One Palm Empties the Basin

In five days, Zhang Yuan had learned all twelve forms of the Surging Wave Palm.

Although the Surging Wave Palm was an introductory martial art of the Raging Whale Gang, it was still considered a respectable technique in the martial world, with merits of its own.

This palm art balanced hardness and softness, offense and defense, and its moves were refined yet powerful.

However, the Surging Wave Palm was easy to learn but difficult to master. What Zhang Yuan had learned so far were merely the simplest movements and forms; he could not even be said to have glimpsed the doorway, much less grasped its essence.

"Forms, force application, intent and bearing!"

On the Martial Arts Field, Battle Hall Instructor Dong Yuanwei swept his gaze around the gathered disciples and said in a deep voice, "These are the three stages of cultivating the Surging Wave Palm."

"Now that you have learned all the forms of this palm art, what I will teach you next is the method of applying force!"

A palm art had to be paired with force to possess any power when unleashed.

Otherwise, no matter how exquisite the forms were, if they landed on an opponent limp and feeble, they were nothing but flowery fists and embroidered legs.

A ceramic basin sat before Dong Yuanwei, filled to the brim with clear water.

He raised his right palm and suddenly struck downward.

His palm fell without a sound, hitting the water in the basin in an instant. Countless droplets immediately burst forth, spraying in every direction.

The watching youths were caught off guard, and cries of alarm and pain rose one after another.

The splashing droplets were like tiny gravel, striking their faces with a burning sting!

The closer they stood, the harder they were hit.

Zhang Yuan stood at the rear of the crowd and was instead completely unharmed.

Dong Yuanwei withdrew his palm and said blandly, "When you can train to this level, your Surging Wave Palm will count as having achieved minor mastery!"

The ceramic basin before him stood empty, without even a single drop of water remaining.

The disciples who noticed this all sucked in sharp breaths, their faces filled with astonishment.

Suddenly, a voice entered everyone's ears. "May I ask, Instructor, what counts as major mastery?"

Everyone instinctively turned toward the voice and discovered that the one asking the question was actually Zhang Yuan!

Some of the youths curled their lips disdainfully, feeling that Zhang Yuan wanted to run before he had even learned to walk. He was simply aiming too high!

Dong Yuanwei pointed at a water vat some distance away. "One Palm Empties the Vat counts as major mastery!"

One Palm Empties the Vat!

Everyone's eyes went wide.

A basin of water and a vat of water were entirely different concepts. What kind of force would it take to strike dry more than a thousand catties of water in one blow?

Dong Yuanwei added, "The water must be gone, but the vat must not break."

The young disciples all fell silent—the difficulty was far too high!

"Enough."

Dong Yuanwei clapped his hands. "Without accumulating small streams, there can be no rivers or seas. Start with this basin of water. Once you grasp the knack of applying and exerting force, you will naturally understand the mysteries within."

"Now watch carefully and listen closely. This is the basic method of applying force for the Surging Wave Palm!"

As Dong Yuanwei began explaining, the servants of Wubao arranged dozens of ceramic basins filled with water neatly across the Martial Arts Field.

Each ceramic basin rested atop a stone stool.

They also brought over bucket after bucket of water and set them beside the stone stools.

Dong Yuanwei tirelessly demonstrated again and again, while the water in the basins was replenished time after time.

He did not stop until every bucket had been drained dry.

"Now, practice on your own."

The Battle Hall Instructor's lips curved slightly, revealing an almost-smile. "Oh, right. Water is free, but if you break a basin, you will have to pay for a new one out of your own pocket."

The disciples looked at one another, suddenly struck by an ominous feeling!

And the facts proved that their feeling was entirely correct.

Because when these young disciples followed Dong Yuanwei's method of applying force and began hammering away at the water-filled ceramic basins, they discovered that things were nowhere near as simple as they had imagined.

If they used too little force, they could not achieve the effect of "One Palm Empties the Basin" at all.

But if they increased their strength, water splashed everywhere and the ceramic basins shattered into pieces!

Unwilling to accept this, everyone called for the servants to replace the basins.

The result was that a single ceramic basin cost one hundred cash, ten times the market price!

They did not need to pay on the spot, however. The amount would be recorded as a debt and deducted from their monthly stipends later.

But the high price was only one thing.

The disciples soon discovered that these ceramic basins used for practicing the Surging Wave Palm were exceptionally fragile.

It was as though they had been specially made to gouge them for money!

For a time, slapping and shattering sounds rose and fell across the Martial Arts Field.

The servants were too busy replacing basins to keep up!

Everyone's hearts bled.

Some quick-witted fellows also began reducing the force behind their palm strikes to keep their purses from bleeding further.

Yet Dong Yuanwei saw these disciples' "clever" actions and did not say a word.

At least half of his attention was focused on Zhang Yuan!

Zhang Yuan was different from the other disciples.

From the very beginning, he had not anxiously started slapping at the water. Instead, he placed both palms into the ceramic basin, letting the clear water cover his wrists as he carefully sensed the feeling this basin of water gave him.

Water was the softest thing under heaven, yet softness could also become hardness!

Surging waves crashed against the shore; the flow of water was ever-changing.

The water in this basin was dead water. He needed to use deft force to jolt it all alive and send it flying, only then achieving the effect Dong Yuanwei had demonstrated without damaging the ceramic basin.

The difficulty was obvious!

Zhang Yuan recalled Dong Yuanwei's teachings again and again. His palms flipped up and down as he continuously urged his force, shaking and striking the water, striving to comprehend the secret within.

In this process, the loss of ceramic basins was unavoidable.

The number Zhang Yuan shattered was no fewer than those broken by the other disciples.

Yet he did not feel the slightest heartache, nor would he resort to trickery because of it. Instead, he summed up experience and lessons from each failure.

Under the blazing sun, Zhang Yuan's clothes never dried. The pooled water on the ground seeped through the cracks between stone slabs into the soil below, while steaming vapor rose in hazy swirls.

The bamboo basket beside him gradually filled with broken ceramic shards!

And amid this repeated practice, Zhang Yuan's palms became engorged and swollen, producing a needle-pricking pain.

But he was utterly unaware of it.

Only when no new basin was placed upon the stone stool before him did Zhang Yuan come back to himself. "What's wrong?"

He was asking the servant beside him who was specifically responsible for placing the basins and filling them with water.

The servant gave a wry smile. "Young master, all thirty ceramic basins allocated to you have been used up."

Thirty ceramic basins?

Zhang Yuan froze for a moment.

He had not expected that he had shattered so many water basins.

Damn it!

Zhang Yuan suddenly remembered that each of these "shoddily made" ceramic basins cost a whopping hundred cash.

Thirty of them meant three thousand cash, equivalent to three taels of silver!

In just one morning, he had squandered so much money.

At that moment, his heart hurt even more than his palms.

Forget it!

Zhang Yuan could not help shaking his head.

As the saying went, you could not catch the wolf without sacrificing the child.

Those three taels of silver had not been wasted. He had already found a faint trace of the knack for applying force.

Though he was still far from the level of One Palm Empties the Basin, leaving not a single drop behind.

But this was only the beginning!