Comprehending Moves

The morning light was faint, and the thin mist was chilly.

Beside the steps in front of the courtyard, dewdrops clung to the banana leaves, poised to fall.

The stone bricks under the eaves were clean, having just been wiped by a servant, without a trace of water, and a tiger-skin cushion was laid out.

A man sat cross-legged on it, holding prayer beads in his hand, his eyes fixed on the banana leaf, seemingly lost in thought, completely at ease.

"Uncle, just as you predicted, Zheng Hui treacherous and cunning. Yesterday, he brought all those people back to his residence."

Duan Rusu stood aside and said angrily, "These people have ruined our important plans. Once the imperial edict and those notices are posted today, the momentum we've created will soon be completely disrupted."

The Yuwen Lineage members had only been operating outside the capital city before, and had not yet actually entered the city to target those individuals.

According to their previous estimates, they should wait until something happened to someone in the city before they could bring the king into the city.

At that time, rumors had already become widespread, and even if the monarch changed his attitude and rushed into the scene, he might not be able to easily suppress the rumors.

However, the Yuwen Family suffered a setback before even leaving the city, their secrets exposed far too early.

Zheng Hui was astute enough to persuade the king to enter the arena, thus curbing the momentum of the original rumor.

When people get things done, they inevitably encounter some variables, some big and some small.

The man said, "You just encountered a setback, and you're already so angry. A whole night has passed, and you still can't calm down. You're just wasting your energy and spirit, which won't help. Let me recite a calming scripture for you."

"Namo Ratna Trayaya, Bodhisattvaya, Mahasattvaya..."

This man was Duan Zhong, who looked to be around forty years old. His skin was plump and radiant, and he actually looked younger than Duan Rusu.

His hair was as black as ink, his eyebrows were like swords and his eyes were like tigers, his cheekbones were slightly high, and he had a short, thick, and neat beard on his chin.

With his stature and appearance, he exuded a majestic and imposing aura, yet his light robes and loose belt, along with his unhurried and gentle voice, revealed a touch of warmth and refinement.

Seeing that he actually seemed to really want to recite the entire scripture, Duan Rusu's lips twitched, but she didn't dare to interrupt him.

"Sigh, how can your mind work if you don't calm down?"

Duan Zhong said, "Yimouxun has been suppressing the power within our army, so I've inevitably had to focus my attention on military matters lately."

"All affairs with the Yuwen Family are entrusted to you so that you can manage them, not so that you can pick up the habits of assassins and spies."

"They're mostly doomed if they fail at their tasks, but you've suffered this setback; your foundation is intact, your resources are still there. What's the rush?"

Duan Zhong fiddled with the prayer beads between his fingers.

"The Yuwen Family is quite powerful, but the people they sent weren't the best. Losing this group might not necessarily be a bad thing for the Duan Family."

"Moreover, we also have Tubo, which can lend a helping hand. Tubo has already invited a high priest and thirty-six senior monks to come and lend us a hand."

Duan Rusu was both surprised and delighted. "The Tubo actually sent out someone like this?!"

Throughout Tubo, high priests were few and far between, and they were mostly responsible for presiding over royal prayer ceremonies and protecting the royal family during important events.

And those senior monks were all exceptionally skilled, one in a million.

These people must have lived in the royal city for a long time.

Aside from the time when the fighting with the Tang army was at its fiercest, when I heard that the high priest had accompanied the army, I had never heard of these people ever leaving the country.

"What do you think I was doing all these years when I was receiving Tubo every year?"

Duan Zhong said leisurely, "We want them to see with their own eyes what the people of Nanzhao are now, and to warn them of the consequences if Nanzhao were to side with the Great Tang!"

"Even so, it took me several years, but I still couldn't persuade them to send such a master to help me seize the throne."

"However, the Great Tang is preparing its troops and strengthening its military. It is certain that it will launch an attack this year to completely recover the lost territory."

"Given the circumstances, the Tubo had no choice but to make a decision."

Duan Rusu was thrilled. "Great! When will they arrive? With the speed and agility of these experts, it shouldn't take them too long to get here. Once they arrive, we can make our move."

"No, they have another favor to do for us on the way."

Duan Zhong said, "We need to force Yimouxun and the others to take action against our Duan Family first."

Duan Rusu asked in bewilderment, "Uncle used to teach me military strategy and martial arts, all to seize the initiative. Why are you giving away the initiative for nothing this time?"

