Chapter: May It Come Like the Spring Wind to Keep the Appointment

Ah, the person who wrote this boxing manual had a truly immense tone.

"I have beaten the whole lot of you, and the essence of your boxing techniques has all been written by me in this book; in the future, if your descendants do not know how to teach, they can come and look at my boxing manual."

How arrogant must such words be?!

Even if someone in the prime of his life could fight his way through Shaolin alone, when that person grew old, his disciples might not necessarily be able to produce so many disciples who could stand on their own.

How could one withstand a time-honored major sect like Shaolin, with all the accumulated monks and lay disciples, if they came knocking to pick a fight?

Aside from those who only ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist scriptures, the other monks, since they practiced martial arts, inevitably possessed three parts blood and Qi, three parts fiery temper, and four parts of the fierce drive to contend for strength and renown.

Yet the person who wrote this boxing manual was truly unafraid.

This was because he was not a man of the martial world.

He was a great general of the armies who fought in the south and north, Yu Dayou of the Ming Dynasty, who had once been coupled with another great general, Qi Jiguang, as the dragons and tigers.

Qi Jiguang was furthermore adept at reforming military equipment and organizing combined-attack formations, sweeping the coast in the east first and defending the Great Wall in the north afterward, relying in large part on the merit of formations and equipment.

As for Yu Dayou, the elite under his command used only ordinary and common weapons; it was precisely by relying on his own profound foundation and unique insights in martial arts that he gave pointers and drilled them, training a vast horde of fierce soldiers.

Clearly a great general of the battlefield, for a period of time he did not even use weapons of slaughter and destruction like long spears and swords.

He merely took a staff, wrapped its two ends in iron sheeting, and fitted it with copper rings, then went to engage the Japanese pirates in combat and literally beat those pirates to death.

Faced with such a figure, how could those old, shrewd Shaolin elders harbor any thoughts of revenge? Instead, they brought about a group of monks following Yu Dayou to resist the Japanese pirates, and even invited Yu Dayou to give pointers on the Shaolin Staff Technique, forming a celebrated tale.

After obtaining the boxing manual, Chu Tianshu became immersed in it, unconsciously sitting down by the table and turning the pages in the courtyard for a long time.

On top of this boxing manual, there were not only many training methods and body-washing medicinal formulas, but also examples of fighting with Shaolin monks.

With just a few strokes, he could sketch out the experience of sparring and disassembling each other's marvelous moves.

It appeared that Yu Dayou not only possessed exquisite martial arts, but his mastery of writing was also extremely profound.

Chu Tianshu turned to the last page before snapping out of it as if waking from a dream, having actually forgotten to greet that Principal Li and reading the entire book straight through.

Only a small number of butterflies remained in the courtyard, while the rest followed that Principal Li to other parts of the regiment headquarters.

"Huh?"

Chu Tianshu looked around and found that only Zhong Jinqiu remained by the table, whereupon he could not help asking, "Where did they all go?"

Zhong Jinqiu was currently staring at a strip of pickled turnip in his hand, seeming to think the flavor made by the cooking squad was not right, and at the question said, "Didn't you give them the medicinal formula? They went to brew the medicine."

"This Principal Li is smiling all over his face, yet he is a person of prompt and decisive temperament."

Zhong Jinqiu raised his eyes and said, "I heard Old Ma say you are leaving?"

Chu Tianshu nodded. "It should be within these couple of days."

Zhong Jinqiu smiled. "I see that he is quite reluctant to part with you, only he was afraid of revealing a hint of sentimental affectation, and instead refused to stay here and chat with you more."

Chu Tianshu said, "Although the time we have known each other is not long, we have experienced many things. Uncle Ma and Uncle Zhong are both like senior family members in my heart."

"These two secret manuals are not only the remuneration I wanted, but I also wanted the two old uncles to be able to study them; General Cai will certainly consent."

"When you leave the place where you lived in seclusion for a long time and move to a new home, you must always find things to pass the time; with such good things to accompany you, it won't be too boring either."

Zhong Jinqiu laughed heartily. "Old Ma indeed won't be bored; he already agreed with Principal Li just now to go and serve as a lecturer at the Military Academy."

Chu Tianshu said with delight, "That is indeed a good thing."

As for the total amount of mindfulness power cultivated by a practitioner of sorcery, it depended on personal cultivation, but the purity of its quality and its characteristic attributes were largely determined by the cultivation technique practiced.

If two Dharma Lineage inheritances produced mindfulness power of similar quality yet vastly different characteristics,

then for the successor of one lineage to wish to learn the spells of the other lineage would be a very uneconomical matter.

