Chapter 14: Training with Wong Su (2)

In the second half of the second month, Wong Su began Wong Yazhu's combat training with the basics of self-defense. He started by teaching her the proper way to throw a punch, focusing on the correct form, breathing, and also kicking, stepping back to dodge, ducking, and how to raise her guard. Since Wong Yazhu already knew this as she had learned a few martial arts in her past life, all she needed to do was pretend to learn it at a quicker rate because she didn't want to spend too long learning something she already knew.

"Using everything I have taught you, I want you to throw a punch," Wong Su called out, his arms folded as he watched his daughter intently.

"Ok," Wong Yazhu nodded as she assumed a balanced stance. Her feet were shoulder-width apart, her weight was distributed evenly, and her knees were slightly bent for stability. Her dominant right foot was slightly back, hands up near her face for defense, with her lead right hand slightly forward, her rear hand near her chin for defense, and elbows tucked in to protect her ribs and body.

She began the punch by rotating her hips and shoulders toward her dominant hand while keeping her non-dominant hand up to guard and maintain balance. Pulling her dominant hand back toward her hip, keeping her elbow close to her body and wrist straight, she explosively extended her arm forward, straightening her elbow and rotating her forearm and wrist to align her knuckles with her target.

As she extended her right arm, she rotated her hips and shoulders forcefully to transfer power from her lower body to her upper body, aiming to make contact with the first two knuckles of her right hand (index and middle fingers) at the target. Throughout the motion, she kept her non-dominant hand up for protection and balance, and upon impact, she exhaled sharply to increase power and control over her breathing, then quickly retracted her arm back to her guard position while keeping her wrist straight to maximize force transfer.

Throughout the punch, Wong Yazhu engaged her core muscles to stabilize her torso and generate power, while also tensing her shoulder, chest, and arm muscles appropriately to deliver the punch with speed and accuracy.

"Good, but not perfect," Wong Su nodded, causing Wong Yazhu to drop her guard, turning to her father.

"Not perfect?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "Why is that?"

"Your breathing and stance are correct; however, your movement is a bit choppy and slow," Wong Su explained, staring into his daughter's attentive eyes. "You are thinking while doing it, but to be perfect, you just need to do it."

Wong Yazhu nodded as her father continued explaining. "Just like how, after using your silent walk so much to catch chickens, it became your default walk, and now you don't have to think about how to walk silently; you should be able to punch without having to think how to punch."

Wong Yazhu thought for a moment, 'Makes sense,' then nodded. "Master Wong, why don't you show me again?" Since the start of the training, Wong Su had made Wong Yazhu call him 'Master Wong,' because he wanted to be his daughter's first master in her journey.

Wong Su shook his head. "You already have it down; all you need to do is practice it all the time, and you will perfect it."

"Just do it, Daddy. I want to see something." She smiled as she closed her eyes and then opened them, her eyes transforming into what Wong Su and his wife named 'hypnotic eyes.' 'If I remember, it also allows her to see things better.' He sighed, shaking his head. 'I guess she thinks seeing me do it more clearly will suddenly give her mastery over it.' He decided to just do it to show her it isn't about seeing; it is about performing.

"Then watch closely," he said as he immediately threw a punch. The punch was fast, too fast for a normal person to react to. "Did you see it?" he asked, noticing Wong Yazhu's arms folded as she watched.

"Again, Master Wong," Wong Yazhu said.

Wong Su sighed once again and punched. Before he could even ask, she said, "Face the right and punch." His eyes perked up by how she commanded him, but he said nothing and faced the right, punching. "Again, with your non-dominant." And he did. "Face the left and punch with your non-dominant then dominant."

He followed her 'command,' and after a few more, she smiled as she clenched her right fist and punched her open palm. "I got it, Master Wong." She bowed deeply. "Thank you for your help."

"You do?" Wong Su smiled, doubt clouding his eyes. "Show me."

As Wong Su's words left his mouth, Wong Yazhu suddenly punched with her right fist. The movement was fast, precise, and immaculately perfect, executed without apparent thought. Wong Su took a step back, his eyes widening in disbelief as Wong Yazhu performed another punch, as perfect as the last, with her left hand.

She then started throwing punches in rapid succession—left, right, left, right. Each strike was delivered with precise form and power, seamlessly executed without hesitation, striking an imaginary spot.

This was the 'Copy Wheel Eye,' another name for the Sharingan due to its ability to copy almost any jutsu it sees, memorizing ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu with near-perfect accuracy, allowing the user to perform or modify techniques as though she had practiced them hundreds of times.

Wong Yazhu could activate this ability of the Sharingan with a thought. With the Copy Wheel Eye, she had replicated Wong Su's punching technique, allowing the Sharingan to perfectly imprint it in her mind, enabling her to perform it effortlessly. It wasn't yet at the level of muscle memory, as that required the body's muscles to adjust, but her mind could now easily execute this technique.

Wong Yazhu had tried to use the Eye of Insight earlier to copy Wong Su's perfect form but found herself unable to do so. She had hypothesized several reasons, but now she understood it required at least a basic understanding of the technique before she could perfectly copy it. It made sense but felt like a downgrade from the real Sharingan, which could copy almost anything except for reproducing kekkei genkai abilities they do not possess or nature transformations they haven't learned to perform.

'Well, I guess if I absorb more rings, it will strengthen,' she thought as she stopped punching and took a deep breath, calming her nerves.

