Chapter 106: Some Things Must Be Passed Down
The next day, Chen Wujun ran to the door to find Master Zhou Qing.
“Master!”
“Not bad, you’ve reached Qi Refining.” Zhou Qing was trimming flowers behind the house, turned his head to glance at Chen Wujun, and could tell the changes in him at a glance.
Although Qi Refining integrates the weak bioelectricity in the body, which is almost invisible from the outside, with mind and intent aligned, there are huge changes in essence, energy, and spirit.
Originally, Chen Wujun’s essence, energy, and spirit were like a sharp blade, sharp but not restrained.
Now it was like a small mountain, more solid, with its own foundation.
The threshold from Body Tempering to Qi Refining varies in difficulty from person to person; some progress slowly in Body Tempering, but cross this threshold in one go, breaking through in a day.
Chen Wujun had progressed amazingly fast before, but this threshold took him quite some time instead.
For most people, it takes years to go from Body Tempering to Qi Refining.
Realizing one’s true heart and aligning mind and intent—this hurdle has stumped countless people.
The more cluttered one’s thoughts, the more so.
“Master, I’ve also cultivated Dragon Strength.” Chen Wujun’s back bounced and sprang, muscles layering like waves, strength channeling to the back of his hand as he punched forward, producing a crisp, bright crack.
“You’ve built a solid foundation.” Zhou Qing smiled; he wasn’t surprised that Chen Wujun had cultivated Dragon Strength.
Chen Wujun had great talent in body control, picking up Kung Fu instantly upon learning, with good comprehension; his only flaw was having too many cluttered thoughts.
“Are you having trouble controlling bioelectricity?”
“Yes, Master. I’ve been trying to figure out how to control bioelectricity to stimulate the internal organs lately, but I have no clue.” Chen Wujun said.
The biggest difference between Qi Refining and Body Tempering is using bioelectricity stimulation to continuously strengthen the internal organs.
While Body Tempering, no matter how much you train, only tempers muscles and bones; the internal organs remain just as fragile.
Strengthening the internal organs not only improves impact resistance, but also enhances explosive power and endurance.
Zhou Qing walked back into the house with hands behind his back; Chen Wujun hurried to follow behind.
Once inside, Zhou Qing took a diagram from the drawer and tossed it to Chen Wujun.
“I’ll teach you a lying stake in a bit; visualize according to this at the same time.”
Hearing Zhou Qing mention visualization, Chen Wujun thought this diagram must be something profound.
But upon opening it, he was immediately stunned.
It was actually the most common human anatomy diagram.
It showed the positions of human muscles, internal organs, and various bones.
“If you don’t even have a clear grasp of the position of every muscle, every bone, and the five viscera and six bowels in your own body, how can you control the bioelectricity in your body to stimulate them?”
“The lying stake I’m teaching you is called Hibernating Dragon Sleep, taking the meaning of ‘dragon hibernating, lurking in the abyss.’ The dragon can be large or small, rise or hide. This stake appears lying externally, but internally it’s like a dragon sleeping; in utmost stillness and softness, it continuously mobilizes the bioelectricity in your body.”
“This stake also pairs with breathing and visualization.”
Chen Wujun thought to himself, as expected.
What Zhou Qing passed down was a complete system, from Old Bear Hugs Tree to White Crane Explores Branch, then to Tiger Descends Mountain and Agile Ape Hangs from Beam; these four stakes covered every aspect of the body.
From heavy to light, from hard to soft.
Now at Qi Refining, there was indeed a specialized matching stake.
This lying stake wasn’t difficult: lie on the side like a bow, hold a Magnetic Field Crystal with one hand pressed below the navel, inhale for 8 seconds, exhale for 12 seconds, hold for 10 seconds.
Imagine electricity flowing from the Magnetic Field Crystal into the dantian; during inhalation, the current rises, wandering to the face; during exhalation, it goes down from the back of the brain, to the soles of the feet, then back below the navel; during the 10-second hold, the body is completely still, visualizing the current wrapping and lighting up the five viscera and six bowels.
