Chapter 23: Immortal Strength, Fierce Wind and Rain Outside the Door

For a fist master, taking the Spirit Yang Gall is a troublesome process.

First, one must have a certain foundation in internal organ cultivation, and after swallowing it, one must be soaked in a wine vat, with the help of a fist master who has already achieved "Food as Immortal."

Chu Tianshu didn't eat dinner that day, emptied his stomach, slept for a night, and didn't eat breakfast the next day before re-entering the cellar and swallowing the Spirit Yang Gall.

After taking off his shirt and sitting cross-legged in the wine vat in the cellar, watching the wine rise to his collarbone, he felt like he was almost drunk just by smelling it.

Zhong Jinqiu walked slowly around the wine vat, pressing his palms one by one against the vat.

The collision between his palms and the outer wall of the wine vat made no sound.

But every time his palm fell, Chu Tianshu could feel a tightness in his chest, and a large number of tiny bubbles appeared inexplicably in the wine.

The feeling of pressure layered on top of each other, and in the end, Chu Tianshu even felt that the blood in his limbs was surging into his chest and internal organs.

His limbs felt empty, only his chest was tight and swollen, with surging heat, as if there was a sticky, expanding flame in his chest, while other parts of his body were just smoke growing on the fire.

Chu Tianshu hated pain but wasn't afraid of it; he was long used to the residual pain in his dreams.

But now, his fingers couldn't help but tremble, his face twitched, and he was gnashing his teeth, tormented by this complex feeling.

The wine, which had initially produced tiny bubbles, was now rolling and rumbling as if boiling.

The temperature hadn't really reached the point of boiling, but it was indeed a bit higher than at the beginning; it was originally cold, but now it was slightly higher than body temperature.

After a full two hours, Zhong Jinqiu finished his technique, and Chu Tianshu finally caught his breath, his eyes a bit dark, his neck leaning back against the edge of the wine vat.

"Is it done?"

Zhong Jinqiu had sweat on his face and poured a bowl of water: "The Spirit Yang Gall has dissolved, and the medicinal power is permeating your internal organs. The internal organs are headed by the heart and lungs, so it can be said that ninety percent of the medicinal power is in the heart and lungs."

"After this, you don't need to soak in the wine vat anymore, but you must practice fist techniques of the 'Food as Immortal' path more, using your internal organs to exert force and refine the medicinal power."

Chu Tianshu climbed out, entered a vat of clear water nearby, and let out a breath.

The wine here wasn't alcohol and wouldn't evaporate automatically.

If he didn't wash it off quickly, the smell of wine on his body would be unimaginable later.

"But that set of fist techniques of mine only has the effect of using force to stimulate the intestines and stomach. I don't know how to use internal organs to exert force?"

Zhong Jinqiu was stunned: "A remnant manual? The effect of developing the intestines and stomach is so good, yet it doesn't have a part for internal organ force exertion? What a pity."

Chu Tianshu originally wanted to wait until he had collected enough evil spirit materials before thinking about a new fist manual.

But he didn't expect to encounter such a good thing as the Spirit Yang Gall.

He simply said: "I will write down the fist manual later. Master Zhong, please take a look and give me some guidance."

Shopkeeper Ma looked at his old friend.

Zhong Jinqiu pondered for a moment and nodded.

An hour later, Chu Tianshu, having changed his clothes, was writing furiously in his room.

Zhong Jinqiu took the fist manual he had just written, looked at it page by page, and his expression became increasingly strange.

"Tongbei Fist, claiming to originate from Situ Xuankong, the White Ape Ancestor of Mount Emei during the Warring States period. I always thought it was far-fetched. The actual formation of Tongbei Fist should be no earlier than the Ming Dynasty."

"But this Tongbei fist manual of yours, the style is too ancient. The three paths are not separated, yet the effect is very good. At the very least, it's the style of ancient Tang Dynasty fist techniques."

Zhong Jinqiu clicked his tongue in wonder, "After reading this fist manual of yours, even if I handed over all my own fist manuals to you, it would be worth it. However..."

Chu Tianshu was writing the last half-page and looked up upon hearing this: "What?"

"Since you practice this kind of fist technique, and there is no clear distinction between tendon strength and internal organs, there is no need to rush to learn my fist technique."

Zhong Jinqiu pondered and said, "I can teach you some tips so that you can exert internal organ force with the foundation of this original fist technique."

