Chapter 5: The Challenger Has Arrived

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  Luokei, who came from afar, inherited all the memories of Lu Zhanying, the father of the Hua Xia Navy, but what he was most interested in was not his old profession of making black guns, nor was it shipbuilding, which Lu Zhanying liked, but rather national arts.

  What is national art? In the 1980s of the 19th century, when China was extremely backward in industry, martial arts represented national art. However, Luo Kai believed that "national" refers to a strong country and a strong people! The so-called "art" refers to skills and methods.

  What is the use of guns and cannons? To make a country strong. What is the use of building ships? To make a country strong. What is the use of martial arts? To strengthen both the country and its people. The two phrases "strong country" and "strong people" contain the dreams of Luoke and Lü Buwei, two generations of heroes.

  Of course, it is undeniable that the martial arts complex of modern people is also one of the reasons why Luo Kai is interested in national techniques. The charm of national techniques itself has been attracting Luo Kai at all times. Which young man in later generations does not have a little martial arts complex?

  The Zhao's Martial Arts Hall was built by Zhao Hongyuan, a native of Cangzhou. Zhao Hongyuan came from a poor family and had a strong interest in martial arts since childhood. He moved to Fujian with his parents at a young age.

  The people of Fujian are known for their bravery and strong character, especially in the southern region of Minnan. The martial arts culture in Fujian has a long history dating back to the mid-Ming dynasty. Zhao Hongyuan felt right at home when he arrived in Fujian and studied under a master of the Southern Fist style, learning the Luohan Fist and White Crane Fist. After seven years of hard work, he surpassed his master, and after another three years, his skills were unmatched. He traveled alone throughout the country, seeking out other skilled martial artists to challenge him, but none could match his abilities. It's said that "a decade of sharpening a sword will result in an unbeatable blade." Today, I'll show you my skills - who can rival me?

  Unfortunately, he was too sharp and easy to break. In his youth, he showed off his talents, but in his old age, he had enemies everywhere. Finally, he ended up settling down on a remote island in the South China Sea.

  Zhao Hongyuan and Luo Kai's family had a very good relationship. Luo's father had followed Zhao Hongyuan to learn martial arts for a period of time when he was young, and later sent Luo Kai to the Zhao Clan Martial Arts Hall to train and study. As it happened, the master of the hall, Zhao Hongyuan, had no children of his own, so when he first met Luo Kai, he took a liking to him and treated him like his own son. Thanks to the physical training methods taught by Zhao Hongyuan, Luo Kai was able to possess the physical strength and endurance to live and train with his soldiers at the age of ten. This also made Luo Kai continue to practice at the Zhao Clan Martial Arts Hall for two hours every day after crossing over.

  The Zhao Clan Martial Arts Institute is divided into two parts: the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard. The outer courtyard is used to practice basic techniques of national arts, while the inner courtyard is used to practice combat techniques and secret transmission techniques. Since even the place has a distinction between inside and outside, naturally people also have to be divided into three six nine grades. The Zhao Clan Martial Arts Institute takes Master Zhao Hongyuan as the most respected, followed by his three personally transmitted disciples, then seven or eight elite disciples who have already made some achievements, they are mainly taught martial arts by the three personally transmitted disciples, and finally there are some newly admitted novice disciples who have just started practicing, basically all the senior brothers in the institute can teach them.

  The outer courtyard is very large, on the left side of the entrance are 49 star stakes, on the right side is an eight trigrams sandbag array composed of 64 sandbags, and in the middle are several sets of practice equipment consisting of wooden tables and punching bags.

  As soon as they entered the courtyard, Luo Ke found that several senior brothers had already started practicing.

  "Master brother, I'm here! Hmm, are you guys preparing to start practicing qigong?"

  In the Zhao family martial arts hall, Luo Kai completely lost his usual composure and acted more like a ten-year-old kid, running quickly to a tall, dark-faced man.

  It's a pity that Luo Kai has been studying at the Zhao Clan Martial Arts Institute since he was six years old, but in the past, Luo Kai valued literature over martial arts and only went to the institute for physical exercise. Zhao Hongyuan didn't force Luo Kai either, and only taught him a set of breathing exercises for health preservation. As a result, Luo Kai knows very little about national martial arts today.

  "Xiao Kai is here, yes, several junior brothers have reached the fire stage, and Second Brother is taking them to test their skills."

  The big man with a dark face looked frightening, but he was actually very kind and gentle. He scratched his head with one hand and pointed at the people on the starboard side with the other, explaining to Luo Kai...

  "Are these people really beginners? They're so fierce!" Amidst the twinkling stars, four figures were moving about, their movements swift and erratic, causing Luo Kai's eyes to spin with dizziness. Luo Kai couldn't tell that three of them were beginners at all.

  More than two meters high wooden stakes, ordinary people just look down and get goosebumps, their heart rate speeds up, not to mention walking on it. The few beginners in the Zhao family martial arts hall can actually walk on it with ease, which makes Luo Kai feel great admiration, thinking: "This is the real kung fu, compared to the fancy moves of later generations, they are nothing."

