Chapter 24: The Number One Under Heaven

  The next day, Fang Yi Ai slept soundly, but Ling Long woke him up by putting on a coat. Fang Yi Ai looked at Ling Long's pale face and yawning mouth, feeling embarrassed, said: "I drank too much yesterday, so I slept in so late today, it's time for me to go, you sleep a bit longer, my quilt is still warm anyway."

  After finishing, Fang Yiai hastily left the Fang Mansion. Linglong saw Fang Yiai leave and then yawned before crawling into Fang Yiai's bed to sleep off her hangover.

  After Fang Yi'ai handed the horse over to the servant, he took his knife and was about to continue chopping stones by the lotus pond. At this moment, Qin Meng smiled beside him and said: "Young master, Master asked me to tell you that there's no need to chop stones anymore. He wants to see you now."

  Fang Yu'ai was overjoyed and jumped up, grabbing Qin Meng's arm and asking: "Uncle Meng, is what you said true?"

  "Master, why would I cheat you?!" Qin Meng was very helpless towards this eccentric young master who always did unexpected things. After arriving at Qin Qiong's study, he saw that Qin Qiong was happily drinking tea. Qin Qiong let Fang Yu'e sit down and smiled, saying: "Jun'er, over the past few months, your performance has been very satisfactory, especially since you voluntarily strengthened your training. This is extremely rare. From now on, I will teach you true techniques, but before that, I need to tell you some things!"

  "Master, please speak, I will listen carefully." Fang Yiai knew that Qin Qiong was going to say something very important, so she listened with rapt attention.

  "Jun Er, do you know who is the most formidable martial artist in the world since the Sui and Tang dynasties?"

  "Hmm, Master, you've got me stumped. The most formidable person should be Zhang Zhongjian, the Whiskered Guest!" Fang Yiai whispered, combining her knowledge from later generations to make an educated guess.

  "Jun Er, you guessed wrong this time. Zhang Zhongjian, the whiskered guest, is indeed formidable, but he's not the most formidable one. The most formidable person is actually Yuwen Chengdu, a former Sui dynasty's Xiangguo Military General." Qin Qing said with some regret, "Yuwen Chengdu's martial arts can be said to have reached a peak. As for me, I don't even have 70% confidence in defeating him, let alone Zhang Zhongjian."

  "Master, I don't understand. Isn't Zhang Zhongjian, the whiskered guest, supposed to be extremely formidable and known as the number one expert in the world?" Fang Yiai was puzzled, he had always thought that the whiskered guest was the most powerful, because everyone said so.

  "Jun Er, remember, never listen to others' rumors. Qiu Rou Ke is very powerful, but he lacks the most important thing - killing intent. Yu Wen Cheng Du's aura is forged from thousands of soldiers and horses, every move of his contains thunderous momentum. Under Yu Wen Cheng Du's aura, Qiu Rou Ke can't even bring out half of his strength."

  Qin Yong explained to Fang Yi Ai with great confidence, "Do you know that Yu Wen Cheng Du's Red Copper Shield weighs around 400 jin when it comes down? Even in his prime, our master couldn't withstand Yu Wen Cheng Du's fifty attacks. Do you think Qiu Rou Ke's broken sword can withstand it?"

  "But Master, if we can't win by force, then won't winning with skill be enough?" Fang Yiai was speechless, wasn't there always that saying about using four ounces to move a thousand pounds?

  "Jun Er, are you joking? You know that when a person's power reaches a certain level and is combined with speed, it becomes an extreme. Think about it, no matter how clever your moves are, the opponent can make all of them useless with just one move." Qin Qiong smiled and said slowly, "Yuwen Chengdu is like this, his movements are very simple, just simple chopping, stabbing, lifting, and slashing, without any extra movements. But he is still the number one in the world, why? Because his power is enough to dominate, all defenses and moves collapse in front of his power, that's the principle of 'one force subdues ten wills'. Moreover, Yuwen Chengdu's speed is not slow either, when exchanging blows on horseback, others can usually only stab twice, but he can stab three times. So I said that Yuwen Chengdu is the number one person in Sui and Tang dynasties. As for Qiu Mao Ke, his strong point is his moves, if I and Yuwen Chengdu were not riding horses and just used swords to fight him, we would not be his match. But if we ride on horseback and use our own weapons, Qiu Mao Ke is absolutely no match. I only need to use my long spear to thrust with force once to send Qiu Mao Ke flying up, do you understand now? Martial arts, no matter how you practice, cannot lack power, without power there is no killing power, only when you have power are your moves useful."

  This time, Fang Yizhou finally understood that martial arts are indeed different paths with the same destination. In the end, it all comes down to power, just like Tai Chi. If you only focus on techniques and forget about power, then it's still useless. Because even if you can move a thousand pounds with four ounces of strength, those four ounces of strength still need to be trained. No wonder Qin Qiong had him hug that big stone pillar at first. Without power, no matter how seriously Fang Yizhou was taught by Qin Qiong, he wouldn't have much future prospects.

  "Master, I think I understand what you mean. You want me to focus on exerting my own strength and increasing my speed, rather than chasing after techniques. Because once I'm proficient, even the simplest movements can become the most powerful techniques, right?"

