Chapter 154: Experience

“I swear, from what Sister Kate said, it seems like she doesn’t want to stream anymore!”
“With such good earnings, why wouldn’t she continue streaming?”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t stream either, alright? Have you even counted how many times Sister Kate has been in danger these past few days? She’s nearly died five times!”
“Watching an eight-level beast from behind a screen is thrilling, but to witness the grandeur of Anton’s matron and the mysterious lord up close? That’d probably scare you into your pants!”
“Are we sure the mysterious one is a lord? What if it turns out to be a cute girl covered in black and purple—wouldn’t that be hilarious?”
“Come on! Didn’t they say the mysterious one is ten thousand meters tall? A ten-thousand-meter-tall cute girl?”
“So does this mean no more of Sister Kate’s streams? It’s only been four or five days, right? Is it really ending just like that?”
“No! I’m going to die without this stream! There are still so many secrets in the beast rainforest to uncover!”
“Isn’t Teacher Ling planning to promote martial arts? Maybe if Sister Kate stops streaming, Teacher Ling will pick it up?”
“I don’t believe it... Teacher Ling clearly has battle prowess off the charts and has lived alone in the rainforest for years, content and desireless. How could a lousy streaming platform like Fighting Shark afford someone as legendary as Teacher Ling?”
“Now that you mention it, hope feels pretty slim.”
“Uh, am I the only one who thinks Sister Kate is a bit heartless? After all, Teacher Ling practically saved her life and gave her a new lease on it. Is she really just going to leave like this?”
“Sister Kate probably wants to repay Teacher Ling in her heart, but no one could bear such a way of repaying. Their strength gap is so vast that she can’t do anything for him.”

“It’s easy to condemn others online, but what would you do if it were you?”
“...”
Meeting Katherine’s hopeful gaze, Ling Mo chuckled softly, “What’s the matter? Afraid I’ll change my mind and not let you leave?”
“Yeah, I’m a little worried,” Katherine didn’t hide it, openly expressing her concerns. “Though it sounds boastful, I think becoming an advanced martial artist in seven days from a novice truly makes me a martial arts prodigy, right? If we convert that to magic, an advanced martial artist’s combat power surpasses that of a senior mage and nearly rivals a magus. Historically, only a dozen or so have advanced to magus in seven days…”
“So you’re worried I won’t want to let go of such a prodigy and will force you to continue?”
“That’s not all. Senior sister is actually scared — she dares not advance further. If she becomes a grand martial artist, she’ll have to undertake Anton’s mission.” Before Katherine could answer Ling Mo, Vayne interjected. Seeing the two glance at her oddly, she shrugged and said, “Don’t ask me how I know; my sister told me.”
Anton must have communicated telepathically when saying that, right? Why would Lady Vayne know? Katherine was puzzled but didn’t voice it. Instead, she pleaded again to Ling Mo:
“Master, please.”
Seeing the earnestness in her eyes, Ling Mo’s expression grew serious. He said sincerely, “Don’t worry. I promised to let you return to a normal life and won’t drag you into danger anymore. But even though I’m letting you go, have you thought about what you’ll eat every day once you rejoin normal human society? How will you handle such high energy expenditure?”
Only when Ling Mo confirmed he would let her leave did Katherine truly relax. She patted her chest and exhaled softly. “It’s okay, Master. Since advancing to advanced martial artist, I realized something.”
“Oh?”
“The energy consumption of an advanced mage isn’t much higher than that of an intermediate martial artist! In some ways, it’s even less!” Katherine pointed earnestly at her stomach. “When I first started martial arts, I worried a lot. The beginner stage already meant eating ten times more than an ordinary person. Advancing further, I had no idea where to find enough food, especially after seeing your giant form, Master. I even suspected you needed an Anton a day to fill your stomach…”
At Katherine’s description, Vayne nearly collapsed laughing. Ling Mo’s lip twitched as he struggled to hold back from giving Katherine a good scolding, letting her continue:

“In the end, after I achieved gigantification myself, I realized all my previous assumptions were completely wrong!” Katherine spread her hands wide, mimicking her former state, with a look of reminiscence.
“That’s when I truly felt that the giant body wasn’t really solid!”
Then she shook her head. “No, that’s not quite right. The giant body isn’t entirely solid! At the moment of gigantification, I felt my internal organs and every cell in my body explode and merge with the magical elements of the world, instantly recombining into that massive form! My original body became the ‘framework’ of the giant body, blending with magical elements that weren’t originally mine, controlling them as if they were my limbs, making it truly feel like my own body!”
Her excitement grew: “Even though it’s just a conglomerate of magical elements, it feels exactly like my own body! Endurance and attack power increased at least tenfold, but energy consumption hardly rose at all! Martial arts are truly miraculous! Only now do I begin to believe what you said, Master — that martial arts might indeed be more profound than magic!”
Ling Mo smiled and nodded. “But even though martial arts are so amazing, you still don’t want to keep training?”
Upon hearing that, Katherine’s expression turned uneasy. She opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by Ling Mo, who gently patted her shoulder and said slowly:
“Though I won’t force you to continue martial arts, you know very well that once you leave the beast rainforest, who knows how many people will come looking for you, asking this pioneer of martial arts about all kinds of details. Among them will likely be governments you can’t possibly refuse, you understand that, right?”
Seeing Katherine nod, Ling Mo continued, “Governments will probably want you to train a group of martial artists for them, and refusing is almost impossible. So why not go to Scarborough Market for now and help me train some students? There are many benefits: it’s close to the beast rainforest, so you won’t worry about food, and with more people learning martial arts, your importance won’t be so conspicuous, allowing you to truly live a peaceful life.”
Katherine was tempted but hesitated. “But Master, I don’t know how to refine that pill you gave me! How can I teach others?”
“You’ve already reached advanced martial artist. Because your body has merged with magical elements and its internal structure has changed, the world you see is no longer the same.” Seeing Katherine’s confused look, Ling Mo smiled mysteriously and pointed at Vayne: “I can’t see any change in myself, but if you channel your energy out and look at your junior sister, you’ll understand.”
Following the advice, Katherine summoned her internal energy and looked at Vayne. Her pupils seemed to ignite two deep crimson flames, a dazzling visual effect. The moment her gaze landed on Vayne, Katherine trembled all over and exclaimed, “What?! So that’s how it is? The foundation of martial arts is really like this?!”