Pine Crane Stance

Pine Crane Stance

Instructor Xu was already waiting at the training ground.

His upper body was bare, a thick sheen of sweat covering his muscular frame. He held a long spear in one hand, honing his martial skills.

When he saw Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan, his arm flicked, and the spear shot like a swimming dragon, landing precisely on the weapon rack.

"Here?" He looked at their expressions, a teasing smile on his face. "What, got snubbed by Seventh Young Master?"

Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan: "..."

"They say a bookboy is practically above the rest in the Zhao Residence, but this is already the sixth time I've taught a bookboy for Seventh Young Master." There was a trace of sympathy in Instructor Xu's tone.

Zheng Fa recalled that Gao Yuan had mentioned Seventh Young Master really had gone through five bookboys before them.

Gao Yuan's expression turned even more dejected.

"Seventh Young Master is hard to serve, and none of his bookboys have ever stayed by his side for long. Yet nearly everyone in the Zhao Family is willing to take this job. Why do you think that is?"

Instructor Xu suddenly changed the subject.

Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan looked at him.

"It is for the martial arts I'm about to teach you!"

Instructor Xu continued, "The Zhao Family's ancestor was a disciple of an immortal sect. Every generation has even had someone able to enter an immortal sect to cultivate. That is how our Zhao Family attained its thousand-year standing as a great prefectural clan."

"But immortal arts are elusive, and people like us come from humble origins. Immortal fate is something we can see but never reach."

Instructor Xu's face grew somewhat somber, but his next words rang with fervor. "Yet the Zhao Family has more than immortal fate—we also possess the martial arts that let us roam freely through the mortal world! Learn martial arts, and you will no longer be weak! Even if you are no longer a bookboy someday, you will still have the means to stand on your own!"

"Look at me. I learned martial arts and acquired skills, so I can train the Zhao Family's guards and live well, eating spicy food and drinking fine liquor! When I go out, who wouldn't look at me with a little more respect?"

Instructor Xu's speech made Gao Yuan's eyes gleam.

Zheng Fa, however, found it strangely familiar—compared with modern-day course sellers, this was still far too lacking.

At the very least, shouldn't he first have created some anxiety?

Instructor Xu looked at the two of them, somewhat puzzled as well.

He knew he was clumsy with words, and he had racked his brains before coming up with those few grand promises.

Yet Gao Yuan, who came from a good background and had seen the world, had been stirred up until he was nearly howling.

Why did Zheng Fa have no reaction at all?

He gave Zheng Fa another couple of looks, then asked Gao Yuan, "You've learned martial arts before. Do you know what it takes to join a martial arts school in Jingzhou City?"

Gao Yuan thought for a while before answering, "Generally, first you have to pay an entrance fee. The minimum seems to be... twenty taels of silver?"

"And what else?"

"I've heard the rule at outside martial arts schools is three years learning the craft, five years selling yourself?"

"Correct!" Instructor Xu slapped his palm loudly. "When you learn martial arts outside, never mind whether you can learn any real skills—you still have to serve them like an ox or horse for years."

"But in the Zhao Family, Madam has shown you mercy. Though you are merely Seventh Young Master's bookboys now, you may one day manage a branch of the Zhao Family's estate. That is why she has permitted you to study martial arts under me! This is Madam's boundless benevolence!"

Zheng Fa agreed with that.

Being a Zhao Family servant did not sound respectable, but in this world, it was considered a blessing.

That was because the Zhao Family fundamentally controlled far too many social resources. Even the scraps they shared with those below were much better than what true commoners outside could get.

"Besides, how could what those outside martial arts schools teach compare to the martial arts treasured by the Zhao Family?"

"Instructor, how do you judge whether martial arts are superior or inferior?" Gao Yuan asked curiously.

Instructor Xu smiled proudly and explained, "The martial arts of our Xuanwei Realm ultimately all come from one place—the immortal sects!"

"The immortal sects?"

"Legend says that immortal sect disciples possess countless divine abilities, and their cultivation techniques have boundless might. But there is one problem—those techniques require immortal aptitude. Without the talent, you cannot cultivate immortal arts. Yet immortal sect disciples must have relatives and friends without such aptitude, right?"

"So martial arts were created?"

