Ball of Nothing

Hua Tuo looked at Zero's secret martial manual and raised a brow. Zero had decided to demonstrate to his shifu the 'overpowered signature moves' that he invented over the last week with his combat teacher. Hua Tuo flipped through the pages and tried not to laugh at that horrible middle-school syndrome leaking through the naming sense. For all the stages of growth that Hua Tuo didn't mind Zero missing out on like the taking apart his waterwheel and catching of garden pixies in action, he didn't want to miss out on this one.

The delusional middle school syndrome was starting to manifest itself in the teenager's personality. The physician didn't know if this was due to a realisation back in the Lake of Reflection or if being in a teenage body affected Zero's mentality. He would have to check that with Gaia but for now, the doctor was more than glad to film all of it down.

"Move Number Six, Hyper Drunken Fist!"

The physician nearly spat out his tea at the name. While it was true that he told Zero about the legendary Drunken Fist Martial Art, he didn't really know if anyone actually practised it. After all, as a doctor, he condoned the excessive use of alcohol. Most people in their intoxicated state would have reduced reaction time, much less be able to fight. Zero's imitation of that Drunken Fist was amusing but also traumatising. Hua Tuo had never seen anyone enter an intoxicated state by increasing their adrenaline.

A high on adrenaline Zero was a hyperactive Zero with no self-control. It was almost as bad as berserker warriors who felt no fear or pain and would charge straight towards their enemies, mowing them down, or towards their untimely deaths.

Ruth and Mitchnew evacuated the area as Zero screamed in a high pitched voice with exhilaration at the mini-tornado formed by his fancy drunken footwork twisted over each other at extreme speeds. His arms waved in wild circles everywhere and Hua Tuo feared for the survival of his flimsy hut. Was it too much to ask that his humble abode survive a year with Zero? How did taking on a medical apprentice become such a chore? Back in his days, apprentices would serve their teachers like Kings...

The adrenaline wore out soon enough and Zero grinned.

"How was it? I can blow enemies away easily like this without hurting anybody in the process."

Hua Tuo deadpanned. His teacup was now empty, all the tea was blown away by the ridiculous attack earlier. Zero took one look at his teacher's expression and gulped. Nope, number six was off the list too. Why was it so difficult to create an attack that was acceptable? Zero didn't really want to kill anyone, just punish them if they were nasty. In fact, he was more than willing to spend a little healing magic to fix up anything he'd break if he went overboard. Hua Tuo was simply too difficult to please!

"I'm taking it as a no...?" Zero grimaced but quickly recovered and introduced his next attack.

"Number 7! I call it the Invisible Iron Fist of Love!"

Ruth cringed at Zero's naming sense. Not only were the attack names getting weirder, but common sense was also now a thing of the past. After the third attack, the vampire now understood what was so different about this teenager ever since the first time he saw him. Zero was simply brilliant in a batshit crazy manner. When the world was in despair, he would save it using methods nobody could think of like flooding open an artificial dimension and forcing people to eat miasma. However, when the world was boring and at peace, Zero would liven it up just like the construction going on in Half Moon Village and the poor landscape around Hua Tuo's humble hut.

Mitchnew was interested to know how that brilliant mind worked. She'd never seen anything so absurd work so beautifully in mass destruction. True, whatever magic Zero was used were buff magic types. However, the results were off the charts and if she were to rank them, four out of six had already made it into her list of "Top Ten Overpowering Moves" the ex-assassin had ever seen. The young doctor was simply on a different level as an individual. While no normal mage could push buff magic to such extents, no sane magician would even think to try it.

Everyone paid attention as Zero took the basic horse stance that Hua Tuo taught him and added a strange buff that covered his entire arm. Nobody knew what to expect as Zero stared at the boulder before him. With an intense concentration, Zero started converting mana and qi into that arm. The fusion of qi and mana almost made Hua Tuo's eyes pop out of their sockets. How was that even possible?!

Stranger yet, the Invisible Iron Fist of Love didn't turn invisible like what Hua Tuo expected. Instead, it was a flurry of fast strikes towards that boulder at a speed that nobody could see. Was this why it was called invisible? What about the Iron Fist of Love?

That question was soon answered. Hua Tuo saw how Zero made many small holes with something akin to a heart shape from the dents made by Zero's fingers. The boulder didn't seem to have taken much damage at first but even Mitchnew couldn't keep her cool when it completely disintegrated after two seconds. All that was left was a pile of dust by Zero's feet and the young doctor turned towards his teacher with sparkling eyes.

"How was that? Technically the heart-shaped marks were made by the indent of my knuckles but I punched it like a full fist."

Once again, the Sage God was stumped speechless. He didn't know if he should applaud Zero's ability to think out of the box or twist his student's ear off for coming up with such a horrible way to use buff magic and basic combat. While he wasn't denying to the prowess of the move, Hua Tuo simply wanted to erase the existence of every move he'd seen Zero invent so far, including this. There was simply no way the humans would use this as an inspiration to create more trouble after they'd seen it.

"How did you do that?" Hua Tuo asked, indicating at the fusion between magic and qi. For many years, the Sage Gods tried to find a way to let mana and qi coexist but it just simply wasn't possible. Those who cultivated in the ways of mana found that their meridian network became replaced by the chakra network gradually even though the meridian system still remained. It simply became dormant and no amount of cultivation could reawaken it for those who chose to pursue the path of magic. On the other hand, those who cultivated weren't born with chakra channels in them.

