Wayfarer

Chapter 20: Hegemon's Fist

Yu'er, knowing that she had lost, was nevertheless forthright. She paid up immediately.

"Here. I'm not too familiar with Marching Fist, and I wouldn't have lost with any other fist technique, I can tell you that!"

Yu'er stuffed banknotes worth three hundred taels of gold in Xiao Nanfeng's hands.

To be frank, Xiao Nanfeng was surprised that she had kept her word. He had thought her merely an annoying troublemaker, but it was clear she had some redeeming qualities. Little wonder she was so beloved by her fellow disciples.

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

These three hundred taels of gold, along with the stipend he had received for officially becoming a disciple, meant that he now possessed 1,300 taels of gold despite being penniless just earlier in the day.

"No need for thanks. I offered this bet and lost. Have Elder Ku help with your injuries—I used a technique I shouldn't have, and it can harm your body if left untreated. I don't want to ruin your cultivation," Yu'er warned, frowning.

Although she was still upset to have lost to Xiao Nanfeng, she wasn't malicious.

"There's no need to worry, Senior Sister. The residual impact of your blow has been neutralized by Master Ku." Xiao Nanfeng felt his measure of her rise by quite a few notches.

"I didn't neutralize all of it," Elder Ku said. "Did you manage to handle the rest on your own?"

"Yes, Master."

"Five-Venom Penetrating Palm is a technique of pure yin, and it's difficult to neutralize in its entirety. What qi technique do you cultivate that would allow you to do so?" Elder Ku asked curiously.

"Master, my qi cultivation is a little subpar. I hope you'll be able to advise me. I'm currently using Rites of Dawn."

"Rites of Dawn?!" Yu'er looked at Xiao Nanfeng in shock, as did the other disciples in the vicinity. What was he doing with such a technique?

"Yes, Rites of Dawn. It's a third-rate technique, I know," Xiao Nanfeng replied drolly.

"Rites of Dawn? No, that can't be. How old are you? You've reached the sixth stage of cultivation with Rites of Dawn?!"

"I'm sixteen, Senior Sister, as you're aware."

"Impossible! How could you be at the sixth stage at sixteen? Don't you know how difficult it is to cultivate with this technique? No sane person would do so—it's far too slow!" Yu'er still seemed gobsmacked.

"I know, Senior Sister. Other techniques can absorb spiritual aether at any time in the day to generate qi, but Rites of Dawn requires dawn light, available for only half an hour each day—and only in fair weather, too. I know how difficult it is."

"You do? Then why choose it?!"

"I had no choice," Xiao Nanfeng sighed. Do you think I wanted to learn Rites of Dawn? The chief steward refused to allow me to cultivate anything else but such third-rate techniques!

"And yet you still made it to the sixth stage of Acquisition at sixteen!"

"Quite so. The first five stages of the technique are foundational and necessitate the use of dawn qi, but at the sixth stage and beyond, you can accelerate your cultivation by consuming lifeforms of pure yang. An ordinary cultivator would take three decades of intense cultivation to reach the fifth stage of Acquisition with Rites of Dawn, and you claim to have done it in half that time? How could you be sixteen?" Elder Ku asked.

"I read a few Taoist scriptures that were of relevance, Master. Among them, Martial Sage Wu's Temporal Ode allowed me to prepare my dantian in advance, allowing me to gather and store dawn qi more rapidly; Sage Shan's Record of Three Breaths described how I can compress and condense such rarefied qi using a special breathing technique; Taoist Wushan's Meditations on Meditation, which describes a manner of meditative thought that can effectively inflate the size of my dantian for this purpose; and..." Xiao Nanfeng described the various scriptures he had read that he deemed relevant in great detail.

Yu'er was dumbfounded, as were the senior disciples arrayed all around them. Really? You used eight different Taoist scriptures to aid in your cultivation of this supposed third-rate technique? We read these scriptures too—to think they could be used in such a fashion!

Even Elder Ku was astounded. The Taiqing disciples all around him were reluctant to even memorize the scriptures, let alone comprehend and internalize them, but his new disciple had done all that and was applying the scriptures in practice! Not only that, by combining all these scriptures, he had even managed an unprecedented twofold, even threefold, speedup in the cultivation of Rites of Dawn! His disciple... was far more impressive than even he had expected!

"I had only managed to reach the fifth stage of Acquisition until a few days ago, when I managed to fish up a golden spirit eel on the voyage here. I ate half of it and managed to break through to the sixth stage," Xiao Nanfeng reported.

