Eighteen Arhat Hands

"Sorry, sorry. Something came up and held me up a little," Li Hui said with an easy laugh.

Then he looked at Tian Tian and smiled. "Xiao Tian, your posture just now was pretty good. You've got a bit of the form down."

"Brother Lin Yuan taught me well."

"Why don't you two keep going?" Li Hui said, a teasing look in his eyes.

Tian Tian hurriedly waved her hands. "N-no, you two practice. I'll just watch from the side."

With that, she jogged off to the side by herself.

Li Hui and Lin Yuan were left facing each other.

"That Xiao Tian, she's good in every way. She's just thin-skinned and far too considerate."

"From the sound of that, you're saying that's a bad thing?"

"What else? In today's society, how is anyone thin-skinned supposed to get by?"

"Wise words from Officer Li."

"Enough flattery. It's getting late. Let's get started. You first, or me?"

"Elders first, of course." Lin Yuan made an inviting gesture.

"Fine. Then watch closely. I'll go through it once for you."

Li Hui set the thermos in his hand aside, then walked to the center of the open space and began demonstrating for Lin Yuan, explaining the key points as he moved.

"First, remember a section of the verse."

"Father and son embrace the moon with both hands; the white tiger washes its face, bringing sorrow. Pulling scallions from the mud draws out sinew and bone; knocking down the partition wall, chasing and bowing to the dog. When the flower palm falls, it longs to topple trees; facing the arm and palm, blood scatters and flows..."

"Arhat Fist, also known as the Eighteen Arhat Hands, has eighteen forms in total. It originated from Patriarch Bodhidharma, and by today, it has thirteen variants in all. My Eighteen Arhat Hands comes from Li Gensheng's lineage, and its strength lies in being fierce, powerful, and vigorous."

"First form: A Rafter."

Li Hui bent both legs, his body forming a straight line, then drove a punch forward.

"External martial arts emphasize the body moving as one straight line, because the shortest distance is a straight line, and that makes your punch the fastest."

"Second form: Hard Draw Bow."

Li Hui bent his right arm up above his head, while his other hand clenched into a fist and thrust forward, still forming a straight line with his bent legs and feet.

"With this move, pay attention to the stretching sensation between both arms. It can make your punch feel like drawing a bow and loosing an arrow, adding another thirty percent of force and presence."

"Third form: Jia Liang Pao!"

"Fourth form: Monk Strikes Bell!"

"Fifth form: Threading the Needle!"

"Sixth form: Cloud Top Three Charges!"

"Seventh form: Cloak-Draping Punch!"

"Eighteenth form: Arhat Subdues Tiger!"

After earnestly watching Li Hui finish the entire set of Arhat Fist, Lin Yuan's understanding of External martial arts undoubtedly deepened another level.

The principles of External martial arts and internal martial arts were almost complete opposites. Internal martial arts emphasized using stillness to overcome movement, while External martial arts took the initiative in combat, using speed to beat slowness and strength to break strength.

It pursued greater speed, fiercer power, and more ingenious techniques. Overwhelm others with strength, control others with speed.

"Kid Lin, did you see it clearly?" Li Hui asked with a smile.

Of course, his words were more of a courtesy.

But Lin Yuan nodded and said, "I'll go through it according to what you just did. If anything is wrong, please correct me in time, Officer Li."

With that, he opened his stance.

Unlike his usual bearing when practicing Tai Chi, reserved and unshowy, Lin Yuan's aura at this moment was clearly much more outwardly forceful, and his eyes were sharper as well.

"First form: A Rafter."

Even if the posture was not exactly the same as Li Hui's, it still captured fifty to sixty percent of its spirit.

Li Hui was left utterly stunned.

After all, back when he had learned fist techniques from his Master, he had spent several days just memorizing the moves.

Yet who would have thought that Lin Yuan, after only watching once, could already perform it with such a convincing shape?

Lin Yuan practiced the moves one by one, and Li Hui did not remain idle either, constantly correcting some of his postures and ways of exerting force.

He also took the verse he had taught earlier and explained it point by point in combination with the techniques.

After Lin Yuan finished one run-through, the words [Arhat Fist] appeared prominently in his system. Of course, he had not yet entered the beginner level, and the martial art's grade was the same as Tai Chi: blue.

Although he had neglected Martial Arts Practice these past few days, he had still gotten into a few fights after all. In particular, after sparring with Li Hui yesterday, the system had even given him 1 Attribute Point.

It was not much, but right now, it was just enough.

