Wang Sheng had a sudden stroke of inspiration and the more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed.
Firstly, Xu Qu's stay had become a certainty, so if he could practice with him, maybe he could enhance his Martial Artist Skills, the Eight Extremities Fist and Plum Flower Step. Secondly, as a human Martial Artist, Xu Qu should be able to judge his strength more accurately, giving him a clearer understanding of his own abilities.
"How about it, shall we?" Wang Sheng proposed.
Xu Qu hadn't expected Wang Sheng to suddenly suggest sparring with him.
"Alright then, but just so you know, even though my power is that of a Third Grade Martial Artist, I'm actually very strong in actual combat. I can fight like a Fourth Grade without risking my life, so don't blame me if you lose!"
"No worries, let's do this! Old man Ji's place is quite spacious. We can spar here!"
Wang Sheng didn't hope for Xu Qu to be too weak. Without a challenge, it would be hard to test his strength.
Xu Qu, who initially felt a bit tired, was suddenly energized. He had to prove himself!
Among Martial Artists, there was no need for nonsense. Old man Ji stood by as a spectator, and the two started fighting immediately.
A few minutes later, Wang Sheng emerged unscathed while Xu Qu lay on the ground wailing.
"You said you were strong, didn't you?" Wang Sheng was somewhat disappointed. It wasn't that the fight was effortless, but he really didn't feel Xu Qu was as strong as he claimed.
In fact, Xu Qu seemed even weaker than the Mountain Lord.
Upon hearing this, Xu Qu almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
He, a Third Grade Martial Artist, could fight a Fourth Grade. He had the strength of thousands of jin.
Yet, in front of Wang Sheng, that strength seemed nonexistent, effortlessly defended against.
And Wang Sheng's fighting style, that fast and fierce boxing, casually created sonic booms, terribly formidable. Xu Qu couldn't handle it at all.
Although he hadn't used all his trump cards, as it wasn't a fight to the death, he knew that even if he had given his all, he wouldn't have been the match.
The Martial Artist from this small mountain village was terrifyingly strong!
"It's not that I'm weak, it's that you're too strong!" Xu Qu had to admit this fact.
"You say you can defeat a Fourth Grade Martial Artist. Is that true?"
Xu Qu felt like Wang Sheng was mocking him but couldn't prove it.
"Of course it's true. You must be at least a Fifth Grade, even powerful among them. I naturally can't beat you!"
Wang Sheng was pleased; this was what he had been waiting to hear.
So, he was already considered a Fifth Grade Martial Artist?
All those Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills were not consumed in vain.
However, even though Xu Qu was special, his power seemed too weak and probably naive; his judgment might be biased.
So, it was better to demote himself a bit and consider himself a Fourth Grade Martial Artist.
This was a whole two ranks higher than his previous assessment; it couldn't go any higher.
"Thank you. Take care and heal up!"
Saying this, Wang Sheng picked up the Cultivation Technique he had placed on the table before they started and left.
"Old man Ji, I'll borrow this Cultivation Technique for a couple of days and then return it to you."
He hadn't been the one to save or provide shelter, nor would he keep the Cultivation Technique for himself. But he did indeed want to study it, so borrowing it was the only option.
"No worries. I don't understand it anyway; you might as well have a look."
Who knew if this Cultivation Technique was legitimate? It was good to let Wang Sheng, a Martial Artist, give his opinion.
Wang Sheng left with the Cultivation Technique, and Xu Qu was left with a bewildered expression.
"Is he taking out his disdain for me by using sparring as an excuse to beat me up?"
From the beginning, Wang Sheng's attitude towards him was lukewarm. Had he finally lost his patience?
The more Xu Qu thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
All those emotions eventually condensed into a word, though he dared not say it out loud.
Just being disdainful was reason enough to beat him up; if he had uttered a single insult, who knows what might have happened.
In fact, Wang Sheng really hadn't had that intention.
Xu Qu's willingness to heal had made a good impression.
At least he wasn't the kind of person laden with troubles and uselessness.
He sparred not only to assess his strength but also to see if he could make progress with the Eight Extremities Fist.
Now, he had achieved both objectives.
His strength could be confirmed as a Fourth Grade Martial Artist, and the Eight Extremities Fist had improved certain.
From "Eight Extremities Fist: 8 (25%)" it increased to "Eight Extremities Fist: 8 (30%)."
Perhaps because Xu Qu wasn't as strong as the Mountain Lord and the level of the Eight Extremities Fist had increased, the progress wasn't as significant as after the last fight with the Mountain Lord.
But it was still much faster than practicing alone; in just a few minutes, the progress had increased by 5%.
"It looks like I'll be visiting old man Ji's home a few more times!"
At this moment, Xu Qu, like the Mountain Lord before him, shuddered.
But unlike the Mountain Lord, he didn't overthink. He was already sorrowfully preparing the medicine pills needed for the next day's treatment.
After Wang Sheng returned home, he took out Xu Qu's handwritten Cultivation Technique to examine.
He had to say, Xu Qu had not skimped on this task.
He might have thought Wang Sheng wouldn't need it, probably writing it for the villagers. Thus, he included some basic knowledge about Martial Artists, which Wang Sheng also found useful.
But after a glance, he felt disappointed.
The information was overly basic; it was as if he had seen everything and yet learned nothing.
He might as well forget about knowledge beyond that of a Grandmaster.
As for the knowledge below that level, after reading through it, Wang Sheng concluded, "Below Grandmaster, enhance Qi-Blood!"
Despite Xu Qu having written quite a bit, the actual valuable content was just these eight characters.
For Martial Artists below Grandmaster level, there wasn't much complexity; the main focus was on enhancing Qi-Blood. Only when one reached the Ninth Grade did one seek the path of a Grandmaster. Sadly, even the path of a Grandmaster was unclear to Xu Qu, leaving no records.
At this point, Wang Sheng instantly lost interest in this Cultivation Technique.
He already possessed Cultivation Techniques for enhancing Qi-Blood; the Eight Section Brocade had a tremendously effective result which was more than sufficient.
Still, he read on a bit further.
"Now I can give up on this completely!"
After seeing the Cultivation Techniques of this world's Martial Artists, Wang Sheng could decidedly say.
Although they started similarly, stimulating one's Qi-Blood Power, with the passing of time, his practice had deviated from the world's system.
From the moment he decided to make the Inner Core Skill his Foundation Method, he embarked on a completely different path.
For instance, one of this world's theories about Cultivation Techniques stated that when the power of Qi-Blood reached a certain extent, a second strand of Qi-Blood Power would be born, increasing one's strength. After accumulating ten strands, one would advance to a Second Grade Martial Artist...
Wang Sheng, feeling his solitary Qi-Blood Power, couldn't comprehend it.
As for whether to practice the Martial Artist Skills of this world, he felt it was completely unnecessary.
His path was unique, and even with a progress bar, he couldn't be sure there would be no conflict.
With the Inner Core Skill as his bright and clear path, he had no reason to test the waters dangerously.
Wanting everything might result in getting nothing!
"Better to earnestly cultivate the Inner Core Skill and the Eight Section Brocade!"
Having chosen his path, it was time to forge it into a road that reached the heavens!