Chapter 67 (1/2)

Applying X-ray Vision to Martial Arts

Xia Lei could master a foreign language in the short span of a few days; his learning ability was unimaginably miraculous. What was more difficult - learning a language or learning a martial art? Of course it was the former. Learning a martial art was not difficult at all for Xia Lei. He could quickly memorise the learning materials and all the movements of the instructor. He was also fit so the only thing he lacked was experience and some know-how.

How powerful would he be once he mastered these?

Even Liang Zheng-Chun, who had practiced Wing Chun his whole life, would not be able to answer this question.

The result of the competition was that Liang Si-Yao won and Xia Lei lost. Only Xia Lei knew why he had lost.

“Are you all right?” Liang Si-Yao asked in concern. She stretched out a hand to Xia Lei.

Xia Lei did not refuse her kindness and grabbed her hand to pull himself to his feet. He dusted himself off and smiled as he said, “I’m all right. I’ve already said that I won’t be able to beat you. Believe me now?”

“Did you really learn Wing Chun for just a few days?” Liang Si-Yao’s eyes were searching.

Xia Lei shrugged, “Yes, just a few days. Why would I lie to you?”

There had to be a motive for lying but he had no motive to lie like this.

Liang Si-Yao seemed to believe him. She walked to Liang Zheng-Chun and spoke softly in her father’s ear, “Dad, you’ve struck gold. You should accept him as your last disciple and have him become the beacon of Wing Chun for our school.”

Liang Zheng-Chun did not agree but he did not disagree either; he just looked at Xia Lei with a speculative gaze

When Lu Sheng heard Liang Si-Yao’s words, his face darkened. He had been a student of the school for over three years and his goal was to become a disciple of Liang Zheng-Chun but Liang Zheng-Chun never agreed. Liang Si-Yao knew about this too but she had never put in a good word for him in front of Liang Zheng-Chun. Now, an unknown punk like Xia Lei popped out of nowhere and Liang Si-Yao actually spoke for him, asking Liang Zheng-Chun to accept him as a disciple. How could he remain calm?!

“Hurmph!” snorted Lu Sheng, and he strode towards Xia Lei.

“Monk.” Liang Si-Yao pulled Lu Sheng to a stop and smiled as she said, “I haven’t practiced with you in a while. How about accompanying me for practice?”

Lu Sheng looked back at Liang Si-Yao and said nothing. He looked rather unhappy.

Liang Si-Yao shook Lu Sheng’s arm and said sweetly, “Come, Big Brother Sheng, let’s practice together.”

Lu Sheng forced a smile, “Okay, I’ll practice with you.” There were going to be many opportunities for him to take care of Xia Lei later but a practice session with Liang Si-Yao was hard to come by.

More students walked into the school at this time and Liang Zheng-Chun went to greet them and instruct them in their practice. The onlookers dispersed and continued their paired practice.

Xia Lei let out a silent breath. Lu Sheng’s eyes had been terrible to behold when he was walking towards him earlier and he knew what those eyes meant. Xia Lei knew that he was nowhere near a match for Lu Sheng at his current skill level. If he sparred with Lu Sheng, he would have a miserable end for sure.

Lu Sheng began his practice with Liang Si-Yao. Sticking Hands, Sticking Feet, accompanied by an exchange of punching, kicking and elbows. Their movements were slow but they looked very professional.

Xia Lei had a thought, ‘I was trying to see how Liang Si-Yao’s body was channeling power earlier but we were in the midst of sparring and she gave me no chance to use my X-ray ability on her. I don’t have anything to do now so I can take a look at how the power runs through her muscles and bones. Once I master the know-how of this I should have an increase in my strength.’

He willed it and his eye twitched. His left eye was like an angry flame, incinerating Liang Si-Yao’s clothing in an instant, then her skin. Liang Si-Yao did not look like a normal, whole human to his left eye any longer - she was like the anatomy model in biology class with no skin, hair or other external body parts. There were only muscle, ligaments, bones and blood vessels!

However, in Xia Lei’s right eye, Liang Si-Yao was still a long-legged beauty and her every movement invoked appreciation from him. Only Xia Lei could enjoy such a marvel in this world.

His left eye had X-ray vision while his right was normal; this gave Xia Lei the perfect conditions to compare and analyse. A simple example was when Liang Si-Yao made a frontal One-inch Punch movement. Xia Lei’s left eye saw how her muscles, ligaments and bones worked; they accumulated energy, then released that energy. In his right eye, he saw her palm curl into a fist and instantly attack. With his left and right eye working together in this way, the method of channeling power in Wing Chun was fully revealed to him right before his eyes!

“I see… I see… heh heh!” Xia Lei smiled. As he watched Liang Si-Yao and Lu Sheng practice, he couldn’t help mimicking Liang Si-Yao and learning her movements.

This time, he was not just mimicking her external movements but her internal movements too!

“What is that guy doing?” A student saw Xia Lei mimicking Liang Si-Yao’s movements and was curious.

The student who was practicing with him also stopped and looked at Xia Lei curiously. After half a beat, he said, “Is that fool trying to copy her? He’s moving like how Si-Yao is moving.”

Soon, more students discovered Xia Lei’s strange actions and started discussing him. Some made fun of him while others were simply curious.

Liang Zheng-Chun also looked at Xia Lei and he watched him for a while, then suddenly opened his mouth, so shocked he could not close it. The students were mocking Xia Lei and taking him for a fool for mimicking another but to his expert eyes, he was seeing technique!

Many people were saying earlier that Xia Lei looked like he had been practicing for at least a year when he was striking the wooden dummy but as an expert, it was clear that Xia Lei was just a novice. Xia Lei had only learnt some moves but was unable to channel power. And since he could not channel power, his movements looked nice but lacked strength and there was no power at all. He’d thought Xia Lei was just a clever copy-cat and was seeking instant benefits because of that. He’d not been very willing at all when Liang Si-Yao had asked him to accept Xia Lei as a disciple. Martial artists did not like those seeking instant benefits and he was no different. However, as he watched Xia Lei copy Liang Si-Yao’s movements, he was stunned yet moved.

Liang Zheng-Chun walked towards Xia Lei.

When Xia Lei saw Liang Zheng-Chun approach, he stopped using his X-ray vision and his mimicking. A mild hallucination appeared before him but it disappeared quickly.

Liang Zheng-Chun stared straight at Xia Lei and spoke in praise, “Lei, you’re a quick study.”

Xia Lei laughed and said politely, “Master Liang, I just have a good memory.”