Chapter Sixteen: The Eagle’s Hand (Part Two)

In the capital city, within a lavish mansion, two jade qilin statues crouched before the gates. A massive nine-bay gate featured a prominent plaque of vermilion wood, upon which the name "Marquis Wulie's Residence" was inscribed in gilded characters.

Standing before the gates was a peculiar foreign monk. He was skin and bones, wearing double rings in his ears, draped in black cloth, clutching a set of beast-head prayer beads, and holding a Dharma staff. His posture was equally strange: his feet were crossed and slightly crouched, as if he were sitting on a lotus, with only the sides of his feet touching the ground. Yet, his presence was as stable as Mount Tai. His skin appeared ordinary at first glance, but a closer look revealed intricate, dark golden patterns beneath the surface.

The two saber-wielding guards of the Marquis's estate glared at him fiercely, but they could not make the monk’s eyelids flicker even once. However, the little toe of his bare foot suddenly twitched, followed by his thumb, middle finger, and index finger. Then, the entire ground began to tremble.

This was not a localized tremor. Across the hundreds of acres of the prosperous and powerful Marquis Wulie's estate, the ground began to shake in unison, giving the sensation of a mountain torrent or an earthquake suddenly unleashed.

Just then, a middle-aged scholar walked out of the residence, smiling. "Master Baga, the Marquis has no time to see you. He is currently sparring with his eight sworn brothers, and the fight is intense. As you know, battles between grand masters do not end quickly. However, the Marquis has two messages for me to pass on."

"First, he has already sent men to escort your junior brother's remains to the sacred grounds beyond the border for burial, and he has requested the Three Dharma Kings to oversee his reincarnation as a Living Buddha, so you need not worry."

"Second, the person who killed your junior brother is a subordinate recruited by Princess Feng in Lingnan. His name is Kou Li. If you seek revenge, you must go find him."

Master Baga remained silent for a moment. His belly suddenly heaved in a rhythmic motion, and then his stiff, accented Central Plains speech emerged. "I detect falsehood in your heart. My inner eye sees that my junior brother did not die at the hands of Kou Li, but by the blade of Princess Feng."

The middle-aged scholar’s expression darkened. "Master, Princess Feng is the Emperor's favorite young daughter and the Marquis’s betrothed. When the Marquis defeated the four major sects of Tibetan Buddhism and eighteen Red-robed Lamas in the Tibetan region, he was bestowed the title of the Reincarnated Fighting Buddha. Do you wish to defy the will of the Buddha?"

After another long silence, the great Lama finally spoke: "May my Buddha have mercy. I shall take this man’s life to honor my junior brother."

With those words, the Lama formed a strange mudra. His skin instantly turned a dark, coppery red, and with strides of nearly four yards each, he disappeared at the corner of the street.

"Finally, that nuisance has been persuaded to leave. Unless the Marquis himself takes action, there is truly no one in this household who could reliably defeat this great Lama," the scholar sighed in relief. He knew the man’s strength well; he was the foremost practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism in the Central Plains. He had once debated the Way with the old Taoist priest Jiugong of Wudang Mountain at Green Ox Cliff. The debate turned into a physical struggle, and he had brutally cleaved the Wudang master to death—and that old priest had reached the second level of Daoist body-refining.

That event had shaken half the martial arts world of the Central Plains. It only ended when the imperial court intervened, bestowing the title of "Master" upon him and sending him to preach beyond the border. Over the years, his reputation had grown, and martial artists beyond the border were increasingly awed by his strength. The title "Martial Dharma" began to spread throughout the northern martial arts circles. No one had expected that he would defy the imperial decree and re-enter the Central Plains for the sake of his deceased junior brother.

"Your Highness, that dead wretch Old Nine has descended to the underworld; no one is left to protect you now. What will you do?" The scholar wore a mocking smile.

***

Elsewhere, Kou Li remained entirely unaware that a terrifying enemy was coming to hunt him down. He continued to practice his Eagle Claw Technique day and night.

***

"Has the Chief Steward practiced his punching stakes these past few days?"

"I’ve seen him."

"I haven’t."

The consumptive man smiled faintly, though his eyes sparkled with an extraordinary light. "To reach the realm of self-oblivion in one’s practice, indifferent to mockery, hunger, or pain, finding tranquility in the midst of a bustling city... Luo Yanzong, I lost to you once; I cannot lose to your junior brother as well."

Throughout the Feng estate, a dense, crisp sound suddenly echoed, like a field of wind chimes or the chirping of birds. Then, the consumptive man vanished.

The essence of the "South Branch Fist"—where the immortals know not of the branch they hang upon—lay in being undetectable, like a ghost. Clearly, this former grand master was also looking for a place to test his mettle.

Extending claws, folding wings, spreading wings, pouncing, fighting, shaking the body, and striking with talons—the seven forms of the "Fixed Stake" were now mastered by Kou Li after he had observed the flow of qi and blood in the black eagle. He realized that these seven forms were not just forms, but seven types of strikes and seven types of power, forming the foundation of the Eagle Hand.

The seven strikes: grab, hook, capture, flip, seize, collapse, and lean.
The seven powers: yin, yang, hard, soft, springy, inch-force, and crisp.

