Zhang Beixing was completely unaware of the thoughts in the minds of Zheng Jituo and others. At this mont, he was just closing his eyes, trying to draw out the inexplicable force within his body, as if he were drawing ’qi’. But unfortunately, after several attempts, he ended in failure. Recalling how he had just used this force to blast a basketball with a punch, Could it be... this force requires strong, vigorous movents, like the Yue Family’s chain punches, to activate it? Frowning slightly, Zhang Beixing felt this idea was unlikely.
To verify his guess, Zhang Beixing found a tree, took a deep breath, letting his breath sink into his Dantian. He closed his eyes, feeling the force was presently within his body. Suddenly opening his eyes, Zhang Beixing bellowed, channeling the ’force’ onto his fist, and violently blasted it out with a move from the Yue Family’s chain punches!
CRACK! An incredibly fast punch bombarded the tree trunk, producing a crisp sound. The tree trunk was shattered by Zhang Beixing’s strike, revealing the tender white wood beneath its brown skin. But the problem lay in the fact that after Zhang Beixing had raised his Yue Family’s chain punches to [Integration 20], normally striking a tree would also have such an effect! This was nothing special.
Realizing this, Zhang Beixing lightly exclaid, just about to doubt whether he had guessed wrong. Was this ’force’ that appeared out of nowhere not as he thought? But the next second, CRACK! Another crisp sound ca from the tree. Zhang Beixing, taken aback, fixed his gaze upon it. He saw several fine cracks once again spreading across the brown bark at the point where his fist t the tree!
!!! What’s going on? Zhang Beixing exclaid with surprise, softly calling out. He imdiately withdrew his fist and hastened forward to inspect. Beneath the imprint of his fist on the tree, a series of extrely fine cracks continued to spread. Seeing this, Zhang Beixing grew curious and began to pick at them with his hand. After peeling off a piece of bark, he saw several fine cracks were indeed hidden underneath, on the tender wood!
Seeing this, Zhang Beixing’s mind was sowhat bewildered. He had just landed an ordinary straight punch. Even if it was possible to harm the tree, logically, it should only damage the area he struck. Why would there be cracks inside the bark? Combined with the incident when he was playing basketball and unexpectedly burst the ball, an absurd idea ford in Zhang Beixing’s mind, persistently lingering: Could it be... I... have cultivated Hidden Force?!
This idea wasn’t impossible! Because in this world, there really was sothing as absurd sounding, and even more absurd upon closer thought, as Hidden Force. Soone close to Zhang Beixing knew this technique. That person was his Martial Arts ntor, his guide to Martial Arts—Liu Yi, Teacher Liu! Although Zhang Beixing had never heard Liu Yi openly admit to this, nor had he ever seen Liu Yi demonstrate Hidden Force, he could tell that the other party certainly knew Hidden Force from Teacher Liu’s words and behavior, or from the last visit to Elder Chen and the things Elder Chen said to Zhang Beixing.
Otherwise, how could he, soone not even forty years old, converse and laugh with Elder Chen, an esteed elder over eighty, becoming close friends regardless of the age gap? To thrive in the Martial Arts circle of Great Xia, having high EQ, being astute in affairs, and understanding the subtleties of human relationships was one thing. But more importantly, it was personal strength! If one could refine their Martial Arts to a trendously terrifying extent, it wouldn’t matter if you were thirty years old, or even twenty, or just in your teens. Those elders with greater age but lesser skill would still have to respectfully address you as their senior and would co over to greet you proactively! And they would have their children of the sa age call you ’Uncle’ or even ’Grandpa’! Anyone who dared not to would face a fierce challenge. The main point was a clear class distinction, strict hierarchy!
...
Having roughly guessed that the extra force within his body was Hidden Force, Zhang Beixing stared at the cracks he had created on the tree and examined them closely. And the more he examined them, the deeper Zhang Beixing’s frown beca. Because he found the cracks he produced bore a hint of Hidden Force, but... it wasn’t entirely Hidden Force! Too weak, the lethality is not enough. This at most counts as just touching the threshold of Hidden Force, Zhang Beixing evaluated.
According to his guess about Hidden Force, it was the Power unleashed in secrecy, also known as ’Internal Energy’. Housed within the body and inherent in each move. And since it was a secret, it surely had to be concealed and deadly. But now, Zhang Beixing had achieved Hidden Force. Even he himself hadn’t realized that he had inadvertently released Hidden Force. As for being lethal... Looking at the tree with only superficial cracks inflicted by his blows, Zhang Beixing felt that he was still very far from his goal! Wait until the day he could punch and completely shatter a tree from the inside out!
Co to think of it, if I’m not mistaken, my suggestion to punch wooden piles underwater was intended for ’Fist like a Tiger, Hidden Force Descends the Dragon,’ right? Could it be that only after I have mastered Hidden Force can I shatter the wooden piles underwater? It’s very likely, give it a try!
