Chapter 15: Training with Deng Sai

As the weeks progressed, Wong Yazhu's training with Deng Sai was extended from the initially planned one month to two months, largely due to Wong Yazhu's eagerness to learn more from her teacher, who had a wide range of knowledge to offer. Over these two months, Wong Yazhu's martial arts skills improved exponentially, skyrocketing like a rocket ascending rapidly into the sky. From struggling with a basic front knee kick, she quickly reached a level that could be considered masterful.

This rapid progression was largely due to the Eye of Insight, a cheat-like ability that allowed Wong Yazhu to master complex martial arts techniques with minimal practice, like a pay-to-win player buying an item that increases EXP gain to reduce the grind time.

Deng Sai was the first to notice that Wong Yazhu only needed to grasp the basics of a martial art technique before her 'hypnotic eyes' allowed her to master it completely, which she quickly relayed to her parents.

"It's like she's 'hypnotizing' herself to master the skill," Wong An remarked one evening as clouds drifted over the moon, momentarily obscuring its light.

"That's one way to put it," Deng Sai agreed, with Wong Su folding his arms across his chest in contemplation. "Do you think it is dangerous?" he asked, glancing between his wife and their daughter's teacher. "Should we tell her to stop using it?"

Deng Sai shrugged, her expression reflecting uncertainty. "I really don't know. On one hand, it is an ability of her martial soul, but there are martial souls that have been known to damage their owners," she admitted.

"What if it messes with her head?" Wong An voiced her concern, her eyes searching her husband's for reassurance. "I mean, that's a lot of self-hypnotism..."

Wong Su quickly shook his head. "We don't actually know if it's self-hypnosis," he said, though he too was almost certain it was. The eyes' ability to cast illusions seemed to suggest so.

"And nothing seems to be wrong with her so far," Deng Sai added, pausing before she continued, "Except for her growing cockiness."

"Just because there is nothing visible, doesn't mean—hey, baby~" Wong An's tone shifted abruptly as Wong Yazhu peeked out the back door, her black hair still damp from her bath. "What are you talking about?" she asked, her gaze flitting curiously between the three adults.

"We were just asking Teacher Sai what your next training will be about," Wong Su covered smoothly. He then added, "You will be learning karate!"

"YAY!" Wong Yazhu exclaimed, throwing her arms up in excitement. She then tilted her head, "What is karate?"

Of course, Wong Yazhu had heard everything the three were discussing, and she understood their unwarranted worry. However, she knew she would need to find a way to alleviate their concerns before they asked her to stop using the 'Hypnotic Eye' as they called it.

'Well, there is nothing I can do.' She decided after giving it a few thoughts. She wouldn't waste her brainpower on that problem when she still had other things to worry about, like how to use the Tang San Tough Hands Technique on her feet or how to better control her soul power now that she had actually started practicing her first stage of recreating the Trigrams Palms Technique.

One night at the beginning of the fourth month after Tang San went to Nuoding Academy and in the second month of training with Deng Sai, after her nightly cultivation of the 'Rinne Sharingan Preparation Technique', Wong Yazhu attempted to release soul power from her palm. Her first try was a complete failure, as were her second and sixth attempts. On her seventh try, she decided to release it outside her palm through the acupuncture points in her palm, much like how chakra is pushed out of the body through Tenketsu in Naruto. Though that didn't change anything, as she failed five more times.

"What the fuck am I doing?" Wong Yazhu fell back on her bed, her head hitting the pillow as her long black hair scattered around the bed like black strings. "I am doing this wrong." She realized that she was trying to 'will' the soul power out of her acupuncture points instead of 'controlling' it. Although she could easily manipulate her soul power inside her body to cultivate or use the Tang San Tough Hands Technique, projecting it outside the body was a whole other challenge.

"I didn't even notice any difficulty when moving my soul power through my meridians," she thought, raising her small hand over her face as she easily formed the TSTHT, her skin seemingly becoming smooth and reflecting a bit of the moonlight. She clenched her fist. "Is that even possible?" She wondered if it was even permissible to bring out soul power from the body. "Or is that an ability only high-ranking spirit masters are allowed?"

She pondered, removing the TSTHT as she sighed. "Well, me reincarnating into this world can also be considered impossible, so I see no reason I shouldn't be able to do it." She decided to keep trying, now naming this training 'Out of Body Soul Power Training.' She smiled as she pulled the bed sheet over her body. "I have a marvelous naming sense."

The next day, Wong Yazhu used the Eye of Insight to watch Deng Sai's 'shadow fighting', observing how she combined and used the five different martial arts she had taught Wong Yazhu, namely Spirit Hall fist, leg, and mixed martial arts, karate, and what Wong Yazhu recognized as similar to Capoeira back on Earth. The afternoon sun was up in the sky, beaming down on the duo, with Deng Sai dressed in a simple short-sleeve orange tunic, brown pants, and boots, and Wong Yazhu in her training tank top and black shorts and sandals.

Due to her physical and martial arts training, she had grown much taller than her six-and-a-half-year-old peers in the village, now standing at 125 cm, with an 18 cm growth in less than four months. This astonishing growth rate was attributed by all villagers to the fact that she was a spirit master and the daughter of the strongest and tallest person in the village, Wong Su. She had a slender build, with noticeable muscle contours around her body—not overly muscular but noticeable—and almost no baby fat left on her face, with her hair, after much protest from Wong An, left at shoulder-length, now tied up in a pigtail on the side of her head, hovering at neck length. Her red one tomoe Sharingan constantly followed Deng Sai's movements, her face emotionless and focused, but suddenly, the woman stopped.

