Chapter 154: It’s Hard to Remain At the Top (2/2)

“He can. Even in his fifties, he fights as if he was in his prime state of his twenties. Sun Style Taichi, it has given him the ability to discipline and cultivate his life with the way of the Confucians. He was 30 when he became well known. And after his thirties, he vanished without a trace and quietly cultivated his health to remain at the top of his strength.” Wang Chao closed his eyes and thought back to the match he just had.

“Just how did you come into conflict?” Chen Aiyang asked, “From what I saw, his injuries aren’t light either. Your fighting style was quite fierce. If he could injure you without being injured himself, then he would be a one-of-a-kind figure in this world.”

“You jest.” Wang Chao’s lips curled into a pained smile before he explained what had happened. “I was teaching someone how to do the posture training when I discovered him hidden in secret by the side. I had originally thought he was an expert that had chanced upon this place in his attempt to train. If he saw and left, then that would be it. Who would have known that even after ten minutes, he wouldn’t leave. And from there, this happened. I thought that with his eyes, he would be able to see that I was an expert and wouldn’t need to stay around. He had to be deliberately challenging me, and so I spoke some hard words to him as well. From there, we had started to fight because of our reputations. In this battle of intent, it would be wrong not to do so.”

Chen Aiyang closed his eyes in amazement, “You’ve already caused quite a stir here several days ago by fighting several experts of martial arts. I have a few friends in Beijing and so I know a little bit about what happened. But even this situation is not an easy one to absolve. They are all well known figures, and you are the founder of your own style and school. There was no friendliness between you two, and so there was no need to appear to be weak. But they had to be curious as well. To have you break their honor and then take away their face, not making a move after you announced yourself wouldn’t do either.”

Wang Chao shook his head, “I am still a youth whose fiery heart has yet to even out. My skill has increased, and I have stepped into the realm of Transforming Jin and found it hard to resist the urge to test it out. Thinking back to it, we could have just pressed hands, what need was there for a fight to the death? We were not forced to a point of no return, were we?”

“No. You forged yourself a path of fighting in Beijing. Sooner or later, the two of you would have found each other and fought. A match in private is better than one that meets the eyes of many. In a public match, to lose a single move is to lose everything.”

Chen Aiyang looked at Wang Chao for a very long time before saying, “And you have too much pressure on you, that is your sore point. I have been burdened by my family, and thus, my martial arts will never improve from this point on. Maintaining my current skill would be decent enough, let alone improve. And yet the events you are wrapped up is far greater than mine. Or at least, that is what I think. Your martial arts right now can be said to be at its peak. If you do not let go of these burdens, I’m afraid you will end up like me. Unable to improve, and hard to maintain your skill.”

“If you continue like this, then by the time you are thirty, it’ll be a mystery just how much you will retain.”

“Obtaining the Way is easy, cultivating the Way is difficult.” Wang Chao closed his eyes. “Turtle Floating in the Water and the Cutting Tail of the Crocodile. These two moves have made major achievements after my step into the Transforming Jin despite me never using them before. I know these two moves follow the way of ‘dividing the muscles and misplacing the bones’ in Chin Na, and makes up for the shortcomings of Xingyiquan. A single move can end a life, but I still cannot bear to use it in an actual fight and see its might. This means my heart has not yet fully matured. I have obtained the Way, but I have not yet cultivated it.”

“I cannot let go of my burdens, but I don’t know if you will be able to.” Chen Aiyang compared his situation to Wang Chao’s. The two of them hadn’t associated with each other for a long time, but Wang Chao had traveled thousands of miles from Shandong to Singapore at the very moment he heard Chen Aiyang had been injured. So the feelings between the two had made them very close friends who had gone through many tribulations together.

So when Wang Chao had called him, Chen Aiyang had put down everything at once to go to Beijing.

“Zhou Binglin’s arm can be reattached, but it will never be at the same power as before. His martial arts has been cut in half at the very least, his life will be in danger after this.” Chen Aiyang spoke.

“Why is that?”

“We are well known experts, where would we not come across combat? What place would not have someone seeking our lives? Zhou Binglin definitely doesn’t have very few enemies. And after he fought you and was heavily injured, the people who he had troubled before won’t leave their grudges end in the past for sure. They will seek to steal his martial arts learnt from the Sun School of Taichi, and see that he is finished. He has some disciples in Beijing most likely, but they did not inherit his legacy and only know enough to play for sport. No one will would be able to fight in his stead.”

“The way I see things, you should find several disciples with talent after you recover and pass your legacy down to two or three of them to help keep up your appearances. Although you are young, a match is nonetheless dangerous. After the peak passes, then the everyday troubles and the problems you have started in the past will come back. The world is huge, and the number of young experts are many along with your enemies. Although you were forced, an enemy is an enemy either way. No one will care that you were forced into it, they will not forgive you.”