With that thought in mind, no ti was wasted. Zhang Beixing set his Bag down and walked straight into the artificial lake. Facing the wooden pile that had only superficial scratches after so many days of punching, Zhang Beixing adjusted his breathing, sensed the ’Hidden Force’ within his body, assud the Yue Family’s chain punch stance, and delivered a punch!
THUMP! A muffled sound emanated from underwater. This ti, Zhang Beixing still felt the resistance of the water, but the mont his fist made contact with the wooden pile, he visibly felt his own strength being exerted. And this strength, unlike external resistance, couldn’t be diffused, because it erupted from within, unaffected by external resistance.
After receiving Zhang Beixing’s blow, the wooden pile swayed for a few monts before returning to calmness. At first glance, it didn’t seem as powerful as when he previously broke the surface with a punch. But Zhang Beixing knew the big effect was yet to co! That punch had been delivered with half of his Power, harnessing half of his body’s Hidden Force! It appeared ordinary now only because the ti for it to take effect had not yet arrived. Let the bullet fly a bit longer!
....
GURGLE. GURGLE GURGLE GURGLE. Soon, the sound of the water accompanied many bubbles erging from the wooden pile. Seeing this, Zhang Beixing knew the effect was taking place and fixed his gaze on it. He then saw that at the spot where he had punched, clear water flowed by, carrying along strands of wood shavings. Zhang Beixing was overjoyed and quickly went over to strip off the tree bark.
Before long, the bark was peeled away, revealing the tree beneath, whose water-soaked color had deepened. Several cracks were spreading across it, fine wood shavings being continuously swept along by the Lily Waters from within these fissures.
This one punch was more effective than the hundreds he had previously thrown! Indeed, that’s the case. The core of ’Fist like a Tiger, Hidden Force Descends the Dragon’ lies in Hidden Force! Although I had my speculations upon first seeing the suggestion, it was only after I touched the threshold of Hidden Force today that I could be certain of it. Right, it’s only with Hidden Force, which cos later in the process, that I can break through the heavy resistance in the Lily Waters, and successfully shatter this wooden pile!
One breakthrough leads to other breakthroughs. Having confird that Hidden Force was the key to punching piles underwater, Zhang Beixing finally had a concrete goal and direction in his Martial Arts Training. No longer would he be blindly thrashing about as before.
And this realization wasn’t the only insight brought forth to Zhang Beixing. He also thought of the Eight Pieces of Brocade from the Northern Sect, which had puzzled him for days. Could there be a connection between the two? Such thoughts erged in Zhang Beixing’s mind.
But since he was already in the water with his clothes completely soaked, and thinking, wet is wet, Zhang Beixing decided to put the issue of the Northern Sect’s Eight Pieces of Brocade aside for now. After finishing his punching in the water, he would try it. And with that mindset, Zhang Beixing beca energized!
Unaware of the ti, he continued from half past one in the afternoon until three. If not for the waves he caused becoming too big, causing him to lose his balance and get splashed into the lake, he would probably still be punching now.
Getting out of the lake and seeing the previously calm surface now turbulent with his own doing, Zhang Beixing said, "It looks like I won’t be able to punch for a while now!" At this point, even if he went back in, he would likely be pushed directly into the water.
With that being the case, it was better to leave and co back to continue after the lake had cald down. Besides, after busying myself all afternoon, I’m sowhat hungry, ti to eat!
Muttering to himself, Zhang Beixing wiped his body dry, changed into a clean set of clothes, and carried his bulging Bag to the cafeteria for a al.
「anwhile, as he headed to the cafeteria.」
In the principal’s office, Liu Yi and the principal of Shi University sat opposite each other. They were drinking tea and chatting amiably, the atmosphere warm and harmonious. When the ti seed about right, Teacher Liu took a sip of tea, looked at the principal, and said, "Actually, the reason for my visit today, apart from catching up, is to ask for a favor!"
"Oh? So the renowned Liu Yi, Liu Eight-Steps, of Great Xia’s Martial Arts circle cos to for help? What is it? As long as it’s not asking for too much, I can generally agree!" the principal said with a smile. His ability to casually ntion Liu Yi’s nickna in the Great Xia Martial Arts circle, ’Liu Eight-Steps’, showed that even if he wasn’t part of the circle, he had connections within it.
"Ahem, it’s nothing much. I’ve recently accepted a disciple, our school’s Zhang Beixing—the young man who pretended to be a security guard a while back. As a martial artist, he needs a place for Martial Arts Training, right? So I was wondering if you could, say, reopen the small grove area, so Zhang Beixing can practice Martial Arts there... What do you think..."
"Ah, is that all? I’ve known about this for a while. Otherwise, why do you think no one bothered him while he was practicing Martial Arts in the small grove? But reopening it is no problem at all. After all, it was originally closed because of you. Since you’re no longer concerned, I’ll issue a notice about it shortly!"
The principal of Shi University gave a slight smile, indicating that such matters were easy for him to handle. Seeing his reaction, Teacher Liu also smiled. He drained the rest of his tea, chatted a bit more, and noticing it was almost five o’clock and ti to practice the Eight Pieces of Brocade, he stood up, bid farewell, and left the principal’s office.
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