Chapter 35: Nine Peacock Styles
"good!"
When Chu Lu Ren secured victory, cheers were heard from the side.
Following the sound, I saw Shui Dai walking over.
Shui Sheng and Wang Xiaofeng, who was in a daze and depressed, couldn't help feeling guilty when they heard the voice - after all, losing to someone of similar age in front of their master was a bit of a loss to the reputation of their school.
"Master, it's Xiaofeng's fault that I'm not skilled enough and I've brought shame upon you." Wang Xiaofeng said dejectedly.
Originally I thought that I was ranked eleventh on the list, which meant that I was invincible among my peers. But now it seems... I underestimated the masters in the world.
“What’s so shameful about this? Everyone knows how to lose. Even if it’s embarrassing, you don’t have to wait for me to lose. I have already lost everything myself.” Shui Dai is open-minded, or... has vision!
After all, Shui Dai is from a famous school - he and his second brother Liu Chengfeng, the Master of Rouyun Sword, are both lay disciples of the Wudang Sect.
Like Shaolin, Wudang also has many lay disciples. Shui Dai, Liu Chengfeng and Zhang Zhaozhong are all relatively promising among them, especially the former, who is even a registered disciple of Zhang Sanfeng.
The "Tai Chi Sword" was praised by Zhang Sanfeng as "having acquired three-tenths of the essence"...
Don't underestimate the "three points". Among the many true disciples of Wudang Sect, this is already a high compliment. In fact, Shui Dai's martial arts is indeed not inferior to those of the Seven Sons of Wudang, except Song Yuanqiao and Yu Lianzhou.
In terms of vision, it is not limited to the surrounding area.
"I'm just taking shortcuts. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Senior Shui." Chu Lu Ren said modestly.
There was indeed an element of trickery involved. After all, Wang Xiaofeng's swordsmanship was not yet "perfect" at that time, and Chu Lu Ren attacked with his finger power from a long distance, so it was easy to see the flaws.
"Young Master Chu is indeed a hero at an early age. There is no need to be so modest... I saw that Young Master Chu's finger movements just now seemed to contain some sword skills, and his internal strength has also reached a certain level. With time, he will surely become a hero of his time." Shui Dai looked very appreciative.
“Senior Shui is too kind. I just learned a lot of things, so I don’t have any rules and use them randomly.” Chu Lu Ren wanted to establish a “modest gentleman” persona that would be most popular with the public first, and then change it if it didn’t work out!
"No, not sticking to the moves is the superior move... Young Master Chu, what do you think of Xiaofeng's swordsmanship?" Shui Dai didn't seem to be testing or questioning him.
However, Chu Lu Ren naturally answered this kind of question easily: "You already have the demeanor of a great man!"
Shui Dai was not impressed by the compliment and shook his head: "Xiaofeng still lacks a lot of skills and is not even proficient yet..." He looked at Wang Xiaofeng in a lecturing manner.
It's normal to lose, and now people are blaming him for not practicing enough.
"Disciple knows his mistake." Wang Xiaofeng said quickly.
Shui Dai then looked at Chu Lu Ren and said, "This 'Peacock Sword Technique' is just a combination of the essence of the 'Grasping the Peacock' move in Tai Chi that I have learned, and a few side moves of Tai Chi sword. It is far from being exquisite, but practice makes perfect. It should even be said that it is just the 'Nine Peacock Moves', not even a sword technique."
This is true. Normally speaking, there are restrictions on lay disciples teaching martial arts to outsiders.
For example, if Shui Dai wanted to teach Tai Chi sword, which he had learned, to others, he had to get the consent of his master and become a disciple in Wudang.
However , the "Nine Peacock Styles" are not restricted. Shui Dai's original idea was to wait until Wang Xiaofeng had mastered the Peacock Sword Technique to perfection and preferably mastered some of the martial arts principles, and then take him to Wudang to meet Master Zhang in order to teach him more advanced martial arts.
