by Tao Wong
“Sweet!” the pair chorused with a laugh before they took off running for the nearest dueling circle, Chao Kun following closely with a raised fist.
“I’ll show you how sweet my fists are!”
Trap, pull close, shift weight lower down to increase connection to opponent. Angle forward and move with opponent when they shift, crumpling their stability. Wu Ying shifted, watching as Chao Kun struggled to keep his balance, then Wu Ying finished the attack by dropping even lower as he kicked forward and sideways at Chao Kun’s foot. Stability already compromised, the new force threw Chao Kun completely off balance and sent him crashing to the ground. At the last moment, Wu Ying released Chao Kun’s arm rather than keep hold of it, knowing that if he did so, he would tear tendons and ligaments as his opponent’s arm hyperextended.
Tou He laughed, clapping. He stretched, his fast-flowing fists having created the opening in Chao Kun’s defenses that allowed Wu Ying to close in.
“And that’s five falls,” Tou He crowed. “That’s dinner.”
“Fine,” Chao Kun grumbled lightly as he rolled to his feet. “Facing you two is not possible anymore.”
“That’s because we’ve gotten much better,” Tou He said.
“At working together,” Wu Ying clarified as he stood, flashing his friend a grin.
They really had. Ever since they had started sparring with Energy Storage cultivators, the pair’s coordination had grown significantly stronger. Whether with weapons or fists, they understood and “felt” the openings that the other would go for, ensuring they rarely hampered each other.
“Not just that,” Chao Kun said. “You have integrated the Northern Shen form into your martial form, have you not?”
Wu Ying nodded, trying and failing to hide his smile. It had happened last night, while practicing the form for the umpteenth time, when everything seemed to slide into place. Oh, Wu Ying had touched the threshold before and even, for a few moments, managed to achieve that rarified air of competence, but only last night did he finally manage to sustain it.
“Good. Then you are done for today,” Chao Kun said.
“Done?”
“Of course!” Chao Kun pointed at the exit. “Go. Get a better style. It’s hurting my eyes watching you struggle.”
“What?” Wu Ying said.
“Quickly now, go.”
“But… why?”
Tou He and Chao Kun traded glances before Chao Kun sighed and placed a hand on Wu Ying’s shoulder. “Wu Ying, you picked up the kicking style while an outer sect member, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you know we stock the most basic styles at that level, yes?’
“Yes.”
“Then why are you still using it? Don’t you want a better, more efficient style?”
“Of course I do. But you told me not to get one!” Wu Ying protested.
“Until you achieved an intermediate level.”
“Yes…”
“When you achieve that level, you integrate the style into your own. You understand it, grasp the basics of it, and it stops feeling like you need to think about each movement, each action, correct?”
“Yes,” Wu Ying said. With his jian, it had been when he stopped feeling the hilt in his hand, stopped worrying if he had the sword at the right angle, if the edge was lined correctly. When the sword started being part of him. With the Northern Shen style, an intermediate understanding meant that the stretches and motions, the locks and throws were no longer something he had to consciously consider before he used them. They were but another tool in his fighting style.
“If you had started learning a new style, do you think you would accidentally misremember each motion? Mix them up? Especially if they were both kicking or grappling styles?” Chao Kun said.
“Oh…” Wu Ying scratched his head. Well, that made sense. Too much sense. Wu Ying ducked his head in embarrassment as his pair of friends chuckled.
“Do not worry about it. It’s because you’ve only studied a few styles, correct?” Tou He said. When Wu Ying grunted in acknowledgement, Tou He continued. “That’s why they never talked to you about it before. Only in sects and monasteries, where we are taught multiple styles, is it a concern. That’s why we know it, and it’s our job to teach our juniors.”
“Of course… wait. When did I become your junior?” Wu Ying said, glaring at Tou He.
The monk smiled serenely.
“Well, are you going?” Chao Kun said, bringing the conversation back to the topic on hand.
“Fine, fine. We’ll finish that talk later,” Wu Ying said.
