Chapter 53: A mind like a newborn, a willpower like iron (Third) (1/2)

Chapter 53: A mind like a newborn, a willpower like iron (Third)

By the time Wang Chao had crossed into the mountains, it was already June in both time and weather. Despite the dampness, it was stifling hot. There was also the occasional rain that made its way to the bottom of the forests, creating a stinky yet black mud.

Within the muddy waters of these branches were several snakes that roamed about it with reckless abandon. Several of these snakes had flat heads or had triangular heads. Some were black, dark green, or black and white, but Wang Chao could tell that every single one of these snakes were poisonous.

For the sake of protecting himself against any snake bites, Wang Chao treaded carefully down the path. Sealing his pores and having his hair stand on its ends, they were like radars that would sense for any snake nearby.

He was still wearing a conical bamboo hat, raincoat, and straw sandals, but there was also the new addition of a bamboo staff. The original bamboo hat, raincoat, and straw sandals had long since been ruined before, and it was only in Sichuan that he had bought a new replacement.

From the very first day, Wang Chao had felt a deep connection with these three items.

That was because even as he wore them on his journey, he couldn’t sensed a single tint of the current generation smell to them; it was very pure in spirit.

“With a straw cape and a straw hat through mist and rain, I’ll walk through life’s journey again and again.” Wang Chao thought. He had already washed away any other foreign feel to it.

After a whole day of walking, Wang Chao had already traveled half of the mountain by the second morning. Looking around himself, he could see that further down the road, the cities and rivers were all tiny and hazy like on a painting scroll. If anyone were to see this, they would treat it as a fantasy.

Suddenly, the bright wheel of fire that was the sun loomed overhead, illuminating the path behind him.

“The strong pass of the enemy is like iron, yet with firm strides, I will reach the summit.”

Wang Chao’s mind suddenly thought of a valiant phrase.

His mind had the idea of “walking through life’s journeys again and again”, while his will had the firmness of the “reaching the summit of the enemy’s iron-like pass.” With this mind and will, his muscles and pores began to soften and harden, just the way Yin and Yang was composed.

Facing the direction of the sun, he took in a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

The sun was already high in the sky, burning the stones he was standing on. Laying out some cloth on the flat rocks, Wang Chao sat comfortably on it and began to rest.

This was the halfway point up the mountain, but there was still a long way to go until the very top. As he traveled to the top, the more severe the snow and terrain became. If he wanted to cross this, then even if he had nine lives, he wouldn’t be able to with his current body. Right now, he needed to improve it.

After some time, Wang Chao began to feel a chill in the air. Waking up from his dreamful slumber, he tilted his head upwards to the sky only to find that the sun had descended with dark clouds rolling in. A cold wind was starting to blow in as well, chilling his body with each passing second.

His clothes had long since been dried from the sun. Putting them on, Wang Chao took out some rice dumplings, some dried vegetables, and a bamboo tube of water. With these rations, he searched for some dried up branches and quickly started a fire to warm up his food. In no time at all, the smell of rice could be smelled rising into the air.

Cooking the dried vegetables, he quickly devoured the food and drank the water. With a small exercise of the body, he felt his energy rise back up to completion.

Rumble! Just then, the deafening sounds of thunder could be heard as a bolt of lightning jolted through the air like a silver snake.

Without delay, Wang Chao found a stone cover to hide under. It wasn’t big, but it could easily fit two people in there and was enough for him to hide from the rain.

Without another thunder clap, the rain began to cast downwards heavily.

Bang! Another thunderclap could be heard as even the mountains shook. There was a lingering echo after the lightning struck as if it was traveling around the mountains.

As Wang Chao listened to the sounds of thunder, he gradually thought about the Tiger’s Thunder that could refine the marrow.

As a result, he began to subconsciously shake his entire body frame and bones.

The trembling technique from the Tiger’s Thunder was still fresh on his mind when sis Chen had tried it on him two years ago. However, at the time, he wasn’t able to shake his striated muscles to such a degree before.

