3 Chapter 3

The next day, Jiang Mang woke up and went back to his daily routine. He started with a stroll through the palace gardens together with one servant before suddenly stopping because he heard a hoarse voice behind him: " I will be your master from today on."

Jiang Mang and the servant were startled and before the servant could respond to the stranger, he responded: "Are you the person, my father found to teach me?" The stranger grunted before taking Jiang Mang with him and disappearing. The servant panicked before sounding the alarm that the second prince was kidnapped. The palace went into panic mode while the servant was brought before the king. The servant narrated the short encounter with the stranger to Jiang Huang, who settled down afterward and calmed the palace down by announcing that he found an instructor for his second son to learn self-defense.

The stranger was Invisible Leaf and he took Jiang Mang to an abandoned hut outside the capital. Jiang tried to adjust to the environment but accidentally fell on the ground. He stood back up and said: "Master, where are we, and could you help describe the surroundings around us please."

All this time, Invisible Leaf was watching the boy from the sidelines and was impressed that he didn't freak out like any other child his age, while it was even worse for him because he was blind. He answered Jiang Mang: "We are now in the forest outside the capital. You are now surrounded by trees, plants, and grass with an abandoned hut in front of you. You will from now on train and live with me in this hut and you will only return to the palace when I allow you to."

Jiang Mang nodded in understanding before asking: "Okay master, I only wonder how you will train me due to my blindness." Invisible Leaf was a bit shocked by the question coming from the child but he answered nonetheless: "I will train your mental and physical limits daily and will only remain your master if you can persevere. You will begin with foundational training of the body appropriate to your physical development while you will train to function like any normal human being through all your senses besides sight. Functioning like a normal person includes daily life tasks and being able to fight off enemies."

Invisible Leaf looked at Jiang Mang who stayed calm and nodded before saying: "Today, we will start by testing out your capabilities in using your senses and I will also teach you all the necessary knowledge of the body so that you are always aware of your body's condition." He then leads Jiang Mang in the hut before testing the boy's senses. It was eventually found out that every sense of Jiang Mang besides sight was heightened to an incredulous degree. The boy could hear every sound to the sound of a person breath or heartbeat within ten meters of him, he could smell the faintest of odors and taste the smallest details of a flavor combination, at last, he could feel down to the smallest details of an object at his fingertips. Invisible Leaf was shocked by his discoveries and quite happy that this child was not as useless as he thought a blind child would be.

Oftentimes in life, sight could betray a person of the truth and was not as important for a cultivator as his other senses. The boy would have to go through much bigger hardships than others but the moment he succeeded would also be the moment his talents would shine through the world because Invisible Leaf was not only astounded by the boy's senses but also his intelligence.

Jiang Mang was a bit tired from all the testing but also optimistic towards the future because he was willing to work hard. He later asked his master: "Master what do I have to do next and how late is it at the moment?" Invisible Leaf answered: "Night is approaching, so you should head to bed and I will wake you up in the morning. Tomorrow your training will officially start."

Jian Mang heads to the bed in the corner and fell fast sound asleep. The next morning came fast and Invisible Leaf woke him at sunrise before giving him breakfast. After breakfast, they went outside where training would start. Invisible Leaf started his instruction: " Jiang Mang, you are a smart child at the age of three with extraordinary senses but you are also unable to see which will bring many hardships if you want to become a cultivator after your awakening ceremony at the age of ten. Are you willing to face these hardships while gritting your teeth and never giving up or do you want me to return yourself to the palace and part ways here now? I will not tolerate laziness and weakness if you choose to train so this is your last chance."

Jiang Mang answered with a nod and smile that he is ready to face a tough road ahead. Invisible Leaf started the training by teaching the boy a full body work-out to train the agility of the human body while also building the foundation of a well-balanced body ready for cultivation. Jiang Mang endured a hands-on approach after the physical hands-on instruction. Every time he made an error he would be hit at the location of the error by a branch of a tree. At the end of the session, he was bruised all over his body and could only barely execute the work-out for a couple of movements before being hit by the branch. Invisible Leaf let him rest for an hour before he had to repeat the session.

After four sessions of torture and teeth-gritting, he was able to practice the work-out at triple the efficiency as the first session. It was also time for lunch which was a rabbit caught by his master. He was quite happy with his progress but he didn't know it was only the start of the nightmare training which would make him a legendary hidden-weapon master of the Xuan continent.