Chapter 981: Nan Qiu’s Inner Strength
Yan Xinrou was cooking dinner in the kitchen while Liou Zhengming received a call and needed to handle some documents. Liou Qingcheng was still on her way home from school.
In the living room, only Nan Qiu and Lin Tian were left.
Nan Qiu tilted her head, her slender eyes filled with anger, like a mother tiger from the mountains, ready to swallow Lin Tian whole with just an open mouth.
Lin Tian gently tapped on Nan Qiu’s back.
Nan Qiu suddenly felt a cool sensation flowing through her throat. She tried to speak, and it worked.
"You bastard!" she shouted in her clumsy Celestial Dragon Continent language.
"How am I a bastard?" Lin Tian crossed his legs, unconcerned, and asked.
"You want me to be a bodyguard for your woman? No way!" Nan Qiu said hatefully. She used to protect someone revered by thousands, the Jin Guard, and now she’s asked to protect a little girl. The huge gap nearly made her lose it.
Lin Tian said calmly, "I know you’ve seen my files, and you know who Liou Qingcheng is. I’ll be honest with you, she’s just an ordinary college student, hasn’t been targeted by anyone yet, so you’ll have a more leisurely time as her bodyguard."
"That’s still impossible!"
Lin Tian uncrossed his legs and said seriously, "Since I promised your Guard Association to teach you martial arts, I naturally won’t go back on my word. But these aren’t free. In return, you must ensure Liou Qingcheng’s safety. Isn’t this fair?"
Nan Qiu’s expression softened a bit, and she asked, "But didn’t you say before that you’d make me run errands to practice some basic skills?"
Lin Tian rolled his eyes and then couldn’t help but laugh, "Hey, have you stayed too long in those serious environments, making you dull? You grew up in the army, your basic skills are solid. I was teasing you before. Didn’t you catch onto that?"
"You!" Nan Qiu clenched her fists but remembered she wasn’t a match for Lin Tian, so she gave up the idea of fighting. She took a deep breath in anger and cursed, "Cunning Celestial Dragon Continent person!"
Lin Tian wasn’t bothered, "Unless you want to follow me around, running errands for me?"
"Hmph!"
"Actually, being Qingcheng’s bodyguard isn’t bad. Think about it, Qingcheng isn’t one of your Jin Guard, she’s an ordinary college student living a normal girl’s life. You’ve been in the army for years, probably never shopped, put on makeup, or dated, right? Doesn’t this lifestyle tempt you?"
"Hmph!" Nan Qiu snorted again, but it was apparent she was moved compared to before.
Nan Qiu said, "You’re so cunning, saying you’ll teach me martial arts, and I become a bodyguard for your woman. But why should I trust you? What if you’re tricking me again?"
Lin Tian smiled wryly, "Hey, you’re judging me with a petty mind. Don’t you remember how I helped you break through your bottleneck before? Alright, since you want to learn martial arts, as your master, I won’t be stingy. First..."
Nan Qiu looked at Lin Tian seriously, her breathing becoming heavier. She was very eager for the martial arts from the Celestial Dragon Continent. Especially the Lightweight Skill and Acupoint Skill Lin Tian displayed before, both tantalized her.
Lin Tian said, "First, you must call me master."
Upon hearing this sentence with great anticipation, Nan Qiu nearly went berserk again. She felt she’d been tricked again.
"Our Celestial Dragon Continent is a country that greatly values respecting the master and following the path. Originally, apprenticeship has a set of complex rituals, all waived for you. Just calling me master, is it so hard?"
Nan Qiu gritted her teeth, her upper and lower teeth grinding to make a ’crack’ sound. In the end, she couldn’t win against this unbearable Celestial Dragon Continent person in front of her and shouted, "Master!"
"Ah~" Lin Tian grinned with joy, his handsome smile looking exceptionally cheap in Nan Qiu’s eyes!
"Good disciple. Seeing as you’re so sincere, I’ll start by teaching you how to use the inner strength within your body."
Nan Qiu said nothing; she didn’t even know what inner strength was and was too lazy to ask.
Lin Tian sat cross-legged on the sofa, saying, "First sit like me and close your eyes."
Once Nan Qiu was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, Lin Tian continued, "Don’t be nervous, first take two deep breaths, focus all your attention two centimeters below your navel... What did you feel?"
"A bit hot, yet a bit cool," Nan Qiu replied.
"That’s right, that spot is called the Sea of Qi, where the inner strength you’ve accumulated over the years is deposited. You can also understand inner strength as force, although it’s much more powerful. Next, I’ll teach you a segment of Heart Method, which you must memorize, gradually guiding the inner strength from the Sea of Qi to your hand."
A segment of Heart Method, consisting of four sentences with sixteen characters, was extremely difficult to remember, especially for someone like Nan Qiu who couldn’t even speak Celestial Dragon Continent language clearly.
Once Nan Qiu remembered it clearly, Lin Tian explained the Heart Method to her word by word. The Heart Method is useless if you just memorize it without understanding.
After thirty minutes, Nan Qiu gradually managed to guide her inner strength to her fingertips.
Lin Tian sat opposite her, placing his palm upright before her, saying, "Try punching me once."
Nan Qiu clenched her right fist, feeling the unprecedented power within, and couldn’t contain the excitement in her heart.
"I feel like I can kill you with one punch now!" Nan Qiu said.
Lin Tian’s lips curled into a smile, "You can try."
"Don’t blame me if your hand breaks!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Nan Qiu’s fist swung out. The speed and force both surprised Nan Qiu herself greatly.
Bang!
The force of her punch finally landed squarely on Lin Tian’s upright palm.
Nan Qiu was ecstatic; her power increased instantly by double! That’s incredible!
But the next moment, her right arm felt a massive backlash that flipped her whole body off the sofa.
Crash~
Nan Qiu fell forward, crashing heavily onto the glass coffee table behind, ending up in awkward positions, leaving the table shattered all over.
Ignoring her bodily aches, she looked at her right hand, felt the cool sensation in the Sea of Qi, and involuntarily said, "It’s amazing..."
Lin Tian still sat on the sofa like nothing had happened. He said, "Don’t be too happy too soon. The backlash just now harmed your hand, so don’t lift heavy objects within a day, and remember to rest. This period you must first familiarize yourself with the inner strength within you. I’ll teach you other things later."
Nan Qiu raised her head to look at Lin Tian, the resentment in her heart had dissipated. She stood up from the piles of glass shards and bowed to Lin Tian: "Thank you!"