But now, he could feel that trembling sensation without much difficulty.

That was when Wang Chao knew. In this half a year journey, his martial arts had reached a realm where his Jin could move about delicately and in a detailed manner.

In the midsts of this slow trembling, Wang Chao’s ears could heard the gradual yet rhythmic tempo of his bones humming along with the blood in his veins like the sound of a fountain spring. In fact, there was a surprisingly similar sound to the outside thunder.

The intense downpour and the constant thunderclaps could be heard by Wang Chao clearly. Closing his eyes and clearing his mind, he began to synchronize the sounds of thunder with the vibrations within his body and imitate it.

Finally, Wang Chao could gradually feel that the vibrational sounds within his body was exactly similar to the sounds of thunder right outside; there was no telling apart which from what.

After an unknown amount of time, the thunder began to recede along with the pitter patter of the rain, allowing a ray of light to make its way into the closed eyes of Wang Chao.

Opening his eyes, Wang Chao walked out only to see the sun rising from the east and the river below flowing freely. It was yet another morning!

Because of the early morning rain, the weather was clear and the forest in the mountains looked especially lush. It was so green, Wang Chao felt that juice could come out at any moment.

“Yin and Yang mix together to form thunder, and when the thunder leaves the mountain, everything flourishes.”

Then, Wang Chao came to a realization. “A mind as pure as a newborn and a will as strong as iron. The muscles as soft as cotton, the pores as powerful as a bullet. This inner and outer contrast are the result of Yin and Yang. How cooperative yesterday was, with that, the world was explained. With the thunder, I was able to draw out the sounds of thunder in my own body. The previously abstruse mystery has become a truth far too wonderful for words.”

Exercising his body, Wang Chao began a new set of drills. It wasn’t too long after that he had realized his movements were far superior in terms of stability and efficiency compared to yesterday.

Without the use of Jin, he felt as if he was a floating cloud that was carefreely floating away.

With Jin, he was a meteorite streaking towards the ground with both power and vigor.

Swinging his arms and kicking his legs, they exploded with a crisp sound like a hot knife through butter.

“I have succeeded in bringing the Clear Jin up to a complete mastery.”

Wang Chao knew that in this bitter ascetic journey, Wang Chao had stripped away from the noisy mundane world and purified his heart. At the same time, his will had been impressed by the passion of the previous century and shaped up to become as strong as iron.

When the conditions are right, success will follow. With the thunderstorm from yesterday, he had managed to tame that sound to temper his entire physique.

This too was a scripture in the way of the fist, “Chain Linking”.

At this stage, one could be considered to have mastered the Clear Jin.

If he hadn’t gone through such an ascetic training for half a year, Wang Chao would have never reached such a result like this or come in contact with thunder. If he were to stick around in the mundane world and face the noisy mess that came with interpersonal relationships and lifestyles, Wang Chao didn’t know how long it would take to attain the same results.

It would be possible that his spirit would have been further polluted. His mind would have been thrown in disarray. His heart impure, murky and unclean. He would have never understood.

Standing upright and welcoming the tranquility for a moment, Wang Chao donned his raincoat, sandals, and hat once more and began to climb.

The mountains of Sichuan were relentlessly tall. The rain and mist would only be seen halfway. From the halfway up point, it would only snow. After half a day, Wang Chao had reached the uninhabited parts of the mountain where the path was in particularly precipitous. There was no other choice but to use the hands and legs to climb.

Wang Chao’s hands continued to make contact with the icy snow as he climbed, the frost permeating into his body. Even before he could make it to the top, his hands were already numb with cold.

Fortunately he had experienced the dangers of walking on icy grounding before. Sprinkling water on the ground from his bamboo tube, Wang Chao could continue to walk without any danger to be had.

Because of the wind, it felt as if it was the wintry twelfth lunar month instead of June. Snowflakes could be seen rolling about in the sky as Wang Chao continued to sprinkle his path with water to avoid falling to his death.