"It's true, our level really is too low!"
Bella Ba spoke bitterly. Ian Song had sent out three waves of force from a distance, just enough to push her out of the dorm room doorway before the energy vanished—and he hadn't hurt her in the slightest. That alone proved Ian's control over his strength was at a peak she couldn't even comprehend.
Striking with force through the air—from what she knew, even her grandfather, who had reached Postnatal Great Perfection, couldn't do that. It meant Ian had to be someone who'd already surpassed Postnatal.
To surpass Postnatal is to reach Innate—the Innate realm. In the Ba Family, only the founder had ever reached that level; since then, no one else had managed it, because the Ba Family's cultivation arts only went up to Postnatal Great Perfection. To break through to Innate, you either needed to acquire an Innate-level art or create your own.
All the Innate-level arts were in the hands of the big sects and major powers. The Ba Family was just a small clan—how could they ever get one? As for creating your own, that was way too hard. Following a manual is easy; starting from scratch is a whole different level.
Thinking of this, she looked at Ian Song with a new sense of awe.
Suddenly, a thought struck her—if I could take Ian Song as my master, wouldn't I be able to learn an art that reaches Innate?
Whether Ian agreed or not, she had to give it a shot.
So she stared at Ian, nervously asking, "Can I be your disciple?"
Whether you're herding one sheep or a whole flock, it's all the same. So, after a brief hesitation, Ian nodded and said, "Tomorrow morning at six. Wait for me on the campus track."
"What?"
Bella Ba could hardly believe her ears. Her face was full of blank surprise and disbelief—Ian Song had actually agreed! Instantly, a huge wave of joy swept over her. She dropped to her knees and knocked her head three times: "Disciple Bella Ba greets Teacher!"
Seeing this, Leon Long and Gavin Gan blinked at Ian Song. "Ian, do we have to kneel and kowtow to you like this upperclasswoman?"
"You don't need to!" Ian said, waving his hand, half amused and half exasperated.
"So you're not going to keep the real kung fu from us, right?" Leon asked worriedly.
"Relax—as long as you're willing to put in the hard work, I'll definitely teach you real kung fu!" Ian reassured them, then told Bella Ba to get up quickly.
After sending Bella Ba off, Ian called Charles Zhao and asked him to investigate Bella Ba.
It wasn't long before Charles Zhao sent Bella Ba's dossier to his email.
Bella Ba, female, age 20, currently studying in the Foreign Languages Department at Waterwood University. She's a descendant of the small ancient-martial Ba Family. The strongest in the Ba Family is Ba Yuming, Postnatal Great Perfection—Bella Ba's grandfather...
After reading Bella Ba's dossier, Ian was quite satisfied.
That night, while Leon Long and Gavin Gan were asleep, Ian Song pulled up the system interface and said to Meow-Meow, "Meow-Meow, exchange 259 points of spiritual power for me."
"Okay!"
As soon as Meow-Meow finished speaking, Ian saw 2.59 billion Fame Points deducted from his balance.
Right after that, a surge of powerful, gentle energy flowed into his mind.
At the same time, the number in the spiritual power stat started jumping rapidly. Half an hour later, it showed 900 points.
"Congratulations, Host, you've reached level 8. One lottery draw awarded."
"Congratulations, Host, you've reached level 9. One lottery draw awarded."
"Congratulations, Host, you've reached level 10. One lottery draw awarded."
Three cold system prompts rang out in his mind one after another. Ian immediately opened the interface and drew three lotteries in a row.
The first time, he drew the Painting & Calligraphy Mastery skill.
The second time, he drew the Eastern Medicine Mastery skill.
The third time, he drew the Gambling Mastery skill.
Soon, all three skills fused completely into his soul, and just like that, he had three new abilities.
"Ding! Host has reached level 10. The system will now undergo a 24-hour upgrade maintenance. During this period, you cannot view the interface, cannot draw lotteries, and the system spirit will enter sleep mode."
His vision went dark—the system interface vanished instantly.
"Upgrade maintenance, huh? Interesting. I wonder what new features will show up after it's done?" Ian mused to himself.
The next morning at 5:40 a.m., Ian woke up Leon Long and Gavin Gan.
Leon squinted at the alarm clock by his bed and grumbled, "Ian, are you serious? You're waking me up this early?"
Ian's face turned cold. "Do you really want to learn martial arts or not? If you do, get to the track before six. If you're late, don't blame me for ignoring brotherhood."
With that, Ian ignored him and headed to the bathroom to wash up.
Leon Long and Gavin Gan both jolted awake and scrambled out of bed to get dressed.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the track together—only to find Bella Ba was already there, waiting ahead of them.
As soon as she saw Ian Song, Bella Ba hurried over and bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Teacher."
"Mm."
Ian nodded, then turned to Leon Long and Gavin Gan. "You two, run three laps around the track first."
"Seriously?" Leon Long groaned, his face falling.
"Run or don't—it's up to you," Ian said coolly.
Seeing Ian's expression, neither dared to dawdle. They hurried off to run laps around the track.
Ian led Bella Ba off to the side and said, "Show me a set of your Ba Family's boxing style."
"Yes, Teacher."
Bella Ba nodded, stepped two meters away, spread her arms, and began performing her family's boxing style.
After just a few moves, Ian Song was already shaking his head inwardly. This set focused on raw force, but lacked any softness. All superior boxing arts blend hardness with softness, yin and yang in harmony. He was sure—even if Bella Ba trained her whole life, she'd probably only reach late Postnatal.
"That's enough, you can stop now!"
After watching a few moves, Ian lost interest and called a halt.
"Yes, Teacher."
"Does your Ba Family have any internal arts?" Ian asked.
"No," Bella replied, blushing. The Ba Family only had two external arts—any internal energy was forced out by sheer physical training.
"In that case, I'll teach you an internal cultivation method." As he spoke, Ian took out a booklet and handed it to Bella Ba. The method recorded inside was called Dragon-Elephant Force, taken from Tiger-Leopard Syndicate master Hector Quinn. It was a truly advanced art.
If it were put up for auction, it could easily fetch over ten billion.
"Thank you, Teacher!" Bella Ba took the booklet, trembling with excitement. Her family had dreamed of acquiring an internal art for generations, and now she'd done it—and so effortlessly, it felt almost unreal.
"Put it away for now. Cultivating internal arts requires knowing the meridians and acupoints. Here—I've prepared charts for you. Memorize them first, and then I'll teach you how to train." Ian handed her another booklet.
"Thank you, Teacher."
"And one more thing—remember this: Dragon-Elephant Force is an Innate-level method. Without my permission, you are not allowed to pass it on to anyone." Ian's tone grew especially stern.
"I will remember, Teacher!" Bella nodded solemnly.
"Good. Go on now. Come find me when you've memorized the meridian and acupoint charts." Ian waved her off.
Bella Ba thanked him once more and left.