Bird in Palm Does Not Fly

Tai Chi aimed to evolve yin and yang.

This was the core concept behind every Old Technique based on Tai Chi.

Dragon and tiger, water and fire; yin and yang complemented each other.

Pure bursts of strength made Tai Chi cultivation twice the effort for half the result. Only by balancing hardness and softness could one push this fist art to the realm of mastery.

Chengtian Tai Chi Fist, Proficiency: 100%

Li Changqing looked inward. With his Vitality breakthrough and the upgrade to his breathing technique, his physique was now no different from that of a Martial Artist.

But Li Changqing did not intend to stop there. He wanted to climb higher still, using the breakthroughs in his breathing technique and Vitality to push this Old Technique he relied on to a realm even Kang Tianchen had never reached.

He had a feeling that he was only one kick away from the threshold.

Flowing water.

If there was anything in nature that best embodied the principles of Tai Chi, it was water.

Water had no fixed shape, no fixed momentum.

Soft, it could nourish living things and nurture the earth; hard, it could raise towering waves and crush cities and fortresses.

One hard, one soft—this was Tai Chi.

Li Changqing breathed deeply. The Spirit Turtle Breathing Technique bestowed endless strength upon his body, along with Vitality that was almost impossible to exhaust.

He suddenly leaped up, his upper body rising out of the pool. Then Vitality erupted from his legs, and his meticulous control shaped the force exploding from his muscles into a steady upward lift.

Just like that, half his body hovered above the water, with only his lower thighs and calves still submerged in the pool.

After pausing for several seconds, Li Changqing began stepping across the water. His upper body remained remarkably steady, while his moving legs kicked up sprays of water. From afar, he looked as though he were walking upon the waves.

He made his way beneath the waterfall, picked out a large rock, and stepped directly onto it.

The force of a three-meter waterfall was nothing to the current Li Changqing.

Water splashed against his smooth skin with a dull, metallic thud.

He had no need to use the impact of such a small waterfall for cultivation.

Standing atop the rock, Li Changqing slowly stretched his limbs.

The next instant, he began his fist art.

He did not perform the Twenty-Four Tai Chi Forms in order.

The moment he struck, he used the twentieth form.

Invert Yin Overturn Yang!

For Li Changqing, who had already thoroughly mastered the fist art, there was no need to follow convention.

The instant he moved, it was the most suitable technique.

His powerful Vitality was as heavy as lead and mercury. The force that surged and erupted actually halted the waterfall's flow for an instant.

The pressure of the accumulated water all bore down upon Li Changqing. His skin reddened, and his muscles tightened.

Yet his eyes gleamed with a mad obsession for the martial path.

"Hah!"

The next instant, yin and yang inverted.

Originally, this move was meant to help the practitioner regulate the explosive force produced by muscle groups across different parts of the body.

But now, Li Changqing used Vitality to transform it, turning the fierce torrent's immense impact into a gently babbling stream.

His idea was wild enough to make anyone call him arrogant.

Tai Chi prized the union of hardness and softness, the harmony of yin and yang.

Since that was the case, Li Changqing would use Tai Chi Fist to directly harness the power of the waterfall.

He would invert this yang-hard water into yin-soft water.

"Turn for me!"

His Vitality surged. Li Changqing's fist art changed, breaking free of the path laid out by the twenty-four forms of Chengtian Tai Chi Fist.

This was an entirely new move.

Splash—

The force of the water's impact weakened. Li Changqing's eyes grew brighter, his chest expanded, and the Spirit Turtle Breathing Technique was driven to its utmost limit.

"Turn again!"

The flow weakened once more. The water, which had been churned by gravity's acceleration, fell into the pool and raised only faint ripples.

"Still not enough!"

His heavy breathing rumbled as Li Changqing's fist art changed again.

Invert Yin Overturn Yang!

The sound of rushing water vanished.

A scene that defied humanity's understanding of the world appeared in the deserted mountains.

The waterfall plunged from above, its torrent rushing fiercely. Yet when the stream, frothing with white foam, fell into the pool below, it did not even splash, as though gravity had abruptly ceased to function in that instant.

Like a clay ox sinking into the sea, there were not even circular ripples spreading from the meeting of the two currents.

Vitality steamed from Li Changqing's entire body, his liquid, mercury-like Vitality flowing throughout him.

He lightly stamped his left foot.

The waterfall's surging impact was instantly transferred beneath his feet through the force he guided with his Vitality.

Boom!

The tranquil pool roared upward. Yin-soft water transformed into yang-hard water and shot skyward, finally colliding with the waterfall.

A different kind of spray exploded in midair.

Li Changqing raised both hands over his head, then slowly pressed them down and exhaled a streak of white air like a sword.

The Qi Sword was incomparably condensed. After piercing the air before him, its momentum did not diminish in the slightest. It directly blasted open the flowing waterfall, boring through the water before slowly dissipating only after flying several meters.

A single breath of Qi Sword possessed such power.

His heavy Vitality finally gathered once more at the center of his Dantian, forming a pellet like lead and mercury.

Embracing the Core and Returning Strength.

At this moment, Li Changqing had completely stepped into the realm of Martial Artist.

He was no longer an apprentice, nor was he in the Transformation Stage.

He was a true Lower-Rank Martial Artist, one who had surpassed the limits of the human body in every respect.

Li Changqing looked inward. Sure enough, the name of Tai Chi had changed.

Old Technique Tai Chi (Flowing Water True Meaning), Proficiency: 20%

Agility +2

Willpower +1

The Tai Chi Fist of Chengtian Martial Arts School had evolved after Li Changqing comprehended flowing water, becoming an Old Technique Tai Chi unique to himself.

His entire body felt translucent, his mind crystal clear.

"Chirp chirp—"

Birdsong?

Li Changqing raised his head toward the sound and saw a sparrow whose wings had been soaked by the spray spiraling down. It chirped as it desperately flapped its wings, yet could not halt its descent.

"Sorry, little fellow."

Li Changqing reached out and caught the sparrow. This little thing was probably an unlucky victim struck by the spray his fist art had stirred up.

Held aloft in Li Changqing's palm, the sparrow's feathers puffed up in alarm at the unfamiliar scent.

"Don't move."

His large hand covered the sparrow. Vitality flowed through Li Changqing's body, and its scorching heat swiftly dried the moisture from the bird's feathers.

It happened so quickly that white vapor even rose into the air.

"Chirp chirp?" The sparrow flapped its wings. Though its tiny bird brain could not figure out what had happened.

It did discover that it could fly again.

The sparrow hurriedly flapped its wings, but its attempt to take off still failed.

"Chirp chirp?"

Unwilling to accept this, it jumped again. A supple force perfectly canceled out the strength in its legs.

The sparrow panicked. It beat its wings without stop, yet could never take flight.

Li Changqing held one hand flat. Whenever the sparrow prepared to fly, his palm would subtly guide force, perfectly neutralizing the sparrow's strength. Unable to push off the ground, the little thing had no way to take flight.

All that could be seen was the little fellow constantly fluttering its wings, while its body remained completely still.

Bird in Palm Does Not Fly.

His Tai Chi technique had already reached consummate mastery.

"I won't tease you anymore." Li Changqing smiled, stopped playing with the sparrow, and set the little fellow free.

He took one step, crossing five meters in an instant. He moved as swiftly as a ghost.

Li Changqing put on the clothes on the ground and slung his backpack over his shoulders.

Just as he was about to leave, his ears suddenly twitched.

"Hmm?"

He turned to look above the waterfall. Heavy footsteps were slowly approaching from that direction.

Had something big arrived?