Chapter 31: Hearts and Minds in Harmony

A night of spring wind came.

The old tree in Fatty Sun's courtyard sprouted tender buds; after the ice melted and the snow thawed, the earth already showed hints of green.

Hoo!

Hoo!

Beneath the old tree, Li Yuan held a hammer in one hand, standing in the White Ape stance; his posture was loose, his spirit relaxed, yet his breathing was long and powerful.

"Hand and foot unite, elbow and knee unite, shoulder and hip unite—these are the Outer Three Unions."

Li Yuan stamped his foot, his knees and hips twisting, his arms and elbows swinging back; the long-handled training hammer sliced through the air, producing a crack unlike any before.

Crack!

The crack sounded like firecrackers.

Once the force was unleashed, it did not retract; Li Yuan's feet moved, his hips moved, both arms swung, like a white ape wielding a hammer, the entire courtyard filled with the booming of air being torn apart.

In a short while, the eighteen hammer forms and one hundred and eight variations were all performed in full, and at the end the force merged into one spot, pounding heavily at the empty air.

Producing a tremendous "Bang!"

"Striking method, minor completion!"

From the inner room, Fatty Sun—who had been tidying the table—leapt out at once. Watching Li Yuan, whose body steamed with sweat, slowly exhale and withdraw his fists, the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably:

"How—how did you learn so fast?!"

Although after the practice method reached minor completion, the striking method's progress would also be quick, to merge the eighteen hammer forms and one hundred and eight variations into one in just a few days—

And strike out the "White Ape Hammer Strike"—still left him somewhat unsteady.

Did it have to be this exaggerated?

Back in his day, it had taken him over ten years to reach this step!

What was even more tragic was that another ten-plus years had passed, and he still remained at this step, never having comprehended the Inner Three Unions, only relying on food supplements to push his blood qi to major completion.

It wouldn't be long before this kid before him surpassed him.

"Over this half month, medicinal meals, medicinal supplements, medicinal baths never stopped—without some progress, how could I face the silver I've spent?"

Letting out a long breath that scattered his steaming sweat, Li Yuan was full of vigor. He flexed and extended both arms; his blood qi was abundant, from shoulders to fingertips, warm to the point of being slightly scalding.

In his lower back and hips, blood qi also flowed, as if about to sink down to his knees.

After the Outer Three Unions became thoroughly clear, his blood qi had also been pushed to the step of minor completion; only when blood touched the bubbling spring and the Six Unions were connected could he reach major completion!

"That was my silver!"

Fatty Sun's eyes went wide.

"Right, right—I must also thank the head cook for his generous support!"

Li Yuan cupped his fists repeatedly, feeling genuinely grateful in his heart.

His progress over this past half month could be called enormous, but correspondingly, money flowed out like water; the meager earnings from forging in the smithy were far from enough.

Not only was the silver on him spent, the silver owed to Fatty Sun had also hit a new high, reaching as much as forty-five taels—not even counting that one tael of gold.

Truly, a noble benefactor.

"Laozi must have had pig fat coat his heart—somehow I just let you, kid, borrow it!"

Fatty Sun grumbled a few times, still finding it somewhat hard to accept:

"Thirty years of bitter training, no match for your five months. We both have middling-to-poor root bones—how can the gap in talent be this huge?"

Seeing Fatty Sun's face full of doubt about life, Li Yuan hurriedly changed the subject:

"My Outer Three Unions are already clear, but the Inner Three Unions I still can't quite grasp—Head Cook, teach me?"

"You—you're already going to touch the Inner Three Unions…"

Fatty Sun tugged at the clothes on his chest, feeling a tightness in his chest. He stared blankly at Li Yuan for a few moments before swallowing:

"Freak, a freak…"

Just over five months ago, this was still a weak apprentice with poor root bones, a frail physique, who had to stuff money in just to get in; five months later, he was already going to touch the Inner Three Unions?

This kind of talent was simply astonishing to the extreme.

"It's just that your root bones are a bit poor, blood qi growth isn't fast—otherwise…"

Fatty Sun's face was full of lamentation.

"Poor root bones, yeah."

Li Yuan smiled.

Unless one fought or personally checked, outsiders couldn't really tell the progress of blood qi. Fatty Sun thought his blood qi hadn't even reached minor completion, so naturally he had no need to say otherwise.

