“Master Yuan, they say you were once the fastest sword in all of Jianghu,” the young disciple ventured, studying his rotund teacher’s form with barely concealed skepticism.

The corpulent man smiled, his round face creasing like ripples in a pond. “Ah, but what is speed, dear student, if not the illusion of movement through space?”

They sat in the courtyard of the Clouded Peak Temple, where Master Yuan had taken residence after disappearing from the martial arts world fifteen years ago. His legendary slim figure had expanded considerably since then, earning him the nickname “The Spherical Sage.”

“But Master, how can you wield the Lightning Charger technique in your current… condition?”

Master Yuan’s eyes twinkled. “Watch closely.”

He rose with surprising grace, his massive form seeming to defy gravity itself. In that moment, reality appeared to bend around him. The air shimmered, and suddenly the corpulent master was no longer bound by conventional physics.

“You see,” he spoke while floating inches above the ground, “the Lightning Charger technique isn’t about physical speed at all. It’s about understanding that space itself is malleable.”

The disciple watched in amazement as his master’s round form began to spin, gradually increasing in velocity until he became a perfect sphere of pure energy. The laws of matter seemed to break down around him, creating a paradox of motion and stillness.

“In this form,” Master Yuan’s voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere, “I am both the fastest and the slowest being in existence. I occupy all points in space simultaneously while remaining perfectly still.”

“But that’s impossible!” the disciple exclaimed.

“Impossible?” Master Yuan chuckled, his rotating form creating fractals in the air. “In a world where qi can split mountains and swords can cut through dreams, you speak of impossibility?”

The spinning stopped, and Master Yuan reappeared, seated exactly where he had been before, as if nothing had happened. Yet the courtyard’s layout had somehow reversed itself, and the disciple found himself wearing his clothes inside out.

“You see,” Master Yuan continued, patting his substantial belly, “this form is not a hindrance but a perfect vessel. In geometry, a sphere is the most efficient shape in nature. Why should it be different in martial arts?”

The disciple pondered this as reality gradually settled back into its usual patterns. “Then… the stories of you growing fat on purpose…”

“Are both true and false, like all good stories,” Master Yuan smiled. “Now, shall we begin your real training?”

As the disciple bowed in acceptance, he caught a glimpse of something extraordinary - for just a moment, Master Yuan’s shadow on the wall showed not the shape of a rotund man, but of an infinite series of circles, each containing universes of their own.

And so began the legend of the Spherical School of martial arts, where the boundaries between form and void, movement and stillness, became as fluid as the ripples in a cup of tea that never quite reached the rim.