework, never practice, but after glancing at the material, they still score full marks on physics. They only memorize the law of universal gravitation, and everything else they just work out on the spot during the exam—still acing it. That’s instant mastery. The thing that leaves the average students in the dust, the stuff they dream about—it’s not just the grades, it’s reaching that level.
That’s what’s so special about the No-Dust Mind State. Even if you only experience it for a short while, you can suddenly grasp things that never made sense before, break through all sorts of impossible barriers, and end up wondering how on earth your usual self couldn’t figure it out.
It’s easy to understand when you apply this to martial arts. Princess Embroidered Jade and Princess Flower Shifter are like martial arts PhDs and top educators—just a couple of glances, and they’ll know if someone has that explosive instant mastery.
Princess Flower Shifter said with interest, "Anyway, we were going to accept Lingji as a disciple, so let’s use the entry-level skills to test them. It’s all basic stuff anyway."
Princess Embroidered Jade was silent for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "You might not be able to test it." For some reason, she recalled that piercing look during the healing session. She just had a feeling things wouldn’t be so simple.
On the training ground, Night Lily stood before Fiona Fang and The Fool, who were standing side by side a meter apart.
Night Lily looked at Fiona Fang and nodded. Fiona was like a hero about to leave the newbie village—excited and brimming with confidence. Then she glanced at The Fool, but felt uncertain. The Fool was calm, his face almost expressionless, showing no signs of expectation, nervousness, or any other emotion.
"Alright, before we officially teach you martial arts, we have to test your basic aptitude first," Night Lily said, waving her hand. "Kung fu has two sides: form and function, neither is superior. Form is internal cultivation, that’s the ‘gong’. Function is technique, that’s the ‘wu’. If you practice technique but neglect internal strength, you’ll end up with nothing. But if you only train your internal energy and not your moves, you’ll be just another nameless skeleton in the martial world. You get that, right?"
"Mm-hmm!" Fiona Fang nodded so hard her ponytail nearly flew off.
"But before all that, the most basic quality for a martial artist is hand-eye coordination—quick eyes and quicker hands. You need to master countless techniques and react fast. Talent means memorizing moves quickly: remembering your own in practice, and seeing through your opponent’s in battle. Our Flower Kingdom’s defenders are mostly women, skilled in lightness, hidden weapons, and swordplay, all about speed and agility. So, watch and learn—first up, basic throwing knife technique."
Night Lily clapped, and a palace maid stepped forward, flicking her wrist. Before Fiona Fang even realized what was happening, there was a sharp thunk—the throwing knife was buried dead-center in the target twenty meters away.
"This is the most basic hidden weapon technique. Your job is to throw the knife just like she did." Night Lily glanced at Fiona Fang, who was wide-eyed. Night Lily sighed inwardly. The Flower Kingdom’s standards for palace maids were strict, but this test wasn’t supposed to be so hard. Still, Princess Flower Shifter had specifically ordered the difficulty cranked up tenfold, so here they were.
"Here are your throwing knives—five each. At least one has to hit the bullseye." Night Lily handed over the knives. Fiona Fang looked at hers, then at The Fool’s, puzzled: "Why are mine so heavy, but The Fool’s are so thin and light?" Sure enough, Fiona’s knives were like the maid’s, but The Fool’s were so thin and light they were almost like leaves.
"Uh…" Night Lily didn’t know what to say. Princess Flower Shifter had specifically ordered The Fool’s test to be harder. "Don’t worry about it, just do it." Then she signaled to the throwing knife maid, who stepped up to explain: "Here’s how you hold the knife—your fingers go like this…"
After a moment of explanation, Fiona Fang got it. She’d picked up a few street-fighting tricks in the martial world, so with a bit of guidance, she understood. But understanding and actually doing it were two different things—four knives in a row missed the target, and she was nearly in tears.
"Don’t worry, don’t worry—think it through first," the throwing knife maid said, then turned to The Fool with a wry smile. "These thin-leaf knives have lots of advantages: they’re discreet, lightweight, easy to carry—but they’re also much harder to use. The technique is different from regular hidden weapons, so watch closely." She flicked her wrist, a faint whoosh sounded, and the thin-leaf knife landed dead-center in the target.
