Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Kingdom of Shea lay at the south of the East Continent, one of the nine continents on the planet with an area of 1,200,000 square kilometers and a population of 104 million people of different races. Because of its thriving economy, it was known as one of the four pearls in the East Continent.
Wuhe City was one of the major cities of the Kingdom of Shea on the coastline with an area of 6,400 square kilometers, a population of 1.69 million and a GDP of 20 billion last year.
Sanshun, one of the three towns directly under Wuhe City, was in its suburbs and wasn’t fully developed.
After tossing a coin, Baili Qingfeng sat down on the bus. It took thirty-five minutes for him to reach Sanshun Town. After he got off at the bus stop, he walked for a hundred meters and reached a three-floored building that had a large yard.
The building did not have a plate and there was no janitor. Baili Qingfeng entered the yard only to find five people there. One of them was doing homework on the stone chair, one was punching, two seemed to compete in push-ups, and the last one was counting for them.
The woman who was counting saw him and smiled. “Qingfeng, what brings you here?”
Baili Qingfeng knew her. She was Baili Ruoshui, his second grandpa’s eldest daughter. She was beautiful and knowledgeable but she hadn’t married after her heart was broken when she was younger.
“Sister Ruoshui, is second grandpa here? I’m looking for him.”
“Yes, second grandpa is practicing calligraphy. I’ll lead you to him.” Baili Ruoshui greeted him and led Baili Qingfeng into the building.
Inside the building was a lobby. To the left was the drawing-room, and to the right was an indoor practice field equipped with a lot of facilities.
Baili Ruoshui led him to the study at the end of the corridor. He saw that Baili Changkong, his second grandpa who seemed to be in high spirits, was practicing calligraphy.
Baili Qingfeng did not know much about calligraphy, but he did feel that his second grandpa’s handwriting was enjoyable.
Seeing that Baili Qingfeng had come, his second grandpa simply hung the brush and smiled, “Here comes our college student. It’s been a while since you visited your second grandpa. Let’s have lunch together today.”
“I’ll come here often. I’m thinking of learning martial arts under second grandpa.”
“Alright.”
Baili Changkong looked at Baili Qingfeng and chuckled. “When you were little, you refused to practice when I forced you to. None of your cousins could take it except the two girls, Ruoshui and Ruoxue. Why do you want to practice martial arts suddenly?”
“I’m curious about it.”
“Curious? Curiosity is a good thing. As they say, curiosity is the momentum for the development of mankind. If you really want to practice martial arts, I will teach you with the best of my abilities, provided that you can endure the hardships of training. You have to be persistent.”
“I will be devoted to it now that I’ve made up my mind.”
“Very well.”
Baili Changkong looked at Baili Ruoshui. “Teach the boy the basic stances… Never mind, it’s rare that a male in your generation is interested in martial arts. I’m will teach you myself.”
As he spoke, Baili Changkong folded his sleeves and led Baili Qingfeng to the yard with his hands to his back.
In the yard, his two disciples had finished the competition of push-ups. When they saw Baili Changkong, they hurried to greet him. “Master.”
Baili Changkong nodded at them. “That’s enough for today. You can go back now.”
“Yes, master.”
The two of them backed off.
“Ruoshui, shut the gate.”
Baili Changkong then turned to Baili Qingfeng. “The highest law in the world is the law of nature. Remember it in your training. However, learning the law of nature always starts with mimicking animals, such as dragons, tigers or cranes. What our school mimics is the Thunder Beast, a legendary creature. Naturally, our arts are all about the Thunder Beast. Watch my posture…”
Baili Changkong made a movement.
The movement looked somewhat similar to the Horse Stance, but Baili Changkong had raised his hands high and crossed them.
It looked…
It looked more or less disgraceful.
Baili Qingfeng made the same posture.
“Calm down and concentrate your mind. If you cannot do that, the first step can be tough for you. However, I’ve come up with a new way recently. Everybody has a hobby. I like calligraphy, and so does Ruoshui. Ruoxue enjoys painting. You can also choose a hobby to help with your meditation. What do you like?”
“Me?”
Thinking for a moment, Baili Qingfeng said honestly, “My dream is to be a philosopher.”
“Philosophy has to be based on life. You are too young to come up with anything of actual significance. What else do you like?”
“What else…”
Baili Qingfeng paused for a moment. “I enjoy listening to music.”
“Me too.” Baili Ruoshui smiled nearby.
“Listening to music… Wouldn’t it be too noisy?”
Baili Changkong slightly frowned and glanced at Baili Qingfeng. He suddenly stopped and watched Baili Qingfeng stand.
