Thunder Beast

Thunder Beast

The Xia Kingdom lay south of East Divine Continent, one of the world's nine continents and four oceans. Covering 1.2 million square kilometers and home to 104 million people, it was a country where white, yellow, and black ethnicities lived together. Its developed economy had made it renowned across the Divine Continent, earning it the title of one of East Divine Continent's Four Pearls.

Wuhe City was one of the Xia Kingdom's major coastal cities. It covered 6,400 square kilometers, had a population of 1.69 million, and ranked among the leaders in economic development. Last year, 1980, its gross domestic product had reached 20 billion.

Sanshun was one of the three towns and six subdistricts under Wuhe City's jurisdiction. Located in the city's outskirts, it was an undeveloped area where urban and rural regions met.

Baili Qingfeng tossed in a coin and took Bus No. 3. After ten stops, including time spent waiting at traffic lights, he arrived at Sanshun Town in thirty-five minutes. He got off at White Cloud Road Intersection, walked a hundred meters, and came to a three-story residential building with a large courtyard.

There was no sign on the courtyard, nor was anyone guarding the gate. Baili Qingfeng entered and found five people inside. One was doing homework on a stone bench at the side of the courtyard while the weather was good; one was slowly practicing punches nearby, seemingly pondering Fist Intent; of the remaining three, two were competing in push-ups, while the last was keeping count...

When Baili Qingfeng entered, the woman keeping count glanced at him and quickly smiled. "Qingfeng, what made you think of coming over to play?"

Baili Qingfeng recognized her. She was Second Grandfather's eldest granddaughter, Baili Ruoshui. Refined and quietly beautiful, she had suffered heartbreak in her youth and remained unmarried at twenty-nine.

"Ruo Shui, is Second Grandfather home? I need to see him."

"He is. Grandfather is practicing calligraphy. I'll take you to him."

True to her name, Baili Ruoshui spoke as gently as water. She answered and led Baili Qingfeng inside.

Beyond the entrance was a hall and corridor. To the left was a reception room; to the right was an indoor Martial Arts Arena, containing quite a few training tools and pieces of equipment.

Baili Ruoshui led him directly to the study at the end of the corridor. There, they saw Second Grandfather Baili Changkong, dressed in a gray mandarin jacket with a neat crew cut, looking vigorous and full of spirit as he practiced brush calligraphy.

Baili Qingfeng knew nothing about calligraphy. He only felt that the characters Second Grandfather wrote looked beautiful, no worse than the examples in copybooks meant for imitation.

When Baili Changkong saw Baili Qingfeng arrive, he did not insist on finishing the entire piece in one go. He simply hung up his brush and said with a smile, "Our college student is here. You haven't visited your Second Grandfather in quite some time. Good that you came. Stay for lunch at Second Grandfather's house."

"I'll be coming to Second Grandfather's place often from now on. I want to learn martial arts from you."

"Oh?"

Baili Changkong glanced at Baili Qingfeng and chuckled. "When you were little, I forced you to practice, but you refused. All four boys of your generation couldn't endure hardship. Instead, it was the two little girls, Ruoshui and Ruoxue, who followed me and learned a few moves. Ruoxue especially has made something of herself. Why have you suddenly decided to learn martial arts from me now?"

"I'm curious."

"Curious? Curiosity is a good thing. How does that saying go? Curiosity is the driving force behind humanity's development. If you truly want to practice martial arts, I'll certainly teach you, and teach you wholeheartedly. You were smart from childhood. I heard from your father that you placed in your school's top ten this time? Practice well and you'll surely achieve something. The prerequisite is that you can endure the hardship of martial arts training. Fishing for three days and drying nets for two won't do."

"Once I make up my mind, I'll naturally do it wholeheartedly."

"Good."

Baili Changkong looked at Baili Ruoshui. "Girl, go teach this boy the basic stances... Forget it. It's rare for one of you boys to show an interest in martial arts. I'll teach him myself."

As he spoke, Baili Changkong rolled up his sleeves with great interest, clasped his hands behind his back, and led Baili Qingfeng into the courtyard.

