Huang Liang Is Captured

Early the next morning, Hao Shuai brought two laborers to move Ip Man's family's luggage and furniture to his residence. Luckily, Hao Shuai's place had three rooms: one for himself, one for Ip Man and his wife, and one for little Ip Chun.

Little Ip Chun was so delighted to have his own room that he jumped around excitedly. Only after Zhang Yongcheng lectured him did he finally settle down. After more than two hours of work, Ip Man's family was finally settled into Hao Shuai's home.

By the time Ip Man brought Hao Shuai up to the rooftop, Huang Liang and the other three were already waiting. Ip Man officially began his career as a martial arts teacher.

In the days that followed, Ip Man taught and practiced martial arts with everyone on the rooftop every day. Huang Liang made full use of his advantage as a local and occasionally brought new people to the martial arts school to become disciples. Before long, the school had nearly twenty students, and the entire rooftop was almost too crowded to hold them all.

As the number of disciples grew, Hao Shuai, as the Senior Brother, consciously took the initiative to help Ip Man manage his junior brothers. He arranged their schedules, had uniforms made, and occasionally taught the disciples in Ip Man's stead.

Ip Man's life was quite comfortable now. Every day, he had a cup of tea and a cigarette; all he lacked was a dog by his side. He sat in his chair smiling like a hands-off shopkeeper, only occasionally pointing out his disciples' shortcomings.

During this time, Hao Shuai not only instructed his junior brothers but also studied and trained diligently himself, steadily improving his Wing Chun.

But that progress came to a halt after a month. No matter how Hao Shuai trained, he felt he was making no further improvement. So he sought out Ip Man and raised his concerns.

"Xiao Shuai, at your current level of National Martial Arts, you can be said to be on the verge of stepping through its gate. Next, I'll explain the realms of National Martial Arts to you. The martial arts world generally divides them into Ming Jin, An Jin, Hua Jin, and Dan Jin. It is said that there is another realm beyond Dan Jin. Great Grandmasters from the Late Qing Dynasty, such as Yang Lu Chan, supposedly reached it, but since the founding of the Republic, no one has attained a realm beyond Dan Jin. Of course, that is still far too distant for you. I'm only telling you so that you know." After hearing Hao Shuai's question, Ip Man pondered for a moment before answering. He then gave Hao Shuai a detailed explanation of each realm's characteristics:

Ming Jin: Train the strength of the entire body, then concentrate it. Throw a punch, and the air explodes with a thunderous crack, displaying astonishing force. This was the so-called "a sound worth a thousand gold." This was the realm of Ming Jin.

An Jin: Go one step further and train the mind, strength, skin, and flesh. Adjust the center of gravity along the spine and tailbone so that the tendons, bones, and outer membranes of the entire body were linked as one, allowing An Jin to erupt. This was what people called "opening the Ren and Du meridians." The main meridians along the spine were the Ren and Du meridians. The vital energy generated within the body through movement was released through the pores and transformed into An Jin.

Hua Jin: Go one step further still, connecting the entire body and regulating the internal organs. Clearly understand and master every organ inside and outside the body, then train them. In the end, strength could reach the teeth, tongue, fingernails, and hair—the four extremities. An Jin would spread throughout the whole body, reaching a level where not even a feather could be added and no fly could land. This was Hua Jin. When martial artists reached this realm, their internal organs were clean and healthy, their tendons and bones strong, and their marrow full. With proper care, living to one hundred thirty or one hundred forty years old was no problem.

Dan Jin: Take another step forward, and one reached the middle stage of Hua Jin—internally gathering the golden dan, making every part of the body round and complete. The Dan Holding Sitting Posture condensed the body's essence, energy, spirit, blood, marrow, and fluids, like the tiny point at the beginning of chaos from which the vast universe evolved. It sounded mystical, but in truth, it meant compressing all the body's strength into the dantian before unleashing it explosively. The tighter the compression, the greater the explosive force. Once Successful Dan Formation was achieved, one could use one's will to control qi and blood, allowing one's physical capabilities to break through the limits of the human body.

"Xiao Shuai, only by entering Ming Jin could one be considered to have officially begun National Martial Arts. You are currently at the stage of being about to enter Ming Jin. But to enter Ming Jin, hard training alone is not enough. You need actual combat. As the old saying goes: if you want to learn how to hit people, you must first learn how to take a beating! So from now on, I'll spar with you every day and help you enter Ming Jin as soon as possible."

"Alright, thank you, Master. Then what realm are you at now?" Hao Shuai asked curiously.

Ip Man merely shook his head and did not answer.

