Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

The next day, at Guangye Hall.

In the early morning, Chen Shouheng finished breakfast, packed up another meal for Song Zilian who was on duty at the Bell Tower, and then hurried to the Guangye main hall.

Today’s instructor was Zhang Luyan.

He was about forty years old, with a gaunt face and a tranquil gaze. Dressed in a black and white scholar’s robe, he had the air of a seasoned, learned Confucian master.

He walked slowly up to the lecture platform, sat down behind the desk, and swept his gaze over the packed hall of students below. Without any pleasantries, he began to speak, his voice calm yet clear enough for everyone to hear.

"Today, this old man will be speaking on—True Intent."

The moment he said this, the main hall, which had been filled with a low buzz of noise, fell deathly silent.

Every student, whether they had been daydreaming or whispering amongst themselves, instantly snapped to attention, their gazes burning as they focused on Zhang Luyan.

The curriculum at He Niu Martial Arts Academy was all-encompassing, covering everything from classics and history to military strategy and tactics.

But the core and most captivating subjects were always the true interpretations of the Martial Dao, which concerned the improvement of one’s own strength.

Zhang Luyan’s lecture progressed from the simple to the profound; he did not begin by being deliberately mystifying.

He chose to begin his explanation with the most basic of Fist Techniques.

Only then did he begin to explain Fist Intent.

"Do you know what Fist Intent is?"

He answered his own question: "The Realm of Will, in the end, is about achieving ultimate control over one’s own physical body, qi and blood, and Power. The moment an Intention is formed, the corresponding body part can respond instantly, erupting with the most perfect force possible in its current state."

He further explained that when an ordinary person throws a punch, it’s already difficult for them to summon fifty percent of their maximum strength.

Even for a Martial Artist with solid External Cultivation, after years of training, unleashing seventy or eighty percent of their Power in a single punch is near their limit.

To unleash one hundred, or even one hundred and twenty percent of one’s might, one must forge their will and body into a perfect, seamless whole. Where the thought goes, the power follows, without the slightest delay.

"So then, what is True Intent?"

Zhang Luyan posed the core question. "Or, as it is also called, Divine Intent."

He called on several students. Some were blank, while others answered based on texts or hearsay, "Answering the Master, the classics say that Divine Intent is when the spirit merges with the will, and the will merges with the body, the three becoming one harmonious whole."

Zhang Luyan nodded slightly. "That explanation is not wrong. However, this old man prefers the term True Intent over Divine Intent. Although the two paths lead to the same destination—the highest Realm—there is a subtle difference at the beginning of the journey."

For a moment, whispers broke out below the platform, but no one dared to stand and answer.

Zhang Luyan’s gaze swept across the students, finally landing on one who had a thoughtful expression. "You seem to have a thought. Speak your mind freely."

The student stood up and said cautiously, "This student presumes... is it because the ’true’ in True Intent is rooted in the body’s foundation, while the ’divine’ in Divine Intent resides in the Power of Divine Sense?"

"Good!"

Zhang Luyan nodded. "Though not entirely correct, you are not far off! Although the two paths lead to the same destination—the highest Realm—there is a subtle difference at the beginning of the journey."

"True Intent emphasizes the true self. It requires one to discard falsehood and preserve truth, to abandon external imitation and illusion, to point directly to one’s original heart and nature, and to clearly see the truth of one’s own Martial Dao."

"Divine Intent, on the other hand, leans towards selflessness. It emphasizes the spirit transcending the shackles of the flesh to merge with the principles of heaven, earth, and all creation. To some extent, it is about temporarily forgetting the smaller self to merge with the greater self."

He stated clearly that the sixth pass of the Spirit Realm is the "Divine Intent Pass."

"How does one reach this pass? By merging Divine Intent and True Intent into one. But Divine Intent is ethereal and illusory, while True Intent exists within one’s heart. Neither is a physical entity, so how can they be merged?"

Zhang Luyan did not give a direct answer, instead asking the crowd, "Are will and spirit one and the same?"

A debate broke out below, with some saying yes, and others no.

