Choosing Martial Arts Techniques

Kong-Shi remained stunned and unmoved because he was confused. Normally, Zheng-Fu would ask him to help choose fighting techniques. That would be something that made more sense. But he did not need any help this time. Kong-Shi knew all the techniques in the tower, but this was the first time for Zheng-Fu in there. He doubted whether his son would understand the techniques, let alone knowing the techniques’ names…

“Let’s see if there was any right kind of fighting technique for me,” Zheng-Fu said while trying to look around to check all the manuals on the shelves…

When Kong-Shi managed to get back to focus on his son, he said, “I think you should pick the techniques on sword fighting because it is much easier than other skills. Besides…”

“I know that, father!”

“What!?”

Kong-Shi had to keep his mouth shut immediately after he heard his son’s response. He was kind of sad because he was trying to guide his son, but his son did not need any help from him. It made him feel like he was useless. But all in all, he understood the feeling well…

“Father is right. There are pieces of evidence from Xianxia novels, movies, and series that sword fighting skills are easier to practice than other fighting skills. But it is not entirely true because there are wider ranges of movements in sword fighting skills compared to others. But I think I’m right for saber fighting skills because the skills come with eminent and destructive attack powers. The downside would be the time that each movement consumes. But if I give it time and be really focused, the achievement will bring me both defensive and offensive skills at the same time. But then again, I would need a lot of time to achieve saber fighting skills. Don’t think I have enough time for that. So, I’m just going to choose sword fighting skills for now.”

After making up his mind, Zheng-Fu started to check out all the manuals about sword fighting skills that his clan offered. The interesting options came down to three manuals of sword fighting skills. These three sword skills were something that Zheng-Fu seemed to understand the most…

“I’ve got it, father,” Zheng-Fu told his father while holding the manuals with him…

“Let me see what you’ve chosen,” Kong-Shi said, looking at the manuals in his son’s hands…

Zheng-Fu gave the three manuals to his father right away. When Kong-Shi saw the manuals, he was surprised and said, “What made you choose these three manuals, Zheng-Fu?” Kong-Shi exclaimed while crinkling his eyebrows with a confusing facial expression. These three manuals were the “Sword of Willow Leaves”, the “Sword of Wind”, and the “Belt Sword”.

They were the most difficult sword fighting skills among the rest in the Tian-Tang Clan. There were not a lot of martial artists who could achieve these skills in the most efficient ways, only a few of them could. So, this was the reason why Kong-Shi was surprised to see Zheng-Fu picked these skill manuals…

The reason why Zheng-Fu chose these sword skills was that there was a similarity between the “Sword of Willow Leaves” and the “Willow-Leaf Body” skills. When he combined the movements of these two skills, he could make them synchronize with each other (making this out in his mind). The other two sword skills that he had chosen were alike because they were soft in movements, so they helped him emphasize controlling his moves…

“I think these sword skills seem to be easier to understand than other sword skills. Besides, I have a feeling that these sword skills suit me well.” Zheng-Fu said casually with an innocent facial expression…

Easy to understand!?

“Don’t you know that there are only a few martial artists in our clan who can achieve these skills? It is very difficult to practice these sword skills successfully. They may seem to be easy to practice at first, but they will get more and more difficult as you move to the higher levels. Besides, these three sword skills belong to the higher martial arts levels for the beginner. I think you might want to reconsider choosing something different.”

“I’ve made up my mind, father. If I cannot achieve these skills, then be it and I’ll stop practicing them. But I still think that these three sword skills suit me the best.”

*Sigh!*

Kong-Shi sighed sadly when he realized that Zheng-Fu had made the final decision to choose these three sword skills because he knew that it took at least years for the one who practiced them to excel the skills and make use of them. Zheng-Fu had only a little more than a week before the clan’s test. This fact bittered Kong-Shi very much…

‘If he chose the Destructive Sword skill or Killing Sword skill, it would be more practical. Why did he have to choose those three sword skills? What am I going to do now’ Kong-Shi contemplated heavily about Zheng-Fu’s decision on choosing the skills. He felt concerned while looking at his son…

When the two of them came out from the tower, they met with the Tower elder once again. The Tower elder noticed them and asked Zheng-Fu about the fighting skills that he had chosen…

“You’ve got what you prefer? Could you show me what you’ve chosen?” The Tower elder asked Zheng-Fu while glancing at the fighting skills manuals in Zheng-Fu’s hand…

“These are what I’ve chosen, sir!” Zheng-Fu said and handed the three manuals to the Tower elder…

“Whoa!”

Even the Tower elder could not help being surprised. He was as shocked as Kong-Shi. The Tower elder turned to Kong-Shi as if he wanted to check what Kong-Shi thought about this, but Kong-Shi did not say anything at all. He just shrugged…

“Well! These three sword fighting skills are excellent. I wish you the best of luck practicing them, child. If you come across any difficulty, you can come to me anytime. I will always be ready to help you.” The Tower elder said to Zheng-Fu in a bid to sympathize with the boy because he knew well how hard those three sword fighting skills were…

“Thank you, Tower elder.” Zheng-Fu cupped his hands to pay respect to the Tower elder…

Zheng-Fu knew well what the Tower elder wanted to imply. Judging from the shocked expression on his face, he knew that the elder felt the same way his father did…

“Let’s go home, Zheng-Fu. I believe that you would spend every single minute worthily practicing these skills until the clan’s test.”

“Yes, father!”

Both of them did not take long to get home. When they got there, Tian-Tang Kong-Shi separated himself to go to the clan’s hall to clear his work. As one of the elders in the clan, he had so many things to take care of. The only reason he took a break from his duty was that he loved his son dearly. He wanted to take his son to the manual tower…

“So now I’ve got new fighting techniques. One more problem’s gone. All I need to do now is to practice these skills and apply them efficiently at the clan’s test. From what I heard, there will be three stages of the test. I need to only pass two out of the three stages. That would be a success for me.”

The first stage of the test was a Qi energy measurement test. They would measure the participants’ Qi energy levels and then rank them. The second stage was a mind and determination test. The last stage would be a free-sparring test to seek the ultimate martial artist within the generation. In other words, they wanted to seek the ultimate martial arts genius, judging from the test results in all stages. The winner would have a chance to move up to practice the intermediate level of the martial arts skill…

Zheng-Fu still went to the same place to practice the new skills the next morning. The first one that he chose to practice was sure to be the “Sword of Willow Leaves” skill…

Not far away from the spot where Zheng-Fu practiced the skill, there were two middle-aged men standing on top of a tree fixing their gazes on Zheng-Fu. One of them said, “Isn’t that the same boy? He comes hanging around here again.”

“Looks like he comes to this place to do strange things again.” Another middle-aged man made a remark and smiled in a good mood…

The two Monitors stopped paying attention to Zheng-Fu right after the last sentence. They did not worry about the boy because he came to the place regularly. This was the exact reason why Zheng-Fu used this place to practice his martial arts skills…