Duan Zhong paused his prayer beads, his tone slightly somber, and said, "Although Yimouxun suffered a great defeat back then, he has actually done a good job in governing the people's livelihood after driving out the Tubo troops in recent years. Some military officers in the army are also wavering."

"If we strike first, although we can suppress and purge these discontented individuals afterward, we will inevitably lose our own military talent. However, if Yimouxun strikes first against our most meritorious and prestigious military families..."

"We were forced to do this, and by asking the king to abdicate, we can naturally retain more generals for our Nanzhao."

Duan Rusu understood immediately and said with heartfelt admiration, "Uncle's insight is brilliant!"

Duan Zhong glanced at him, seemingly smiling, but inwardly sighed.

This hardly qualifies as a brilliant insight. If my nephew were even slightly more intelligent, he wouldn't need to spell it out so clearly; he would have figured it out himself.

Unfortunately, after the Tubo Empire bestowed upon Duan Zhong of "Righteous King," Duan Zhong felt that he was too ambitious and deliberately cultivated his sons and nephews in the direction of being brave but reckless.

As a result, the former king of Nanzhao trusted the Duan Family more.

Duan Rusu was clearly a very cunning person in her youth, and was the most favored among her nephews and nieces. She was ordered to pretend to be brave but reckless, and after pretending for so many years, she ended up being fooled herself.

Is it really true that if you don't use your brain for years, you'll feel more comfortable not having to think?

In recent years, Duan Zhong has felt increasingly resentful towards the Nanzhao royal family because he felt that there was no one to carry on the family line and that he could only place his hopes on his great-grandchildren.

If they hadn't been wary of the royal family back then, why would they have raised their family to be like this?

Duan Zhong sometimes recites the calming mantra, but he is actually just using Buddhist teachings to remind himself not to be too demanding of his foolish nephews and nieces.

As for that year, it was the Tubo that deliberately bestowed titles upon the rulers and ministers of Nanzhao, causing them to become estranged.

Duan Zhong didn't hold a grudge too much; on the contrary, he felt that it was a kind of composure and demeanor that a hegemon should have at that time.

Although the Tang People migrated here and were captured, they made great contributions to the prosperity of Nanzhao.

However, Duan Zhong always felt that the Tang People's attitude of being proud of their domineering nature while also hoping to internally cultivate the sage way, nurture the people with benevolence and virtue, and allow them to rest was a vulgar mentality of indecisiveness.

If one desires to achieve hegemony, then ruthlessness is the best approach.

If a tyrannical ruler is not good at nurturing the people, then he will plunder them from elsewhere. After all, the Tang People are particularly easy to use, and their resources are inexhaustible.

Wasn't the Nanzhao's prosperity during the reign of its former king also achieved through forging alliances with the Tubo, adopting their methods, and plundering its people?

However, after the An Lushan Rebellion, in order to cultivate national strength, Tubo gradually banned the use of Hanwen and promoted Tubo script in the territories it occupied, which was much better than what Nanzhao did.

The Great Tang's eagerness to recover lost territory was likely partly due to this reason.

Once the Duan Family has secured their position as royalty, there are still many things they can learn from Tubo.

Despair!

The dew on the banana leaves fell and dried in the sunlight.

At midday, the sun shines a shimmering light on the deep green banana leaves, but by dusk, the banana trees become desolate.

The sun and moon are like boats floating in the clouds.

It rises and falls, falls and rises again.

The bare locust tree, on another morning, was covered with dew.

Chu Tianshu sat cross-legged under the tree, his back to the trunk, with his sword across his knees.

The blood from his fingertips drew patterns on the sword.

With blood as a sacrifice and yin energy as a guide, an aura akin to that of the Spirit Realm rose gently from the surrounding soil and even the cracks in the bricks and stones.

Light as a thin mist, pale white as silk.

The purity of these subtle energies was vastly different from what I had sensed in the mass grave.

The fine threads wrapped around the sword, and in a short while, they seemed to seep into the sword.

It's a very subtle feeling.

The Sanqi Divine Sword was originally capable of storing a large amount of Mind Power, but that Mind Power seemed to be stored in a cavity inside the sword.

These subtle spiritual energies directly permeate the sword's material, gradually nurturing and refining it.

Over these days, Weapon Soul has yet to emerge from the sword.

But as Chu Tianshu looked at the sword, he increasingly felt a sense of life in it.

"Once your Sword Soul is fully developed, it will likely be even stronger than my current Saber Soul."

