No. What was interesting and important were what they emphasized. The Red Sash Kicking Style’s initial conception came from the way the flowing red sash of its originator moved during a period of high winds. From that moment of enlightenment, the lady created the core of the style, which involved fast, sharp kicks that often shifted trajectories during their attack. It was a tricky style, and attacks often originated while the foot was still in the air. Of course, that had the major disadvantage of losing a certain level of power in the final blow, as well as forcing the attacker to be stationary during these periods.
What drew Wu Ying to this kicking style were the intrinsic feints and many of the initial starting positions. In them, Wu Ying recognized some of the Long family lunging, retreating, and dodging positions. If he could incorporate this style with the Long jian style, he could potentially add another defensive barricade.
As for the punching style… Wu Ying’s lips twitched as he read over the title once more. Mountain Breaking Fist had a momentous name, one that the style did its best to live up to. The style was different from the way Wu Ying normally fought, relying on sheer strength and a single, powerful attack to finish a battle. While the Sword’s Truth was the Long family’s signature move, it was Wu Ying’s sole finishing attack. The majority of the Long family style worked by relying on numerous small, fast attacks rather than a single attack. The Mountain Breaking Fist discarded such concepts, focusing on singular, powerful attacks that had to be dodged rather than blocked.
In truth, Wu Ying was unsure if the style would suit him. But it was that uncertainty that intrigued him. Stretching himself, stretching his fighting style could not only bring a new dimension to his martial specialization but also provide ancillary benefits to his other forms. Or so Wu Ying hoped.
Lastly, there were the defensive manuals. Here, Wu Ying was somewhat at a loss and thus grateful that there were significantly fewer books to study. One manual was a cultivation and physical exercise combined, borrowing internal chi to help solidify muscles. The Scales of the Dragon might have sounded similar to his own Long family style, but they had little to do with one another. The Scales focused on enhancing a cultivator’s skin by enhancing its strength via layering chi over the aura in overlapping scales. Again, after Elder Khoo’s comments, Wu Ying was surprised to see its presence in the manuals provided. Wu Ying had to wonder if this was a test or a mistake. In either case, the addition of more aura work did little to attract Wu Ying to the exercise.
As for the other two books, one was a series of painful body strengthening techniques that focused on strengthening a cultivator’s internal organs. Wu Ying quickly discarded the manual, since the method required consumption of increasingly poisonous substances. The style did have the secondary benefit of making one immune to those poisons and others of similar scope, but Wu Ying’s reason for rejecting the manual was simple. Money. Buying the herbs and poisons required by the style would be too expensive for the poor ex-farmer.
As for the other method, Wu Ying felt his eyes narrow in consideration. Iron Reinforced Bones was a simpler, cruder method. Rather than using poisons to reinforce the body, it required the applicant to suffer. Under significant duress, bones broke or reshaped. The Iron Reinforced Bones technique made use of the body’s healing and regenerative properties, teaching the applicant how to reinforce their body. Of course, reading between the lines, while it did not require one to break their bones to see the effects, it was undoubtedly the most painful method. It was also the slowest, since it reinforced a cultivator’s body in stages.
For a time, Wu Ying sat back and thought about the various exercises and martial styles, imagining himself with them. His lips curled as, in his mind, he fought an increasing number of masked foes, dazzling them with his impressive sword work, kicking them aside with the Red Ribbon, then unleashing single, powerful strikes that cracked bone, shattered weapons, and blew away his opponents. Even when his opponents managed to hit him, their frail blows glanced off the dragon scales and his tough, reinforced bones.
Wu Ying indulged himself for a moment with the outlandish fantasy before he let out a little laugh. Such thoughts were foolish to the extreme. The time it would take to master each of those styles could be marked in years. Even someone as gifted as Tou He might learn many styles to a novice or maybe even intermediate understanding but would focus his time on gaining peak understanding of a few. Only the Elders could hope to equal Wu Ying’s fantasy self, and even then, few would dare to straddle so many areas.
No. Better to focus and grow oneself in a narrow band.
So.
Defense or offense? A punching, kicking, or grappling technique?
Wu Ying cracked his neck and looked about, realizing that he was alone in the library. All the other cultivators had left, the library illuminated by a sparse few lamps. Without his notice, day had ended and evening had grown late.
No grappling. Wu Ying pushed the work aside. He was already learning from his interactions with Elder Hsu. Punching or kicking or a defensive measure? The Dragon Scales made no sense, not with his current studies. No poison, so that left the Iron Bone technique. It had the advantage of being something he could learn while practicing other things—like his strength building.
As for offense…
“You are done finally?” Elder Khoo said, carefully setting aside his brush before he looked at Wu Ying.
The Elder glanced at the books in Wu Ying’s hands, nodding absently before he reached under his desk to extract blank manuals. Taking the books from Wu Ying’s hands, he waved them over a spirit stone then passed the blank manuals over them, brows knitting. Wu Ying could feel as Elder Khoo infused the spirit stone and the manuals with his chi, flooding both then sealing the entire thing with scribbled words.
“Elder?” Wu Ying said, tilting his head as he received the formerly blank manuals.
“I have infused the books in your hand with a copy of the manuals. The originals will stay in the sect, and your manuals will not be able to pass beyond the boundaries of the sect limits. Doing so will make them disappear,” Elder Khoo said.
Wu Ying blinked, opening the manual and feeling the slight pressure of the infused chi. He frowned, unhappy that this work was being restricted, but then squashed the irritation. In truth, he was getting rare manuals for nothing more than a few hours’ work. So what if the sect had their own policies?
“An interesting series of choices. You are focusing on developing strength over speed.” Elder Khoo tapped the Mountain Breaking Fist book and the other two manuals that Wu Ying had purchased. “Is there a reason for the change?”
“Strength is speed,” Wu Ying said, shrugging. “The stronger I get, the faster I can become too. And I have noticed that my strength is already greater than many—excluding chi use.”
“Yes. Physical strength is great, but do not forget that proper application of chi can overpower even the greatest physical strength,” Elder Khoo warned.
Having said his piece, the Elder waved and sent Wu Ying out of his library, a half-smile crossing his face as he watched the young cultivator leave.
Chapter 8
“You are all fools.”
The single pronouncement by Fairy Yang when she took the stage sent a susurration of shocked exclamations throughout the lecture hall.
When no one raised their voice to object, Fairy Yang continued. “What is most important when building a house? The foundation, the roof, or the walls?” She did not wait for volunteers but pointed at one of the sect members.