Chapter 305
When the freshmen began their military training three days later, Lou Cheng had totally recovered from the boomerang. Then he came to Weishui Lake with eager eyes, waiting for his master to teach him something about Dan stage.
He focused on rehabilitative practice in recent two morning training.
Pacing back and forth with both hands behind his back, Old s.h.i.+ giggled, "Good boy, you are patient enough to take it so far. There's a common sense for the practice at Dan stage as inheriting the past and ushering in the future. First, you should turn the simple still stance with concealment of spirit and qi to direct spirit refining, which means to combine your spirit with Qi, blood, and force as a preparation for "connecting the heaven and the earth." Second, you should break the limit of your physical body and mortal condition to refine your root pulp. Third, after doing all these, your speed, responsiveness, coordination and body-controlling ability will all be greatly enhanced, and then you can combine the basic skill of gathering strength with the corresponding body moves to form real movements."
"Combine them to form real movements?" Lou Cheng asked in confusion.
So what I'm using now are not movements at all?
Taking a mouthful of wine from his small wine pot, Old s.h.i.+ smacked and then said, "Have you noticed that all the movements in both 24 Blizzard Strikes or Thunder Roar Zan are practical and not showy? In addition to the strength-gathering skill, strength-borrowing method and corresponding visualization method, you only have to learn the basic moves like Avalanche, Blast, Chop, Whip, Burst, Pound and Smash."
"But I'll make combination blow with them according to the situation in the arena, isn't it a kind of movement?" Lou Cheng gradually got to know what his master meant.
"Yes, it is the most simple movement, so the fighting style of Dan stage actually serves as a link between past and future." Ola s.h.i.+ replied proudly, "but all the movements at Dan stage are the results of our pioneers' adjustment and improvement, so they must be better and more proper than your on-the-spot play since every move of them is for killing.
"Of course, you can't be restricted by the old movements. However powerful they are, you should apply them to actual combats in different combinations according to the situation, which shows you master them."
Lou Cheng asked in bewilderment, "So what's the difference between them and the basic moves I'm using now? They are all combined and used according to the actual situation at my will."
"Of course they are different! Can you always count on a brain to win in the examination without studying hard and bringing together all the individual parts of the course? Only when you fully understand what the pioneers left for us will you be qualified to think and create something yourself, and then you'll feel everything different!" Old s.h.i.+ replied sulkily.
So it was the difference between professional and folk scientists… Lou Cheng saw the light suddenly. "Is it the so-call three stages of learning kungfu? First, learn what's visible. Second, learn what's invisible. Third, realize that those invisible are hidden in the visible ones?"
"That makes sense." Old s.h.i.+ coughed, "I'll start from visualization method, which won't be so difficult since you've already begun learning the part of Dan stage. As for the spiritual cultivation, it will develop from Condensation Stance to Ice Mirror. It doesn't matter that you haven't reached the threshold since you only have to apply the basic knowledge with Condensation Stance gradually."
"Master, I'll soon reach the threshold of Ice Mirror." Lou Cheng reported joyfully.
With the preliminary combination of energy and force, Lou Cheng had gotten some feel for the practice of Ice Mirror on the base of meditation and was about to reach the threshold slowly. He was sure to begin practicing the real Ice Mirror in two or three months, or at most half a year!
"You needn't tell me this!" Old s.h.i.+ glared at him, "when you reach the threshold of Ice Mirrow, your spiritual cultivation will focus on it until you are about to reach the physical-invulnerability state. As for the inner refining, you can depend on the Freezing Cold Blueprint and Frozen River Diagram that you have learned before, and they are both above the mortal level."
"What? Isn't it called the Frost Force?" Lou Cheng was in bewilderment again.
Old s.h.i.+ laughed proudly. "It's called Frost Force when used as martial arts movement and Body-Refining Method when used within your body. That's why it is called