The willows along the Hai River had turned golden, swaying gently in the cool autumn breeze.
Li Qingshan stood alone by the river, feeling the surging power of his Transformation Jin cultivation circulate endlessly within him. Yet an urge to travel far from home rose in his heart.
Since breaking through to Transformation Jin, his senses had grown ever sharper,
and he could clearly feel that Jinmen's martial arts environment was no longer enough for him to continue improving rapidly.
Most martial artists here remained at the Manifest Jin or Hidden Jin stage, and Transformation Jin grandmasters could be counted on one hand.
Moreover, most were well advanced in years and lacked the fighting spirit to forge ahead.
I need a wider world and stronger opponents.
Li Qingshan gazed at the gently flowing water, his heart as clear as a mirror.
Cultivating the martial path was like rowing upstream: if one did not advance, one fell back.
Staying in his comfort zone would only let his edge gradually dull, until he finally stopped making progress.
Just then, his phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
The caller ID showed Zhang Hao, the president of the City C University of Technology Martial Arts Club, that enthusiastic young man.
"Master Li! Long time no see!"
Zhang Hao's voice was as lively as ever.
"Our martial arts club has organized a five-day trip to Southeast Asia. Our first stop is Siam, and we'd like to invite you to come along.
Everyone wants to ask you for more guidance! We heard you've been making quite a name for yourself in Jinmen lately!"
Li Qingshan's heart stirred.
Southeast Asia was also a gathering place for martial arts. Ancient Muay Thai and Burmese Boxing in particular were known for their fierce, powerful techniques.
Besides, during a special period, some of the country's martial arts lineages had traveled abroad, and quite a few had settled in Southeast Asia. Perhaps they could offer him fresh inspiration.
"All right, I'll join you."
Li Qingshan readily agreed.
He needed a change of scenery anyway, to let his recent gains settle.
Three days later, the group met at the capital airport.
Besides Zhang Hao, there were familiar faces from the martial arts club, including Zhao Gang and Lin Wei. There were eight people in all,
all energetic young people in their early twenties.
Everyone was thrilled to see Li Qingshan and came forward to bow and greet him.
"Master Li, it's wonderful that you could come!"
Zhao Gang rubbed the back of his head and laughed. His sanda skills had clearly improved over the past few months, and his stance was more stable.
"With you here, our trip will be much safer."
Lin Wei also blushed as she handed him a carefully prepared itinerary.
"Master Li, this is the route we planned. Please see if there's anything that needs adjusting."
Her taekwondo cultivation had also improved, and her breathing was steadier.
Li Qingshan accepted the itinerary with a smile, feeling their sincere respect.
Though these young people's martial skills were far inferior to his, their love for the martial path was genuine,
and he could not help remembering what he had been like when he first began learning martial arts.
He looked over the itinerary carefully and found that, besides the usual tourist attractions,
they had made a point of arranging visits to several traditional Muay Thai gyms. Clearly, they had put thought into the preparations.
When the plane arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport,
a wave of tropical heat hit them in the face, a stark contrast to Jinmen's autumn chill.
Towering pagodas, bustling markets, and tuk-tuks weaving through the streets
formed a picture brimming with exotic charm.
The young martial arts club members excitedly took photos to remember the trip,
but Li Qingshan keenly noticed that quite a few martial artists with vigorous Qi and blood were hidden in the city.
Their steps were steady and their temples slightly bulging. They were clearly all martial artists with a certain level of cultivation.
"The martial arts atmosphere in Siam is strong."
Li Qingshan spoke thoughtfully.
Zhang Hao came over and explained,
"Yes, Muay Thai is their national art. Almost every village has a gym.
I hear some of the old boxing masters are incredibly skilled!
They say the very best Muay Thai masters can kick a wooden post as thick as a bowl in two. Their power is astonishing."
On the first day, the group visited famous attractions such as the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.
The magnificent, gold-adorned palaces
and the solemn, mysterious Buddha statues
left the young people marveling.
During the visits, however, Li Qingshan paid particular attention to the ancient murals and sculptures.
Many depicted Ancient Muay Thai techniques, fierce and explosive, with a character quite unlike that of Central Plains martial arts.
He silently committed the methods of generating force in these techniques to memory, comparing them with what he had learned.
He found that although their outward forms differed, their essence-the pursuit of the human body's limits-was the same.
At the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, before a massive statue of the reclining Buddha, Li Qingshan was suddenly moved.
It reminded him that the true meaning of his cultivation of the martial path was not to compete and strive for supremacy,
but to surpass himself.