Chen Wujun lay on the bed, side-lying like a bow, palm pressed below the navel, with Zhou Qing standing by explaining.
“When practicing this stake, heartbeat must drop below 40; at this point, the body enters deep meditation, starting to restore and reinforce the body, calm vital energy and blood, and repair hidden injuries from previous Kung Fu practice.”
“Only Body Tempering without Qi Refining, after age 50, vital energy and blood begin to decline. That’s because too many hidden injuries accumulate from previous practice, unfelt but stored in the body. During Qi Refining, these hidden injuries can slowly be repaired.”
“Master, this is similar to New Technique meditation.” Chen Wujun said.
He had also learned about some New Technique.
New Technique requires entering meditation and dropping heartbeat below 40, which at least Resonance Stage New Technique masters can achieve.
“I’ve told you before, New Technique and Old Technique converge at the end.”
“But the goal of New Technique meditation is purification and assimilation, to better accept external magnetic field energy; the process pursues absolute stillness.”
“While Hibernating Dragon Sleep aims to awaken and control your own bioelectricity; in utmost stillness, it harbors the seed of motion.”
“Remember, the slower the heartbeat, the clearer the consciousness must be; willpower needs to be as precise as a thread. If stray thoughts flurry during the ‘hold,’ or you lose control of the current, lightly it causes heart palpitations and chest stuffiness, severely it backlashes the mind, leading to internal injuries.”
Chen Wujun took a deep breath, cast aside stray thoughts, and visualized as Zhou Qing described; at first he only felt prolonged breathing, until entering the 10-second hold, when he began hearing blood rushing like rivers inside, feeling every muscle and fascia slightly swelling…
Moreover, the sound of the blood rivers grew louder, the swelling of muscles and fascia more obvious.
Until he felt the internal organs slightly bloating, the feelings of blood rivers and fascia swelling finally fading; he grasped that faint and pure bioelectricity.
……
After a long time, Chen Wujun opened his eyes; his heart in the chest cavity immediately accelerated, strength returning to his body.
Chen Wujun lay there carefully sensing his body, as if washed by fine rain, entirely refreshed; that subtle sensation was indescribable.
He knew he had practiced correctly.
It wasn’t that his body was truly refreshed, but that bioelectricity had stimulated it all over, creating this sensation, which would fade soon.
Getting off the bed, he saw Zhou Qing sitting on the sofa drinking tea; Chen Wujun recalled the photo he saw last time and the person Li Wei mentioned.
He asked, “Master, do you know Deng Yuan?”
“Someone still remembers him… You’ve met someone from Eastern Seventh District?” Zhou Qing said calmly.
“I took in a subordinate who’s smuggled from Eastern Seventh District.”
Zhou Qing nodded slightly: “The Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield you learned is Deng Yuan’s Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield. This Kung Fu has existed since ancient times, but he cultivated it to an inconceivable level.”
Hearing this, Chen Wujun thought to himself, as expected.
Deng Yuan… was very likely one of the people in that photo.
Deng Yuan left with others 50 years ago; was Master one of them too?
“Since you’ve met someone from Eastern Seventh District, you should know Deng Yuan is most famous for Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield and Dragon’s Roar Iron Cloth Shirt. But he has another Kung Fu move, also masterful; combined with his Hardening Kung Fu, it rampaged unstoppably.”
Without waiting for Chen Wujun to ask, Zhou Qing continued: “The ultimate technique of Three Sovereigns Cannon Hammer, Master’s Three Bows.”
“Master, what Kung Fu is Three Sovereigns Cannon Hammer? And what is Master’s Three Bows?” Chen Wujun immediately became interested.
“Three Sovereigns Cannon Hammer is named after the heaven, earth, and man Three Sovereigns in Huayan People legends, and because issuing strength is like a cannon, striking like a hammer, it’s called Three Sovereigns Cannon Hammer.”