Wong Su stood there, his mouth agape, his lower jaw practically hitting the ground. "Is that it?" Wong Yazhu asked innocently, blinking her eyes. "I tried my best---"

"HOW!?" Wong Su suddenly roared, overwhelmed by what he had just witnessed. "HOOOOW!?"

From that moment on, Wong Su quickly learned that his daughter only needed to grasp the basics of a technique before using her 'hypnotic eyes' to see the technique performed and then mastering it. 

'Is this the skill of her eyes she doesn't know about, or is my daughter just this talented?' Wong Su watched his daughter effortlessly perform a backflip, landing on one knee with a fist to the ground. 'She is growing really fast,' he thought. By the end of the second half of the second month, Wong Yazhu had already reached a point in her basic combat skills where it seemed right to progress to more complex martial arts. 

Yet, Wong Su faced a dilemma. 'What should I teach my girl?' he pondered as he felt the muscles around his daughter's arms.

"How about the Spirit Hall Fist Martial Art?" Wong An suggested as she prepared Wong Yazhu's clothes, who stood naked in front of her father while he checked her muscle development.

"I thought of that, but it will be taught to her when she enters Nuoding Academy, so there is no need," Wong Su replied. "Nuoding Academy trains Spirit Masters, so I doubt they wouldn't teach what Spirit Hall considers one of the three 'basic' fighting styles."

"Basic fighting style?" Wong Yazhu inquired curiously, raising her arm as her father massaged her chest.

"These are the three fighting styles Spirit Hall recommends. Spirit Hall Fist Martial Art, which mostly uses the arms, fists, shoulders, and core muscles, is the most common. The second common is the Spirit Hall Leg Martial Art, which mostly uses the legs," Wong Su explained while spinning her around to check the muscle development on her back. He used his thumbs to press down on Wong Yazhu's latissimus dorsi, causing her to yelp. "Then there is the Spirit Hall Mix Martial Art, the most difficult to learn, that mixes both the kick and fist martial art."

'So, I'm guessing boxing, taekwondo, and Muay Thai.' Wong Yazhu thought as Wong Su massaged his spinal cords. 'All I already know the basics of, so if I can watch someone perform it with the Eye of Insight, I should be able to copy it.'

"Then teach her the Mix one," Wong An suggested. "It seems the most versi--- what's the word?"

"Versatile?" Wong Yazhu asked.

"Yeah, that...wait..." Her mother turned to her, confused. 

"I use it a lot." Wong Su chuckled, noticing her reaction. "And I only know the fist martial art and multiple swordsmanship, so I wouldn't be able to teach it to her," he paused. "But I can ask---" Wong An finished his train of thought, "Deng Sai to teach her."

Deng Sai was one of the three village hunters, the only female, and the best hand-to-hand combatant due to her martial soul, Black Monkey, requiring it. "And her legs are the most developed part of her body, so she should be able to learn more from Deng Sai than me," Wong Su said, massaging Wong Yazhu's calves. "But do you think she would agree?" Deng Sai was known to keep to herself, and she had moved here from Nuoding City about 15 years ago.

"I hope so," Wong Su muttered.

The next morning quickly came, and Wong Su had called Deng Sai to his house, who agreed after stating she 'had nothing else to do.' "This is my daughter," Wong Su introduced his daughter, who had her black hair cut to shoulder length, tied up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a brown tank top and black shorts and sandals.

"I have seen her around the village," Deng Sai replied, nodding. She was a tall, dark-skinned woman, standing only a head shorter than Wong Su at 180 cm, with a lean yet athletic body, short, black ear-length hair, wearing a brown knee-length tunic, brown pants, and boots. "So, you called me here, for?"

"I want you to train her." Wong Su smiled, causing Deng Sai to freeze. 

"Train?" She looked between the father and daughter. "Her?" Wong Yazhu smiled and waved at the woman. "I know she awakened as a spirit master, but isn't she a bit too young---" 

Deng Sai started, but before she could finish her question, Wong Yazhu suddenly charged at her with her arm stretched out behind her back. She quickly closed the distance and jumped more than 2 meters into the air, performing a front flip and using the momentum of her spin to bring her leg down on Deng Sai's head in an axe kick.

The older woman easily caught her leg, grabbed her calves, and threw her back. Flying through the air, Wong Yazhu flipped before landing nimbly on her feet, sliding back on the sand.

Deng Sai raised an eyebrow, a slight smile tugging at her lips. "Alright, I see my mistake." She then turned to the smiling Wong Su. "I forgot Spirit Masters were built differently." 

"I am built different." Wong Yazhu grinned, performing a front lat spread. 

This caused Deng Sai to frown. "And I would make sure she doesn't become a muscle freak."

"Noooo~" Wong Su ran to hug his daughter. "Don't make her lose her muscles."

"I want to become a muscle head like Daddy!" Wong Yazhu declared, glaring at Deng Sai, who shook her head. 

'Like father like daughter, I guess.' She thought. "However, if you want me to teach her as much of my martial art as possible, she will have to be like me." Deng Sai explained, gesturing at her slender frame. "And besides, you don't want your daughter to be rejected by all the men she asks out because she is too muscular, right?"

That realization made the big man gulp.

"Then I will just force them to like me!" Wong Yazhu said with a big smile, with the two adults staring at her in horror.