He stood quietly for a long time, his Transformation Jin circulating naturally within him
and resonating wonderfully with the solemn atmosphere around him. His mental realm advanced once more.
That evening at the Asia Night Market, a group of martial arts club students gathered around a Muay Thai performance area, watching intently.
Two Muay Thai fighters were engaged in a fierce exchange on the platform.
Elbows struck and knees slammed, vicious and sharp, every move aimed straight at a vital point, demonstrating their techniques' great practical effectiveness.
"What fierce techniques!"
Zhao Gang could not help exclaiming.
"If one of those landed on you, you'd definitely end up with broken bones and torn tendons."
Lin Wei frowned as well.
"They're too vicious. They don't have any of the elegance of our martial arts."
Li Qingshan watched for a moment, then said slowly,
"Muay Thai has power and ferocity to spare, but it lacks flexibility.
But look closely. The way they generate force is distinctive: they concentrate the strength of their entire bodies at one point and unleash it."
As he spoke, he casually demonstrated a Transformation Jin movement to neutralize a knee strike.
"If hardness and softness could be combined, its power could rise another level."
His demonstration looked effortless, yet it contained a Transformation Jin grandmaster's understanding of the essence of force, prompting everyone to imitate him.
The next day, Zhang Hao made special arrangements to visit a traditional Muay Thai gym.
The gym was in Bangkok's old town. Its storefront was small, with a sign in Thai hanging above it, and it looked as though it had been there for years.
But stepping inside revealed another world.
In the spacious training area, dozens of students were practicing. Shouts, the thud of blows against sandbags, and coaches' scolding intertwined, filling the place with a vigorous atmosphere.
The air was thick with the smell of sweat and herbal ointment, and the walls were covered with photographs of boxing champions through the years and award certificates.
The owner was a middle-aged man in his fifties, with dark skin, sharp eyes, and slightly bulging temples. He was clearly an expert.
Through an interpreter, Li Qingshan learned that his name was Buakaw and that he had been a famous Muay Thai champion in his youth.
He had won several championship titles and opened this gym after retiring to pass on the art of Muay Thai.
"Chinese kung fu?"
Hearing the interpreter's introduction, Buakaw looked interested.
"Want to try?"
He gestured an invitation, a challenge in his eyes.
Li Qingshan smiled faintly, took off his shoes, and stepped onto the platform.
Instead of choosing to fight directly, he demonstrated a boxing form.
His movements seemed slow, yet they contained the harmonious, seamless intent of Transformation Jin.
Each movement carried a certain rhythm, as though resonating with heaven and earth,
giving everyone present a feeling of inexplicable tranquility.
Buakaw watched without taking his eyes off him, then finally gave him a thumbs-up.
"Soft! Very good!"
Though he did not understand its essence, he could tell the boxing form was extraordinary.
Next, Buakaw demonstrated a set of Ancient Muay Thai techniques himself. They were fierce and explosive, yet carried a unique rhythm of their own.
Every move contained the skill he had cultivated over decades. His elbows struck like blades, his knees like hammers, displaying the ferocity and power of Muay Thai.
Li Qingshan watched closely and saw that although Muay Thai appeared fierce and forceful on the outside,
it also had unique breathing methods and techniques for generating force within, achieving a similar effect to Central Plains martial arts through different means.
The technique of concentrating the entire body's strength at one point and unleashing it was especially worth drawing upon.
After the demonstrations, Buakaw took the initiative to invite Li Qingshan to spar.
The two exchanged more than ten moves on the platform, with Li Qingshan using his Transformation Jin cultivation to respond.
He neutralized Buakaw's fierce attacks one by one, then gently pushed him away with a move of Cloud Hands,
settling who was superior while allowing the other man to save face.
Buakaw was convinced in both heart and word. Through the interpreter, he said,
"Chinese kung fu is unfathomably deep."
He made a point of giving Li Qingshan an ancient Muay Thai manual that recorded some little-known Ancient Muay Thai techniques.
On the third day, the group went to the Pattaya seashore.
The blue sea and sky, white sand and coconut groves let everyone forget martial arts for a while and enjoy their vacation to the fullest.
Li Qingshan, however, noticed something interesting on the beach.
Quite a few tourists from Europe and America were practicing a mixed fighting art that combined Muay Thai with Western combat techniques.
Their training methods were unusual, emphasizing practical combat and efficiency, often deciding victory or defeat within a few moves.
"This is mixed martial arts, which has become popular in recent years."
Zhang Hao explained, clearly having done his homework.
"Many foreigners come to Siam to learn Muay Thai, then combine it with their own fighting techniques.
