Inside the cage, Chen Tie maneuvered around the giant tiger. He no longer obsessed over winning or losing exchanges, instead immersing himself wholeheartedly in its every movement, trying to seek the Martial Dao True Intent of Fierce Tiger Fist.
Seeing that the man before it remained composed as he maneuvered, proving harder to deal with than the previous man, the giant tiger grew even more ferocious.
It lowered its massive head, flattened its ears back, and planted all four limbs firmly against the ground. The chain around its neck stretched taut, rattling loudly.
This time, it did not immediately swipe its claws or sweep its tail. Instead, it crouched motionless, a continuous low growl rumbling in its chest. The muscles throughout its body slowly shifted as it drew in all its strength and held it dormant.
Chen Tie's gaze sharpened. This was the moment.
He saw it clearly now. The tiger's strike lay not in the instant it pounced, but in the stillness as it gathered its strength.
Stillness was not powerlessness. It was gathering every ounce of strength, waiting to unleash it in a single instant. When he practiced Fierce Tiger Fist Art before, he kept his entire body taut from beginning to end, inevitably allowing some of that fierce power to dissipate. It fell far short of this transition between motion and stillness.
Chen Tie sank his waist and hips, lowering himself slightly and extending his frame, imitating the tiger's crouching posture. He did not take the initiative to attack, merely facing it in silence as his Qi and blood circulated slowly. He steadied his mind, refusing to be cowed by the ferocity bearing down on him.
After several breaths, the giant tiger erupted into motion!
Its enormous body surged forward as far as the chain allowed-the original form of Fierce Tiger Fist's killing move, "Fierce Tiger Strikes Rock." A fierce wind carrying a heavy, rank stench rushed at him, and even the ground trembled slightly.
Chen Tie stepped sideways, turning to evade the path of the tiger's shoulder charge. At the same time, he twisted his waist and hips, sweeping his arm outward in an embracing arc.
This move was precisely Fierce Tiger Strikes Rock, yet this punch was utterly different from those he had thrown before.
While gathering strength, he relaxed his sinews and bones and drew his Qi and blood inward; the instant he struck, the force throughout his body abruptly converged, and he blasted out a punch.
Though it seemed unpracticed, the wind of his punch howled. It was no longer a simple shove of brute strength, but carried the domineering conception of a tiger suddenly erupting after lying in wait.
Boom!
The wind of his punch skimmed past the giant tiger's shoulder and smashed into the floor of the iron cage, sending dirt and gravel flying.
He had not struck the tiger, but the instant he threw that punch, Chen Tie felt a thunderous jolt deep within. It was as though a thin veil over the Martial Dao True Intent of Fierce Tiger Fist had been torn open.
The tiger's true intent was not merely wild ferocity and a thirst for killing. In stillness, it concealed force; in motion, it shattered mountains, gathering and releasing strength at will.
Although he was still some distance from crossing that threshold, this mere half-step increased the power of Chen Tie's Fierce Tiger Fist Art by thirty percent.
Chen Tie slowly leaned against the iron cage and caught his breath for a moment, taking the opportunity to digest what he had gained.
Having missed its strike, the giant tiger gave another deafening roar and crouched to gather strength again, preparing for its next pounce.
Outside the cage, Mo Hong's eyes lit up. He said quietly, "Good. He's grasped the key to the transition between motion and stillness. Zhang Long only learned the tiger's ferocity, but Chen Qing understood the stillness in which it conceals its strength."
Zhang Long and Lin Yue also stared intently into the cage, their expressions complicated. Although his cultivation realm surpassed Chen Tie's, with his Flesh Refining nearing major accomplishment, his attainment in Fierce Tiger Fist Art fell short of Chen Tie's.
Zhang Long had seen it clearly just now. The Fierce Tiger Strikes Rock Chen Tie threw had not changed in form, but its spirit and rhythm already far surpassed his own.
Chen Tie caught his breath and continued maneuvering around the giant tiger, occasionally striking to rehearse his moves, honing this true intent of stillness within hardness again and again.
The beast's might remained oppressive, but he knew clearly in his heart to continue comprehending it, turning the tiger's combat instincts, bit by bit, into his own Martial Dao True Intent.
But Chen Tie's aptitude truly was ordinary. The prolonged maneuvering had drained his mind enormously, and his tightly strained body had also reached its limit. He wiped away his sweat and looked toward Mo Hong, signaling that he wanted to leave the cage.
The iron cage's gate was pulled open with a piercing scrape of metal. Chen Tie stepped outside, and the iron bars dropped, locking shut with a click.
