Chapter 108: Turbulent Times (First) (1/2)
Chapter 108: Turbulent Times (First)
Leaves fluttered across the center of the courtyard along with the wind whistling with a humming sound. Amongst the wind, the explosive sound of thunder could be heard. The radiant sun illuminated the world overhead, but it seemed as if there was a fierce rainstorm with all of the wind and sounds of thunder. Chen Aiyang could be seen sitting on a yellow rosewood chair by the courtyard entrance observing Wang Chao practice his martial arts.
At the same time, Zhu Jia could be seen indoors near the window. With an elbow and hand supporting her cheek, her eyes were completely focused upon Wang Chao’s figure as he continued to move forward without stop.
Helping Wang Chao practice was Chen Aiyang’s right hand man, Lin Liqiang, an expert of Wingchun and Hung Ga. As a veteran of hundreds of battles with a name that preceded himself, he was by no means more famous than any of the Three Tigers of Guangdong, the Taichi master Chen Aiyang, the three masters from Taiwan, or the men from Hong Kong, but his martial arts was not all that far off from them. His body had already reached the Hidden Jin, and he could break out with the One Inch Jin using his Wingchun on a level on par with Zhang Wei.
That year, his younger brother Lin Lijun was an expert on the Clear Jin realm. With one more step, he would have been able to cross into the Hidden Jin level and into the realm of the masters. If he had, then even Wang Chao wouldn’t have been his opponent at that time. Unfortunately, he had been shot to death by Zhu Jia.
However the matters that happened that night had only been seen by Wang Chao and Zhu Jia; that had been their little secret. No one else knew, and whichever police officer that had been nearby had been chased off by Cao Yi later on.
This had been an accident with many factors of being able to go wrong. Right now, Zhu Jia was right in front of Lin Liqiang who did not know his younger brother had been killed by this woman who looked extremely delicate. Neither did Zhu Jia think that the expert she had shot to death would be the younger brother of the man in front of her. The nature of life contained many bizarre things within it, that much could be said to be true.
Bang! Wang Chao struck out with the Pounding Fist of the horse stance and continued onwards, causing Lin Liqiang to retreat backwards in reluctance to go head to head.
Lin Liqiang’s arms had already been like iron whenever he performed the Bridging Fist of Hung Ga. But up against Wang Chao and his ability to emit the sounds of thunder from his muscles and bones, Lin Liqiang would not be able to block it. However, Wang Chao was only just experimenting and did not use his full strength.
On the edge of falling over, Lin Liqiang’s robes suddenly gave way. His body began to turn in preparation to escape Wang Chao’s circle where the wind blew. But who would have known that Wang Chao had predicted that. Extending both arms, he suddenly altered his center of gravity and grabbed hold of Lin Liqiang’s arms. With a push of his arms like a goshawk taking flight and a sparrow cutting through water, Wang Chao’s foot came kicking out as he took flight. In a straight line, Wang Chao’s feet had been like a scissor, one leg targeted the lower abdomen and the other targeted the chest before the third tried to slam into the throat.
Hurriedly using his arms to defend himself, Lin Liqiang found the maneuver was essentially useless. Both of Wang Chao’s arms exploded with power and the sounds of thunder with the three kicks from the “Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow”. Each leg was heavier than the one before and each kick fully capable of carrying the destructive force of a ton.
Pa pa pa! Following the three strikes, Lin Liqiang seemed as if he was struck by lightning. Two footprints could be seen on Lin Liqiang’s lower abdomen and chest while Wang Chao’s tiptoe had pressed gently against his chest so that that Lin Liqiang would only feel a little stifled and dry in the throat.
“Well met! Master Wang, your style of ‘Flying Horse Treading on Sparro’” has already reached perfection. Being able to borrow power from any enemy, you use Taichi to grab and stick, stick then shake, and shake to drill up into the heavens.”
“I use two mnemonics, ‘The hibernating dragon moves from the water with the force of a storm, the wind blows the hundred tree branches, but not the tree.’ With these imageries, you have accomplished them both. Lin Liqiang too is an expert of Daoism. He has weathered many battles and gained ample experience. While he knew that you were attacking with a killing move, he was not able to dodge. This is proof that your martial arts has reached a point where it can force a person to block when he cannot, and to dodge when he cannot.”
Within four days under Chen Aiyang’s guidance, Wang Chao had already trained the “Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow” to perfection.
While Chen Aiyang was a practitioner of Taichi, he had learned from Xue Lianxin for a decent amount of time. Thus, he had managed to harmonize Taichi and Imitation Boxing into one while also mixing in the secret killing techniques of the ancient past. Honing it into a killing move, it became something that spelt out death for the enemy.
This move was originally not something that a person could learn from a teacher to perfection. Even if the student learned the basics, they would not master the essence of it. But Wang Chao was different. He was already proficient in Taichi and Xingyi. Furthermore, he had already learned the horse stance to the stage where the sound follows the fist. Thus, it could be said that Wang Chao was already at the door, he just needed the key to learn the move.
When Wang Chao demonstrated the movements, that had been the key. Straight away, Wang Chao had entered and attained a higher level. From the door to the main room to the treasury, he had obtained the treasure.
Wang Chao’s usage of the “Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow” was far more fierce and fatal than Chen Aiyang. Even the inspiration behind it was far more vigorous. But then again, Wang Chao’s muscles and bones could act as one, and he could also bring out the sounds of thunder from within his muscles. Chen Aiyang’s was only extremely strong in terms of his inner organs. While his muscles and bones were tough, they could not compare to Wang Chao.
“Sparrow Skimming Water” and “Goshawk Turns Over” were both of the same stance. Both involved the usage of the leg and required the Hidden Jin to be manipulated so that softness and hardness balance each other out. Softness and hardness used together brings forth an attraction like a tornado. A single step and kick would be enough to kill the enemy like so.
“Master Wang, take a walk near the wall. See just how much the softness and hardness of your Hidden Jin has changed, and to what extent.” Chen Aiyang spoke.
Nodding, Wang Chao leapt to the nearby courtyard walls and stood parallel to it.
His entire body flew into a horizontal position almost as if he was a wooden pole that had embedded itself into the wall without falling. Treading across the walls, his legs crossed over each other in a flurry of eight steps without ever falling back down to the ground.
As he scurried across the walls, his legs crossed over each other while his toes dug in and flattened out in a pattern. Curling in and loosening, the five toes seemed as flexible as his fingers were. This action had given birth to the the suction force of a tornado and allowed him to stay stuck to the wall.