Enticed by the grand vision Chu Yang had painted, Han Feng was naturally eager to bite, plunging into frantic cultivation beneath the waterfall day after day.
When the third day arrived, Han Feng was training under the waterfall as usual.
Yet, having processed a few days of failed attempts, Han Feng had gained some insight. Standing before the waterfall, he did not hack away mindlessly like before.
Instead, Han Feng kept his eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought, yet gathering his strength.
After a long while, an inspiration seemed to well up in Han Feng's mind. His eyes snapped open, blazing with a fierce intensity.
Boom!
Han Feng swung his sword, and a mighty wave of sword qi slashed right into the middle of the waterfall.
A bizarre sight unfolded: the waterfall truly was cut cleanly in half by Han Feng. Its lower half vanished entirely, leaving only the upper half suspended against the cliff face.
The cascading water from above suddenly reversed course, flowing back upward along the upper stream.
Staring at the scene before him, Han Feng wore a proud, triumphant smile at the corner of his mouth.
"I finally did it."
At that moment, beyond the joy of success, Han Feng's greatest gain was realizing precisely how to wield the Ziqing Thunder Sword to unleash its maximum power.
This would enable Han Feng to punch well above his weight and display extraordinary combat prowess in real battles, even using his normal strength.
Han Feng turned his head to look at Chu Yang and gave him a thumbs-up.
Chu Yang smiled knowingly and returned the gesture with a thumbs-up of his own.
Dragging his exhausted body, Han Feng hauled himself ashore step by step from the pool. Completely drained, he slumped onto the ground and said:
"Teacher, I did it!"
Chu Yang smiled slightly and replied:
"To master this in just a few days shows you indeed possess a bit of talent. But do not get arrogant; the harder part is still ahead."
"Ah!"
Han Feng's jaw dropped a mile, his eyes filled with astonishment.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Chu Yang asked:
"Do you know how spiritual energy is categorized?"
Han Feng pondered for a moment and answered:
"Do you mean affinities?"
Chu Yang nodded, then used his palm to draw a leaf toward himself from afar.
Pinching the leaf between his fingertips, he said:
"There are many kinds of spiritual energy affinities. I have now infused my own spiritual energy into this leaf, making it extremely sensitive to spiritual energy. Let me demonstrate."
As Chu Yang pinched the leaf between his fingers, a flash of spiritual energy darted across it. Half the leaf was cleanly severed, while the other half shriveled up into wrinkles.
Looking at the state of the leaf in Chu Yang's hand, Han Feng wore a puzzled expression and asked:
"Teacher, what does this mean?"
Chu Yang brought the leaf closer to Han Feng so he could observe the changes clearly and directly.
"This is the manifestation of spiritual energy affinities. Once the leaf absorbs the spiritual energy I've infused into it, it will react accordingly to any approaching spiritual energy."
"For instance, with this leaf in my hand, the left side is severed, which proves the presence of wind-affinity spiritual energy."
"The right side has become wrinkled, proving the presence of lightning-affinity spiritual energy."
"To sum it up, I possess spiritual energy of two affinities."
Hearing Chu Yang's explanation, Han Feng took the leaf into his own hands and examined it closely, his eyes full of novelty.
Unable to wait a second longer after finishing his inspection, he blurted out:
"Teacher, then how many affinities of spiritual energy can an ordinary person possess at most?"
Chu Yang immediately slapped the back of Han Feng's head once more. Rubbing the spot, Han Feng wore an aggrieved expression:
"Teacher, why did you hit me again?"
"You little rascal, are you trying to play games with me? I already said 'an ordinary person,' yet you're still asking how many affinities they can have."
Chu Yang curled his lips, looking utterly speechless.
Han Feng froze, realizing his phrasing was the problem. After quickly reorganizing his thoughts, he tried again:
"Teacher, among the people you know, what is the maximum number of spiritual energy affinities someone possesses?"
Chu Yang simply tilted his head back, staring blankly at the sky without answering for a long time.
Han Feng didn't dare disturb him—after all, if he took a few more slaps to the back of the head, wouldn't he end up an idiot?
After a long while, Chu Yang's absent-minded expression slowly faded as he gave a flat answer:
"Five!"
With that, an indescribable look flashed across Chu Yang's face before his expression quickly returned to normal.
Han Feng noticed this subtle change. Although he was extremely curious about the person with five affinities Chu Yang had mentioned, seeing Chu Yang's reaction, he decided not to press further.
With wide eyes and a surge of excitement, Han Feng looked eager to try.
"Teacher, let me try."
Distracted from his thoughts, Chu Yang didn't overthink it. With a wave of his hand, another leaf flew into his grasp.
Chu Yang infused it with spiritual energy, handed the leaf to Han Feng, and motioned for him to give it a shot.
Taking the leaf, Han Feng stared at it with total concentration, took a deep breath, and channeled his spiritual energy into it.
Snap!
The leaf immediately wrinkled. At this, Chu Yang's eyes filled with astonishment, while Han Feng wore a look of utter disappointment, his shoulders slumping.
Noticing Han Feng's expression, Chu Yang asked:
"Why are you making that face?"
Feeling quite dejected, Han Feng said:
"Sigh, it looks like I really am just an ordinary person you were talking about. I only have lightning-affinity spiritual energy."
Hearing this, Chu Yang burst out laughing and replied:
"You brat, what is there to be unhappy about? Lightning affinity has the strongest attack power of all affinities, and it is extremely rare."
Han Feng rolled his eyes at Chu Yang, thinking to himself: "This cheap master of mine only knows how to string me along."
"Teacher, even you have two, but I only have one. Isn't that a bit lame?"
Chu Yang stroked his beard and said:
"What's lame about that? After all, lightning affinity..."
Before he could finish, Chu Yang suddenly recalled Han Feng's previous words. His eyes flared with irritation as he glared at Han Feng and grinned:
"What do you mean by 'even you'? You little punk."
Stepping forward, Chu Yang landed yet another direct slap.
The next instant, Han Feng clutched the back of his head with an aggrieved look, gazing pitifully at Chu Yang as he pleaded:
"Teacher, can you please stop hitting the back of my head? If this keeps up, I'm going to turn into an idiot."
Chu Yang, who had originally intended to deliver another smack, was tickled by Han Feng's remark. He slowly lowered his hand and said:
"All right, you little brat, stop selling yourself short. Take a close look at the leaf in your hand."
?
Looking baffled, Han Feng brought the leaf close to his eyes for a careful inspection.
That single look terrified him so much that his hands began to tremble, and he stammered out:
"T-Teacher, d-did my eyes play tricks on me? There seem to be five different types on here!"
Seeing Han Feng stammering before him, Chu Yang couldn't help laughing as he said:
"Playing tricks my ass! Are you trying to show off?"
Han Feng shook his head frantically, signaling that he had no such intention.
Although the leaf was indeed wrinkled, its edges displayed several distinct changes. The areas were just extremely small; if one didn't pay close attention, they would only notice the wrinkles.
The middle of the leaf was wrinkled, its upper edge was cleanly sliced off in parts, the lower edge was blackened, the left edge was soaked with moisture, and the right edge radiated a rigid, biting chill.
With a warm smile, Chu Yang said with immense gratification:
"Not bad, kid. You actually possess five spiritual energy affinities—lightning, wind, fire, water, and ice. You truly are a rare sight in this world."