“Second grandpa?” Baili Qingfeng looked at Baili Changkong.
“Eliminate the random thoughts, and keep standing in the posture,” Baili Changkong said.
Baili Ruoshui had keen eyes thanks to her own training. “He is meditating.”
“Exactly.” Baili Changkong nodded.
He was rather surprised. A twenty-year-old man was always unrestrained. It was difficult to calm down so quickly.
“Calm, concentrate, no rush, and no sluggishness…” Baili Changkong guided him.
They practiced all morning.
It lasted for almost two hours.
Baili Changkong guided Baili Qingfeng to end the training. Not mentioning anything else about it, he said, “Are you hungry? Let’s have lunch first.”
Baili Qingfeng had lunch at his second grandpa’s place.
During lunch, Baili Changkong asked seriously, “What do you want to learn specifically? Punching and kicking? Sabers and swords? Or strange weapons?”
“Swords.” Baili Qingfeng said with no hesitation.
“Sword is the king of all weapons. Good choice.” Baili Changkong nodded with satisfaction. “I know a dozen sword arts. What kind of sword art do you want to learn exactly?”
“I want to learn that sword art whose brilliance eclipses the entire world!”
Baili Changkong’s face darkened. “I don’t have that.”
“The sword art that allows me to soar into the sky will do.”
“No.”
“I’m sure that you have the sword art that is as splendid as deities under the bright moon, right?”
“No.”
Baili Changkong sniffed. “You are too young to practice any sword. Just practice punching and kicking first! Do you want to kill anyone with your blade?”
“Well… Do you have any punching skills that descends from the sky?”
“No.”
Baili Changkong bashed the table. “You do not even know the basics yet. Just practice breathing first instead of punching and kicking!”
“Breathing? I’m fine with that!” Baili Qingfeng nodded.
It was not a bad idea to train with the natural essence first.
“Our school has the Rumbling Thunder Thirty-Six Moves to train the body and Thunderous Breathing to train the mind. It’s a shame that Thunderous Juggernaut, the meditation method to train the spirit, has been lost…”
Baili Changkong said, “The posture in which you stood was exactly the Rumbling Thunder Poising. It’s the basic posture of the Rumbling Thunder Thirty-Six Moves. Now, I will teach you Thunderous Breathing. After you get the hang of it, I’ll tell you more tricks.”
Baili Qingfeng learned them by heart.
Perhaps because of the soul-melting after he was reborn in this world, his memory was good, or he couldn’t have become a top ten student in school.
He memorized everything after Baili Changkong introduced them to him.
Thunderous Breathing was the core breathing art of the Baili school. Baili Changkong had five disciples but only the first one learned the incomplete breathing art from him, but Baili Qingfeng…
Baili Qingfeng had picked up the core breathing art immediately after he was admitted. That was exactly the importance of background.
After dinner, Baili Changkong guided Baili Qingfeng’s training in the breathing art.
What disappointed Baili Qingfeng was that the breathing art was not a way of cultivating the essence of nature at all but simple, rhythmed inhaling and exhaling. He felt nothing after a day of training.
At night. Baili Changkong asked Baili Qingfeng, “How do you feel after a day of training?”
Thinking for a moment, Baili Qingfeng said, “It’s very exhausting.”
“Martial arts is exhausting. Will you come again tomorrow?”
Baili Qingfeng would not give up easily once he decided. Also, if he gave up on the very first day, the image he had built in the past year would be completely destroyed. So, he said quickly, “Definitely.”
“Are you really going to continue?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. Ask your father to come with you tomorrow. I need to talk to him.”
“Alright.”
“Go now, or you will miss the last bus.” Baili Changkong spoke and saw Baili Qingfeng off.
Baili Changkong was still at the gate five minutes after Baili Changkong left.
Baili Ruoshui walked up to Baili Changkong and glanced at Baili Qingfeng who had disappeared under the setting sun. “Grandpa, is Qingfeng very talented?”
Thinking for a moment, Baili Changkong said, “He’s much better than I thought. If he can persist for another half month, I’ll help him modify his bones.”
“Modify his bones?” Baili Ruoshui was rather surprised.
Bone modification, also known as marrow cleansing, required tremendous effort and precious herbs, many of which they could not buy in the market.
So far, only her uncle, Baili Tianxing, had enjoyed the privilege. Her uncle was also the leader of their school. Even Ruoxue and the first disciple of her master never enjoyed it.
“We have to wait and see.” As he spoke, Baili Changkong stood straight and walked back with his hands on his back.
Although he seemed calm, Baili Ruoshui could tell that her grandpa, who was never shocked by anything, was actually excited in his heart.