In Ning Zhao's eyes, Lu Fan's smile was nothing if not flirtatious. Ning Zhao blushed, her chest heaving as her breathing became rapid...
As if she were falling in love.
Lu Fan took a deep breath and turned to Ni Yu. "Ni, please close the door and make sure no one comes in."
Ni Yu responded right away. She trotted to the door, closed it, bolted it, and turned around before pressing her petite body against the door.
Ning Zhao's and the other maids' faces changed. Lu Fan had told Ni Yu to close the door. That was odd and confusing.
Lu Fan turned his gaze back to Ning Zhao. His expression grew serious.
Unexpected pressure suddenly weighed on the three maids.
"My father said that I could trust you," Lu Fan said, his finger lightly tapping the armrest of the wheelchair.
Ning Zhao's face became more serious as well. She quickly put down the rolled rice paper. "The master entrusted your daily life and safety to us, Young Master. Yi Yue, Ni Yu, and I will always be loyal to you. Alive or dead, we are always at your disposal."
Ni Yu, who was still pressed against the door, flushed from her collarbone to the roots of her hair.
Yi Yue, who was foxy and pretty and had a whip at her belt, quickly nodded her agreement to Ning Zhao's declaration of loyalty.
Lu Fan raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't expected such strong reactions.
He smiled to lighten the atmosphere a little bit.
He remembered that all three of them owed their lives to Lu Changkong, as he had saved all of them when they were very young. He had also raised and trained them. Lu Fan wouldn't doubt their loyalty.
"Don't be so serious. I have something to share with you, but you have to keep it secret," Lu Fan said to all of them.
He took a deep breath before getting out of the wheelchair and slowly standing up straight.
Ni Yu had witnessed Lu Fan's spectacular toe-wiggling in the wind and had figured out that his legs were healed. She was rather calm.
Ning Zhao and Yi Yue, on the other hand, were stunned, just like Lu Changkong had been when he saw Lu Fan stand up.
They were even more surprised than Lu Changkong, since they had been taking care of Lu Fan every day but hadn't seen it coming at all.
Lu Fan stretched his body to his full height, then let himself fall back into the wheelchair.
He didn't walk around in the room. Instead, he took off his high-quality boots and socks.
His liberated feet moved back and forth.
He had a smile on his face.
Ni Yu flushed even deeper. There he went again! The Young Master found pleasure in such weird activities!
"Young Master… Your legs, are they healed?"
Ning Zhao's chest heaved. Some of her hair had slipped out of its bun in her excitement, and she quickly pulled it back up.
She was happy for Lu Fan.
Lu Fan's frustration over his crippled legs had been growing deeper and deeper, an inner demon he couldn't be rid of.
Ning Zhao couldn't count how many times she had heard Lu Fan's muffled crying in the middle of the night outside of his room. She could even picture his tears soaking the pillow.
"You have to keep this a secret. Besides my father, only the three of you know about it," Lu Fan said with a smile, pulling his socks and boots back on.
"Sister Ning, have you been trained in martial arts?" Lu Fan asked, eyeing Ning Zhao. He figured that since Lu Changkong had entrusted Ning Zhao with his safety, she had to be well-trained.
"Martial arts?"
Ning Zhao hadn't expected Lu Fan to ask about this. She nodded. She had been trained indeed. More than that, she was good.
"Young Master, do you want to practice martial arts?" Ning Zhao asked. Now that Lu Fan's legs had healed, it seemed understandable for him to be interested in such things.
Unfortunately, considering Lu Fan had passed the best age to start, it would be almost impossible for him to be successful.
Instead of answering her question directly, Lu Fan asked her another question.
"What's the martial arts leveling system like?"
"In the Great Zhou Dynasty, our ranking system is very simple. Not counting the amateurs, there are three tiers: Second Tier, First Tier, and Grandmaster."
Ning Zhao's rosy lips moved slightly while she spoke.
Lu Fan listened carefully.
He knew that the Wuhuang Continent was a Low-Level Martial World, yet it did have its own system.
"Martial arts practitioners start at a very young age. Some focus on external energy development, and others focus on internal energy development. Those who choose the former field are usually tall and strong. Battle-wise generals usually fall into that category."
"The development of internal energy, on the other hand, is mainly about the skill of controlling Qi and blood flow. By maintaining the richness and smoothness of your Qi, you can strengthen your inner organs."
"In essence, neither is stronger than the other. It is possible to become a Grandmaster by focusing on either."
Ning Zhao paused. Seeing that Lu Fan was fully engaged, she continued. "Second-Tier martial arts practitioners can defeat five opponents. First-Tier martial arts practitioners can beat ten. One Grandmaster can easily take down one hundred."
Yi Yue and Ni Yu were also absorbed in this explanation.
Lu Fan kept nodding. Although there was no Spirit Qi in this world, it was still a Low-Level Martial World, which had its own leveling system for martial arts practitioners.
"Sister Ning, may I ask what your level is?" Lu Fan asked curiously.
Ning Zhao hadn't seen that coming. She paused for a second. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly in a smile, and a proud look passed briefly over her face.
"My talents are limited. Thanks to the master's training, you can now count me as a First-Tier practitioner."
Her words were humble, but her tone was not.
Yet her pride came with proof.
Yi Yue pursed her lips.
Ni Yu made a little sound of awe. Sister Ning Zhao was a First-Tier martial arts practitioner! That was awesome!
Lu Fan was surprised. Ning Zhao was only 24 or 25, yet she had already reached the First Tier. She was way overqualified to be a maid.
This indicated how much Lu Changkong cared about Lu Fan. He had sent a First-Tier martial arts practitioner to be his bodyguard.
"Young Master, Yi Yue has no talents. I'm only a Second-Tier practitioner."
