Six Harmonies Fist Mastery [Please Keep Reading] [Please Vote]

Physical talent was a broad, vague concept.

For a Martial Cultivator, as long as they had no hidden ailments, sound and sturdy bones, abundant qi and blood, and balanced proportions, their talent was considered ordinary.

If they were born with great strength, then they had exceptional potential—one in ten thousand.

But more often, talent lay hidden deep within flesh and blood, difficult to measure.

Only through day after day of tempering could its true nature be revealed.

Lu Jing'an belonged to this latter sort.

After successfully mastering Mountain Crushing Fist, Lu Jing'an closed his eyes and focused, carefully sensing the changes within himself.

He could clearly feel his flesh and blood, all over his body, like soil soaked by spring rain.

They were quietly adjusting and reshaping themselves to suit the needs of the fist technique.

The changes were so subtle that no outsider could perceive them.

Only he could sense them. This was the wonder brought by the newly acquired Affix.

A moment later, Lu Jing'an opened his eyes and looked at Chen Xuan. His breathing was steady. "Master, were there any flaws?"

Chen Xuan shook his head, a trace of approval flickering in his eyes.

"No flaws. Catch your breath for a moment, and then you can begin practicing Thunderclap Fist."

After a brief silence, Chen Xuan's tone turned serious. "Young Master, you must understand: once you begin, there's no turning back."

Lu Jing'an's expression remained calm. "This disciple understands."

After roughly half an hour of regulating his breathing, Lu Jing'an once again assumed his stance.

Thunderclap Fist was utterly different from Mountain Crushing Fist, whose strength lay in its weight and steadiness.

Thunderclap Fist demanded one thing: speed.

Extreme speed, with explosive force behind every strike.

That meant the Mountain Crushing True Qi, steady as a mountain, had to shift from utter stillness to explosive motion in an instant.

The strain it placed on his meridians, flesh, and bones was no less than being carved by a thousand knives.

And this was merely the standard for mastering Thunderclap Fist.

It was not the standard for mastering Six Harmonies Fist.

To master Six Harmonies Fist, one had to shift True Qi freely between motion and stillness, hardness and softness—at a mere thought, with no hint of obstruction.

And that demanded even more of the body.

It was like accelerating a car from a standstill to two hundred in a single second.

Then bringing it back down to zero in the next.

And doing all that without any time to prepare.

Nor was this a cycle performed just once.

It had to be repeated hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even a million times.

Following the Thunderclap Fist manual, Lu Jing'an had just begun the first movement when—

"Shhk!"

It was as if countless fine blades scraped across his sinews all at once. A wave of searing pain swept through his entire body.

Cold sweat instantly beaded at Lu Jing'an's temples, yet his stance did not waver in the slightest.

The pain lasted only a single breath.

In the next instant, a warm, vigorous vitality welled up naturally from every limb and bone.

His flesh and blood adjusted, knit together, and grew stronger of their own accord, like living things.

By the time he threw his second punch, the pain had vanished without a trace.

Only his True Qi remained, surging like lightning, unhindered.

By the end of the first set, he had grasped the fist's intent.

By the second, his True Qi could flow freely with each movement, shifting between motion and stillness at will.

Lu Jing'an finished the set and closed his eyes. He could clearly feel that as his body alternated between high speed and stillness,

some deeply buried talent was being awakened, bit by bit.

His qi and blood surged thirty percent faster than before, and the faint sound of thunder murmured between his muscles and bones.

Nearby, Chen Xuan watched in silence, his thoughts churning beneath the surface.

Watching Lu Jing'an, Chen Xuan could hardly believe what he was seeing.

He had seen geniuses before. In fact, he himself was a genius when it came to fist techniques.

By Chen Xuan's own measure,

he could master a fist technique in a single try.

But mastering two fist techniques in a single try was beyond him.

By his own estimate, he would need at least three days.

His disciple, who had only decided halfway through his life to take up martial training, had even more astonishing potential and talent than Chen Xuan had expected.

And when effort and family background were added to the equation,

Chen Xuan felt that his disciple might truly live up to the words "limitless potential."

Chen Xuan even had a vague sense that the revival of Martial Cultivators might rest on his disciple's shoulders.

Western firearms were flooding into the country.

The first to feel the impact were Martial Cultivators.

It was true that a Martial Cultivator who had crossed the Blood Barrier could effectively withstand bullets from foreign guns.

But for an ordinary martial artist to cross the Blood Barrier—

how much would they have to sacrifice, and how many resources would they need to invest?

That expense was enough to buy more than a dozen guns on the black market.

A dozen guns, used in coordination, could kill even a Martial Cultivator who had crossed the Blood Barrier.