"Anyway, you have a large amount of medicinal power in your internal organs, so you don't need to learn the steps of nourishing and refining for the time being. As long as you blindly learn the tips for exerting force, the medicinal power will be absorbed, and it will naturally achieve the effect of nourishing and refining."

"After the medicinal power is absorbed in the future, you can learn the content about nourishing and refining internal organs."

Chu Tianshu's eyes lit up.

This suggestion from Zhong Jinqiu was equivalent to making a small optimization to the Tongbei fist manual.

It wasn't a deductive optimization, but a combinatorial optimization, adding external knowledge points.

That's right, now there are no evil spirit materials for the token to deduce, but an old fist master with deep cultivation and rich experience is comparable to a bit of the token's function.

"Good, good, good!"

Chu Tianshu said, "Do I need a special training ground or training equipment?"

Zhong Jinqiu shook his head: "You are only learning internal organ force exertion, and this part does not require much range of motion."

"Food as Immortal has the word 'Immortal', not just because of eating wind and drinking dew or knowing poison from grass, but because a fist master who has reached this realm, when exerting force to hit people, can be as ethereal and gentle as an immortal."

Zhong Jinqiu stretched out a palm, his five fingers naturally slightly spread, and asked, "For example, this hand, how many ways do you think there are to exert force?"

Chu Tianshu said without thinking: "Palm strike forward, palm heel smash, flip palm chop, hook finger tear."

Zhong Jinqiu smiled, lowered his palm, and gently wiped it across the tabletop.

Screech!

The tabletop looked as if it had been shoveled hard by an iron shovel, shoveling up a thick layer of wood shavings.

Chu Tianshu looked at the tabletop in surprise; this was unscientific.

A person's hand is too thick, even the edge of the palm cannot be as thin as a knife or an iron shovel.

So for a human hand to achieve the effect of a chopping strike, it must rely on high-speed swinging.

Zhong Jinqiu's palm swing just now wasn't fast, and it was just a light wipe; how could it cause the effect of a knife blade?

"This is why tendons and bones take gathering and scattering as the intent, while those who practice internal organs take a 'true' word."

Zhong Jinqiu said, "Human tendons and bones are naturally coarse and sparse. Even if the strength is trained higher, they will only become tougher, even thicker, and will not become thinner."

"Internal organs are different. Every point of the internal organs is a hub of qi and blood, moving the whole body with one point. Only by practicing internal organs can the technique of force exertion be practiced to be delicate and subtle."

"Under the drive of equal force, the strike is like a hundred needles pricking, capable of delivering more fierce and deep destruction, and the direction of the force is also like an arm pointing, following the heart's desire, with hardness and softness changing instantly."

Zhong Jinqiu raised his hand again and flicked it at the kettle.

The thick white porcelain kettle, shaped like a small bucket, was undamaged where it was flicked by the finger.

On the other side of the kettle, however, a small hole exploded, and a piece of porcelain the size of a fingernail popped out.

"This is Immortal Strength!"

Sometimes people have stomach pain, just a small point of severe pain, but it hurts so much that the whole body seems to shrink and pull together.

That is moving the whole body with one point.

Conversely, if the movement of each point of the internal organs can be grasped well, it can influence the whole body, be deployed properly, and finally deliver more delicate damage.

Internal organ force exertion is not really letting the internal organs hit people, but letting the internal organs be capable of doing the work of a trigger.

"So that's how it is."

Chu Tianshu picked up the piece of porcelain.

He roughly understood the principle. Next, he would use the experience of tempering tendons as a reference, and then learn Master Zhong's formal experience, letting his body practice toward the theoretical state.

Practice external strength internally, exert internal strength externally!

Shopkeeper Ma knocked on the door and entered: "Little Chu, the Mayor has sent someone to invite us to eat again. I'm not going anyway. Are you going today?"

Chu Tianshu was playing with the porcelain piece, his interest was high, and he wanted to start practicing on the spot, so he shook his head: "I have important business. Who has the time to go to his house to eat every day?"

Shopkeeper Ma laughed: "I guessed you wouldn't go either, so I'll send him away."

The person sent by the Mayor left the restaurant and drove the carriage back to report.

Seeing him return with an empty carriage, the Mayor felt a bit regretful.

Today, he had invited not only those from the restaurant, but of course, he had also invited Zhou Fuguan.

It was just that Zhou Fuguan didn't come either.