The two disciples in the courtyard had already finished their push-up contest. Seeing Baili Changkong come out, they hurriedly greeted him. "Master."

Baili Changkong nodded at the two of them. "That's enough training for today. Go home."

"Yes, Master."

The two answered and withdrew.

"Ruoshui, close the gate."

Baili Changkong spoke again, then turned to Baili Qingfeng. "Man follows Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows nature. Martial arts can likewise be included within this guiding principle. Yet in the beginning, learning martial arts means learning from Heaven and Earth by imitating birds and beasts—Dragon Form, Tiger Form, Crane Form, and so on. Our lineage imitates a legendary creature, the Thunder Beast, so the stance we practice is naturally related to the Thunder Beast. Watch how I stand..."

Baili Changkong assumed a stance.

It somewhat resembled a horse stance, but a horse stance required one to thrust out the chest, draw in the abdomen, and hold both arms level. Baili Changkong's stance, however, had both hands raised high, palms pressed together as if holding up the heavens.

It looked...

A little embarrassing.

Baili Qingfeng copied him.

"Your heart must be still, your breath even, and your spirit gathered. If you cannot achieve these three things, the first step of stance training will be exceedingly difficult for you. But recently, this old man thought of a method. Everyone needs their own hobby. By using a hobby to form a habit, you can enter the right state—just like me. Before practicing martial arts, I practice some calligraphy, and my heart quickly settles. Ruoshui copied me, while Ruoxue likes painting. You can also choose a hobby that helps you enter stillness. What do you like?"

"Me?"

Baili Qingfeng thought for a moment, then answered honestly, "My dream is to become a philosopher."

"Philosophy needs the foundation of life experience. You're only nineteen, far too young. Any ideas you expound would merely be groans without illness. No, no. What else do you like?"

"What else do I like..."

Baili Qingfeng paused. "I like listening to music."

"I like listening to music too,"

Baili Ruoshui said with a smile from the side.

"Listening to music? Wouldn't that be too noisy..."

Baili Changkong frowned slightly and swept his gaze over Baili Qingfeng. Suddenly, he stopped speaking and stared fixedly at Baili Qingfeng as he held the stance.

"Second Grandfather?"

Baili Qingfeng glanced at Baili Changkong.

"Don't let your thoughts wander. Maintain this state and keep standing."

Baili Changkong said.

Though Baili Ruoshui had not achieved much in martial arts, her eye for such things was different. She saw it at once. "He has entered stillness."

"Correct."

Baili Changkong nodded.

He was quite surprised. Boys of eighteen or nineteen were at their most restless and flighty; for Baili Qingfeng to calm his heart so quickly was truly no easy feat.

"Gather your spirit, quiet your breath. Neither arrogant nor impatient, neither hurried nor slow."

Baili Changkong instructed him from the side.

That single session lasted an entire morning.

Nearly two hours.

Baili Changkong guided Baili Qingfeng through ending the exercise. Once he had finished, Baili Changkong did not bring up martial arts again and merely said, "You must be hungry. Eat first."

Baili Qingfeng thus ate at Second Grandfather's house.

During the meal, Baili Changkong's attitude became slightly more serious. "What do you want to learn in martial arts? Fists and kicks, blades and swords, or unusual weapons and hidden weapons?"

"A sword."

Baili Qingfeng answered without hesitation.

"A sword—the king of all weapons, the weapon of a gentleman. Good."

Baili Changkong nodded with slight satisfaction. "Your Second Grandfather has studied more than ten sword arts and is proficient in several of them. You could say I am half a swordsmanship master. But first, I want to hear what kind of sword art you wish to learn."

"I want to learn the sword art of 'sword qi spanning thirty thousand li, one flash of Sword Light chilling nineteen continents'!"

Baili Changkong's face darkened. "No such thing."

"A sword art of 'one sword cleaving the clouds, comprehending the Dao and soaring over the Nine Heavens' would do too."

"No such thing."

"Then surely there is a sword art where, on a moonlit night, clad in white whiter than snow, one sword strikes forth in Celestial Flight?"

"No such thing."

