CHAPTER 320: CHAPTER 319: REGISTERED DISCIPLE

"What’s going on? Ah? Ming Yue?" Mrs. Han was startled as soon as they left the arcade. Zhen Yu immediately spoke up: "Auntie, that’s right,"

"Mom!" Han Mingyue suddenly pulled Zhen Yu behind herself and cast a pleading look at her mother.

Mrs. Han, already feeling sorry for her son getting hit, immediately softened and hesitated with the questioning that she had wanted to pursue.

"I’m sorry! It’s all me, uh!" Zhen Yu was taken aback for a moment, then immediately stepped forward and started to apologize, but she only got one sentence out before her mouth was covered by Han Mingyue.

"Dad!" Han Mingyue simply abandoned appealing to her mother and turned to beg her father, "Can we talk about it at home?"

Han Youliang looked at his son’s hand covering Zhen Yu’s face with an inscrutable expression and said, "First, take your hand away!"

Han Mingyue hesitated, but ultimately obediently let go of his hand.

The moment he released her, Zhen Yu immediately continued: "It was all my fault! This entire matter,"

"Xiao Yu!" Mr. Han interrupted Zhen Yu again, "The elder has a piece of advice, and I hope you’ll take it to heart!"

"Elder, please speak!" Zhen Yu said respectfully.

"You can’t wade through water without getting wet shoes." Mr. Han spoke earnestly, "You can’t be complacent about fighting! Even if you win every time, you can’t always come out unscathed! Haven’t you suffered enough losses over these past two years?"

Zhen Yu silently lowered her head.

After a moment, she suddenly looked up at Mr. Han and said seriously, "Elder, I was wrong!"

Han Youliang could tell that Zhen Yu’s apology was not just about the matter of Han Mingyue getting hit, but also that she had truly come to realize her own mistake.

He couldn’t help but smile with relief, "Alright! Let’s just put an end to this matter! In the future, don’t try to act the hero again!"

"Understood!"

——

After declining Mrs. Han’s invitation to ’have lunch together,’ Zhen Yu stood at the doorway watching the Han family of four walk away into the distance.

Only after watching them board the bus did she return to the arcade to greet her mother and then headed straight for Xu’s Martial Arts School!

Following Mr. Han’s recent words of wisdom, Zhen Yu not only recognized her recklessness but also deeply understood another saying—health is the capital of the revolution!

If her constitution suffered damage, even if she managed to improve her other physical strength-related statistics to 80, she couldn’t maintain stamina in a fight.

And perhaps her inability to level up her Female Self-defense Skill has something to do with this!

So Zhen Yu planned to talk to Master Xu and see if there was any possibility he would take on a female disciple...

As soon as she entered the martial arts hall, Zhen Yu was called over by her brother.

"Xiao Yu!? Why are you here?" While asking, Zhen Yan moved a couple of steps to shield Cao Zhixin behind himself.

In case his sister went berserk, he would be there to intervene!

Zhen Yu didn’t even glance at Cao Zhixin and asked directly: "Where’s Master Xu? I need to speak with him!"

"Ah? You’re looking for Master Xu? He’s in the inner room!" Although Zhen Yan was taken aback, he quickly answered.

"Okay then! I’ll go find him!" Zhen Yu strode off, leaving Zhen Yan flummoxed.

He had wanted to follow and listen in but upon turning his head, he saw Cao Zhixin staring fixedly at Zhen Yu!

Zhen Yan certainly didn’t want these two to start a commotion here; it would only put him in a difficult spot. Therefore, he chose to stay in the hall and keep an eye on Cao Zhixin.

Fortunately, Cao Zhixin just watched—silent and unmoving.

——

"Master Xu, Zhen Yu has come to visit!" Zhen Yu knocked on the door of the inner room and said.

A few seconds later, the door to the inner room was slid open by someone, and Master Xu asked with a faint smile, "What kind of wind has blown you here today?"

"Let’s talk inside!" Zhen Yu said evenly.

"Alright! Making it all mysterious! Come in quickly!"

"Have a seat! Let’s sit down and talk." Xu Lin took the seat of honor first and called to Zhen Yu.

Zhen Yu did as she was told.

"Master Xu, I am here today because I want to become your apprentice." Zhen Yu’s attitude was very sincere.

"What?" Xu Lin was somewhat shocked, "You want to be my apprentice?"

"Yes! I know you are a lay Shaolin practitioner, but I’m not sure if you accept female disciples, so I took the liberty of coming to ask."

"...Why do you suddenly want to take up martial arts? What about your previous master?" Xu Lin didn’t say yes or no but instead digressed to inquire about Zhen Yu’s circumstances.

"My health is not very good, and I want to strengthen it through training." Zhen Yu told the truth: "I never really had a master before; everything I learned came from various training classes!"

Xu Lin hesitated for a moment, then spoke bluntly: "Zhen Yu! You give me a strange impression!"

Zhen Yu’s heart tightened, "What’s strange?!"

"...Your skills are mature; you appear to have practiced martial arts for at least five years! But the constitution of your body does not at all resemble that of someone who has trained in martial arts for over five years! It’s too poor!"

An expert only needs to make a move to know if there is any substance!

She had only been reborn for a little over two years, and she hadn’t started training immediately after rebirth! Without a venue or a sparring partner, where could she ’steal’ the constitution of someone who had trained in martial arts for more than five years!

Alas! Old wine in a new bottle indeed can’t fool an expert...

"Heh heh... It’s precisely because my constitution is too poor that I came to you to learn martial arts!" Zhen Yu changed the subject.

----

Xu Lin was hesitant.

He could sense that Zhen Yu did not want to explain the reasons behind her situation, so he didn’t press further.

As for his Shaolin lay disciples’ martial arts school, there were no gender-specific rules about accepting disciples.

But... right now, there weren’t any female disciples in his school. If Zhen Yu were to join, would he have to specially prepare a female changing room for her?

That would be a bit troublesome...

Moreover, the martial arts Zhen Yu had learned were too eclectic; teaching a new disciple was different from teaching someone with a foundation! Xu Lin felt somewhat at a loss on where to start teaching her, since he had never taught such a student before!

"Master Xu! What is troubling you?" Seeing Xu Lin remained silent for a long time, Zhen Yu took the initiative to ask.

Martial artists usually speak very directly! Seeing her ask, Xu Lin straightforwardly listed his reasons for hesitation.

"I see... hey! I have a suggestion, what do you think?" Zhen Yu thought that it was still a matter of fees!

Actually, a disciple like her could be difficult but also easy to teach. One could either start with high-level material or lay the foundation anew and start over!

"Speak! Let me hear it!" Xu Lin’s eyes lit up. If this worked out, he would no longer be troubled when faced with such disciples in the future!

"Look! If someone with a martial arts foundation still comes to learn, they must have a specific goal... so! Starting from scratch should have a lower fee, while advanced learning must come at a high price!"

"Makes sense! Makes a lot of sense!" Xu Lin clapped and laughed, "So how do we differentiate these disciples?"

"Why not just call them Registered Disciples?" Zhen Yu proposed a title on the spot.

"Registered... Good! Then you are my first Registered Disciple! How would you like to learn?"

"I want to start from the beginning!"

"No problem!"