After getting down from Azure Dragon, Lin Hai dealt with Village Chief Old Chen, whose favorability toward him seemed to have already maxed out, only to be surrounded by the enthusiastic villagers of Ta Lo Village.
These simple, honest villagers scrambled to touch the "Divine Dragon's emissary." Some even knelt in worship, forcing Lin Hai to bend down again and again to help them up. It was not until lunchtime, after repeated persuasion from Old Chen and Lin Hai, that the villagers finally dispersed reluctantly.
During lunch with the villagers, Lin Hai was seated at the place of honor, with Ta Lo Village's specialty dishes spread before him. The villagers kept casting admiring looks his way, leaving him both touched and somewhat at a loss.
After the meal, Lin Hai finally got some time alone. Eagerly, he headed to the training ground not far from Old Chen's residence and began studying the changes brought about by obtaining the Divine Dragon Heart.
Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves of the ancient locust tree in the training ground, casting mottled shadows across the bluestone floor. Lin Hai sat cross-legged amid those inconspicuous patches of light and shadow, his eyes closed as he sensed the brand-new energy flowing through his body.
First, Lin Hai could sense Azure Dragon's emotions. He could clearly feel that Azure Dragon was resting in a distant lake at that moment, and could even experience its lazy contentment. This unprecedented mental connection left Lin Hai both delighted and fascinated.
Second, Lin Hai truly had not noticed any obvious changes in himself. But he soon recalled that some Ta Lo Village villagers, after gaining what they called the Divine Dragon Heart, could use natural magic—water magic, wind magic, and the like, as shown in the movie. If that was the case, could he do the same?
Lin Hai took a deep breath, rose to his feet, and assumed the Tai Chi opening stance he knew best.
When he practiced Tai Chi before, he cultivated the energy within his body through its techniques and the meditative state he entered while performing it. It was not as though he had never tried Energy Projection, attempting moves like Kamehameha, Hadouken, Great Fireball, air bullets, and other attacks that required projecting energy.
But unfortunately, he had been unable to do it when he first gained his powers, and even after his abilities evolved during the Ego's Flower Bud incident, he still could not manage it. Every time, his face would turn red from straining, yet he could not squeeze out even a trace of projected energy.
But this time was different. He had a feeling that he could succeed. Besides, the movie had indeed shown Ta Lo Village warriors using Energy Projection attacks, so Lin Hai was very confident this time.
Yet he soon stopped thinking about all that. Once Lin Hai calmed his mind and assumed the Tai Chi stance, his thoughts gradually emptied. At that moment, there was no Divine Dragon Heart in his mind, no natural magic, and no flashy moves brought by Energy Projection. There was only Tai Chi—only the Tai Chi he had practiced countless times.
And as the Life Force mixed with Dragon God's Power within Lin Hai was guided as usual by the movements of Tai Chi, what he could not see was that the fallen leaves around him had begun to dance along with his motions.
Golden, dark brown, and deep green leaves seemed to be drawn by invisible threads. At times, they spun lightly like butterflies; at others, they flowed around him like a stream. When this unprecedented sensation pulled Lin Hai out of his meditative state, he discovered in surprise that he was standing within a wondrous space formed by swirling leaves. But Lin Hai did not stop. He chose to follow his heart and move as he pleased.
After finishing one set, Lin Hai slowly withdrew his stance and exhaled a breath of stale air. The fallen leaves around him also drifted slowly back to the ground. Though it was not Energy Projection in the true sense, it was still a tremendous improvement over his previous ability to manipulate only plants.
As Lin Hai savored the feeling, several memorable scenes surfaced from his memories—scenes from the martial arts film Tai Chi Master, starring Kung Fu Li as Zhang Junbao, after Zhang Junbao learned Tai Chi, accompanied by the background song Following Fate.
The first was Zhang Junbao crossing his hands and drawing circles in a water-filled vat. In the end, once the water formed a vortex, he shook his hands, shattering the vat and sending the water rushing in all directions. Many people had probably tried recreating that classic scene at home with water vats or washbasins, and quite a few had likely been beaten by their parents for it.
The second was Zhang Junbao practicing Tai Chi in a forest, eventually gathering all the fallen leaves around him into a ball. The ball of leaves danced with Zhang Junbao's movements and exploded when he withdrew his stance. At that point, the grass beneath his feet formed a perfect circle, while the fallen leaves landed outside it, representing Zhang Junbao's mastery of Tai Chi.
Lin Hai possessed Life Force and knew Tai Chi. It would be a shame not to pay tribute to that. Breaking a water vat was not ideal, but fallen leaves were everywhere. Let's do this! What I'm playing is... wrong channel~
When Lin Hai began his second set, he did not enter a meditative state. Unlike before, he deliberately guided the power that now carried the properties of Dragon God's Power from his dantian toward his hands. As his movements unfolded, a strange phenomenon occurred once more—
The fallen leaves within thirty feet of him began moving without wind, slowly rising along the paths traced by his palms. A dead leaf brushed past his fingertip, yet it circled his wrist three times as if supported by an invisible hand before drifting down.
As he performed the Tai Chi forms, emerald light shone from his hands, and the fallen leaves on the ground gradually gathered according to Lin Hai's will.
"It really works!" Lin Hai suppressed his excitement and continued with Grasp Sparrow's Tail. More fallen leaves joined the dance, forming a green vortex around his body. Most amazingly, when he performed White Crane Spreads Its Wings, several leaves that still looked emerald green suddenly accelerated and embedded themselves in a tree trunk ten feet away like flying knives, sunk deep into the wood.