Lin Yuan did not hesitate, immediately using that one Attribute Point on [Arhat Fist].

Not yet initiated had directly become initiated.

[Name: Lin Yuan]

[Lifespan: 25/60]

[Strength: 15]

[Speed: 15]

[Agility: 19]

[Endurance: 20]

[Flexibility: 17]

[Martial Arts: Yang Style Tai Chi(Blue; Minor Achievement), Wu Style Tai Chi(Blue; Mastery), Chen Style Tai Chi(Blue; Mastery), Wu Style Tai Chi(Blue; Mastery), Sun Style Tai Chi(Blue; Mastery), Arhat Fist(Blue; Beginner), Hun Yuan Zhuang(Purple; Mastery)]

[Attribute Points: 0.5]

Strength and speed had each increased by 1.5 attribute points, agility had increased by 1, while the others remained unchanged.

At this moment, [Arhat Fist] felt as if it had already been practiced in his hands for several years.

Immediately, he began practicing on the spot again.

Compared with just now, it was simply worlds apart.

His fists whipped up the wind, and between his "ha!" and "hah!" his aura was even fiercer than a tiger's.

Every move and stance was exceptionally hard and forceful. One move, "Sweeping Leg," sent autumn leaves flying; another, "Dragon-Subduing Hand," was as fast as thunder splitting the heavens.

After Lin Yuan's performance, Li Hui's entire view of martial arts shattered with a boom.

"This... this is impossible!" Li Hui's eyes were filled with disbelief.

He had once heard his Master say that during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, those with extraordinary talent could comprehend the essence of Arhat Fist in a month.

But today, this young man before him had taken less than an hour, even counting generously.

Even if Bodhidharma were alive, he probably would be no more than this.

Tian Tian, who was standing far away and watching, was just as astonished. Although she did not understand martial arts, she could tell good from bad.

Just now, she had still been desperately trying to memorize the moves of [Arhat Fist], yet on only his second time, Lin Yuan could already perform it to this extent.

She suddenly remembered a line from a movie: "Could this be the one-in-a-million martial arts genius?"

A feeling of worship could not help but well up in her heart.

Seeing Lin Yuan finish the entire routine, Li Hui calmed himself slightly, but his voice still trembled a little as he said, "You really didn't know Arhat Fist before?"

"Officer Li, aren't you asking when you already know the answer?"

The way Li Hui looked at him was as if he were looking at a freak.

"Little Brother Li, from now on, don't be so distant and call me Officer Li. Call me Old Li, or Brother Li, either is fine."

For someone like Lin Yuan, his martial arts talent was far too astonishing. If this were ancient times, he would surely be a dragon among men, the kind that might not appear even once in several hundred years.

Although the age of cold weapons had long passed, and superiority was no longer decided by fists and feet, a dragon was still a dragon. Even if the dragon now swam in shallow waters, one day it would surely soar into the sky.

"That doesn't seem too appropriate."

"What's inappropriate about it? I think it's fine. Or are you looking down on me?"

"How could that be? It's just that you know some of your younger generation are my classmates. Wouldn't that mean they'd have to call me an elder?"

"Hey, you all can go by your own seniority, and we'll go by ours. Martial artists don't fuss over minor details."

"Fine, then I'll call you Brother Li."

"Hahaha, good, good. Actually, from the first time I saw you, I felt we hit it off. When we have time, we brothers should set a date and have a few drinks."

Lin Yuan smiled awkwardly.

"Officer Li... Brother Li, now it's my turn to teach you Tai Chi."

"Alright, go ahead. I can also take this chance to see what's unique about Tai Chi."

Li Hui took a few steps back, making room for Lin Yuan.

"Brother Li, among Tai Chi, the one I'm most proficient in is [Yang Style Tai Chi]. Today, I'll teach you this set of Tai Chi."

"Yang Style Tai Chi has ten routines in total: Wisdom Fist, Big Frame, Old Frame, Small Frame, Tai Chi Long Fist, Little Nine Heavens, Acquired Method, Thirty Loose Hands, Thirteen Total Postures, and Tai Chi Acupoint Method. It may be a little complicated to learn. I'll first teach you Thirteen Total Postures."

"All the Tai Chi schools today evolved from Thirteen Total Postures. To learn Yang Style Tai Chi, strictly speaking, one should start with Wisdom Fist, but Brother Li, you already have a foundation, so I'll start teaching from Thirteen Total Postures, so that you can better understand Tai Chi."

Lin Yuan immediately bent his legs slightly and slowly raised his arms from below to above. His entire body entered an incomparably relaxed state, yet relaxed without being slack.

