Rising Dragons (9)

Lán watched from the sidelines with the other attendants as all sorts of participants came and went. Many demonstrated basic techniques and forms but relied on their practice and perfection of the moves to stand out.

The same martial artists who stood out yesterday stood out today. “Thunderfoot” Lei Zhentian performed an impressive lightness Kung Fu technique by running around the walls of the room without touching the ground, some time later the shaolin monk Shi Xiaohui balanced a spear on his lower abdomen, and slowly pushed it downwards, snapping the spear in half without injuring himself.

Xu Qingfeng followed up with a beautiful sword dance that encapsulated the West Wind Taoist style and Zhou Yefeng did the same, however, Lán noticed some anger coming from the Mount Hua elders as Yefeng did his form.

Lán went into the Azure Palace and compared the form with text and manuals he had read before and quickly understood the elders' anger. Yefeng has changed some key structural parts of the form, turning it into a more aggressive yet undeniably more practical technique.

Yefeng stared the elders down as they begrudgingly allowed him to move onto the next stage. Still this wasn't the end of the elders' anger, as more members of Steel Sword participated, they too modified the form the same way Yefeng had.

However the elders quickly changed their tune as Batu delighted them with a display of raw strength and coordination. He juggled a set of three boulders, each about the size of Lán’s chest and weighing fifty to sixty kilos. They clapped as Batu finished his performance, and even the grim Lu Han managed a nod as Batu stepped away.

Wing Chun was the one who went into the chamber next, as she closed the doors behind her she addressed the judges directly.

“Esteemed elders” she said as she bowed “I humbly ask that you not share the form I am about to show you to anybody for it is mine and mine alone”

The judges looked at each other in a little bit of confusion before nodding and asking Wing Chun to perform her form.

She took her position and raised her guard, she started with a slow set of flowing movements, each twist and turn of her arm and wrist a deliberate thought that slowly moved through the rest of her body, it seemed almost as if she were charging up her internal energy as the slow movements began to reach their breaking point.

Lán sat in awe as Wing Chun suddenly burst into a blistering series of punches and blocks, each extremely fast, strong and precise. Wing Chun did not move an inch as the form suddenly progressed from fighting one opponent to fighting multiple, the blocks and strikes grew even more fierce and ended with a barrage of straight punches up the center line.

Suddenly the form ended, Wing Chun returned to the natural flowing movements of the wrist, before ending the form and bowing to the judges.

They all agreed that she should pass to the next stage and remarked that it had been a while since they had seen such a remarkable candidate. They all asked for her master's name but Wing Chun gave no reply.

The form had left Lán deep in thought, he realized that he had misjudged Wing Chun’s style and it was more similar to Yinying’s than he thought, they both emphasised the generation of power through movement. However, while Yinying projected that power outwards through momentum, Wing Chun generated her power from inside, carefully using every shred of energy and prioritising maximum efficiency.

It almost seemed as if Wing Chun’s style was made specifically for her, giving a new layer to her previous words, making an entire martial art was already an incredibly difficult task, but making one specifically to fit someone else seemed like a challenge only a Peak Martial artist could accomplish. Lán looked at his master suspiciously who only shook his head and shrugged in response.

Lán was still deep in thought when the other guest in his mind arrived.

Yinying arrived in his same mask and did not speak a word. He pulled out an apple from under his cloak and placed it on a wooden pedestal. He simply took a deep breath, and walked towards the apple.

However Lán could see that every step carried immense purpose, propelling him forwards perfectly and generating insane amounts of energy. Yinying came up to the apple and delivered a quick fingerjab on one side.

The apple stood unchanged, the judges looked around in confusion before Yinying grabbed it and tore it in half. It split perfectly and its insides pooled out, landing as a wet slop on the ground below.

It took a few seconds for everyone to realize what had just happened, but as soon as everyone did, the realization shook the room. Xuance let out a small smile that Lán quickly caught. Somehow, Yinying had hit the apple, and without piercing its skin, it had completely turned the inside of the apple to mush.

It was a killing blow, if a person were hit by an attack like that, it would have killed them instantly, turning their insides into a bloody mess without the possibility of defence. An attack like that could not be blocked, only evaded. Lán thought of his own injury, the attack he was hit with was imbued with internal energy but Yinying’s attack was on another level.

The elders stood up to inspect the apple, immediately suspecting foul play, but after a careful inspection they found none and congratulated Yinying on his accomplishment, he simply bowed and left without a word.

A few more hours passed and the event finished, the elders continued debating for a while as they selected the participants that had been left as a maybe. Once they finished Lán patiently waited for his master outside.

Xuance finished exchanging a few words to some attendants about tomorrow's event before heading into the carriage with Lán.

“So. What did you see?” he asked

“There was some clear tension in the room between the Steel Sword members and the Mount Hua Elders” Lán replied “I have to admit that I have some dislike towards them, but the Steel Sword members have been quite suspicious, I wonder If this tournament is their attempt at a power grab.”

“I agree” Xuance replied “Though they lack the financial means to gather so many bandits, and even less for an actual power grab” “Anything else?”

“How do you know Yinying?” Lán asked

“I see nothing escapes your Azure Eyes!” Xuance laughed “Fret not, I suspect you’ll meet your senior brother soon”