"Remove that eye," Deng Sai simply said, turning to Wong Yazhu. The young girl closed her eyes for a second, and the next time she opened them, they were their normal brown color.

"What's wrong, Teacher Sai?" she asked, visibly confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, you did nothing wrong," Deng Sai said, scratching her head and looking into the young girl's eyes. "But you should stop using those eyes to quickly learn martial arts."

"No." Wong Yazhu shook her head. "It helps me learn things faster, so I will keep using it. I can't fall behind Tang San," she stated firmly.

'Mentioning Tang San again.' Deng Sai sighed. "Ok, I will show you the reason." She placed her dominant hand behind her back. "No more sparring. Fight me with all your might," she smiled. "If you are able to make me move my left hand from behind my back, I will allow you to keep using your eyes."

"Ok---" Before Wong Yazhu even finished her sentence, Deng Sai's fist suddenly appeared in front of her face. 'What the fuc--' Before she could react, the fist slammed into her face with tremendous force, her head snapping back as she was sent flying backward while spinning through the air.

Wong Yazhu, regaining control midair, performed a flip and landed gracefully on her feet. However, Deng Sai's fist appeared in front of her face again. This time Wong Yazhu was ready as she raised both arms in front of her face as a guard, bracing for impact. The force of Deng Sai's punch hitting her forearms came soon after, the sheer power causing her to slide a few inches back.

Deng Sai immediately delivered a powerful right hook aimed directly at Wong Yazhu's ribs, but she leaped back just in time, narrowly avoiding the strike as Deng Sai's fist grazed her abdomen, the air cracking with the force of her punch.

Seizing the opportunity, Wong Yazhu leaped into the air, spun, and used the momentum of her spin to launch her leg like a whip aimed toward Deng Sai's head. However, Deng Sai was quick to react as she raised her right arm, her forearm absorbing the impact. In a fluid motion, she twisted her arm, grabbing Wong Yazhu's leg by her ankle and throwing the girl away like a rag doll.

Flying more than 5 meters in the air, Wong Yazhu's eyes opened as her Sharingan activated. Flipping in the air, she landed on the sandy ground, sliding back for a few seconds before leaning forward and instantly dashing at her teacher at her peak speed, her arm outstretched behind her back.

Reaching a peak speed of over 16 m/s, she quickly closed the distance and jumped toward Deng Sai with a sidekick. "Rider Kick!" She roared as her right leg flew toward Deng Sai's head.

'???' Deng Sai stepped to the side, allowing Wong Yazhu to fly past her. "Take this seriously."

At that moment, before Wong Yazhu's feet touched the ground, she spun in the air and landed in a plank position, her palms pressing into the coarse sand. Using her hands as support, she explosively launched herself backward, targeting both soles of her feet toward the back of Deng Sai's knee. The older woman wasn't expecting such a quick recovery, and Wong Yazhu's impact caused her knees to buckle.

However, before her knee touched the ground, Deng Sai managed to catch herself. Simultaneously, Wong Yazhu landed deftly on her hands and once again propelled herself upward. This time, she aimed the soles of her feet at the back of Deng Sai's head, the force of the impact sending Deng Sai's head snapping forward with the momentum from Wong Yazhu's arm push propelling her over Deng Sai.

Now above Deng Sai, Wong Yazhu executed a flawless spin in midair, transforming her forward momentum into a downward thrust, and with that momentum, she delivered a fierce axe kick with her right leg aimed directly at the back of Deng Sai's head, which was still bent forward from the previous kick. The sole of her right foot slammed square at the back of the older woman's head, the impact resonating through Deng Sai's skull, and almost simultaneously, she followed up with her left leg, driving it down as another axe kick, which reinforced the blow, pushing Deng Sai's head downward with even greater force, forcing the woman to her knees.

The entire sequence occurred in a blink of an eye, from Wong Yazhu's initial recovery to the double axe kick that drove Deng Sai to the ground. Landing gracefully on the ground in front of the kneeling woman, Wong Yazhu straightened up but didn't let up and instantly pivoted on her left heel, launching her right leg toward Deng Sai's neck like a whip.

"Execution!" She roared, but just as the tip of her sandal was about to strike the woman's neck, Deng Sai lifted her right hand and stopped Wong Yazhu's leg by grabbing her ankle. There was a pause, the cloud of dust that had risen around them slowly settling as the echoes of the impacts faded into the surrounding silence.

"Impressive," Deng Sai said, shaking her head as she looked up at the smirking Wong Yazhu. "Truly impressive. Much better than anything I expected. Honestly!"

"Obviously," Wong Yazhu grinned, attempting to pull back her right leg, but Deng Sai's grip didn't budge. "One should never let another know the true extent of their power."

Deng Sai blinked. "Who told you that?"

"Common sense, teacher!" Wong Yazhu replied. At that moment, she used Deng Sai's hand holding onto her right leg as leverage to lift her left leg off the ground, then slammed the sole of her left foot onto Deng Sai's face. The woman noticed this and braced for impact, causing Wong Yazhu's foot not to move Deng Sai's head an inch. However, the grip she had on Wong Yazhu's right ankle loosened.

With her left sole on Deng Sai's face, Wong Yazhu used her face like a 'wall' and pushed off it, jumping back, before performing multiple backflips with her hands to increase the distance between them, then performing a high backflip with no hands, and landing atop the 100 cm tall and 3-meter-wide tree stump of the dead spirit tree.

She looked up to see Deng Sai now standing tall, dusting the sand off her face. "That was rude, girl," she commented, seeming impressed.