Crying

A moment ago, on the training grounds, Zheng Fa stood with his eyes closed, unsure how long he had been standing.

When practicing the Crane Pine Stance, the faint airflow within his body would occasionally circulate, most noticeably from his inner thighs to his toes and the insides of his shoulder blades. Each time the airflow passed, these areas would feel an itch from the bone to the skin.

Zheng Fa seemed oblivious, remaining motionless, his mind constantly recalling the postures of birds from documentaries, especially those similar to the movements in the Crane Heart Sutra.

Strangely, every time a similar movement surfaced in his mind, the airflow within his body would tremble, giving him a peculiar cool sensation.

"Visualization?" A guess formed, and the airflow within him stopped its pulsing.

He quieted his mind again, thinking no further.

His shoulder blades and pelvis grew increasingly itchy, maddeningly so, almost causing Zheng Fa to lose his Crane Pine Stance.

The itch reached its peak and then suddenly vanished. Where it had been most intense, in his shoulder blades, it felt as if a new organ had appeared.

Zheng Fa suddenly realized he had grown wings, crane-like legs, and was covered in feathers!

Or rather, the images of flying birds he had been visualizing were gradually merging with him, turning him into the strange bird-man from the Crane Heart Sutra!

His consciousness seemed to have entered the body of this bird-man.

Though his eyes were tightly shut, the darkness before him was broken by a fantastical scene:

He was flying! He was flapping his wings, soaring through the vast sky, straight towards the heavens, as if aiming for the highest reaches.

An endless sea of white clouds swirled and rolled beneath him, his feathers reflecting the setting sun on the horizon, their edges tinged with golden light.

The trembling and growing airflow within him became increasingly restless, surging left and right until it burst through his throat, transforming into a clear, resonant cry.

The sea of clouds parted, the great sun sank, and Zheng Fa slowly opened his eyes. He was still in the familiar training grounds; everything that had just happened felt like a dream.

The sky had already darkened. Instructor Xu was leaning against a stone bench nearby, eyes closed in sleep. He seemed to have been woken by the crane's cry Zheng Fa had emitted. Rubbing his eyes, he looked towards Zheng Fa, his gaze somewhat bewildered.

"What was that sound? Huh, you finished practicing?" His gaze slowly fell to Zheng Fa's feet, and he looked surprised. "Have you mastered the Crane Pine Stance?"

Zheng Fa looked down at his feet and saw that the bluestone beneath them was cracking, forming a network of fissures. This was precisely the sign of mastering the Crane Pine Stance.

The Crane Pine Stance manual stated: "The body is like the clouds of the nine heavens, the feet rooted in the ninefold earth."

When this stance is practiced to its utmost, a gentle press of the thumb can shatter bluestone blocks like those under Zheng Fa's feet.

In the process of comprehending the Crane Heart Sutra, he had unknowingly mastered the Crane Pine Stance. This showed that the Crane Heart Sutra was indeed the core of the Crane Body Technique martial art.

"How long did I sleep?" Instructor Xu glanced around at the sky, as if wondering if he had experienced a thousand-year dream like in a storybook. Seeing the familiar surroundings, he turned and stared intently at Zheng Fa, frowning deeply. He muttered, "That's not right. No matter how good your aptitude is, you shouldn't be able to master it this quickly!"

He recalled the crane's cry he had heard earlier. His eyes flickered slightly, and he looked at Zheng Fa, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to ask but dared not.

A thought seemed to have formed in his mind, but his expression conveyed that he couldn't believe his own guess.

Just as Zheng Fa was about to explain, Instructor Xu leaped up, moving like a galloping horse, his fist like a shooting star, striking towards Zheng Fa's face.

With no time to speak, Zheng Fa instinctively raised his hands to defend.

They had a master-disciple relationship and had sparred before. Although Zheng Fa's talent was evident, he couldn't match Instructor Xu's lifelong martial arts prowess. Therefore, their spars were more like demonstrations, with Instructor Xu showing less than ten percent of his strength, merely guiding Zheng Fa.