“Of course. Junior.”
Wu Ying threw his hands in the air and stalked off, though a slight smile still graced his lips. Tou He might be annoying, but Wu Ying could not help but think of the many styles he could study. What could he study next? A grappling skill to not suck down as much water? Perhaps a qinggong skill? What cultivator did not want to fly across the snow or water?
“Forget it,” Elder Ko said. The deep-voiced head of the library was present at the inner sect library today, allowing Wu Ying to trade his cultivation points for another session with the knowledgable Elder.
“Elder?”
“Qinggong is both a physical skill and a chi skill. While there are many skills you can learn to mimic some of the aspects of qinggong—and those, I would only barely recommend looking into—you are not even at Energy Storage stage. Why would you be willing to waste much-needed chi on a frivolous skill?” Elder Ko said, his voice filled with disapproval. “Just to show off and avoid walking the cleared paths?”
Wu Ying winced as the Elder honed in on his ego-driven desires. “Yes, Elder Ko. What would you suggest then?”
“Well, tell me what you want to learn,” Elder Ko said. “Or have you forgotten how this works?”
“No, Elder. My apologies.” Wu Ying took a moment to consider his needs. What did he want to learn?
The Long family jian style was sufficient for Wu Ying in terms of weapon styles. While there were arguments for learning something with more reach, like a polearm or even a bow, Wu Ying felt that focusing on his jian would bring more benefit in the long term than the short-term benefits of learning a new weapon. Gaining mastery, the Heart of the jian, would increase his combat prowess well above learning a new weapon. In time, perhaps. But not now.
In close combat, the Northern Shen Kicking Style gave him throws and locks when an attacker passed through the extended long range of his sword. Of course there was a gap there between the upsets, grapples, and throws the kicking style emphasized and the end of his sword. It was a gap that that could benefit from a style that focused purely on kicking or punching.
And of course, from his experience with Elder Hsu, Wu Ying knew he lacked any significant knowledge about ground grappling. The grappling style emphasized by the Northern Shen Kicking Style was one meant for the battlefield and keeping on one’s feet, not slowly suffocating a single opponent to death. On top of all that, Wu Ying could not help but consider Elder Hsu’s comments on increasing his strength as a Body Cleanser. Skill was important, but at a certain point, raw strength and power beat skill.
Another thing that his fight with Elder Hsu brought to mind, and that had been underlined during the tournament, was Wu Ying’s lack of defense. No matter how good he got, Wu Ying would eventually be struck. Perhaps instead of a purely offensive martial style, he should be looking at improving his defense. Either that or something to help him heal faster after the battle.
When Wu Ying explained all the above to Elder Khoo, the Elder smiled peacefully. “No cultivating styles?”
“No, Elder,” Wu Ying said, shaking his head. “I will ascend using the Yellow Emperor’s method and continue with it till at least Core Cultivation.”
“Interesting,” Elder Khoo said, tilting his head as he assessed Wu Ying. “I had not thought you were that hesitant over making decisions.”
Wu Ying offered a wan smile. He had no excuse other
than a feeling that making a choice to lock himself into a specific element would be a mistake. When Wu Ying stayed silent, Elder Khoo reached forward. His hand stopped a few inches from Wu Ying’s body and twitched, stroking the cultivator’s aura and making Wu Ying shudder at the unpleasant and unique touch.
After a moment, Elder Khoo retracted his hand with a light hmmm. “Well. It seems you have continued to practice the Aura Strengthening technique at least. Be careful in adding further aura strengthening cultivation exercises to your repertoire. In fact, additional cultivation exercises should wait till you achieve at least Greater Achievement with your current technique.”
Wu Ying found his lips parting in a smile. He was happy to hear he had at least achieved the Minor Achievement realm. In the case of the aura strengthening technique, due to how subtle the effects were in reinforcing the barrier between his own aura and the world, it was hard for Wu Ying to judge his progress.
“In that case, it seems we only have the matter of your martial techniques.” Elder Khoo tapped his lips for a second before turning away from Wu Ying abruptly and walking the shelves.
