Chapter 21: Chapter 19: Tiger Crane Double Form Fist
However, Mrs. Min of the Shan Family wasn’t always living separately from Mr. Shan. She would return to the Shan Family home for major holidays like the Dragon Boat Festival, New Year, and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Based on what Mr. Shan had said, Wei Tu guessed that Mrs. Min of the Shan Family must have sent a letter saying she would be back in the next few days.
...
After presenting his gift to formalize the apprenticeship.
Shan Wuju’s teaching attitude toward Wei Tu didn’t change much. He was the same as before, only his tone of voice was a little more relaxed.
He no longer sounded so rushed.
「Half a month later.」
After Wei Tu’s Archery Skill had improved dramatically, Shan Wuju led him into his personal living quarters.
Shan Wuju dismissed the maid from the room, then bent down and pried up a bluestone tile from under the altar table. From beneath the tile, he retrieved a redwood box about seven inches long.
"You have the Pile Skill from your Health Cultivation Technique, which is more than enough for practicing Martial Arts and improving your Physique."
"But a Martial Artist must not only have a strong physique, but also learn the art of Killing Skills."
Shan Wuju glanced at Wei Tu, a look of deep feeling in his eyes, and said in a solemn voice.
In truth, by taking Wei Tu as his disciple, he had lucked out.
Wei Tu had already reached Great Success in his Health Cultivation Technique and had memorized the thirty-two forms of the Turtle Breath Qi Cultivation Technique’s Pile Skill. Even though these were just basic Pile Skills, they were more than sufficient to build his Martial Arts foundation.
In other words.
Even before becoming his disciple, Wei Tu’s Martial Arts foundation was already solid.
All he lacked were combat techniques.
In practice, these combat techniques were things like Archery Skill, Fist Technique, and Blade Technique...
"The Bow Step Stance is the foundation of Archery Skill, and it’s also the foundation of Fist Technique. By practicing archery this past month, you have unintentionally learned a small part of my Fist Technique."
Shan Wuju said slowly.
With that, Shan Wuju opened the redwood box and took out a book, its pages yellowed with age. He handed it to Wei Tu.
"This is the Fist Manual for the Tiger Crane Double Form Fist. It’s the foundation of our lineage’s Martial Arts. Only after you’ve mastered the Tiger Crane Double Form Fist can you move on to practicing Blade Technique."
"My expectations for you aren’t high. Just master the Tiger Form Fist within a month."
"When the time comes, I will teach you some of the Blade Technique related to the Tiger Form Fist. If you’ve mastered it by the time of the ’Sword Dance’ portion of the examination, you should be able to secure a Grade B in the Daoist Examination at the very least."
’Grade B in the Daoist Examination?’ Hearing this, Wei Tu’s eyes lit up.
The Military Examination, much like the Literary Examination, was divided into the County Examination, Prefecture Examination, Daoist Examination, and Provincial Examination.
Passing the County and Prefecture Examinations only earned one the status of a Martial Child Scholar. This wasn’t a formal rank, but rather the qualification to participate in the Daoist Examination.
Only by passing the Daoist Examination and earning a specific grade could one obtain the rank of "Martial Scholar".
The Provincial Examination, on the other hand, granted the rank of "Martial Scholar."
And now, Shan Wuju was saying that if he mastered a portion of the Blade Technique, he would have a chance to earn a Grade B in the "Sword Dance" portion of the Daoist Examination.
A Grade B was by no means a low score.
If one achieved a Grade B across all subjects in the Daoist Examination, and if the overall quality of candidates in the Military Examination that year was a bit lower, it was even possible to secure the rank of a Martial Scholar.
"Thank you, Master." With a look of gratitude, Wei Tu accepted the yellowed manual with both hands and gave Shan Wuju a deep bow.
"Go on, get to practicing."
Shan Wuju smiled, pleased. He patted Wei Tu’s shoulder and waved his hand, dismissing him.
"Master, wait a moment."
"There’s something I don’t quite understand."
Wei Tu, who had reached the doorway, suddenly thought of something. He stopped, hesitated for a moment, then turned back and bowed to Shan Wuju once more before speaking.
"What is it?" Shan Wuju looked surprised by Wei Tu’s behavior.