But today, Instructor Xu was different. His punches moved like mountains shifting and seas parting; he seemed to be going all out.

As Zheng Fa moved, he realized he was no longer the same. Although the airflow within him was still thin and weak, it had become continuous and full of vitality, flowing with his movements and granting him extraordinary reaction speed he hadn't possessed before.

He felt as if he had just walked ashore from the sea, experiencing a sense of freedom and liberation from confinement.

Most importantly, he felt a strange power in the surrounding space that flowed with his movements, greatly amplifying the power of his every gesture.

This was something he had never experienced before.

In this state, Zheng Fa not only held his ground but also matched Instructor Xu blow for blow, appearing evenly matched.

Instructor Xu's eyes gleamed, and his movements suddenly changed. Zheng Fa could only react accordingly.

After two or three exchanges, Zheng Fa suddenly realized that his current movements were the Crane Piercing Cloud Hand from the fourth volume of the Crane Body Technique!

That's right! Instructor Xu was still guiding him, deliberately leading Zheng Fa to use the Crane Piercing Cloud Hand. Although he hadn't mastered the Crane Body Technique, he was intimately familiar with its every move after twenty years of immersion.

"You've mastered it!" Instructor Xu saw that although Zheng Fa's Crane Piercing Cloud Hand was unpracticed, each move carried immense power, making him slightly flustered and unwilling to confront it directly. Without the Crane Heart Sutra's enhancement, this would be impossible.

Far from being discouraged, he burst into laughter, repeating, "You've mastered it! Mastered it!"

His laughter echoed through the night sky, then gradually subsided, tinged with a hint of sobs.

The corners of his mouth turned up, revealing two rows of teeth as he laughed uncontrollably.

Yet, tears streamed down his cheeks.

Outside the training grounds, Gao Yuan and Instructor Xu's Nephew could be heard walking towards the grounds, arm in arm, carrying lunchboxes.

Instructor Xu's Nephew was still apologizing to Gao Yuan. "I never expected you to have such a hard time. Senior Brother, I misunderstood you."

"Senior Brother, you don't know what it's like to be around a genius. Sigh, I thought I was used to it by now," Gao Yuan said, looking dejected. "But meeting someone as understanding as you, Senior Brother, I just have to get these grievances off my chest."

"It's alright!" Instructor Xu's Nephew patted Gao Yuan's shoulder. "Zheng Fa may have talent, but I have a way to resolve your inner turmoil."

"Teach me, Senior Brother!"

"Who am I?" Instructor Xu's Nephew patted his chest. "I am your instructor's beloved disciple, his direct student! Even more so, I am his nephew, the only male heir of the Xu family for the next generation!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to talk to my uncle. Since Zheng Fa is such a genius, we should set higher standards and be stricter with him. From now on, let Zheng Fa train more, and encourage us more. Most importantly, don't compare us to him!"

"This... isn't that too unmotivated?" Gao Yuan's expression was a bit conflicted. "Shouldn't we learn from the wise?"

"No, this is called being down-to-earth!" Seeing his expression, Instructor Xu's Nephew smiled and said, "What good would it do for Zheng Fa to compare himself to us? Isn't that insulting his talent? Are we worthy?"

"..." Gao Yuan opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

"Comparing ourselves to him, what would we gain other than not being able to sleep every day?"

Hearing this, Gao Yuan couldn't help but nod, clearly resonating with the sentiment, as if he found it quite reasonable.

"So, the problem isn't with us, it's with your Young Master, my uncle! It's them who are using Zheng Fa's standards to demand things from us!" Seeing his agreement, Instructor Xu's Nephew patted his shoulder and said, "We need to advise them from now on, not to compare the three of us!"

"It seems we don't need to advise them," Gao Yuan suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"As long as Instructor Xu isn't crazy, he won't compare us to Zheng Fa anymore."

Instructor Xu's Nephew looked at Gao Yuan, a bit bewildered, clearly not understanding why he said that.

"He... was beaten to tears by Zheng Fa," Gao Yuan pointed at the two sparring in the training grounds, paused, and added, "Yeah, he cried terribly."