The Elder quickly brought them to the section that dealt with unarmed techniques. As he browsed, Elder Khoo made tutting noises and picked up and replaced scrolls or books, even going so far as to hiss his disappointment. From the unarmed stacks, Elder Khoo moved to other portions of the library, always handing new scrolls or books to Wu Ying to carry.
When the Elder was finally done, Wu Ying had a stack of books to browse through. This time around, Elder Khoo offered no explanation about their contents, instead sending Wu Ying off to digest their contents, only bending enough to promise to explain anything that Wu Ying was unable to understand.
“But…”
“You are an inner sect member. You will be forced to evaluate more and more situations, spending time analyzing not just cultivation and martial techniques but your own dao. Relying on teachers is all well and good for an outer sect member, but you must learn to assess matters as an inner sect member. We cannot see into your heart, only guide you.
“There is no better time to start than now.”
Wu Ying bobbed his head in acknowledgement, though as Elder Khoo disappeared around one stack, Wu Ying could not help but wonder if the Elder was tired of dealing with him. In either case, Wu Ying still had a stack of books to peruse.
To begin, Wu Ying checked over the manuals that covered power generation. They could be broken into three different kinds.
There were the simple manuals that covered physical body strengthening exercises. It was hard to call those books martial styles since they consisted of a series of progressively difficult exercises, ranging from those that required weights to those that used the individual’s own body weight. Many of the initial exercises were well known to Wu Ying through long years of exercise, but it was the first time Wu Ying had seen the work laid out in such a studied manner.
After further browsing, Wu Ying set aside one particular book. It focused on developing strength without the use of weights and emphasized stretches. If Wu Ying could achieve greater flexibility in his body, he felt he might even achieve the Sense of the Northern Shen style.
The next two books focused on power generation from entirely different angles. One talked about internal power, the use of chi while striking and fighting in what could be considered an extremely relaxed state. Internal strength cultivation was actually a cultivation exercise, which amused Wu Ying as he realized that Elder Khoo had contradicted himself when giving him this work. But Wu Ying could see how it was different too. While the Aura Strengthening technique focused on its namesake, this technique focused on the actual flow of chi within his body, teaching Wu Ying how to more quickly shift and project his chi. It did not increase the amount of his chi; it just made it easier for him to use it when attacking. Furthermore, the book emphasized the connection between the cultivator’s mind and body, an aspect that Wu Ying could see aiding the progress of his other styles.
The third set of manuals focused on external power. Here, the power generation exercises overlapped with his earlier book about muscle growth but was less detailed. Instead, these manuals spent more time on positioning and structure, going into detail about the proper frame of an individual’s body and the muscles that needed to be activated to achieve the highest level of power generation with each motion. It was fascinating, and even the skimmed information had Wu Ying considering in greater detail the way he moved. No other series of manuals seemed to go into so much detail, though some of the work re-emphasized words spoken by his teachers.
Yet, Wu Ying realized that choosing any of these would be a waste of the “free” style he received from consulting Elder Khoo. He winced internally, realizing that Elder Khoo had once more found a way to make Wu Ying spend the majority of his hard-earned points.
Setting aside the body strengthening and external power generation manual, Wu Ying turned to the next series of books, which were actual martial style manuals. The first consisted of a Darat Clan Wrestling Style. After browsing through the document on wrestling, Wu Ying frowned. It seemed that the Wrestling Style guide came from a cultivator who had practiced the style sporadically, basing the final manual both upon learned experience and his personal observations. It was less than stellar, which made Wu Ying concerned about the final effectiveness of the martial style.
Wu Ying went to find Elder Khoo, who was seated in his own chair, working on transcribing an aged scroll to a book. “Why this manual, Honored Elder?”
“The Darat clan?” Elder Khoo said without even looking up. “Two reasons. The Elder who contributed the manual was well known for his ability to wrestle. So even if the style itself is not fully authentic, the techniques should be effective. Secondly, the Darat emphasize strength in the legs and achieving a mounted position to fight from. This will give you greater flexibility than many other wrestling styles.”
