Chapter 8 — Basic Fist Art And Ways To Discern Realms

Li An looked at the houses around him as he walked along the residential street. This place is full of dwelling structures and most houses are expensive. This also is the street where the four great clans and martial arts halls dwelled.

Pedestrians filled the road with noises. Li An avoided others as he strolled toward his destination. At one point, he halted and lifted his head.

In front of him was a house in blue, with a small wooden gate surrounding it. This type of house is pretty common on this street, but the actual prices were astronomical. Rents were around fifty silvers but were worth it due to tight security.

No thieves would be bold to steal in this area. As such, upper-class families preferred to live in this place.

So this is the house?

Six days had passed since Bai Lu invited him to a martial arts lesson. His normal routine continued. Doing the exercises and working on the tavern. Today was the weekend, so it was the day of his tutor.

Li An knocked on the gate. Before long, the gate opened. A bare-chested man with disheveled hair stood on the other side. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Li An?"

"It's me!"

The man was none other than Bai Lu. He seemed tired. Is the work of a martial artist that rough to the point you look self-deprived?

Li An wondered.

"Come in. Wait, let me change."

Li An entered the house and waited in the courtyard. While Bai Lu was dressing, he surveyed his surroundings.

Bai Lu seemed to be fond of flowers. There were around twenty varieties of flowers around, including daisies, sunflower, crocus, buttercup, and...

That is?

Li An took a closer look. This unusual flower had eight purple petals, with a pitch-black eye in its centre. It looked mesmerizing. This is the first time he had seen this variation of a flower.

"That's black-eyed purple flower. When it blooms thirteen petals, it can fitch up to three hundred silver."

Bai Lu swaggered with new clothes and straight hair.

Black-eyed purple flower? Ah, that one!

Li An had come across that flower in a textbook. Its appearance was different in the book compared to this one, so he had a hard time distinguishing it.

But three hundred silver!

Li An was shocked. The price seems a bit...high? Looking around, Bai Lu had ten duplicates of this black-eyed purple flower. If these flowers matured, he could earn a fortune.

"So expensive?"

Li An was confused. The textbook only gave the flower a short description, nothing else. Maybe it has some great use I don't know about?

Bai Lu said, "Well, there's no use of knowing it. You only need to know its use for alchemy. Anyway, have you decided on your first martial technique?"

Li An nodded. He had bought the [Basic Fist Art] from Fire Fist Store. He had taken a liking to two techniques, so he had been in a fence. Eventually, he settled in the [Basic Fist Art] for two reasons.

[Basic Fist Art] is an offensive type. Its destructive power is greater than a normal punch. The sales rep that day might have exaggerated, but the punch supported by the technique would be three times greater, according to him. The last, most important reason is that it's cheap. The other technique was trying to milk him dry.

"I took the Basic Fist Art. I didn't make a bad decision, do I?"

Li An looked at Bai Lu.

"Hmm, it's not bad. Wait a minute, let me bring something." Bai Lu went inside the house, but it did not take long for him to return. This time, he held an extra book in hand. He handed it to Li An.

"This is?"

The book was familiar to Li An. He had once seen this in the store. It was the bullshit [Starting Martial Arts With Horse Stance]. Li An still felt it was useless.

"I know. You're thinking it's trash, right?" Bai Lu grinned. "But, don't underestimate this martial technique. It might be the lowest one out of all, but mastering it would make you a tough opponent. Even with ten people gang you up, they would find it hard to defeat you."

"Ah?" Li An was stunned. "That ferocious?"

Bai Lu said, "However, you can learn it alone. I believed you can do it within a week or so. As for the [Basic Fist Art], it is a difficult art. It might take you a month without proper guidance. So, I'd be teaching you that starting on."

"Yes sir!"

Li An nodded. And so, his training with Bai Lu began.

On the first day, Bai Lu taught him the essence of the Basic Fist Art. His 8 points of intelligence had helped him understand some of the profound explanations, but he didn't fully understand the meaning of them.

On the second day, Li An had sparred with his instructor so he could feel the true [Basic Fist Art]. Bai Lu had mastered the Basic Fist Art, and Li An knew he didn't make the wrong judgment.

The next weekend on the third day, Li An had progressed slightly on the Basic Fist Art. His understanding of the technique increased. The words he didn't understand before had opened his eyes. His Basic Fist Art is almost on the entry-level. When he punched using the technique, Li An noticed that his strength attribute would spike up to 17 points. This amount of strength was enough to shake a tree.

On the next day of that weekend, Li An had thought of a question. As such, he asked Bai Lu about that matter.

"Sir Bai Lu, how do you discern what a martial artist's realm is?"

"Oh? I forgot to tell you." Bai Lu approached a tree. He explained, "Listen up Li An, you cannot figure if a martial artist is stronger than you or weaker than you. However, there are two ways to do so. And if you encountered people belonging to these two ways, ran as far as possible. Or don't you provoke them!"

"I understand."

Bai Lu nodded and continued. "The first way to distinguish a martial artist's strength is through his aura. Most of the time, people with a strong aura are powerful martial artists. Of course, certain people can hide their aura; these people had already reached great heights in martial arts. Unless they intentionally leaked it, you cannot tell if he's unordinary."

Li An thought of that bamboo-hat man. He had not felt anything wrong with that man when he had entered, but when he took action, his aura was so terrifying and cold. Li An found himself unable to move on that aura.

"The first way is relatively the most common way." Bai Lu said, "As for the second way, it's easier, but it's much harder to tell unless you're actually fighting them."

Bai Lu walked in front of the tree and took a deep breath. He positioned on Horse Stance and punched with the support of Basic Fist Art.

Bam!

The tree shook and leaves fell to the ground.

Li An took a closer look and noticed a deep dint on the tree.

Bai Lu pointed at that dint and said. " A martial apprentice has the strength to leave a dint on a tree."

"But a martial adept has the strength to cut a tree down with a punch."

"A third-grade martial artist is strong enough to raze trees with one strike. They could even demolish entire forestry with legacy techniques."

"A second-grade martial artist, however, is a qualitative change. A single swing from a second-grade martial artist can demolish forestry without the aid of martial techniques. Otherwise, with a technique, they could cleave a mountain."

"A first-grade martial artist can fight ten second-grade martial artists at once. That means they are ten times stronger than a second-grade martial artist."

"A martial master is a transcendental realm. It represents the peak of the world. In this realm, you can walk on water and you can live for one hundred years! They have the strength a hundred times that of a first-grade martial artist. They are living legends of the jianghu!"

While saying this, Bai Lu sighed. He yearned to reach those realms one day. Unfortunately, his mediocre talent prevented him to do so.

The more Bai Lu explained, the more confused and shocked Li An was. That strong?

But...

That bamboo-hat man condensed imperceptible energy? Which category did he belong to?

Li An asked, "Sir Bai Lu! Is it possible for a Martial Master to produce imperceptible energy that can kill a person far away?"

"Imperceptible energy? What's that?"

Bai Lu seemed unaware. Li An could see that he was genuinely confused.

"That's hard to say. The highest realm in Sky Fire County is only a second-grade martial artist. I've never seen a Martial Master fight, nor do they easily show up in the public," said Bai Lu.

That makes sense. Bai Lu said those martial masters are living legends. Naturally, they would rarely reveal themselves.

After that, Li An continued his practice with Bai Lu. However, his thoughts wandered to that bamboo-hat man.

Li An felt that man become more mysterious in his heart.