Chapter 117: Underwater Martial Arts (2/2)

If what you learned wasn’t standard, then that meant to say you are an idiot. You had no talent, and you would forever be inferior. When the time came for the master to teach, he would teach nothing new to you.

When a master taught his style and training methods, it was never in a completely thorough manner, but rather in a piece by piece process. This way, the disciple would be able to practice by themselves. Such a manner of teaching wasn’t meant to preserve the teachings, but rather to test the disciple’s perception and understanding to see if they were able to be entranced by it.

Tang Zichen had done the same thing when she taught Wang Chao in the park several years ago. First, she would teach him the horse stance before disappearing for several days to see if he would have it.

Fortunately, Wang Chao had managed to understand and was willing to be polished, causing Tang Zichen to be pleasantly surprised.

Otherwise, Tang Zichen would have left a long time ago with refusal to teach a high school student.

But this time, Cheng Shanming was using a detailed performance since he knew that Wang Chao was a master as well. His martial arts was high, and his inspiration was stronger than Cheng Shanming–there was no point in testing him.

And so he had found it perfect to bring out all of his intentions, spirit, and inspiration forth into his movements.

In the midst of the performance of the spear play, the eastern skies had already begun to leak red into the dawn white sky. The various objects on the beach could been seen clearly with the ocean waters a transparent blue.

“Our Cheng-style Baguazhang has a secret way of movement. The Rising Drill and Falling Overturn. It is comparable to a fish swimming in the waters. To practice, one must enter a body of water and then take in a deep breath before inciting the inner organs.”

Suddenly, Cheng Shanming’s spear stabbed straight into the sands. Both of his palms pressed against each other as he took in such a deep breath that his adam’s apple shook. As the breath entered his body, Wang Chao could see his intestines begin to grow active before letting loose the rhythmic rumbling sounds of thunder.

“The bones and inner organs of this man is far too strong. If it weren’t for the fact he is more interested in learning the gun and his inspiration is weaker than mine, then if he were to dedicate himself to martial arts, I would not be a match for him!”

Wang Chao could see that Cheng Shanming’s intestines shook powerfully with the sounds of thunder as he took in a deep breath. From this, he could see that the man had combined his internal and external forces into one. His inner organs were far stronger than Chen Aiyang’s as well.

But if Chen Aiyang were to reach Cheng Shanming’s age, then he wouldn’t necessarily be weaker to him then.

The both of them were geniuses.

But, if the two of them were to truly fight to the death to the best of their abilities, it would take Chen Aiyang and Wang Chao combined to be a match for him. Cheng Shanming’s marksmanship had already reached perfection as well, this was much more than what a special force soldier could offer in China.

Suddenly, after his breath of air, Cheng Shanming’s body threw itself into the shallow waters of the beach.

After entering the waters, his feet stepped deeper and deeper into the seabed. Soon, the water had reached to the top of his head.

His entire body had been submerged in the ocean waters

Wang Chao charged into the ocean as well, only to stop when the water had reached his waists.

When Wang Chao had entered the waters, Cheng Shanming was on the seabeds with both palms moving in a circular motion left to right before moving forward abruptly. Unexpectedly, he was performing a set of movements in Baguazhang underwater.

Cheng Shanming’s movement had been firm and steady as his body gently bobbed slightly underwater. His entire body seemed to have forgotten about the need to breathe, and his movements now had been completely reliant on that first breath he taken above water! This was a testament to how strong the man’s lungs were.

His feet stamped into the seabed as he strode and pounced with both palms moving wide apart before falling back with time.

His entire body leaked with Jin as the water began to swirl. A large whirlpool began to form in the ocean as his force brought even the sand swirling around him with the water.

Before the set of movement had even finished, Wang Chao couldn’t even see Cheng Shanming’s figure underwater anymore. All he could see was the turbid waters as it swirled around Cheng Shanming revolution after revolution almost as if a sea monster was within the center doing some sort of ritual.

Suddenly, Wang Chao felt the ground underneath him tremble for a moment as a single humanoid figure leapt out from the waters like a carp leaping out from the pond.

It was Cheng Shanming who had flown upwards. His movements from the bottom of the ocean had been similar to an extreme form of the carp who had leapt over the dragon’s gate.

After leaping out from the water, he landed back down onto the surface of the water. But the ocean had only reached up to two inches above his knee, but not quite the entire thigh.

Step by step, Cheng Shanming moved away from the ocean and towards the beach. His face was rather red after the display. It seemed that a considerable amount of energy and spirit had been used up in his movements.

“Practice the fist, movements, stance, and breathing in the water so that you feel no restriction in any than you would in dry land. Just how much skill is needed for this? This requires a powerful lung. It is no wonder such a way of training is the most painful and dangerous. It is no wonder Cheng Shanming was able to achieve the Transforming Jin.”

When Wang Chao saw how Cheng Shanming had moved and struck with his palms in a way that seemed as if he wasn’t in water, Wang Chao could only sigh in admiration.

When Cheng Shanming stepped onto the beach, his entire body had been dripping with seawater. “Learning underwater requires two years beforehand to learn to breathe to strengthen the inner organs. By then, one may enter the water. In the initial period, one has to wear iron clothes so that they may stabilize their footing and focus on their movements without being affected by the buoyancy. However, with your skill level, you don’t need the iron clothes. Familiarizing yourself with the properties of water to get to the level I achieved isn’t as hard as it seems. The changes in the water can be felt by the pores. Not too long after, it will be easy to be felt with the body. This is one of the ways to learning the Transforming Jin through the way of practicing.”

“With your skill level, you don’t need to practice how to breathe. You’ve managed the sounds of thunder and managed to permeate your inner organs with its sounds. A single breath from you is already strong enough and is comparable to mine.The only difference is is experience. You aren’t able to change from hard to soft. The flow of water is soft, and when you strike out with your palms and feet, the way the water assaults your entire body will show you the way of soft Hidden Jin.”

“My martial arts was all learned underneath the surface of water.”

Cheng Shanming shook his body the way a dog would to shake off the water that clung to him. After he had finished shaking, his entire body seemed to be completely dry except from the clothes which had already seemed as if it was beginning to dry.

“My experiences was all learned from practicing like so. My disciples have prepared a boat for me to leave today in order to avoid trouble at night. We will meet again, I hope.”

As Cheng Shanming spoke, he walked farther and farther away. Wang Chao looked onto him until Cheng Shanming entered a nearby freighter and disappeared from sight.