Ape Arms, Wasp Waist, Mantis Legs

Ape Arms, Wasp Waist, Mantis Legs After Hu Qi finished the bone reading, he clicked his tongue in wonder. "In all the time I've studied bone reading, this is the first time I've seen such textbook wasp waist, ape arms, and mantis legs. How old are you, Junior Brother Liang?" "Fifteen, almost sixteen." "Then you've still got a good deal of growing to do. You'll be at least six chi in the end." In the Dashun, one chi was a little over thirty centimeters, so at least six chi meant over 1.8 meters. Hearing this, Liang Qu let out a breath of relief. The body's previous owner hadn't been well nourished, and his current height wasn't really anything to boast about — he'd been worried he might not grow taller at all. Li Libo's face twisted as he listened from the side. "Damn it, I'm so jealous I've ground my teeth to bits. Good-looking and great aptitude both — how is it all the good stuff lands on you? You're treating me to a meal today, or I'm not letting you off!" Liang Qu fobbed him off. "Next time, for sure." Hu Qi went on. "You're also suited to focus mainly on Ape Fist, and you'd take well to archery, too. If you get the chance later, Junior Brother Liang, you might study it a little." At that, both of them were taken aback. "Wait, Senior Brother Hu. Why is it that I'm only upper-middling and it's Ape Fist, and he's got great aptitude and it's also Ape Fist?" Hu Qi explained. "There are many kinds of good aptitude — it's not only the wasp waist, ape arms, and mantis legs. That particular build is the one best suited to Ape Fist: gathering force like drawing a bow, releasing force like loosing an arrow — the power fast, far-reaching, and fierce. Of course the Tiger form isn't bad either, and the Crane form is a bit lacking." "You're a little short elsewhere, Junior Brother Li, but your arm span is long. In the force of the Tiger form and the lightness of the Crane form, you'd have no edge at all — so Ape Fist suits you as well." Liang Qu had a sudden realization. He was suited to Ape Fist because he had the talent for it; Li Libo was suited to Ape Fist because he was even less suited to the other two. Come to think of it — could his own suitability for Ape Fist have something to do with the Water Monkey marsh spirit too? Having fused with the Water Monkey marsh spirit, Liang Qu could feel that his body had changed somewhat. Perhaps it had altered his aptitude in just this way. Li Libo was somewhat disheartened. Learning martial arts wasn't quite what he'd imagined. Seeing this, Hu Qi consoled him. "No need to be disheartened, Junior Brother Li. Poorer aptitude doesn't mean anything by itself — it doesn't limit our future. It's not as though someone with worse aptitude is bound to break through the gates slower than someone with better. And Junior Brother Liang, don't be proud or complacent about your good aptitude either — it just the same doesn't decide our future." "Thank you for the counsel, Senior Brother Hu." Hu Qi nodded and pulled two books from his robe. "These are Master Yang's Three Fists Method. Ape, Tiger, Crane — you can learn all of them, but it's best to keep the emphasis on what I said. Can you two read? If not, it doesn't matter — there are diagrams on them. Just practice in order, and I'll correct you from the side." So thoughtful. As Liang Qu leafed through the booklets, he felt that everyone at the Yang Family Martial Hall was a real talent, and every one of them knew just how to talk so nicely. He absolutely loved it here. The booklets had six parts, covering the refining methods and fighting methods of the Ape, Tiger, and Crane. Liang Qu focused on the refining methods, to lay his foundation first. The refining methods relied mainly on stance training. Each of the three fists had thirty-two stance forms — some identical, some nearly so, and some quite different. Seven taels to learn three fists — a good deal. Liang Qu well understood the wisdom of taking good advice. He focused on the Ape Fist and began practicing the stances shown on the pages. He spread his feet, hollowed his chest and drew up his back, sank his shoulders and dropped his elbows, then filled his belly and relaxed his waist, tucked his buttocks and loosened his hips, guiding the qi to gather and release within his dantian. "Your feet are wrong — keep the soles hollow. Too stiff." "That's it, that's right." "Junior Brother Li, don't tense up — relax. Your movements are too stiff." "Upper empty, lower full; body empty, stance full — emptiness and fullness giving rise to each other. Hold it, don't move, and let your body memorize this posture as much as you can." Hu Qi instructed them from the side, and once a movement passed muster, he moved on to the next. In a single morning, Liang Qu learned three stances, while Li Libo only managed