Only on this foundation could one master the eleven forms of the "Living Stake" Eagle style: Mountain Eagle Piercing the Forest, Rock Eagle Revealing Claws, Great Eagle Foraging, Flying Eagle Shaking Wings, Osprey Looking Back, Hunting Eagle Striking the Rabbit, Grass Eagle Probing Claws, Old Eagle Catching Chickens, Sea Eagle Catching Fish, Steel Eagle Pulling Pillars, and Mighty Eagle Devouring Man.

On wooden stakes, blade stakes, eaves, and beams, two eagle-like figures moved—one was Kou Li, the other was the captured fighting eagle he had been sparring with.

Fixed stakes were for entry, living stakes for proficiency. Once these eleven forms were mastered, the Eagle Hand would reach a higher realm. This was a process of constant, persistent effort.

During this time, Kou Li had pondered whether, since the Wordless Diagram could allow him to internalize the nature of a tiger, he could also internalize the nature of an eagle. But it seemed this "cheat code" did not work on demand. He realized the difference between the tiger's nature and the eagle's. Back on South Heaven Gate Mountain, when that white-browed, fierce tiger had pounced from the cliff, the scene was life-or-death; had the Ice Soul Pearl not activated, he would not have survived. At that time, possessing no martial arts, his entire being was shaken by the image of the tiger, triggering the diagram to imprint its nature. Now, however, no hawk or falcon could pose a threat to him, so that path was closed.

Thus, bitter practice, day and night, became his only shortcut.

Suddenly, Kou Li stopped. He narrowed his eyes as four people walked through the gate: a middle-aged man with thick limbs and fingers like hooks, a Taoist priest in wide sleeves and straw sandals, a Han-assimilated foreigner carrying a large pot, and a hunchbacked old man carrying a jar.

"Yue Family Eagle Hand Sect, Yue Gang, pays respects to the Chief Steward."

"Wudang Eagle Claw Technique, Seven-Star Taoist, pays respects to the Chief Steward."

"Liaodong Steel Claw Style, Atubu, pays respects to the Chief Steward."

"Earth Eagle Sect Claw Elder, pays respects to the Chief Steward."

Kou Li raised an eyebrow. Except for Atubu, the Han-assimilated foreigner who practiced Northern Eagle Claw, the other three were contemporary successors of Southern Eagle Claw styles—not just ordinary practitioners, but authentic inheritors.

"Why have you come?"

"The Princess said: to perfect a unique fist force, one needs a primary and a secondary style. To temper the body, one also needs a primary and secondary unique fist force."

"Since you have chosen the Eagle Hand as your primary style to comprehend the main fist force and refine your tendons, this art must be the crown of all styles. You must use the Eagle Hand as the base, supplement it with Northern and Southern Eagle Claws, combine internal and external training, and integrate the claw-ripping force of the Jiangyou, Wudang, and Tantric schools. Only by pushing the power of the Eagle Hand to its limit can you qualify as a Grand Master of the Yue Fist. Chief Steward, do not let Her Highness down."

Kou Li smiled. This "Young Master Huang" really thought highly of him. His bone-tempering techniques included the Fierce Tiger Fist, Bamboo Hand, and Twenty-Four Chain Hands, with the Fierce Tiger Fist—one of the ancient Eight Forms—as his primary, which was more than enough as a foundation. Furthermore, having grasped the essence of the Dragon Form from the Eight Forms, he could transform the tiger into a dragon, pushing his martial spirit to an infinite peak, surpassing over ninety percent of martial artists.

Integrating the essence of all these eagle styles would undoubtedly create an immensely powerful technique.

"How do you plan to teach me?"

"The eagle is a bird of prey; its nature is fierce, its claws sharp. My Yue-style Eagle Claw is authentic," Yue Gang said proudly. "We use internal force projected outward, splitting force and combined strikes. We use the 'yin' and 'crisp' powers for throwing and capturing, 'inch-force' and 'yin power' for grabbing, and a mixture of yin, yang, hard, and springy forces for striking. When the seven forces are combined and transformed, you can defeat any enemy. Our bone-dislocating techniques are rare in this world!"

"Wudang is the superior Daoist alchemy," the Seven-Star Taoist smiled faintly. "We tear at the sun with our claws by day and the moon by night. Once mastered, one gains the essence of the sun and moon, capable of using yin-soft force to injure invisibly, chilling the marrow. Thus, the practitioner must uphold heavenly principles and a kind heart. It is a true Daoist masterpiece."

Atubu set down his large pot, poured out grain, river sand, iron sand, stone bricks, and hot oil, and said in stiff Central Plains speech, "Once mastered, your fingers will be like steel and your body like iron. You could rip apart a horse or a tiger. You will be invincible on the grasslands!"

The Claw Elder smiled coldly and set down his jar. "Chief Steward, you want to refine your tendons; what’s the use of all that talk? My Earth Eagle Sect has no other tricks, but once our claw technique is mastered, the large tendons in your arms will grow an inch and a half longer and three times thicker, with the strength to lift a thousand pounds. That is the real skill."

"Chief Steward, which school would you like to learn first?" the four asked in unison.

Kou Li scanned them, then grinned. "Need you ask? Of course, I’ll learn all four!"