Zhang Long approached with a complicated expression, a measure of urgency in his eyes. "Senior Brother Chen, that Fierce Tiger Strikes Rock you threw just now looked a little different from the Fierce Tiger Fist I practice."
Before Chen Tie could answer, Mo Hong's gaze settled on Zhang Long, his voice calm and even. "Zhang Long, when you entered the cage earlier, you thought only of competing with the tiger. Your mind was swayed by the beast's ferocity, and your Qi and blood grew restless. All you saw was its ferocious appearance as it pounced and swiped its claws. You learned only the brute force it unleashed outward, knowing nothing of the stillness in which it gathers and restrains its strength. You resemble its form, but not its spirit. You remain far from the true intent of Fierce Tiger Fist."
Zhang Long's face fell. He lowered his head and cupped his hands. "I understand. In the cage, the moment the tiger roared, I couldn't help thinking about dodging and counterattacking. It was hard to calm myself and observe."
Mo Hong nodded slightly, then turned toward the person beside him, a little more approval in his eyes. "You were different. After entering the cage, you weren't swept up by the tiger's ferocious might. You could still observe how it crouched to gather strength-that is stillness; how it suddenly pounced-that is motion. Force concealed within stillness, killing concealed within motion, hard but not rigid, wild but not chaotic. You aren't far from grasping Martial Dao True Intent."
"A tiger does not roar and fight every moment of the day. When it lies in wait, it draws in all its strength. It seems quiet, but killing intent lurks within. Many martial artists practicing tiger fist techniques blindly pursue hardness and ferocity, learning only the tiger's killing and losing its concealment. They train their moves to major accomplishment, yet struggle to reach perfection."
Chen Tie bowed. "Thank you for your guidance, Master Mo. Only in the cage just now did I truly understand that the foundation of Fierce Tiger Fist lies in gathering and releasing strength at will. Blindly pursuing hardness and ferocity is not the correct path."
"Precisely," Mo Hong said slowly. "The moves are merely the shell; true intent is the core. Zhang Long, you should learn more from Chen Tie. Calm your mind and observe things. Do not blindly pursue slaughter."
Zhang Long looked at Chen Tie, his expression complicated and holding some unwillingness to accept it. He answered in a subdued voice, "I'll remember."
Their master glanced at the tiger inside the cage and said, "That's all for today. You two go back and properly digest what you comprehended today. Come again tomorrow."
"Yes, Master Mo (Master)!"
Chen Tie and Zhang Long cupped their hands together and took their leave.
On the way out of the basement, Zhang Long turned toward Chen Tie and said quietly, "I always thought martial cultivation only required constantly finding powerful enemies to fight and temper myself against. My horizons were too narrow."
Chen Tie's expression shifted slightly. He had not expected someone with such innate pride to say something like that.
"Hardness and softness were never separate. Fighting isn't the only path in martial cultivation."
After they parted, Chen Tie went straight to the White Crane Martial Arts Hall and made his familiar way to White Crane Pond.
The lingering sunset spread across the water, tinting it pale red. Most of the white cranes that had paced about during the day had returned to the bank. Some had drawn up one foot and tucked their long necks beneath their wings to rest, their white feathers gilded with the warm hues of sunset.
Chen Tie slowed his steps, afraid of disturbing the spirit birds. He found a clean bluestone and stood quietly upon it, closing his eyes for a moment to quell the Qi and blood that had surged while he faced the tiger. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze settled on the white cranes.
Inside the iron cage just now, he had grasped how the tiger gathered strength in stillness and unleashed it in motion. Looking at the white cranes now, he felt something different.
When a white crane stood still, its sinews and bones were extended and relaxed, its Qi and blood flowing gently and continuously. It seemed to possess no strength at all, yet once it flapped its wings or raised a foot, the movement of its sinews and bones immediately generated force. Its stillness was not a powerless silence, nor was its movement a violent impact.
The tiger's stillness concealed killing; the white crane's stillness nourished the spirit.
One hard, one soft-the two conceptions mingled in his heart.
Chen Tie could not help rubbing his nose.
"It seems I have these white cranes to thank for being able to advance another step. Perhaps understanding one thing opens the way to others, and practicing White Crane Fist lets my Fierce Tiger Fist improve faster too."
Just then, a white crane slowly stepped over, its jet-black eyes watching Chen Tie quietly.
Chen Tie raised his hand, his fingertips brushing lightly over the smooth white feathers along its neck. The instant his fingertips made contact, he carefully sensed the steady, continuous circulation of the spirit bird's Qi and blood.