Chapter 496: An Immortal Technique and a Foolish Man

An Immortal Technique and a Foolish Man

Either a powerful bloodline had been passed down through Shasa’s family...

Or perhaps she was the reincarnation of some extraordinary existence.

The more Leon watched her, the more he began to lean toward the second possibility.

There was something strange about her.

It wasn’t just her talent.

It was the feeling she gave him.

Leon quietly studied her for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to make sense of the feeling.

Then, little by little, the corners of his eyes curved upward.

Interesting.

Maybe he had stumbled upon something far more amusing than he had expected.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Leon leaned slightly toward Shasa.

His expression softened, losing the sharpness it usually carried.

When he spoke again, his voice was gentle.

Almost enticing.

"Little girl, do you want to learn immortal techniques from me?"

Shasa froze.

She stared at him.

Her eyes widened in confusion.

"What’s an immortal technique?"

Leon smiled.

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he slowly raised his right hand.

The moment his hand lifted, something subtle changed in the air around them.

The faint sounds of the night seemed to disappear.

For an instant, everything became strangely quiet.

Leon moved his fingers.

Just slightly.

That was all.

There was no grand gesture.

No dramatic burst of power.

He didn’t even touch the wall.

Yet an invisible force quietly swept forward.

Several meters away, an old abandoned wall suddenly trembled.

Dust spilled from the cracks.

Tiny pieces of stone fell to the ground.

Shasa’s eyes followed the movement.

Then—

Crack!

A thin, perfectly straight line appeared across the wall.

For a moment, nothing happened.

The world seemed to go quiet.

Then the wall split cleanly in two.

Dust burst into the air.

Chunks of stone broke loose and came crashing down, scattering across the ground with heavy thuds.

Shasa froze.

Her mouth slowly fell open.

She stared at the ruined wall as if she had completely forgotten how to blink.

Beside her, Leon calmly lowered his hand.

There wasn’t even a hint of pride on his face.

"This is an immortal technique."

He turned his gaze toward her.

"Do you want to learn it?"

Shasa didn’t answer.

She was still staring at the wall.

One second passed.

Then another.

Her eyes grew wider.

"Wow..."

The word slipped out as little more than a breath.

"So amazing..."

Her face practically lit up.

She immediately raised her hand.

She tried to copy the movement Leon had just made.

Her fingers moved through the air.

Nothing happened.

Shasa blinked.

She looked at her hand.

Then she looked at the wall.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

But strangely enough, she wasn’t disappointed.

Not even a little.

If anything, she became even more excited.

Her blue eyes seemed to shine.

She copied Leon’s posture again.

This time, she took it much more seriously.

She adjusted her fingers.

Twisted her wrist.

Raised her arm.

Then lowered it.

Nothing.

Shasa frowned.

She tried again.

She even copied the exact angle of Leon’s arm, her expression becoming ridiculously serious as though the fate of the world depended on getting that single movement right.

Still nothing happened.

Yet she refused to stop.

Again.

And again.

The more she tried, the more interested she became.

She had never seen anything like this before.

Not in her village.

Not in Greyhaven City.

Nowhere.

The ferocious beasts that had once seemed terrifying to her suddenly didn’t feel quite so frightening anymore.

Compared to what Leon had just done...

They were nothing.

This was different.

This was something truly amazing.

If she could learn a technique like this...

Shasa’s imagination immediately ran wild.

Her thoughts raced ahead.

Then, in the future, which child would dare to provoke her?

She would become stronger.

Much stronger.

If someone tried to bully her, she could defeat them.

If someone refused to give her food...

She could defeat them too.

The thought made her eyes sparkle.

There were so many possibilities.

The more she imagined them, the wider her smile became.

Then another memory suddenly surfaced.

The old Hermit had once told her something.

Only by making enemies among her peers would they be forced to respect her.

Only by defeating them would they be willing to give her good food.

At the time, Shasa hadn’t completely understood what he meant.

But now...

It suddenly made perfect sense.

Her excitement grew even stronger.

Her blue eyes practically sparkled.

A huge smile spread across her face.

She had discovered something far better than simply becoming the strongest child in Greyhaven City.

She could become even stronger.

Much, much stronger.

"I want to learn! I want to learn!"

Shasa bounced slightly on her feet.

"Hurry up and teach me!"

She eagerly raised her hand again.

Then she copied Leon’s earlier movement several more times.

Her fingers moved.

Her wrist twisted.

Her arm followed the same angle.

Nothing happened.

Shasa didn’t care.

She simply tried again.

And again.

This time, there was no fear in Shasa’s eyes.

Only excitement.

She had found something new to chase.

And Shasa was already completely hooked.

She looked up at Leon.

Her eyes practically glowed with expectation.

There was almost a ridiculous amount of excitement written across her face. She looked like she had just discovered a treasure far more valuable than anything lying among the ruins around them.

Her blonde hair had become slightly messy after everything that had happened.

A few strands rested across her face.

Dust clung to the hem of her yellow robe.

She didn’t even seem to notice.

She didn’t care about any of it.

The ruined streets of Greyhaven City had already faded from her mind.

The broken buildings didn’t matter anymore.

Neither did the destruction surrounding them.

Right now, there was only one thing occupying her thoughts.

The strange power Leon had just shown her.

Leon couldn’t help smiling when he saw that expression.

