Martial Arts Room, the master and apprentice sat facing each other.
"Yes, teacher, I asked at school, and it seems the teachers there don’t teach these things; it’s all Elephant Form Fist... I want to try Hard Qi Gong."
"Hard Qi Gong actually doesn’t quite fit the mainstream direction of Martial Arts nowadays. It’s not just our school; other Martial Arts University affiliated high schools also hardly teach it anymore."
Lu Chenzhou looked somewhat puzzled.
"Teacher, when practiced to a profound level, can’t Hard Qi Gong achieve a state of imperviousness to blades and guns, as well as Vajra Unbreakable? Why don’t they teach it anymore?"
Ji Xuantong smiled and said,
"It’s quite simple, Hard Qi Gong is too difficult to practice, and with the increasing power of firearms and other modern weaponry, ordinary Second Class Hard Qi Gong, even when perfected, probably couldn’t withstand bullets from a regular handgun, let alone compared to wearing protective clothing... The effects of First Class and Top Class Hard Qi Gong are better, but the training is painful and time-wasting, making it unnecessary unless one is an extremely rare cross-training talent. In today’s society, only some special professions or extreme enthusiasts practice Hard Qi Gong.
I tried it once and then gave up."
In combating Void Things, Martial Artists are the backbone. Inner Boxing gives birth to Martial Artists more efficiently than Hard Qi Gong, and due to survival of the fittest, Hard Qi Gong has declined.
All things considered, none of the Martial Arts Universities mandate it anymore.
Some schools might arrange some elective courses.
"I understand now, teacher."
Ji Xuantong shifted the conversation and said,
"Of course, if you can master Hard Qi Gong well, it definitely has its advantages. In Hang City’s Jiangnan Wu University, there is one person who is obsessed with Hard Qi Gong, and has practiced a lot. It is said that at Tenth Rank, he could match a Martial Artist.
My advice is, if you really want to learn it, just practice casually, don’t take it too seriously, achieve what you can, and don’t let it interfere with your regular fist practices. If you really can achieve the right intensity, it would indeed greatly benefit your combat abilities."
Lu Chenzhou thought for a moment and said,
"Teacher, if you know how, why don’t you teach me one to try? I’ll try it out when I get back, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll stop in time and focus on Elephant Form Fist."
He had the Martial Arts Tree, so he could afford to experiment. His main curiosity was to find out what would happen if Hard Qi Gong Martial Arts reached Perfection and gave birth to a Divine Seed.
"I myself haven’t really specialized in it. I only practiced a Second Class Hard Qi Gong from Shaolin in the past, the ’Arhat Skill’, which is a lower version of the First Class ’Eighteen Arhats Golden Body Skill.’ If you can perfect it, practicing Golden Body Skill later would also be more effective... Although I don’t advocate practicing Hard Qi Gong, it does have some benefits for breaking through the First Shackles."
"Please teach me, master."
"Do you know what the First Shackles are?"
"I believe it’s the ’Shackles of Flesh.’"
"Yes, only by unlocking the ’Shackles of Flesh’ can you birth the ’Martial Arts Inner Realm’ within your body, using the major muscles as the ’Heaven and Earth Membrane’, then you can truly call yourself a Martial Artist. Inner Boxing became mainstream because it more easily creates a ’Martial Arts Inner Realm’. After this, you use the force of True Skill to stimulate and refine your muscles, making the ’Heaven and Earth Membrane’ more substantial like creating Heaven and Earth, strengthening the power of the flesh. This step is like using sandpaper on your flesh, commonly called ’sanding.’
Of course, ’sanding’ doesn’t sound pleasant.
In Martial Arts terminology it’s called ’Foundation.’
Hard Qi Gong can achieve a certain ’Foundation’ effect, to some extent preemptively experiencing the cultivation of a Martial Artist, laying the groundwork."
"Disciple understands."
Lu Chenzhou gained a lot from this.
"Come on, I’ll show you the basics, but I’m just barely proficient myself. Everyone has their specialties, and if you want to master Hard Qi Gong, you might find a specialized teacher.
I do know of a Hard Qi Gong expert in Su City, although he doesn’t teach classes. The example I just mentioned from Jiangnan Martial Arts University, it’s him."
"The chief of Pingjiang Sub-bureau, Evil Tiger Lufang. It is said that he also loves collecting and cultivating Hard Qi Gong and Western Fighting Techniques and has uniquely integrated these with Tiger Form Fist into a distinct ’Ghost Tiger Skill’, truly a divine being!"
