Chenjiagou

The boxing style of Chenjiagou is said to have been passed down from the Ming Dynasty, and has a history of several hundred years.

However, due to its past closed-mindedness and refusal to accept disciples from outside the family, it has not produced many masters throughout history, and its reputation is not great.

During the Daoguang era, a man named Chen Changxing emerged, and the reputation of Chen Family Fist gradually grew.

At that time, there was a pharmacy apprentice Yang Luchan in Guangping Prefecture. He met a boxing master from Chenjiagou and was amazed by the exquisite boxing skills, so he decided to learn boxing.

This man visited Chenjiagou three times, and Chen Changxing was amazed by his perseverance and talent, so he passed on his true teachings.

Yang Luchan later entered the capital and competed with others, winning every battle, which caught the eye of Prince Duan.

Prince Duan had him teach martial arts in his palace and recommended him to join the Banner Army, ordering him to teach only Bannermen, not Han Chinese, and only the Eight Banners, not the Eight Banners outside the Banners.

Many princes and nobles also became his apprentices.

However, the vast majority of these Manchus could not endure hardship and could not learn the essence of the art.

After much thought, Yang Luchan modified the boxing style, creating a new form that removed the difficult and challenging parts, making it more open, graceful, and free-flowing.

It's not too strenuous to practice, yet it has some health benefits, and it looks quite impressive when demonstrated.

Unexpectedly, this set of fancy displays became even more popular among Beijing residents, creating a widespread trend.

If anyone questions whether these princes' skills are just for show, they will have their guards swarm them. If the other party is also someone of high status, these people will not be able to resort to underhanded tactics.

At worst, we can let the expert on the other side find Yang Luchan and have a match with him.

In comparison, the opposing side was indeed no match for Yang Luchan.

These Manchus then became even more emboldened and boasted even more about the boxing techniques they had learned.

Yang Luchan's reputation thus truly reached its zenith.

Who would have thought that the Chen Family Fist of northern Henan would be passed down through the Yang family of southern Hebei?

Chenjiagou took advantage of the situation and benefited greatly, attracting a large number of people to learn boxing, and the village became wealthy.

Although not many people who come to learn boxing can stick with it.

But once the village has a foundation, it becomes much easier to explore other avenues, enabling everyone in the village to learn martial arts, and ensuring that medicinal wine and baths are readily available without worrying about shortages.

Today, Chenjiagou is mostly filled with brick-walled and tile-roofed houses.

Even in this small village, a white stone archway stands at the entrance. The gilded characters on the plaque are clearly wiped clean frequently and are free of dust.

The three characters in the center are "Chenjiagou," the vertical line on the left reads "Taiji Tai Chi," and the right reads "Long-standing Origin."

Two people are stationed at the foot of the archway every day to guard it.

It is also convenient to receive people who come to seek instruction or fellow martial arts practitioners.

The sun is setting in the west today, and the sky is still bright.

At the end of the dirt road outside the village, a wisp of dust rose as someone carried a large object over.

The two gatekeepers didn't pay much attention at first, but after a moment, when they could see what the man was carrying on his shoulder, their expressions turned serious.

It was a huge, grayish-white rock, about half the height of a person.

The newcomer, still holding a sheathed longsword in his left hand, casually carried the boulder on his shoulder using only his right hand.

Especially on that boulder, there are four large characters carved in a vigorous and elegant style, about an inch deep.

--Golden Toad Taiji!!

The martial arts practitioners in Chenjiagou may not know much about other schools, but they have certainly heard of the various styles of Taiji.

They had also heard of the Golden Toad Sect School of Taiji Fist.

Bringing such a huge rock to the door without any gifts clearly indicates their intention to cause trouble.

When Chu Tianshu was still a hundred meters away from the archway, a gatekeeper hurriedly ran into the village.

When Chu Tianshu was only ten steps away from the archway, dozens of people from the village came out to greet him.

People from all the households continued to come out to watch and join the crowd.

Life in Chenjiagou is usually quite monotonous, so it's rare to see such a lively scene.

Chu Tianshu glanced at the group of people, then lowered his right arm, letting the boulder fall to the ground.

Thump!!

Chen Pinde, the clan chief of Chenjiagou in this generation, was about to speak when he was slightly startled by the voice.

The dirt roads in Chen Family Village were all tamped down very firmly, so even when this huge rock fell, it still managed to sink in more than two inches.

This weight was heavier than anyone had estimated.

This person must have mastered the Dragon Coils Around the Body, and not just reached the full level of Dragon Coils Around the Body.

It should be noted that the Taiji Fist of the Golden Toad Sect primarily focuses on the path of becoming Eating Makes an Immortal.

"Gentlemen, enough with the small talk."

Chu Tianshu patted the Shitou beside him.

He picked up the Shitou randomly on the road and carved a few large characters on it with his hand.

"You should understand now from these four words: I am a successor of the Golden Toad Sect Taiji. My master always regretted that he never had a proper contest with the Taiji Fist of Chenjiagou."

