The old man's background was more complex than Lion could have imagined—or rather, he had guessed half correctly but missed the other half.
Indeed, like Lion, the old man had also traveled from China—but unlike Lion, who was originally from the People's Republic of China, the old man hailed from the Great Ming Dynasty.
In simpler terms, the old man was a person from the Ming dynasty. More precisely, he was a notorious rapist from that era.
Yes, a real rapist, and a famous one at that. His reputation was so widespread that even someone from several centuries later, like Lion, knew his name.
Because he was Tian Boguang.
In Lion's previous life, there weren't many people who hadn't heard of this name.
"Tian Boguang?" Lion almost gaped in disbelief. "You are that Tian Boguang?"
"Which Tian Boguang?" the old man growled. "Is there another Tian Boguang?"
"Oh no, I just wanted to ask if you know Linghu Chong."
"Linghu Chong?" The old man pondered for a moment. "Yu Canghai's eldest disciple from Huashan Sect? Heard much about him, never met him though. They say he can hold his liquor well."
"And do you know Yi Lin?"
"Who's Yi Lin?"
"A young nun from Hengshan Sect," Lion explained.
"Pah!" The old man spat. "Why would I know any nuns? Bad luck, bad luck."
Indeed, in ancient China, it was believed that encountering a nun brought bad luck, especially among travelers. Lion wasn't sure where this superstition originated, perhaps as a way to protect nuns from being harassed. Over time, it became deeply ingrained in society, and Tian Boguang clearly believed it too.
Of course, Lion forgot to mention that Yi Lin wasn't just a nun; she was also a beautiful one. If he had added that detail, Tian Boguang might not have cared about the supposed bad luck.
It was clear that this Tian Boguang was indeed the same character from "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer." Somehow, instead of meeting Yi Lin and subsequently Linghu Chong, and then getting castrated by Monk Bujiè, he had somehow traveled to this magical world before all those events took place.
As a Ming dynasty person, Tian Boguang was far less prepared for such a journey than Lion. He had no exposure to the vast array of online novels and thus had no mental preparation for traveling through time. Upon arrival, he was bewildered and clueless, knowing nothing about magic or fantasy, even suspecting he had ended up in some sort of demon hell.
Another unfortunate aspect was that Tian Boguang had directly possessed a body, unlike Lion, who reincarnated as an infant and had ample time to learn and adapt.
However, none of these were the worst parts.
For a rapist, what was the ultimate goal? Clearly, it was something akin to "wandering the land with a rod, saving the world with love"—or, more crudely put, bedding every beautiful woman in existence.
But Tian Boguang, upon arriving in this new world, found himself in the body of a seventy-year-old man. Lion even wondered if he might be impotent. With full criminal intent but virtually no capacity to act on it—could there be a sadder fate for a rapist?
Leaving aside Tian Boguang's tragic situation, let's look at what he intended to do next.
Simply put, as Lion had predicted, he wanted to take Lion as his disciple.
Tian Boguang was a rapist, and a skilled martial artist at that. According to Jin Yong's "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," Tian Boguang was considered a mid-tier martial artist, possibly even upper mid-tier, though certainly not top-tier, given his eventual castration by Monk Bujiè.
So, he could teach Lion two things: first, martial arts including sword techniques, hand-to-hand combat, internal energy cultivation, pressure point strikes, and lightness kung fu; second, his specialized skills as a rapist, which included bedroom arts.
Both areas interested Lion—he could use martial arts to become powerful and the bedroom arts to build a harem, exactly what he wanted. However, after thoroughly examining Lion's physique, Tian Boguang sighed heavily.
"What?" Lion asked.
"Your occipital bone isn't high enough."
"So what?"
"It indicates you don't have the aptitude for martial arts," the old man sighed. "What a pity, I finally find a successor, only to discover he's useless."
"Hey, hey," Lion protested. "Who are you calling useless? Just because my occipital bone isn't high doesn't mean anything. Do you think you're Nanhai E Shen?"
"Who's Nanhai E Shen?"
"He's... also a rapist, as famous as you... well, not quite as famous as you."
In short, the old man believed Lion lacked potential for martial arts, but decided to give it a shot anyway. He taught Lion everything he knew.
Although Lion doubted that the height of the occipital bone had anything to do with martial talent, it turned out that the old man was right this time. Lion was indeed not a martial prodigy.
Tian Boguang's most renowned skill, according to "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," was his lightning-fast sword techniques. He boasted that at his peak, he could deliver seven strikes in an instant.
But no matter how hard Lion tried, he couldn't manage more than two strikes in the same amount of time.
Failing at sword techniques, they moved on to hand-to-hand combat—with similarly disappointing results. Once again, Lion demonstrated his lack of martial talent. Since Tian Boguang was known for his swordsmanship, his unarmed combat skills were mediocre at best. Given an inadequate teacher and an untalented student, the outcome was predictable.
"Forget it," Tian Boguang snapped. "Let's try internal energy cultivation."
Internal energy was considered the foundation of martial arts. Mastering it would make learning other skills easier. Lion agreed. Although Tian Boguang wasn't particularly strong in internal energy, he still had a solid foundation. It took Lion a week to memorize the breathing techniques and chants, and he began practicing meditation to circulate qi through his meridians.
Once again, the old man's assessment proved correct. A person of average talent should feel qi within half a month, while Tian Boguang himself felt it after just seven days, describing it as "a warm little mouse running around inside." But it took Lion three months to barely sense qi, likely due to self-suggestion.
In other words, Lion was worse than an average talent, possibly even inferior to Guo Jing from wuxia novels.
This was truly disheartening.
As for pressure point strikes, they were practically unlearnable. This technique required not only memorizing the locations of various acupoints but also channeling internal energy to block the flow of qi. Given Lion's slow progress in internal energy cultivation, he lacked the necessary power.
Using external force to strike acupoints would only injure someone without achieving the desired effect.
The only slightly encouraging aspect was Lion's aptitude for lightness kung fu, thanks largely to Tian Boguang's effective teaching. For a rapist, lightness kung fu was crucial. Throughout history, famous rapists were always masters of agility. Tian Boguang's nickname, "Ten Thousand Miles Solo," indicated his prowess in this area, far surpassing lesser practitioners like "Grass Skimmer."
Though Tian Boguang noted that poor internal energy limited endurance during long chases, short bursts of speed were sufficient for escaping danger. If pursued relentlessly, one could only blame their luck.
Overall, while not a complete failure, Lion's martial arts training yielded poor results. Tian Boguang was frustrated but resigned to ordering Lion to memorize all the internal energy techniques and fighting forms, hoping for a sudden breakthrough like Guo Jing.
Fortunately, the bedroom arts seemed unrelated to the occipital bone, and Lion excelled in this area. Tian Boguang praised Lion's physical endowment, noting its impressive size compared to what he had seen.
Lion remained silent, secretly amused. In reality, it wasn't his exceptional endowment but rather Tian Boguang's lack of experience. Humans in this world tended to be larger and develop faster, leading to naturally larger features.
Thus, while struggling with martial arts, Lion showed remarkable talent in mastering the skills of a rapist. Within two years, he had learned nearly everything from Tian Boguang—mixing aphrodisiacs, seduction techniques, sweet-talking girls, disguise methods—all down pat.
The only problem was the lack of practical experience. All knowledge remained theoretical.
The reason for this was simple: not unwilling, but unable.
Because Tian Boguang was now a man stripped of his martial abilities.