Wu Ying thanked the Elder and returned to his seat. It did seem that there were a number of techniques for achieving if not his feet, at least the top of his opponent. Putting the manual aside, Wu Ying turned to the next option.
Throughout the day, Wu Ying found himself browsing the small pile of unarmed styles that were available. Studying each manual sufficiently to understand their advantages and disadvantages without spending too long on any one manual was a tiring exercise. It also taxed his mind to the fullest, as sometimes the flaws and disadvantages in a style were not immediately obvious.
In the end, Wu Ying narrowed the list of offensive styles down to a single kicking and single punching style. Of course, like any martial style, they did cover the basics of offensive techniques with the other limbs, but it was perfunctory. Wu Ying doubted he would spend much time reading those portions even if he did check out the books.
No. What was interesting and important were what they emphasized. The Red Sash Kicking Style’s initial conception came from the way the flowing red sash of its originator moved during a period of high winds. From that moment of enlightenment, the lady created the core of the style, which involved fast, sharp kicks that often shifted trajectories during their attack. It was a tricky style, and attacks often originated while the foot was still in the air. Of course, that had the major disadvantage of losing a certain level of power in the final blow, as well as forcing the attacker to be stationary during these periods.
What drew Wu Ying to this kicking style were the intrinsic feints and many of the initial starting positions. In them, Wu Ying recognized some of the Long family lunging, retreating, and dodging positions. If he could incorporate this style with the Long jian style, he could potentially add another defensive barricade.
As for the punching style… Wu Ying’s lips twitched as he read over the title once more. Mountain Breaking Fist had a momentous name, one that the style did its best to live up to. The style was different from the way Wu Ying normally fought, relying on sheer strength and a single, powerful attack to finish a battle
. While the Sword’s Truth was the Long family’s signature move, it was Wu Ying’s sole finishing attack. The majority of the Long family style worked by relying on numerous small, fast attacks rather than a single attack. The Mountain Breaking Fist discarded such concepts, focusing on singular, powerful attacks that had to be dodged rather than blocked.
In truth, Wu Ying was unsure if the style would suit him. But it was that uncertainty that intrigued him. Stretching himself, stretching his fighting style could not only bring a new dimension to his martial specialization but also provide ancillary benefits to his other forms. Or so Wu Ying hoped.
Lastly, there were the defensive manuals. Here, Wu Ying was somewhat at a loss and thus grateful that there were significantly fewer books to study. One manual was a cultivation and physical exercise combined, borrowing internal chi to help solidify muscles. The Scales of the Dragon might have sounded similar to his own Long family style, but they had little to do with one another. The Scales focused on enhancing a cultivator’s skin by enhancing its strength via layering chi over the aura in overlapping scales. Again, after Elder Khoo’s comments, Wu Ying was surprised to see its presence in the manuals provided. Wu Ying had to wonder if this was a test or a mistake. In either case, the addition of more aura work did little to attract Wu Ying to the exercise.
As for the other two books, one was a series of painful body strengthening techniques that focused on strengthening a cultivator’s internal organs. Wu Ying quickly discarded the manual, since the method required consumption of increasingly poisonous substances. The style did have the secondary benefit of making one immune to those poisons and others of similar scope, but Wu Ying’s reason for rejecting the manual was simple. Money. Buying the herbs and poisons required by the style would be too expensive for the poor ex-farmer.
As for the other method, Wu Ying felt his eyes narrow in consideration. Iron Reinforced Bones was a simpler, cruder method. Rather than using poisons to reinforce the body, it required the applicant to suffer. Under significant duress, bones broke or reshaped. The Iron Reinforced Bones technique made use of the body’s healing and regenerative properties, teaching the applicant how to reinforce their body. Of course, reading between the lines, while it did not require one to break their bones to see the effects, it was undoubtedly the most painful method. It was also the slowest, since it reinforced a cultivator’s body in stages.