Training the Circle, Killing with the Straight

Lu Li dragged his exhausted body back to Apricot Blossom Alley.

With every step home, it felt as though he were treading on soft cotton, his footing unbearably unsteady.

That was only because he had used the medicinal bath after practicing boxing. Otherwise, he likely would not even have had the strength to walk back.

Pushing open the creaking courtyard gate, he found his young aunt by marriage, Ma Xiaoling, preparing tomorrow's braising stock at the kitchen door.

Hearing the sound, Ma Xiaoling looked up. "A-Li, how did... apprenticing today go?"

Lu Li smiled. "Master accepted me. He said I can train."

Joy welled up in Ma Xiaoling's heart, and her eyes crinkled with a smile. "Instructor Shen? He took you as his disciple?"

Lu Li nodded.

Shen Gangfu had a good reputation around the neighborhood. The common folk at the bottom all approved of him.

At that moment, Chen Hai came out from inside the house upon hearing the commotion. "A-Li, is that Instructor Shen really such a good man? He didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"

"Master is very good. He teaches me attentively and doesn't look down on me because of my humble birth."

Lu Li felt that as a teacher, Shen Gangfu was already excellent for not looking down on his students, teaching according to their aptitude, and passing on the real thing to him.

Practicing martial arts was the only path for those at the bottom to climb upward.

What he feared was spending money and suffering hardships, only to learn nothing real.

In times like these, being willing to treat the weak and lowly kindly was already an exceedingly rare virtue.

Chen Hai instantly grew excited, then asked, "That's good, then. A-Li, what about the costs for food supplements and medicinal baths?"

"Uncle, Master said the first month's expenses can be settled at the end of the month. You don't need to worry..."

Before he could finish, Chen Hai said, "A-Li, you're a martial artist now. You need to focus on training. Don't worry about money—leave it to your uncle."

"I don't count as a martial artist yet. We won't know whether I make it until three months from now."

Hearing that, Chen Hai asked again, "Did Instructor Shen say you can make it?"

"Master said there's a sliver of a chance."

"Husband, A-Li has worked hard all day. Let him rest. Whatever you want to say can wait until tomorrow."

Seeing Lu Li's exhausted expression, Ma Xiaoling quickly cut off Chen Hai's curiosity.

"Fine. A-Li, don't go to the inn for the time being. I've cleared out Xiaoxuan's room for you. Today, I heard everyone saying the Bridgehead Gang and the Dingzhuang Gang have started fighting. If you come back late at night, watch your own safety."

Lu Li's brows drew tightly together. He nodded in silence. "Understood, Uncle."

The world was unsettled. He still needed to remain cautious.

Lying in bed, Lu Li began pondering how to make money. The later expenses for martial arts training would not be small, and since he intended to keep training, that spending could not be cut off.

His young aunt by marriage's family was not well-off either. They could only barely put food on the table. Relying on her support was not a long-term plan.

The next day.

The moment he opened his eyes, Lu Li felt utterly refreshed.

"That medicinal soup truly is miraculous."

The old calluses and scars accumulated across his body over the years were slowly fading. He had trained for only one day, yet he already felt far more energetic.

After washing up, Lu Li downed the bowl of minced-meat soup by his bedside in one go, feeling deeply satisfied.

The sky had not yet brightened. He jogged all the way to the martial arts school.

Upon arriving, he found the rear courtyard gate shut tight. His master presumably had not risen yet, so he returned to the training ground in the front courtyard.

He found a wooden stake,

Then flashed onto it, assumed his stance, and began practicing.

The muscles in his limbs ached, went numb, trembled, swelled, and throbbed...

His lungs and organs felt stifled, blocked, dry, cold, and hot... the familiar torment slowly swept through his entire body.

Drip!

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down from his temples and smashed onto the bluestone slabs.

One drop after another.

Lu Li clenched his teeth, adjusted the rhythm of his breathing, and continued cultivating, gradually letting himself sink into a state of self-forgetfulness.

[Eight Trigrams Embracing-Circle Stake Art: Beginner (34/100)]

At this pace, he would need another nine days to train it to completion. Then, he could begin cultivating internal force.

"Junior Brother Lu, you came early enough."

Lu Li opened his eyes and saw Zhao Kuo stepping into the courtyard. Smiling, he replied, "Morning, Fourth Senior Brother."

"No wonder Master said your comprehension is high...

Your Embracing-Circle Stake Art reached Beginner after just one day. Your posture is proper enough! Keep up this drive—I think highly of you."

Lu Li nodded modestly, then closed his eyes and continued concentrating on his stake art.

Footsteps came one after another, and the outer courtyard gradually became lively as well.

"That new kid's stake art isn't bad. He made his still stake so proper after only one day?"

