Chapter 156: Muay Thai, Yoga, and a Ninth Dan (First) (1/2)

Chapter 156: Muay Thai, Yoga, and a Ninth Dan (First)

“Are there so many rules like this?” Huo Ling’er spoke after she and Wang Chao had made it out from the eyesight of the group.

“In the past, the Wulin had many more rules; but as it is today it is more lax. Yet, there are still the basics that remain today as well.” Wang Chao wasn’t willing to divulge any more about this. As long as Huo Ling’er knew the simple rules, she would be able to avoid any trouble.

“But I’m curious. Hong Kong is a prestigious place with many masters of martial arts. With the prestige of your Huo family, finding a master to teach you would be no problem. Why was it that you looked to apprentice yourself to me?”

As Wang Chao walked along the park avenue, the morning mist had finally started to dissipate. The eastern skies had already begun to show the sun-dyed red clouds. Today it seems, would be another good day.

With his intent rising along with the sun would across the sky, Wang Chao’s steps grew quicker, but steady. Each time he brought a foot up, anyone that saw him would feel as if he was stuck to the ground.

His heel, toes and sole would step on the ground, rise back up, and fall back down as he walked. As if the ground was a viscous pile of sweet syrup, one of Wang Chao’s feet would always be stuck to it.

From the legs comes life and is ultimately connected to the earth.

With each step and breathe, the hairs of his entire body seemed to move up and down along with the pores closing and opening. In this fashion, it was as if he was one single nose breathing in and out through his entire body.

A single breath of fresh air would go through the mouth and nose and pass through the lungs. On the way, the old and decayed air would be passed out, leaving the person to feel refreshed.

“A real person breathes with the step. Everyone else breathes with the throat.”

After reaching the Transforming Jin stage, all of the pores on Wang Chao’s entire body could open and close at will. Each time he breathed, his entire body was affected. From top to bottom, from his head to all the way down to his toes, he could feel the circulation of his breath.

But this was a deliberate movement by Wang Chao. He had not yet reached a stage where this was a natural movement. Still, he could move the blood vessels throughout his body along with the sturdy tendons and muscles. By removing the poisonous blood and decayed air, his life had reached a period of longevity thanks to the cultivation of his health.

If he had advanced yet another step and was able to make these movements natural whenever he took a step and breathed, then he would become what Zhuangzhi had described as a “Daoist spiritual master”. To compound on this foundation, if he advanced yet another step and could suspend his thoughts, move without moving, and know without seeing, then he would reach what the Doctrine of the Mean of Confucian said as the “Sincere Way”.

But it was pointless to talk about those at his current progression. Transforming Jin was merely a step past the main chamber and into the inner rooms. But even then, he could only peek into these rooms of the utmost boundaries from the corner.

Wang Chao hadn’t even spared another sentence with Zhou Binglin of the Sun Style Taichi before they fought. He had relied on the robustness that came with youth along with the obscenely strong two killing moves from the Crocodile Fist, “Turtle Floating in Water”, and “Cutting Tail of the Crocodile” to sever Zhou Binglin’s arm. While he himself had took on serious damage, it had taken Chen Aiyang two months to heal him more than halfway.

In comparison, Zhou Binglin was far more miserable. His life in the Wulin could be said to be forfeited.

These past few days of recuperation in the hospital were spent in deep thought by Wang Chao. Ever since his first appearance into the martial arts world, he had made enemies with many people. Although the view he had now was spectacular, the path in front of him wouldn’t be as easy to walk, meaning he had no choice but to involve others now. Taking in Huo Ling’er as his disciple was another example of him consolidating his foundation.

While Huo Ling’er had the aptitude, she was a woman, and the daughter of a powerful family. She could not be expected to fight in competitions and kill to live. But as a disciple, being a part of a powerful family was what many masters of martial arts based their conditions on. Thus, Wang Chao had decided a disciple like that.

But there was still one other problem that had to be cleared up. Where did Huo Ling’er learn her Karate from? Did she have any other masters?

“I used to study abroad in America. Over there, I learned Karate at a dojo during my studies.”

Huo Ling’er twirled her fingers as she spoke of her own history from behind Wang Chao. “After my graduation, I went to Japan and studied in Shotokan for a while. The Karate dojos there were similar to a school. As long as you can pay, you can learn. There were open competitions, and some in secret. That year, I participated in the Junior World Championships before returning. I was in the midst of looking for a master to apprentice myself under, but when I heard that master had defeated and killed Ye Xuan in Shandong, I was determined to become your disciple.”