"I'm here today for only one thing: to defeat the masters of Chenjiagou. I don't care about a war of attrition."

"If you lose, from now on, whenever you mention Taiji in public, you must remember to say that my Golden Toad Sect Taiji Fist is the best in the world."

Chu Tianshu exuded arrogance and made a grand entrance, with his left hand holding a sword behind his waist and only his right hand outstretched.

Who wants to go first?

Those who practice martial arts all have a temper.

The boulder put a lot of pressure on everyone, but normally no one would bother to move a boulder for no reason.

They didn't actually have a precise estimate of how big Shitou they could lift.

Furthermore, they relied on their superior numbers and boasted of their exceptional skills.

Immediately, some people wanted to go into battle.

Chen Pinde quickly stretched out his arms to stop those people, cupped his hands and said, "The Golden Toad Sect has few successors, and has not been known in the martial arts world for more than ten years."

"In this age of rampant guns and cannons, martial arts have lost much of their ancient glory. Yet your esteemed sect has produced a master like yourself, which is truly a blessing for the martial arts world."

"Please, sir, have a seat at my Chen Clan. We will prepare a banquet to welcome you and wash you off your journey."

As for the matter of sparring, there's plenty of time in the future, no need to rush.

Wow, she's got such a good temper?

Was he planning to poison the food, or was he simply terrified by the Shitou alone?

I should have chosen a smaller one.

"Ha ha!"

Chu Tianshu feigned a rough and uncouth demeanor and laughed loudly, "You don't need to give me this nonsense. If you don't want to fight, you can just admit defeat, and I won't have to lift a finger."

Chen Pinde maintained his smile, but his eyes couldn't help but dart around.

The onlookers were too busy to look at the weight of the boulder.

Chen Pinde had been watching Chu Tianshu's breathing from the moment he appeared.

The man's breathing showed almost no change as he carried and threw the boulder.

Given this performance, his true power ceiling is probably more than ten times greater than the weight of this boulder.

This is probably... probably someone who has reached the pinnacle of all three paths.

Or perhaps they Eating Makes an Immortal, the Guanyin Bone, and innate superhuman strength.

"In Chenjiagou, all the men of prime age have gone out to make their way in the world; those who remain are nothing more than unskilled individuals."

Chen Pinde said earnestly, "Even if you defeat us, I'm afraid you can't be called a hero."

"Well then, in this valley, there are three old men who, though old age may have diminished their physical prowess, are still quite skilled in martial arts."

"If you really want to compete, then why don't you spar with these three?"

Chen Pinde's words caused an uproar among the crowd behind him.

Although those three old men were old, they took a medicinal bath every two days to keep their muscles and bones strong.

As long as they don't leave Chenjiagou and the supply of medicinal baths isn't cut off, any one of them is far stronger than Chen Pinde, the clan leader.

Chu Tianshu, who was already looking to attract attention, immediately said, "Then let the three of them come out quickly."

Chen Pinde immediately sent someone to invite him.

When the villagers heard that the three elders were to be invited to fight, even those who didn't usually like watching a spectacle couldn't resist joining in.

Chen Xuewen, wearing frameless round glasses and with a handsome appearance, sat on a rocking chair in front of his house, his left leg crossed over his right, flipping through an old blue book.

Hearing the commotion in the village, he called out to a passing boy and asked him a few questions.

"It actually took the three elders' intervention."

Chen Xuewen seemed to be deep in thought, then called over his maid, "Chun'er, go and tell half of the foreign gunners guarding the ancestral hall to go to the clan chief."

"Okay, call your partner over here."

Chun'er smiled and asked, "What has Young Master noticed now?"

"I didn't see anything, but it's always good to be cautious."

Chen Xuewen said, "The butterfly on the flower will not lower its guard just because a passerby has not hurt its feelings."

"It's always good to be prepared for any strangers approaching."

Chen Xuewen thought for a moment, then added, "The gunman sent to the clan chief should not get too close or aim at first. In short, he must not fire first."

"Even the experts who could get the three elders to come out aren't entirely confident using a gun formation. If the enemy doesn't intend to go to extremes but is forced to kill by the muskets, then we've brought trouble upon ourselves."

Chun'er smiled and said, "I understand."

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a series of car horns coming from outside the village.

Huo Ming, standing on a side path outside Chen Xuewen's high walls, also frowned.

Outside the village, a long convoy of cars kicked up dust.

Several black sedans and green troop transport trucks arrived, with fully armed soldiers, some sitting inside and others standing on either side of the vehicles, clinging to the windows.

"Oh dear! What are we doing here?"

After the car stopped, a middle-aged man with thick hair got out of the middle car.

"I've come to invite the masters from Chenjiagou to be our instructors. This is because..."

The man took a few steps forward, saw the boulder, and stroked his hairy chin.

"Golden Toad Taiji, is this a martial arts contest?"

He then looked at Chu Tianshu, "Brother, you're clearly no ordinary person. How about this, if you can win a few matches, you can become an instructor in my Song-Pacifying Army. There's plenty of money to be made. What do you say?"

(End of this chapter)