EARTHLY DRAGON, SOARING PALM

by Derek Dorris

  “Now, it's not easy to remove all muscle power from your punches,” Liao Quan continued. “It requires you to be completely relaxed and for most people, that alone would take a lifetime of training. But me, Feng’er, my character is a little unusual. You may not have noticed this but I'm a little more relaxed than most people.”

  Bai Feng glanced at Tu Ling, both of them stifling a laugh. Yet, in that glance, their eyes met in a way both of them felt. Despite the circumstances, they were delighted to be still together.

  Liao Quan continued without pause, “I don't really care if I'm the best or the most powerful. If a fight needs to be fought I'll fight it. And if I get beaten then so be it. You, Feng'er, are the same as me in this regard. That's why I believe you will be able to learn my Lightning Arms Style in practically no time. You don't wish to win—I've seen it in your eyes when you fight. Frankly, I'm not sure what you're looking to achieve but that freedom of mind will allow you to keep those impertinent muscles out of the picture.”

  Bai Feng considered this in relation to the warnings his grandmasters had given him. They told me to be wary of hard styles, those that relied on great physical strength. The Silver Fire Form is elegant beyond belief but the more I think about it, the more I'm certain it's built around concepts of physical domination. If Liao Quan can impart a style to me that doesn't require considerable physical strength, then the risk of corrupting my kung fu would be lessened. It may even transpire that the Lightning Arms Style will help me to perfect my Earthly Dragon Style.

  Further into the wilds of the mountain, the thickening forests slowed their progress to a scraping and scratching crawl. Coming across a small clearing, Tu Ling began to prepare some food and Liao Quan told Bai Feng to start practicing. “Begin by shooting your hands out one at a time, towards my face and in a circling motion. Let your arms snap outwards with no muscle tension at all. So long as your knuckles meet their target, the opponent's body will compact your own hand into a fist. This will allow you to retrieve your arm and simultaneously snap your free hand out, presenting your opponent with a continuous attack.” They began cycling their hands together. After a while, Bai Feng felt his upper arms getting tired. Liao Quan told him he was still using his muscles. He relaxed his mind and tried again. This time, he went longer without tiring.

  Deeper and deeper, they moved into the forest, taking three more breaks before morning broke. Each time, using the opportunity to eat and practice. Soon enough Bai Feng could cycle his arms for hours without tiring at all.

  By dusk of the following day, they had passed through the worst of the mountain bush. Returning to their lessons, Liao Quan continued, “Now, I'll teach you my stances. There are only twenty-five but the variations within each of them are endless. They are based on the principle that the shortest line of attack is always the best. Why? Because it's the quickest! Some attacks may do more damage but if they take too long to reach your opponent then you might incur damage before you hit him. So you always attack the nearest vulnerable point even if a better point is available. If your arm is blocked, simply initiate another attack from that position. This ensures that your attacking stances are identical to your defensive stances. If his fist is about to hit you, then the nearest part of your opponent is his fist. So attack the back of his fist, his wrist, or his upper arm.

  “You don't think too much in your fights Feng'er, so complex martial skills don't suit you. My Lightning Arms Technique is the embodiment of simplicity. But it's devastating. The Old Wanderer and Old Boundless Palms can smash trees and shatter bodies to dust. Their martial skills are peerless when it comes to their strength. But I'll be in and gone before they get a single palm-strike off.” The old maniac laughed mischievously. He then spent the next couple of practice sessions instructing Bai Feng on these twenty-five stances.

  For his part, Bai Feng proved a quick study. His mastery of the Five Yin Elementals and Five Yang Modulations had harnessed his innate clarity of mind and rendered it the perfect slate on which to write new skills. Moreover, striking without strength appeared to make the Lightning Arms style a uniquely good fit with the Earthly Dragon Style. The free flowing strikes that Liao Quan utilised seemed far more conducive to utilising pure external kung fu than any other style he had observed since leaving Earthly Mountain. So Bai Feng consumed every pointer and piece of information Liao Quan gave him. He would even practice with Tu Ling when Liao Quan was sleeping. This way, his improvements were further accelerated and even Tu Ling made gargantuan advances in her kung fu. How could she not? She was more or less receiving the tutelage of a grandmaster.