Baili Changkong snorted through his nostrils. "At your age, why practice swords? Practice fists, kicks, and palm techniques instead! Playing with blades and swords—are you trying to kill someone?"

"Then... do you have some kind of palm technique that descends from the heavens?"

"No."

Baili Changkong slapped the table. "Your foundation isn't even laid, and you want to practice fists, kicks, and palm techniques? Go practice a breathing technique."

"A breathing technique!? Sure, sure!"

Baili Qingfeng nodded.

Drawing in the essence of Heaven and Earth to cultivate was not bad either.

"Our lineage has the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms for body refinement and Thunder Breath for qi refinement. Unfortunately, the Spirit Refinement Visualization Method, Thunder Sovereign, has been lost..."

Baili Changkong continued, "The stance you practiced just now was the Rushing Thunder Stance, the foundation of the Rushing Thunder Thirty-Six Forms. I'll explain the rhythm of the Thunder Breath breathing technique to you as well. Once you have built some foundation, I'll tell you the tricks."

Baili Qingfeng committed it to memory carefully.

Perhaps because the souls of the two Baili Qingfengs had fused after he was reborn into this world, his memory had become excellent and his mind turned quickly. Otherwise, he could not have placed in his school's top ten.

Baili Changkong explained it twice, and he had already understood it by heart.

Thunder Breath was the Baili Lineage's core breathing technique. Baili Changkong had taken in five disciples in total, yet among those five, only the eldest disciple had inherited this breathing technique—and even that was not the complete inheritance. The deeper tricks remained in Baili Changkong's hands. Yet Baili Qingfeng...

The moment he entered the school, he began practicing this core breathing technique. It had to be said that one's birth directly determined one's treatment.

After eating, Baili Changkong instructed Baili Qingfeng in the courtyard on how to practice the breathing technique.

What disappointed Baili Qingfeng somewhat was that this breathing technique was not the immortal cultivation method he had imagined, one that gathered the primordial purple qi of Heaven and Earth and the essence of the waxing and waning sun and moon. It was simply a rhythmic breathing method. He did not know its level, but after practicing for an entire day, he felt absolutely nothing.

That evening, Baili Changkong pulled Baili Qingfeng aside and asked, "You practiced all day today. How does it feel?"

Baili Qingfeng thought for a moment. "Very tiring. Very hard."

"Martial arts training is naturally hard. Are you coming again tomorrow?"

Baili Qingfeng had made up his mind, so he would not give up halfway. Besides, this was only the first day. If he quit after one day of practice, the image he had spent an entire year building would be ruined. He promptly answered, "I'm coming."

"Have you truly decided to persist?"

"Yes."

"Good. When you come tomorrow, bring Ah Hong with you. I have something to say to him."

"Understood."

"Go on. If you leave any later, you won't catch the last bus."

As Baili Changkong spoke, he watched Baili Qingfeng leave.

Even three or four minutes after Baili Qingfeng had left, Baili Changkong remained standing at the gate.

Baili Ruoshui came to Baili Changkong's side and curiously looked toward Baili Qingfeng, who had already vanished into the evening glow. "Grandfather, is Qingfeng very talented?"

Baili Changkong pondered for a moment. "Very good. Better than I expected. If he is truly willing to persist for another half month, I'll help him set his bones."

"Bone Setting!?"

Baili Ruoshui was somewhat astonished.

Bone Setting, or in more fantastical terms, Marrow Washing and Bone Tempering, not only required an enormous investment of effort but also many precious medicinal ingredients. Some of those ingredients could not even be bought on the market.

To this day, only her second uncle in the Baili Family had received such treatment. Her second uncle, Baili Tianxing, was also the figure who upheld their lineage's reputation. Not even Ruoxue or Master's eldest disciple had received such treatment.

"We'll see. We'll see."

Baili Changkong spoke as he clasped his hands behind his back, straightened his spine, and headed toward the inner courtyard.

Though he appeared calm, Baili Ruoshui could tell that this grandfather, who had always hung the calligraphy "Heart Like Ice, Unmoved by Collapsing Heavens" in his bedroom, had thoughts of his own.

New book—please recommend it and add it to your collection.