“Master’s Three Bows makes the whole body round and integrated, entirely offensive and defensive, emphasizing you strike yours, I strike mine, and skilled at borrowing force, each strike stronger than the last.”
“Plus Deng Yuan’s invincible Hardening Kung Fu, no one could block this move.”
A trace of reminiscence appeared in Zhou Qing’s eyes.
Chen Wujun’s heart itched with curiosity.
“Master, do you know Three Sovereigns Cannon Hammer?”
“If you want to learn, just say so; it’s too cramped here, I’ll teach you at the warehouse next time.” Zhou Qing said leisurely.
Chen Wujun stayed at Zhou Qing’s until evening; when Senior Brother Li returned and saw him, he was slightly surprised but said nothing.
After dinner, Chen Wujun left.
Late at night, Zhou Qing suddenly opened his eyes, flashes like lightning between opening and closing.
He put on clothes and left home unhurriedly, only to see a tall, imposing figure like a towering mountain ahead on the open ground.
“So it’s you!” After seeing the opposite figure clearly, Zhou Qing’s eyelids drooped slightly.
The other didn’t reply, leaped and vanished into the darkness, speed like lightning; ordinary eyes would blur and he’d be gone, like a ghost.
Zhou Qing stomped, and vanished too.
Moments later, Zhou Qing appeared on the sea near Red Incense Burner Bay.
Zhou Qing was actually treading the sea surface, as if walking on flat ground.
He then appeared on a reef.
The opposite figure turned; it was a fierce man without hair or eyebrows, who without a word stomped and instantly crossed dozens of meters, raising a fist to smash down on Zhou Qing’s head.
This fist smashing down was like a mountain crashing, with explosive wind and swirling airflow.
Zhou Qing’s eyelids unmoving, he took a deep breath, and his whole body suddenly expanded; from a 1.75-meter old man, he became a over-two-meter muscular hunk with muscles like coiled giant pythons.
His appearance also changed from fifty or sixty to around thirty, completely different.
Facing the opponent’s mountain-like fist, Zhou Qing stood firm, raised his hand in an outward flip, blocking with a horizontal fist.
Bang!
When their arms met, it produced a thunderous roar.
The man’s arm swelled; his already thick arm thickened by two more circles, like a pillar of forged fine steel, with veins like small snakes coiled on it.
His palm was also grindstone-sized, glowing blood-red like cinnabar; between finger bounce and spring, airflow exploded, then he violently pressed down.
No matter what master saw this palm, they’d feel an inescapable terror of unavoidable and unblockable.
Even invincible masters would be suppressed under this palm.
At this moment, Zhou Qing’s eyes flashed brightly, muscles layering and undulating; hands upward supporting, facing this strike.
The reef underfoot instantly shattered—not into countless fragments, but directly into black fine sand; the sea surface surged with circles of several-meter-high giant waves outward.
Both controlled their strength to a point, but the leaked power was still extremely terrifying.
The hard reef was directly shaken into fine sand, sea surface raising several-meter-high wave walls.
In that instant, Zhou Qing retreated dozens of meters; the man pursued closely, palm raised high, smashing down again.
Amid Zhou Qing’s muscles waving, he unleashed a Skyward Cannon, colliding with the man’s palm; air exploded like water, sending out an almost invisible white ripple.
The man pressed step by step, while Zhou Qing only defended without attacking; banging collision sounds continued, their fist intents like two mountains constantly crashing.
Their figures flashed continuously on the coastal reefs; in moments, this stretch of reefs turned to powder from battle aftershocks.
The sea boiled, huge waves surging in circles, impacting everywhere.
After hundreds of hard clashes, the man stopped, looking at Zhou Qing with emotionless eyes.
“Why aren’t you dead yet? Everyone else is dead, why aren’t you? You should die with them!”
“Fifty years, do you still want to cling to life? Li Shanjun!”
Zhou Qing wasn’t his real name; Li Shanjun was.
Zhou Qing lowered his eyelids.
“Soon!”
Some things must be passed down.
