Chapter 45: Heart Mind

Inside the martial hall, Jiang Tianzheng touched the bruised and purple spots on Zuo Zhicheng’s body and said, “You’re lucky. These are only flesh wounds, nothing serious.”

Jiang Qing said, “This time you got lucky. Next time you see someone from the Sea Dragon Gang, just run away. Don’t try to be brave. With your weak skills, how could you possibly beat them?”

“True, Xiao Zuo, I already told Ye Yi to go home and rest for a few days.” Jiang Tianzheng said, “For the next few days, you and Xiao Lan should also rest at home. Don’t come to the martial hall.”

Before Zuo Zhicheng could speak, Xiao Lan beside him quickly said, “How can that be? Master Jiang, you helped us before. How can we leave now?”

Jiang Tianzheng waved his hand. “I appreciate your kindness, but the Sea Dragon Gang is too powerful now. I don’t want to drag you into this. If you still want to come back, wait until we resolve this duel situation.”

Xiao Lan wanted to argue, but Zuo Zhicheng stopped her. He knew Jiang Tianzheng was right. The Sea Dragon Gang had clearly started using their power to pressure Jiang Tianzheng. They wanted to defeat him openly in the ring to lessen the impact of the third leader’s death and boost their reputation in Xinlu Port.

If he and Xiao Lan came every day, they would just cause more trouble for Jiang and his daughter. After all, he couldn’t pretend to defeat Sea Dragon Gang members every day.

But in Zuo Zhicheng’s view, it was unlikely that Jiang Tianzheng could handle this alone. Although his martial arts were stronger than Li Si’s, he definitely couldn’t take on over two thousand members of the Sea Dragon Gang.

If Jiang Tianzheng won the fight in ten days, he would face even more terrible revenge from the Sea Dragon Gang. If he lost, he would be killed by Li Si right in the ring.

Looking at Jiang Qing’s worried face, it was clear she had thought of this too.

“Xiao Zuo, your talent is average, but you have a strong will and work hard. I may not be able to teach you martial arts for a while, so after dinner tonight, you should stay. I’ll teach you a bit more.”

“Father!”

“Xiao Zuo has a good character, it’s fine. And what I know isn’t that special in this world anyway.”

Jiang Tianzheng shook his head at Jiang Qing. She bit her lip and glared angrily at Zuo Zhicheng.

“Well, Xiao Lan, you should come and listen too. Learn as much as you can.”

Zuo Zhicheng frowned. This seemed like a final passing down of skills. It appeared Jiang Tianzheng didn’t have much hope about the conflict with the Sea Dragon Gang. Running a martial hall that protected commoners in a place like Xinlu Port must have brought him heavy pressure.

After that, everyone began their morning training, cleaning, and cooking. But by evening, no other students had come to the martial hall to practice. Even the more loyal Big Mouth Huang and A Fei only stopped by to say they were busy and couldn’t come for now.

Master Jiang looked at their bruised faces, smiled, and waved. “It’s okay. Come back after we settle the martial hall’s issues. Just don’t be lazy at home.”

After dinner, the four of them stayed in the dining hall. Xiao Lan, Zuo Zhicheng, and Jiang Qing sat below, while Jiang Tianzheng stood and said, “The way of martial arts involves training the muscles, bones, and skin externally, and cultivating one breath internally.”

“This breath is the Innate Primordial Breath. To truly master martial arts, you must learn to strengthen the Innate Primordial Breath. The highest martial art of our Haoran Martial Hall, Heaven’s Gate Boxing, is a method that can nurture and strengthen the Innate Primordial Breath. Normally, this technique is taught only after building a foundation, but there’s little time now, so I’ll teach it to you directly.”

Jiang Tianzheng didn’t worry whether Zuo Zhicheng and Xiao Lan could understand. He demonstrated all the practice methods of Heaven’s Gate Boxing at once. Although Zuo Zhicheng was persevering and could endure hardship, according to Jiang Tianzheng’s original plan, he would have tested him for months before gradually teaching him the Authentic Transmission Martial Arts.

But with the Sea Dragon Gang pressing forward, even though he was confident he could beat any one of them, from the leader to the Four Heavenly Kings, he wasn’t sure he could take on the whole gang alone.

By teaching Heaven’s Gate Boxing now, he hoped his martial arts wouldn’t die out with his generation. His movements were slow, but each pose was full of power, as if every muscle twitch in his arms could produce a sharp sound in the air.

“This set of Heaven’s Gate Boxing can strengthen the Innate Primordial Breath starting from the hands. With practice, as the Innate Primordial Breath grows stronger, the power and explosive force of the arms will gradually far surpass that of ordinary people.” At this point, Jiang Tianzheng shook his head and sighed. “It’s a pity. After thirty years of martial arts training, I still couldn’t perfect the Innate Primordial Breath in my body and break through the Qi Training stage.”

Hearing Jiang Tianzheng’s words and watching his demonstration of Heaven’s Gate Boxing, Zuo Zhicheng felt that this boxing method only trained the Innate Primordial Breath in the arms. Jiang Tianzheng and Jiang Qing were lucky that their Innate Primordial Breath was naturally strong in their arms, allowing them to achieve success in martial arts.

But precisely because Heaven’s Gate Boxing effectively trained only the hands, arms, and up to the shoulders, Jiang Tianzheng could never make further breakthroughs, only constantly increasing the strength of the Innate Primordial Breath in his arms.

As for the other students in the martial hall, although they practiced, none had developed the Innate Primordial Breath. Only Old Man Song had some small success by chance, but because the effect was too weak, he didn’t persist, so no one noticed.

In this feudal era where everyone kept to themselves and lacked a spirit of sharing, it was truly remarkable that Jiang Tianzheng was willing to teach his martial arts so openly. Regardless of skill level, his mindset alone made him a true master.

However, due to the limitations of the other students’ talents, Jiang Tianzheng had only taught them the moves most suitable for them. But tonight, he explained all the stances, key points, and taboos of Heaven’s Gate Boxing, passing everything to Zuo Zhicheng in one go.

After teaching the Authentic Transmission Martial Arts, Jiang Tianzheng spoke again: “On the path of Martial Arts, after Qi Training comes Spirit Refining. Although I haven’t reached the Spirit Refining stage, I learned some methods during my training.”

Hearing this, Zuo Zhicheng was surprised. He hadn’t expected to find clues about Spirit Refining, which he had no leads on, from Jiang Tianzheng.

Beside him, Jiang Qing frowned immediately and said to her father, “Father, are you really going to talk about Spirit Refining methods too?”

Jiang Tianzheng smiled and waved his hand. “Qing’er, we martial artists see life and death as nothing. As long as our Martial Arts endure and are passed down through generations, our spirit will live forever.”

“So, Qing’er, don’t place too much importance on martial arts itself or worry about life and death. For us, only our own Martial Arts path matters most.”

As he spoke, a powerful aura surged from Jiang Tianzheng’s body. It felt calming, peaceful, and serene, making Jiang Qing, Zuo Zhicheng, and Xiao Lan all feel a deep sense of peace in their hearts.

“A fist can knock someone down, but the heart can make a person stand up again after falling. Spirit Refining in Martial Arts uses the power of the Heart Mind to change the world.”