Chapter 237 - Chapter 237: The Foundation of the Eight Chiefs (3)

Chapter 237: The Foundation of the Eight Chiefs (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ye Jingtang nodded. “That shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Liu Qiansheng continued, “1 won’t teach my fist techniques to mediocre people. 1 will only pass them on to the Grandmasters of the Imperial Court. The Imperial Court also has to arrest Jiang Zhahu and bring him to justice. He smuggles salt and iron at the border, so he should be punished for his crime.”

Ye Jingtang stood a little straighter. He didn’t expect Liu Qiansheng to want to use the Imperial Court to take revenge. “If there’s a chance, the Imperial Court will destroy Jiang Zhahu without you saying anything. But it’s too easy to escape from Liang Province, and it won’t be easy to capture Jiang Zhahu. The Imperial Court can only do its best.”

Liu Qiansheng said, “Sir Ye, your predictions are godlike, and your eyes and ears reach everywhere. It’s not difficult for you to find Jiang Zhahu. In terms of talent, you’re not necessarily weaker than Jiang Zhahu. As long as you are sincere and are willing to investigate Jiang Zhahu, this matter is really not difficult.”

Ye Jingtang thought about it carefully. “I will do my best. Tell me about the Prince of Wu’s case first. You can give your martial arts to the Imperial Court later.”

Since Liu Qiansheng had reached an agreement, he was no longer long-winded. “I don’t know much about the Prince of Wu’s affairs. I only helped him because he has an apothecary who escaped from Northern Liang. This person is a disciple of Northern Liang’s Medical Sage. His name is Zhang Jinglin, and he might be able to treat my old injuries.”

Ye Jingtang called out and asked the constable above to throw down a black-covered notebook. He took out the small brush in the notebook and recorded carefully. “Is Zhang Jinglin more skilled than Divine Doctor Wang?” Liu Qiansheng shook his head. “There is no injury in this world that Divine Doctor Wang can’t treat. If there is, it’s because of a lack of medicine, not that there is no cure. 1 secretly came to the capital before. Divine Doctor Wang told me to find the Snow Lake Flower. He could treat me, but he couldn’t find the medicine. Zhang Jinglin doesn’t look like a doctor, and he uses a strange method. Although he didn’t treat my injuries, I saw with my own eyes that he used a medicine to greatly increase the strength of a death row prisoner with ordinary martial arts skills, almost multiplying it by several times.”

Ye Jingtang paused. “There’s such a medicine?”

Qiu Tian said, “It might be a medicine that takes an evil path and overdrafts the body in a short period of time.”

Liu Qiansheng nodded. “That’s right. He died in less than half an hour after taking it. However, this is the first time I’ve seen such a powerful evil medicine in my life. It expanded the meridians in the entire body in a short time. I’m afraid I would dare to challenge the three immortals on the mountain after taking it. Because the medicinal effect is similar to that of the Snow Lake Flower, I let the Prince of Wu use me while waiting for Zhang Jinglin to concoct a medicine that can treat my injuries.”

“How much of this medicine is there?”

“I’m not sure. 1 was still researching when I saw it. It’s not stable. The Prince of Wu doesn’t have many soldiers, and he’s surrounded by three military forces. I guess the Prince of Wu wants to rely on the medicine to produce hundreds or even thousands of experts in a short time to form an elite army to attack the capital alone. From the looks of it, he definitely won’t have a chance…”

Ye Jingtang listened attentively and wrote down the confession.

Liu Qiansheng knew that Ye Jingtang was definitely very talented. After saying the information he knew, he dragged the chains and stood up. “This information is actually not that significant to the Imperial Court. The most valuable thing about me is my martial arts. I’m already old, so Sir Ye might not have felt much when we fought. In order to prevent you from killing me after getting the confession, I will first submit a token of my allegiance and let you see the foundation that I’ve accumulated for eighty years.”

Ye Jingtang was rather interested in this. He put away the notebook and stood up. “I heard that Senior Liu’s Wind Listening Palm is the best in Jianghu. Can you let me experience it?”

Qiu Tianhe’s Heaven Equaling Saber was similar to Liu Qiansheng’s Wind Listening Palm. Perhaps if he learned this technique, it would become the last piece of the puzzle for him to become the Saber Chief.

Because of this, Qiu Tianhe also stood up and listened attentively. Although he felt that it was a little inappropriate, he had been a lobbyist for so long, so it didn’t seem to be too much to ask for remuneration.

Liu Qiansheng felt quite honored to be able to teach two candidates for the Eight Chiefs. He didn’t hold back and raised his hands to start practicing on the spot. “I’ve heard of the Heaven Equaling Saber. This saber technique is exquisite, but it can only deal with experts below the Eight Chiefs. Martial artists who can become the Eight Chiefs have all reached the realm of Unity of Heaven and Man. Their six senses are not much worse than yours, so you can only wait for Xuanyuan Chao to die of old age. It’s very difficult to defeat him with this technique.”

Qiu Tianhe’s eyes were solemn. “That’s indeed the case. I’ve fought with Old Man Xuanyuan a few times. I can’t cut him with my counter, but 1 have to escape when he counters. 1 can’t fight him at all.”