  "Haha, Jun'er, you're indeed clever. Alright, I want to say exactly that. From now on, don't do anything else, just focus on practicing various movements for me. My requirement is fast, ruthless, and accurate." Qin Yong was very pleased, he didn't expect Fang Yilove to understand so thoroughly. "Jun'er, you should know that you have innate divine power, this is a natural talent. So the areas you need to strengthen are speed and accuracy. Your movements must be decisive, on the battlefield, hesitation is the most taboo thing. As long as your movements are fast enough and powerful enough, the opponent will have no chance to counterattack. Just like Yuwen Chengdu, his movements seem simple, full of loopholes, but you can't do anything about it because in front of his attacks, you can only hastily respond."

  "Master, I will train diligently, now tell me what to do." Fang Yiai nodded and said.

  "En, you go find Qin Meng now, he will tell you what to do." Qin Qiang smiled and nodded. Fang Yiai thought for a moment and then smiled: "Master, I want to tell you something, I want to leave Chang'an for a few days!"

  "Jun Er, is there something you need to do?" Qin Qiong knew that Fang Yi Ai wasn't the kind of person who did things rashly, so he worried that Fang Yi Ai had encountered some trouble. Fang Yi Ai smiled and said: "Master, indeed I have something to do, but it's not dangerous, please let me keep it a secret for now, I'll tell you when I get back!"

  "This matter I can promise you, but when you leave Chang'an, you must come to the mansion once, understand?" Qin Yong said this with his own plan, and Fang Yilove didn't say much, just nodded in agreement.

  After arriving at the martial arts arena, he saw Qin Meng. Qin Meng looked at Fang Yuai and smiled: "Young master, do you see this circle on the wall? The old man said that from today on, you don't have to do anything else, just hold the spear and stab this circle fiercely. When you pierce through this wall, you will be considered successful. Remember, absolutely cannot stab the wrong place, must stab this circle." Fang Yuai nodded, this was to train his accuracy and proficiency in drawing his sword. Qin's training method was indeed unusual, simple yet effective.

  Fang Yi picked up a long gun from the weapon rack and furrowed his brow, smiling bitterly at Qin Meng: "Uncle Meng, this gun is so heavy!"

  "Haha, young master, this was specially made by the old man, weighing about 300 catties, a total of four rods, enough for you to pierce through this wall, so you don't have to worry about the gun head becoming dull!" Looking at Qin Meng's mischievous grin, Fang Yili felt a wave of disgust. She didn't expect that even at the age of 40, Qin Meng was still so unscrupulous. Wasn't it obvious that he was talking about her silver gun and wax gun head? Fang Yili decided to turn her anger into strength and started stabbing fiercely at the wall.

  Qin Meng watched from the side, the more he looked, the more satisfied he became. This young master was indeed diligent, and it wasn't in vain that his lordship had treated him so well.

  Jia said to Qin Qiong with dissatisfaction: "Old master, are you going to let Jun'er rest for two days? He has been practicing for four months and hasn't stopped for a single day, not even when it's raining heavily. Do we really need to practice martial arts like this?"

  "Madam, it's not that I didn't let him rest, it's just that he himself doesn't want to rest. Don't believe me? You can go try and see for yourself," Qin Qiong said with a smile. Jia Shi gave him an annoyed glance and led the two maidservants to the martial arts training grounds. Seeing Fang Yuai sweating profusely as he punched the thick wall, Jia Shi smiled and said: "Jun'er, stop for now and take a rest. You can continue tomorrow, don't worry, I've already discussed it with your master and he won't blame you."

  "Master's wife, don't worry about me, I'll seize the time to practice and strive to become a master as soon as possible." Fang Yilai said excitedly, but didn't notice that Jia Shi's face had turned black. Jia Shi didn't care what Fang Yilai was doing, grabbed his ear and scolded: "You stinky little brat, don't you even listen to Master's words?"

  "This is a bit of a problem, so I had to flatter her by saying: 'Madam, it's like this, I've already asked Master for leave and in two days I'll be leaving Chang'an to have some fun, consider it a holiday for myself, take a good rest. So now there's no need to rest anymore.'"

  "It turned out to be like that, okay, you continue to practice." As soon as Jia heard that it was the case, she smiled and led Yui away. After Jia left, Fang Yu'ai touched his ear and smiled bitterly at Qin Meng: "It's really not easy, I finally coaxed the master's wife away!"

  "Hehe, young master, I think you should rest for two days. You can't practice martial arts without resting." Qin Meng said with a chuckle.

  "Ah, I understand. In two days, I'll go out and take care of some business, just consider it a holiday for myself." Fang Yi'ai waved his hand and smiled. After finishing his martial arts practice, Fang Yi'ai changed into a new set of clothes at the Qin Manor and headed directly to the Imperial Academy. The Qin Manor had practically become Fang Yi'ai's second home now, and Jia Shi was even more formidable than Lu Shi. Fang Yi'ai felt that if he let Jia Shi spoil him any further, he would inevitably turn back into a pampered young master.

  After school, Fang Yiai returned to her own courtyard and smiled at Linglong, who was arranging flowers: "Linglong, pack a few clothes, we'll leave Chang'an the day after tomorrow."

  "Huh, Second Master, does the old master know about this?" Linglong was afraid that Fang Yiai would play another trick, and leaving Chang'an was no small matter. Fang Yiai touched Linglong's dirty little face with a smile: "Don't worry, I've already discussed it with Father, and he agreed, so you don't have to worry about anything."

  "Ah, that's good. I'll go prepare then." Linglong happily ran into the house to pack up. Fang Yai looked at these peonies and roses, feeling a sense of hope in her heart, hoping that this trip to Chang'an would successfully find Sun Simiao.