Learning Martial Arts, Part Two

Li Yichen actually leaped higher than the roof beams.

Then he unleashed the Shadowless Kick, his legs flashing like lightning. Halfway through his descent, he delivered countless kicks in an instant. With a thunderous crash, the entire wall collapsed.

Tiles and timber came clattering down as the roof followed. The already dilapidated brick house was reduced to a heap of broken bricks and shattered tiles.

Li Yichen landed lightly and looked at his handiwork, involuntarily shrinking back.

He turned to Wong Fei-hung. "Master Wong, sorry about that. I used a little too much force. I'll be more careful next time."

Wong Fei-hung was speechless. "A little too much? You brought the whole house down!"

Li Yichen could only cup his hands in apology and retreat to one side.

Standing where he was, Ip Man suddenly felt rather foolish. Going last put him under so much pressure.

During his lifetime, he had taught countless disciples, including many talented ones. They weren't all that far behind Li Yichen—just the distance Sun Wukong could cover in a single somersault.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward slowly anyway. "Wing Chun doesn't use long-range punches. It relies on short bridges and a narrow stance. The closer, the better; the faster, the better. When striking, focus on inch power. Speed, ferocity, and precision are key..."

As he spoke, Ip Man shifted subtly, advancing and retreating. His punches looked simple, yet each struck with a sharp crack.

Every move was perfectly measured, without the slightest waste of strength.

After finishing his demonstration, Ip Man looked at Li Yichen, anticipation growing in his eyes. I wonder what kind of power the Wing Chun Fist will unleash in his hands.

Li Yichen closed his eyes and ran through the moves in his mind.

Then he shifted his feet and bent his knees slightly, immediately settling into the Character-Two Goat-Clamping Stance with textbook precision.

He threw a punch, and the air cracked sharply.

Then he turned, his movements clean and decisive. Every strike held restrained strength, without a single unnecessary motion, bringing speed, ferocity, and precision into full play.

As he continued through the form, sharp cracks rang out without pause.

Suddenly, his movements became elusive, and his punches began blending hardness with softness, fluid and ever-changing.

Then he stamped a foot and sprang into the air, his long legs lashing like whips, lightning-fast and unpredictable.

"Excellent, young Yichen! This old man is itching for a fight. Let me exchange a few moves with you." Fired up by the sight, Huo Yuanjia leaped forward and punched at Li Yichen.

"Haha, perfect timing!" Li Yichen laughed, then kicked down at him from above, alternating his legs in rapid succession.

A series of heavy thuds rang out.

"Now this is exhilarating!" Li Yichen shouted, speeding up his kicks again.

That made things miserable for Huo Yuanjia. One lapse in attention, and a kick caught him in the chest, sending him flying.

Just then, Wong Fei-hung shouted, "Let me join the fun!"

Before he finished speaking, his legs swept up countless afterimages as he attacked Li Yichen.

"Haha! Then try my Wing Chun, Master Wong!" As he spoke, his fists struck repeatedly, each punch meeting Wong Fei-hung's foot with unerring accuracy.

"How could you leave me out of a fight?" Ip Man could no longer restrain himself and immediately joined the fray.

"Two against one? That's cheating!" Li Yichen was instantly thrown into a flurry.

But suddenly, the Lost-Track Fist and Wing Chun flashed through his mind at the same time. Instinctively, he separated his hands, using Wing Chun with his left to hold off Wong Fei-hung while his right unleashed the Lost-Track Fist against Ip Man.

"Ambidextrous Combat?" Wong Fei-hung and Ip Man exchanged a glance, at a complete loss for words.

Yet Li Yichen fought as though he had activated a cheat, switching the two styles between his hands with ever-increasing ease.

"Don't forget me!" Huo Yuanjia swung his fists and rejoined the fight.

The scene descended into chaos as the three surrounded Li Yichen. Two fists were no match for four hands, let alone six. If he hadn't been so tough, he would probably have gone down long ago.

Even so, he gritted his teeth and held on, while the images in his mind flashed faster and faster.