However, based on the later plot, Hao Shuai roughly guessed that Ip Man was currently at the Half-step Hua Jin stage. By the time of Ip Man 3, he would be at Hua Jin. As for Ip Man 4, Hao Shuai did not know whether he had broken through to Dan Jin.

Over the next few days, aside from routinely instructing his junior brothers, Hao Shuai handed all miscellaneous matters over to Huang Liang and focused entirely on sparring with Ip Man every day. Calling it sparring was only giving Hao Shuai too much credit. In reality, Ip Man was mercilessly crushing Hao Shuai one-sidedly. Every match was held inside the storeroom, or else Hao Shuai's reputation as Senior Brother would have been completely ruined.

That day, Hao Shuai sparred with Ip Man as usual. His punches grew faster and faster until, as he threw a punch, three muffled sounds rang out from within his body.

A punch unleashed with force, three cracks from the bones, an explosive boom in the air, and overwhelming power—these were the signs of entering Ming Jin.

Entering Ming Jin also brought Hao Shuai's strength to three hundred jin, perhaps even far beyond it.

From then on, Hao Shuai only needed to steadily train his strength throughout his entire body before entering An Jin. However, that would require time and gradual refinement.

Ip Man straightened his clothes and looked at Hao Shuai. "Xiao Shuai, you truly are a genius. You broke through to Ming Jin after studying martial arts for just over a month. Back when I first became a disciple and began learning Wing Chun, it took me more than half a year to enter Ming Jin."

Hao Shuai said aloud, "Isn't it because Master taught me so well? Without Master's diligent 'guidance,' I doubt I could have broken through so quickly." But inwardly, he complained endlessly, You beat me up every day until I'm covered in bruises. If I still didn't break through, I probably wouldn't even be able to keep this handsome face.

"Xiao Shuai, you are now part of the martial arts world. You must always remember this: we martial artists do not practice martial arts to fight, brawl, compete for superiority, or bully the weak with strength. We practice to strengthen our bodies, eliminate violence, and uphold justice," Ip Man instructed.

"I will remember Master's teachings!" Hao Shuai answered solemnly.

"I've always been confident in your character." Looking at Hao Shuai, Ip Man was honestly very gratified. As his first disciple, Hao Shuai had entered Ming Jin so quickly. It would bring honor to Ip Man's name if word got out.

The next day, Ip Man called Hao Shuai into the storeroom and took out two short blades. "Xiao Shuai, you have already learned the three Wing Chun forms. Today, I will teach you one of Wing Chun's two weapons: the Eight-Cutting Blades. The Eight-Cutting Blades, also known as the Butterfly Knives, mainly consist of eight blade techniques. Their marvel lies in the four wrist cuts and four forearm cuts. Wrist cuts rely on speed, while forearm cuts rely on footwork and body movement. The blade techniques are strange and exquisite, equally suited for attack and defense, and incomparably fierce..." As Ip Man spoke, he demonstrated.

At a glance, Hao Shuai recognized it as the blade technique Ip Man had used in the film to save Huang Liang at the fish market. He immediately began learning with great focus.

That day, Hao Shuai was practicing the Eight-Cutting Blades while Ip Man instructed him nearby. At that moment, three rough-looking men came up to the rooftop and asked in unfriendly tones, "Which one of you is Ip Man?"

Hearing that someone was looking for him, Ip Man stepped out of the storeroom. "I am Ip Man. May I ask what this is about?"

"Your disciple injured one of our brothers. We have him now. Bring money to Li Hong Ji at the fish market if you want to ransom him!" The man spoke rudely, then led the others away.

Seeing how arrogant the three men were, Xu Shichang and the others wanted to go after them and teach them a lesson. Hao Shuai stopped them. Fighting now would not solve anything.

Ip Man was somewhat helpless. He picked up the half-smoked cigarette, took a deep drag, and Hao Shuai understood his worries. He stepped forward and said, "Master, I'll go with you later."

Although Hongmen had great numbers at the fish market, enough that even Ip Man would find them difficult to handle, Hao Shuai was not truly afraid. Mainly because he knew they had no guns.

"Alright." Ip Man had not wanted to agree, but when he saw the determination in Hao Shuai's eyes, he finally nodded.

"Master, Senior Brother, we'll go with you."

"That's right, we'll go together and rescue Second Senior Brother."

Seeing that Hao Shuai was going, Xu Shichang and the others all clamored to follow.

"No. This time, only Master and I will go. Too many people would only make things worse. You stay here and continue practicing." Hao Shuai stopped his agitated junior brothers, then called Xu Shichang over and whispered a few words into his ear.

After hearing him out, Xu Shichang nodded and quickly ran down from the rooftop.