Chapter Eleven: Enhancing Martial Arts

  "Second Master, how...how did you know?" Zhu Ling looked at Yuan Fang in surprise.

  Yuan Fang smiled faintly: "Those two brothers of mine have always looked down on me, and previously they didn't hesitate to trip me up. I think he should also have some instructions for General Zhu."

  Yuan Fang's casual words shook Zhu Ling's heart, and Yuan Fang's deductive power made him look at him with new eyes.

  "People say that this second young master is weak and incompetent, but after seeing him today, I realized it was all rumors..."

  Zhu Lingxin secretly thought it was strange, hesitated for a moment, and frankly said: "Since the second young master has guessed it, then there's no need to hide anything. Yes, the eldest young master did send someone to meet with me yesterday, telling me not to believe in you, Second Young Master."

  Indeed it is.

  "Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi, you two have gone to great lengths to deal with me. Unfortunately, your little tricks are all within my expectations."

  Yuan Fang sneered inwardly, but looked straight at Zhu Ling and asked: "General Zhu, what do you plan to do?"

  "My lord has given a military order, instructing me to follow the commands of the second young master. I will certainly obey my lord's orders." Zhu Ling said without hesitation.

  Yuan Fang nodded slightly, but then said: "My elder brother is not someone to be trifled with. General Zhu doesn't give him any face, isn't he afraid that he will secretly target you?"

  Zhu Ling said faintly: "If the young master really wants to abandon public interest for personal gain, deliberately targeting me, I have no choice but to face it calmly."

  What a Zhu Ling, indeed a straightforward and upright man.

  Yuan Fang slapped the table and stood up, saying with a smile: "Wenbo is indeed a hero who distinguishes between public and private matters. Don't worry, just listen to my orders. If my elder brother dares to target you, I, Yuan Fang, will be the first to disagree."

  Zhu Ling is a talented person who can be used, Yuan Fang has the intention to recruit him for his own use. Moreover, Zhu Ling dares not listen to Yuan Tan's instructions and refuses to wear small shoes for himself, so Yuan Fang must have some protection.

  "Then thank you, Second Master." Zhu Ling cupped his hands in gratitude and said.

  After the most frank conversation, Yuan Fang and Zhu Ling quickly became close despite it being their first meeting.

  "The Second Master wants to take Qingzhou, he must first take Pingyuan County. Now the enemy general stationed in Pingyuan is named Liu Bei, with 6,000 troops under his command. I wonder when the Second Master plans to launch an attack?" asked Zhu Ling.

  When he heard the two words "Liu Bei", Yuan Fang's heart slightly stirred.

  This legendary figure, the founder of Shu Han Empire in history, a generation of heroes with great reputation, how could Yuan Fang not know.

  Yuan Fang naturally also knew that Liu Bei's military ability was ordinary, and dealing with him was much easier than dealing with someone like Cao Cao.

  However, being "relaxed" is only relative. Although Liu Bei may not be as good as Cao Cao, compared to his own "novice" self in his first battle, he was a seasoned veteran on the battlefield.

  Moreover, Liu Bei has two fierce generals, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

  After a moment of contemplation, Yuan Fang smiled faintly and said: "Father has given me a year to take down Qingzhou, there is plenty of time, no need to rush into battle, I want to train these troops under my command first."

  The troops are not well-trained, and they rashly launched an attack on Liu Bei. The chances of winning are slim. Yuan's side has a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

  Zhu Ling's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, seemingly unexpected by Yuan Fang's calmness, and said: "If that's the case, then I'll just follow San Gongzi's orders."

  After a few words of conversation, Yuan Fang ended this "heart-to-heart" meeting and left the city of Ganling to return to the main camp.

  Yuan Fang set up camp outside the city of Ganling and ordered Hao Zhao to drill his soldiers day and night, striving to turn his two thousand troops into a battle-ready army in the shortest time possible.

  In his spare time from military training, Yuan Fang also made the soldiers work hard, enclosing the nearby wasteland of Ganling and ordering the soldiers to do farming.

  Yuan Fang was well aware that Yuan Tan's men would eventually cause trouble for themselves. Previously, they had been able to embezzle their own military pay, and in the future, it was possible that they would also embezzle their own grain rations.

  In order to prepare for the early battle, Yuan Fang decided to be as self-sufficient as possible, and to cultivate grain locally, so that he could get rid of the restraint of Yuan Tan, Guo Tu and others.

  In his spare time from training soldiers and farming, Yuan Fang studied military books at night and practiced martial arts during the day whenever he had a chance, striving to improve himself as much as possible.

  That afternoon, Yuan Fang practiced his martial arts skills in front of the central army tent.

  On the vast martial arts arena, Yuan Fang's ring-headed knife chopped and hacked like the wind.

