Becoming a god starts with one certificate becoming eternal.

Ye Xiao walked to the entrance of the corridor. A breeze swept through the eaves, carrying the warmth of the sun. The sun hung high, but it couldn't suppress the turbulent thoughts surging within the inner gate.

He ignored the stares behind him.

This battle was won cleanly due to the difference in strength. If he were to encounter an opponent of similar skill and background, his technique and combat experience would still be his weaknesses.

It needs to be made up.

Ye Xiao walked along the corridor to the backyard. It was much quieter here than the training ground. There was a soft sound of water, like someone washing their wrists. The water fell into the stone trough, making a clear, distinct sound.

He raised his hand and knocked on the door frame twice.

"Xue Chan".

The sound of water stopped.

The next moment, the door opened halfway.

Xue Chan peeked out, her sleeves neatly tied, her wrists wrapped with wrist guards, and her fingertips slightly damp, as if she had just washed off sweat.

"Senior Brother Ye?"

She called out those three words so naturally, as if she should have called them long ago.

Xue Chan stared at him for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly. Instead of asking his purpose, she lowered her voice and said as she opened the door:

"Don't linger at the martial arts gym for too long."

"Zhang Yuan is back, and he even said he would..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Xiao cut him off calmly:

"I know."

Xue Chan was taken aback: "You knew that, yet..."

Ye Xiao raised his eyes, his tone still calm:

"Just resolved."

The wind at the courtyard gate seemed to stop for a moment.

The worry in Xue Chan's eyes froze, as if she hadn't grasped the weight of the word "solve".

She stared at Ye Xiao, her gaze sweeping over his shoulders, back, chest, and gait.

That's too stable.

His clothes were not disheveled, his breathing was not rapid, and his blood and qi were not dissipated. There was almost no sign of him vomiting blood or fighting desperately, let alone any signs of fighting.

Xue Chan's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and her voice lowered by a fraction:

"You...beat him?"

Ye Xiao didn't explain, he just nodded: "Mm."

Xue Chan opened her mouth, as if wanting to ask how the fight went and to what extent, but she swallowed the words back. She knew Ye Xiao's personality all too well; he would tell her what he wanted to tell her, and asking him wouldn't help if he didn't.

She just clicked her tongue, as if she were cursing, or as if she were letting out a sigh of relief:

"Okay, you're really something."

"I was worrying too much. Tell me, what brings you here?"

Ye Xiao didn't beat around the bush: "I want to learn skills and gain practical experience."

Xue Chan's brow furrowed slightly. She stopped standing in the doorway, stepped aside to open the door a crack, and said crisply:

"Come in and we'll talk."

The courtyard is not big.

A black stake, an old mat, and several hemp rope loops on the ground. In the corner were sandbags and arm guards, and on a shelf hung short wooden sticks, wooden knives, and iron rulers. The weapons were clean and showed signs of frequent use. A polished wooden board was nailed to the wall, covered with fist marks, the old ones shallow and the new ones deep.

This place is more like a place for debating and countering moves.

Xue Chan closed the door, wiped the water from her fingertips on a cloth, and then looked up at him:

Explain it more clearly.

Ye Xiao got straight to the point:

"I lack combat experience and combat skills."

Xue Chan's eyes flickered slightly. Instead of mocking him, she seemed to be struck by his words. Only truly strong people dare to face their weaknesses and choose to overcome them.

Ye Xiao continued to push the conversation forward:

"I would like to ask the instructor to teach me techniques and combat methods. I remember that inner disciples have three opportunities to learn from me each month."

Upon hearing this, Xue Chan shook her head almost without hesitation:

"no way."

Ye Xiao's gaze remained unchanged: "Why?"

Xue Chan raised her hand and gestured towards the inner courtyard, her tone crisp as if she were announcing rules:

"My father has been sparring with my senior brother Chen Tao during this period."

"He is only one step away from becoming a martial artist. Father wants to push him to that level as soon as possible. In the time before you came, he had already given the order not to teach other inner disciples during this period."

She paused for a moment, then added, cutting off any misunderstanding: "This isn't directed at you; it's just that in his eyes... no one is more important than Chen Tao."

Ye Xiao was silent for a moment, then asked, "Then who should I learn from?"