"Not exactly created. The earliest martial arts were simplified versions of immortal sect techniques—or, rather, incomplete versions." At this point, Instructor Xu's eyes dimmed somewhat. "Those without the aptitude to cultivate immortality could grow stronger than others by practicing martial arts. Of course, they could not compare to immortal arts even in ten thousandth part."

Hearing this, Gao Yuan said quietly, "Then I still want to cultivate immortality."

"Bullshit. Who doesn't? Forget whether you have immortal aptitude or not—look at Seventh Young Master. He has some immortal bearing himself, but can he cultivate immortality?"

"Seventh Young Master? Why can't he?" Gao Yuan asked blankly.

Instructor Xu lightly slapped his own cheek. Clearly, he regretted having let a secret slip in the heat of the moment.

"Shut up! The martial arts passed down by the martial arts schools in the city came from descendants of fallen immortal clans. Their inheritances gradually became lost, and their descendants lacked the ability to preserve them. They may not even be complete, so naturally they cannot compare with their original power."

"But the Zhao Family is different. Our Zhao Family has produced immortals generation after generation! The Zhao Family's martial arts have actually been revised by immortal sect disciples through successive generations. In terms of subtlety and refinement, they are even a step better than they were at the beginning."

Both Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan believed that. After all, the Zhao Family's thousand-year reputation was certainly stronger than those martial arts schools.

"What I will pass on to you two today is a technique from the Zhao Family's inheritance, called the Pine Crane Stance." Having misspoken earlier, Instructor Xu seemed unwilling to waste more words.

"Watch carefully!"

He assumed a stance. One foot was forward and one behind; the front foot lightly touched the ground, while the five toes of the back foot tensed, the arch inside his shoe forming a bridge. Both hands clenched into fists and drew slightly inward.

The most unusual part was the movement of his upper body.

From his waist to his neck, he formed a backward arch, resembling an immortal crane stretching its neck in song.

"Watch my movements carefully! Follow me!" he said to Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan. "Your feet must take root! With those five toes, you need to poke five holes right through the floor! But your upper body must stay loose!"

Once he saw that both had assumed similar postures, he continued, "Breathe with me! Exhale, inhale!"

When he inhaled, the muscles of his upper body rolled like wheels until his chest and abdomen swelled into a great ball.

When he exhaled, a long breath flowed from his throat, transforming into the clear, resounding cry of a crane.

Zheng Fa kept following along, but he could not shake the feeling that it was awkward.

Instructor Xu circled him several times, his palms constantly patting different parts of Zheng Fa's body.

"Draw your back in—don't draw it in too much!"

"Your belly, your belly!"

"Watch the rhythm of your breathing!"

Under Instructor Xu's guidance, Zheng Fa seemed to find a trace of the feeling—a current of heat traveled throughout his body along with his breath.

After practicing for a while, Zheng Fa's entire body ached, and he could no longer maintain the stance.

Gao Yuan beside him was grimacing as well.

"Instructor, this Pine Crane Stance is so hard!"

"It is hard because it is powerful!"

"How is it powerful?" Gao Yuan pressed.

Instructor Xu glanced at the two of them, spread his arms, and his whole body rose into the air like a bird.

He was a heavily muscled, exceptionally brawny man, yet his movements were incomparably light at that moment, even carrying the graceful ease of one riding the wind.

When he landed, he had actually leaped five or six zhang in a single bound!

"Can... can it fly?" Gao Yuan asked, his mouth hanging open.

"Of course it cannot fly. But once you master the Pine Crane Stance, you will become the greatest lightness-skill expert in the mortal world." Instructor Xu said smugly, "And the Pine Crane Stance originated from an immortal art said to grant eternal life. Once practiced to the utmost, it can..."

"Grant eternal life?" Gao Yuan asked excitedly.

"Dream on, damn it. It can extend your years and improve your health!" Instructor Xu rolled his eyes.

"This..." Gao Yuan thought about it and felt he had been dreaming a little too beautifully. "Then how long would I have to practice before reaching the summit?"

"For someone like you, maybe thirty years." Instructor Xu gave him a disdainful look.

"Then after mastering it, how many more years could I live?"

"Twenty years?"

"...Wouldn't that mean I lose ten years for nothing?"

That was Gao Yuan, mathematical prodigy's, assessment.

(End of Chapter)