Chapter 20: Mastering Three Thousand Sets of Dragon Village Techniques
“Ha!” “Ha!” “Eiya—!”
The clock’s hand pointed to five; dawn had broken. Inside the temple, the last wooden dummy fell under his strike. Chu Hengkong withdrew his stance, drenched in sweat. Though a faint weariness lingered within him, his eyes sparkled brilliantly.
He had vowed to practice three hundred forms—and indeed struck down three hundred wooden dummies. Throughout the entire night, Chu Hengkong did not rest for a single moment. The “Comprehension” bestowed by the Ascended Craftsman was nothing short of miraculous, allowing him to master techniques at an astonishing speed. These martial arts must have profound origins; every move exquisitely refined, every action devoid of waste. Without the painstaking efforts of countless generations of warriors over long years, such subtle skills could never have been forged.
Hence, Chu Hengkong’s heart brimmed with satisfaction—thrilled to have accessed such wondrous techniques, and delighted by his own progress. At this moment, he was far beyond his previous self; he would later find time to carefully review his new learnings. But for now, he was eager to put his skills to the test!
Suddenly, the floor shifted and flipped; the wooden dummy sank beneath, replaced by a black iron figure, lively and ready to fight. Chu Hengkong paused in surprise, then turned joyfully: “There’s more?”
Ji Qiufeng, clutching a small book, smiled: “After mastering the initial three hundred forms, the next stage is six hundred beginner forms. It’s a bit more demanding—do you need a break?”
“No need. Such a blessing can never be too much!”
Chu Hengkong drew a deep breath, steadied his spirit, and launched a punch at the iron figure!
·
“Ha!!” “Ha!!” “Eiya!!”
Evening arrived, and the last iron figure collapsed under a heavy blow. Chu Hengkong bent over, hands on knees, struggling to catch his breath.
He had truly done it—learning six hundred forms in less than a day. Told to others, it might sound insane. Such rapid mastery owed partly to the lingering “Comprehension” and partly to the nature of these new six hundred forms.
These new martial arts were bizarre, mostly consisting of single poses or even single movements. Yet these postures pushed muscles and bones to their limits; some even required the use of hair and fingernails. If the first three hundred were fierce, lethal techniques, these six hundred resembled a military-style martial art from another world… taken apart down to the level of hairs—military drills refined to the last strand…
Even with his experience, Chu Hengkong couldn’t immediately grasp how these stances would be applied in real combat. But he had learned them all anyway. Whether useful or not was a question for later. Right now, his stomach rumbled, and his spirit wavered from hunger and exhaustion. After a good meal and rest, he would unleash his strength…
At that moment, Jie An arrived carrying large and small platters. Lifting the lids, the tantalizing aroma wafted out: braised goose, stewed fish soup, roast duck filled with soup, tender vegetables cooked in broth; a large bowl of rice porridge floating with herbal roots and boneless fish slices, topped with two golden fried eggs; assorted sauces and side dishes accompanied by sliced sausage.
It was the first time since arriving here that Chu Hengkong saw pork! He grabbed his chopsticks and ate heartily, feeling deeply moved: “So luxurious…”
Jie An handed him a cup of tea fragrant with herbs, his expression grave: “Don’t talk. Eat quickly. If you don’t, you won’t get another chance!”
“?”
Chu Hengkong had just stuffed a duck leg into his mouth when he saw the iron figure sink beneath the floor again, replaced by a golden bronze figure. Ji Qiufeng approached the bronze figure, laughing heartily.
“Very good, showing comprehension! I’ll give you ten minutes to finish lunch; next is the dissection section—fifteen hundred forms.”
Chu Hengkong’s gaze dulled: “I’ll learn tomorrow…”
“Don’t even think about it,” Ji Qiufeng smiled more amiably. “The first three days of the Ascended Craftsman’s secret are when comprehension is strongest—every second counts. Eat quickly! After eating, train!”
Chu Hengkong tried to bolt for the door but found Youyou already blocking the exit, sitting and sealing the path. He had no choice but to lower his head and eat frantically. Ji Qiufeng was undoubtedly serious; if he didn’t finish in ten minutes, she would come snatch his bowl!
