Sparring

Life went on.

Daily lessons: the Diamond Sutra was finished, so he read through the Lanka Sutra, then took the opportunity to look over the contents of the Nine Yang Manual. Although he couldn't learn it, he was memorizing it.

Buddhism forbade the study of Taoist classics, but what did that have to do with Li Su? He was a fake monk anyway.

Even if he didn't learn it in this life, he could just learn it in the next.

After all, this was the Nine Yang Divine Skill; how could he not learn it once he had obtained it?

Furthermore, after leaving the World Fragment, he wouldn't be starting his cultivation over; he would be bringing out the power he had gained in this world. At worst, he could discard the Arhat True Qi and choose the effects of the Arhat Golden Body instead. Even if that didn't work, it was a top-tier cultivation method—if he took it out to sell as a legacy, how much would a single volume be worth? Instant wealth, right? In any case, he already had the supreme divine skill in his hands.

Thinking this with great satisfaction, Li Su began to practice the Shaolin Cotton Palm that afternoon.

Cotton Palm.

It was different from the Arhat Fist, Arhat Gong, or the Formless Calamity Finger.

It was a very unique palm technique.

It stored hard force internally while manifesting softness externally. During its execution, no wind or force could be felt; when the palm struck, it landed silently and soundlessly, as if it were a light tap, yet the effect it produced was extremely astonishing.

The Cotton Palm had a corresponding set of palm techniques used to study the "cotton force" through practice.

After finishing the content, Li Su closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. With the moves memorized in his heart, he stood up and struck out.

There were not many moves—only six forms.

The palm forms were continuous and unbroken; the six forms were simple, easy to understand, and extremely coherent. Striking forward, backward, sideways, or randomly—there were no flaws whatsoever. It appeared to be six forms, but in reality, they could be linked into twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six forms.

The only thing that required attention was pushing the True Qi along with the palm forms to generate the Cotton Palm force.

Once the set of six forms was completed and the palm force was generated, one was considered to have entered the gate. When the palm force could be triggered spontaneously without the need for specific moves, that was the Great Completion.

Standing firm, Li Su began to strike.

The set of six forms took only five or six minutes to complete.

He withdrew his stance, closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then struck again.

After doing this a few times, a "cotton force" began to gather in front of Li Su's palms. He pressed a palm lightly against the bluestone beside him.

Puff.

After a soft sound, Li Su pulled his hand back. A small palm print appeared on the bluestone, surrounded by scattered stone fragments.

He had entered the gate, though his proficiency was quite poor.

Although the disturbance was minor, the bluestone had not been pulverized.

Facing this, he felt no dissatisfaction and continued to strike.

Once, twice, and again.

After practicing for a full ten times, he withdrew his hands and began to practice the Arhat Fist.

Two days later, Li Su glanced at Xuandu, who was looking at him with wide, eager eyes, and nodded helplessly.

"Let's spar, then."

Because the seven of them often sparred, Xuancheng was in the first tier, Xuanci was in the half-first tier, and following them in order were Xuanbei, Xuanji, Xuanku, Xuannan, and Xuandu.

Undoubtedly, Xuandu was the most miserable among them, because whenever they fought, he was always the one getting beaten.

It wasn't that the others were too strong, but rather—how to put it—Xuandu was honest? Dull? He stuck to the same routine over and over again; it would be strange if he didn't get beaten. No wonder he learned the Flower-Plucking Finger later on.

"I'm next!"

A look of joy appeared on Xuanci's face as he immediately raised his hand and shouted.

Li Su shot him a sideways glance. Where is your face? Where is your shame?

You've started practicing the Vajra Palm, the Great Strength Vajra Palm, the Vajra Finger, and the Dragon-Capturing Skill, haven't you? Do you still want any dignity?

Twitching the corner of his mouth, Li Su ignored the guy entirely.

Damn it, who likes getting beaten up?

Moreover, the current Xuanci was undoubtedly a big mouth; if he beat him up today, the entire Shaolin Temple would probably know about it by tomorrow.

Taking a breath, Li Su walked to the center with caution and stood facing Xuandu.

