Chapter 14: Primordial Force Stance
Qi Wu was delighted and asked, “Is that a yes? Half a year, is it? Alright, half a year it is! We can afford to wait.”
Then, turning to Chen Chuan, he tried to recruit him too. “Would you like to join as well, kid?”
“I’ll fulfill my promise after the new year,” Yu Gang said gravely.
Qi Wu happily agreed to it and saluted Yu Gang again. “I’m really sorry for overstepping today, but I couldn’t bear the thought of letting such a talented man like you slip from my grasp. If I have a chance in the future, I’d like to treat you to a drink. If you’re willing to, that is. We’ll be leaving now.” Qi Wu motioned to his men and turned to leave.
The Chain Links Gang members left quietly in an orderly fashion.
Ding Shuo wiped off the blood from his nose and said to Chen Chuan indignantly, “Fight me again in the future!”
He then ran after Qi Wu and the rest, but he was still feeling frustrated, so he grumbled, “Mr. Qi, I could have continued fighting...”
Qi Wu was in a good mood, so he said patiently, “I know that you could have continued fighting, but do you remember our goal here? Was it to win against Yu Gang’s students?”
“Of course not,” Ding Shuo immediately fired back. “You said that Yu Gang is a talented man, and you wanted him to join the Chain Links Gang, right?”
“There you go, and haven’t we reached our goal for coming here? So why are you still unhappy?”
Ding Shuo thought, But I got hit! Should I be happy about that?
Still happy, Qi Wu said, “I did some homework on Yu Gang before coming here. He’s the kind of person who returns respect tenfold. We could have continued the duel, but I chose to admit defeat on your behalf. Yu Gang saw our sincerity, which is why he was willing to show us respect. Look, we got the results we wanted, didn’t we?”
He then seemed to have remembered something and looked toward the middle-aged man. “You said that the kid is talented as well, didn’t you?”
“I can tell that he has never practiced any special refined force, but his durability is already on par with that of Ding Shuo. He also has explosive power. The kid is, without a doubt, talented.”
Qi Wu’s eyes lit up. “Is that so? It’d be great if we could recruit him too. We need that sort of talent in our gang, but there’s no hurry. Yu Gang is our main focus. He’ll be joining us in half a year! Haha! It won’t be long now.”
After Qi Wu and his gang left, Chen Chuan went to Yu Gang and apologized, “Mr. Yu, I’m sorry for taking matters into my own hands.”
Yu Gang did not seem to mind. Instead, he approved of Chen Chuan’s actions.
“You did well. As martial artists, we should always take action when we come up with an idea. You said that your goal is to be free of physical and mental limits. If you had not had the courage to step forward, I would have thought that those were just empty words. You even managed to win. Remember this, most of the time, when it comes to martial artists, the winner will be seen as blameless.”
Chen Chuan offered a candid clarification. “Just now, I exploited the rules. I only won because the Chain Links Gang showed respect to you. If not for that, no matter what I did, it would have been useless. If I had been stronger and more skilled and could overpower Ding Shuo head on, I wouldn’t have needed to pull such a trick.”
“Don’t look down on yourself. You’re already good enough at your stage. Not only has Ding Shuo been practicing martial arts longer than you, he should have also chosen a breathing technique that specifically increased his durability. I’m sure that he used special medicine as well to complement his training. I’m not surprised that you didn’t manage to defeat him.”
“Are there many other breathing techniques?” Chen Chuan asked.
“I should have told you that your breathing technique is the most basic of them all. Once your physical abilities have improved to a certain extent, you can practice high-level breathing techniques and combine them with medicine. They can complement different fighting styles.
“For example, Ding Shuo’s breathing technique focuses on increasing durability. There are also breathing techniques that increase your power, improve agility, and others. All these things require different methods of mastery, different fighting styles, and different breathing techniques to complement each other. But at the end of the day, all of them are built on the foundation of your physical abilities. So, if you want to be able to master the essence of those techniques, you need a bit of talent.”