  That evening, while Liao Quan and Tu Ling slept, Bai Feng was practicing the twenty-five Lightning Arm Stances. He had mastered the first six but the next six stances still felt clunky. More worryingly, he felt like his internal strength was being affected. This struck him as strange since Liao Quan maintained the Lightning Arms Style was based on speed not power. Bai Feng began to wonder if the speed required to execute the Old Fool’s twenty-five stances was perhaps tapping his internal energy after all.

  He continued to ponder this into the night but he was brought back to reality with a gust of wind. As it blew, Bai Feng felt his skin chill. It wasn't the cold current lying within the wind but rather the voices crooning on top of it. They were the same ghostly voices he had heard before.

  “Liao Quan, we’ve found you.”

  Bai Feng looked over to where Liao Quan had been sleeping but the old maniac was already on his feet. They woke Tu Ling and assembled in their prearranged formation. The husband and wife siblings appeared like apparitions out of the night only their faces were different. They were still wearing skin-masks only they were clearly from different victims. The expressions on these new faces were sewn into terrified grimaces as if their previous owners had glimpsed their future right at the point of death. Finally accepting that monsters do exist, Tu Ling swallowed dryly.

  The contest began as ferociously as the last one ended. Bai Feng and Tu Ling again faced off with Wen Zhu while Liao Quan took Wen Weisheng on. Wen Zhu wasted no time and attacked Bai Feng with a brutal kick the moment he himself tried to attack. But to her painful surprise, she found her leg struck by his elbow. Bai Feng then proceeded to unleash the first three of Liao Quan's Lightning Arm stances on her. He caught her with the third strike—a horizontal elbow feinted to the far side of her body followed by a sudden palm-strike to her right shoulder. Wen Zhu was rocked internally.

  As Wen Zhu flew backwards, Tu Ling attacked her quickly with her dagger. This was prearranged but again, Wen Zhu brandished her silken whip which gave her room to compose herself. She reengaged Bai Feng only this time from the safety of distance. Bai Feng only knew the first six attacks in Liao Quan's system. None of them included long distance attacks so after a while he again fell under her Silken Thread Kung Fu. With a flick and a crack, both Bai Feng and Tu Ling were dazed and Wen Zhu quickly partnered up with her brother-husband, forcing Liao Quan to backtrack. But as he was doing so, Liao Quan began to repeatedly rub the inside of his palms on the couple's garments. As he did so, he secretly smeared them with a highly flammable powder which Tu Ling carried on her at all times. One of the many disreputable tools of the Jade Tigers which she claimed to have found stashed outside the town hall just before the fire.

  Having received the lesser blow from Wen Zhu’s whip, Tu Ling was able to rouse herself from her stupor before Bai Feng could. She made her way to the prearranged point. She took out her flint, lit a torch, and threw it towards the three grandmasters. Liao Quan dived backwards just as Wen Weisheng lifted his leg to dismissively kick the torch away. In a split second, his leg caught fire. He screamed in fright and Wen Zhu jumped on him, trying to douse the flames. Then, her gown went up too. Exposed like this, they were easy pickings for Liao Quan so, without waiting to put each other out, they disappeared into the forest, like two rather gigantic, rather frantic fireflies.

  Liao Quan picked up Bai Feng and grabbed Tu Ling, flyin
g in the opposite direction. “Well done Ling’er. However, they got away with only minimum injuries.”

  “But First Brother,” Bai Feng said. “They've been badly burnt.”

  “Those cursed skin suits will have protected them. Believe me, I know. However, it was enough to give us more time. We'll have to keep moving.”

  They stopped shortly before dawn and rested. When Bai Feng felt up to it, they began their training again. He mastered the next six Lightning Arm stances in the space of a couple of days. Again, he felt his inner strength stirring within him.

  Concerned he was neglecting his Earthly Dragon meditations, Bai Feng soon made a point of balancing them with his Lightning Arm training. When Liao Quan noticed him meditating with his eyes open he asked him about it. Bai Feng explained it was a unique form of awareness meditation that went beyond the usual harmonisation of the senses by adding a substantial psychological component. This unusual technique allowed Bai Feng to harness the natural clarity of his mind and so execute his external kung fu without distraction.