Therefore, Chu Tianshu had never mentioned passing on the secrets of medical incantations to Shopkeeper Ma, nor had Shopkeeper Ma taught him the control spells of the Firebird Daoist Official.

However, if the newly learned Dharma Lineage was clearly superior in quality to one's original cultivation technique,

then one could ascend from the low to the high and descend from the high to the low, venturing relatively smoothly into both the old and new lineages of spells.

Looking at Cai Shanjun's own realm of sorcery, one could tell that within the Military Academy, there must be profound Dharma Lineage inheritances.

Since Shopkeeper Ma was joining, it was not only him going to teach those students, but also an opportunity for his own further study.

"What about you, Uncle Zhong?"

Chu Tianshu advised, "I know Uncle Ma hasn't truly submitted to old age; Uncle Zhong, you are even more adaptable to circumstances than he is. Since you are so adaptable, upon encountering this invitation, you might as well go with the flow..."

Zhong Jinqiu waved his hand. "You don't need to persuade me much; since Old Ma has gone, I will go sooner or later as well."

"However, you saying you want me to study that Breaking Shaolin in your hand-that is not urgent. While that book may very well be the most profound boxing manual inheritance within the Military Academy, it is not necessarily the one most suitable for me right now."

"That Palm Thunder set you spoke to me about is precisely a set of kung fu that has recently been able to arouse my interest and that I should deeply cultivate."

Zhong Jinqiu stood up and went to the wall to fetch a wooden staff.

"A flower spear is seven chi, a staff is eight chi, and a great spear is one zhang and eight inches!"

"For ordinary people, the longer the spear, the more advantageous it is; but for a martial artist who has undergone Aperture Opening, the longer the weapon, the harder it is to control and deliver the force precisely to the tip."

"When I went to kill the old eunuch back then and used a bamboo spear to strike people, the force on the spear actually had places where it wasn't precise enough, squandering quite a bit for nothing. Afterward, I was easily struck by the old eunuch until my upper arms were bruised and swollen-this was likewise because the output and withdrawal of force were not yet sufficiently fluid and effortless."

"Now look at me."

He swept his long staff across.

The butterflies in the flowerbeds took flight in alarm.

Yi Province was warm, and though it was autumn, flowers were still in full bloom in many places.

As the butterflies rose, several soft, tender purple-red azalea petals were also swept up by the wind of the staff.

Zhong Jinqiu twirled the tip of his staff in a circle, as though he had caught one of the petals in it.

As the other petals drifted down, only that one was affected by the airflow, spinning endlessly without falling.

Zhong Jinqiu moved, the tip of his staff tapping, thrusting, and feinting.

The petal tumbled and spun, following within inches of the staff's tip. It even followed him all the way to the wall.

A large stack of bricks stood by the wall, taller than a person. The regiment's guard company often tied bricks with hemp rope and hung them from gun barrels to train their arm strength.

The petal floated in front of the blue bricks.

Zhong Jinqiu drew his wrist back, then flicked it forward. The tip of his staff shot out and pinned the petal to a brick.

On the other side of the brick stack, two bricks exploded with a bang and shot away.

Zhong Jinqiu abruptly withdrew his staff and raised a hand to catch the falling petal.

Chu Tianshu got up to take a look. The fresh, tender petal was only slightly dented in the middle, with no tears or damage.

"Excellent!"

Chu Tianshu's eyes lit up. He praised him without thinking and couldn't help applauding.

In terms of combat ability, Chu Tianshu was already above Zhong Jinqiu.

But when it came to controlling his force, he was still nowhere near this level.

Chu Tianshu even thought that if Zhong Jinqiu had a physique like his, then when fighting Adjutant Zhou or Commander Xu, he could ignore any hard or soft armor.

He could attack as if his opponent weren't wearing armor at all, and every blow would deal real damage.

"I only recently reached this level of understanding. And, overall, I'm not as strong as you, so my strength is easier to control."

Zhong Jinqiu's expression was calm, but his words carried earnest concern.

"You definitely won't be satisfied with Dragon Coils Around the Body and Eating Makes an Immortal forever. But first, you need to get your footing steady. Only then can you go further with ease."

Chu Tianshu smiled. "I understand."

For now, he would keep the boxing manual, Break into Shaolin, close at hand and commit it to memory, but there was no rush to focus on practicing it.

After all, his Toad Art Palm Thunder had yet to reach great mastery, and his liver, gallbladder, spleen, kidneys, and other internal organs had not yet been properly nourished and refined.

Even if Palm Thunder was less valuable than Break into Shaolin, he had the correct feel for Palm Thunder in his mind. That would make it far more effective to practice than simply studying the boxing manual.

