Chapter 31: Heart to Heart
A spring breeze came overnight.
The old tree in Fatty Sun's yard has sprouted new buds, and the earth after the ice and snow have melted has begun to show some green.
call!
call!
Under the old tree, Li Yuan was standing on the White Ape Post, holding a hammer in one hand. His body was loose, his mind was relaxed, but his breathing was long and powerful.
"Hands and feet come together, elbows and knees come together, shoulders and hips come together, this is the outer three combinations."
Li Yuan stomped his foot, twisted his knees and hips, raised his elbows back, and swung the long-handled training hammer through the air, making a different explosion than before.
Snapped!
The sound was like firecrackers.
Once the force is released, it cannot be retracted. Li Yuan moves his feet and hips, swings his arms, like a white ape with a hammer, and the whole yard is filled with the sound of explosions breaking through the air.
After a while, all 108 variations of the 18 hammer techniques were performed, and at the last moment, all the strength was combined to strike the air hard.
There was a loud bang!
"My fighting skills have improved slightly!"
In the inner room, Fatty Sun, who was cleaning the table, suddenly came out. Looking at Li Yuan, who was sweating and slowly exhaling and closing his fist, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch:
"You, how do you learn so fast?!"
Although the fighting skills will progress quickly after a small success in training, it is still difficult to combine the 18-style hammer method and 108 variations into one in just a few days.
Even after using the 'White Ape Hammer', he still felt a little unsteady on his feet.
Do you want to be so exaggerated?
It took him more than ten years to reach this level!
What's even more tragic is that more than ten years have passed, and he is still stuck at this step. He has not been able to comprehend the inner three harmonies, and has only relied on food supplements to push his blood and qi to great perfection.
This kid in front of me will probably surpass me soon.
"In the past half month, I have been eating medicinal food, taking medicinal supplements, and taking medicinal baths. If there is no progress, how can it be worth the money I spent?"
Li Yuan let out a long breath to blow away the steaming sweat, and he felt full of energy. He flexed and stretched his arms, his blood flowing, and from his shoulders to his fingertips, he felt warm and almost burning.
There is also blood flowing below the waist and hips, and it seems to be sinking to the knees.
After the outer three combinations were opened up, his blood and qi had also been pushed to the level of minor success. All that was left was for the blood to touch the spring and penetrate the six combinations, then he would achieve major success!
"That's my silver!"
Fatty Sun's eyes widened.
"Yes, yes, and I would also like to thank the chef for his generosity!"
Li Yuan clasped his fists repeatedly, feeling truly grateful in his heart.
His progress in the past half month was enormous, but correspondingly, he was spending money like water, and the profit from forging iron in the forge was far from enough.
Not only did he spend all the money he had, but the amount of money he owed Fatty Sun also reached a new high of forty-five taels, not counting the one tael of gold.
Really, noble man.
"I was just blinded by greed, and I don't know how you borrowed it from me!"
Fatty Sun hummed a few words, still finding it hard to accept:
"Thirty years of hard training, but I am no match for you in five months. You and I both have average to low physiques, so how come there is such a huge gap in talent?"
Seeing that Fatty Sun was doubting his life, Li Yuan quickly changed the subject:
"I have mastered the outer three steps, but I still don't know the inner three steps. Can you teach me, Chef?"
"You, you are about to touch the inner three combinations..."
Fatty Sun tugged at his clothes and felt a little stuffy in his chest. He stared at Li Yuan for a few seconds before swallowing his saliva.
"Freak, freak..."
More than five months ago, he was still a frail apprentice with poor roots and a weak physique who had to pay money to get in. Five months later, he is already getting in touch with the inner three combinations?
This talent is simply amazing.
"It's just that your bones are weak, and your blood energy doesn't grow fast, otherwise..."
Fatty Sun looked very sad.
"My roots are poor."
Li Yuan smiled.
The progress of the blood and qi cannot be seen by others unless they fight or check it in person. Fatty Sun thought that his blood and qi were not yet fully developed, so there was no need for him to say anything.
