Sudden Enlightenment! (Please Follow)

After the lunch break, Lu Li continued his grueling training.

Shen Gangfu had watched Lu Li's performance over the past two days. The boy was quick-witted and willing to endure hardship. Gate-Breaking might not be beyond his reach.

Shen Gangfu entered the training room with his hands behind his back, stepped up before Lu Li, offered a few words of encouragement, then said with a smile:

"Come. Follow me to the front courtyard. Today is the outer courtyard's once-every-seven-days sparring practice. Go watch as well."

The martial hall's front courtyard, afternoon class.

More than twenty outer-courtyard disciples sat cross-legged in a large circle beneath the blazing sun.

"Bagua Fist has eight forms, and every form conceals killing intent! Every move targets the fatal points of the human body. The slightest mistake means broken bones and death."

Shen Gangfu's gaze was bright as torches as he swept it across the disciples, raising his voice.

"Practicing boxing is not merely about drilling blindly. You must possess comprehension. When fighting for life and death, how you remain unflustered in the face of danger is what you must contemplate..."

Before his words had finished, Shen Gangfu glanced at Lu Li among the crowd. After a brief pause, he continued, "Not only must you be resilient and able to endure hardship, you must also possess a sound temperament and focus. More than that, you must have the courage to keep your mind calm."

Lu Li froze for a moment. He had merely tossed out a casual remark, yet it had struck right at his master's heart.

"Next, your Fourth Senior Brother and I will exchange fists. Watch carefully."

The training grounds.

Zhao Kuo's expression was grave. His legs sank slightly as he assumed a boxing stance, baleful intent in his eyes.

Shen Gangfu stood with his hands behind his back. His gray cloth training outfit clung tightly to his muscles and bones, his aura deep and still as an abyss.

"Begin."

The instant Shen Gangfu spoke, his entire presence abruptly changed, as though he had transformed into an old ape.

He stepped and twisted his waist. Both palms suddenly flipped and wrapped inward, his right hand forming a hooking hand, fingertips taut as iron hooks.

He was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, he shot straight for Zhao Kuo's throat.

Zhao Kuo's pupils contracted sharply. He shifted sideways with Mud-Wading Steps, spiraling his waist and hips. As his shoulders sank slightly, his arms sank along with them, "raking and hanging to shed force," precisely knocking aside his master's palm edge by three inches.

At that moment, Shen Gangfu's fist stance changed as well. Following the line of Zhao Kuo's collarbone, he swept across in a direct embrace to lock his throat. His force sank heavily, driving straight for the fatal Heavenly Lock point at Zhao Kuo's throat.

And in the shadows, Shen Gangfu's left hand had long since shifted to Zhao Kuo's waist and ribs, sealing off every dead end behind him!

Zhao Kuo was instantly drenched in sweat.

Lu Li seemed to grasp something.

Shen Gangfu's "embracing hand" did not attack the chest or abdomen, nor did it strike the limbs. It targeted the vital passage of breath alone. Once caught in its embrace, the windpipe would instantly be sealed, the Adam's apple crushed, and death would come in an instant.

"Urgh!..."

Though Zhao Kuo had been prepared, he ultimately failed to block it. Cold sweat covered his face as he stood frozen in place.

The field fell utterly silent.

Every disciple present had gone pale, their minds blank.

"This move, the 'Bagua Towering Hand Throat Lock,' is also called the 'Bagua Joined Hands.'"

Shen Gangfu withdrew his hand and said coldly, "The crux of this form lies in the pincer strike of both palms. Above and below, they lock the neck and the two channels at the waist; before and behind, they seal the paths of advance and retreat, leaving the opponent without the slightest gap for survival."

"This move does not strike the flesh. It intercepts the vital point of the throat. 'Use turning to break straight.' The opponent will be robbed of his senses in an instant. Caught unprepared, it will already be too late to defend."

"Again."

Shen Gangfu flipped his wrist, and his palm became a fist.

His fist force drew inward and gathered momentum, then exploded in an instant. A Bagua Crushing Fist shot out in a straight line.

This punch did not lie in the skin and flesh, but in penetrating the muscles and sinews.

Shen Gangfu aimed for the fatal stomach point in Zhao Kuo's upper abdomen. The force was short, fierce, and savage, erupting with Inch Force.

This "Crushing Fist" did not emphasize external wounds, but force that penetrated into the viscera. Once a punch landed, the intestines and stomach within would instantly rupture. No blood would show outside, yet within, the victim would already be grievously injured unto death.

The disciples' hearts rose into their throats.

Lu Li's palms turned cold and damp. He only felt a wave of Killing Intent rushing at his face, chill seeping to the crown of his head as his heart pounded madly without end.

Real martial arts were actually this brutal, so direct...