As for Break into Shaolin, he could wait until later, deduce it once, and transmit it directly into his mind.

It would be like receiving instruction from a top-tier master, then practicing afterward.

Zhong Jinqiu had gone to all this trouble to demonstrate the move because he wanted to remind Chu Tianshu of something.

Seeing that Chu Tianshu's gaze was clear and that he truly wasn't arrogant or impatient, he finally relaxed.

Just then, the smell of medicine gradually drifted into the courtyard.

"The medicinal decoction is here!"

Shopkeeper Ma came over carrying a steaming medicinal pot with a cloth pad in his hand. He was still muttering as he walked.

"Little Chu, take a look. Has this decoction simmered enough? If it still isn't concentrated enough, I'll take it back and boil it longer."

Cai Shanjun and Li Genyuan came over as well.

Chu Tianshu laughed helplessly. "You could've called me over to check. Why carry the pot back and forth?"

Cai Shanjun smiled. "Shopkeeper Ma was already passing by. As for us, walking around is good for the body anyway."

Chu Tianshu lifted the lid and entered a state of spiritual perception and Aperture Opening to examine the medicinal potency.

A shaman doctor's mental power could only give a rough sense of a medicine's effects. Even doctors in ancient times could misjudge and end up eating poisonous herbs.

But since he had written the prescription himself and knew all the ingredients, it was much easier to judge them together.

"That'll do."

Chu Tianshu lifted the pot higher. A thin stream of pitch-black medicine poured slowly into the bowl, its sound continuous and delicate.

Pouring it this way meant that by the time the bowl was full, the temperature would have dropped to a level that was roughly drinkable.

Cai Shanjun took the bowl and tasted a little. His expression changed slightly.

The bitterness alone would have been fine. The problem was that it had a taste he couldn't describe.

He turned his head to the side, took a deep breath, then began gulping it down.

Just then, Commander Xie came hurrying over.

"Commander-in-Chief, a telegram from the man in Bashu!"

Li Genyuan took it first and glanced over it. His face immediately brightened, and he laughed. "Shanjun, Liu Yanqi has made his move!"

Chu Tianshu asked curiously, "Who is Liu Yanqi?"

Li Genyuan explained.

Bashu had its own Military Academy, whose current principal was surnamed Liu, given name Zhao, courtesy name Yanqi.

When he was young, he had studied at the Officers' Academy in Fog City, learning all kinds of advanced military subjects while also poring over ancient military texts. He could recite many passages from classics such as Sunzi and Wu Zi from memory.

He was not only outstanding in his studies, but also known throughout the school for his proper conduct, firm principles, refusal to indulge in vices, and exceptional patience and perseverance.

After Elder Sun rose up, he joined him. Once he became principal of the Military Academy, he also made friends far and wide and nurtured talented people. With strategy in his heart, he had already built deep-rooted influence.

He was also friends with Cai Shanjun. Back when Cai Shanjun was farming, he had visited the Cai family three times, urging him to join the army.

Liu Yanqi had long disagreed with many of the ways the current Grand Governor of Bashu, Liu Zhixiang, handled things. But the time had not yet come, so he had held back.

"I never thought he would make his move now."

Cai Shanjun set down his medicine bowl, paid no heed to the bitter taste in his mouth, and took the telegram to read it closely.

"So there's been a strange case in Bashu lately. Rumors say it was the work of ghosts and spirits passed down from the Han dynasties. Liu Zhixiang not only failed to investigate it properly, but secretly took part in heretical rites. Yanqi found his opening."

"Liu Zhixiang is still technically his cousin. He's no good at training troops or waging war, but he's very skilled at political infighting, and has no shortage of trusted followers."

"We'll set out at once for Kunming, send a telegram to the whole country, uphold justice, and build momentum. That should help Yanqi too."

Cai Shanjun fell silent for a long while after saying this.

Everyone present seemed to sense that a storm was coming.

Would this storm knock down the banana leaves and scatter the blossoms, or wash away the dust and make all the mountains shine anew?

"Everyone."

Chu Tianshu lifted his gaze to the horizon and took a deep breath. "That divination on General's Mountain didn't dare mislead him. Instead, it brought us together."

"Now the general's health and strength are both recovering. What could possibly stand in our way?"

"Next time I come back here, I'll bring you all the delicacies of my hometown. Not one of you will be left out-we'll all sit together and discuss the affairs of the realm."

Cai Shanjun turned to look at him and laughed heartily.

"Exactly. Heaven has treated me well. Why should we trouble ourselves?"

Cai Shanjun clasped his hands. "Doctor Chu, may you go forth like a mighty wind sweeping ten thousand miles, and may you return like the spring breeze. Until we meet again!"