Zero tilted his head to a side to indicate his confusion. Hua Tuo walked over and examined Zero's arm with his Medicine Eye. There, he saw the most unusual sight and studied it with fascination. On top of the hill, Mitchnew and Ruth were confused. Why did Hua Tuo stop the demonstration? Zero had created fifteen moves and they'd only seen seven. Had the boy hurt himself with the last one?

"I'm going to check," Ruth told Mitchnew who nodded with no indication of leaving her spot.

The vampire transformed into a bat and flew down to where the teacher and student were. "What's wrong?"

Hua Tuo had tears in his eyes and Zero gave his combat teacher a helpless look. One moment, Hua Tuo was examining his arm and the next, he was bawling over something. Zero could only understand a little of the gibberish Hua Tuo was speaking. It was a language that he heard once or twice when Hua Tuo spoke with Qin Yun. It was the ancient language called Mandarin back on the old Earth but Zero couldn't really make out everything despite the wisdom blessing he possessed. All the apprentice knew was that his teacher might have lost it claiming that it was a miracle. Why would Hua Tuo be so dramatic over a rock breaking technique when he could shatter boulders with one strike of his palm back in Half Moon Village? Zero didn't understand.

"A breakthrough... this is a medical and magical breakthrough!" Hua Tuo sniffed and tried to calm himself.

At this point, Zero had taken it upon himself to call for Merlin and Buddha to explain the situation. Both Sage Gods decided to send their body doubles down to Endow Hill to understand the situation more, too busy to leave their post.

It didn't take long for Buddha and Merlin to arrive but neither Sage Gods were prepared to see Hua Tuo crying while clutching onto Zero's arm.

"Kid, what happened?" Merlin asked and Zero shrugged. Buddha came over quickly as well and studied Zero's arm. Nothing looked out of the ordinary but there was something different about the aura the teen was giving off.

"He was demonstrating his seventh combat-magic special move when Hua Tuo went crazy," Ruth explained to Merlin and Buddha who exchanged looks.

"Could you demonstrate what the seventh move is?" Merlin asked Zero while Buddha gently dragged Hua Tuo back to his hut, chanting the heart scripture to help the cultivator calm down.

Zero agreed and told Merlin that he needed another boulder to demonstrate it. The Wizard God simply asked where Zero wanted it to be then conjured one slightly bigger than the boulder Zero previously disintegrated.

Satisfied, the apprentice told everyone to observe from a distance before assuming his basic horse stance again.

This time, both Merlin and Buddha's eyes widened when they saw Zero 'charging up' to deliver the Invisible Fist of Love. Ruth couldn't understand their reactions but briefly made a mental note on Zero's weakness for this move now that he was watching it up close. His student still hasn't grasped the ability to make use of his wrist flexibly. He was going to put strain to his wrist by delivering swift and powerful blows like that which isn't going to be good in the long run.

After the rock disintegrated, both Sage Gods found tears forming in their eyes. They could now understand why Hua Tuo was bawling like a child. From the hill, Mitchnew was shocked to see three powerful Sage Gods crying like babies. Exactly what was going on? Ruth and Zero exchanged helpless looks and did what they could to console the Sage Gods. It took them hours before the Sage Gods started talking and explaining the situation.

"For centuries, nobody was able to solve the mystery between magic and cultivation. Zero, we cannot be more thankful for your guidance," Buddha humbly bowed.

Zero felt awkward. He didn't really do anything special. If they wanted to know how to merge both qi and mana, they could have simply asked him instead of cry over it for two hours. They've missed lunch because of it!

"It's nothing, really!" Zero tried to convince them but the three Sage Gods didn't allow Zero to deny his contributions towards a better future.

"From now on, we need to start discussing how cultivators and magicians can train together," Merlin declared. With the ability to master cultivation as well, mages no longer have to worry about taking on physical damage and the limits of mana. It was a powerful discovery that will change the ways of mages.

For Hua Tuo, the discovery meant that cultivators were now able to borrow powers from the void even if they had no compatible magic affinity with any of the six elements. While there were many limitations to the kinds of magic they could use, chaos energy helped to boost the buffs they had cultivated their base in. For the doctor, this may be exactly what the world needed to bring the powerful pugilists of his old world back.

On the other hand, Buddha rejoiced at the breakthrough. He had become stuck with his path towards greater enlightenment because he was unable to withstand the potency of chaos energy in the void after a certain level. He knew that mana could negate the effects of chaos energy but not process it. Who knew that qi was the supporting factor required to convert chaos energy into something useable?

All three options existed for centuries but nobody had made the important connection until Zero did. The Sage Gods were slightly ashamed that they didn't discover it earlier due to their individual stubbornness to join hands. If they'd decided to work on the project collectively, they might have made a huge breakthrough a lot earlier.

Zero didn't really bother about what the Sage Gods were thinking or feeling. At the moment, he was starving. He took Ruth and Mitchnew with him to the portal and told the Sage Gods that he will bring food back for them in an hour. The Sage Gods couldn't stop Zero as he jumped into the portal to crash in on lunch at Half Moon Village.

However, it was a unanimous decision that Buddha and Merlin would stay to watch till the end of Zero's special move demonstration.