  "Haha, my big brother, I've never cheated kids. They are indeed beginners. Those who can get on the pole must have practiced horse stance for more than three years and mastered the footwork to be proficient. On the pole, they are beginners, but under the pole, they don't know how much hard work they've done. With their level, it's still passable, my big brother, I was much better when I was young."

  He hammered his chest, which was as hard as iron, and said with a fierce expression.

  "Master will just brag, huh? The movements of Second Master and the other three don't seem to be much different."

  The little hand pointed at a few people on the crowded street, Luo Kai said softly.

  "You don't understand, do you? On the surface, this Starlight Stage is testing stance and footwork. The top three have spent at least three years of hard work, their foundation is solid and they've already caught a glimpse of the martial arts path. Their stance and footwork are naturally flawless, it's just for show for outsiders."

  Lu Ke rolled his eyes when he heard Hei Lian Da Han intentionally emphasizing the three words "outsider".

  The big man with a dark face seemed to have not noticed Luo Ke's silent protest, and continued on his own: "Actually, the key to mastering the Starlight Staff lies in five areas: waist, legs, spirit, courage, and will. The waist and legs can be practiced and mastered at the foundation level, but the spirit, courage, and will must be cultivated at a higher level. Look at your three senior brothers, excluding you, they have been practicing the same routines over and over again, clearly putting in a lot of effort to master the forms, achieving speed without disorder, but what they are doing is stiff and rigid, far from your second senior brother's realm of mastery where every move is unpredictable and adaptable. This staff technique should be like flowing clouds and water, constantly changing."

  "Wow, I didn't know there was so much to it. I get it now. Master brother is really knowledgeable, his skills must be amazing, right? I want to see Master brother perform, I want to see Master brother perform."

  Luò Kǎi hid a sly smile on his face, two small hands shaking the sleeve of the big black-faced man, making a spoiled expression, and shouting "I want to watch the performance" in his mouth.

  Got it, the bull skin was blown big and wrapped around itself. The black-faced strong man was also straightforward, not just walking a stake, two words didn't say agree to come, step by step towards the dense star stake, in less than three seconds, countless showy moves had already gone through his mind.

  "Li Shidi, the little kid wants to see a show, let's go for two moves!" he shouted loudly, reminding the other three people on the stake that they had nothing to do. With his feet not hesitating at all, the big black-faced man suddenly jumped up with both hands flat and flying, and landed steadily on the stake with a big swing of his arms, causing several martial arts students nearby to shout in excitement. Luo Kai's small mouth was even more O-shaped.

  The dense star piers were all equipped with guide rails. Ordinary people usually climbed up through the ladder-like guide rails, but this senior brother directly jumped onto it...

  In Luo Ke's view, jumping onto a two-meter-high wooden stake was an unbelievable thing. To think that the world record for men's high jump in the previous life was 2.45 meters, and this was still with a running start and backflip style high jump. The world record for standing high jump was only 1.80 meters, but this black-faced senior brother could actually jump two meters in one go, and what was even more incredible was that he could stand stably on the wooden stake with a diameter of less than 15 centimeters, looking like he hadn't used his full strength.

  "Ah, the martial arts of old! During the late Qing and early Republic periods, the wushu craze was in full swing, and who knows how many national masters emerged? Indeed, it's a fact. If these martial artists were equipped with modernized weapons and given some training, they would surely be on par with, if not surpass, later generations of special forces like Delta Force, Alpha Team, or the Navy SEALs."

  From the perspective of modern people in later generations, Luo Ke's direction of viewing problems is far different from that of people in this era.

  A special forces unit with high mobility and strong penetration capabilities, can be used as a trump card on the battlefield, and at critical moments can even achieve a decisive victory through decapitation operations.

  A killer move was slowly taking shape in Luo Ke's mind, and this was also the reason why he took time out of his busy schedule to come to this martial arts hall apart from strengthening his body.

  Just as Luo Ke was about to rub his eyes and take a look at the two senior brothers' skills, a discordant voice rang out.

  "Haha, Ma Yingwu, you're quite impressive. Is this what Zhao Hongyuan taught you? You're just a bunch of tricks to deceive little kids. The Zhao Clan Martial Arts Academy is nothing more than this."

  As soon as the words fell, three people came in from the gate of the martial arts hall. The first was a thin old man with both hands on his knees and eyes like an eagle's gaze. He was the one who had just spoken.

  Then there was a young man with a strong back and sturdy waist, walking steadily, with piercing eyes full of spirit.

  Finally, there was a middle-aged man with an average build, broad forehead and face, thick arms, muscles twisted like roots, landing silently. As soon as the three of them entered the door, the Zhao family martial arts hall fell silent in an instant, countless pairs of eyes fell on the three of them, and a atmosphere as solid as a mountain range spread out in the air.

  Even Luo Ke saw it now, the three people who came in were all masters of national martial arts. As the saying goes, "good people don't come, and those who come are not good", a wonderful show is about to begin.