Chapter 14: Martial Arts School Establishes Its Might
The entire afternoon, Hong Yuan practiced the ‘Tiger Subduing Stance’ and the eighteen forms of the Guiding Technique under Yang Erhu’s instruction.
Benefiting from enhanced comprehension, Hong Yuan’s memory and understanding abilities were also extremely high. Although he hadn’t reached the level of remembering anything he saw, he wasn’t far off.
Yang Erhu only demonstrated the stance training and guiding technique two or three times, and Hong Yuan had already mastered them by heart.
Coupled with his excellent root bone, not only were his muscles and bones strong, but he was also flexible. The complex and demanding movements in the guiding technique that ordinary people would need years of practice to achieve were not difficult for him.
Yang Erhu, with a serious expression, corrected a few minor mistakes for Hong Yuan and pointed out key essentials. He was inwardly amazed, exclaiming that he had found a treasure.
They practiced until evening. The sky darkened, and Hong Yuan was covered in sweat. He didn’t feel particularly tired; instead, he felt exhilarated and immensely content.
Driven by his enthusiasm, he went to the front courtyard again. Following the method of the ‘Bedrock Skill’ taught by Yang Erhu, he lifted a few stone locks and practiced with a stone ball. Then, under the stunned gaze of Yang Lie and urged by Yang Erhu, he washed his face and waited for dinner.
The dinner was naturally not as lavish as the noon banquet, but it still included a large plate of beef and a pot of bone broth.
After a satisfying meal, Yang Erhu took Hong Yuan for a walk around the courtyard. Naturally, it wasn’t a casual stroll like idle people, but he taught him a footwork called ‘Mud Treading Steps’ and instructed him to walk in the courtyard for at least fifteen minutes every evening after dinner.
Hong Yuan readily agreed.
This was the first time practicing the ‘Mud Treading Steps’. After practicing for half an hour, Yang Erhu led him to a washroom where a large bathtub was placed, still emitting steamy white mist.
Yang Erhu took out a small porcelain bottle and poured its contents into a porcelain bowl. Hong Yuan saw that it was a viscous, crystal-clear liquid, resembling jelly settled at the bottom of the bowl.
Yang Erhu poured in an amount that just covered the bottom of the bowl. His face showed a hint of pain as he said, “This is our sect’s secret transmission, ‘Tiger Bone Paste.’ It can be applied topically or used for medicinal baths. The medicinal bath has a better effect.”
He poured the paste from the bowl into the bathtub and then used a ladle to scoop hot water to clean the bottom of the bowl.
“A medicinal bath doesn’t need to be too long. You can get out after the water temperature drops, about the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn. Take off your clothes and get in!” Yang Erhu lit a stick of incense in the room and then left.
After soaking in the medicinal bath, Hong Yuan changed into the bright clothes prepared in the room and stretched lazily. He felt a pleasant tingling sensation all over his body, as if many small hands were gently massaging him. Every part of him felt comfortable, and the fatigue from the afternoon’s training vanished, leaving him refreshed.
The feeling was too wonderful.
Hong Yuan, dressed in light bright clothes, felt the gentle evening breeze, neither hot nor cold. The moonlight shone down, entering his eyes. At this moment, he couldn’t help but hum a cheerful tune: “The sky is dim, the moon is as before… all hot blood, turns to dust and earth…”
‘I made the right choice in taking this Master…’
While humming, Hong Yuan returned to the private room Yang Erhu had prepared for him to rest.
As a martial arts practitioner, the room wasn’t decorated luxuriously, but it was spacious and tidy, with all the necessary items. Hong Yuan took off his shoes and lay on the bed fully clothed.
He couldn’t fall asleep immediately, so he practiced the less strenuous movements from the eighteen forms of the Guiding Technique in bed. He even cleared his mind while practicing, focusing his meditation on imagining the location of his qi and blood within his body.
Qi and blood exist within the human body, yet they are invisible and intangible.
Therefore, one must use a firm will to self-affirm a location, such as the arm, wrist, chest, or internal organs, and imagine that one can control the flow of qi and blood in those areas with their mind.
It might sound idealistic, but to sense and even ‘touch’ qi and blood, the first step is to hypnotize oneself!