Blind Cheng spoke, he walked to the courtyard gate, his scabbard touching the ground, and he was carrying a food box in his other hand.

Chu Tianshu twitched his nose slightly, opened his eyes, and smiled, "Another new pastry invented by Lady Wenjing?"

"Yes."

The Blind Cheng walked over. "She can't stay idle. She said she wants to use this time to figure out some new dishes and pastries, and she's even thinking about making wine from sugarcane."

"Being closed for so long will definitely have an impact on business. When the restaurant reopens, we need to have something new to offer in order to bring customers back."

Chu Tianshu took the food box, placed it aside, and opened it to take a look.

The yellow pastries, shaped like carp, are pleasing to the eye and have a sweet aroma with a hint of wine.

"Dao Baishu spends his days chatting with the guards in the manor, trying to come up with new stories. Lord Zheng is even busier than usual, seemingly looking for more help to deal with the Duan Family."

Blind Cheng plopped down next to him and said, "Everyone's busy, it's good to be busy."

Chu Tianshu chuckled, "What are you pretending for? I saw you helping with the brewing just a couple of days ago, yet you're acting like you have nothing better to do."

The Blind Cheng leaned back, his hands resting on the mud, sunlight shining between his brows, looking very lazy.

"I just feel that it's very different from my days in the army or chasing criminals everywhere."

Aren't you practicing your martial arts?

Chu Tianshu, "Helping with brewing and transporting vegetables, plus practicing your own martial arts, must be quite a lot to do."

At this point, he suddenly remembered that when he stayed at the Wen Family Restaurant, he had never seen Blind Cheng practice his kung fu.

Back then, Blind Cheng would leave early and return late, going out to take on errands, running errands, and getting into fights—which could be considered a form of indirect training.

Therefore, Chu Tianshu had not asked before.

"My focus is on Comprehended Move."

Blind Cheng said, "No need to explain further. Your sect definitely didn't explain the unique aspects of Move Comprehension Method to you in detail."

The Strength-Tempering Method, the Move Comprehension Method, and the Blood Refining Method.

The Strength-Tempering Method" is the most important foundation. Boxing, archery, and horse stance are mainly for honing the body and improving strength.

The Blood Refining Method is the most wondrous skill, capable of nurturing Weapon Soul, granting it supernatural powers.

Move Comprehension Method is the most challenging of the three.

One needs to have a solid foundation in the other two areas, and then gain an ineffable understanding of a certain technique.

Let your mind, body, and Weapon Soul be perfectly unified at that moment, reaching their peak.

This kind of technique is called "Comprehended Move".

Without written words, man and knife become one.

Some Comprehended Move in the face of life and death, while others Comprehended Move in a drunken dream at dusk.

Some people Comprehended Move a move on the chessboard the moment they place a piece, while others Comprehended Move when they resign from their official posts.

Once the Comprehended Move is achieved, the connection between the person and the Weapon Soul reaches a point of perfect harmony.

At this point, the most important thing is no longer practicing martial arts moves every day, but rather the constant resonance of mind and Weapon Soul.

Without drawing blood, things can be accomplished naturally, nourishing the Weapon Soul through the ripples of the heart.

The Weapon Soul naturally adjusts the body's Qi and blood, keeping people in the state that comes from daily training and exertion.

Furthermore, improper physical exertion can even harm one's health, while the empathic adjustment of the Weapon Soul can only benefit one.

Chu Tianshu felt a little envious.

This "Move Comprehension Method" sounds somewhat like the feeling of grasping the Fist Intent.

But in other worlds, simply comprehending the Fist Intent doesn't have the effect of being in perfect harmony with one's own Weapon Soul.

"For those who embark on the path of Comprehended Move, it's only meaningful to understand more techniques. Focusing solely on practicing stances that specifically train the physical body is not very useful."

The Blind Cheng took out a small wine bottle from the food box and took a sip.

"Like me, when I drink, I think about the past, which is even more beneficial to my Weapon Soul. The more I drink, the better it promotes the circulation of qi and blood."

As he spoke, as if finding a reason for himself, he changed from sipping to swallowing, tilting his head back and gulping down more than half the bottle. "However, it's not absolute."

There's a saying, "Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will become clear."

"Some people simply practice a certain move too many times and eventually Comprehended Move. For these people, practicing old moves can actually help them discover even more moves."

"Once someone Comprehended Move, they might practice even more diligently than before."

Chu Tianshu couldn't help but ask, "Then what move did you comprehend?"

(End of this chapter)