Although Qian Yuya showed no expression—Leyu suspected that both of the Qian siblings inherited a genetic facial paralysis—Leyu always felt that Qian Yuya's words seemed slightly sarcastic.
Since there was nothing left for him, Leyu returned to the living room to practice Combat Technique to pass the time.
The living room had a large, unfurnished open space, where before joining the military academy, Qian Yuliu would practice Combat Technique. In the center of the empty space, the ground was noticeably worn and sunken, a mark left by Qian Yuliu's relentless training.
When Leyu stepped onto it, his feet perfectly fit into the indentation on the ground. Memories emerged in his mind like bubbles floating to the surface, and he naturally assumed the starting stance of the Biting Battle Technique, beginning to practice while recalling much knowledge.
The vast majority of Combat Techniques can be divided into 'nurture', 'utilize', and 'refine' sections.
'Nurture' refers to nurturing the body; training in Combat Technique can strengthen the body — but it must be a complete Combat Technique inheritance. The warm-up before training, the stretching after, and massage during rest are indispensable; otherwise, training in Combat Technique would only damage the body.
However, the Combat Techniques that have been passed down to the present are complete versions tempered countless times by thousands of Awakeners. It is said that certain families possess some unknown 'Secret Technique' cards, but the original owner, Qian Yuliu, scoffed at it—how could the inheritance of dozens of generations of hundreds of people in one family compare to the Combat Technique continuously iterated and improved by tens of thousands across the nation's several hundred generations?
'Utilize' means application; not all Combat Techniques were invented for combat. For example, the Internal Scenery Hand Combat Technique enables a Medical Officer to treat most diseases just by using their palms for massages to seal veins. Even Combat Techniques intended for combat don't just enable you to fight after learning how to punch—you also need to learn how to counteract when an enemy attacks you, and so on.
Because Combat Techniques are completely transparent, there are perfect strategies on each one against other techniques, much like every character in a fighting game having perfect tactics, such as 'when he hooks you, go under his butt and attack his weak spot' and so on.
Of course, strategy is just strategy—whether you can actually win against the opponent depends not only on your skills but also on whether the opponent is a master.
Therefore, if you want to master a Combat Technique, the content you need to memorize is definitely more than what you need to memorize for cultural lessons exams.
'Refine' means refining the mind; while practicing Combat Technique cannot enhance Spiritual Power, the process of training it can allow an Awakener to mobilize Spiritual Power to a greater extent.
To use muscle strength as an analogy, an average person can only deliver less than 50% of their force with a straight punch, whereas a trained fighter can fully mobilize muscles to deliver 80% or even 100% strength.
Spiritual Power is similar; an average person's Spiritual Power efficiency is only 30% to 40%, with the rest dissipating when mobilizing Light Energy. An Awakener who has been immersed in Combat Techniques for many years can increase efficiency to over 60%.
When Spiritual Power efficiency in Combat Technique exceeds 70%, it means it can be used freely and adeptly. Qian Yuliu's Biting Battle Technique had around 70% Spiritual Power efficiency.
'Mu Feihong being able to defeat me is not just because he's better at it than I am, but also because his Spiritual Power efficiency is slightly higher. Yet, just that little bit makes me unable to fight back…'
While practicing, Leyu recalled the battle from that morning, understanding many vague subtleties and grasping the essence of many habitual subconscious actions.
When the practice of Biting Battle Technique was complete, Leyu returned precisely to the original spot, standing on the indentation, with his whole body slightly warm, muscles delightedly aching, and breathing smoothly, even feeling a bit hungry.
Moreover, Leyu completely realized it.
He had great potential for improvement in Combat Technique.
So far, he hadn't fully absorbed Qian Yuliu's legacy, only infinitely approaching Qian Yuliu's level.
Learning, my foot, I'll wait and upgrade in one go after completing the 15-day survival challenge.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Xiaoyu~ are you home?"
A voice came from outside. Leyu went to open the door and saw a girl wearing a purple and blue uniform standing outside, with medium-length hair and straight bangs. Her face was slightly chubby, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at Leyu.
"Are you Qian Yuya's classmate? Come in and have a seat; she's cooking," Leyu said kindly.
Leyu opened the door to let the girl in, and the girl hurriedly said 'sorry for bothering you' and then looked curiously at Leyu: "I am Li Ying, a classmate of Xiaoyu."
Li Ying was not visiting Xiaoyu's house for the first time, but it was her first time seeing someone else there. The young man in front looked kind and youthful, somewhat resembling Xiaoyu, but he called Xiaoyu 'Qian Yuya'… is he Xiaoyu's family? Or maybe an uncle?
Leyu invited Li Ying to sit down and poured her a glass of water before smiling and saying, "How is Qian Yuya doing at school? Is anyone bullying her?"
"No, no, Xiaoyu is very popular in class; who would bully her?" Li Ying shook her head repeatedly, her gaze toward Leyu growing more curious, "Are you very close to Xiaoyu?"
Who is this handsome guy to Xiaoyu? A relative? A neighbor? Or her childhood sweetheart?
"Our relationship is decent. And how is Qian Yuya doing academically?"
