Chapter 85 - Practice Is The Best Teacher

In the medium-sized parlor, the candlelight flickered intermittently. The moonlight outside the tall arched windows shone in, passing over the dark green silk curtains and landing on the cake on the mahogany table. Lisa smiled softly at the five people around the table.

In Li Wei's era, there was a belief that the soul was most vulnerable to demon invasion on their birthday. Therefore, family and friends would gather together on that day, bearing cake in order to give blessings to ward off evil and bring good luck. As the five core disciples of the Wind Elephant Sect were now also her close friends, they came bearing blessings.

Lisa's gaze finally settled on Cassius. "I'm surprised you remember my birthday."

"I asked the Grandmaster so he told me," Cassius answered honestly.

"

Hahaha

." Lisa laughed, slapping her forehead. "Don't talk like that in the future or no girl will like you. But anyway..." Lisa stood up from the mahogany chair and hugged Cassius. "Thank you, my disciple Li Wei."

The small birthday party was extremely lively for the next few hours. Thanks to Lance and Moses, the two comedic rivals, laughter often filled the room. Cassius also gave Lisa the gift he bought, a delicate ladies' pocket watch. She was elated.

"

Hmm

, you chose well this time. I really like the watch," Lisa said, rubbing the pocket watch's delicate cover.

"I'm glad you like it."

Of course, Cassius didn't choose the gift by himself; he had sought help from his brother, Lance, who had an impeccable taste. Although, he had been the one to decide on the pocket watch because Lisa had once given him a pocket watch that had been special to her.

All in all, Lisa was quite pleased with her fortieth birthday. Even though her master wasn't there, at least her disciple was, right?

The next day was the Beiliu County Exchange Tournament's closing ceremony. There wasn't much to say. It was almost identical to the opening ceremony, with just some people dancing in the theater.

Since this was the first time an exchange tournament was held, both the people from East Sea County and the local collaborating sects were inexperienced, resulting in a rather simple and crude event. Even so, they managed to make do.

Finally, at around three in the afternoon, the Beiliu County Exchange Tournament came to an end. All the eliminated small sects left and returned to their hometowns. The four major sects of Beiliu County, however, stayed for a few more nights, ranging from one to six days, before taking the train to East Sea County in batches.

The Wind Elephant Sect was relatively lucky as they didn't have to wait long. After just two nights at the estate, the organizers informed them that they could take the train the next morning. They had several carriages prepared to accommodate everyone.

With Lisa at his side, Cassius didn't get to laze about during this time. Oftentimes, the two of them could be found in the estate's training room where Lisa would be teaching him the next set of fist techniques, specifically the next few moves in Wind Elephant Fist.

The reality was, with Cassius surpassing human limits and reaching the realm of a pugilist, he didn't need a teacher anymore. Since all of the training methods of the Wind Elephant Fist were inherently the same, he could systematically train the Elephant Herd stage by following the methods of the Gale stage.

Jadice and Hykal, who had become pugilists early on, didn't need much instruction. What they needed most was continuous seclusion and constant combat practice—the first was to steadily temper the body, and the second was to continuously grow their knowledge and combat skills.

So after two days of teaching, Lisa looked at her disciple helplessly. "You have already mastered all the basics of the Wind Elephant Sect Covert Martial Arts. I have taught you everything I can. What you need to do now is be adaptable when you're applying the things you've learned, and follow the path of the Wind Elephant Sect Covert Martial Arts to its limits."

"But Teacher, I still have many questions."

"Then do real combat. Your opponent will always be your best teacher. I can't be with you much longer. You'll need to find a new master."

Early the next morning, it began to lightly drizzle. Like a silvery spider web, the rain weaved a heavy net that covered the entire world's spring. The sky over Beiliu City was also dark and gloomy like an old house's cobweb-covered roof, giving everything an unusually old and dreary look.

Pa!

A large hand unfolded the gray newspaper. Since Beiliu City Daily Newspaper was fresh off the printing press, it still smelled strongly of ink. A small line of text was tucked into the far corner of the newspaper: "Expect rain on April 15th of the 99th year of the Hongli Federation."

"Damn, it's been raining nonstop for the past three days." Moses, slightly irritated, closed the newspaper. He preferred sunny weather and disliked this current drizzly rain, which made his joints feel rusty and stiff.

"Sunny days can be too hot. A cool rain to lower the temperature is better," said Lance, who obviously liked the rain.

"Yeah, it was nice at first, but it's been raining for three days!"

Sensing that Lance and Moses were seconds away from bickering again, Cassius interjected, "Hurry up and finish eating. We only have an hour before we need to head to the train station in the western suburbs."

He looked up at the sky, where the gray clouds had accumulated to look like broken tiles on a roof. Cassius took a bite of the crispy, delicious toast and then picked up the white porcelain cup filled with hot milk. The food at the estate was delicious, much better than what they had at the Wind Elephant Sect's canteen and Oakwood City. After all, Beiliu City was the central city of Beiliu County.

Click.

The wooden door of the parlor suddenly opened. Hykal, who was closing his umbrella with one hand, stomped on the doormat outside, shaking the water off his black boots.

"Senior Brother," all three of them said in unison.

"Hey, enjoying your meal? Did you save me something?" Hykal left the umbrella outside and quickly walked in.

"Yes, we did." Cassius gently pushed a porcelain cup a white plate and over which had the standard breakfast fare—toast, sausage, and buttered eggs.

"So you guys do have some conscience. Guess me getting up early to run this errand for you wasn't in vain." Hykal smiled and sat down at the mahogany table, using the knife and fork in one hand to eat breakfast.

"Thank you, Senior Brother. My master's health isn't good enough for her to endure a seven to eight-day train ride to East Sea County." As Cassius spoke, he pushed a plate of sausage with sauce over. He hadn't touched this dish since it had been served. It was still warm. He knew Senior Brother Hykal's favorite food was Turkey-style grilled sausages.