The throwing knife maid secretly let out a sigh of relief—hitting the bullseye was pure luck, but at least she hadn’t embarrassed herself.
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Just as she was about to explain further, The Fool nodded, raised his hand, and with a faint whoosh, sent a thin-leaf knife into the target—right next to the last one.
"Huh?!" The maids couldn’t help but cry out. These thin-leaf knives really were like leaves—flexible, super light, about a quarter the thickness of a playing card. Forget hitting the target, just throwing them twenty meters was tough. And yet The Fool nailed it on the first try? That’s just not normal!
But The Fool, having succeeded on the first try, didn’t pay it any mind. He lowered his head, thinking about something. After a moment, he raised his hand again. Thunk—the second knife also hit the bullseye, but this time, there wasn’t even the faintest sound as it flew through the air.
Night Lily was still stunned when suddenly Princess Flower Shifter’s soft voice whispered in her ear—a secret sound transmission: "Have him aim for a farther target."
Night Lily immediately said, "Excellent! Let’s try something farther—how about the target fifteen zhang away…"
Thunk—before she could finish, a thin-leaf knife was already sticking out of the target fifty meters away.
"Wow!" Fiona Fang just stared, while the throwing knife maid blurted out, "Impossible!" These ultra-light knives were most affected by the wind—without internal energy, ten zhang was the limit, and at fifteen zhang, who knows where it would end up. But The Fool’s knife landed right on the target—not the bullseye, but close. Only someone who’d truly mastered the essence of ordinary knife-throwing could do that.
"Three tries, and he’s already got the essence of ordinary knife-throwing," Princess Flower Shifter laughed. "Sis, doesn’t this prove something?"
Princess Embroidered Jade raised her hand. "Wait—keep watching."
But The Fool didn’t seem satisfied. He held the thin-leaf knife flat in his hands. The maids were puzzled, but The Fool had already closed his eyes.
Five senses synchronized, second-level super touch.
In his perception, the knife had no secrets left. Its weight, thickness, lines, balance, structure, and even its flight path and posture in the air—all replayed in his mind, over and over, as he recalled the feeling of throwing those three knives. Suddenly, he remembered the petals that drifted onto the Golden Blade King’s face that day. Then he opened his eyes and threw.
Whoosh—like a leaf blown by the wind, like a drifting petal, the thin-leaf knife traced a subtle arc through the air and landed smack in the bullseye.
"Whoa!" The maids couldn’t help but gasp in awe—the arc it traced was beautiful.
Princess Flower Shifter’s eyes widened. "Falling Leaf, Drifting Flower? Is that the Falling Leaf, Drifting Flower technique? I only used it a few times playing around with the Golden Blade King, and he actually remembered it? That’s incredible! I believe he really does have the No-Dust Mind State!"
"Not quite," Princess Embroidered Jade shook her head. "Keep watching—it’s not Falling Leaf, Drifting Flower."
The maids were amazed, but The Fool was still deep in thought. Something about that last throw felt off—he knew he could do better. He closed his eyes, searching for inspiration. Suddenly, a scene flashed in his mind: he saw himself inside a giant jar, with a small stone falling from the sky toward him. At first, it seemed ordinary, but The Fool kept replaying it in his mind, analyzing its arc, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.
Suddenly, in his mind, the stone struck his forehead, and he snapped his eyes open.
He smiled—a rare, almost ethereal smile on his wooden face, like jade blooming into a flower. He flicked his hand, as if launching a paper airplane, effortless and casual. The thin-leaf knife soared like a paper plane, drifting with the wind, relaxed and easy. It didn’t fly like a weapon at all, just floated further and further, until no one knew where it landed. Everyone watched in a trance, following its flight until it vanished, then snapped out of it as if waking from a spell.
"What the..." The maids exchanged shocked glances, at a loss. Just then, a spirited shout snapped everyone back. Fiona Fang had just thrown her own knife—dead center in the bullseye! The little girl jumped up in delight, hugging the now wooden-faced Fool and bouncing with joy.
"I get it now," Princess Flower Shifter finally realized what her sister meant. "This big fool has his own unique way of doing things."
Princess Embroidered Jade nodded. "His insight really is something else. And that kid Fiona Fang seems to have a special spark too." At this point, she was interested, and sent Night Lily a secret transmission: "Continue."