The Mayor thought that before visiting the Old Master's residence, he would first inquire about the Old Master's preferences from Zhou Fuguan, and it would be best to pull Chu Tianshu and the others along; having more people would also look more respectable.

Helplessly, for the next few days, he sent people to invite them every day, but no one ever came.

Besides the theater troupe and the soldiers, carriages came to the Old Master's residence from the city every day. They should all be good things sent by the Colonel. It seemed the moving hadn't finished yet.

Waiting for the Old Master to live comfortably, Zhou Fuguan and the others would probably have to stay here for at least ten days or half a month.

The Mayor hesitated and had to comfort himself that there was still plenty of time, so there was no need to be too anxious.

Chu Tianshu, who had refused various invitations, practiced stance training every morning and the skill of internal organ force exertion every afternoon, and his routine had already been adjusted.

Even for the grand play on the seventh day, he only watched for two hours before returning to rest.

Fortunately, he left early. When he got up on the eighth day, he saw rain flying outside the window, hearing that it had started raining in the second half of yesterday night.

The autumn rain was cold, falling intermittently all day, and the temperature dropped quite a bit.

By evening, the sky was as dark as it usually was in the middle of the night.

The restaurant closed early today, locking the doors and lighting lamps.

Chu Tianshu and the two old men gathered in the main hall to eat dinner, having long since changed how they addressed each other.

"Uncle Zhong, look at this hand of mine."

Chu Tianshu specially ordered a whole chicken today, holding chopsticks and tapping lightly.

The round, roasted chicken was tapped from head to tail by him. The skin was still intact, but it became soft and limp, the edges hanging off the plate, like a piece of stewed pig's trotter meat.

Zhong Jinqiu evaluated indifferently: "It took eighteen taps to break the chicken bones. Another day, I'll get you a whole sheep, and you can try tapping the sheep bones."

Chu Tianshu said: "Then chopsticks definitely won't work. I'll use my hands then."

Shopkeeper Ma laughed and scolded: "Alright, don't waste the food. It wouldn't be bad if you tapped something else..."

Bang bang bang bang!!!

A burst of fierce knocking on the door interrupted the conversation.

"Brother Chu, Ma Shu!"

Chu Tianshu recognized it as Meng Shuangjiang's voice and stood up to pull the bolt.

Meng Shuangjiang didn't even have an umbrella, his body soaked by the rain as if he had just been fished out of the river. He tripped over the threshold as he rushed in.

Chu Tianshu hurriedly helped him up, only to hear him say anxiously: "Meng Xiao Bao is missing, please help me find him."

"What?!"

Chu Tianshu frowned, "In such heavy rain, you took Meng Xiao Bao out?"

Although he had been able to keep his temper and practice martial arts these past few days, because of that strange feeling in his heart, he had occasionally met with some friends in town and reminded them to be careful.

Meng Shuangjiang shouted: "No, Meng Xiao Bao was at home, and suddenly he was gone. I couldn't find him anywhere. My father is already anxious, pulling me and saying to find Ma Shu."

Shopkeeper Ma's expression was serious. He stepped forward and plucked a strand of his hair.

Zhong Jinqiu had already used chopsticks to draw a square on the table, the shape a bit irregular.

Chu Tianshu looked at it and remembered the outline of the town he had seen from the mountain, which was eighty percent similar.

"Tired bird loses the forest, old father seeks his son, spotted fire traces, falling to the return place..."

Shopkeeper Ma chanted a spell, skillfully tied a knot with the hair in his hand, and like a stick figure, it ignited out of thin air and drifted toward the tabletop.

The firelight swayed twice in the air, landed on a spot in the square, and left a tiny black dot.

Chu Tianshu recalled rapidly: "Where in town does this position correspond to?"

Shopkeeper Ma and Zhong Jinqiu's expressions both turned ugly.

Zhong Jinqiu muttered: "It's definitely not a coincidence... sure enough, they were up to no good."

Meng Shuangjiang also seemed to recognize the place and screamed: "That's Colonel Xu's residence! How could Meng Xiao Bao be there?!"

Chu Tianshu suddenly looked outside the door.

The wind was fierce outside, and the rain was slanting.

The wet restaurant flag was blown by the wind with a loud bang, like a clap of thunder.

Zhou Fuguan was holding a yellow paper umbrella with one hand, standing as steady as a rock, staring expressionlessly at the back of Meng Shuangjiang's head.

Meng Shuangjiang turned around, his face deathly pale.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 24 =====