Wang Xiaofeng did not disappoint Shui Dai's expectations. Although he was a little proud sometimes, overall, Wang Xiaofeng had good qualifications and was among the best among his peers.
Compared with Chu Luren's stubborn talent and understanding, there is a world of difference. However... Chu Luren often has sudden realizations of justice, which is incomparable.
"To be able to extract the mysteries of swordsmanship from the ultimate principles of Tai Chi is already a testament to your superb skills. Hero Shui is too modest." Chu Lu Ren did not underestimate this swordsmanship.
Shui Dai did not refute after hearing this, but pondered for a moment before saying, "In that case... I will pass this sword technique on to Young Master Chu. If Young Master Chu can really master it in the future, he can go to Wudang to find this method."
When many disciples of Tiefu heard Shui Dai's words, they couldn't help but look at Chu Luren with envy.
Wang Xiaofeng and Shui Sheng were not - the "Nine Peacock Styles" were not a secret teaching in the first place, but more like an introductory chapter that Shui Dai had compiled for them to get started with Tai Chi...
Although the various martial arts sects now regard the transmission of skills as a top priority, skills of this level are not that important.
Chu Lu Ren was very surprised. After all, judging from the effect, the "Nine Peacock Styles" were not ordinary products. He thanked Shui Dai quickly and asked for advice.
The disciples of the Iron Mansion who were around also dispersed at this time. Even if it was "not a big deal", it couldn't be made public!
Shui Dai had the idea to pass the message to Chu Lu Ren because, firstly, he was impressed by the strength and qualifications that Chu Lu Ren had just demonstrated, and he wanted to establish a connection with Wudang. Secondly, and most importantly... judging from Chu Lu Ren's previous performance, Shui Dai admired him very much!
According to Chu Lu Ren, "heard from disciples in Songshan" that Liu Zhengfeng might be related to the Sun and Moon Sect, but Liu Zhengfeng really had nothing to do with Chu Lu Ren.
In other words, Chu Lu Ren may not be a self- righteous person, but he is a righteous person!
In the minds of "retail-type" martial arts masters such as Tie Wushuang and Shui Dai, the concept of "righteousness" is also different from that of those famous and upright sects.
When it comes to making friends, people who are more righteous will be more popular...
However, what was somewhat different from what Chu Lu Ren had imagined was that Shui Dai taught him the "Nine Peacock Styles" very quickly. He taught him the "Nine Styles" in less than half an hour, and then... there was no aftermath!
There is no coordinated exercise method...
Judging from Shui Dai's instructions, it's not that he didn't teach him, but the essence of the "Nine Peacock Styles" is that one can comprehend the martial arts concepts from these nine styles.
In a trance, Chu Lu Ren also thought of something!
Previously, Chu Luren had always believed that pure moves without the coordination of mental methods were just fancy tricks and acrobatic moves...
However, it now seems that this understanding cannot be said to be completely wrong, but it is not completely correct either!
Perhaps... there are some pure techniques that are to be taught to practitioners, rather than the circulation of internal energy?
For a moment, Chu Lu Ren thought of the "Sword Qi Contest" of the Huashan Sect. If the moves were really just concave shapes, then wasn't the Sword Sect a little stupid?
What’s the point of having a good shape if you don’t have inner strength?
Is Qi Zong also missing a string?
If you only have internal strength but no coordinated moves, you will get half the result with twice the effort, right?
However, this seemingly simple "Nine Peacock Styles" gave Chu Luren a new idea...
After teaching Chu Lu Ren the basic sword moves, Shui Dai didn't teach him anything else. He just told him to practice diligently - this was the only "shortcut" to understanding martial arts.
It is for this reason that Wang Xiaofeng does not think that Chu Lu Ren can achieve anything great with his practice - the Nine Peacock Moves may seem simple, but in fact, their real purpose is to explain a branch of Tai Chi's martial arts philosophy. What's the point of just learning the form and posture?
This kind of martial arts is too difficult to master on your own, and only those martial arts geniuses may be able to...
I have a master to ask for advice from all the time, but now I am still just practicing the form in vain!