·
“Ha…” “Ha…” “Eiya…”
Time became meaningless. The last bronze figure had yet to fall, but Chu Hengkong lay on the floor first. Dizzy and seeing stars, he realized that although there weren’t fifteen hundred bronze figures beneath the temple, each one required at least dozens of moves—moves utterly lacking in practical value. One move demanded the palm muscles to twitch five times in a single second, resulting in the pinky finger curling rapidly. After practicing and staring at it for ten seconds, Chu Hengkong concluded the move’s purpose was likely just to dig one’s nose quickly. Some moves even targeted the pelvis, cochlea, or stimulated the cerebral cortex…
·
This fifteen hundred sequence was a new era of martial arts anatomy—meticulously detailed but utterly useless. He had wanted to quit early on, but this damned comprehension made him understand at a glance… Now, disregarding threats, he collapsed onto the floor, gasping. Ji Huaisu squatted beside him, full of sympathy.
“You’re already at one thousand four hundred in total—impressive, impressive,” she said. “When I reached one thousand three hundred, I was done for. Beyond that, I couldn’t even understand. No talent like yours~”
Chu Hengkong panted: “How many… more?”
Ji Huaisu feigned wiping a tear: “Three thousand in total.”
“Three thousand?!” Chu Hengkong nearly popped his eyes out.
“The Three Thousand Forms of Longxiang Fist, an immortal classic compiled by the progenitor of the Sinking-Moving Realm martial arts, ‘Ethereal Life Master,’ is the essential foundation for all races’ martial arts initiation,” Ji Qiufeng opened the book and read with cadence, “As the saying goes, ‘Master the Three Thousand Forms of Longxiang, and even those unfamiliar with the martial path will understand martial arts.’ Only by ingraining these three thousand forms to the bone can one hope for a bright future.”
Chu Hengkong’s voice was feeble: “But this is unrealistic… Look, that dummy is wagging its tail!”
A long tail sprouted behind the bronze figure, vigorously wagging as though demonstrating a practical movement for some tailed species’ restroom use. Ji Qiufeng’s smile faded, a fierce aura flashing in her brows: “Use your imagination to fill in the gaps! Enough nonsense, train!”
Chu Hengkong wailed and rose, gritting his teeth to continue. Youyou peeked at Ji Qiufeng’s book content and whispered: “Are you pushing him too hard?”
“How could that be? This is just fertilizing the seedling,” Ji Qiufeng chuckled cheerfully.
That small book was the complete index of the Three Thousand Forms, thoughtfully annotated with recommended training phases: “Initial Three Days,” “As if an Arm Commands,” “First Understanding of Qi Intention,”… culminating in “Refining Technique and Condensing Will,” divided into ten subsections.
The Three Thousand Forms was indeed a must-learn manual for warriors, but Ethereal Life Master had designed it for beginners to steadily progress to quality level 2, starting with the “Initial Three Days.” The three hundred forms from last night were that stage; the rest were meant to be learned over years. This was no mere cramming—it was forcibly stuffing the duck until it burst.
“Geniuses have their own training methods—lay a solid foundation early, so you can better cultivate your own moves later,” Ji Qiufeng closed the book and called out, “No slacking! Train!”
·
“Ugh…” “Hiss…” “Ugh…”
Eat, train, briefly close his eyes, then repeat. Time was lost to him. Eventually, all the bronze figures were finished; Ji Qiufeng herself took up the book and demonstrated, combining theory with practice, reading aloud before continuing to strike.
His mind was a fog, yet memory remained unbroken. Chu Hengkong mourned the burden of “good comprehension.” Even when utterly drained, with no energy or focus, simply dragging himself through a few repetitions enabled learning. Later, the moves themselves forcibly drilled into his brain—it was not swimming in an ocean of knowledge but being ravaged and humiliated by it!
Still, he had to admit the Three Thousand Forms held merit. Some sequences demanded body parts he didn’t possess, yet through mimicking bodily motions, he fully grasped their essence. The moves and memories were now etched deeply, like branding on muscle, blood, and bone.
“...Finished.”
Without realizing it, the teaching voice stopped. Chu Hengkong stared blankly at the ceiling. The potent “Comprehension” had finally faded; suddenly he felt dull and foolish. Even this dullness was something to be grateful for. He opened his mouth to speak but produced a strange sound: “Wawu agu aba.”
He covered his mouth. Each muscle had been consciously controlled; even speaking had become manual. He stood stiffly like a robot, movements numb and eyes vacant. Every step resembled performance art.
“Training ruined me,” Chu Hengkong slumped to the ground.
“Trained you well!” Ji Qiufeng corrected, “You’ll adapt after walking a few minutes. Now go rest.”