He had indeed been practicing martial arts for quite some time, but this was his first time actually fighting—it was like forcing a duck onto a perch.

However, fortunately, he was a novice, and Xuandu wasn't much better.

And so, the opening move was the Arhat Fist.

Please, Li Su had practiced this set of punches more times than he could count. The changes and details within it were clear to him, even if his own execution wasn't standard.

You're starting with the Arhat Fist? What were you thinking?

Though he thought this, Li Su didn't dodge. He set his stance and responded with the Cotton Palm.

Boom!

As soon as they clashed, Li Su immediately winced in pain.

This kid, I thought he was a simpleton, but he actually played dirty!

Dragon Subduing Elephant Taming Art!

Stepping back two paces to open up some distance, Li Su channeled his Arhat True Qi into his palms, raised them, and prepared to engage once more.

However.

I just called you clever, and now you've gone and turned brainless again.

Are you fighting, or are you just practicing your forms?

Watching Xuandu execute every move with textbook precision, Li Su sighed. If the man had known how to alter his sequence—for instance, transitioning directly from that Arhat's Offering into a Twin Peaks Piercing Ears—Li Su would have undoubtedly been thrown into a panic.

But.

What is going on?

This was absolutely his first time ever trading blows with someone.

Yet, aside from a slight initial tension, he found himself growing calmer the longer the fight dragged on. Not only did thoughts on how to counter Xuandu's moves begin to surface in his mind, but he even found the spare capacity to analyze how his opponent should have been attacking him.

No, that's not right.

Right there, Xuandu, you should have switched to the sixth form of the Arhat Fist.

Wrong again, you should have used the eleventh form here...

Is martial arts talent not just about practicing the techniques?

Li Su's brows arched. As he continued to parry Xuandu's wind-whipping Arhat Fist with his Shaolin Cotton Palm, he felt his combat instincts sharpening, as if he possessed a supernatural intuition.

After a while, Li Su began to experiment, combining and even fragmenting his Cotton Palm techniques.

Half of this move, a third of that one, all woven together to engage Xuandu.

Although Xuandu's moves were repetitive, Li Su's constant variations made the exchange feel genuinely intense.

Faced with this scene, Xuannan and the others couldn't help but shout out.

"Keep it up, Xuandu, keep it up!"

"Xuankong, use more force, more force!"

Xuanci's expression shifted slightly, and he couldn't help but glance back at the Cotton Palm manual Li Su had left on the steps.

Shaolin Cotton Palm—does it really have that many forms?

Xuandu had already cycled through the Arhat Fist three times, yet Xuankong hadn't repeated a single move?

Only Xuancheng remained solemn, his eyes unblinking.

With his immense talent, he saw it immediately: Li Su's Cotton Palm wasn't repeating; it was in a state of constant evolution.

There were only about six forms in total, but through his execution, they were being combined into twelve, twenty-four, or even thirty-six variations.

Xuandu's routine was rigid; if Xuancheng wanted to win, two or three moves would suffice.

But to utilize a martial art the way Li Su was—constantly creating new moves to counter his opponent—that was an entirely different matter.

Cotton Palm... he remembered the guy had only picked that up three days ago.

After a while longer, Xuandu stopped, panting for breath, and Li Su stepped back two paces.

Xuandu, how should I put this? He's not bad.

In terms of martial technique, he was indeed a bit of a disaster. After more than two years, his level was barely worth looking at—not to mention comparing him to Xuancheng or Xuanci, he was even a significant cut below Xuannan and the others.

But that set of Arhat Fist—he had just cycled through it five times, and that was at full effort.

Even Li Su couldn't handle that.

He reckoned only a martial arts fanatic like Xuancheng would have that kind of stamina and discipline.

No wonder he would eventually be able to master the Flower-Plucking Finger; his internal energy was definitely sufficient, perhaps even excessive.

His deficiency lay in application and technique.

Xuandu felt miserable at that moment. He furrowed his brows, biting his lower lip tightly, and didn't say a word.

He hadn't noticed it while fighting, but now that it was over, the realization hit him: he couldn't even beat Xuankong! And Xuankong was the only one among them who only practiced internal energy and never studied martial techniques.