"The first five stages of Rites of Dawn are foundational, but after that, you can consume food of pure yang in order to raise your cultivation. You were lucky!" Elder Ku commented.

"Master, I realize that this cultivation technique is limited in its speed. May I ask what technique you would advise instead?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Reaching the sixth stage of Acquisition at sixteen was certainly slower than average, but for a technique like Rites of Dawn, it was a rate utterly unheard of!

Elder Ku shook his head. "Rites of Dawn is a difficult technique to cultivate, and one considered third-rate only because of this difficulty. However, the resulting qi is precious indeed, having incorporated and being constituted of solar energy—it is qi of pure yang. It would have been far harder for you to neutralize Yu'er's Five-Venom Penetrating Palm otherwise."

"Qi of pure yang?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

"That's right. Qi of pure yang is exceedingly precious, and I would hardly advise you to scrap your cultivation and start from scratch. Once you reach Immanence, pick out another pure yang qi cultivation technique to further your cultivation. Cultivators of pure yang have a hard time at the beginning, but grow stronger the further they go," Elder Ku explained.

"Master, you mean that my Rites of Dawn will be a good foundation for my cultivation?" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.

"Indeed."

"Thank you, Master! I'll keep cultivating hard!" Xiao Nanfeng felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His qi cultivation technique wasn't weak, it really wasn't!

"Now that you've reached the sixth stage of Acquisition, you can consume some pure yang foods to hasten your cultivation. Ask Yu'er about this—she's responsible for some kitchens on Taiping Island, and has ready sources for such foods. You'll be able to purchase a fair quantity as long as you have sufficient gold."

"Thank you for the pointers, Master!" So Yu'er had some authority on the island, too!

"As for your Marching Fist?" Elder Ku frowned.

"Yes, Master. I know I need to diversify my repertoire. Would you advise me?" Xiao Nanfeng sighed.

"Are you aware of Hegemon's Fist?" Elder Ku asked, after a moment of thought.

"Hegemon's Fist? I believe I may have read about it. It was a fist technique created by some emperor a millennium back with incredible power and dominance. At its peak, one punch could decimate a thousand troops, two could smash mountains and rivers out of existence, and three could part heaven and earth. It's a particularly powerful fist technique," Xiao Nanfeng recalled.

"Exactly right. Hegemon's Fist is a domineering technique, but one which few have been able to cultivate. Your Marching Fist is a far simplified version of such a technique and then spread among the masses. Despite this simplification, it's been widely adopted within the army and elsewhere, a testament to its strength," Elder Ku explained.

"Marching Fist is a simplified version of Hegemon's Fist?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed in surprise.

"Quite so. The Taiqing sect has a copy of Hegemon's Fist, but it is exceedingly difficult to cultivate. Without sufficient intuition and understanding, you might as well go for another technique instead. Do you wish to give it a try?" Elder Ku offered.

"Do you think I might be able to succeed, Master?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, not particularly confident.

"You have clearly mastered the foundations of Marching Fist, and I believe you do have some chance at success. Succeed, and you will have unparalleled strength; fail, and you would have wasted your time. The choice is yours."

Xiao Nanfeng recalled the superior yin pearl that was currently in his soulspace. It had transformed his mind into that of a genius, allowing him to quickly and comprehensively understand all manner of fist-related Taoist scriptures. It was certainly worth a try.

"Please, Master! I humbly beg your assistance in learning Hegemon's Fist!"

"Very good. We shall start tomorrow. Have you any further questions for me?" Elder Ku was very pleased with Xiao Nanfeng's will and drive.

"Master, I enjoy reading Taoist scriptures. May I have your permission to enter the vault and pick some out for myself?" The Vault of Scriptures is right around the corner. This way, I won't even have to spend money on scriptures any longer!

Yu'er and the senior disciples who were glumly reciting their chosen scriptures looked at Xiao Nanfeng as though he were a monster. What did he say? That he wanted to study those cryptic, arcane Taoist scriptures of his own will? Was he crazy?!

Elder Ku himself was surprised, but considering how deftly Xiao Nanfeng had integrated a stunning number of scriptures into his cultivation and training, he was certain that his disciple truly was a scholar with independent interest in learning. When he said that this was a paradise, he had meant it.

"Very well! I grant you permission to enter the base level of the Vault of Scriptures at will. Have your fill of the 48,000 Taoist scriptures within." Elder Ku was very pleased.

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