He mumbled thanks, crawling and stumbling out of the temple, pressing his head to the floor as he entered the elevator. After descending, he finally regained some feeling, lying on his back and wiggling forward using his back muscles. Then he rolled halfway over and began climbing the wall.
The team watched in stunned silence as this strange creature crawled from the elevator into the hall, their eyes popping out.
“What kind of evil spirit possession is this?!” “Brother Chu, are you alright?” “Is this the octopus technique?”
“Don’t talk,” Chu Hengkong slurred, “I’m recovering.”
Everyone fell silent, watching the detective crawl to the ceiling, turning over like a toad with hands and feet. At that moment, the lobby’s police lights flashed, and the patrol officer’s alarm sounded:
“Incident at No. 24 Fuquan Street—two targets causing trouble, both carrying relics…”
“Copy that.” Chu Hengkong’s tentacle shot out, snatching the communicator. “I’ll go!”
He scrambled out of the hall using hands and feet. The team panicked:
“Brother Chu! Your hands—your hands are still on the floor!”
“Oh, right!” Chu Hengkong flipped over, running upside down on his tentacle and right hand. The team grew more frantic: “He’s going the wrong way! Wrong way!!”
Too late to warn him, Chu Hengkong’s speed was a whirlwind; although inverted, he moved more than twice as fast as before. As he ran, he placed both hands on the ground and suddenly sprang up like a flea.
Chu Hengkong arced gracefully over the street, landing on a lamppost and leaping to the rooftop in a flash. Citizens stared skyward, mouths agape. Someone sighed admiringly, “Detective Chu’s divine skills are unparalleled!”
At No. 24 Fuquan Street, in front of an abandoned building, two burly men cursed at a battered construction team. A small squad tried to mediate but to no avail.
“This is a public area under government jurisdiction…”
“Nonsense! This is my ancestral property.”
“You’ve illegally occupied public land for a month. If this continues, we’ll issue an administrative warning.”
“The city lord’s office is robbing people’s private property! Small folk have no way to live!”
The two men wailed, ignoring the grievous injuries they’d inflicted on the innocent workers. Patrol officer Lü Xing was furious and anxious. Furious because these men had never before been near the abandoned building and were clearly obstructing construction deliberately; anxious because the renovation was critical and had to begin soon. But with these two wielding relics, they were difficult to handle…
Just then, a green shadow descended from the sky. Chu Hengkong landed back to the troublemakers, eyes vacant, face dusty as if he’d been running for ten years. His voice was slow and hoarse:
“What’s... the matter?”
“Detective Chu…” Lü Xing raised his hand joyfully, then suddenly paled. “Detective, watch out!!”
Behind Chu Hengkong, two shadows suddenly expanded. The troublemakers transformed: one grew pig-like, hands turning into crimson beastly claws; the other’s muscles bulged, sharp metal teeth sprouting all over. Their arrogant expressions vanished, replaced by cold murderous intent. Both wielded long staffs and daggers—relic weapons—thrusting toward Chu Hengkong’s head and back!
Lü Xing trembled with dread. He realized these were not only wielders of relic weapons but demon-possessed assassins, sent specifically for Chu Hengkong. Not even the detective could handle such a fatal ambush alone!
Desperately, he lunged forward to help. But Chu Hengkong didn’t budge. His silver tentacle whipped backward, snapping like a whip.
Crack!
The demon-possessed assailants froze. Their eyes lost all spark, rolling back like dead fish as they collapsed. Two demonic shadows burst forth; as the big men fell, dust billowed. Their bodies reverted to normal, a silver whip mark emblazoned across their chests.
The team was speechless. A diligent young man checked their pulses and exclaimed with reverence, “They’re unconscious!”
Lü Xing stopped, instinctively continuing, “They came for you…”
“Good,” Chu Hengkong slurred, “Means I’ve made a name for myself.” He mumbled, “What’s their bounty?”
After some identification, the team awkwardly replied: “They’re new criminals…” “No bounty posted yet.”
“Impressive,” Chu Hengkong waved his hand, “Charge them with attempted murder. I’m going home to sleep.”
He walked away, leaving the team exchanging amazed glances.
They had worked for years and knew how bounty amounts were set. Demon possession plus relic weapons meant a minimum bounty starting from one hundred thousand Flow Pearls, like Hugo’s case. Such foes were notoriously tough; only Captain Huaisu could usually handle them, while others merely bought time. But these two were defeated in a single strike…
When had Detective Chu become so strong?