By thus tempering one’s temperament and through thousands of repeated practices, those with firm conviction will eventually be able to sense and then guide qi and blood.
In a state of indistinctness and mystery.
Hong Yuan seemed to feel wisps of airflow moving within his body, sometimes gathering into a small snake, sometimes scattering into countless fine streams, circulating throughout his entire body.
‘Huh?! Didn’t they say sensing qi and blood is a difficult hurdle that requires years of training? It doesn’t seem that difficult. Wait! This is because I have the talent of Qi Flows Through the Hundred Skeletons…’
Hong Yuan imagined his own consciousness transforming into an invisible ‘hand,’ using his fingers to touch the qi and blood, guiding them forward. However, each time he was about to make contact, the qi and blood would scatter and disappear.
He fell asleep without realizing it.
…
Standing like a mountain, guiding to temper the body. Through training and medicinal baths, muscles, bones, and physique have seen a slight improvement. Root Bone +1 sliver.
“Huh?”
The next morning, Hong Yuan saw these small flying mosquito-like characters. With a thought, lines of strange text appeared before his eyes.
Blessed Land Dao Master Gray — Outside the Threshold: Hong Yuan 18
Root Bone: 3/100
Comprehension: 4/100
Talent: Qi Flows Through the Hundred Skeletons, Clear Eyes and Penetrating
Hong Yuan looked at the comprehension column and vaguely felt that the meditation method should also have some effect on improving comprehension, although the effect wasn’t immediately apparent.
‘I must not skip the daily meditation practice…’
After changing into neat attire, he pushed open the door of the private room.
As dawn broke, Yang Lie, who had woken up earlier than Hong Yuan, was practicing boxing in the backyard. Traces of bruises from yesterday’s ‘guidance’ by Wu Duxiong were still visible on his face.
“Martial Uncle Wu!”
Wu Duxiong stood by the side of the training ground, arms crossed, watching with a calm gaze. Hong Yuan quickly stepped forward to greet him.
Wu Duxiong nodded, “You’ve arrived at a good time. As my martial nephew, I don’t have much of a welcoming gift. Let’s spar a couple of rounds first!”
“Ah?”
As the sun rose, the Yang Family Martial Arts School gradually became lively. Martial arts school apprentices and nominal disciples entered one after another.
“The Museum Master has indeed returned!”
“I saw the martial arts school open yesterday, but Master just returned and likely has some matters to attend to, so I didn’t want to disturb him.”
“Heh! I thought the same…”
These people were almost all between the ages of fifteen and twenty. Only two were over thirty. Apprentices called him ‘Museum Master,’ and nominal disciples called him ‘Master.’ Their attire varied, but even the ordinary ones were neatly dressed without patches.
After all, if they were truly poor, how could they afford the minimum monthly expense of three taels?
Hearing the clamor, Hong Yuan walked through the corridor from the backyard to the front courtyard.
Yang Lie followed behind.
Hong Yuan now knew that there were a total of eighteen apprentices and nominal disciples in the Yang Family Martial Arts School. He scanned the newcomers and saw fifteen present, with three absent, which he didn’t pay much attention to.
“Brother, are you two new to the martial arts school?” A young man with a mole on his left cheek came over to chat.
Hong Yuan didn’t answer. Yang Lie chuckled and said, “Yes!”
“Oh! First come, first served, in order. Then you have to call me Senior Brother. My surname is Zhou…”
Before the young man surnamed Zhou with the mole could finish speaking, he heard a light cough. Yang Erhu’s burly figure appeared behind Hong Yuan and Yang Lie.
The young man surnamed Zhou quickly said, “Master Yang, how are you?”
“I’m very well. Go back to the crowd first. I have something to announce.”
Yang Erhu’s voice was loud, causing everyone else to turn their heads and greet him, while also wondering what the Museum Master was going to announce.
However, the Museum Master’s face was beaming with joy, so it was likely good news.
Yang Erhu beckoned Hong Yuan over, asking him to stand at the front, and said with a smile, “This is my newly accepted inner disciple, named Hong Yuan.”
As soon as this was said, the crowd erupted in a commotion, looking at Hong Yuan with surprised eyes.
“Inner disciple? What is an inner disciple? How are we different from them?” some asked with bewilderment.