Suddenly, at a certain moment, the three martial arts overlapped.

As though struck by inspiration, Li Yichen unleashed the Shadowless Kick without warning. A series of heavy impacts followed as the Shadowless Kick, Lost-Track Fist, and Wing Chun Fist erupted together, instantly sending all three masters flying.

Li Yichen seemed to have entered a mysterious state of complete self-forgetfulness, the netherworld power throughout his body circulating wildly.

At first, the two fist styles and the kicking technique appeared in his mind one after another. But as his attacks accelerated, the three martial arts began interweaving freely, alternating and replacing one another.

Eventually, the once-complete forms began breaking apart, then slowly blending together.

"Young Yichen truly is a heaven-gifted genius. How long has it been? His three martial arts are already showing signs of merging. Given more time, his achievements will be unimaginable." After climbing to their feet, the three masters could only stare in astonishment.

"I've figured it out!" Li Yichen suddenly roared, sweeping his arms out as the air whooshed around him.

He moved faster and faster until only a blurred figure remained. Beneath him, his feet had stamped a deep pit into the ground, sending fragments of stone shooting out like bullets.

The nearby houses that were still standing suffered for it. Wherever a stone struck, it punched a small hole.

At first, it wasn't too bad. But as more and more stones flew out, the walls and roofs became riddled with holes, swaying precariously and threatening to collapse at any moment.

"Good thing we're ghosts now. Otherwise, we'd have been shot full of holes, wouldn't we?" Huo Yuanjia said, still shaken.

"Mm-hmm..." Ip Man and Wong Fei-hung nodded like chickens pecking grain.

A deafening boom rang out, and the ground shuddered three times.

To their horror, the three discovered that Li Yichen had vanished.

"Where did he go?" Wong Fei-hung asked in confusion.

"Up there!" Ip Man suddenly shouted, pointing at the sky.

Li Yichen had shot dozens of meters into the sky like a cannonball, and then countless leg afterimages descended from above.

A thunderous crash shook the ground. The three grandmasters swayed violently, nearly falling flat on their backsides.

With a clatter of rubble, the remaining houses finally succumbed to the punishment and collapsed.

"We've just witnessed the birth of a monster." Huo Yuanjia stared blankly at the motionless figure and swallowed.

"Mm-hmm..." The other two could do nothing but nod.

Applause rang out as Black and White Impermanence appeared from thin air. Smiling, they said, "Brother Yichen, you truly live up to the Ghost Emperor Haoran's bloodline. To reach such a level in a single night—congratulations!"

Only then did the motionless Li Yichen come to his senses. He scratched his head. "It was just luck. I don't know why, either. Something suddenly clicked in my head."

"That's because you're exceptionally gifted, Brother Yichen," White Impermanence said with a smile. "All right, the hour of the Rabbit has arrived. It's time for us to take them back to the Underworld."

"I didn't realize how quickly the time had passed." Li Yichen scratched his head, then said, "Seventh Master, Eighth Master, I'd like to ask one more favor."

"Just say the word, brother."

"Please take good care of the three masters down there," Li Yichen said earnestly.

Black and White Impermanence glanced at the three, then smiled. "A small matter. Leave it to us brothers."

The three masters gave Li Yichen a grateful look, then turned and disappeared into the darkness with Black and White Impermanence.

His joints cracked as Li Yichen stretched. "It's almost dawn. Time for me to head back, too," he murmured. Then his figure flickered, appearing dozens of meters away. With another flicker, he vanished into the night.

Just as peace returned to the White Temple, a streak of white light crossed the sky, and a figure in green descended from above.

"Huh? I clearly sensed ghostly energy soaring into the sky here. Why is there nothing? And there's a strange scent here, too—something like a human, a god, and a ghost, but it smells lovely."

"Oh, forget it. If I don't register at school today, I really will be too late. I don't want to go back to Mount Qingcheng yet."

With that, she traced a finger through the air. A white light rose beneath her feet and carried her toward Jinling University.