"Learn." The boy replied straightforwardly. Whenever someone taught him something, he would always learn it. After all, it didn't waste any time, and picking up some skills was always a good thing. Learning some martial arts could help him protect himself—after all, this world was full of people who practiced martial arts, and not knowing any would put him at a disadvantage.

"Then there's no need for more words. You teach him." The first part of Grace Bennett's sentence was directed at Evan Clark, and the latter part was addressed to Ashley Carter.

Ashley Carter was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Me? Can't you do it yourself?"

"Are you sure you want me to teach him? Don't forget what I've learned. If he learns what I know, he'll be ostracized by you righteous folks," said Grace Bennett.

"That's true. Alright, I'll teach you a cultivation method." Ashley Carter nodded, preparing to teach the boy a mental cultivation technique. This method wasn't from her own family but something she had picked up while wandering the martial world. She knew quite a few techniques, and the one she chose to teach was a pretty good one—most people wouldn't have access to it.

Very quickly, Ashley Carter recited a short section of the technique. She had a photographic memory and had memorized all the secret manuals she thought were good. Grace Bennett could do the same. For geniuses, this wasn't anything unusual.

"So, how much did you remember?" She didn't have him write it down immediately, wanting to see how much the boy could recall. This could test some of his natural talent.

"It's so short, of course I remembered all of it," the boy replied indifferently.

"You remembered all of it?" Ashley Carter asked, then had the boy recite the section he had just heard. As it turned out, the boy recited it word for word, not missing a single character—he had indeed remembered it all.

"Alright, then I'll keep going. If you feel you can't remember anymore, just let me know," Ashley Carter continued, reciting the entire technique. The boy remained silent the whole time.

Could it be that he remembered all of it? If so, his talent was quite impressive. But then why couldn't he cultivate inner energy? That was truly strange.

The two girls checked and found that the boy had indeed remembered everything, word for word. This kind of memory was truly enviable. Although the technique didn't have that many words, it still amounted to several thousand characters in total, and he remembered it all in one go, without a single mistake. His memory was truly remarkable.

Ashley Carter and Grace Bennett exchanged glances, as if they could see the doubt in each other's eyes. So they chose the universally acknowledged, most difficult-to-remember and understand "Tongtian Sword Manual" to see if the boy could remember it. The result was the same—the boy remembered it all in one go, not missing a single word.

Chapter 5: The Illiterate Bumpkin (Part 2)

This surprised them greatly. Even for them, it was hard to remember everything at once. This showed that the boy's memory might even surpass their own. If that was the case, why couldn't he cultivate inner energy?

Very soon, they understood why the boy couldn't cultivate inner energy—because he didn't understand anything.

Simply put, he could remember it, but he had no idea what it meant. He didn't even know some simple words, let alone the more difficult ones. If he could succeed in cultivation like this, it would be a miracle.

So, Ashley Carter began to explain those terms to him. She had nothing else to do while waiting for her true energy to recover, and besides, this boy was her savior. Although she couldn't repay him with overwhelming gratitude, she could at least return the favor equally.

But as she explained, Ashley Carter got a headache. She finally understood what "casting pearls before swine" meant. No matter how carefully she explained, it was completely pointless—the boy simply couldn't understand at all.

What was going on here? She didn't expect the boy's comprehension to match his memory, but even an ordinary level of understanding would have been enough. Yet this boy simply had no comprehension whatsoever—not even a little.

"I don't know..."

"I don't understand!"

"I don't get it!"

No matter what Ashley Carter said, the boy's answers were basically like this.

"How am I supposed to teach like this? I can't do it! You take over!" Ashley Carter was at her wit's end and gave up. It wasn't that she wasn't trying—she just wasn't seeing any results.

No wonder he couldn't succeed in cultivation—he was as dense as a block of wood. No, that's not right—he was just a block of wood, without even the head!

Grace Bennett looked at the boy in silence. She hadn't expected something like this—a person with an extraordinary memory but absolutely no comprehension. Was fate playing a trick on him, or did it give him one thing and take away another? Still, this was just too extreme.

"How did you learn those things before?" Grace Bennett asked. Although the basics were simple, learning them still required some ability and understanding. Based on what had just happened, he shouldn't have been able to learn even the basics.

"Brother Dahai taught me," the boy replied.

"...How did he teach you?" Of course I know he taught you, but how did he do it? That's what I'm asking.

"He just showed me the moves, and I copied what he did. That's how I learned," the boy replied.