“I see.” Wang Chao nodded his head, seeing no faults in her words. “The rules in a Karate competition prohibits the use of many different fierce fighting methods and is considered a family sport. But the traditional ways of killing cannot be shown onstage either due to its bloody nature. Even as a champion of the junior tournament, it doesn’t count for much.”

“I know that as well.” Huo Ling’er nodded her head. “Every student of the orthodox Karate schools in Japan know that Japan has both open and secret competitions. The open competitions have many regulations while the secret ones have none and do not prohibit a match that maims or cripples someone. These hidden competitions have earned the support of both the Japanese world of martial arts along with the Japanese government itself, but they aren’t publicized. Even in Korea and Thailand, they have these same competitions. We too have underground fighting, but the government does not condone it. Our government is different from theirs.”

“It’s getting bright, let’s go to that the zoo nearby and take a look.”

Listening to Huo Ling’er talk of her studies in Japan, Wang Chao looked up to the sky to see its weather. Walking out from the park, they hired a taxi and drove over to the zoo.

“What hostility was there between you and Ye Xuan? It seems like you really hated him.”

A flash of grief and hatred went through Huo Ling’er’s eyes at the mention of Ye Xuan. “When I was studying Shotokan in Japan, I came to know a really good sister. But because she was short on money, she participated in one of the secret competitions. Ye Xuan had broken her arm, and it still hasn’t recovered! I’ve long since wanted to take revenge but I was never a match for Ye Xuan sadly.”

“Ai! With a lack of money, one can only participate in the secret competitions. The normal open competitions have many unwritten rules–those are even scarier than the written rules. Even the sports commission have many unwritten rules; even if you aren’t strong, you can become the champion. How could a competition like that produce any type of experts?”

Wang Chao shut his eyes and sighed.

When Huo Ling’er thought about how she became a champion for the very same tournament Wang Chao described, she felt as if her title was very exaggerated and couldn’t help but blush a little.

It was another ten minutes before the taxi had reached the zoo. Upon paying the entrance tickets, Wang Chao and Huo Ling’er strolled on in.

As soon as he had walked in, Wang Chao could see the massive head of a black bear crouching underneath the tree of a fake mountain. Dozing off, both its eyes and chubby body seemed to be in peace. To be both vigorous and peaceful, this bear had shown the best of both worlds beautifully.

Wang Chao’s foot faltered for a moment before he squatted down as well. Looking at the bear for a very long time from the cement, he finally gave a curt nod. Huo Ling’er hadn’t understood just why he had done so however.

“The majority of martial arts were derived from the way an animal hunts its prey. From the way it fights, many things can be understood. These animals may have lost their wild nature, but their instincts are still there. Take a good look, plenty can be learned from them.” Wang Chao stood up. “When the time comes when one can go to the African Savannas and see the true wild natures of animals and how they act, that would be very beneficial.”

Let’s go and see what else we can see.”

Afterwards, Wang Chao had looked at the snake, crane, tiger, leopard, horse, and many other animals. Like an obedient disciple, Huo Ling’er followed him from behind. Finally, they arrived at the aquarium.

Wang Chao had first seen the sea turtle and hawksbill turtle floating lightheartedly over the waters. The sea turtle was heavy in weight, but its limbs could swim across the waters in an extremely skilled manner.

“The tortoise is one of the most long-living animals.” Wang Chao observed for a very long time before finally speaking. “Its body is very cumbersome because of its shell. It is like a bear in steadiness, but when it glides across the waters with its limbs, it is like a bird in flight. In the waters, the tortoise exemplifies the ‘Bear by the Bird’ perfectly. This is what a person should want to learn from it.

Huo Ling’er could only give a half-understanding nod.

Wang Chao wouldn’t bother to explain it clearly either. When teaching a disciple, whatever they heard was how much they heard. The rest was up to them to learn themselves. Furthermore, Huo Ling’er wasn’t yet at a level where she could grasp and understand the concept of learning from all the animals in the world. What he had just said right now would only barely give her some superficial knowledge.

This time, Wang Chao had came to the zoo as a form of self-cultivation to deepen the bond between animals and Chinese boxing. Although he was already capable of turning sound into silence with each of the twelve stances of Xingyiquan, had reached the Transforming Jin stage, and could couple soft and hard together perfectly, the importance was in intention. Style or form wasn’t the most important here.