two. Past noon, the seven-tael tuition didn't include meals, so the two of them had to go out to find something to eat, settling for a meal at an inn. When they came back, they found someone carrying a large wooden barrel out from the back courtyard, filled to the brim with scalding medicinal decoction. Some of the students came up to the barrel, took a bowl each, and drank it down in one go. Li Libo craned his neck. "So that's the medicine? Say — weren't we told our fists had matching medicinal recipes too? How come I haven't seen any?" "Maybe the recipes are worth even more? The martial hall makes its money off the recipes?" Liang Qu guessed. "Ah, you never hate having little money until the moment you need it." "Nothing to be done. We were born at the bottom. If we want to change that, we've got to rely on ourselves — all we can do is study a few more movements seriously this afternoon." In the afternoon, Liang Qu learned five more stances, able to hold them smoothly without instruction, while Li Libo learned only three. By six, when they left the martial hall, the sky had already darkened. The two of them no longer took a cart and chose to walk back to Yixing. It was over ten li — on foot, more than half a shichen. When they reached the streets, the two parted ways. Liang Qu again found an inn to make do for dinner — no longer the old three, but two meat dishes, one vegetable, and a bowl of rice. Now that he was training in martial arts, he needed more nourishment. The days passed, one after another. With the foundation laid, Liang Qu learned faster and faster. He was single-minded to the point of skipping socializing entirely — so far he only knew Hu Qi and Xiang Changsong at the martial hall. With such effort, in less than four days he finished learning all the Ape Fist stances, while Li Libo, who'd started at the same time, had only reached the twentieth — a considerable gap, exactly as Hu Qi had said. Seeing Liang Qu complete the last posture, Hu Qi nodded. "Learning all the stances in less than four days — I'd say that's the fastest I've ever seen. Try running through them smoothly once." "Yes." At the word, Liang Qu began from the first stance and practiced through to the last, taking a little under half a shichen, smooth and effortless. And when he was halfway through, a thread of qi actually slowly gathered within his body, flowing through him along with his movements. It felt like soaking in a hot bath — he was drenched in sweat and utterly spent at the same time. This was a sensation entirely new to him. Before, after finishing, he'd only felt tired and hot all over. "Well? Did you feel a thread of qi?" "Mm." "Feeling qi in a single run means your qi and blood are full and rich, Junior Brother Liang — good talent. The appearance of qi means your qi and blood are growing. When your qi grows thick as a finger and your qi and blood surge like a tide, that means you're ready for skin tempering. Once you break through the skin gate, that's a complete rebirth in the truest sense!" Liang Qu asked at once, "This breakthrough — how exactly does one break through?" "That brings in the medicine again. When the time comes that you're truly ready to break the gate, I'll explain it to you in detail. For now, Junior Brother Liang, you need only train hard." Hu Qi smiled and said no more. The truth was, fundamentally, he didn't think the two junior brothers had any hope of breaking through. It wasn't that he looked down on them — it was simply the fact of the matter, spoken from experience. He himself was a butcher from Pingyang Town. How many pigs had his ancestors slaughtered, generation after generation, to bring him to where he was now. Two fishermen with no background, whose income didn't even match that of an ordinary farmer — speaking of it would only add to their troubles, so it was better to say nothing. Liang Qu wasn't one to pester a question to the very bottom. He simply asked to learn the Tiger Fist stances. Having an emphasis was all well and good, but it didn't stop him from learning a few more to broaden his horizons — and since the other two fists shared some of the same stances, he'd learn them faster. As long as he learned all the stances, before skin tempering he could practice on his own, without wasting time every day on the over-ten-li commute. There and back, that was more than a full shichen at minimum — enough for another three rounds of stance practice. Hu Qi wasn't surprised. "All right, then I'll teach you the twenty-four Tiger Fist stances that are different." At three in the afternoon, Liang Qu finished one Tiger Fist stance, then promptly asked Hu Qi for leave. Under Li Libo's puzzled gaze, he hurried out of the martial hall. Through the spiritual link, the Fat Catfish told Liang Qu that it had found another treasure fish!