Practice a Thousand Times, Ten Thousand Times, and Skill Will Show Itself

Zheng Tonghe pondered for a moment, then picked up a cleaning rag from the counter.

"With your strength now, even if you can lift a thousand catties, when you hit someone, you're 'pushing' or 'smashing.'"

Zheng Tonghe whipped the rag down onto the table with a muffled smack. It lay spread across the wood.

"That's brute force. It's heavy, but the force is scattered."

Then Zheng Tonghe pinched a corner of the rag and gave his wrist an uncanny flick.

The limp rag snapped straight like a long spear and lashed through the air.

Crack!

The sharp report was several times louder than before. Even the air hummed.

"That is Bright Force."

Zheng Tonghe's voice deepened. "Once your body is strong enough, you can twist all its scattered force into a single rope. The heart joins with intent, intent joins with qi, and qi joins with strength."

"Once you've mastered Bright Force, your muscles and bones sound together when you strike, cracking and popping. That's your bones and fascia vibrating."

"When you hit someone, you no longer send him flying. Instead..."

Zheng Tonghe's gaze sharpened. He slapped the thick wooden panel of the medicine cabinet before him.

It barely made a sound.

But when he lifted his hand, a clear palm print remained in the hard jujube wood. There were no cracks around it; the force had sunk straight through.

"To strike a man as though hanging a painting."

Zheng Tonghe slowly spoke those words. "If a man is pressed against a wall when you punch him, he'll die without falling. He'll stay there as if hung up like a painting. Your force moves so fast and penetrates so deeply that it passes through his body in an instant and pins him in place."

Qin Geng listened, his heart racing with longing.

To strike a man as though hanging a painting!

"..."

Qin Geng pulled all thirty silver dollars from his robe. "Thirty silver dollars. I'll spend it all and make a push for Bright Force."

"You've got nerve, lad."

Zheng Tonghe wasted no time. With a sweep of his sleeve, he took the money. "For thirty silver dollars, you'll get five doses of Bone-Strengthening Powder and five doses of Dragon-Tiger Decoction."

With that, he went to prepare the medicines.

Watching Zheng Tonghe's busy back, Qin Geng silently called up the Book of a Hundred Trades.

[Martial Artist (Level 8): 78/80]

Once he spent these thirty silver dollars and added them to his hard training...

Level ten, Bright Force, and the unlocking of [Sickly Tiger Bones].

I'll get there!

"Come on."

Zheng Tonghe had finished preparing the medicines.

The rear courtyard of Hundred Herb Hall was thick with the scent of medicine, mingled with a whiff of charcoal fire.

Zheng Tonghe led Qin Geng through a covered corridor to the small courtyard normally reserved for brewing medicines.

White steam rose from the brass medicine pot in the corner, which burbled without pause. Beside it stood a wooden tub half as tall as a man. Black medicinal broth churned inside, its pungent, fishy smell shooting straight up Qin Geng's nose.

"This is the Bone-Strengthening Powder and the Dragon-Tiger Decoction."

Zheng Tonghe pointed to a packet of powder on the table, then to the wooden tub. "The usual rules for the Bone-Strengthening Powder: first inhale a few wisps of steam as it brews. That's the essence of the tiger bone, and it would be a shame to let it scatter. Then drink it warm."

Qin Geng nodded and committed it to memory, his eyes settling on the tub of roiling black broth.

"As for the Dragon-Tiger Decoction, its use takes a little care."

Zheng Tonghe clasped his hands behind his back, his tone growing grave. "It's prepared for those training in Bright Force. As the saying goes, 'Practice the forms without the foundation, and by old age you'll have nothing.' But if you push that training too hard, then 'Practice the forms without preserving your life, and illness will strike you here and now.'"

"Bright Force is fierce. It drains your blood and qi and wears down your muscles and bones. Without strong medicine like this to nourish you, forcing yourself to practice Bright Force techniques will only ruin your body."

Zheng Tonghe looked at Qin Geng. "You have to find the right measure. Train until your muscles and bones are slightly injured and your strength is spent, but not so hard that you damage your foundation. Then get straight into the tub for a medicinal bath and let the medicine repair you. That's how you hammer your body stronger, like forging iron."

"That..."

Qin Geng frowned slightly.

Getting the measure right sounded far too difficult.

