Vol 2 Chapter 20 (1/2)
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.