Chapter Sixteen: A Whip Explodes with Thunder on the Mountain

  On the ground, several things were neatly arranged. Wang Chan sat cross-legged on a cushion in front of the shrine, his eyes scanning from left to right and then back again, staring for a long time before finally letting out a deep breath. With quick and nimble hands and feet, he began to assemble the precision steel short rods one by one from the canvas pouch placed in the center, his meticulous movements revealing a hint of crazed obsession.

  It's no wonder he made such a gesture, after all, in the more than 20 years spent in the mountains, Wang Chan had never had a single "weapon" that truly belonged to him.

  "It's really time to take action, to be carefree and at ease in the world, one must first experience the complexities of human relationships!" In fact, Wang Chan agreed to Zhou Lin's request without much consideration not only because he didn't want to be remembered for this matter for a long time but also because he had already had this idea in his mind.

  After all, it's not like the old man who can truly enjoy the freedom and comfort brought by loneliness. Wang Chan has never seen the outside world, but deep in his heart, there is always a force of yearning that is stirring, just like a seed that was planted long ago, now it's time to take root, sprout and grow.

  "When you feel like you can't stay in the temple anymore, go out and take a look at the world outside. This is an inevitable path. When you find your life's goal that you can strive for, and have truly strived for it, then when you're tired, come back here to accompany me..." The scenes of the old man's final moments suddenly appeared in his mind again, and Wang Chan seemed to see the old man's clear eyes, like a child's, once more.

  "Grandfather's generation was the one that truly lived, enjoying the favors and grudges, doing things my own way. Unfortunately, in this era of peace and prosperity, it's no longer like before. If I were to go out and learn from grandfather's ways, I'd definitely find it hard to take a single step outside. Boxing is like being a person, if I go out, I must hold on to my original heart, can't be muddle-headed, otherwise the temptations outside are too many, who knows when I'll lose myself and lose my forward momentum."

  Although Wang Daliang has passed away for many years, Wang Chanping always requires himself with the old master's code of conduct at all times, and this has long been deeply ingrained in his bones, wanting to change is also impossible.

  "Everything I have now is given by the old master, and this time going down the mountain can be considered a turning point. In the short term, it's probably impossible to come back, so I still need to find some time to sort out the things in the temple first, otherwise when I come back later, everything will be ruined by the birds and beasts in the mountains, what a pity."

  "Alright, it's getting late, let's summarize today's events. That Sun Changfeng's Eight Extremities Fist is incredibly refined and mature, there are still some things I can learn from him." With a casual flick of his wrist, the newly assembled 3-foot-8-inch long spear shot out in an arc, sweeping across the space in front of him, its large head shaking wildly, under the dim light of the oil lamp it seemed like a tree bursting into bloom, cold light flashing everywhere.

  "It's truly a great gun, although it's made of fine steel all over, the flexibility of the gun stock is surprisingly not inferior to that of a white wax rod, and it even has more elasticity, making it suitable for use as a flower gun. If placed in ancient times, it would definitely be a treasured gun, capable of being passed down through the ages. If I had this gun in my hand today, even if Sun Changfeng had a handgun, I wouldn't be afraid, killing him within fifty steps would be like killing a chicken." A pair of large hands kept rubbing against the egg-sized gun body, and Wang Chan's face showed a faint excitement.

  Today's battle was the first time Wang Chan truly fought with someone, and the rapid changes were more dangerous than fighting beasts in the mountains before. He killed two bandits who stayed in the cave to guard Zhou Lin, but it was a sneak attack from behind, not a real face-to-face fight. Later, when he fought Sun Changfeng, first dodging bullets and then engaging in close combat, that's what Wang Chan felt was the most thrilling part.

  This time's fierce battle has fully tested the results of his many years of hard practice, just like a touchstone that has brought out Wang Chan's great strength. Compared to the past when he was practicing with Old Master, it is simply not on the same level.

  "My current level of martial arts has only just reached the stage of 'easy tendons and bones', and is still far from achieving the level of 'changing blood'. Today, when I fought with Sun Changfeng, although I managed to bring out the 'whip-like' power of 'one string of punches', I was unable to use the internal explosive force of 'thunderbolt' on top of that foundation. This shows that my martial arts have not even reached the level of 'tempering bones'. Otherwise, with each punch and kick, all my strength would be concentrated in one place, without any waste, and I could easily deliver a blow to the opponent's body, like a timed bomb, exploding at will. But now, when dodging bullets, I often run out of breath halfway through, which is really embarrassing. I remember when Master was demonstrating his fist techniques to me, it wasn't like this."