Xuandu felt inferior. He had been dealt a heavy blow and felt incredibly wretched. No matter how dull-witted he was, he was still a young man with his own thoughts.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to cultivate the Dragon Subduing Elephant Taming Art to the minor success stage.

But after suffering so much and putting in so much effort, to end up with this result—for a moment, Xuandu couldn't help but feel disheartened.

As expected, he was too stupid; he simply wasn't cut out for martial arts.

Xuanci and the others noticed Xuandu's distress. Xuannan and the others wanted to say something, but when they opened their mouths, no words came out.

What could they say? That he had already tried his best? Or that he had been very diligent? That would only hurt him more, wouldn't it?

Li Su smiled and took out a charcoal pencil. "Xuandu, go find the Master and trade for some hard-body training techniques."

Xuandu froze.

"You're indeed not well-suited for techniques that rely on complex maneuvers to attack others, but your body is very strong. Your physical stamina is likely second only to Xuancheng among the eight of us—even Xuanci can't compare to you."

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Xuanci, standing to the side, looked a bit unconvinced.

Li Su smiled and said, "Not necessarily. Xuanci, why don't you try it? Give it your all and perform the Arhat Fist five times; let's see if you can handle it."

Xuanci's brows arched. With his impulsive nature, how could he endure such a provocation? He began to practice immediately.

"Wrong, wrong. I meant with your full strength."

Watching Xuanci's technique, Li Su shook his head and wrote, "I mean using every ounce of your strength. Here, Xuancheng, you go and spar with Xuanci. Only defend, do not attack. Xuanci, you are only allowed to use the Arhat Fist."

Xuancheng, standing to the side, was stunned for a moment before nodding. Only the Arhat Fist, and only defending without attacking—wasn't that exactly the situation Li Su had just been in? It was doable, and he wanted to try it himself.

Xuanci blinked. Being restricted to only the Arhat Fist was undoubtedly a bit of a trap, but if Xuancheng only defended and didn't attack, it might be an opportunity—a chance to beat this bastard up. That was rare.

With a shout, Xuanci let out a strange cry, raised his little fists, and charged forward.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Undoubtedly, it was far more intense than the spar between Li Su and Xuandu.

Xuanci was not Xuandu. In his hands, the Arhat Fist had reached a considerable level of mastery. Although this group of people constantly practiced new techniques, they had not neglected what they learned before, practicing at least once or twice a day.

Watching Xuanci strike and Xuancheng respond, Li Su blinked his eyes.

Good thing I didn't spar with these two monsters, or I definitely would have been beaten up.

In less than ten minutes, Xuanci couldn't take it anymore. He had been determined to beat Xuancheng, so he naturally went all out.

As for Xuancheng, he wanted to replicate Li Su's fighting style. Using the Dragon-Capturing Skill to face his opponent, he naturally wouldn't let Xuanci actually land a hit. After a few more exchanges, Xuanci ran out of energy. The Vajra True Qi he had cultivated through the Great Strength Vajra Palm was completely exhausted, and with his tongue lolling out, he collapsed directly onto the ground.

Li Su smiled and wrote, "Look, after two and a half years, Xuanci's physical stamina is far worse than yours. You both exhausted your Dragon-Subduing True Qi at about the same time, yet you could keep fighting while he collapsed and couldn't get up. The difference in your physical bodies is clearly massive."

"So, you are not weak. The reason you performed so poorly is simply that you haven't found the right path."

Xuandu blinked, listening to Li Su's words, and felt less distressed.

Was he just a child? Knowing that he still had areas where he was better than others, he naturally stopped wallowing in self-pity.

"Then, Xuankong, what should I do?"

"You aren't good at executing techniques, so simply stop using them. Go practice hard-body cultivation, make yourself able to take a beating. When fighting others, unless it's a vital point, don't dodge or evade; just take the hits. Then, focus on your opponent—don't aim for their vital points, just strike their body. Martial arts competitions aren't about who gets hit more, but about who falls first. As long as you are more durable than your opponent, the one who wins will naturally be you."

Xuandu's eyes lit up, and he immediately trotted toward the Arhat Hall, "I'm going to find Master."