When Wang Chao heard the words ‘teach a disciple’, the image of Huo Ling’er had immediately came to mind.

The girl he had met in Hong Kong had a decent amount of aptitude. Otherwise, Wang Chao wouldn’t have used such simple words to teach the essence of internal martial arts to her.

“Perhaps, just perhaps I need to take in a disciple. Reaching the peak takes years but only a moment to pass.”

“Qin Maojiao, Zhang Wei, Yong He, Yong Bao, Duan Guochao, Ye Xuan, and now Zhou Binglin. Then there is also the masters of Yiquan. At least with Ye Xuan, I had no qualms with killing him. The others had been involuntary.”

Wang Chao thought back to each fight he had in his mind. With each fight he had fought involuntarily or not, his hands had taken another life and added another layer of burden onto him. It was in most particular when he had been promoted to a major general–it was unknown if it was because of Tang Zichen or not.

Ever since he had learned of Tang Zichen back in Singapore and then Lin Yanan saying that the organization had investigated his personal background, Wang Chao knew that he was involved in a mess of trouble that he might not be able to free himself from.

These burdens were like a giant boulder that he held above his head.

“Your internal injuries this time is very serious. Even as proficient I am in the art of healing, it would take a very long time for you to heal with my daily medical help and your cultivation of the health. But in this time, if there is anyone that wishes to challenge you, I will help stand in your place.” Chen Aiyang took out a set of acupuncture and moxibustion from the side.

Chen Aiyang was an expert at the stage of Transforming Jin and was also an expert in the art of healing. He knew the human body like the back of his hand, and with his care and treatment, Wang Chao wasn’t worried about his injuries.

“Do you happen to know why Zhou Binglin doesn’t have an inheritor?” Wang Chao suddenly asked.

“Zhou Binglin sees himself in very high regards. He was even willing to challenge Xue Lianxin despite a disciple taking the challenge in Xue Lianxin’s stead and ending it on an indecisive note. In the end, as a youth, he was quite arrogant. His aptitude in the Sun Style of Taichi was decent, but moral standing was not passed down. Perhaps when he saw you, a youth with decent skill, he was willing to deliberately test your moral character by provoking you. He would be able to see if you would stand up for it by then. Or perhaps he had no malicious intent and didn’t think that things would progress to such a step. But you have your own status and tradition to pass on. What he did was indeed quite rash.”

“Zhou Binglin’s skill in martial arts is many times better than the group of military instructors you met at the Yiquan dojo. After cultivating his health to his fifties, he was able to maintain his strength. A feat like that is not easy.” Wang Chao sucked in a deep breath.

“The Sun School of Tachi had their own region. But the Sun School and the PRC sports and physical culture commission had came across a problem. The Sun School wished to continue their study on actual combat, and the commission wished for them to lean towards performance. With the Sun School having no influential officials to back them, there was a conflict and so there were very few inheritors. Perhaps Zhou Binglin was one of them.” Chen Aiyang took out a shiny long needle and pressed it into Wang Chao’s waist with a slow action.

“This situation is preposterous. It seems I have not fully washed away the vicious currents from within my body. Until Zhou Binglin recovers, I will take his place in case anyone wishes to find sport with him.” Wang Chao spoke.

“That won’t be necessary. If you take his place, he will not feel grateful. From here on out, you and him are enemies until the death. His disciples will take revenge on you for him.You must be careful and try not to kill every single one or try to be too much. I would also suggest you not bother about helping him, you can’t even move by yourself independently. You’ve killed Duan Guochao and destroyed the fame of the Shaolin Temple. You’ve also defeated a group of military instructors in Beijing. And now with your defeat of Zhou Binglin, you will become well known in Beijing. What happens next, you should take in disciples and gain a network. Teach some disciples and let them fight in your stead. If in the future you are still forced to fight, try to evade it as best as you can. Do not reveal your best martial arts, avoid hurting people, and don’t get any new enemies.”

“You’ve made a name for yourself, you don’t need to fight any more. Using the martial code of conduct to speak, should you ever come across this same situation, you should avoid it. Turn to the art of performance and get rid of the vicious currents you had while making a name for yourself.”

“Ai! After making a name for myself, there is still the martial code of conduct to speak of!” Wang Chao had thought about those words helplessly. He thought about the name he had made for himself, and how he was considered the number one amongst the arm.

Suddenly, the single image of a person appeared in his mind. This person held a spear and bottle gourd in hand. Wearing a bamboo hat, he stood in the darkness of the night with snow falling behind him amidst the fire in the background.

This was “Panther Head”, Lin Chong.

The martial arts instructor for 800,000 imperial guards. What a title that was.

A fame like his was similar to the fame Wang Chao had right now.

Under the heavens, just who was the true grandmaster, and who was the true hero?