Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies
Chapter 48 - 47 Wind Defying Finger

Shen Qing said without hesitation, "Become stronger, and then be able to defeat others."

Ouyang Tiezhu clapped his hands and laughed, "That's right, just like that. We practice martial arts to be able to beat others. As long as you can beat others, your martial arts practice isn't in vain."

Ouyang Tiezhu stopped smiling and said, "But do you know what it means to be strong, junior?"

Shen Qing frowned, recalling all his past experiences of killing, and said, "In my view, no matter what method you use, as long as you kill the other person before they kill you, then you're strong."

Ouyang Tiezhu couldn't help but glance at Shen Qing more than once, thinking no wonder the master said he was a natural martial arts talent.

Such a mindset.

"Exactly. As long as others can't kill you, and you can kill others, you're strong," he nodded and smiled in agreement. "Practicing martial arts isn't child's play. We practice various skills to kill, using any means to make our physical bodies stronger, then defeat and kill others."

Shen Qing raised his head and asked, "So how can one become strong?"

Ouyang Tiezhu spoke without reservation, "Going back to what we said, what is strong? Killing others, defeating others is strong. To defeat others and kill them, it's just three points."

Shen Qing's expression became serious. He perked up his ears and listened intently to Tiezhu's words.

At this moment, he was very curious.

What exactly was martial arts in the Great Zhou Dynasty like?

Ouyang Tiezhu didn't hide anything and continued, "These three points are speed, strength, and resilience. As long as you are faster than your opponent, stronger, and more resilient, there's no possibility of losing."

"All the martial arts halls and gangs in the county revolve around these three points, trying all sorts of methods to become faster, stronger, and sturdier."

Shen Qing thought the Great Zhou Dynasty's martial arts had something marvelous but didn't expect it to be such a straightforward principle.

He remembered that the Great Zhou had its own armory, confiscating all the world's martial mechanisms, so it couldn't be unrelated to martial arts.

When Ouyang Tiezhu talked about martial arts halls and gangs and seemingly avoided mentioning the Great Zhou Government, he curiously asked, "What about the government offices?"

"Them? They're different from us," Ouyang Tiezhu shook his head and said, "Becoming strong is simple in theory, but extremely difficult in practice. We ordinary people have limited energy and cannot cover all areas, so we focus on just one. Achieving any of these three points is already commendable."

"Our Linfeng Hall pursues speed, achieving control with a single finger, using speed to break through."

"But the Great Zhou Court is different. Since the Grand Ancestor collected all the martial mechanisms, anyone in the court's offices can use Essence Qi and Refining Body and Returning to Truth. They pursue all three points at once, which we can hardly match."

Shen Qing frowned, realizing there was more to it than he had anticipated.

Ouyang Tiezhu saw Shen Qing's expression and thought he was discouraged, so he walked over and patted his shoulder, saying, "Don't worry too much. Once you've mastered the master's skills, you can participate in the county's martial examination, get ranked, and obtain a martial title. Then, you'll naturally be able to be like those officials."

Martial title?

Shen Qing's interest piqued, and he clasped his hands, saying, "Thank you, senior brother, for your guidance."

"Let's go; I'll introduce you to the Wooden Dummy first." Ouyang Tiezhu walked ahead, leading Shen Qing to a Wooden Dummy.

He patted the Wooden Dummy and said, "From what I see, you've trained your Qi-Blood well, and from here on, just maintaining regular supplements should suffice. Like the other juniors, you can now start practicing the movement technique directly."

"Movement technique?"

"Do you know what our master's signature skill is?"

Shen Qing shook his head.

"Our master's signature skill is a Finger Skill known as the Wind Defying Finger," Ouyang Tiezhu puffed his chest proudly, "It's said that many martial masters in the city can't withstand a single finger from our master."

As he spoke, Ouyang Tiezhu's gaze changed, and he formed his hands into sword fingers, casually pointing forward.

Shen Qing saw a shadow flash before his eyes, followed by a dull thud as wood chips scattered from the Wooden Dummy.

Ouyang Tiezhu had directly embedded his finger two inches into the wooden post, with two knuckles fully submerged.

Shen Qing's eyelid twitched.

If the wood could be penetrated like this, flesh and blood would likely be pierced through entirely.

Ouyang Tiezhu shook his head, somewhat dissatisfied, "The move I used is the master's Wind Defying Finger. But I haven't learned it well. If it were the master, even a stone in front would easily be pierced and shattered. His finger is like a sharp sword, indestructible."

Shen Qing inhaled sharply, finally obtaining a more concrete understanding of martial arts in this world.

"But before practicing the Finger Skill, you still need to train in the movement technique first."

Ouyang Tiezhu struck a wooden stick protruding from the Wooden Dummy, causing it and two other sticks to attack from behind.

Ouyang Tiezhu moved as if he had eyes in the back of his head, turning steadily to intercept the sticks before they struck.

He kicked with his foot, intercepting on the other side, continuously repeating the process with increasing speed.

The wooden sticks of the Wooden Dummy almost blurred into afterimages, yet they couldn't touch Ouyang Tiezhu.

Bang!

Ouyang Tiezhu abruptly halted the Wooden Dummy in front of him, "Junior brother, give it a try."

Hearing this, Shen Qing followed suit, trying to push the Wooden Dummy's long sticks.

Rumble.

The Wooden Dummy began to rotate.

Leveraging his "Never Forget" skill, Shen Qing recalled the scenes just witnessed and mimicked Ouyang Tiezhu's movements.

Thanks to a previous breakthrough in hunting skills, he had a foundation in movement techniques, so learning now wasn't too difficult.

Bang!

Ouyang Tiezhu noted Shen Qing catching the wooden post on his first attempt with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

There was indeed some talent.

After grabbing the stick, Shen Qing felt a surge of delight and started to emulate Ouyang Tiezhu's movements, speeding up.

Bang, bang, bang, bang-bang, bang-bang, bang-bang-bang...

Watching this from the side, Ouyang Tiezhu's eyes widened, staring at Shen Qing intently with a suddenly tense expression.

Reaching a certain speed, Shen Qing failed to follow through on one move, and the rapidly spinning Wooden Dummy hit his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain.

Seeing this, Ouyang Tiezhu seemed to let out a heavy sigh of relief, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

He went forward to console him, "It's always like this the first time. Keep practicing, and you'll get used to it."

"Mm."

Shen Qing responded absentmindedly.

At this moment, his attention was completely focused on the Water Ink Panel that had just appeared before his eyes.

[Skill: Wind Defying Finger (Entry Level)]

[Progress: 1/100 points]

[Status: Cannot be improved]

[Note: Practice in the winter cold, practice in the summer heat; continuous practice can allow mastery of this skill, increasing proficiency.]

Suddenly appearing during his attempt to hit the Wooden Dummy, the Water Ink Panel was surprising to Shen Qing.

He didn't expect to have already entered the entry-level of Li Linfeng's unique skill so quickly.

From here on, he just needed to keep practicing.

Shen Qing suddenly felt a faint excitement.