Yet Zhao Kuo's waist twisted at high speed. He slid sideways, raised a hand to intercept the wrist, and precisely clamped his fingertips onto the tendons of his master's fist wrist, forcibly shedding the Crushing Fist's Inch Force.

Shen Gangfu withdrew his hand and nodded slightly.

Between life and death lay great terror, but between life and death, one's potential could also be unleashed.

Zhao Kuo's defensive sequence was a model to behold.

Shen Gangfu swept his gaze around the circle and declared, "Have you seen clearly? What martial arts pursue has never been victory or defeat, but techniques that kill the enemy in an instant."

He demonstrated all eight forms of Bagua Fist in succession.

Shen Gangfu stood with his hands behind his back.

"That will be all for today. Go train on your own."

The rear courtyard training room.

Lu Li's mind was still replaying the exchange he had just witnessed.

He tried to break down every detail of their moves, gradually coming to understand. "I must strike the most accurate fatal points at the fastest speed, and every move must be ruthless!"

This was the killing art he was about to learn.

With that thought, he found a wooden stake and continued standing in still-stake practice, tempering his qi and blood.

"Practice fists without practicing skill, and you will end up with nothing when you grow old."

That was what his master had told him before leaving.

It was not until the deep night, at the Hour of the Pig.

"Eight Trigrams Embracing-Circle Stake Art" Beginner (66/100)

In another day, his still-stake practice would reach minor accomplishment.

Though his body was exhausted, seeing himself improve bit by bit filled him with drive.

When he returned home that night, his young aunt had thoughtfully left the door open for him. Everything at home was peaceful; nothing had happened.

No news was good news. He could practice boxing without worry.

The next morning, Ma Xiaoling told him that Liu Rushuang, the proprietress of Hometown Inn, had come looking for him and asked him to visit the inn when he had time.

Lu Li had never held much of a favorable impression of Liu Rushuang. Now that he needed to practice boxing, where would he find the time to see her?

He chose to ignore it outright.

And so, every day, he was like a withered tree trunk rooted at the outer courtyard's wooden stakes. Apart from Zhao Kuo, he barely interacted with anyone. He left early and returned late, cherishing this peaceful time to practice boxing.

Yet the outer-courtyard disciples never stopped talking about him.

Until the fifteenth day after Lu Li became a disciple.

That night, after the curtain of darkness fell, Lu Li had just finished his medicinal bath and was preparing to continue practicing boxing.

Suddenly, golden light flashed wildly in his mind.

With a thought, he entered the Sea of Consciousness.

[Lantern Master: Lu Li]

[Martial Arts]:

"Bagua Fist Technique" Beginner (216/300)

"Eight Trigrams Moving Stake" Beginner (216/300)

"Eight Trigrams Embracing-Circle Stake Art" Perfected (500/500)

[Realm]: None (Internal Force)

[Lantern Wick]: 1

[Celebratory Cloud Lamp: At the beginning of every month, it absorbs the power of moonlight and refines it into lamp oil. On the night of the full moon, lighting the lantern wick allows entry into a state of sudden enlightenment for martial arts.]

The lantern wick in his mind had finally lit up. That meant he could begin his martial enlightenment.

Without the slightest hesitation.

"Celebratory Cloud, enlighten me!"

Lu Li silently recited in his heart.

Then, his consciousness was abruptly pulled into a special space, where all was still and soundless.

Lu Li found it rather abrupt.

In that instant, it was as if some force had forcibly dragged him here, while all around him was a dead silence that made his heart quail.

He was neither afraid nor panicked. He was simply surprised.

At that moment, his heart instead became extraordinarily calm, and he began examining everything before him.

His thoughts seemed to stretch out here, becoming lively and unfettered, bright and sharp. His memory was even more astonishing.

Every page of the entire Bagua Fist Manual seemed branded into his mind. With a thought, he could even select any page within it at will.

Then he tried again, turning to the final page and beginning to recite the Bagua Fist Manual backward.

Those final principles of boxing, combined with Shen Gangfu's explanations over this period, reflected and interwove within his mind in turn, making him feel indescribably exhilarated!

So this was sudden enlightenment?!

Here, I cannot feel the slightest passage of time.

Yet strangely, the bottlenecks in boxing theory that he had never understood before now suddenly opened up beneath this state of heightened perception.

"Crush, rake, ward off, embrace, chop, hang, lead, join—the eight forms, each concealing three hands."

It meant advancing and retreating along straight lines, attacking hard and driving forward, seizing the initiative, while keeping offense and defense in step.

Hand forms could also combine fists, palms, and hooks...

His leg techniques gained hooking hangs, sweeping chops, and intercepting kicks...

From the upper six routes, to the middle six routes, to the lower six routes, there extended another twenty-four routes of Bagua Palm!

"Bagua Fist Technique" Perfected (800/800)

Just like that, the Bagua Fist Technique had reached perfection?