"There is a theory about the six combinations of the White Ape Cloak Hammer, the inner and outer three combinations. You have already understood the outer three combinations, so there is no need to explain them. The inner three combinations are the combination of heart and mind, the combination of mind and qi, and the combination of qi and strength..."
Fatty Sun spoke very logically and was obviously not as lazy as he seemed.
"The external three harmonies, with the hips as the center, run through the hands, feet, shoulders and elbows. The internal three harmonies, with the heart as the main focus, run through the mind and qi until the six harmonies are connected.
How does the saying go? The heart is the marshal, the mind is the command, the spirit is the vanguard, and the strength is the soldiers..." Li Yuan listened quietly.
He had asked many people in the inner and outer courtyards about the White Ape Liuhe, but their answers were generally the same. However, when asked about the details, they said that one had to figure it out on his own.
In his opinion, this is what even those who have achieved great success have not been able to fully comprehend.
Whenever someone talks about something that sounds confusing, it is likely that the person himself does not understand it.
"My brother-in-law taught me this, and his master also taught him this..."
Fatty Sun spread his hands.
The blood and qi can be increased slowly by taking medicine, but the level of martial arts cannot be improved.
His blood and energy have flowed through his limbs, but he has not comprehended the three inner harmonies. Since the six harmonies cannot be connected, he cannot impact his internal strength.
"I probably understand."
Li Yuan nodded: "Thank you, Chef, for clearing up my confusion."
"?"
Fatty Sun was a little confused: "You understand, what do you understand?"
"It's hard to say now. Let me give it a try. If there's nothing wrong, I'll teach you."
Feeling the blessing of the perfect-level hammer technique, Li Yuan had some vague guesses in his mind, but guesses were just guesses after all and had not been verified.
"No, you should tell me first!"
Fatty Sun was extremely anxious.
"I believe that the mind is the thought and the intention is the action. The mind and intention are one, that is, whatever action the mind thinks of, the body will perform."
Li Yuan thought for a moment and said:
"The so-called six-in-one connection, I think, is that once a thought comes to mind, it is like a hammer striking out, with the knees, hips, elbows, blood, energy, and breathing coordinating with each other, and the whole body's strength is twisted into one force to strike out..."
Compared to Xuanxu's shared thoughts, Li Yuan felt that his explanation was more straightforward and also very reasonable.
After all, he was blessed with the perfect level of Cloak Hammer Technique.
"All the strength in my body is gathered together..."
Fatty Sun seemed to understand, but he punched out subconsciously and couldn't help but smile bitterly:
"It's easier said than done. You still have to understand..."
"Rather than enlightenment, it's more like relying on years of practice to make breathing, moves, and moving blood and energy become instincts."
Li Yuan explained that he really wanted to help Fatty Sun:
"Practice may not make it, but if you don't practice, you will definitely not make it."
"I've been idle for too long. I'm afraid I won't be able to pick it up in a short while. Oh, forget it. I'm probably not destined to develop inner strength..."
Fatty Sun sighed and watched Li Yuan leave.
boom!
After the gate was closed, Fatty Sun wiped away the dejection on his face, gritted his teeth, clenched the hammer, and stood up under the big tree like a white ape.
After the beginning of the year, the shop recruited more than 40 apprentices, several times more than before. With more staff in the middle courtyard, he had more free time.
These days, under Li Yuan's encouragement, he picked up his martial arts again.
"Internal strength!"
……
"You lost more than 20 pounds in just over half a month. Do you think I can't see it?"
Looking back at the tightly closed courtyard door, Li Yuan smiled inwardly and walked quickly towards the forging room.
After mastering the Master Craftsman's Hammer, his forging skills really improved by leaps and bounds, and he had already reached the level of proficiency two days ago.
With his familiarity with all kinds of weapons, his attainments in forging techniques surpassed many blacksmiths, except for his lack of temperature.
"In two months at most, the forging technique will be accomplished. By then, I will be able to replace the sickle with a sword and wield two advanced weapons!"
(End of this chapter)
