The Tower of Martial Arts Manuals
“Father! Are you home…? Where has he gone to?”
When Zheng-Fu arrived home, he found that there was no one there, including his parents…
“Maybe they have gone to the main estate of the clan. After all, the clan’s test is coming soon, they probably went there for this reason.”
After trying to see why nobody was home, Zheng-Fu went straight to his room to do a meditation in order to catch up with the cultivation of his Qi energy. He could feel that there was an improvement in his Qi energy level after starting practicing the “Willow-leaf Body” technique. He believed that he could break through to the next level of the Qi Gathering stage…
Boom!
All of a sudden, there was an energy explosion within Zheng-Fu’s body. The explosion produced the inner sound that indicated that Zheng-Fu had broken through to the next level of the Qi Gathering stage…
“Phew!”
Zheng-Fu had now gone from the fourth to the fifth level. He could feel evidently that his body and inner strength were now stronger. His breathing system was improved too. The space for keeping the Qi energy within him even got expanded…
“Zheng-Fu!”
Zheng-Fu’s father, from out of nowhere, called his name loudly and rushed to him with a big smile on his face…
“Have you just reached the fifth level of the Qi Gathering stage?”
“Yes, father. I believe so,” Zheng-Fu said and smiled back at Kong-Shi…
“Marvelous!”
“Anyway, where have you and mother gone to? Where is she now?”
“We had been to the meeting. But how come you came back earlier than usual?”
“I need to ask you something.”
“Need to ask me? What is it? I’m happy to answer all your questions.”
“Well, I… I would like to learn more fighting skills, father. Is that all right?”
“Fighting skills!? Hahaha! I thought you had some kind of problem. If it’s about martial arts skills, I can take you to the “Tower of Martial Arts Manuals”. You can choose the techniques that you prefer from there.”
“The Tower of Martial Arts Manuals!?”
“Right. Come to think about it, you haven’t been there, have you? The tower consists of two stories. The first story holds the martial arts techniques for beginners, ranging from the lower to higher levels. The second story keeps the intermediate-leveled techniques. You see, there are two types of fighting techniques that belong to the intermediate level in our clan. They’re both of the lower levels.”
Kong-Shi said sadly. This was the reason why his clan ranked at the lower level. They were inferior to other clans around the area…!
“I’ll take you there tomorrow, son. Now go get some rest.”
“Yes, father.”
Tian-Tang Kong-Shi left Zheng-Fu’s room after he finished with him. The conversation helped Zheng-Fu understand his clan better. The fighting techniques that were limited to only two techniques of an intermediate level made it hard for his clan’s situation. And the two techniques just had to be in the lower levels too…
The next morning…
Cock-A-Doodle-Do!
“Are you ready, son?”
“Yes, father!”
“When you get there, try to choose the techniques that you can make use of the most. Try not to choose the ones that are too difficult for you because it wouldn’t benefit you at all.”
“Yes, father. I’ll remember that.”
When the conversation was over, both of them went straight to the “Tower of Martial Arts Manuals”. It did not take long for them to get to the tower…
The tower in front of Zheng-Fu looked exactly like what his father described. There were only two stories there. Outside of the tower was a group of young martial arts apprentices…
“That’s Elder Kong-Shi there!”
As they approached the tower, the elder who oversaw the “Tower of Martial Arts Manuals” called out Kong-Shi’s name…
“Pay respect to the Elder, Zheng-Fu.”
“Please accept my respect for you, Elder.”
“Well, well, well. Are you bringing him to the tower, or…, Elder Kong-Shi?
“Yes, sir. I brought him here to pick out a few manuals of martial arts techniques.”
“Oh, let me take a look at you, kid. You’ve grown bigger since the last time we met. Hmm, how long has it been now? Well, never mind. I just want to say that you’ve grown stronger. Which level are you at anyway?”
“The fifth level of the Qi Gathering stage, sir!”
“The fifth level? Wasn’t your body too weak to practice martial arts? However, seeing you now, I can see that your body has changed significantly. Not bad. Not bad at all. You’re really the great Elder Kong-Shi’s son. Hahaha!”
With that kind of praise, Kong-Shi felt so proud that he smiled from ear to ear. He did not expect to hear something like this earlier because his clan was all about being martial artists, not Zhuàngyuáns. But ever since his son was able to get back to practicing martial arts, he felt completely delighted…
“I appreciate your compliment, Elder. I don’t wish to disappoint my parents, so I have to work hard.”
“Huh?”
Zheng-Fu’s response shook the Tower elder profoundly. Even Kong-Shi felt surprised because both he and the Elder never expected Zheng-Fu to respond in this mature way…
“W…W…What’s the matter, father? The Elder?” Zheng-Fu asked, putting on a confused, innocent face…
“N…N…Nothing. Please feel free to show him all the manuals in the tower, Elder Kong-Shi.”
“Thank you very much!”
Zheng-Fu and Kong-Shi left the Tower elder and went straight into the tower to choose martial arts techniques manuals…
‘He seems different, that boy. The language he uses doesn’t sound like what normal children would use. How did he get like that? Or is it because he studies too hard?’
The Tower elder tried to find the reason why an 8-year-old could talk in the way that he had so many years of experience in the world. After a while, he remembered that the boy had been studying to become a Zhuàngyuán because he had to put practicing martial arts on hold for a while. That might be a sensible conclusion for why the boy could speak like a grown mature man…
“Here we are, it’s the “Tower of Martial Arts Manuals”, son!”
When Zheng-Fu entered the tower, he saw tons of manuals and books being placed on the shelves on both sides of the walls. Though the tower was not very big, it held all fighting techniques and knowledge that had been collected by his clan…
Then he glanced to his right and saw flights of stairs that led to the second floor. He heard that the two intermediate skills that his clan owned were of a fighting skill and Qinggong skill. The ones who were allowed to practice them must be either gifted or genius…
“I’m going to excuse myself to choose the manuals, father…”
“Right. Go ahead.”
Kong-Shi was sort of absent-minded, so he responded to Zheng-Fu without paying attention to him. But then he got his mind back and asked…
“Wait! Don’t you need my help?”
“It’s all right, father.”
Zheng-Fu said no and gave his father an innocent, child-like smile. Then he ran to the bookshelves on the first floor to quickly skim for the techniques that he could achieve within a short period of time. He only had a little more than a week left before the clan’s test…