"Very well, in both cultural and Combat Technique classes, Xiaoyu is among the best. By the way, are you still studying, or have you started working?"
"I've been working for over a year now," Leyu laughed. Part of his inquiry about Qian Yuya's school life was influenced by Qian Yuliu's memories, and another part was his own curiosity about what life was like for the sister he lived under the same roof with.
He suddenly lowered his voice: "Tell me secretly, is Qian Yuya dating anyone?"
Li Ying blinked, excitedly licked her lips, and whispered, "Not yet, but I know our classmate Fang Wenhua likes Xiaoyu, and Xiaoyu once seemed to have some affection for him."
If you're going to gossip, I'm all ears!
"Once?" Le Yu keenly caught the keyword.
"Yeah, but today Fang Wenhua said something wrong, and I'm afraid Xiao Yu is annoyed with him now." Li Ying sighed regretfully.
Le Yu was a bit curious: "What did he say wrong? Swear words? Or dirty jokes?"
"No, no." Li Ying thought this guy's thought process was quite strange: "It's a long story..."
"How are your Chinese language grades?"
"Pretty good."
"Then summarize the main content, keep it short."
Li Ying paused for a moment before she got the connection between Le Yu's two sentences and laughed: "In short, Xiao Yu's troublesome brother came to the school today, and then Fang Wenhua spoke ill of him, and Xiao Yu may dislike him because of that."
Le Yu blinked and suddenly understood: "So that's it... Wow, I didn't expect Qian Yuya has such a cute side."
"Yes, Xiao Yu is actually very cute." Li Ying giggled, the more she looked at Le Yu, the more pleasing he seemed, and talking to him about gossip concerning Xiao Yu made her feel closer — for girls, gossip is truly one of the best ways to bond.
After chatting about Xiao Yu for a while, Li Ying finally couldn't resist her curiosity and asked: "May I ask what your name is? Who are you to Xiao Yu?"
After asking this, Li Ying blushed a little.
Compared to the students at school, Le Yu made a very good impression on her — not only was he good-looking, but he spoke humorously and wittily, completely fitting her fantasy of a boyfriend. She secretly decided to visit Xiao Yu's house more often, even if she couldn't get closer to this guy, just to enjoy the view!
However, this guy didn't seem to be very familiar with Xiao Yu, calling her by name and not knowing the details of Xiao Yu's life. Oh, if only this guy were Xiao Yu's real brother!
"Me? I'm... Qian Yuliu, Qian Yuya's brother." Le Yu leisurely drank a glass of water and said.
Li Ying blinked.
"Qian Yuliu? Which 'Yu'? Which 'Liu'?"
"The 'Yu' as in 'feather', and the 'Liu' as in 'flowing water'."
"Real brother?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure, since my parents seem to have passed away long ago, I never asked, but I should be the real one."
"Does Xiao Yu have any other brothers?"
"As far as I know, she doesn't." Le Yu crushed Li Ying's last shred of fantasy: "The troublesome brother who came to your school today should have been me."
Li Ying instinctively scooted away from Le Yu.
She really didn't expect that the young man in front of her was the rumored Qian Yuliu!
Today, when Le Yu was beating up the Maple Stream Teacher on the playground, Li Ying hadn't seen much, and the playground was quite far from the teaching building, so everyone could only hear Maple Stream's roar, how could they see the face of a Statistical Department agent clearly?
The most important thing was, Le Yu's first impression was completely different from the imagined Statistical Department agent — Li Ying had heard that Statistical Department agents were a group of maniacal, greedy, lecherous, and fierce evil people, with an average of three scars and six bullet holes per person.
But Le Yu didn't feel like a bad guy at all, even somewhat soft and cute, so Li Ying's mind immediately dismissed the idea that 'he is Qian Yuliu'.
"Th-th-th-that," Li Ying took a blue-covered book from her bag, tremblingly handed it to Le Yu, and stammered: "Th-th-this is Xiao Yu's n-n-no-notes, I-I-forgot to give-give-give them to her after-after school..."
No need to be so scared... Le Yu was a bit helpless: "Don't be nervous, I'm off-duty now, not taking anyone to the Statistical Department. Besides, you're Xiao Yu's friend, I can't protect you enough, how could I possibly hurt you?"
Li Ying thought that made sense, but her legs still trembled uncontrollably. Reputation precedes people, the notorious Statistical Department and Qian Yuliu as a mainstay were heralded as merciless killers, with reportedly dozens of lives on his hands, how could Li Ying not be afraid?
"Xiao Ying?"
Hearing Qian Yuya's voice, Li Ying felt relieved and immediately stood up and said: "Xiao Yu, I'm here to return the notes! Since I returned them, I'll just head home now!"
Li Ying said that and dashed out of the Qian house, without even looking back.
As for getting closer to Xiao Yu's brother... Sorry, there are handsome men everywhere in the world, and Li Ying still wants to live a few more years!
Qian Yuya took off her apron, looked at Li Ying's hurried figure, then turned to look at Le Yu.
Le Yu had a look of nothing having happened:
"Is dinner ready?"