Five Animals Creation Play

"Pay it back?"

Jiang Tian froze for a moment and asked instinctively, "Pay back what?"

He'd already paid the apprenticeship fee.

"Hmph!" Yuan Long snorted, his expression turning sour. "Those ten Blood Vitality Pills you just swallowed—weren't they bought with silver? Thirty taels each. That's three hundred taels!"

"Hiss—"

Jiang Tian sucked in a sharp breath as he remembered.

After breaking through, the qi and blood in his body had burned wildly, leaving him unbearably drained. Yuan Long really had fed him ten pills.

But this stuff... cost thirty taels per pill? Why not just rob him?

His face turned pale, then flushed, his thoughts churning.

Was he going to have to give in after all?

"Forget it."

Yuan Long sighed and waved a hand. "I was too impatient. You can spend more time with my daughter these days. She isn't as cold as you think; it's just that with me around, nobody dares approach her."

"Okay."

Jiang Tian let out a breath of relief and nodded.

"One more thing." Yuan Long furrowed his brow, his tone suddenly turning stern. "Stay away from that brat Li Batian."

Jiang Tian's gaze flickered. He'd already figured it out yesterday; the changes in Zhou Mu had given him some idea of Li Batian's methods.

"I didn't call you here just to talk about marriage."

Yuan Long walked over to a chair and sat down. He picked up the cup of tea on the table, long since gone cold, took a sip, and asked out of the blue, "What do you think of the Five Animals Fist?"

"It's naturally very good." Jiang Tian thought for a moment. "It contains five different forms and is flexible and varied."

Yuan Long calmly dropped a bombshell. "It's an incomplete martial art."

"Incomplete?"

Jiang Tian stared at him. The Five Animals Fist, which seemed so perfect to him, was actually incomplete?

"Would you like the complete version?" Yuan Long smiled faintly, his eyes hidden in shadow and impossible to read.

Jiang Tian answered without a second thought. "I would!"

"Then agree to one thing."

"Marriage is off the table!" Jiang Tian's face darkened.

"It's not about marriage."

Yuan Long rose and stepped out of the shadows, back into the light.

Jiang Tian could see the emotions in his eyes: weariness, fear, worry...

These expressions were on the face of a Transformation Energy martial artist!

"You and Manzhi don't have to marry," Yuan Long said slowly. "But someday, I'll have Manzhi follow behind you. You must promise me—you'll protect her."

"Don't rush to refuse."

Yuan Long raised a hand to stop Jiang Tian from speaking and continued, "Besides the complete Five Animals Fist, I can also provide all the resources you need to practice martial arts."

Jiang Tian fell silent.

He didn't want too many ties weighing him down—the bonds of family left behind by his predecessor were already enough.

"You trust my character that much?" Jiang Tian asked gravely. "Besides, I'm only a lowly Body Tempering martial artist, while you're a Transformation Energy expert..."

"You don't have to protect her all the time." Yuan Long lifted a hand, cutting him off. "Just help her once, when she needs it."

"Deal!"

Jiang Tian agreed at once.

Helping her once shouldn't be a problem.

"It's a promise, then. Now I'll teach you the complete Five Animals Fist."

Yuan Long stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression growing solemn.

"The complete Five Animals Fist is called the Five Animals Creation Play."

"After ordinary martial arts are mastered, they let you grasp one kind of Momentum. Those are low-grade martial arts."

"Mid-grade martial arts have two kinds of Momentum."

"High-grade martial arts have three kinds of Momentum—and the Five Animals Fist is a high-grade martial art."

"But the Five Animals Creation Play has five kinds of Momentum: tiger, bear, deer, ape, and bird."

"The Five Animals Fist is a castrated version, with only three kinds of Momentum: tiger, ape, and bird."

Yuan Long spoke each word clearly, listing them off as if he were counting treasures.

"Tiger—the Tiger in a Cage. It excels at killing, its attacks unmatched."

"Deer—the Deer in the Snow. It leaves no trace on the snow, light-footed and swift."

"Bear—the Bear in the Cave. It stores up strength and lies in wait; one move can shake a mountain."

"Ape—the Ape in the Cliff. It climbs rocks and crosses ravines, nimble and unpredictable."

"Bird—the Bird in the Rain. It avoids wind and rain alike, its senses keen."

"However, grasping Momentum isn't easy. Some comprehend it while Body Tempering; others can't touch it in their entire lives."

"Momentum has nothing to do with how proficient you are in a martial art, nor with your cultivation level. It depends mainly on comprehension."

"Mainly on comprehension?"

Jiang Tian's eyes brightened a little.

Comprehension? Well, I'm at least a little good at that.

"Come. I'll perform the Five Animals Creation Play just once. If you can't comprehend it, that's your problem."

Yuan Long took up his stance, then suddenly paused.

"Master Yuan," Jiang Tian seized the chance to ask, "why not teach everyone the Five Animals Creation Play directly? Why teach the castrated version instead?"

"Heh!"

Yuan Long scoffed. "You'll understand after you've seen it."

The Five Animals Creation Play was too complicated, so the founding master had castrated it.

When Yuan Long had first learned the set, it had taken him several days just to barely get started.

He'd already whetted Jiang Tian's appetite. There was no way the kid wasn't curious. Once Jiang Tian couldn't follow it and begged him to teach it again, Yuan Long would see how he liked being put in his place.

As for learning it in one viewing?

Impossible.

With that thought, Yuan Long slowly opened into an ancient, deeply intricate stance.

It was indeed very different from the Five Animals Fist—more complex, with several forms changing completely, and each transition flowing together more smoothly, as if the essence of the five animals had truly become one.

The tiger roared through the mountains, the deer leaped across streams, the bear crouched in its cave, the ape scaled sheer cliffs, and the bird pierced the wind and rain...

The five forms flowed one into the next, all in a single breath.

A moment later, Yuan Long brought the sequence to a close and stood with his hands behind his back. "Have you learned it?"

He had no idea that the panel before Jiang Tian had quietly changed—

[Martial Art: Five Animals Creation Play (Minor Mastery) (1+/500)]

Jiang Tian froze for a moment.

It had directly replaced the Five Animals Fist?

Was it because they came from the same source?

Seeing Jiang Tian stare blankly, Yuan Long's lips curled upward.

Hmph, brat. I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice. There's no way I can't handle you.

"Have you learned it?" he asked again, with a hint of smugness that was hard to detect.

"I've learned it." Jiang Tian came back to himself and answered honestly.

"Hm?"

Yuan Long raised an eyebrow and lifted his chin, refusing to believe it. "Then perform it once for me."

"Okay."

Jiang Tian walked to the open space in the middle of the room, took a deep breath, lowered his hips, and settled into the stance.

[Ding! You possess an Innate Martial Bone and Superb Comprehension! Five Animals Creation Play +9]

After completing the set, Jiang Tian stood at rest, his breathing steady.

He was a little puzzled. The progress had gone from 11 to 9. Could it be because the Five Animals Creation Play was more complicated?

That was probably it.

The room was so quiet they could hear the candle flame flicker.

Yuan Long stood rooted to the spot, mouth slightly agape, eyes wide as saucers.

No words could describe how he felt right now.

Was this for real?

He'd watched it once... and learned it?

Yuan Long opened his mouth, then shut it again.

After a long while, he finally forced a few words through his teeth:

"You brat... what kind of monster are you?"