Chapter 13
Tiger Subduing Fist
“Refining blood Qi?” Jiang Ming raised his eyebrows. He only knew about martial artists in the past, but this was the first time he heard this.
Master Zhou nodded. “The most significant difference between martial artists and ordinary people is blood Qi. Whether it’s the external training of moves or the internal training of breathing, the ultimate goal is to refine blood Qi and transform it into strength! Only by cultivating blood Qi can one touch the threshold of martial arts and be called an unranked martial artist.
“Otherwise, no matter how well you practice the fist technique or how strong you are, as long as you don’t have blood Qi, you will always be an ordinary person. You will have no chance of winning against a martial artist.
“After forming the blood Qi, if you can control the blood Qi to run through your body, you can be regarded as a third-cla.s.s martial artist.
“It is said that the difference between a third-cla.s.s martial artist and a first-cla.s.s martial artist is, in essence, a difference in the use of blood Qi. A first-cla.s.s martial artist’s blood Qi is like a rainbow; they can fight against an army of thousands. As for whether it is true, I don’t know.”
“What about after the first cla.s.s?” Jiang Ming frowned.
“Hahaha!” Master Zhou couldn’t help but laugh, “Hahaha! Ming, you’re really bold. A first-cla.s.s martial artist is already a top figure in Great Cloud City. Do you really think that they’re not worthy of your attention?”
“I’m just curious.” Jiang Ming smiled.
“Just becoming a martial artist is enough to exhaust a lot of people’s entire life’s efforts. Less than a tenth of people who learn martial arts succeed. One has to have a fraction of a chance to be a first-cla.s.s martial artist,” Master Zhou said with a sigh.
“What about after that?” Jiang Ming blinked.
“I don’t know. I’m not some big shot,” Master Zhou said grumpily. “I’m already considered very knowledgeable to know this.” Let’s start. Now is a good time to practice martial arts.” Master Zhou took off his shirt and warmed up. Although he was old and skinny, his muscles were still well-defined.
“It seems that even if a martial artist’s Qi and blood Qi have declined, he is still not as weak as ordinary people,” Jiang Ming thought to himself. If Master Zhou did not have an underlying disease, Uncle Ba would have to bow his head to him.
“First, get into the stance.” Master Zhou squatted slightly, his legs as firm as iron rods. “This is the fundamental technique of the Tiger Subduing Fist. Whether you practice it well or not will determine your ultimate success.”
At this moment, Master Zhou seemed to have become one with the earth. He could stand still even in the storm.
Jiang Ming didn’t follow the gesture but tried to remember Master Zhou’s movements to try to understand this move.
“It’s like an upgraded version of the regular squat. It focuses on the lower body and core strength,” Jiang Ming thought. This was indeed a crucial step.
About a quarter of an hour later, Master Zhou finished practicing the external forms of the Tiger Subduing Fist. There were 24 forms. The first 12 forms were training methods, and the last 12 were fighting methods. They were incredibly powerful.
“It’s a pity that the Tiger Subduing Fist is too strong and fierce, making it easily hurt the body.” Master Zhou stopped. He was panting heavily. “Ming, when you practice, you can’t be too impatient. You can only practice at most three times a day before you sense your blood Qi. ”
“How long will it take to sense the blood Qi?” Jiang Ming asked.
Only by sensing blood Qi could one practice the internal training method of the breathing technique.
“If you’re lucky, you’ll be in a daze for three to five years. If you’re unlucky, it’ll be for a lifetime.” Master Zhou’s eyes were gloomy as he said, “I spent eight years sensing blood Qi and ten years refining blood Qi before I became a martial artist by luck. Now that I think about it, what’s the use? Do you know why I stopped you from learning martial arts?”
Jiang Ming was suddenly dumbfounded. No wonder not many people in Peace Town learned martial arts. Practicing martial arts consumed energy and money, but the possibility of becoming a martial artist was very small. It was not something that the poor could afford.
“I wonder how long it’ll take?” Jiang Ming thought to himself.
Naturally, he was not afraid of harming his body. He did not need to care about the restriction of three times a day.
“Of course, if it’s supplemented with great tonics such as golden ginseng and scarlet blood vine, it will speed up martial arts progress,” Master Zhou suddenly said. “In addition, there is a secret medicine for martial arts. It is an auxiliary medicine refined by the martial arts school in Great Cloud City. It can speed up the sensing of blood Qi. If you have enough money, you can ask the old men who buy medicinal materials about Great Cloud City.”
Jiang Ming’s eyes lit up. “Thank you for your advice, Master Zhou. I’ll do it again for you to see. If there’s anything wrong, please give me some advice.”
As he spoke, he recalled Master Zhou’s movements and began to practice them one by one.
Master Zhou chuckled. While chewing the crunchy cicadas, he watched Jiang Ming’s moves carefully.
He was willing to say so much because Jiang Ming was really to his liking. He used to be a martial artist, and Uncle Ba was also polite to him. If someone else came to learn martial arts, he would not put in so much effort to help.
As he looked at him, Master Zhou’s eyes were filled with surprise.
Although Jiang Ming’s moves were very slow, and he looked like a newbie at first glance, his movements were very standard. There was also a beauty of strength in his movements.
“Alright!” Master Zhou clapped his hands and praised, “Ming, you’re so much stronger than I was back then!”
Jiang Ming rolled his eyes in his heart and thought, “I’ve been practicing the fist technique for one or two months. I’ve built up my foundation for so long. If I’m not as good as you were in the past, then I’ve practiced in vain.”
In the following days, he practiced martial arts and ate a lot. When he was tired of practicing, he would go into the mountains to pick herbs.
Before he knew it, another month had pa.s.sed.
The fall wind was bleak, bringing up the fallen leaves in the sky.
In the depths of the mountain, a tiger-like figure leaped down from the cliff. He stretched out his hand and hung off a protruding rock.
“Scarlet blood vine!”
Jiang Ming used a medicinal sickle to cut off a red vine as thick as a finger and showed a satisfied smile.
Every season’s medicinal herbs were different; now was the time to pick the scarlet blood vine.
Ever since Master Zhou mentioned the herbs that were beneficial to martial arts practice, Jiang Ming had been focusing on these herbs.
On the top of the cliff, a fat white rabbit stuck its head out and cheered for Jiang Ming, who had picked the medicine.
“Hahaha, you are indeed my lucky star!” Jiang Ming climbed up the cliff and rubbed the rabbit’s head. Master White, I’ll bring you to eat delicious food tonight. As long as I have something to eat, I won’t let you go hungry.”
Late at night, in the cave, in a clay pot, various medicinal herbs were simmering on a small fire. Jiang Ming was lying on the ground at the side, his eyes shining.
“I’m only one step away from sensing my blood Qi. I’ll try again tomorrow! ”
These few days, he could vaguely feel his blood Qi, but he could not maintain that feeling.
During this period of time, he had practiced the Tiger Subduing Fist at least a dozen times a day and had never stopped taking all kinds of medicine. However, he had never expected that he would advance so quickly.
“Maybe this is the difference between quant.i.ty and quality. The difference between only practicing three times a day and practicing more than ten times a day can’t be calculated by addition and subtraction alone. We’ll just have to wait for tomorrow!” He calmed himself down, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.