  Ironically, it also just happened to provide an unrivalled basis for inner energy cultivation. This was fine so long as that cultivation was done incrementally and over time. However, unbeknownst to him, Bai Feng's internal energy was being affected by Liao Quan’s style in a subtle but profound manner, causing it to cultivate at a rate that would alarm even the most seasoned masters.

  Unlike most of the Ten Greats, Liao Quan had never cared about internal strength. He honestly believed he didn't use it when he fought and so he never purposefully tried to cultivate it. Nonetheless, his naturally unmuddled mind and his training in the Lightning Arms Style saw him develop a deep reserve of internal strength completely unbeknownst to him. Liao Quan had never seen or heard anything like the Five Yin Elementals and Five Yang Modulations before and, being of natural curiosity, he asked Bai Feng for some pointers. Given the Old Fool’s natural clear-mindedness, he picked it up immediately. His gains were substantial. Unlike Bai Feng, whose body didn't know what to do with all this new energy, Liao Quan's pre-existing well of energy ensured that his new energy was seamlessly assimilated. He leapt upwards and kicked from tree to tree like a monkey. “Feng'er, these techniques of yours are remarkable. I see now why you've been able to cultivate so much strength at such a young age.”

  “I can't take any credit. They were formulated by my grandmasters and theirs before them.”

  “You've never spoke of them,” Tu Ling said, using the opportunity to discern Bai Feng’s origins without appearing pushy. By now, she was convinced he was the disciple of someone very famous. “If they're responsible for such a powerful form of kung fu, surely we must have heard of them.”

  “Who hasn't heard of the Earthly Three?” Liao Quan replied casually.

  “The Earthly Three,” Tu Ling repeated in shock. “Of the Earthly Dragon Sect?”

  “Yes,” Bai Feng answered, a little perturbed, firstly, by how easily the Old Fool recognised his internal strength and, secondly, by the ramifications of telling other people this truth. However, to his surprise, Tu Ling appeared delighted with the realisation while Liao Quan was indifferent—only eager to practice these new skills further.

  Of course, Liao Quan's personality was a perfect match for the Earthly Dragon philosophy. Although he unwittingly utilised large amounts of internal strength in the execution of his kung fu, he had absolutely no ego or personal investment in his fighting. He was entirely whimsical in how and when he used his martial arts. Thus, his unique personality allowed him to utilise his internal strength while still maintaining a clear mind. Now, with the addition of the Five Yin Elementals and Five Yang Modulations to his daily training, he was adding gargantuan amounts of internal strength on top of his not insignificant pre-existing store. He was rapidly transforming into something not even the Earthly Three thought was possible.

  From then on, Bai Feng and Liao Quan shared pointers and their skills advanced mutually. Tu Ling found the meditations too peculiar to master but she continued to practice the Lightning Arm Stances with Bai Feng. She also used the opportunity to learn as much about the Earthly Dragon as possible. Little was known about them and her mind burned with curiosity about the legendary sect. Though a little guarded at first, as their relationship progressed, Bai Feng appeared more and more comfortable with telling her things he would never tell another soul. Before he knew it, he was telling her all about the Earthly Three and their martial legacy.

  “They’re only the second generation of Earthly Dragon abbots in two centuries,” he told her. “The original abbots travelled thousands of kilometres from the southern continent before settling on Earthly Mountain.”

  “How many disciples do they have?” Tu Ling inquired.

  Bai Feng laughed. “Not many. The first generation took on many more but my grandmasters—the “Dang” generation—have accepted only nineteen disciples. That’s in over a hundred years of seniority.”

  “That’s hard to believe.” Tu Ling was trying to hide the degree of her surprise—not to mention interest—for fear Bai Feng would close up. If people knew there were so few disciples on Earthly Mountain, she thought, their sect would be significantly less feared. The Shaolin, as a means of contrast, had hundreds of acolytes and scores of experts on Mount Song alone.

  “I know yet it’s the truth,” Bai Feng replied innocently.