And that was only one reason.

The second was that no one had heard of a new Martial Cultivator above the Mortal Realm emerging in a long time.

This had led many to believe that Martial Cultivators had reached a dead end.

If his disciple could break through the Mortal Realm, perhaps he could revive the Martial Cultivators.

"Master?"

Lu Jing'an's voice pulled Chen Xuan from his thoughts.

Seeing his master's distant gaze, he asked, "Did I practice incorrectly?"

Chen Xuan gathered his thoughts and slowly shook his head. "Young Master, you practiced extremely well. Are you feeling any discomfort?"

Lu Jing'an answered honestly. "The first movement felt like having my bones scraped, but after that, there was no more resistance."

Chen Xuan nodded, his tone complicated. "Your talent is even more astonishing than I imagined.

"It seems the medicinal bath I had Doctor Cui prepare beforehand

"will only serve as a supplement. If you feel—"

"Master."

Lu Jing'an interrupted him, his gaze clear and resolute.

"Don't try to save money on my account.

"As long as it can improve my cultivation and shore up my foundation, the medicinal baths must continue.

"Unless we find a better method later, there's no need to change it."

In these times, if the Lu Family fell, no amount of money would be worth a thing.

He would rather turn it all into strength. Every bit more strength

meant one more chance to survive, one more chance to turn things around.

Seeing how firm Lu Jing'an was, Chen Xuan said no more. He only replied,

"Then we'll stick to the plan: two hours of fist training and one hour in the medicinal bath.

"Though we may need to adjust the prescription from now on to strengthen its nourishing and restorative effects."

Lu Jing'an was about to agree when light footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate.

His personal maid, Lanhua, approached in quick, light steps and stopped a few yards away. She lowered her voice.

"Young Master, Miss Wen Ling from the Peacekeeping Bureau is here. She said she had an appointment with you."

Lu Jing'an lowered his fists and said, "Ask Sister Wen Ling to wait for me in the teahouse."

"Yes."

Lanhua answered and went off.

Lu Jing'an relaxed his stance and stood up. "Please invite Sister Wen Ling to sit in the teahouse in the East Wing. I'll be there shortly."

"Yes."

After Lanhua left, Lu Jing'an quickly bathed and changed.

He changed into a bamboo-green summer-cloth robe, then went to the teahouse.

Wen Ling sat quietly by the window, holding a white porcelain teacup.

Her gaze rested on an old plum tree in the courtyard, her profile cool and composed.

Hearing footsteps, she turned, a faint smile curving her lips.

"Sister Wen Ling, you came all this way. I should have sent a carriage to pick you up." Lu Jing'an gathered his robe and sat down, personally refilling her tea.

Wen Ling took a small sip and shook her head.

"My visit here has probably already drawn attention.

"If you'd sent a carriage for me, outsiders might really think the Peacekeeping Bureau and the Lu Family were joined at the hip."

Lu Jing'an's hand paused slightly on the teapot. He looked up and asked,

"The Peacekeeping Bureau has branches in every city. Surely some of them have ties to local powers?"

"Of course," Wen Ling said, setting down her teacup, her voice calm. "But things rarely end well for them."

"Why?" Lu Jing'an pressed.

Wen Ling replied, "When something like that happens, the Peacekeeping Bureau immediately cuts ties."

"Everyone involved is expelled from the Peacekeeping Bureau."

"Without the Peacekeeping Bureau's protection, they become targets anyone can attack."

"The Peacekeeping Bureau's enemies aren't just demons and monsters."

"There are also the followers who worship them."

"When those people were part of the Peacekeeping Bureau's system, they had reservations and scruples about making a move."

"Now that they no longer have the system's protection, those enemies have nothing holding them back."

After a pause, Wen Ling added, "Of course, more people die because they backed the wrong horse."

"In times like these, the banners on the city walls change with every new king. Who can be sure they've backed the right one?"

After hearing her out, Lu Jing'an nodded in agreement.

In a chaotic world like this, it was rare to find an organization like the Peacekeeping Bureau, standing apart from the strife and keeping to its own course.

Even if it brought no great wealth or prestige, being able to live without fearing for one's life was the greatest blessing of all.

Lu Jing'an asked no more and took the light-brown dossier Wen Ling had brought.

Its seal was still intact, and the packet felt slightly heavy in his hand.

He broke the seal and took out a stack of documents.

Lu Jing'an scanned the inked words on the pages, his thoughts slowly gathering.

Ever since he had gained something from the Tiger Demon, he had been considering seeking out another demon beast to test himself.

But only if he could keep the risks under control.