Chapter 236 - Zeros Signature Moves (2/2)
The vampire transformed into a bat and flew down to where the teacher and student were. ”What's wrong?”
Hua Tuo had tears in his eyes and Zero gave his combat teacher a helpless look. One moment, Hua Tuo was examining his arm and the next, he was bawling over something. Zero could only understand a little of the gibberish Hua Tuo was speaking. It was a language that he heard once or twice when Hua Tuo spoke with Qin Yun. It was the ancient language called Mandarin back on the old Earth but Zero couldn't really make out everything despite the wisdom blessing he possessed. All the apprentice knew was that his teacher might have lost it claiming that it was a miracle. Why would Hua Tuo be so dramatic over a rock breaking technique when he could shatter boulders with one strike of his palm back in Half Moon Village? Zero didn't understand.
”A breakthrough... this is a medical and magical breakthrough!” Hua Tuo sniffed and tried to calm himself.
At this point, Zero had taken it upon himself to call for Merlin and Buddha to explain the situation. Both Sage Gods decided to send their body doubles down to Endow Hill to understand the situation more, too busy to leave their post.
It didn't take long for Buddha and Merlin to arrive but neither Sage Gods were prepared to see Hua Tuo crying while clutching onto Zero's arm.
”Kid, what happened?” Merlin asked and Zero shrugged. Buddha came over quickly as well and studied Zero's arm. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but there was something different about the aura the teen was giving off.
”He was demonstrating his seventh combat-magic special move when Hua Tuo went crazy,” Ruth explained to Merlin and Buddha who exchanged looks.
”Could you demonstrate what the seventh move is?” Merlin asked Zero while Buddha gently dragged Hua Tuo back to his hut, chanting the heart scripture to help the cultivator calm down.
Zero agreed and told Merlin that he needed another boulder to demonstrate it. The Wizard God simply asked where Zero wanted it to be then conjured one slightly bigger than the boulder Zero previously disintegrated.
Satisfied, the apprentice told everyone to observe from a distance before assuming his basic horse stance again.
This time, both Merlin and Buddha's eyes widened when they saw Zero 'charging up' to deliver the Invisible Fist of Love. Ruth couldn't understand their reactions but briefly made a mental note on Zero's weakness for this move now that he was watching it up close. His student still hasn't grasped the ability to make use of his wrist flexibly. He was going to put strain to his wrist by delivering swift and powerful blows like that which isn't going to be good in the long run.
After the rock disintegrated, both Sage Gods found tears forming in their eyes. They could now understand why Hua Tuo was bawling like a child. From the hill, Mitchnew was shocked to see three powerful Sage Gods crying like babies. Exactly what was going on? Ruth and Zero exchanged helpless looks and did what they could to console the Sage Gods. It took them hours before the Sage Gods started talking and explaining the situation.
”For centuries, nobody was able to solve the mystery between magic and cultivation. Zero, we cannot be more thankful for your guidance,” Buddha humbly bowed.
Zero felt awkward. He didn't really do anything special. If they wanted to know how to merge both qi and mana, they could have simply asked him instead of cry over it for two hours. They've missed lunch because of it!
”It's nothing, really!” Zero tried to convince them but the three Sage Gods didn't allow Zero to deny his contributions towards a better future.
”From now on, we need to start discussing how cultivators and magicians can train together,” Merlin declared. With the ability to master cultivation as well, mages no longer have to worry about taking on physical damage and the limits of mana. It was a powerful discovery that will change the ways of mages.
For Hua Tuo, the discovery meant that cultivators were now able to borrow powers from the void even if they had no compatible magic affinity with any of the six elements. While there were many limitations to the kinds of magic they could use, chaos energy helped to boost the buffs they had cultivated their base in. For the doctor, this may be exactly what the world needed to bring the powerful pugilists of his old world back.
On the other hand, Buddha rejoiced at the breakthrough. He had become stuck with his path towards greater enlightenment because he was unable to withstand the potency of chaos energy in the void after a certain level. He knew that mana could negate the effects of chaos energy but not process it. Who knew that qi was the supporting factor required to convert chaos energy into something useable?
All three options existed for centuries but nobody had made the important connection until Zero did. The Sage Gods were slightly ashamed that they didn't discover it earlier due to their individual stubbornness to join hands. If they'd decided to work on the project collectively, they might have made a huge breakthrough a lot earlier.
Zero didn't really bother about what the Sage Gods were thinking or feeling. At the moment, he was starving. He took Ruth and Mitchnew with him to the portal and told the Sage Gods that he will bring food back for them in an hour. The Sage Gods couldn't stop Zero as he jumped into the portal to crash in on lunch at Half Moon Village.
However, it was a unanimous decision that Buddha and Merlin would stay to watch till the end of Zero's special move demonstration.