Yu Gang looked at Chen Chuan meaningfully and added, “Talent like yours. Perhaps you don’t know it, but you do have talent. Ding Shuo is the same. Some people are born different from others, and they can do things that other people can’t do.”
Chen Chuan mulled over his words. Yu Gang had mistaken his progress as some form of talent. In all fairness, his second self was not talent in the traditional sense. But if that was how Yu Gang was going to interpret his progress, that was fine. It meant that Chen Chuan did not have to waste his energy explaining it. From Yu Gang’s tone, it seemed that true talent was a rare thing.
After some thinking, Chen Chuan asked, “I have one more question, Mr. Yu. During the fight, Ding Shuo had easily knocked my hands away. The force behind that attack didn’t seem normal...”
“That's a refined force. Ding Shuo used the Whipping Cloth Force, also known as the Greater Whipping Cloth. The user looks like he’s putting his hands up, but then the ‘robe’ he’s wearing falls down. It’s meant for breaking free of restraints and is specifically used to break free of chokeholds. At the same time, this is a practice method to release refined force.”
Chen Chuan picked up on the crucial point. “Refined force?”
“Yes. Refined force. Breathing techniques are the prerequisite to practicing refined force. They build the groundwork for it. Refined force is a higher-level application toward strength for martial artists. You’re still rather far away from that level, but you can learn about it.”
Yu Gang spread his legs and positioned his arms as if he were holding a large ball “There are many types of refined force. You can practice most of them in combination with stances, such as this one. You first begin with the Air Embrace, then move to the Ocean Split.” He turned his palms outward and spread his arms to his sides before pulling them to raise them up. “It’s followed by the Sky Lift. The last is the Mountain Lift.”
He suddenly turned his palms up as if to lift up the sky before bending his knees and sinking his body. Chen Chuan then felt a tremor under his feet, as if some heavy object had fallen down, and Yu Gang was actually holding it up.
Yu Gang straightened his body and said, “That’s the complete Primordial Force Stance. Quite a number of martial artists choose it to practice refined force. It’s the most popular, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to master. It has plenty of minute changes. The Whipping Cloth Force is extracted from this stance. It’s a subtle force that’s easy for martial artists to master because it’s easy to learn. It doesn’t need a lot of energy, can be executed quickly, and is simple.
“Those who master this use it specifically to target chokeholds, like when you went in to grab Ding Shuo by the neck. Thankfully, you didn’t grab him tight. If you had, he could have turned it into a counterattack, and with real force, it might have dislocated your arms.”
Chen Chuan nodded and asked, “Mr. Yu, that refined force can’t be used whenever I want, right?”
“You’re right. Refined force puts a heavy strain on the body. Considering Ding Shuo’s level, he can only use it twice in a fight. If he tried it more, his body wouldn’t be able to take it. But if he faced someone who had also mastered refined force and used the Coiling Palm Lift on him, it would have shattered his chin.”
Chen Chuan fell into contemplative silence. “Is that so...”
“Don’t think about it too much. You’ll have lecturers teaching you about it in Martial Valor University. What I’m trying to say is that you did great today. A duel isn’t just a physical fight. It’s also a test of the mind and will. You didn’t rely solely on brute strength while fighting but thought your way to victory. This is a battle instinct few people possess. I believe that you will go far on the path of martial arts. You might even surpass the expectations I have for you.”
As he spoke, he looked into the distance, as if he was remembering something.
Chen Chuan said nothing.
After some time, Yu Gang looked at him again and put on a rare smile. “Alright. Didn’t you say that you have a graduation party tonight? I’ll give you the evening off. Head home early.”
Chen Chuan glanced toward the upper floor of the training hall. “Thank you, Mr. Yu, but is Lu Ke okay?”
“He’s a martial artist. He knows how to handle himself.”
“Then I’ll head back now. I’ll be here on time tomorrow,” Chen Chuan said.