Chapter 4: Chapter Four

Geniuses and ordinary folk are different creatures, and Bai Lang only confirmed this once more. His teacher had once said that some people in this world are born to crush others — you score a hundred because of your tireless effort, but he scores a hundred because the test only has a hundred points... Mo Di was exactly such an example. Bai Lang naturally had his competitive spirit too: "I'm also a product of nine years of compulsory education, I've crossed the single-log bridge against a thousand armies and gotten into a 211 university — there's no reason I'm worse than you."

Facts proved that Bai Lang truly was no match for Mo Di, even though the other fellow might be a year or two younger than him. San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan balanced offense and defense, but its offense was not strong and its defense was not strong either — it was merely a martial art for loosening the limbs and studying the principles of the fists to circulate true Qi, with no particular restrictions, and could easily be converted into all manner of other martial arts. And from what Liu Heita said, the martial arts holy land Duowen Temple also had Arhat Fist, and within the Dragon Gate Sect there was naturally Soft Fist as an introductory fist technique — only the Chang Quan of the Changle Gang was a rather common sort of thing, probably not to be compared with the other side's introductory fist arts.

Among the Seven Gangs, Eight Sects, and Nine Alliances, more than half had this very Chang Quan as their introductory art, and the Changle Gang, as one of the Seven Gangs, was naturally the same. Still, in his daily teaching Liu Heita also spoke with full reverence of the Changle Gang's gang leader, "Sunset Over the Long River" Gao Yuan, and his martial art — "Great Flowing Cloud Sleeve." In this black fellow's mouth it was practically a divine art famous throughout the land: "Our gang leader, sir, flicks out a sleeve like a flowing cloud and a flying waterfall — with just one move he slew the Great Ghost, the Third Ghost, and the Seventh Ghost of the Western Mountain Ten Ghosts!"

Bai Lang took such things as stories — after all, he was only a预备 disciple right now, and he had only practiced seven of the routines of San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan, not even having learned the whole thing. As for his true Qi, it could only just barely travel half the Ren Meridian with the support of the fist technique; with this little bit of ability he might not even beat a sturdy fellow outside — and the most crucial thing was that Bai Lang had never fought anyone before, he had no experience or heart for it. Fortunately, before he finished learning all of San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan, there probably wouldn't be any trouble.

And so Bai Lang stopped thinking about anything else, and likewise pressed down his jealousy toward Mo Di — he really couldn't muster it. If the other were one or two steps ahead, then he'd be jealous, but when the gap between them was as vast as cloud and mud, how could he possibly be jealous? So he might as well be straightforward and earnestly study his own abilities — this counted as power belonging to oneself, and martial arts well-practiced were one's own business. Thanks to nine years of compulsory education and the education of a 211 university, Bai Lang was no good-for-nothing; his learning efficiency was still very high.

This showed itself first in his memory — he could memorize the broken-down movements of the Chang Quan quite quickly, but the true Qi circulation method had no verbal formula, only the meridian charts Liu Heita showed them and pointers for visualization — this art was probably the simplest and most rudimentary method of nurturing Qi. And with good memory and the ability to break down movements, Bai Lang ranked among the better performers aside from Mo Di; his learning progress was slower than Mo Di's, but still a bit faster than the others.

But learning is learning, and when it came to actually using it, it was different. The coordination of fists and feet with breathing and Internal Force was not only something to pay attention to while learning — it was also closely tied to each person's innate talent. One little fellow who could keep up with Bai Lang, named Liu Mao, was exactly like this: his memory wasn't anything special, but once he'd learned a fist, his efficiency in performing it was much higher than Bai Lang's — he almost coordinated with the circulation of Internal Force naturally, without needing any special attention.

There was no use envying such things — it couldn't be helped, each person had their own fortune, and it really couldn't be forced. Wasn't Bai Lang's own fortune precisely analysis and memory? It was just that his memory and learning ability were probably inferior to Mo Di's. "If I competed with him in advanced mathematics... I should be able to win!!" Bai Lang was just giving himself a little relaxation — long-term stimulation from a genius would throw one's psychology out of balance.

Liu Heita couldn't be called a good teacher — apart from praising the gang leader all day long, there was little else worth mentioning. Teaching students with stick and staff was his skill; as for anything else, from what Bai Lang had seen, this fellow probably had quite a bit of research into women and storytelling under the天桥, and besides that Bai Lang very much doubted how many characters he recognized... Bai Lang had already confirmed that this world also used Chinese characters. "This dog's-head speaks coarsely and basely, and though he teaches with dedication, there's nothing remarkable about him." Even so, Bai Lang still had to thank Liu Heita — no matter what, this rough fellow had taught them the door into martial arts.

Winter passed and spring came; three months went by. Liu Heita had now taught all of San Shi Er Chang Quan to these预备 disciples — three people had failed to learn the whole Chang Quan within three months and had been taken away just the other day; it was said they might go serve as menial laborers in the sect's various industries, perhaps a step above a waiter. During these three months, Mo Di had not only learned all of San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan, but with the aid of the Chang Quan had used his own true Qi to open all twenty-four acupoints of the Ren Meridian — such talent meant that even Liu Heita was very polite when facing Mo Di — let alone hitting him, he didn't even scold him.

As for someone like Bai Lang, he had also learned all of San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan, but he had only opened four acupoints of the Ren Meridian; his true Qi could not yet travel through the whole Ren Meridian, placing him third among all the disciples — the second was that Liu Mao, who had come from behind. That kid took two months to learn all of San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan, a month slower than Bai Lang, but over three months the fellow had opened twelve acupoints, leaving Bai Lang with nothing to say.

But now the time to formally enter the sect had finally arrived. Liu Heita had said early on: "The gang's elders will come to select disciples. You bunch of trash are in luck! It all depends on your fortune which hall you get picked into." The Changle Gang also had several branches and several halls, each with different martial arts. When the gang took in new blood, it was the elders, incense masters, branch leaders, or even senior brothers of these halls who came to pick people — those with talent became disciples, and those who seemed to have no talent were picked to be ordinary gang members and underlings.

The Changle Gang's branches and halls were parallel, distinguished by the Five Elements, and so Bai Lang was picked into Autumn Water Hall — unlike what this rough fellow Liu Heita had said, no elders came at all to look and pick people; it was simply a transfer order on paper plus a few rough fellows coming to take people away, and everything had already been divided up long before. Mo Di and Liu Mao both went to the Main Hall, while Bai Lang went to Autumn Water Hall, ranked third under the Main Hall. This hall was in charge of the brokerages for carriages, boats, inns, porters, and brokers, and occupied quite a large share of the brokerage business in Ye City.

As a newcomer to the hall, Bai Lang naturally didn't get to see the hall master either — he was sent straight to a brokerage to watch the premises, and then casually tossed two books to cultivate on his own.