Chapter 30: Tai Chi

Bright lights covered the entire plastic court, spacious and yet making one feel familiar.

This was Lu Mingfei's first time at Chu Zihang's home, but he said that it was no problem for him to be familiar with this court, because the green plastic surface was drawn with neat white lines, forming horizontal, vertical, and circular arcs—

This was a standard-sized indoor Basketball court!

"So you have a private Basketball court at home, Senior."

It was nothing strange for a villa with a total area measured in "mu" to have a private Basketball court; by comparison, Lu Mingfei was more curious about another matter, so he asked.

"Then why do you still go to that Qingning Basketball Hall, Senior?"

It couldn't be that you have too much money and nowhere to spend it, just bored, right?

"It's being renovated for an upgrade."

Chu Zihang was concise and comprehensive.

Lu Mingfei suddenly realized; he had been saying that this Basketball court was missing something! There were no backboards or rims; one couldn't just keep shooting at the air.

The two of them being able to come here naturally meant they had already finished eating, and it hadn't taken long.

Regarding that dish of Vinegar Blood Duck, Lu Mingfei had already tried his absolute best.

It was just that the duck meat, which had clearly been cooked for far too long, had already become as hard as stone, and coupled with the fact that the layer of charred substance on the outside was truly too thick, the destructive texture upon entering the mouth and the deterrent of swallowing a Grade 1 carcinogen...

Even though Lu Mingfei's tooth quality and physical health were both quite good, he still couldn't quite handle it.

And Chu Zihang was even more direct; he just habitually picked up a piece that barely looked edible, tasted it himself, and then silently picked out a small piece for his mother.

After the beautiful aunt tasted it, she gave up with a mournful face.

It turned out that as the cook, from the end of the stir-frying process until now, she hadn't even tasted the dish she made herself!

The beautiful aunt even quibbled that "what she made before was not this thing at all, and the dish she made in the past was really delicious."

Then Lu Mingfei carefully fished for information and roughly figured out the specific situation—in the beautiful aunt's memory, "making this dish" when she was young just meant stirring it with a spatula right before taking it out of the pot.

And even then, she had shoveled nearly half a pot of duck meat onto the floor, almost receiving the first beating of her life!

She was completely a dark-cuisine chef, the kind who should be isolated from the kitchen for her whole life; who knows, maybe she could even turn plain noodle soup into charcoal-grilled noodle lumps?

However, the beautiful aunt was very optimistic; she knew herself that her cooking was dark cuisine, she was just purely bored with nothing to do, a bit like someone who is bad at something but addicted to it.

Happily watching the two of them finish eating like a whirlwind, the beautiful aunt waved goodbye and went to meet up with her girlfriends.

Before leaving, she even told Chu Zihang not to worry about her and that she would be back on time...

Who exactly is the parent and who is the child here!

【Warning, it is time for 【Practice Tai Chi】, please execute the Schedule Plan immediately...】

"Senior, Senior, let's start!"

Lu Mingfei felt a bit like a frog, and the Schedule was the grass behind him; poke it once, and he hops once... no, that wouldn't be grass, but an electrified wire.

"Okay."

Chu Zihang nodded, "Let me correct you first; what you should be learning is not Tai Chi, but Tai Chi Fist.

Tai Chi is a philosophical concept, originating from the Book of Changes, referring to the origin of all things in the universe, embodying the laws of yin and yang opposition, unity, and dynamic balance.

And Tai Chi Fist, which is what you are going to practice, and also what you mentioned that Wuying Level athlete practices, is a type of traditional martial art.

In essence, Tai Chi Fist is the combination and application of force-generating techniques. Overcoming hardness with softness, combining hardness and softness... Let's start with standing meditation; this is the foundation."

"Okay."

Lu Mingfei just nodded.

He was basically clueless about everything related to Tai Chi; his only two impressions, besides the elderly people in the square practicing it every day, were from watching movies.

The 1993 film "Tai Chi Master," that scene where Jet Li practices Tai Chi by spinning water in a vat, was truly popular across the country, leading everyone to imitate it, not knowing how much it boosted the big water vat business...

Lu Mingfei had once wanted to try it after watching the disc, but he didn't have the conditions; his aunt's house didn't have a big water vat, nor did it have a bathtub.

In the end, he just took a small plastic basin while bathing, filled it with water, and stirred it around; seeing a whirlpool appear, he thought he had also "achieved great success in his divine art," and then... he completely forgot about it.

But now it was a bit different.

Lu Mingfei glanced at his Tai Chi panel, which only had 1 point of Proficiency.

Once the Proficiency rises to 100, there will be a reward of a trait after upgrading; judging by the six he already had, the traits rewarded by the Schedule would only be strong, not weak!

What would the trait be after Tai Chi upgrades to level one? Tai Chi Force? No need to be distracted to control it, and it could automatically borrow force to strike back when encountering a sneak attack?

While pondering blindly, Lu Mingfei followed Chu Zihang's demonstration and explanation to get into the standing meditation posture.

"Stand with both feet parallel, sink your center of gravity to this angle, and hold your hands naturally in a circle. The focus is on the support of the skeletal frame, rather than muscle tension..."

The first ten or twenty seconds were still very easy; Lu Mingfei's exercise results from the past two days had some effect, enough to support him.

But as time went on, gradually, a feeling of soreness, numbness, and fatigue welled up. Lu Mingfei discovered that he was exerting force unconsciously, his shoulders and neck began to tighten, and his breathing also became slightly heavier.

How does this "relaxing" feel even harder than "exerting force"!

"Hold on, don't open your mouth. Your breathing should slowly shift to your abdomen; don't control your body, you are just locking your skeletal frame in this position; muscle exertion will only make it harder and harder to endure..."

Lu Mingfei really wanted to do as Chu Zihang said.

But human will is sometimes unable to control the body; Lu Mingfei's posture was visibly about to deform, his body began to tremble slightly, he was about to fail to hold on, and had no more strength...

【Warning, electric shock countdown, three, two...】

Human will has no end! What is the body, give it to me, lock it firmly, hold on!!!

Lu Mingfei's expression changed incredibly fast.

He didn't want to be a frog electrocuted to death!

Under the intense stimulation, his body shook violently, and then miraculously stabilized; the posture seemed even more standard, and the pressure on his knees and even the thigh muscles connected to the knees also decreased accordingly.

The warning countdown disappeared.

"Phew..." Lu Mingfei finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Very good."

Chu Zihang noticed Lu Mingfei's condition and raised his eyebrows slightly.

He learned Tai Chi in his physical education class at Cassel College, and his grade was an A.

As the base camp for Hybrids, the style of Tai Chi Fist there is actually "slightly" geared toward actual combat. The teacher who taught Tai Chi Fist was even a Daoist priest from Wudang Mountain; his level of professionalism went without saying, and his strictness was also top-tier.

Even the requirements for movement standards were completely redesigned to better suit the physique of Hybrids.

That Chu Zihang could get an A under his tutelage shows he is very gifted in Tai Chi Fist, and he is worthy of being called a "genius."

But even so, when Chu Zihang first tried it back then, it still took him nearly ten minutes to find the "feeling" of the standing posture and achieve complete perfection!

And Lu Mingfei... it hasn't even been three minutes yet, right?

Could it be that Lu Mingfei is also a "peerless-level" genius at Tai Chi Fist?

Lu Mingfei's eyes were unfocused as he looked at the Proficiency that had finally jumped.

【Through diligent practice, your 【Tai Chi Fist】 level has increased, gaining 5 points of Proficiency】

A little bit late, sryorz

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(End of chapter)