Chapter 20 Two years
In the courtyard, a teenager wearing a white Taoist uniform stood as still as a pine tree. As he stood, his eyes were filled with fury as he stared at the old man in front of him. On the other hand, the old man’s face did not show much emotions; except his smile hung on.
Two years had gone by very quickly. During these two years, Xuan Luo basically did not leave the courtyard. Each day, he spends the whole day practicing the Tai Chi fist. He has become very skillful at it; from the boy who only had style and no meaning, he has now gone through a ma.s.sive transformation.
The old man was Tian Yu Zi. His attire had not changed, but his famous smile remained on his face.
“Hmm.. not bad. Looks like you have improved a lot these past two years!” Tian Yu Zi chuckled.
“I have reached ‘success’ by now, right? Old man. When are you going to teach me sword?!?” Xuan Luo’s face was solemn.
“Haha. I don’t think you have touched my gourd yet!?” Tian Yu Zi teased.
For the past two years, Xuan Luo and Tian Yu Zi battled daily. They used the Tai Chi fist, but each time Tian Yu Zi always defeated Xuan Luo.
But the failures did not affect Xuan Luo’s confidence. He believed in himself, thus, he practiced with all his might. Initially, he would spend most of his time studying the Tai Chi fist. Perhaps, his method was the issue. During the first few months, Xuan Luo spent a ma.s.sive amount of time on perfecting his movements -but he just couldn’t figure out the essence of Tai Chi.
Just when Xuan Luo felt like he had lost all hope, Tian Yu Zi told him, “Regardless of which Martial Arts you’re learning, it starts from the heart. If your heart is not still, then you will never be able to grasp the essence.”
Tian Yu Zi’s words helped immensely. Xuan Luo felt as if Tian Yu Zi had opened a window in his dimly lit room.
From then on, Xuan Luo no longer pursued higher skill training. Instead, he spent the majority of his time learning to calm his heart down. After his heart was calm, he would start the Tai Chi fist.
Eventually, he only needed to spend a fraction of time calming his heart, but the result was much more favourable compared to before. Within these two years, Xuan Luo has reached the border of ‘success’. He just has to pierce through a bit more, and he will succeed.
Hearing Tian Yu Zi’s taunt, Xuan Luo thinly smiled, “Old man. Haven’t you noticed? Recently, I have only missed your gourd by a slight bit.Watch me!”
Xuan Luo’s shadow flashed by, and he approached Tian Yu Zi using some type of footwork. He was like a ghost.
These steps were something Xuan Luo figured out on his own while he was practicing Tai Chi fist. The steps complemented the movement of the fist; forward, backward, brush, and cross over. When he combined the movements, he realized he had created the Tai ji ba gua diagram. Therefore, he spent a lot of time improving his footwork.
Tian Yu Zi was caught offguard. At that moment, he could see Xuan Luo’s hand reaching for his gourd, and he quickly disappeared. He almost became a victim of Xuan Luo’s sneaky attack!
Since his first attempt failed, Xuan Luo quickly disappeared again and started spinning in circles around Tian Yu Zi. Xuan Luo doesn’t believe in giving up. He will keep on fighting despite setbacks.
“Young man, you have improved!” Tian Yu Zi giggled. Then, he became serious and started chasing Xuan Luo around in the circle.
At that moment, Xuan Luo suddenly turned around and he had a crafty grin on his face.
Tian Yu Zi realized he had fallen for Xuan Luo’s trap. But it was too late. Xuan Luo used his amazing steps and everything was a blur. Then, the gourd disappeared from Tian Yu Zi’s waist.
From a distance, Xuan Luo started waving the gourd in Tian Yu Zi’s face. “Haha. Old man! I have stolen it!”
Tian Yu Zi’s face turned red. With thick skin, he said, “That doesn’t count. You cheated!! We’re supposed to fight face to face!”
Tian Yu Zi’s childlike side is acting up again. Xuan Luo was used to it. These past two years, either Tian Yu Zi acted serious like an authority figure, or he would act like a child. Sometimes, even crazier than a child.
“You said as long as I touch it, it counts! But the past few times I have touched it, you said it didn’t count. This time, I have stolen it. How can you not count it? Seriously, old man, your thick skin is thicker than the Great Wall!” Xuan Luo is slightly annoyed. Ever since he had figured out his secret steps, he had used it to get near Tian Yu Zi. There were a couple of times that he had touched the gourd, but each time, Tian Yu Zi said it didn’t count. Hence, he decided to take the whole gourd so Tian Yu Zi couldn’t deny any longer. Yet, Tian Yu Zi still refused to acknowledge his action.
“Okay, fine. You win. I’ll forcefully give you a pa.s.s.” Tian Yu Zi was embara.s.sed. But it’s true, Xuan Luo’s fist has not reached ‘success’ yet. He only managed to get his gourd due to his footwork. That’s why he is refuting. Partly, it’s because he enjoys teasing, but mainly, it’s for Xuan Luo’s own good.
Sometimes, Tian Yu Zi feels very fortunate to have gotten Xuan Luo from Zhang Men. The more time he spent with Xuan Luo, the more he felt as if he had found gold. In regards to his methods and insights (the fact that practicing the body is better and more important than mastering your xin fa), Xuan Luo was the only person who did not disagree and was willing to try it out. Most importantly, Xuan Luo is naturally talented. Tian Yu Zi only has to give him a slight clue, and Xuan Luo could figure out the rest on his own.
“Hehe. So when are you going to teach me sword?” Xuan Luo happily threw the gourd away and skipped towards Tian Yu Zi. Xuan Luo had waited for this day for far too long. These past two years were extremely tough. He felt as if he had been separated from the world; all he did was practice and more practice.
“My gourd!!!” Tian Yu Zi wailed and quickly ran towards his lovely gourd. At that moment, all Xuan Luo felt was a breeze of wind. Next thing he knew, Tian Yu Zi appeared behind him holding his gourd.
All along, Tian Yu Zi had been super secretive with his abilities. Each time Xuan Luo felt as if he will be able to touch the gourd, Tian Yu Zi’s abilities would go up. Basically, no matter what, Tian Yu Zi would always been on his level. Honestly, today, Tian Yu Zi did go easy on Xuan Luo. If he hadn’t, Xuan Luo would have been defeated.
“You little monkey. Don’t you know my gourd is my baby? How dare you throw it away so carelessly? Ahh you’re driving me nuts!” Tian Yu Zi whined.
Seeing Tian Yu Zi’s poor reaction, Xuan Luo was afraid he would change his mind about teaching him the sword spells. Thus, he quickly ran behind Tian Yu Zi and rubbed his back and ma.s.saged his arms.
“We shall talk about the swords another time. Right now, I need to tell you something more important!” Tian Yu Zi turned around and looked straight into Xuan Luo’s eyes.
“What is it?”