Someone murmured in a low voice.

"I arrived a quarter of an hour ago, and he was already here. He hasn't moved a hair since then."

"Oh? Working this hard, I'd say he wants to perform before Master and compete for the chance to enter the Martial Lecture Hall."

"Senior Brother Zhengming, how could he compare with you? Your bone structure is above average, and your foundation is who knows how much stronger than his..."

"Exactly, Senior Brother Zhengming. You've already cultivated internal force for a month, while he's still tempering his qi and blood. Senior Brother, you'll break through the gate any day now. The qualification to enter the Martial Lecture Hall can belong to none but you."

Lei Zhengming cast a sidelong glance at Lu Li's poverty-stricken appearance, spat, and filled his eyes with disdain.

Lu Li turned a deaf ear to those voices and simply buried himself in hard training.

He persisted until noon, ate lunch, and rested for half an hour.

After waking.

Lu Li was summoned to the training room in the rear courtyard.

"This is the complete diagram of Bagua Fist. Look it over first."

Lu Li's spirits immediately rose. At last, he could practice combat techniques.

He reached out to accept the Bagua Fist Manual and carefully flipped through it... The first half of Bagua Fist contained a set of moving stake exercises and Bagua Fist training and combat methods. The second half contained a saber technique.

"Bagua Fist takes moving stakes as its root. It does not lie in standing dead still, but in seeking stability amid rotation!"

Shen Gangfu's voice was not loud. "When facing an enemy, the greatest taboo is planting both feet dead into the ground."

As soon as those words were spoken, Lu Li's breathing quickened. He knew his master was about to teach him the real thing.

After speaking, Shen Gangfu came to a patch of mud in the right corner of the training room and leaped into it.

He planted the centers of his feet over empty space, bent his knees to wade through mud, slid his buttocks and settled his hips, aligned his neck and lifted his crown, then began demonstrating the Eight Trigrams Moving Stake.

Lu Li stood beside him with his eyes wide, carefully watching every movement his master made.

Shen Gangfu's figure resembled a crane's. As he roamed about, he performed fixed boxing forms, all specific techniques recorded in the Bagua Fist Manual.

Mountain-Supporting Palm, Embracing the Moon, Lion Opens Its Mouth, Azure Dragon Reaches Out Its Claw, White Ape Offers the Peach...

The more Lu Li watched, the more animated his thoughts became. He immediately understood: the Perfect Circle Still Stake he had practiced before was for tempering qi and blood and correcting his posture.

True Bagua Fist was a living stake.

Combat methods and stake art had to be practiced together. What it emphasized was "using strikes in place of standing."

After completing the set of movements, Shen Gangfu withdrew his fists and stood still, his breath steady. He turned and glanced at Lu Li, signaling that he could begin.

Lu Li nodded, then without another word rolled up his trouser legs and stepped into the mud.

He drew a deep breath and began slowly circling in imitation of his master's footwork. Within his sea of consciousness, the moves in the manual confirmed one another against the posture of his master's demonstration just now.

"When wading through mud, circle under your feet. When slanting your body and twisting your waist, your palms must turn in linked succession—spin the body, turn the palm, brace with the elbow, hidden kicks..."

Shen Gangfu explained from time to time. "Bagua Fist places equal importance on footwork and combat methods."

The manual had a saying:

"Hook the step and turn the body, hiding killing intent; slant the body and switch palms, cleverly circling around. Steps trace the Eight Trigrams, dividing yin and yang; the whole body flows and turns like a wandering dragon."

When Lu Li first tried, everything felt obscure. His hands were clumsy and his feet awkward, and he could not grasp the knack.

With Shen Gangfu tirelessly instructing him at the side, Lu Li gradually entered the right state after an hour.

Near noon.

Thanks to never forgetting once he had learned something.

Lu Li gradually remembered the details of every move. Though he performed the various postures slowly, he could already complete an entire set of boxing stakes by himself.

"Remember, Bagua steps through the four cardinal and four diagonal directions..."

"Force rises from the roots, is governed by the waist; the entire body coils and wraps in spirals, power issuing from the spine..."

Shen Gangfu instructed and explained at the side. Whenever Lu Li made a mistake, Shen Gangfu struck him, until every move Lu Li made was flawless down to the slightest fraction.

Lu Li never tired of it, and the rhythm of his breathing gradually became regular as well...

"You must remember: our Bagua Fist trains the circle, but kills with the straight. Martial cultivation, from beginning to end, is a struggle of life and death."

It was also then that Lu Li's thoughts stirred, and he entered his sea of consciousness:

[Martial Arts]:

Bagua Fist Technique: Beginner (1/300)

Eight Trigrams Moving Stake: Beginner (1/300)