Hearing this name again, Lu Chenzhou was internally astonished.
That muscular tower-like man was truly formidable.
Next, Ji Xuantong began teaching Lu Chenzhou the essentials of "Arhat Skill".
"’Arhat Skill’ consists of Three Trainings and Five Methods!
The Three Trainings are skill training, physical resistance training—also known as Cross Training—and breathing training! Among these, breathing training is the core, which can be divided into Five Methods, namely Top Qi Method, Jetting Skill, Swallowing Qi Skill, Closed Mouth Method, and Qi Movement Skill!
Hard Qi Gong cultivation was also profoundly vast. Although Ji Xuantong humbly said he had only superficial knowledge, he was more than capable of instructing Lu Chenzhou, who listened with deep fascination.
Unwittingly, three hours had passed.
Second-Class Hard Qi Gong, difficult indeed to begin. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novel[f]ire.net
But it wasn’t as hard as the master had said. Hard Qi Gong requires, on one hand, the talent for Cross Training, but more importantly, a strong will and the readiness to endure hardship. Just the sequence of combating training, what is called "Cross Training," could make 99% of people give up. Such training harms the body, and without proper recuperation methods, it can easily leave sequelae in the future—historically, many folk Hard Qi Gong masters had short lives.
Thus, in ancient times, Hard Qi Gong was something learned by lower-tier martial artists, while disciples from Martial Arts Families disdained it, choosing to practice Inner Boxing instead.
Hard Qi Gong and Inner Boxing share commonalities in certain basic Martial Arts movements and essentials, so someone like Lu Chenzhou, a master of Dark Force, would certainly learn much faster.
"Alright, it’s getting late, the sky has darkened."
Ji Xuantong concluded his stance and let out a long breath. He had just allowed Lu Chenzhou to stab him in the chest with a long sword, but Lu Chenzhou felt like he was stabbing into an iron plate.
Seeing the look of envy in Lu Chenzhou’s eyes, Ji Xuantong said,
"Don’t set your hopes too high. My ability to resist your sword stab is actually just 30% due to the Hard Qi Gong, the other 70% comes from my body which has broken through the First Shackles."
To prevent Lu Chenzhou from straying onto the wrong path, he spoke earnestly.
"I understand, Teacher."
After the master’s teachings, Lu Chenzhou no longer had much enthusiasm for Hard Qi Gong and only wanted to learn it to stack armor, to enhance his ability to withstand hits. If he could master a Great Success Level ’Arhat Skill,’ he felt that he could tear apart those civilian-grade prosthetics with his bare hands.
Enhancing the margin for error in real combat situations, that was his goal.
He looked towards the Martial Arts Tree, noticing new tender leaves sprouting on the branches.
"Arhat Skill: Beginner (2%)"
Lu Chenzhou mused to himself,
"The difficulty is manageable... Could it be that I have Cross Training Talent?"
Lu Chenzhou looked forward expectantly, bidding farewell to his master as he left.
No sooner had he left than Shi Ruyu came to the master.
She was surprised to hear that her junior brother was learning cross training.
"People seldom practice it these days..."
"I’ve already explained the pros and cons to him. Hard Qi Gong sounds wonderful, but unless one has the innate talent like the Evil Tiger, it’s better for ordinary people to just give it a try. Chenzhou is smart, I believe he won’t let it interfere with his Martial Arts Cultivation."
Ji Xuantong remained calm.
Since ancient times, Inner Boxing has always been the absolute mainstream of Martial Arts. After the establishment of New Da Xia, the Martial Arts Association also centered on the cultivation of Inner Boxing. Of course, Cross Training isn’t some heretical or deviant practice, it’s just not very suitable for modern society’s practical situations.
Shi Ruyu smiled and said,
"I believe in my junior brother... Not just him, many male martial artists have a fascination with Hard Qi Gong that I find hard to understand, dreaming of being invulnerable like Vajra. It’s quite normal for my junior brother at his age to want to learn Hard Qi Gong, as long as it doesn’t hinder his regular cultivation."
She always had a feeling. Given Lu Chenzhou’s character, he wouldn’t easily try something without solid confidence; if he dared to learn, he must truly believe he could master it. The junior brother probably felt shaken by the incident of being attacked on a rainy night and wanted more security.