Zhang Luyan finally said, "They can be considered one, and yet not one. To put it simply, the spirit is the active heart: it thinks, plans, and decides. The will is the inactive heart: it is instinct, reaction, and intuition. For example, when you make a conscious decision after careful thought, that is the spirit in action. But when you suddenly fall and instinctively reach out to grab something, that is the will being expressed."

After this profound yet accessible theoretical explanation, Zhang Luyan looked around at the students. He saw that most of them were either frowning in concentration or wearing blank expressions, clearly struggling to digest such abstract concepts.

His gaze fell upon Chen Shouheng, who was hunched over, diligently taking notes.

"Chen Shouheng."

Zhang Luyan called him out by name.

Chen Shouheng looked up at the sound of his name, somewhat surprised. "I am here."

"Come forward."

Although Chen Shouheng didn’t understand why, he did as he was told and walked to the open space in front of the lecture platform.

"Demonstrate the Fist Technique you usually practice," Zhang Luyan instructed.

Chen Shouheng composed himself for a moment, took a deep breath, and fell into his stance. He then began to perform the Tiger Subduing Fist, a set he knew by heart, move by move.

The wind from his fists whistled, and his movements were fierce and powerful, clearly the result of long and deep practice.

"Not enough."

Zhang Luyan shook his head. "Show me your Fist Intent."

Hearing this, Chen Shouheng held nothing back. He focused his Heart Spirit, let out a low shout, and the aura around him changed abruptly.

A fierce and domineering presence emanated from his body, as if he were a ferocious tiger poised to strike. His gaze was sharp, and his every punch and kick pulsed with a sense of power.

This was the Tiger Subduing Fist Intent he had cultivated through years of hard practice.

But Zhang Luyan just shook his head repeatedly. "Wrong, all wrong! The path you’ve taken with this Fist Technique is completely mistaken!"

Chen Shouheng stopped, his face a mixture of confusion and astonishment. "Please enlighten me, Master."

Zhang Luyan said, "Your Tiger Subduing Fist must have come from the Tiger Subduing Temple. But the one who taught you never received the true transmission and failed to advance further themselves. It’s no wonder they couldn’t remain at the Tiger Subduing Temple, and as a result, you have also gone astray in your training. The very core of the Fist Intent you’ve grasped is wrong."

Chen Shouheng was stunned. ’I’ve practiced this fist for ten years, and he’s telling me the foundation is all wrong?’

He could feel the varied gazes of his fellow students on him, and his face couldn’t help but burn with heat.

But he knew such an opportunity was rare. Suppressing his distracting thoughts, he bowed respectfully. "This student is slow-witted. I implore you to guide me out of my confusion, Master!"

Zhang Luyan stroked his beard and said, "People in the Jianghu are often obsessed with chasing after Divine Skill Secret Manuals, willing to stir up bloody conflicts for them. In truth, they have chosen an inferior path from the very beginning."

"Martial Arts themselves have no absolute hierarchy of superior or inferior. The so-called first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate distinctions are mostly the concerns of mediocre minds. The power of a Cultivation Technique depends on the person using it, not the technique itself."

He pointed at Chen Shouheng. "This Tiger Subduing Fist of yours is a Foundation Establishment Fist Method that has been passed down for a thousand years at the Tiger Subduing Temple. The fact that it has endured through the ages and still serves as an entry-level foundation shows that its versatility and potential should not be underestimated."

"But the essence of the Tiger Subduing Fist lies not in the ’tiger,’ but in the ’subduing’! Otherwise, why wouldn’t it be called Fierce Tiger Fist or Evil Tiger Fist, but specifically Tiger Subduing Fist?"

"What you just demonstrated, in both form and Power, was closer to the Tiger Form of Xingyi Boxing. Its intent was to imitate the might and ferocity of a fierce tiger, but you’ve lost the most fundamental intent of the Tiger Subduing Fist—the intent to subdue."

"To practice the Tiger Subduing Fist, you must first understand the intent of a fierce tiger. Then, you must be able to transcend that intent, to in turn subdue and control this tiger’s intent. That is the correct path."

Chen Shouheng pressed, "Master, how should this student subdue the tiger’s intent?"

Zhang Luyan uttered eight words: "Heart of a tiger, yet it sniffs the rose."