This was also one of the abilities possessed by the Ta Lo warriors in the movie—Qi Manipulation.
Lin Hai quickened his movements. The fallen leaves began converging along more precise and faster trajectories, soon forming a ball of leaves just like the one Zhang Junbao had created in the movie.
This delicate level of control far surpassed what the movie had shown. Lin Hai realized that the harmonious essence of Tai Chi had produced a chemical reaction with the nimble nature of Dragon God's Power.
Having fulfilled a childhood dream from his previous life, Lin Hai felt completely at ease and could not help letting out a long laugh. He was about to scatter the ball of leaves in his hands.
"Scatter!"
With a sharp shout, Lin Hai spread his hands, and the entire ball of leaves exploded with a boom. Yet the leaves did not fly about randomly. Instead, they landed precisely outside a six-foot circle centered on Lin Hai, forming a perfect ring. Even the dust on the bluestone floor within the circle was swept by the blast into the pattern of a Tai Chi yin-yang symbol.
After successfully controlling the leaves, Lin Hai's confidence soared. He began attempting to project the energy within his body directly and form a tangible attack. Standing in the open space, he took a deep breath and slowly raised both hands. Following Tai Chi's method of exerting force, he tried to gather the energy in his body into his palms, then suddenly thrust them forward—
However, the expected energy blast did not appear.
"Strange..." Lin Hai frowned and tried several more times. But no matter how he adjusted his breathing or changed the way he exerted force, the energy within his body could only cling to his surface and could not truly leave his body to attack.
"Could I be using the wrong method?" He scratched his head in frustration. Logically, if he could manipulate external objects, directly launching an energy attack should not have been difficult. Yet he simply could not do it.
With his doubts unresolved, Lin Hai returned to Old Chen's residence. Old Chen was drinking tea in the courtyard. When he saw Lin Hai return, he asked with a smile, "Young friend Lin, what brings you to this old man?"
Lin Hai sighed and explained how his attempt at Energy Projection had failed. After listening, Old Chen frowned slightly and pondered for a while before saying, "This old man does not dare draw conclusions so hastily. How about you perform a set of Tai Chi before me first, and let me see where the problem lies?"
Lin Hai nodded without any false modesty. He knew that as the village chief of Ta Lo Village, Old Chen was widely knowledgeable. Moreover, Ta Lo Village itself possessed cultivation methods passed down for thousands of years. Old Chen might not necessarily think much of his Tai Chi. So Lin Hai walked to the center of the courtyard, calmed his mind, and slowly assumed the Tai Chi opening stance.
Old Chen sat to one side, studying Lin Hai's every movement with focused attention. Lin Hai's Tai Chi flowed like drifting clouds and running water, balancing hardness and softness. With every move, the energy within his body circulated as well, and a faint emerald glow appeared around him. The longer Old Chen watched, the more astonished he became. Although he had learned about Tai Chi from the materials brought by S.P.E.A.R. Director Zheng Xian, seeing Lin Hai perform it in person was still an eye-opening experience.
After Lin Hai withdrew his stance, Old Chen pondered for a moment before finally speaking. "I think I understand where the problem lies."
Lin Hai's eyes lit up. "Please enlighten me, Old Chen."
Old Chen stroked his beard and said, "Your Tai Chi belongs to the internal martial arts. It emphasizes overcoming hardness with softness and borrowing force to counter force. Though it can be used in actual combat, its essence leans more toward cultivating the body and mind and harmonizing internal breath rather than purely offensive martial arts. Furthermore, your Tai Chi lacks a corresponding method for Energy Projection. So even though you can manipulate external objects, you cannot directly launch your energy."
Understanding dawned on Lin Hai. "So that's it!"
Old Chen smiled, rose to his feet, and went inside. A moment later, he returned with an ancient bamboo scroll and handed it to Lin Hai. "This is a cultivation method passed down in Ta Lo Village. You may borrow it for reference."
Lin Hai was somewhat surprised, but he still accepted the bamboo scroll with both hands. "This... is this appropriate?"
Old Chen waved a hand and smiled. "You are someone recognized by the guardian Divine Dragon, which means you have rendered a great service to Ta Lo Village. A mere cultivation method is nothing. However, this old man does not recommend that you switch to our cultivation method. Instead, learn from the energy circulation methods within it, combine them with your Tai Chi, and create something suited to yourself."
Lin Hai nodded solemnly. "Thank you for your guidance, Old Chen!"
Now that he had a direction, Lin Hai decided to stay in Ta Lo Village for a few more days. Fortunately, he had plenty of time during this winter break, or he truly would not have had the chance to study this in depth. He borrowed Old Chen's satellite phone and called his parents, briefly explaining that he would need a few more days before returning.
After hanging up, Lin Hai devoted himself wholeheartedly to studying the cultivation method. Over the following days, he studied the Ta Lo Method during the day and tried incorporating its Energy Projection techniques into Tai Chi at night. His progress was slow at first, but as his understanding deepened, he gradually found a path that suited him.
"Perhaps... like this?"
One morning, Lin Hai stood in the training ground and slowly drew circles with his hands as the energy in his body circulated according to the new method. When he suddenly thrust out his palm, an emerald energy wave burst from it and slammed into a massive rock nearby, leaving behind a clear palm print!
Delight flashed through Lin Hai's eyes. "I did it!"
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