Yi Yue, the foxy maid standing at the side of the room, spoke with an unyielding tone.
As for Ni Yu, who was standing with her back against the door and so far had only contributed an exclamation...
Well, compared to Ning Zhao and Yi Yue, that girl seemed to be there as a mascot.
Sitting in the wheelchair, Lu Fan smiled and lightly clapped his hands.
"Very good."
He was very satisfied. He could try out his Spirit Qi Deployment ability now. The situation was perfect.
Lu Fan turned to Ning Zhao, thought for a moment, and said, "Sister Ning Zhao, since you are a First-Tier martial arts practitioner, may I ask if you've ever heard of 'Spirit Qi'?"
Spirit Qi?
Ning Zhao fell silent for a second. She held Lu Fan's gaze with a strange look on her face.
"Young Master, as martial arts practitioners, we focus on keeping our feet on the ground. Whether we're developing internal or external energy, we can't achieve anything without hard work, diligence, and talent.
"As for the so-called 'Spirit Qi,' that only exists in ancient mythologies… We martial arts practitioners don't believe in it." Ning Zhao shook her head with a smile.
Among her peers, Spirit Qi was sometimes joked about, but nothing more.
"Really? You don't believe in it?"
Lu Fan raised his eyebrows slightly. He turned to Yi Yue. "Do you believe in Spirit Qi, Yi Yue?"
Yi Yue pressed her lips into a smile. "Young Master, you are teasing us."
No doubt she didn't believe it either. Lu Fan raised one corner of his mouth with mischief.
He then turned to Ni Yu, who was still standing against the door. "Ni, what about you? Do you believe that there's Spirit Qi in this world?"
Ni Yu's eyes lit up. Her face was flushed like an apple.
"Yes! If the Young Master says so!" Ni Yu answered seriously.
Lu Fan couldn't help but laugh. This little girl was a natural when it came to being cute and acting supportive!
Ning Zhao and Yi Yue were speechless.
Lu Fan's smile faded away.
"Aren't you curious about how your Young Master's legs were cured?" Lu Fan glanced at them.
All three of the girls had looks of curiosity on their faces.
His legs had been paralyzed for so many years, yet now, they were suddenly as good as new. It was hard to explain, strange even.
They would be lying if they said they were not curious.
"Sister Ning, please come over here," Lu Fan said.
Ning Zhao walked over and stood right next to Lu Fan.
"The paralysis of my legs has frustrated me for seventeen years. So torturous…"
"Then one day, I dreamed that I paid a visit to another world where I met an immortal. He told me that our meeting was destiny, so he would enlighten me."
"The immortal then touched the top of my head, and Spirit Qi flowed through my whole body, unclogging my veins, curing my legs."
Lu Fan spoke with a straight face.
Words describing unbelievable miracles came out of his mouth, but he kept his cool the whole time. He almost believed himself.
As he spoke, he picked up Ning Zhao's small and delicate hands.
Her palms, however, had a lot of calluses, indicating that she had been practicing martial arts regularly for years.
Ning Zhao blushed a little.
As for what Lu Fan had said about how an immortal had touched the top of his head and Spirit Qi had coursed through his body, she simply took it as a story. She was not naive.
How could there be any immortals in the world?
But...
In the next moment...
Her blushing face grew pale. Her eyes widened.
Not just Ning Zhao; Yi Yue stared at them, dumbstruck.
Lu Fan opened his palms. A floating stream of faint blue light sparkled slightly above his hands.
Wind started blowing out of nowhere. The curtains floated.
Lu Fan's lips curled in a smile. He spoke to himself silently.
"Activate access to Spirit Qi Deployment."
"Deployment Target: Ning Zhao."
Buzz...
Ning Zhao's beautiful face flushed red. It wasn't embarrassment, but a reaction to the strange power that flowed from Lu Fan's palms into her body.
All the pores in her body opened up. She had been practicing the Transfusion Technique, so her blood was bubbling as if being boiled, trying to escape from her veins like steam from a pot.
"Guided by your consciousness, the Spirit Qi will go to your dantian." Lu Fan spoke calmly. Wisps of hair danced in the wind, fueled by his Spirit Qi.
Ning Zhao could barely stand. She couldn't help moaning. Still, her eyes were extremely bright.
At the moment, her consciousness and emotions were a bit compromised, but she still tried her best to follow Lu Fan's guidance.
The stream of Spirit Qi quickly slithered through her body. It soon stabilized under her mental control before it finally settled in her dantian.
Lu Fan let go of her palms.
Ning Zhao backed up several steps.
Crack, crack...
The black brick floor crackled and broke under her feet.
The Qi and blood in Ning Zhao's body had been stirred up as if some catalyst had been poured into her.
Waves of sound could be heard from inside her body, overlapping each other like a symphony.
Yi Yue was shocked.
"Strange explosions of sound within the body! That only happens with a Grandmaster-level martial arts practitioner!"
As a martial arts practitioner herself, how could she not recognize what was happening to Ning Zhao?
A Grandmaster! Practitioners of that level were rare, even in the whole Great Zhou Dynasty.
All Yi Yue could hear at that moment were the echoes of the otherworldly things Lu Fan had just said a moment ago.
"The immortal touched the top of my head, and Spirit Qi flowed through my whole body..."
Was the Young Master really...
Fated to have met with an immortal?!
Lu Fan, on the other hand, was focused on deploying that one wisp of Spirit Qi into Ning Zhao. He paid no attention to anything else.
The second before he completed the deployment, a message suddenly popped up.
[Congratulations, first successful deployment of Spirit Qi and creation of a practitioner with Spirit Qi. Access to (Quest) is activated. Transformation Reward achieved.]