He said no more on the matter, turning instead to say, "In the academy’s Scripture Pavilion, although there is no True Intent Map for the Tiger Subduing Fist, there are preserved True Intent Maps for the Dragon Suppressing Palm and the Dragon Suppressing Chapter, which share similar principles. You can go there to observe and learn from them. If you can comprehend the Tiger Subduing True Intent on your own from this, your Martial Dao foundation will be much more solid in the future, and your path forward will be much smoother."

Afterwards, Zhang Luyan used Chen Shouheng as a ready-made example to explain in greater depth to the disciples how to seek and forge their own "True Intent" within different Martial Arts.

Chen Shouheng returned to his seat and recorded everything in his notes in as much detail as possible.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The last bell for 5:00 PM rang.

The day’s class was over.

Chen Shouheng followed the stream of people out of the main hall, his brow slightly furrowed and his mind a tangle of thoughts.

Master Zhang Luyan’s day-long lecture, progressing from simple to profound, had been exceptionally abstruse.

He felt as if he had grasped something, yet it was like viewing flowers in a fog, seen through a veil.

His comments on the "Tiger Subduing Fist Intent" and the hint, "Heart of a tiger, yet it sniffs the rose," had plunged him into a Cloud Mist, leaving him completely clueless.

’The intent to subdue?’

’This ethereal "intent," how am I supposed to subdue it?’

The Tiger Subduing Fist Intent he currently practiced was that of a tiger crouching to hunt—an intent of coiled power, waiting for a single, decisive strike.

’Now that the Fist Intent is already formed, how can I subdue it?’

’Am I supposed to split myself in two and attack the Fist Intent I’ve spent ten years cultivating?’

Full of doubt, he arrived at the Bell Tower.

Seeing him arrive, Song Zilian stood up to greet him. He listened as Chen Shouheng explained that the day’s lecture had been an explanation of True Intent.

Song Zilian was so eager that he didn’t even bother going to the dining hall for his meal, snatching the notes Chen Shouheng handed him.

By the fading daylight, he devoured the notes, his expression alternating between sudden understanding and confusion.

After a long while, he closed the notebook, let out a long breath, and looked at Chen Shouheng with even greater confusion in his eyes. "Brother Shouheng, what Master Zhang taught is truly profound and unfathomable... but I am slow-witted. Even after reading these detailed notes, I only have a vague understanding of the difference between True Intent and Divine Intent."

"Especially the part about how to transform the momentum in one’s moves into intent, and how that ethereal spirit can merge with concrete moves and auras? Brother Shouheng, you heard the teachings in person today. Could you perhaps enlighten your elder brother a little?"

Hearing this, Chen Shouheng couldn’t help but give a bitter smile, his voice tinged with shame. "Brother Zilian, please don’t say that. It’s not that I’m unwilling to share, but... my comprehension is shallow, and I didn’t understand the deeper meaning at all. What’s written in the notes are Master Zhang’s exact words. I could only record them as they were said. I’m still in a muddle myself, so how could I dare presume to enlighten you?"

Song Zilian apologized, "It is I who was too impatient. Please don’t take offense, Brother Shouheng. The Masters at the academy are all individuals of profound Cultivation and vast knowledge. The Realm of Divine Intent they speak of is indeed like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water for beginners like us, who haven’t even condensed our Divine Sense and only possess a faint Spiritual Sense. It’s too distant. It’s perfectly normal not to understand its mysteries. I can only hope that Master Zhang will hold another lecture in the future and explain it in more detail."

「The next day」

Chen Shouheng spent the day on duty at the Bell Tower. Listening to the rhythmic sound of the hourglass and watching the shadows of the sun move, his mind would drift into contemplation from time to time, trying to comprehend that ever-mysterious True Intent.

In the evening, Song Zilian came to take over, handing him today’s notes. They recorded a lecture by another Master on the ’Annals of the South Sea,’ mostly about overseas customs, strange tales, and curiosities.

Chen Shouheng wasn’t very interested in the topic, but he still accepted the notes with solemn thanks.

He had a quick dinner at the dining hall, brought a portion back for Song Zilian as usual, and then, instead of returning to his dormitory, he walked straight toward the Library Pavilion deep within the Martial Arts Academy.