Xue Chan stared at him for a moment.

There was a hint of anger in her eyes at first, annoyed that he hadn't shown his face for a month and had stirred up trouble in the inner sect as soon as he returned. Then there was a hint of barely suppressed smugness, as if it was finally her turn to have the upper hand in front of this person.

She snorted and took half a step forward:

"Find me."

Ye Xiao looked at her.

Xue Chan tightened her wristband, as if tightening her grip on her words, her tone sharp as the back of a knife striking a table:

"What's with that look? I admit my level isn't as high as yours."

"But when it comes to countering moves, dodging, positioning, close-quarters combat, seizing the rhythm, and exploiting weaknesses... rendering the opponent powerless, in terms of skills and combat experience, no one in the entire martial arts school can compare to me."

She paused, the light in her eyes finally breaking through, as if it had been suppressed for a long time.

"Don't forget, I grew up in a martial arts school, and my father even said that my fighting talent is greater than his."

Ye Xiao nodded: "When does it start?"

Xue Chan raised the corner of her mouth, as if she had been waiting for him to say that.

"Now."

"I can teach both fist fighting and weapons."

Xue Chan raised her hand and gestured twice in the air, as if drawing a line or a distance for him, very decisively:

"But don't rush to equip yourselves with weapons."

"Weapons are just weapons with longer handles; the outcome still depends on the same few things... distance, rhythm, positioning, and weaknesses."

After she finished speaking, she turned around and pulled two short wooden sticks from the shelf.

The wooden stick was neither long nor heavy, and its edges were rounded, clearly indicating that it had been used for countering moves for many years.

She tossed one of them to Ye Xiao.

"Take it."

Ye Xiao caught it, his palm sinking as the wooden stick felt cool to the touch.

Xue Chan tapped her own finger against her palm, making a crisp "snap" sound.

"This isn't about teaching you how to use a stick."

"It's to help you understand lines more quickly."

She tapped the stick, pointing it at the straight line in front of Ye Xiao's chest, then flicked it, bringing it to the outside of his shoulder:

"The punches and kicks are too fast. At first, you can only rely on instinct to tough it out and dodge randomly based on your feelings."

"With this, you'll know where your hand is and where the other person's hand is."

"Where is the center line, where are the blind spots, where can we enter, and where we'll get hit if we enter—it's all obvious at a glance."

Ye Xiao nodded; this was the first time he had systematically learned combat skills.

Xue Chan looked up at him, her smile faint, but her words brooked no negotiation:

"Let me make this clear first, I'm a very fierce teacher."

"Your strong foundation is an advantage, but don't treat it as a magic bullet."

"If you really encounter someone who knows how to fight, whether you're at the same level or slightly different, they won't try to out-strength you. They'll just avoid your attacks, making it impossible for you to touch them, make a move, and keep getting hit."

Ye Xiao gripped the wooden stick, the scenes of yesterday's battle flashing through his mind, his eyes calm:

"The fiercer the better."

Xue Chan was taken aback, then clicked her tongue, as if unable to suppress a hint of smugness:

"OK."

She raised her chin and pointed to the several hemp rope circles on the ground, her voice suddenly becoming firm:

"First, take your positions."

"From now on, the first thing you need to learn is not how to hit people, but how to prevent people from hitting you."

"Keep your feet inside the circle, don't go out of bounds."

Ye Xiao didn't waste any words. He stepped into the circle, holding the wooden stick firmly in front of him.

Xue Chan glanced at him, her smugness fading slightly. She raised her wooden stick and lightly tapped the air:

"Article 1."

"Don't stare at the head of the stick, stare at the shoulders, hips, and feet."

"The stick is fake; the shoulders, hips, and feet are real. The hands will never move first."

Before Ye Xiao could process what she had said, she pressed herself against him, and the tip of her stick rained down on the outside of his wrist.

"Smack."

The sound was very soft, but it hit the bone perfectly.

Ye Xiao's brow twitched almost imperceptibly, his wrist went numb, and the wooden stick nearly slipped a little.

Xue Chan didn't even blink, her tone flat, as if she were talking about the simplest thing:

"You were looking at a stick just now. Remember what I said."

She didn't give Ye Xiao time to think; with a quick flick of the stick, she touched the outer edge of the back of his hand.