“Idiot! An inner disciple is someone who can ascend to the inner halls, the chosen successor of the Museum Master. We who pay money to learn martial arts are different.” The speaker was full of envy.
Most of the crowd showed envy, but a few had gloomy faces like water, staring at Hong Yuan with ill intentions.
Hong Yuan observed everyone’s reactions, his smile undiminished.
Yang Erhu waved his hand, quieting the crowd, and continued, “When you learn martial arts at my Yang Family Martial Arts School, you can call me ‘Museum Master’ from afar, or ‘Master’ up close. However, you don’t have a true master-disciple relationship with me. Therefore, you can call my disciples ‘Senior Brother’ or even use their names directly.”
He waved his hand, “Alright, continue your training!”
Immediately, everyone separated. Some practiced stances, some practiced the Guiding Technique, and some were lifting stone locks or hitting jujube wood stakes and sandbags at the side.
Several others practiced fist and foot techniques, and even sparred with each other, their shouts filling the air.
Yang Erhu walked around the training ground, occasionally correcting them, giving pointers to the apprentices, scolding them loudly, and sometimes asking Hong Yuan to offer guidance.
Although Hong Yuan had only learned for half a day, he had already grasped everything. Naturally, he didn’t hesitate and corrected the mistakes of the apprentices one by one.
Yang Erhu stroked his beard and remained silent, but his smile was uncontrollable.
In front of the jujube wood stake.
A young man with a broad back and strong physique, large and powerful hands, struck the wood stake with his palms or knuckles, his eyes sharp and fierce.
Two other young men slowly approached.
“Meng Yue, what do you say?” the relatively short and stout young man asked, staring at the young man hitting the wood stake.
Meng Yue paused, then suddenly kicked, his leg whipping the jujube wood stake so it trembled. He wiped the sweat from his face and grunted, “What else can I say? Master has already made his decision. What can we do?”
“I’m not reconciled!”
Another young man, with prominent ears that drew attention, slapped the wood stake at this moment, gritting his teeth, “The three of us have been in the martial arts school for at least two years, always competing against each other to become Yang’s disciple. I didn’t expect some unknown brat to get ahead of us…”
“Why?” the young man with prominent ears asked, his tone full of resentment.
Meng Yue’s eyes darkened. Didn’t he feel indignant too?
The three were the best fighters among the many apprentices and disciples in the martial arts school. They always saw each other as rivals and didn’t have good relations normally. Now, however, they all felt a sense of shared indignation.
Since they chose to study martial arts at the school, they naturally had a certain obsession with martial arts. They knew that only by truly becoming Yang Erhu’s disciples could they learn secret martial arts, not the stance training and guiding techniques that could be learned by paying money.
Furthermore, Yang Erhu had no children and was over fifty. He didn’t know when he might lie down and never wake up. They harbored some dark thoughts of ‘eating the inheritance.’
Therefore, the three of them competed with each other and tried their best to impress Yang Erhu to become true disciples. Unexpectedly, a young man intercepted them midway, making all their efforts futile.
“We can’t just let it go,” the young man with prominent ears sneered. “Isn’t that kid surnamed Hong our ‘Senior Brother’? Let’s all go up and challenge him later. We’ll beat him so badly that he won’t have the face to stay in the martial arts school.”
The stout young man shook his head. “It’s a method, but it will only make that Hong Yuan lose some face. He’s the disciple personally chosen by Master. If we beat him, we’ll also anger Master, unless…”
His appearance was honest, but as he spoke, his eyes rolled, revealing a sinister cunning. A hand emerged from his sleeve, making a downward motion.
The young man with prominent ears let out a gasp, drawing in a breath of cold air, looking at him in horror, as if seeing him for the first time.
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Meng Yue reprimanded, his face angry. “Shut up. I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.”
“Why such a strong reaction? What did I say?” The stout young man mumbled a few words, his eyes lowered, his expression upset.
The three huddled at the edge of the training ground, and with the shouts of the surrounding apprentices, they thought no one could hear them. However, they didn’t know that Hong Yuan had astonishing hearing and caught every word of their conversation. He sighed inwardly, “Indeed, wherever there are people, there is Jianghu.”