  “Still though,” Tu Ling continued, “nineteen in a hundred years is enough to have produced a few grandmasters. Why haven’t I heard of any?”

  “Of the nineteen, three of those disciples progressed to our final stage of learning, thus leaving the mountain to rejoin Wulin. I’m one of those three. Once on the outside, we adopted our old names and never disclosed our affiliation with our sect. It’s one of our rules. I myself am only admitting to it now because Brother Liao realised it himself.”

  “What about the remaining disciples? What happened to them?”

  “Once they progressed beyond our first stage of learning, they became Guardians. Their duty is primarily to master our second stage of learning. Yet, while doing so, they remain on the mountain to guard the sect and to train future disciples. Thus far, none of them have reached the third stage. Over the century, six Guardians died of natural causes, while one was killed in combat. Currently, there are eight guardians.”

  “The Eight Guardians are revered throughout Wulin,” Tu Ling said, genuinely confused. “Yet you’re saying they haven’t even progressed past the second stage.”

  “That’s right. Their external kung fu is peerless but so far, they have failed to completely free their minds from their ego. So they stay and train in the hope that one day they will ascend to that next stage.”

  Tu Ling was stunned by this revelation. What my father would give to hear all this?

  Originally, Tu Ling’s agenda was one of information gathering. She had been taught by her father to treat information like money and this was gold dust. However, over the next ten days, it became clear to her that Bai Feng was revealing these secrets out of simple trust. Soon enough, she found herself revaluating what she was doing.

  During that period, Wen Weisheng and Wen Zhu attacked them three more times. Each time, Liao Quan and Bai Feng lasted longer against them and, when they ran into difficulty, Tu Ling would activate one of the several ingenious escape plans she would hatch in advance. With her craftiness and Bai Feng's ingenuity in construction, they were deviously effective. One evening they prepared a hole which they covered with a thin lattice of branches and a bed of dry leaves. When Wen Zhu fell inside she found the bottom had been turned in a quagmire of mud and water. Once again, Wen Weisheng was isolated and had to unleash a cloud of needles to prevent Liao Quan from making use of the advantage.

  On another night, Tu Ling prepared an oxidising compound from local plants which Liao Quan and Bai Feng managed to streak under Wen Weisheng and Wen Zhu's noses. As the compound reacted with the air they were breathing, it transformed into a sedative; a
nd when the siblings realised they were getting lightheaded, they fled one more time. Liao Quan was too scatter brained to think anything of all the wonderful plans and devices Tu Ling was concocting but Bai Feng began to wonder where she developed such a cunning mind and where she learned such a treasure trove of nefarious skills. Could the Jade Tigers be that sly?

  The morning after the most recent attack, Bai Feng began mastering the final five stances of the Liao Quan’s skill; those that allowed one to deal with emergency situations. Within a day and a night, he had mastered them and, therefore, the entire system. Liao Quan was as proud as he had ever been; he even referred to Bai Feng as his “marvellous disciple” without realising it. He quickly corrected himself.

  Lasting longer and longer against Wen Weisheng and Wen Zhu, the old lunatic's fear of them diminished considerably. He even went as far as telling Tu Ling to not prepare an escape plan for their next meeting. Tu Ling was shrewd enough to arrange one anyway.

  * * *

  The next evening, the couple emerged once again from the blackness of the night-time forest. Liao Quan and Bai Feng moved like the wind. This time they allowed their opponents attack as a duo while they defended and counterattacked as a pair also. An epic battle unfolded in which all four fought ferociously with blinding pace.

  Liao Quan and Bai Feng were enraptured with the encounter, pulsing with enthusiasm and excitement. Wen Weisheng and Wen Zhu were under severe pressure. Wen Zhu wondered how this mere boy could make such huge advancements in such a short time while Wen Weisheng had another concern on his mind. It wasn't just the boy who had improved; Liao Quan's power had significantly increased too. He had always been as fast as Liao Quan but during these last two weeks, it seemed as if the Old Fool had been freed from some restraint. He moved with even more natural grace than he had before but with an incomprehensible speed. Wen Weisheng was baffled. He was after all was forty-five years younger and should have natural fitness on his side. But instead, Liao Quan was moving like a god.