His long black hair shifted gently in the breeze.

A few loose strands brushed against his face.

Beneath them, his purple eyes carried a faint trace of amusement.

As expected.

This girl was ridiculously easy to tempt.

He had shown her only the tiniest trace of sword energy.

That was all it had taken.

Now she was practically begging to learn.

Leon found it hard not to laugh.

Still, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized it actually made sense.

Shasa might have been eighteen or nineteen, but there was still a playful side to her personality.

A rather child-brained side.

That didn’t mean she was childish.

Not at all.

Shasa understood the difference between life and death.

She understood danger.

Perhaps better than most people her age ever could.

She had survived things that would have broken many adults.

She knew what it meant to be hunted.

She knew what it meant to fight for her life.

She knew that death wasn’t some distant concept.

It was something real.

Something she had already faced.

But emotionally...

There were parts of her that had never been given the chance to grow normally.

She had never experienced an ordinary life.

She had never attended an academy.

Never sat in a proper classroom.

Never had a teacher patiently sit beside her and guide her through cultivation.

No one had ever taken the time to explain the wider world to her.

She had learned everything the hard way.

Through survival.

Through experience.

Through pain.

So whenever something completely new appeared in front of her, her curiosity naturally took over.

And this?

This was especially difficult to resist.

Leon couldn’t really blame her.

He understood the fascination.

There was something captivating about watching an ordinary-looking person casually raise a hand and split a wall without even touching it.

To someone who had spent most of her life relying on brute strength and survival instincts, a power like that probably looked almost magical.

Leon smiled.

"All right."

Shasa immediately looked at him.

"You can learn if you want."

Her eyes brightened at once.

For a moment, the suspicion and hesitation she had shown earlier disappeared. Her expression lit up with genuine excitement.

"Really?"

Leon nodded.

"Really."

Shasa was almost ready to celebrate.

Then Leon deliberately paused.

He watched her for a second before adding,

"As long as you acknowledge me as your Teacher, I’ll teach you."

The excitement vanished.

Shasa froze.

She stared at Leon as though he had suddenly said something completely ridiculous.

Her bright expression slowly disappeared.

She tilted her head.

"What do you mean by acknowledging you as my Teacher?"

Leon patiently explained.

He told her what it meant to become his student.

He explained the relationship between a Teacher and a student. A student wasn’t simply someone who learned a few techniques from a stronger person. It was a relationship built on trust, guidance, and respect.

If Shasa became his student, Leon would take responsibility for guiding her through cultivation.

He would teach her techniques.

He would answer her questions.

If she encountered difficulties during cultivation, she could come to him for guidance.

If she wanted to become stronger, he would help her find the right path.

In simple terms, he would become the person responsible for teaching her.

Shasa listened quietly.

Surprisingly, she didn’t interrupt even once.

She sat there with an unusually serious expression.

Her eyes remained fixed on Leon as she carefully listened to every word.

Leon continued explaining for some time.

He made sure she understood what becoming his student actually meant.

There was no point forcing her into something she didn’t understand.

When he finally finished, silence settled over the camp.

Shasa lowered her gaze.

She didn’t answer immediately.

She seemed to be thinking.

For several moments, she remained completely still.

Then something changed.

The excitement in her eyes disappeared.

Not gradually.

Completely.

She slowly raised her head and looked at Leon.

There was something strange in her eyes now.

Suspicion.

And perhaps a little disdain.

"Then I won’t learn..."

Selena and Rias both froze.

Neither of them had expected that answer.

For a moment, even they didn’t know how to react.

Leon had practically placed an incredible opportunity right in front of Shasa.

And she had rejected it.

Just like that.

Selena stared at her in disbelief.

"Why?"

She genuinely couldn’t understand.

This was an opportunity that countless people would desperately fight for.

If Shasa became Leon’s student, she would no longer need to worry about food or shelter.

More importantly, she would gain access to cultivation.

She would be able to learn techniques that ordinary people could only dream of.

She could become stronger.

She could protect herself.

She could even change her entire future.

Yet she had refused.

Selena couldn’t help wondering what was going through this girl’s head.

Shasa didn’t answer.

Instead, she glanced at Leon.

Then she looked at Selena.

She hesitated.

Her eyes moved back toward Leon.

Leon wasn’t looking at her anymore.

He seemed to be paying attention to something else.

Only after making sure he wasn’t watching did Shasa relax.

Then she quietly moved closer to Selena.

The seriousness with which she approached her little secret was almost comical.

She leaned toward Selena.

Her lips came close to Selena’s ear.

Then she whispered so softly that only Selena could hear.

"Pretty Sister..."

Selena blinked.

Shasa glanced toward Leon again.

He still wasn’t looking.

Satisfied, she leaned closer.

"I think this person is very stupid."

Selena’s expression stiffened.

She stared at Shasa.

"What?"

Shasa continued in the same tiny whisper.

"He is handsome..."

She paused.

Her face became strangely serious.

"But he’s a foolish man."

Selena’s mouth twitched.

She suddenly had a very bad feeling about where this conversation was going.

Shasa peeked at Leon once more.

Then she q u i c k l y turned back to Selena.

"He doesn’t even know what ’croaked’ means."

Selena’s expression went blank.

Shasa nodded to herself.

As though she had just reached an extremely important conclusion.

"He’s too stupid."