"Is there any way to familiarize them with the battle techniques quickly?"
Pondering for a long time, Shen Zhe didn't know what to do and mumbled to himself.
"Are you talking about getting familiar with other people?"
Zhao Chen looked at him and said, "I'm good at that. It's best to get familiar with someone through a mutual friend. Of course, the fastest approach is to drink with them…"
"Drink with them?" Shen Zhe beamed.
There was his answer!
How could he have forgotten that?
Drinking was the best way to get familiar with someone. Strangers could become brothers easily after a few drinks.
"Did any of you bring alcohol?" Shen Zhe turned around and asked.
Everyone's lips twitched. "Bro, we thought we were going to learn battle techniques… We didn't bring any…"
Shen Zhe promised that he would teach them battle techniques. However, he asked them to boil water and now he even wanted alcohol… That was too perplexing.
"There's no time to fetch it right now…"
A round trip through the shortcut would take four hours. Even if they managed to get the alcohol, it would be too late for them to take the test by the time they returned to school.
"Is there any way to get familiar with someone other than drinking?"
He thought hard. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his head. "Hotpot!"
As the saying went, hotpot could solve any problem in the world!
"Dig as many vegetables as possible!"
Unable to hold back anymore, Shen Zhe gave instructions.
There were plenty of herbs and vegetables on Mount Thorn. Soon, they gathered a pile.
After a brief hesitation, Shen Zhe also jumped into the pot.
The moment he entered the pot, he immediately sensed that the intricacies of the Millennial Punch were displayed in his head like a movie.
Training with the pot still worked for him.
He laid his hand on Wang Xiaofeng's head.
Thankfully the pot was large enough, and they didn't take off their clothes, or it would be rather awkward for two men to sit next to each other.
"Heat the vegetables!" Shen Zhe ordered them.
Zhao Chen and Liu Pengyue hurried to put the vegetables into the pot with the twigs that they had just torn off.
Zi! Zi! Zi!
Although the water was not too hot, the vegetables soon emitted a fragrance.
"Eat it!"
Shen Zhe looked at the young man next to him.
Seeing that Shen Zhe boiled food for him with bathwater, Wang Xiaofeng wept but still gritted his teeth as he ate the vegetables.
The moment he ate one vegetable, infinite moves popped up in his head. His eyes immediately bulged.
The parts that he didn't understand about the Millennial Punch were immediately grasped, as if he had practiced it for decades.
He raised his arm. It moved so quickly that he seemed to have a new arm that had weathered through time.
"I truly learned it…"
Knowing that it was the essence of the Millennial Punch, Wang Xiaofeng's eyes almost popped out when he looked at Shen Zhe who was close to him.
Boiling himself with the technique in the pot, dripping some herb liquid, and heating some vegetables could make him grasp a technique…
What was the mechanism?
He found it unacceptable…
"It truly works!" Shen Zhe was relieved.
The three ways to bond quickly were barbecue, hotpot and drinking! It was a pity that he didn't prepare any seasonings or sauces. Otherwise, the training would've been even faster.
It seemed that he had to prepare those things next time.
If his purpose was to train himself, he could just put himself in boiling water; if he wanted to help someone else, he could prepare a hotpot for them…
Half an hour later, after Wang Xiaofeng completely grasped the Millennial Punch, Shen Zhe called, "Zhao Chen, it's your turn…"
Wang Xiaofeng jumped out of the pot, and Shen Zhe laid his hand on Zhao Chen's head, asking Liu Pengyue to add the vegetables in.
An hour later, the three of them had gone through the process. They were shocked.
Shen Zhe also jumped out.
By helping them, he had also learned three battle techniques: Millennial Punch, White Dragon Palm, and Cloud Exertion.
After testing the battle techniques they had just learned, Liu Pengyue suddenly opened his mouth. "Wait… Shen Zhe, my Cloud Exertion doesn't seem to be working well!"
"Huh?" Shen Zhe picked up a random rock and delivered it to him. "Try this!"
Taking a deep breath, Liu Pengyue summoned all his strength and slapped the rock.
BAM!
The rock cracked and fell into the snow.
"Isn't it very good?" Shen Zhe shook his head.
Liu Pengyue was very close to the rock, yet he broke it easily, which meant that his Cloud Exertion was very good.
"…" Scratching his head, Liu Pengyue picked up a rock with his left hand and slapped it with his right hand.
Pa!
The rock remained unchanged.
Confused, he asked Zhao Chen to hold it and he slapped it again. The rock was still intact.
Shen Zhe frowned.
"I've perceived the usage of Cloud Exertion, but for some reason, sometimes I can perform it, and sometimes I can't. It seems that I'm only half familiar with it…" said Liu Pengyue in embarrassment.
The others had learned their skills properly while in the pot. He was the only exception. It was rather humiliating for him.
Shen Zhe's lips twitched.
He had thought that he could take advantage of the low boiling point at a high altitude, but it didn't seem so simple anymore.
Water at eighty degrees couldn't kill a human being, but there were a lot of things that it couldn't boil, such as beef, mutton, noodles, dumplings…
Therefore, the battle techniques were half cooked.
However, the problem didn't happen to Zhao Chen and Wang Xiaofeng.
Shen Zhe realized what had happened. "They probably learned the battle techniques before and were already half familiar with them. So, they became fully familiar with them after the boiling, even though the temperature wasn't high enough. Liu Pengyue hasn't studied Cloud Exertion for long, so he's less good at it…"
Boiling again would certainly be useless, so Shen Zhe offered a suggestion, "You should be able to make up for it if you practice it more…"
Liu Pengyue nodded.
They changed into their clean clothes and packed up their things. Before they returned to the school, they looked at Shen Zhe gratefully and bowed.
"Shen Zhe, you are a good guy!"
Zhao Chen had obviously told Shen Zhe's quirk to the two of them.
After the special training, they were already at the Familiar level of their battle techniques at the moment.
It had saved them years of time. They were certainly grateful to him.
"You're my friends. There's no need to be so polite!" Shen Zhe waved his hand and looked inside his head.
He saw three pencils floating next to the notebook.
He felt like crying.
With the gratitude of three people, he had earned three pencils at the same time. He was finally out of bankruptcy.
After a quick glance, he noticed that the fourth page of the notebook seemed to be finally loose. However, it was not the time to study it yet. Shen Zhe took a long breath and said to everyone, "Let's keep what happened today to ourselves. If anyone asks, we'll say that we've practiced battle techniques for five years, and that we were actually training when we went out to play polo."
According to the files he read, it would take at least five years for someone of common talent to be Familiar with a battle technique.
"We understand!"
All of them nodded.
It was utterly unbelievable for them to pick up a battle technique after an hour. They clearly understood that the news couldn't be leaked out, or they would be mired in infinite trouble.
It was already sunset by the time they rode back to the school.
"Let's go and take the test!"
They clenched their fists in excitement.
Having been bad students for years, it was finally time for them to distinguish themselves!