After several months together, he had come to understand Wei Tu’s personality quite well. He knew his disciple was well-mannered, even to the point of being overly deferential.
’He was frugal with the lamp oil in his room, and the same with his paper and ink. When he ran out, he wouldn’t ask the maids for more, but would go into town and buy them with his own money.’
’It wasn’t that Wei Tu was keeping him at a distance, either... Whenever he ran into a difficult point in Military Strategy or a problem with his mounted archery, Wei Tu would always come to ask his master for help without hesitation.’
’And when the maids refilled his oil lamp or replenished his paper and ink, he didn’t refuse.’
Eventually, Shan Wuju figured out the reason for Wei Tu’s behavior. It was because he’d been poor for so long that he understood boundaries and knew that acting this way would keep him from earning people’s scorn.
He had just given Wei Tu the Fist Technique Manual. Logically, a disciple with such a deferential nature shouldn’t be turning back to ask more questions. He should be going off to quietly study the Fist Manual and practice his Pile Skill.
"Master, do you know about the Qi Sensing Realm? I... I read about it in the preface of the Turtle Breath Qi Cultivation Technique..."
At last, Wei Tu voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind for so long.
After becoming Shan Wuju’s disciple, he had assumed that his master would mention the "Qi Sensing Realm" during their daily lessons.
But to his surprise, several months had passed, and he hadn’t heard those three words, "Qi Sensing Realm," from Mr. Shan even once.
"The Qi Sensing Realm?"
Shan Wuju was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Wei Tu’s question to be about this.
He took a moment, choosing his words carefully. "In Martial Arts Cultivation, there is a distinction between internal and external—the difference between Inner Family True Skill and External Martial Arts."
"The Qi Sensing Realm is the very first Small Realm in the cultivation of Inner Family True Skill."
’Just the first Small Realm of Inner Family True Skill?’ Hearing this, Wei Tu’s heart sank.
He had been practicing his Health Cultivation Technique for so long, and according to the guidance of his "Late Bloomer" Destiny Chart, he had to "practice nine times a day" for five years just to enter the Qi Sensing Realm.
And that was only the first Small Realm of Inner Qi Cultivation.
’The Qi Sensing Realm is already this difficult,’ he thought. ’Aren’t the realms beyond it... going to be even harder to cultivate?’
"Don’t sell yourself short." Shan Wuju seemed to see what Wei Tu was thinking and shook his head. "That Health Cultivation Technique manual of yours describes a method of producing Inner Strength by progressing from the external to the internal. It doesn’t mean that External Martial Arts are inferior to Inner Family Techniques."
"On the contrary, when External Martial Arts reach Great Success, the ferocious Inner Strength it produces is so powerful that a single strand of it is worth ten strands produced by an Inner Family True Skill!"
Hearing this, Wei Tu secretly breathed a sigh of of relief.
He also cursed himself for being so slow. ’How could I not have thought of that?’
His Health Cultivation Technique only consisted of Pile Skill; it didn’t include the legendary Magic Techniques of Inner Family True Skill used to circulate Inner Strength through one’s meridians and expand them.
It was obviously not an Inner Family True Skill.
"Besides, generally speaking, Inner Cultivation Martial Masters are far weaker than External Martial Masters."
"An Inner Cultivation Martial Master could meditate for decades and still not match the strength of an External Martial Master who has forged his body for just a few years."
"Otherwise, every Martial Artist in the world would be an Inner Cultivation Martial Master."
"And they would be the ones taking the top spots in the Military Examination."
Shan Wuju added.
"However, if you can enter the Qi Sensing Realm, cultivating both internally and externally is a good thing," Shan Wuju mused for a moment before continuing. "Because they temper their bodies from a young age and have a propensity for brawling, External Martial Masters easily deplete their Qi and Blood and accumulate Hidden Injuries. If they can also become Inner Cultivation Martial Masters, they can use their Inner Strength to heal those wounds..."
"The Tiger Crane Double Form Fist I gave you is like your Health Cultivation Technique. If you practice it long enough, you’ll also have a chance to generate Inner Strength by progressing from the external to the internal, and thereby enter the Qi Sensing Realm."
