One Mind, Two Uses
The Old Urchin's move was blocked, but instead of being annoyed, he became even happier.
He laughed heartily, his beard trembling, and loudly praised Ji Boying's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.
He is truly a person who finds happiness easily.
"Old Urchin, your Ambidexterity Technique is quite impressive. The power of your punches is subtle yet potent, combining softness with resilience, which is also very formidable."
The two exchanged blows while praising each other. Although they were talking, their hands didn't stop, and they exchanged three more blows.
In the midst of the fight, the Old Urchin suddenly switched from the Ice Breaking Palm to the Nine Yin Divine Claw.
One hand wields the Empty Fist, as virtuous as water. The other hand possesses a divine claw, invincible and unstoppable.
Combining movement and stillness, it suddenly became fierce, and the offensive became extremely powerful.
Ji Boying was not careless either, and always used the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms to deal with the situation, but he fought more and more fiercely.
Each palm strike seemed to pierce the air.
Now Ji Boying's internal strength has surpassed that of the Old Urchin, and every palm strike he makes forces the Old Urchin to neutralize the force.
He then used his Purple Mist Internal Energy to propel himself forward, occasionally unleashing bursts of energy, striking out with two palms in quick succession, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, with varied movements and unpredictable rhythms.
Zhou Botong was in a very sorry state after a few consecutive attacks.
With such a fast and slow pace, one can also use palm techniques to counter Zhou Botong's Ambidexterity Technique one.
Once Zhou Botong loses his advantage in techniques, his lack of internal energy makes him vulnerable in direct confrontations.
Having failed in his attack, Zhou Botong ceased his offensive.
Instead, they wholeheartedly enjoyed the exchange, countering each other's moves and responding defensively.
Once the attack was halted, although Ji Boying's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms were fierce and powerful, the two were surprisingly evenly matched again.
The sudden changes in pace could no longer fool Zhou Botong.
Guo Jing Huang Rong looked on in confusion, but Zhou Botong laughed and explained it to them.
He raised his long eyebrows at Ji Boying and smiled.
"How about that? My Empty Fist comes from the Tao Te Ching. A strong army will be destroyed, a strong tree will be broken. The strong should be humble, the weak should be supple. So I use emptiness to attack strength, and insufficiency to overcome abundance. Hahaha."
Zhou Botong chuckled. Just as he had said, the moves of the Seventy-Two Empty Fist Techniques were incoherent and the body was as supple as an insect.
If one were to confront Ji Boying head-on, firstly, one's methods would not be forceful enough, and secondly, one's skills would be insufficient; naturally, one would not be a match for Ji Boying.
But once the thought of winning is abandoned, the mind becomes clear, which perfectly embodies the profound meaning of the four words "clarity through emptiness".
He was then able to calmly and methodically parry all of Ji Boying's palm strikes, which were sometimes fierce and sometimes fast.
After fighting for a while Ji Boying broke through his internal strength and was in a good mood. He was satisfied with the warm-up.
"What a brilliant move to strike the strong with the weak, to overcome the strong with the weak. Old Urchin, watch out for my palm strike!"
Old Urchin wouldn't have time to react, Ji Boying somersaulted back three feet.
Seeing that Zhou Botong was ready, he swung his right palm out into the air, and a dragon's roar resounded.
With his inner strength becoming more profound and solid, the dragon's roar that pierced the air sounded even clearer.
"How impressive! How impressive!"
The Old Urchin clapped his hands and laughed.
This Empty Palm Strike, each move producing a sound like a dragon's roar, was something even Hong Qigong, who had practiced the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms his entire life, could not achieve. Making such a sound was truly awe-inspiring.
The Old Urchin smiled but quickly mobilized his internal energy.
The fists of both hands appear weak and powerless, but they already contain the profound meaning of the Empty Fist: seeing clarity in emptiness.
The technique of Ambidexterity Technique, using two Empty Fist techniques simultaneously, is like trying to fill an empty bowl with rice, attempting to withstand the force of this palm strike.
Bang!
A loud bang.
A fierce gust of wind emanated from the Old Urchin's fists and spread outwards.
The strong wind broke the branches and leaves of some of the flowers and trees planted along the courtyard wall, causing them to fall.
"Ouch."
The Old Urchin cried out in pain, his fist stance crumbled, he took three steps back, and fell to the ground with a thud.
"So powerful, so powerful Empty Palm Strike! No, so powerful Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms!"
The Old Urchin rolled on the ground and quickly got up, stopping his playful hopping and skipping, and moved closer to Ji Boying.
"Brother Ji, Brother Ji, is this Huang Yaoshi's Empty Palm Strike or Hong Qigong's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms? This move is really interesting and powerful. Can you teach it to me? Can you teach it to me? I'll teach you the Empty Fist too."
Ji Boying waved his hand.
"Old Urchin, although I'm not a petty person, I learned the Empty Palm Strike from Huang Yaoshi and the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms from Hong Qigong. Whether I can pass on these palm techniques to you depends on their opinions; I can't make that decision on my own."
The Old Urchin was at a loss when he heard this, and he scratched his head in frustration.
"Oh dear, this is not easy to handle. These people may be generous to others, but they are really stingy with me."
As the Old Urchin said, Hong Qigong was quite generous. He would teach a few martial arts moves to anyone he liked, and he would pass on the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms without hesitation.
But the people he had his eye on were all younger or juniors.
In the past, although the Old Urchin was weaker, he was still considered somewhat threatening in their eyes.
Therefore, they refused to let the Old Urchin know the details of their kung fu skills.
Ji Boying laughed and said, "Although I can't pass on these two skills to you, you can still use them. We can combine our Quanzhen Sect's own palm techniques with some of the Empty Palm Strike that are popular in the martial arts world, and we can create another one together. Its power will not be bad either."
"If you're still not satisfied, why don't you take the Nine Yin Manual to Hong Qigong and exchange it for his Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms? He's leading the Beggar Gang' Sect disciples in fighting the Jin right now, so they're all on our side. As for Huang Yaoshi, I can put in a good word for you. If all else fails, you can give him your Empty Fist as well. That way, everyone will have a new martial arts hall, and no one will lose out. What do you say?"
"Great, excellent."
Zhou Botong clapped his hands happily.
"Good brother, good brother, I am indebted to you again. Thank you so much."
Ji Boying said, "You don't need to thank me verbally. After all, I am also a member of our Quanzhen Sect. I have also improved our Quanzhen Sect's mental cultivation method by incorporating Purple Mist True Qi. Senior Brother Ma and the others are practicing it now, and Guo Jing and the others also know it. I will ask Ying Gu to give it to you later, and you can practice it together."
"I was already quite good at swordsmanship, and now I have incorporated the swordsmanship of our Quanzhen Sect into my original swordsmanship, creating a new swordsmanship. This swordsmanship will remain in the Quanzhen Sect in the future, and I can teach it to you."
"I don't want anything else from you, just teach me your Ambidexterity Technique skills."
Zhou Botong nodded vigorously, clearly impatient.
"Alright, I'll teach you. I practiced this Ambidexterity Technique on my own for fun. Just now, while practicing, I couldn't help but use it, and it's really useful for fighting. As long as you can keep one mind focused internally and the other mind focused externally, you can master it."
"Come on, come on, all of you come and learn! Once we've all learned, it'll be so much fun for ten of us to fight together!"