Too little, and the medicine would be wasted without remaking his body.

Too much, and damage to his foundation would leave a hidden ailment that could never be reversed.

Seeing Qin Geng hesitate, Zheng Tonghe suddenly smiled. "Junior Brother Lu told me you've never formally apprenticed yourself to a master?"

"That's right."

Qin Geng admitted it readily.

"No matter."

Zheng Tonghe nodded. "Aside from seeing patients, I don't have much to do most days. I can keep an eye on you for the next few days. I may not be as famous as the Su Family's great House Guard Zhou, but all martial arts lead to the same place. And I'm a physician. If anything, I know the body's meridians and bones better than they do."

Qin Geng froze for a moment, then felt his worries ease. He hurriedly cupped his fists. "Thank you, Shopkeeper Zheng! This is a tremendous help to me."

"It's nothing. I took a liking to you."

Zheng Tonghe waved away the formalities. "If I remember correctly, the Hebei Xingyi Dragon-Tiger lineage has the Three Dragon Fists and the Three Tiger Fists among its Bright Force techniques."

Qin Geng thought for a moment, then replied, "The Three Dragon Fists are Coiling Dragon, Clawing Strike, and Earth Dragon Turns Over. The Three Tiger Fists are Pouncing Strike, Tail Scissor, and Tiger Guards the Cave."

"Correct."

Zheng Tonghe said, "Beyond those six forms, there's one final killing move—the Dragon-Tiger Combined Strike. But that requires not only the peak of Bright Force, but also perfect unity of heart and intent. Your body hasn't been honed enough yet. You can't practice it. Force it, and you'll die."

He paused, then continued. "Start with Coiling Dragon and Clawing Strike."

"Coiling Dragon is for defense. You train your spine to move like a dragon's, coiling your body to protect yourself. Clawing Strike is for attack. You train your fingers and palms into hooks that pierce a single point and break through."

"I'll try."

Qin Geng did not presume he could perform them at once. Instead, he took a handwritten copy from the pocket inside his robe. Sweat had stained its pages yellow.

The paper was rough, but the handwriting was neat.

Qin Geng turned to the pages on "Dragon Form" and read them word by word, weighing them against what he had learned from months of martial practice and stance training.

Only after a full fifteen minutes did Qin Geng close the book and let out a long breath.

"Please correct me, senior."

Qin Geng walked to an open patch of the courtyard, spread his feet, and took his stance.

The essence of Coiling Dragon was "a body coiled like a dragon, its power hidden within."

Qin Geng drew a deep breath and arched his back sharply. His recently awakened [Dragon Spine Through the Back] pulled taut in an instant. His whole body seemed to shrink as he circled his arms to guard his centerline. Then he joined waist and stance and twisted hard.

Whoosh!

A low rush of wind swept through the air.

Qin Geng changed forms without opening up his stance. Riding that coiling force, he sent his right arm darting out like a venomous snake from its hole, five fingers hooked and stabbing at the empty air ahead. This was Clawing Strike.

He put eighty percent of his strength into it. His fingertips even tore through the air with a sharp crack.

"Stop."

Zheng Tonghe had watched from the side, but now he shook his head and said bluntly, "Full of openings."

Qin Geng withdrew his stance and asked humbly, "Please guide me, senior."

"The stance is right. The feel is wrong."

Zheng Tonghe stepped forward and pointed at Qin Geng's spine. "Coiling Dragon doesn't mean curling into a ball. You must be 'loose outside, tight within.' You look relaxed, but the force is held in the spaces between your bones. What you used just now was dead force. Against a real expert, one touch would be enough to turn aside that stiffness."

Zheng Tonghe then pointed to Qin Geng's hand. "With Clawing Strike, you're reaching for the enemy's heart. Your force needs to penetrate. Your finger joints were too rigid and your wrist too stiff. All your force leaked away halfway there."

"Take the medicine."

Zheng Tonghe pointed to the brewing Bone-Strengthening Powder. "Inhale the steam first, then drink the medicine and perform those forms another hundred times."

"A hundred times?"

Qin Geng blinked.

"What, is that too many?"

Zheng Tonghe smiled. "If you want the moves worked into your marrow until they're as natural as eating and drinking, even a thousand times, ten thousand times would hardly be enough."