Water Has No Constant Form

Under the envious, jealous, resentful gazes of the other youths, Zhang Yuan followed Dong Yuanwei into the Wooden Dummy Room.

The Wooden Dummy Room stood beside the Martial Arts Field, spacious and brightly lit within.

Eighteen wooden dummies stood in neat rows inside.

Each dummy was roughly the size and height of an ordinary person, its head, torso, and limbs all wrapped in thick fish skin.

Dong Yuanwei told Zhang Yuan that this fish skin came from Giant Black Fish that had grown for over ten years. After being stripped off with the scales still attached, it was soaked in specially prepared medicinal liquid.

After soaking for seven times seven, forty-nine days, it was dried in the sun for another half month, then soaked again once it had dried completely.

Only after three soakings and three dryings was the process considered complete.

And wrapping a single dummy required one hundred and seventy such black fish skins!

Practice dummies made this way could yield twice the result with half the effort when used to cultivate the Surging Wave Palm.

Dong Yuanwei personally demonstrated the twelve forms of the Surging Wave Palm on one of the Fish Skin Dummies.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Within the Wooden Dummy Room, the sounds of strikes rang out without pause, heavy and solid enough to shake the heart.

Zhang Yuan watched every move Dong Yuanwei demonstrated without blinking, gaining new insight into the Surging Wave Palm.

Dong Yuanwei went through the set three times, explaining in detail the methods of exerting force behind each move.

At last, the Battle Hall Instructor said, "Once you have entered the gate of palm force, what follows is all the work of grinding water through stone. When you can shatter the fish scales on the skin, this palm art will have truly entered the hall!"

The black fish skin wrapped around the dummy lay layer upon layer. No one knew how many palm strikes the outermost layer had endured, but the scales on its surface gleamed with a metallic luster.

It looked extraordinarily tough.

Shattering it was clearly no easy task!

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yuan asked, "Instructor, then how should one cultivate the palm art's intent?"

Dong Yuanwei had previously said that the Surging Wave Palm contained three levels: forms, force exertion, and intent.

He had already completely mastered the forms of this palm art, and had entered the gate of force exertion. Only the intent remained beyond his grasp.

Though Zhang Yuan had only just entered the gate of palm force and was already impatiently asking about methods for the level of intent,

it did carry the suspicion of aiming too high.

Yet Dong Yuanwei was not Zhang Yuan's personal instructor, and opportunities for such one-on-one teaching were few.

So Zhang Yuan could not afford to worry about such things. He would learn the method first and speak of the rest later.

"Intent is something you must comprehend for yourself."

Dong Yuanwei did not get angry. Instead, the Battle Hall Instructor said meaningfully, "Weapons have no constant disposition, and water has no constant form. To grasp the intent of the Surging Wave Palm, you must not only cultivate the palm art until it has entered the hall, but also take nature itself as your teacher!"

"The same principle applies to Martial Skills and cultivation methods of higher levels."

He patted Zhang Yuan on the shoulder. "To be honest, even I would not dare claim that I have fully comprehended the intent of the Surging Wave Palm, so I cannot boast recklessly and lead my students astray!"

Zhang Yuan was startled.

The Surging Wave Palm was merely an entry-level Martial Skill of the Raging Whale Gang, yet even Dong Yuanwei said he had not fully grasped it.

One had to know that this Battle Hall Instructor was a Transforming Force martial artist!

No wonder Dong Yuanwei had said that the Surging Wave Palm would still count as a respectable martial art in the martial world.

The depth of the Raging Whale Gang's foundation was plain to see.

Dong Yuanwei added, "As for the methods and secrets of the Surging Wave Palm, I have taught you all that I can. From here on, it depends on your own diligence and comprehension!"

Zhang Yuan nodded. "I understand."

As the saying went, a master led one through the door, but cultivation depended on the individual. Dong Yuanwei was not his own father, after all; he was not responsible for making sure Zhang Yuan learned everything.

In truth, this Battle Hall Instructor had already thought highly of Zhang Yuan and taken considerable care of him.

"Very good."

A faint smile appeared on Dong Yuanwei's stern face. Then, suddenly changing the subject, he asked, "Can you swim?"

Zhang Yuan paused, then answered, "Yes."

He had loved swimming in his previous life.

After awakening his memories in this life, he had often caught fish and shrimp in the streams near Chen Family Village as well.

"Good."

Dong Yuanwei said, "Our Raging Whale Gang makes its living on the water year-round. Your water skills cannot be too poor. When you have time, swim a few laps in the Celestial Steed River. It will be greatly beneficial to you in the future."

"Also..."

His tone became meaningful. "The Surging Wave Palm can be practiced in water too."

Practicing palm strikes underwater?

Zhang Yuan's heart stirred, and he could not help sinking into deep thought.

Dong Yuanwei's words were certainly not spoken without reason.

Since he said the Surging Wave Palm could be practiced in water, he was surely not merely stringing Zhang Yuan along.

Weapons have no constant disposition, and water has no constant form!

By the time Zhang Yuan came back to himself, the Battle Hall Instructor had already silently left the Wooden Dummy Room.

Zhang Yuan let out a long breath, gathered his focus, and expelled his distracting thoughts from his mind. Then he swung his palm at the dummy before him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Within the Wooden Dummy Room, the ceaseless sounds of strikes rang out once more.

As the sun set behind the western hills, Zhang Yuan walked out of Whale Fortress alone and headed along the riverbank toward the County Town.

His hands had swollen a full circle larger. Though he had already applied healing ointment, they looked even more miserable than they had yesterday.

Yet Zhang Yuan paid no heed to the pain in his palms. His gaze swept across the river bend before him.

The water here was calm and glittering, while countless reeds along the bank swayed in the wind. The scenery was quite beautiful.

A damp breath carrying the fragrance of earth and green grass washed over his face.

Zhang Yuan could not help recalling Dong Yuanwei's words—the Surging Wave Palm could be practiced in water too!

An irresistible urge immediately rose in his heart.

The next moment, Zhang Yuan took off his clothes and hung them on the branches of a willow tree by the riverbank.

Then he plunged headfirst into the river!

The clear river water instantly swallowed him whole. Like a fish entering the sea, he dove to the bottom in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Yuan turned in the water and kicked off, shooting upward with agility and speed.

In an instant, he returned to the surface.

Refreshing!

He had sweated himself rank while practicing in the Wooden Dummy Room that afternoon, but the sweet, cold river water now washed it all away.

He felt wonderfully comfortable from head to toe.

Then Zhang Yuan began swimming freely in the shallows near the bank, diving underwater from time to time.

To see whether he could feel around and find something.

For a while, he played with such delight and abandon that he nearly forgot why he had entered the river in the first place!

A containable genetic entity has been detected!

Just as Zhang Yuan dove underwater once again, a striking prompt suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

Caught off guard, Zhang Yuan nearly swallowed a mouthful of water!

Holy shit!

He had never dreamed that a casual whim to go for a dive would lead him to encounter an Extraordinary Lifeform.

But before Zhang Yuan could rejoice, the prompt quietly disappeared.

That meant the distance between Zhang Yuan and the containable genetic entity had exceeded the Divine Nest's detection range.

But that was not the important part.

The important part was that all three nest chambers in Zhang Yuan's Divine Nest already had hosts.

So unless he deliberately released one of them to free up a nest chamber, even if he caught this new Extraordinary Lifeform now, he would not be able to contain it.

When Zhang Yuan climbed back onto the shore, dripping wet, he resolved to find a way to complete the Divine Nest's upgrade.

Then there would be new nest chambers!