I hear some special forces also use this kind of training."
Li Qingshan observed them for a long time and found that although this fusion of fighting styles lacked a systematic structure,
it was highly effective in actual combat. The military combat techniques tested on battlefields in particular were lethal with every move and could not be underestimated.
He noticed one detail:
these practitioners all placed great emphasis on training their core strength.
This achieved a similar effect to the internal martial arts' "generating force from the dantian" through different means.
While watching a Muay Thai match that evening, Li Qingshan gained an even deeper appreciation of its appeal.
The atmosphere in the arena was electric, and the spectators' shouts shook the heavens.
In the ring, the fighters used elbows, knees, fists, and legs as weapons, switching between offense and defense with great speed, full of the raw beauty of power.
What drew his attention even more was that although some fighters were a little older,
every move they made still contained astonishing explosive power. Clearly, they had already touched the threshold of Hidden Jin.
Their eyes were sharp as eagles', with a killing aura born of countless battles.
"Different paths, the same pursuit."
Li Qingshan was thoughtful.
Whether it was Central Plains martial arts or Muay Thai, both ultimately pursued the fullest possible development of the body and the elevation of the spirit.
This resonance across cultures gave him a deeper understanding of the martial path.
He noticed that top Muay Thai fighters entered a special state during matches,
similar to a martial artist's "Entering Stillness," devoting themselves body and soul to the fight and forgetting themselves entirely.
On the fourth day,
a minor incident occurred on the way to the floating market.
A few local thugs tried to extort the tourists and clashed with the martial arts club students.
Zhao Gang and the others took up stances, ready to fight, but Li Qingshan gently stopped them.
He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the thugs like lightning.
The presence of a Transformation Jin grandmaster naturally radiated from him. Although he made no move, the thugs felt an inexplicable fear.
It was as though they were facing a tiger lying in wait. They involuntarily stepped back several paces before finally leaving in resentment.
"Master Li, what technique did you use just now?"
Lin Wei asked curiously. She had not understood what had happened at all.
"Presence."
Li Qingshan smiled faintly.
"When martial arts are cultivated to a certain level, one's essence, Qi, and spirit naturally gather, allowing one to subdue an enemy without fighting."
He explained that this was actually a manifestation of both the Transformation Jin realm and the mental cultivation of Entering Stillness,
which could influence another person's mind through one's presence.
The fifth day was the final day of the trip.
While the others shopped for souvenirs at Bangkok's largest shopping center, Li Qingshan went to an antique shop alone.
The owner was an elderly Chinese man. When he heard that Li Qingshan practiced martial arts, he brought out several pieces from his collection to show him.
What interested Li Qingshan most was a yellowed martial arts manual,
which recorded some ancient Muay Thai moves and included a few annotations in Chinese,
clearly insights left behind by Chinese martial artists in the early years. A line was written on the manual's title page:
"At the pinnacle of martial arts, there is no distinction between Chinese and foreign, only the pursuit of the true essence."
"Chinese and Thai martial arts have always had things in common."
The old shopkeeper spoke in fluent Chinese. He said his ancestral home was Guangdong and that his grandfather's generation had come to Siam to make a living.
"Many Chinese people came to Siam to make a living in those early years, bringing Chinese kung fu with them.
Some blends worked well, and others didn't, but they were all valuable attempts."
Li Qingshan carefully leafed through the manual and found that some of its techniques for issuing force had much in common with Xingyi Fist and Bajiquan.
In particular, the "Ancient Muay Thai Internal Training Method" recorded in it
achieved a similar effect by different means to the breathing methods of the Central Plains' internal martial arts.
This exchange of martial arts across time and space moved him in a way he could not quite explain.
Seeing how interested Li Qingshan was, the old shopkeeper gave him the manual, hoping he would carry its essence forward and bring it to greater heights.
At the airport for their return home, Zhang Hao and the others excitedly looked through their photos, discussing the amusing things that had happened on the trip.
Li Qingshan had come to see them off.
The five-day trip had given him a new understanding of martial arts.
Martial arts were not something to be developed behind closed doors; they required constant exchange, integration, and innovation.
Different cultural backgrounds and different training methods all ultimately pursued the same goal: breaking through the limits of the human body.
"Master Li, what are your plans next?"
Zhang Hao's question interrupted his thoughts.
"I'm planning to travel around Southeast Asia and see the martial arts here."
Li Qingshan gazed at the sea of clouds outside the window, his eyes deep.
The plane was about to take off, and the martial arts club's students reluctantly said goodbye to Li Qingshan.
"Where should I go next?"
Li Qingshan murmured to himself.