Chapter 0009: The Senior Brother

"Ah Kan, have you already reached the Mingjin stage?" 

"Yes, Master!" 

"Good, good, good!" Huo Yuanjia repeated "good" four times, clearly pleased with his disciple's progress. 

"From today onwards, I will teach you the breathing techniques of Mingjin and some basic forms!" 

"Yes, Master!" Chen Zheng was thrilled. After a year and a half, he was finally going to learn the legendary martial arts techniques.

"You've reached the Mingjin stage, so let me explain the three stages of strength—Mingjin, Anjin, and Huajin." 

"After long-term practice, the body generates a type of internal force—this is Mingjin. The most direct manifestation of this internal force is increased destructive power. Entering Mingjin within a year and a half of practicing internal martial arts is already quite impressive." 

"Master, does that mean the time to reach Mingjin varies depending on the style of martial arts?" 

"Yes, external martial arts and hard Qigong are much harder to enter Mingjin, at least several times harder than internal martial arts." 

"That difficult!" 

Huo Yuanjia nodded, then continued, "Let's return to the three stages of strength. After Mingjin comes Anjin. Anjin and Mingjin are relative terms. You can think of Mingjin as the internal energy circulating on the surface of the body, while Anjin flows through the meridians. So Mingjin causes surface-level injuries, whereas Anjin targets the meridians and can destroy them. You need to be extra cautious when facing a master of Anjin!" 

"Yes, Master!" 

Chen Zheng, already aware of the importance of the meridians in martial arts, listened carefully. Even though modern medicine couldn't find evidence of meridians, both traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts proved their existence. 

"To transition from Mingjin to Anjin, you need to circulate the Mingjin throughout your body and finally guide it into the meridians—this is Anjin!" 

"Then comes Huajin. To transition from Anjin to Huajin is similar to moving from Mingjin to Anjin; you need to spread Anjin throughout your meridians, and once Mingjin and Anjin merge and strengthen the bones, that is Huajin." 

Saying this, Huo Yuanjia struck a wooden pillar with his fist. 

"Boom..." 

The pillar didn't break, but the spot where Huo Yuanjia's fist hit was punctured, creating a hole with wood shavings flying everywhere. The visual impact was overwhelming for Chen Zheng. If that punch had hit a person... 

"Master, what is this?" 

"This is Huajin. To reach Huajin, you must go through the study of the I Ching, bone forging, and marrow washing. Once you complete all three, it is said that you will reach the level of a grandmaster!" Huo Yuanjia gazed at his fist, a mix of pride, yearning, and battle intent in his eyes. 

At that moment, Chen Zheng realized that Huo Yuanjia's strength had reached Huajin, probably two months ago. This filled him with pride and made him realize that his master had undergone a significant transformation.

"You're still far from this level, so take it slow. Don't aim too high too quickly. Today, I'll teach you the breathing techniques, and tomorrow morning, I'll teach you the martial arts forms!" 

"Yes, Master!" 

"The breathing techniques for Mingjin are different from what I taught you before. You need to practice both the previous method and this one, and neither can be neglected. Now, prepare your stance..." 

Just like when Chen Zheng first learned the Horse Stance, Huo Yuanjia pointed at him and guided him through the breathing techniques. 

An hour later, Chen Zheng had completely mastered the breathing techniques Huo Yuanjia had taught him. Compared to the previous methods, this one was much more complex. It required the integration of breathing, movements, and Mingjin. 

In the afternoon, at the training ground... 

With Huo Yuanjia's nine consecutive victories, his disciples were growing in number, and like Chen Zheng, many were now formal disciples who performed the customary kowtow and tea ceremony to show their respect. 

As the number of disciples increased, Huo Yuanjia couldn't teach each person one-on-one as he had done with Chen Zheng. Instead, he set periodic check-ins but mainly relied on one of his newer disciples to supervise the others. 

This disciple was Liu Zhensheng, who had been brought back by Huo Yuanjia about a month ago. Unlike the other disciples, Liu Zhensheng had already reached the Mingjin stage when he came to study. 

"Bringing your skills to Master" was a unique form of apprenticeship in the martial world. It generally implied some level of disloyalty, as one didn't traditionally take on a disciple unless they were loyal to the master. However, if someone did take in such a disciple, it meant that they were exceptional in some way or had some hidden reasons. Liu Zhensheng, with his advanced martial skills, stood out from the rest. 

Because of his unique situation, Liu Zhensheng supervised the newer disciples while also helping Chen Zheng. If we considered when they entered the school, he should technically be considered a junior, but since Chen Zheng was the senior disciple, Liu Zhensheng was called "Second Senior Brother" among the other disciples. 

"Second Senior Brother, how about you teach us a few moves today? How do you perform this technique?" 

"Alright, today I'll teach you the 'Azure Dragon Seizing Claw'!" 

"No, extend your hand a bit further, more forward... Yes, that's the right posture! Now, focus, the energy needs to be focused in your eyes too." 

"Is it like this?" 

"Yes, exactly!" 

"Second Senior Brother, you're amazing! You know so many martial arts techniques. We've been learning from Master for so long, but we haven't learned anything like this yet!" 

"Exactly, every day it's just stances and more stances. When can we learn to fight like Master and win nine matches?" 

"Forget about nine wins; if we could just get three, I'd die content!" 

"Yeah, right! Second Senior Brother, if you went into the ring, I bet you could easily win three matches!" 

"Ah, I'm not that good. But back when I was in the capital, I did manage to win two matches in a row!" 

"Wow, Second Senior Brother is so strong! If you can win two matches in the capital, you'll surely do well in Tianjin!" 

"Right, Second Senior Brother, we'll rely on you to look after us from now on!" 

"Sure, sure!" 

Liu Zhensheng smiled modestly, but there was a hint of pride in his eyes. 

"Who do you think is better, Senior Brother or Second Senior Brother?" One of the new disciples, who had just sworn allegiance the previous day, asked curiously. 

The moment the question was raised, the atmosphere in the room grew tense. 

"Second Senior Brother is definitely stronger! Senior Brother was just a scholar two years ago, completely weak. Back then, we don't even know how he got accepted as a disciple. He's only Senior Brother because of his luck!" 

A younger, frail-looking disciple scoffed. 

"Yeah, he can't even beat me, so how could he be Second Senior Brother's match?" 

"Junior Brother Tang, be careful with your words!" 

"This is the truth! Master Huo won his battles with his fists, so rank should be determined by martial ability. Senior Brother doesn't deserve to be Senior Brother! I think Second Senior Brother should be the one!" 

"Yeah, Second Senior Brother is definitely stronger!" 

"That's right!" 

The murmurs and whispers grew louder, and the room was filled with tension.