nyslfriends Chapter 19 Teachings
Chapter 19 Teachings
Early morning, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).
The sky was still dark, and the chill had not yet dissipated.
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou had already gotten up, tidied themselves up, and arrived at their usual place to practice swordsmanship.
This place is at the foot of the mountain and is not within the development area. It was simply cleared and leveled by Fan Zhou and his partner. No weeds grow here, only a few tall trees.
When the two arrived, Huang Yi was already waiting.
He sat cross-legged on the rock where Tian Youliang had been sitting, his eyes half-closed, a sword across his lap.
"Greetings, Uncle-Master Huang."
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou bowed respectfully.
Huang Yi nodded slightly and asked abruptly:
"What is the sword to you?"
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou were both stunned.
They had never thought about this problem.
The two looked at each other, both bewildered.
Huang Yi was not surprised, and calmly said:
"I hope that when you practice swordsmanship in the future, you can think about this issue."
"Yes, Uncle Huang." The two nodded in agreement.
Huang Yi opened her eyes, golden light swirling within them, revealing an indescribable aura of power:
"Practice the Nine Styles of Sword once."
"yes!"
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou focused intently on practicing their swordsmanship. They had been practicing the "Nine Styles of Sword" for over a month, and under Tian Youliang's guidance, they had grasped its essentials.
From the first move, "Gentle Breeze Without Form," to the ninth move, "Thousands of Mountains Under the Snow," each move can be considered a glimpse of the underlying principles.
Huang Yi seemed quite satisfied: "Judging from the progress, none of you have been slacking off."
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou both smiled when their efforts were recognized.
"But you don't understand swords at all, let alone sword techniques and moves," Huang Yi added.
Fan Zhou and his companion's faces fell.
Huang Yi did not blame them, and calmly said:
"You only know how to use sword moves, but you don't know how to use the three elements of essence, energy, and spirit, nor do you understand the six variations of orthodox and unorthodox techniques, let alone the yin and yang, hardness and softness of strength. You don't even understand the thirteen basic sword moves. You can be said to have neither form nor spirit."
Huang Yi said a lot, but Fan Zhou only understood the last sentence, "Form and spirit are both absent."
He bowed respectfully and asked, "Uncle-Master Huang, what does all this mean?"
"These are the foundations of Kendo, the basis of sword techniques and moves."
Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou looked at each other in bewilderment; Tian Youliang had never told them any of this.
But now that their Uncle Huang Yi has arrived, they naturally can't miss this great opportunity to learn.
The two bowed together and said in unison:
"I humbly request Master Huang's guidance."
Huang Yi shook her head and said, "I'm just here to teach you some basic things, there's no need to call me teacher."
Fan Zhou said, "There is no such thing as a skill being too great or too small; those who do not know will not understand. Even if you are only teaching some basics, you are still our teacher."
Liu Ergou added, "That's right, since Uncle Huang taught us, he is our teacher."
Huang Yi chuckled, "Then it's up to you."
Fan and Zhou were overjoyed and immediately called out to Master Huang.
"Alright, get up, everyone. Today I'll teach you how to cultivate your vital energy and spirit."
"yes!"
Huang Yi asked the two of them to sit closer and slowly began to speak:
"In sword practice, nothing is more important than cultivating one's inner energy. The key to cultivating inner energy lies in preserving one's spirit. The initial step in preserving one's spirit is to solidify one's essence. This principle applies to sword practice as well as to spiritual cultivation."
"To preserve essence, one must first ensure the smooth flow of qi and blood, and the free and easy stretching of muscles and bones; this is also the practice of fetal breathing."
However, ordinary people who practice martial arts often think they have perfected it when they reach seven or eight or nine tenths of the way, unaware that any mistakes or oversights they make will lead to a life-or-death situation when disaster strikes.
"If you want your skill to be flawless and without any flaws, you must practice it in all your activities—walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—just as you diligently wipe a shrine clean to keep it spotless..."
Huang Yi did not rush to teach Fan Zhou and Liu Ergou swordsmanship, but instead combined the most basic cultivation with sword practice.
And this is the practice of swordsmanship.
Fan Zhou listened with rapt attention. Tian Youliang had also explained this kind of knowledge, but he could only touch on it superficially and could not break it down from the root like Huang Yi did.
If Tian Youliang's teachings helped him lift his head and see the sky, then Huang Yi's explanations were like clearing away the clouds to reveal the sun, opening up a bright and clear world!
Not only that, Huang Yi also gave them a sword manual called "Nine Styles Sword", which contained his experience notes from when he was practicing.
When the hour of Mao (5-7 AM) had passed, Huang Yi did not linger. He simply said that he would come again tomorrow, and then transformed into a streak of apricot-yellow sword light and flew away.
"This is a true teacher!" Fan Zhou exclaimed, stroking the cover of the sword manual.
Liu Ergou shared the same sentiment, saying, "It's much clearer than what Teacher Tian explained."
Fan Zhou didn't mean to speak ill of Tian Youliang behind his back, but he deeply felt how much influence a good teacher could have on a disciple's cultivation.
"Alas, Master Tian rose from humble beginnings; he was probably never as fortunate as I am to receive personal guidance from a disciple of the Sword Forge."
Fan Zhou felt a little sad for Tian Youliang, but also felt lucky for himself.
If she hadn't met Liu Ergou by chance, Huang Yi probably wouldn't have bothered with him.
It's strange, why is Master Huang so concerned about Liu Ergou?
Fan Zhou looked at Liu Ergou curiously, "Ergou, you and Master Huang aren't related, are you?"
Liu Ergou shook his head, "How could that be?"
Fan Zhou clicked his tongue, "I really don't know what Teacher Huang sees in you."
Liu Ergou chuckled foolishly.
As the sun rose high in the sky, Fan Zhou put the sword manual back inside and went to the canteen with Liu Ergou for a meal.
The workday has just begun.
…………
Life settled down again, and Fan Zhou continued to practice swordsmanship and work every day.
With Huang Yi's guidance, Fan Zhou felt that he was making progress every day.
In particular, Fan Zhou would study the sword manual notes that Huang Yi gave him with Liu Ergou every day, studying and practicing them over and over again, correcting each other, and often staying up late into the night before going to sleep.
Fortunately, Huang Yi also taught them a sleeping exercise called "Crouching Tiger Kung Fu," which can help them maintain their energy and clear their meridians while sleeping, so that they can still go to work full of energy the next day.
Speaking of work, now that Zhang Kai is no longer in the team, everyone is no longer competing internally and is following Lao Sun, with each person doing 500 jin of work per day.
As for Cao Biao, although he wasn't punished, he wisely kept a low profile and never dared to show that arrogant attitude again.
None of this had much of an impact on Fan Zhou; apart from being promoted to squad leader, nothing else changed.
Han Jiangyue did come back once in between. He felt sorry for Zhang Kai's actions and took everyone to a restaurant for a good meal.
Yes, there are now restaurants in the market area, owned by Hou Yi.
He said that not only restaurants, but as more and more people come, there will also be inns, teahouses, noodle shops, and even brothels!
Fan Zhou was astonished. He could accept everything else, but where did this brothel come from?
Hou Yi just smiled lewdly and said that he would find out when the time came.
Fan Zhou didn't bother to ask any further questions and continued living his life.
And just like that, the end of the month arrived quickly.