“In a fight between martial artists, no matter how high one’s martial arts skills are, the key point is to see the essence of a move and counter it. If you attack from seventy feet away, the move won’t be very powerful, and even a fool can deal with it. Only when you can change your moves within a hair’s breadth and counter will you be considered to have reached perfection in your martial arts. The Wind Listening Palm is not a technique used to explore the way like what Jianghu says. This technique investigates the entire body of the opponent.” After Liu Qiansheng finished practicing a set of moves, he stood with his hands behind his back. “Both of you have the momentum of the Eight Chiefs. If you can’t remember after seeing it once, go out. Although I’m in prison, I don’t have the patience to teach stupid disciples.”

Hearing this, Ye Jingtang slowly moved his palms on the spot and studied the qi circulation method.

Qiu Tianhe didn’t follow suit. Instead, he stood with his hands behind his back and practiced in his mind. First, he did this to have the air of an expert. Second, he thought that it would be normal for his imagination to be slower than Ye Jingtang’s physical deduction. It wouldn’t be embarrassing if he was half a step slower than Ye Jingtang later.

Liu Qiansheng’s Listening Wind Palm was an internal martial arts, and it was not as comprehensive as the Heaven Equaling Saber. It focused on touch, so its qi circulation method was simpler, but it was still quite exquisite.

Ye Jingtang practiced four or five times. After figuring out the qi circulation method, his hands became gentle, as if they were weightless. They came and went silently, and even his fingers carried a unique rhythm.

After all, Liu Qiansheng had taught Jiang Zhahu before, and he had also been one of the Eight Chiefs, so his reaction was not as big as Qiu Tianhe’s. He only looked surprised and nodded slightly. “Good comprehension.”

Ye Jingtang practiced for a while, but Dumdum wasn’t around. He didn’t have anyone’s chest to press to test the technique. He could only feel the change in the airflow between his fingers and praised softly, “This technique is indeed exquisite.”

Then he looked at Qiu Tianhe.

(-_->)

?

Qiu Tianhe knew that this kid didn’t know the ways of the world at all and wouldn’t save face for an elder like him.

But Qiu Tianhe’s comprehension ability was not bad, and he had decades of Jianghu experience, so he wouldn’t be left too far behind.

Qiu Tianhe nodded thoughtfully. His gaze was deep, as if he was studying something exquisite. But in fact, he was stalling for time. After deducing the hidden qi circulation method in his mind, he turned around and raised one hand in front of him. “This technique is quite exquisite. It’s worthy of the reputation of the Eight Chiefs.”

Ye Jingtang stood in front of him and placed his right hand on the back of Qiu Tianhe’s hand. Through the touch of the back of his hand, he could faintly feel the details of the qi flowing in the meridians of Qiu Tianhe’s palm and even his arm.

Liu Qiansheng stood with his hands behind his back and explained, “When a martial artist attacks, he must first circulate his qi. The Heaven Equaling Saber can only react when the opponent’s muscles exert force and there’s abnormal movement. This technique of mine is even faster. 1 can figure out my opponent’s moves even without them moving their hands and feet. Therefore, when Sir Ye fought against me, your moves were always half a step slower than mine. The reason why you could win was purely because of your powerful physique.

“The disadvantage of this technique is that it’s close-range, but its advantage is the same. When two fists meet, there is not much room for changing moves. 1 can know in advance if my opponent changes moves, and I can change my moves to counter him. If my opponent changes moves again, I can still know in advance. This is the capital that I used to attain the title of Fist Chief.”

Ye Jingtang nodded thoughtfully and carefully sensed the feeling on the back of Qiu Tianhe’s hand. He moved first, but he realized that Qiu Tianhe’s palm was as light as a gauze, and he couldn’t touch it at all.

Qiu Tianhe immediately struck back, and so did Ye Jingtang.

Whoosh!

A slight breeze stirred up in the cell. Ye Jingtang and Qiu Tianhe stood facing each other, their right hands against each other as they pushed their palms back and forth.

Because if you changed moves, I had to change moves. And if I changed, you had to change too. The result of pushing hands back and forth was that the speed was getting faster and faster. It depended on whose reaction couldn’t keep up first.

Qiu Tianhe’s talent was not bad, and he had extraordinary experience. He had developed his muscle instincts to deal with moves, so his countering speed wasn’t slow at all.

As for Ye Jingtang, although he relied purely on his reaction speed, he could circulate his qi so quickly that it was almost instantaneous. Just as Qiu Tianhe felt the fluctuation of Ye Jingtang’s qi in his meridians, the force was already coming, basically not giving him a chance to react.

Both of them felt pressure in their hearts. In order to prevent hurting their own person’s face, the two of them stopped fighting before they could decide the victor.

Ye Jingtang cupped his hands and praised, “This technique has the highest attainments I’ve seen in my life. 1 have learned a lot from it.”

Qiu Tianhe also cupped his hands. “Elder Liu, you live up to your reputation. Just the mastery hidden in this technique is enough for me to ponder for several years.”

Liu Qiansheng was indeed old, but martial arts was genuine. There was a hint of pride in his eyes as he sat down again. “This is the technique that I pondered over decades ago. I’ve roamed Jianghu for eighty years and have accumulated more than this. But after I teach everything, I will be of no value to the Imperial Court, so I have to teach slowly. I will only teach you my trump cards before 1 die. Sir Ye, I hope you don’t mind.”

Hearing this, Ye Jingtang didn’t say anything else.. He flew up with Qiu Tianhe and left the dungeon…