Daily Routine

In the bamboo grove, Chen Chong was following his junior brother Yu Che in their daily meditation training.

It was early morning, and dew still clung to the bamboo leaves. The two sat cross-legged on a bamboo platform, facing each other with their eyes closed. Chen Chong's breathing had already settled into a deep rhythm. At first, he could not even sit on this platform made of bamboo poles. The moment he stepped onto it, the poles swayed, unsettling his mind.

Now he could sit steadily on it as well. The bamboo platform was firm, his breathing long and smooth, and he could remain seated for nearly half an hour at a time.

Chen Chong gradually realized that this was not actually a cultivation technique. It was merely an incantation for calming the breath and focusing the mind. What they trained on the bamboo platform was the mind, not the body.

Here, he adjusted his thoughts, peeling away distracting thoughts layer by layer so that the training that followed could be more effective.

Once the mind was calm, the body obeyed. Once the body obeyed, the honing of one's techniques could reach the finest details.

As for training, Chen Chong was now able to train alongside Yu Che. The training was still highly varied. Sometimes Yu Che led him across bamboo stakes: bamboo poles as thick as bowls stood upright throughout the grove, spaced three or four feet apart. They placed their toes on one stake, borrowed its force to spring upward, and leaped from one to the next.

Sometimes Yu Che led him in striking wooden dummies. The iron-cast wooden dummies were engraved with the paths of the meridians, and every blow had to land on a specific point. Force began at the feet, passed through the waist and