"Tai Chi emphasizes using stillness to overcome movement and using slowness to strike speed. To accomplish this, you must lower your body's center of gravity, sink your qi into the Dantian, and make your lower body as stable as old roots. Only then can you stand unmoving, no matter which way the wind blows."

As Lin Yuan explained the essentials of Tai Chi, he began demonstrating its movements.

The moves flowed like drifting clouds and running water, filled with a natural, harmonious beauty, yet faintly, there was also the sound of wind and thunder.

"Thirteen Total Postures correspond respectively to the thirteen most fundamental movements: ward-off, press, push, pluck, split, elbow, shoulder, advance, retreat, look left, gaze right, and central equilibrium."

"Ward-off, press, and push correspond to Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui, the four cardinal directions; pluck, split, elbow, and shoulder correspond to Qian, Kun, Gen, and Xun, the four diagonal corners. These are the Eight Trigrams. Advancing step, retreating step, looking left, gazing right, and central equilibrium correspond to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. These are the Five Elements."

"So the way of Tai Chi contains the principles of the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams, the way of yin and yang, empty and solid."

After practicing Tai Chi to this day, drawing parallels among the five prominent schools of Tai Chi had brought Lin Yuan's understanding of this martial art to an extremely high level. As he spoke, he explained the essence of Tai Chi with perfect clarity.

With every move he made, he was like rivers flowing into the sea, an endless, surging current.

Tian Tian watched from the side with her eyes shining. Compared with the firm, ferocious Arhat Fist from before, this Tai Chi, filled with Eastern beauty, undoubtedly spoke more deeply to her heart.

Just then, an autumn wind suddenly rose, and fallen leaves drifted all around them.

It added another touch of atmosphere to Lin Yuan's smooth, flowing movements.

"Internal martial arts are about intent preceding qi, qi preceding the fist, the heart moving with intent, and techniques following qi. No matter how fierce the incoming force or move may be, I use four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds."

Lin Yuan slowly lowered his arms and exhaled a breath of stale air. With that, the Thirteen Total Postures came to an end.

"How much did you remember?"

Li Hui froze for a moment, clearly still immersed in the routine he had just performed.

As for how much he had remembered, to be honest, he had spent the whole time just watching. At most, he had memorized a move and a half. But he was too embarrassed to say that outright.

He coughed twice and said, somewhat guiltily, "About fifty or sixty percent, I guess."

"Do it once for me. I'll take a look and correct your movements."

"This..."

Just then, Li Hui suddenly raised his hand and looked at his watch, then said with a smile, "Brother Lin, it's already eight-thirty. Work's about to start. How about this? Later, record a video for me and send it over. I'll practice it for you another day."

"Mm... that works too. It is getting late. All right, I'll record a video for you later."

"Great, great. That's best."

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. I'll tell you everything I know."

"Haha, will do, will do."

With that, he picked up his thermos cup and hurriedly slipped away, leaving only Tian Tian standing there.

Lin Yuan had no intention of staying much longer either. He turned and was about to leave.

Seeing this, Tian Tian quickly stepped forward and called out to him.

Lin Yuan turned back and asked, "What is it? Is there something else?"

"Um... Brother Lin Yuan, when the time comes, could you send me the video too? I didn't remember it just now."

Lin Yuan smiled. "Sure. I'll send you a copy when the time comes."

"Yay! Thank you, Brother Lin Yuan." Tian Tian's face could not hide her joy. Her smile was like a blooming flower, revealing two shallow dimples.

"No big deal."

"Let me add you on Feixin." Tian Tian took out her phone.

"Sure." Lin Yuan took out his phone and let her scan his QR code.

"Which Yuan is it?"

"The Yuan from Lin Yuan Xian Yu."

After adding each other on WeChat, Lin Yuan left the police station.

He had not gone home for several days. This time, no matter what, he had to go back.

Just as he had come into the city, Lin Yuan went back the same way he had arrived.

On the flat road, Lin Yuan's running figure appeared once more from behind.

Accompanied by the rising sun that had not been up for long, sunlight spilled over his shoulders. Perhaps the meaning of life was a run. Some people gave up halfway, some stopped where they were, some were half-hearted, and some shrank back in fear...

Lin Yuan ran at an unhurried pace. In the past, he had always felt he could not find the meaning of life, but now it seemed he had found it. It was to keep running, all the way to the end, to a finish line even he did not know existed.

As long as life goes on, Martial Arts Practice never stops!