After Yang Erhu corrected the apprentices and disciples’ training and gave a few instructions, he returned to the backyard, leaving Hong Yuan to guide the others alone.
Hong Yuan paced slowly and steadily towards the three of them, Meng Yue and the others.
He harbored no killing intent in his heart. After all, the three had only spoken disrespectfully. Even though they had some malicious schemes, they hadn’t been implemented.
Primarily, his status was different now. He was Yang Erhu’s disciple. He couldn’t possibly get rid of apprentices who paid to learn martial arts so soon after joining.
These were considered the property of the martial arts school.
Moreover, Hong Yuan hadn’t forgotten his goal of opening the Great Year Blessed Land, which required achieving the dual accomplishments of being the strongest in martial power and having the most power. Therefore, he needed subordinates and influence.
The disciples Yang Erhu had taught over the years were naturally the most likely to be brought under Hong Yuan’s command. Of course, he would only consider this after he had passed his developmental stage.
Rather than waiting for them to actually do something and then acting ruthlessly, it was better to deter them first and make them hide certain bad intentions.
“Three Junior Brothers…” Hong Yuan called out from a distance of two or three Zhang, with a smile on his face. “I heard from Master that among the disciples of the martial arts school, the three of you have the best skills. Master asked me to get closer to the three of you. How about we spar a bit?”
When Yang Erhu was instructing the apprentices, he did mention the names of the disciples in the martial arts school and spoke of Meng Yue’s trio being the best. However, there was no mention of “getting closer.”
Meng Yue and the other two were surprised that Hong Yuan would greet them. Their expressions varied. The young man with prominent ears’ eyes darkened upon hearing the term ‘Junior Brother,’ and he chuckled, “Senior Brother is indeed straightforward. Great! Let Junior Brother here ask for your esteemed guidance.”
He strode towards Hong Yuan. When he was about three feet away, he suddenly cupped his fists.
Hong Yuan also cupped his fists in return.
He didn’t say anything about them fighting together, side by side. Perhaps that would have been more dignified, but Hong Yuan was not at a stage where he could afford to be dignified.
Clear Eyes and Penetrating only allowed him to slightly detect danger; it wasn’t a mystical sensing of energy that would let him discern the opponent’s strength. What if the three teamed up and he was defeated?
As soon as Hong Yuan cupped his fists, the young man with prominent ears suddenly threw a punch, aimed at his face. The posture suggested he intended to smash Hong Yuan’s face completely.
By the time he threw the punch, the young man with prominent ears shouted, “Watch out…”
Before his voice faded, the young man with prominent ears saw a blur. Hong Yuan had already sidestepped, and then a sharp gust of wind whistled. The former’s half-face was numb and in severe pain from a side kick, and then a fierce force surged.
With a ‘bang,’ the young man with prominent ears spun like a windmill, then fell heavily to the ground, dizzy, his eyes rolling back. He was completely knocked unconscious.
Fortunately, the training ground was covered with fine sand and mud on the sides, except for the central pathway. Otherwise, this person would likely have been more severely injured.
Ignoring the shocked Meng Yue and the other two, and the other apprentices who were starting to gather, Hong Yuan clapped his hands and called for two apprentices to help carry the young man with prominent ears to treat his injuries. He then smiled at Meng Yue and the other one, “Two Junior Brothers, let’s continue…”
The stout young man’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He retreated repeatedly, chuckling nervously, “No, no!”
“Watch out!”
Hong Yuan said, ignoring the stout young man’s refusal, and suddenly took a step, instantly appearing in front of the stout young man.
The man gritted his teeth. Seeing that he couldn’t dodge, he mustered his courage and threw both his fists forward.
Hong Yuan lightly tapped his foot and, with a sudden turn, appeared behind the stout young man. Immediately, the stout young man felt a large hand press down on the back of his head.
The next moment, he was forced to the ground without any resistance, his nose and face crashing deeply into the mud and sand, covering his face.
Hong Yuan applied more force. The stout young man struggled violently, screaming in pain. After a few breaths, Hong Yuan released his hand and looked at the last young man, named Meng Yue.
‘This Senior Brother is a bit too strong.’
Meng Yue took a deep breath, his expression extremely grave. He cupped his fists and said, “Senior Brother, please!”