"The White Ape Cloak Hammer has the theory of the Six Unions—Inner and Outer Three Unions. The Outer Three Unions you've already comprehended, so no need to explain. The Inner Three Unions are: heart and intent unite, intent and qi unite, qi and force unite…"

Fatty Sun spoke with clear logic as well, clearly not as lazy as he appeared on the surface.

"The Outer Three Unions take the hip as the center, connecting hands, feet, shoulders, and elbows; the Inner Three Unions take the heart as the master, running through intent and qi, until the Six Unions are connected.

How does that saying go? The heart is the marshal, intent is the command, qi is the vanguard, force is the soldier…"

Li Yuan listened quietly.

Regarding the White Ape Six Unions, within the inner and outer courts he had asked quite a few people, but the explanations were largely similar overall; yet when asked about the details, they would say one had to comprehend it oneself and the like.

In his view, this meant those who had already reached major completion themselves hadn't been able to comprehend it thoroughly either.

Whenever someone spoke in a fog of mystery, more often than not they themselves didn't understand.

"My brother-in-law taught me this way, and his master taught him the same…"

Fatty Sun spread his hands.

Blood qi growth could be slowly increased through medicinal supplements, but Martial cultivation realm couldn't be helped that way.

His blood qi had already coursed through his four limbs, but he couldn't comprehend the Inner Three Unions; the Six Unions couldn't be connected, so he couldn't charge at Internal Force.

"I roughly understand."

Li Yuan nodded: "Many thanks for clarifying, Chef."

"?"

Fatty Sun was a bit bewildered: "You get it—you get what?"

"I can't say for sure yet. Let me try it out first. If I'm not wrong, I'll come teach you."

Feeling the support of the Perfection-grade hammer technique, Li Yuan had a vague guess stirring in his heart, but a guess was still just a guess—it hadn't been verified.

"No, come on, tell me first!"

Fatty Sun was being eaten alive with curiosity.

"I think the heart is the thought, the intent is the action. When heart and intent are united, it means—whatever move you think in your mind, your body can carry it out."

Li Yuan thought for a moment, then said:

"As for the so-called Six Harmonies connected, I think it means: once a thought stirs in your heart, like a hammer strike, your knees, hips, hands, elbows, blood qi, and breath all coordinate, and the strength of your whole body twists into one force and strikes out…"

Compared with the abstruse unity of heart and intent, Li Yuan felt his own explanation was more straightforward, and felt it made good sense.

After all, the Perfection-grade Cloak Hammer technique was supporting him.

"The strength of the whole body twisting into one force…"

Fatty Sun seemed to understand, but he instinctively threw a punch, then could not help but smile wryly:

"Easier said than done. It still takes a realization…"

"Rather than calling it a realization, it's more accurate to say it's through years of accumulated practice—making breath, forms, and the circulation of blood qi into instinct."

Li Yuan explained; he truly wanted to give Fatty Sun a hand:

"Practice doesn't guarantee success, but not practicing guarantees failure."

"I've wasted too much time. I'm afraid I can't pick it back up in a short while? Sigh, forget it, forget it. I suppose I just don't have the fate to develop inner strength…"

Fatty Sun sighed and watched Li Yuan walk out the door.

Bang!

The courtyard gate shut. Fatty Sun swept the dejection from his face, gritted his teeth and gripped his hammer, and took up the White Ape Stake beneath the big tree.

After the new year, the shop took on over forty apprentices in one go—several times more than before. With more hands in the middle courtyard, he found himself free.

These past few days, spurred on by Li Yuan, he had picked his Wu Gong back up.

"Inner strength!"

……

"Lost over twenty jin in half a month—did you think I couldn't tell?"

Li Yuan glanced back at the tightly shut courtyard gate, smiled in his heart, and strode toward the forging room.

After mastering the Grand Craftsman's Hammer, his forging skill had truly advanced by leaps and bounds; two days ago he had already stepped into the Proficient rank.

Combined with his familiarity with the Hundred Weapons, his attainments in forging had surpassed those of many master smiths—only the finesse still fell a little short.

"At most a little over two months, and my forging skill will reach Minor Completion. When that time comes, I can swap the sickle-blade on and master two Ranked weapons at once!"

(End of chapter)