In the world of martial arts, one works tirelessly to attain enlightenment.

Chapter 20, Hidden Dragon Stream

early morning.

[Ascension Ritual LV5→LV6: 750 /3000]

[Attribute Control - Wind LV4→LV5: 80/2500]

As Lin Ran left the Enlightenment Room, an invisible wind swirled around her fingertips, moving at her will.

He expanded the range of his wind spirit perception to a radius of four meters, and named it [Domain]!

Within his domain, nothing can escape his perception and control over the movement of the wind.

He had even planned out his subsequent advancements.

A spiritual storm is also "wind"!

Space storms, they're still "wind"!

……

Back in the courtyard.

There was one more person in Yunzhu's room.

Dream Rain?

Lin Ran wondered why this completely unfamiliar steel-plate cat was in his room.

"Brother Lin, welcome back." Yunzhu smiled gently, her tail naturally wrapping around her wrist.

"Captain, is that thing tasty?" Mengyu stepped forward, tilted her head, and asked earnestly.

"..."

Lin Ran looked at Yun Zhu and explained in a low voice.

Lin Ran understood that the cat-people were still in the survival-of-the-fittest stage when it came to reproduction, without the complexities of the human race. However, Meng Yu and all the male and female cat-people exchange students had never mated with other cat-people.

He thought about it and realized that having more cats wouldn't be a problem.

"Come with me." Lin Ran walked into the bathroom.

……

In the early morning, sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating the intertwined black and white cat tails.

Mengyu slowly woke up and saw the pudding that Yunzhu brought over, so she immediately took a bite.

"Pudding is still the best."

"Meow!" Yunzhu was startled awake.

……

Fighting arena

"Lin Ran, do you have time? You can go over now." Coach Xiao was waiting at the door early.

"I'll trouble you, Coach, when I have time."

Lin Ran and Coach Xiao got into the car.

Half an hour later, the hovercar stopped in front of a manor.

Coach Xiao looked at the gate with a sigh, a mix of nostalgia and regret, and said with a smile:

"We're here, this is it."

Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Hall!

Coach Xiao led Lin Ran into the manor.

"This is the headquarters of the Ancient Martial Arts, the Hidden Dragon Style. Those you see outside are martial arts schools. When talented people are discovered, they will come here to be trained for a period of time to see if they can learn the essence of the Hidden Dragon Style."

"But unfortunately, since more than 50 years ago, no true successor of the Hidden Dragon School has appeared. At most, they have learned some superficial things."

"The current successor of the Hidden Dragon School is already declining if he doesn't maintain his body through extraordinary means. He has to find some talented people to keep the Hidden Dragon School alive."

"Why not cultivate spiritual energy?" Lin Ran asked calmly.

"The true successors of the Hidden Dragon School believe that martial arts also have a path comparable to the extraordinary, but they haven't found the direction yet and disdain cultivating spiritual energy," Coach Xiao said helplessly.

Lin Ran remained silent and offered no comment.

Walk through the manor to the innermost part.

It was a courtyard in the style of a martial arts dojo, with a dozen or so people practicing stances in the courtyard.

Lin Ran glanced around and saw that the three people at the front had the strongest spiritual energy fields, while the others were of varying strengths, but all of them were Awakened.

Coach Xiao walked up to a middle-aged man wearing a black martial arts uniform.

"Master, this is Lin Ran, Mr. Lin, the talented person I've been searching for."

"Master," Lin Ran said, bowing to the middle-aged man.

The other person glanced at her, their eyes shining brightly, making Lin Ran feel as if they could see right through her!

The curator looked at her for two seconds, then stepped forward, pressed down on Lin Ran's shoulder, and began to massage her arm.

After a thorough examination, the curator spoke.

"He is indeed a talented person, with a nearly perfect body, showing no signs of supernatural abilities."

"Before I begin my instruction, I have a few questions. If you can satisfy me, I will pass on the true teachings of the Hidden Dragon School. Otherwise, you will only be like them, possessing form but lacking spirit."

"Are you willing?" The curator looked at Lin Ran.

"Yes, please ask your question, Master." Lin Ran looked directly at the Master.

"The core of the Hidden Dragon School is cultivating the mind and nurturing a dragon's aura. In your opinion, what constitutes dragon aura?"

Lin Ran shook her head.

"The Hidden Dragon School was flawed from the start; it's nothing but a mudfish, how could it be worthy of being cultivated in the heart?"

"Cultivating the mind is naturally a path only for humans. If it cannot be used by the human race, there is only one way: destruction, sooner or later. Does the Master have any other questions?"

The owner remained silent, and everyone couldn't help but look over.

Those who hadn't studied seriously wore mocking expressions, while the three leaders looked thoughtful.

Coach Xiao remained silent, disagreeing with Lin Ran's words.

After a long silence, the curator sighed.

"The creator of the Hidden Dragon School also passed down this saying: 'Use dragons to nourish the heart, use dragons to control the mind, and cultivate the heart of humanity. At my age, I am not as good as you.'"

"Come with me."

The owner led Lin Ran to an inner room.

There was only one altar in the inner room, on which rows of memorial tablets were placed. There was only one tablet at the top and bottom, while there were more tablets in the middle.

The owner lit an incense stick.

"These are the successive masters of the Hidden Dragon School, as well as the masters of the same generation who have cultivated dragon energy."

"This is the Hidden Dragon Flow Mind Method. Only fragments of it have been passed down to outsiders. Without the will to establish the Dao, one cannot master it. Write it down here. Do not pass it on to others."

He then took out a thread-bound book.

Lin Ran wrote it down and returned it to the museum owner.

"Master, is there anything you can teach me?"

"If spiritual energy had not yet appeared, then instruction would still be necessary, but now that technology is advanced and spiritual energy is abundant, there are countless techniques that are even more complex than the Hidden Dragon Style, so one can learn them on one's own."

"Thank you, Master Xie. Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?" Lin Ran asked.

The curator looked at the many memorial tablets.

"If you are willing, then pass on the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Hall. You can call yourself the master of the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Hall. I am the seventy-fifth master, and there should be a place for me in this memorial tablet."

"...Okay, Master, I've got it."

"If there's nothing else, you may leave," the owner waved his hand.

"How should I address the curator?"

"Hidden Dragon Seventy-Five".

Lin Ran took out a wooden plaque, used her spiritual energy to cut it into the shape of a spirit tablet, carved "Hidden Dragon Seventy-Five" on it, and handed it to the middle-aged man.

He sensed through the earth's spiritual energy that the middle-aged man's body was already decaying.

Even though he was kept alive by spiritual energy, he could no longer cultivate and would die of old age in a few months at most.

Although it didn't feel very real, Lin Ran felt that martial arts, which had been passed down for hundreds of years, shouldn't have fallen so low that even the current generation of disciples had to make their own memorial tablets.

Canglong Qiwu accepted the memorial tablet, remained silent for a while, and then smiled with relief, as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.

Lin Ran walked towards the door and strode into the radiance, where only the scattered light illuminated the seventy-five hidden dragons.

Martial arts school.

"Hello, I'm Li Feixing, what's your name?"

"Lin Ran, I still need to cultivate. Goodbye."

Lin Ran walked past Li Feixing without giving him a second glance.

Li Feixing's smile vanished as he stared at Lin Ran's retreating figure.

"If you apologize now, I'll pretend nothing happened."

Lin Ran stopped, and before Li Feixing could laugh, she turned around and threw a punch.

boom!

Li Feixing was unable to dodge in time and was hit squarely in the chest, flying several meters before crashing through a wall.

Lin Ran turned and left with a calm expression.