  Before crossing over, Yuan Fang had always thought that the depictions of martial generals being able to defeat hundreds of people in books were just artistic exaggerations. After crossing over and personally practicing it, Yuan Fang only then knew that ancient martial arts actually existed.

  Actually, the internal strength in martial arts is based on ancient martial arts, but it's slightly exaggerated to make people feel unbelievable.

  However, ancient martial arts have always existed, but the inheritance is too narrow and unwilling to write on paper. The Jianghu schools were also strictly forbidden by the imperial court, causing many kung fu methods to gradually lose their transmission and disappear in the long river of history.

  With the rise of modern firearms, a few years old child can easily shoot and kill a master of martial arts with just one shot. This has made traditional martial arts lose its practical use, and its inheritance is becoming increasingly rare, eventually degenerating into a physical exercise for strengthening the body.

  The key to Guwu lies in constantly honing one's body, unleashing human potential, and bringing strength and speed to the extreme.

  According to Yuan Fang's knowledge, Gu Wu's qigong practice can be roughly divided into several stages: Tempering the flesh, Contracting the tendons, Condensing the membrane, Forging the bones, Practicing the internal organs and Changing the marrow.

  It is said that a martial artist who has reached the realm of "Easy Marrow" has cultivated their martial arts to the point where it has penetrated deep into their bones, and their power has become as strong as frost, able to contend with hundreds of people.

  "How much martial arts training is required to reach the level of being able to fight against hundreds of people? I think only legendary figures like Xiang Yu, the Overlord, and the current Lü Bu can achieve this..."

  Yuan Fang pondered in his heart, wielding several knives in succession, but the wind sound on the knife grew weaker and weaker.

  "This body's original owner has been crippled for over twenty years, and my martial arts skills are only at the initial stage of tempering flesh. Now, I can at most withstand the siege of two or three ordinary soldiers. With just this bit of skill, how can I gallop and kill on the battlefield? I must raise my martial arts skills as quickly as possible."

  Yuan Fang steeled himself, gritted his teeth and continued to wield his sword with all his might, disregarding the exhaustion of his physical strength.

  Yuan Fang found that no matter how hard he tried, his progress was still slow. A year ago when he first crossed over, he had been practicing diligently despite being hampered by his leg injury, but after a whole year of practice, he was still at this level.

  "Could it be that there's something wrong with my cultivation method?" Yuan Fang thought to himself.

  "The second young master has practiced diligently, but his method is incorrect. If he continues like this, he will likely take many detours and still be unable to improve his martial arts."

  A sigh of regret came from behind, Yuan Fang sheathed his sword and turned back to see Zhu Ling standing outside the martial arts arena, he didn't know when she had appeared there.

  Yuan Fang turned around, and Zhu Ling clasped his hands together, saying: "I am here to report on military matters as usual, but coincidentally I ran into the young master practicing his skills. I couldn't help but say a few more words, please forgive me, young master."

  "It doesn't matter." Yuan Fang became even more interested and asked, "Then according to Wen Bo's opinion, how should I practice martial arts to improve my strength the fastest?"

  Zhu Lingqing coughed a few times and said slowly, "The essence of martial arts lies in strengthening the body and sharpening one's reflexes. Your current strength, young master, is only at the initial stage of tempering your flesh. What you should focus on now is finding ways to make your entire body strong and robust, rather than rushing into practicing sword techniques. Otherwise, no matter how intricate and exquisite your techniques are, they will be difficult to put into practice if your body is not strong enough."

  The most reasonable thing was that Zhu Ling's martial arts were indeed higher than his own, and at a glance, he saw the problem with himself.

  "According to Wen Bo's opinion, what should I do to make the best marinade for meat?" Yuan Fang asked him.

  "I think it would be better for you to practice a superior fist technique first, to temper your body and increase your strength and reaction, before practicing with weapons," Zhu Ling suggested.

  Supreme Fist Technique?

  Yuan Fang's mouth corners rose in a wry smile.

  To know that he is under the status of the Yuan family, unlike Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi, there are famous teachers invited by Yuan Shao to teach martial arts. The fist and footwork he learned are not practical, where can he get the superior boxing method?

  Zhu Ling paused for a moment: "I have a family heirloom, the 'Tiger Step Fist', which is a set of fist techniques that trains one's flesh, tendons and skin. Although it may not be considered a top-notch fist technique, I think it will still be somewhat helpful to you, young master."

  Zhu Ling not only saw that Yuan Fang's hands did not have any "superior fist method", but also proactively gave his own fist method as a gift, which was indeed generous.

  Yuan Fang was overjoyed and hadn't expected Zhu Ling to be so generous.

  "Although Zhu Ling's martial arts skills are not considered the best in the world, his skills are obviously much higher than mine. If I can learn his boxing techniques, it will definitely be of great help to me in improving my strength... Ah, heaven is helping me indeed..."

  A long-lost joy flashed across the young man's face.