  "As for the practice of exchanging blood and marrow, even the old master has only just touched the edge of it. It's said that once you reach that level of attainment, my Iron Fist technique will become truly indestructible, not just impervious to swords and spears, but also able to withstand ordinary guns and cannons without being blown apart or killed. At that level, the body is unified inside and out, the vital energy no longer leaks out, and one can be completely self-sufficient. It's even said that one's lifespan can be extended several times over."

  In his mind, Wang Chan filtered through the scenes in the cave today one by one, and combined with his own actual situation, he began to constantly analyze the subtle changes that this battle could bring to himself, and then find out where he was lacking now.

  When he suddenly thought of the several major boundaries of his horizontal smelting method, Wang Chan suddenly stood up from the ground, put down the big gun in his hand, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then raised both hands and punched out a few punches. At this time, his skeletal system changed with him, and every punch he made emitted a loud crackling sound like a string of firecrackers, from head to toe, everywhere was ringing, often one punch went out, all over the body were shaking at an extremely fast frequency that was invisible to the naked eye, as Wang Chan's fists got faster and faster, even the air began to make a series of shrill whistling sounds like a sharp whip.

  This is what the Thirteen Taibao of the Horizontal Furnace calls "a string of whips". It refers to the fact that practitioners who have practiced this method for a long time have stretched out multiple large tendons in their body, making them penetrate the skin, muscles and bones like a thread passing through a ring. With every movement, they can shake their skeleton and tendons, producing a powerful force, as if a whip is cracking. At this stage, it is equivalent to having practiced external skills to the extreme, and ordinary swords and axes cannot even scratch a single hair on one's body.

  This string of whip's steps, as early as seven years ago, the year the old man just passed away, Wang Chan had already cultivated his merits and virtues to perfection. If not, he wouldn't have dared to venture into the deep mountains and forests at the age of 18 or 19, playing with his life in the midst of winter, and running on ice from Russia with a Northeastern Siberian tiger.

  When both fists burst in the air, making a sound like bullets being fired, Wang Chan suddenly bent his body, his back arched like a dragon, and in an instant, he darted from the temple to a large bluestone in the courtyard. With a dull hum, he gently patted the stone with his palm.

  "With a 'hiss', a stream of white air shot out from his mouth, straight and powerful, bursting out over two meters away. King Chan's naked body was suddenly covered in a large amount of sweat, as if the gentle palm had gathered all his strength. Just as he slowly withdrew his hand, a loud 'boom' echoed in his ears, and the huge boulder suddenly exploded violently before his eyes."

  The sound was like thunder, exploding in the ears, and a large bluestone over one meter square seemed to have been stuffed into its belly like a high-explosive grenade, splitting it into seven or eight pieces, flying everywhere, hitting Wang Chan's body nearby with a clanging sound, sparks splashing around.

  There was still a lot of sweat dripping down from the palm, pounding out one small pit after another on the ground under his feet. Wang Chan squatted on the ground, digging and digging at the rocks, finding the very center, only to see that the stones there had already been crushed into powder.

  This is the most direct manifestation of the internal explosive power of Zhongshan Lei, which goes even further than a string of whip-like movements. A string of whips stretches the muscles and bones, connecting them into one unit, with punches thrown like cracking whips, emphasizing the force coming from the bones, layered and cumulative, whole-body coordination, strong and violent, whereas the power of Zhongshan Lei is concentrated at one point, like the explosive force of opening a mountain to blast rocks. When not in use, nothing happens, but once the fuse is ignited, it becomes a matter of opening mountains and blasting rocks from inside out, turning boulders into powder. This has already become a method of practicing external skills as internal skills.

  "Huff! Huff! Still can't do it at will, otherwise these broken stones wouldn't be flying all over the place, but would only stay in their original position and collapse on their own. Just as his palm lightly patted the stone, Wang Chan's whole body was sweating, even his shiny bald head was gleaming with oil."

  "Now I want to unleash the explosive power of the Thunderclap, but I need to prepare a bit first. Unless I'm ambushed from behind, it's not very useful even when facing an enemy head-on."

  He returned to the front of the shrine and sat down again, recalling the various feelings from earlier. Wang Chan furrowed his brow and analyzed: "The old master often said that there are people outside of people and heavens outside of heaven. This time going out is not like being alone in the mountains, where anything can happen. My internal explosion power from the Thunderbolt Technique is still unable to reach the level of being easily released at will. It's best not to use this kind of power, otherwise it would be like seeking death."

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  Thank you all for your support, Lao Lu bows to you!!!!!!!