Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Plum Blossom Stakes

“Look, what’s the head instructor up to now, all dressed up like some opera villain.”

“You don’t know? You must be new. Our second senior brother’s sweetheart is visiting.”

“That big black bear must be swept up in spring fever.” Jiang Yazi snickered, calling out without the slightest restraint.

Yue Wuhuo’s dark face flushed red. He glared and cursed, “Shut your damn mouth!”

Since the true owner of the martial hall had returned, nothing much had changed. Master Lin Xian often wandered about holding a teapot, occasionally offering pointers on boxing, while Mo kept to himself most of the day behind closed doors. Only the sound of surging energy in the courtyard never ceased.

Zhai Guan and Lu Zhixiong both had their own responsibilities at home, so they seldom came to the hall. After that incident, Lu Zhixiong came around even less.

Only Jiang Yazi darted everywhere like a wild monkey let loose, endlessly mischievous and bothersome. Ever since he learned that Kou Li had “taken the immortal herb,” he paid even closer attention to him.

“Eighth brother, let’s go play somewhere else. How about Lion Cliff across the way? Maybe you’ll even learn to fly.”

“No.”

“Then let’s go swimming. They say there’s treasure beneath the sea—maybe the immortal herb helps with that too.”

“No.”

“How about—”

“No.”

Kou Li, too, caught sight of Yue Wuhuo, dressed up like Ximen Qing, face powdered and perfumed, the green silk robe stretched tight across his frame, robbing him of any hint of elegance and completely erasing his usual heroic aura.

From the standpoint of appearance, there was really nothing redeeming about it.

In short, he looked utterly out of place.

Suppressing a smile, Kou Li hesitated, then said, “Senior Brother Yue, thank you for your guidance. I’d like to try training on the stakes.”

“Good, good. Master the hard stakes, and you’ll be steady as a mountain, firm as an iron tower. Practice well,” Yue Wuhuo replied, forcing a smile through his nerves.

“When I’ve made progress in Tiger Fist, I’ll help you refine your breathing technique,” Kou Li added. If he could master this set of fists, it would be a small matter to help this second senior brother in return—a favor well worth earning.

“Great, really great! Eighth brother, you’re thoughtful indeed,” Yue Wuhuo was first taken aback, then grinned from ear to ear. He’d been fretting over how to curry favor, but it turned out the other was already so considerate. This kid had promise.

Now, when he looked at Kou Li, he found him utterly pleasing to the eye.

“Eighth brother, what did you say to that big black bear? He’s grinning like a man on his wedding day,” Jiang Yazi asked curiously.

“I told him he looked quite dashing today.”

“Oh? Maybe I’ll try that?” Jiang Yazi was eager to give it a go, but immediately found himself chased around by an indignant Yue Wuhuo.

After giving some guidance to Xia Tou and the others as usual, Kou Li turned his gaze to the row of plum-blossom stakes on the northern side of the training ground.

The so-called plum-blossom stakes were made from five sturdy wooden posts sunk into the earth for stability, each protruding one to two feet above the ground, the heads flat, two inches wide, and reinforced with iron hoops. Four were arranged in a square, two feet apart, with the fifth set in the center, forming the shape of a plum flower.

Quite a few were already practicing footwork atop the stakes, most of them wavering unsteadily, finding each step a real challenge.

‘The method for training on plum-blossom stakes starts with the ball of the foot, then the heel, then the toes. Only after that do you add heavy stones to train the lower body. Unlike fixed stakes, you only achieve mastery by walking over stones weighing a hundred pounds as if treading level ground. At that point, your legs are as though cast from iron and steel.’

Kou Li stepped onto the hard stake, immediately drawing the attention of many apprentices. It seemed this eighth senior brother had been surprising them ever since the boys’ stake training—surprising in every possible sense.

“Do you think Senior Brother Kou will pull a muscle again, like last time?”

“No way—he’s thrashed disciples from the Five Elephants Hall before, hasn’t he?”

“But don’t forget, he’s never managed to stand well on the boys’ stakes.”

“The hard stakes are way tougher than the boys’ stakes.”

“Well, sure, but I still think eighth senior brother can do it,” though even as he spoke, the apprentice’s tone was far from confident.

Kou Li tested the stakes, each about as thick as a bowl’s rim, barely enough to support half a foot. Anyone moving too quickly would tumble off, let alone while practicing martial arts.

He tightened his groin, sank his hips, forced his blood and energy downward, loosened his bones, and began the fist forms directly.

It was a strange sensation—the pouncing, turning, crawling movements of Tiger Fist transformed into stepping, advancing, turning, and crossing footwork. The fierce killing moves became a series of simple steps.

Kou Li felt a sudden insight: perhaps all the complexity and mystery of boxing arts were, in essence, just the simplest things. He just hadn’t reached that level yet.

Before he knew it, he’d finished a set of forms.

“Who said Senior Brother Kou was bound to mess up? He’s moving better than anyone. Think you could do it?”

“That’s just the ball of the foot. Don’t forget—the heel is twice as hard, and the toes ten times harder. He’s only done the first part.”

“While you were talking, he already finished with the heel.”

“What? That fast?!”

For Kou Li, the ball and heel of the foot were nothing. When your boxing was truly refined, you could distribute every ounce of force as needed. If he took off his shoes, his soles would be flushed red.

He managed the ball and heel steps smoothly, but when it came to the toes, he ran into real trouble.

The force of Tiger Fist followed the routines of Southern Fist—channeling all strength to a single point. The most powerful attacks used the whole body, but stake walking required steady footwork with the upper body still.

That meant all the pressure of gathering and releasing force fell to his feet. The ball and heel could manage, but shifting to the ten toes was almost too much.

His once-fluid movements slowed, even becoming awkward and halting.

“Looks like Senior Brother Kou can only get this far. Not surprising—back then, Senior Brother Mo got stuck here too.”

“Tiger Fist is so explosive, it’s naturally harder than other forms. He’s already doing great.”

“He’ll probably need a month or two to adapt to this.”

“Let’s go, let’s go—head instructor’s in a strange mood today, don’t push your luck.”

Truth be told, Kou Li’s performance was far above the average apprentice—already impressive. But compared to his earlier, almost monstrous feats—always either freakishly good or embarrassingly bad—it seemed a step down.

It fell short of the apprentices’ expectations.

Could it be that Senior Brother Kou was becoming normal? That just didn’t make sense.

If Kou Li had heard their thoughts, he’d probably cough up blood—he was a perfectly normal person, and one with no affinity for immortals at that.

“Eighth brother, you had a match with the girl disciple from Five Elephants Hall, didn’t you?” At some point, Master Lin Xian had appeared by the stakes, smiling.

“Yes, I did.”

“How was her Tiger Fist?”

“Her movements were strange—very skillful,” Kou Li answered honestly.

“Mm.” As if he’d only come to ask this, Master Lin Xian turned and left. Kou Li frowned, remembering that the man had said only Luo Yanzong would teach boxing for the next three years. What could this mean?

‘Five Elephants Hall, that girl disciple, Lu Yao—her footwork, her stake technique… Yes, the stake technique!’

Suddenly, he remembered something he’d discussed with Luo Yanzong. The eldest senior brother had said that Five Elephants Hall’s Tiger Fist had likely re-created the stake technique. Unlike the lost Iron Tiger Stakes, their method had more variation but less force of presence. Within the tiger forms, there was a hint of the cat.

Cat?

Kou Li abruptly realized what Master Lin had been hinting at.

The cat was the tiger’s teacher. All its skills, except tree climbing, had passed to the tiger—tree climbing, plum-blossom stakes, footwork…

Lu Yao’s pouncing, grappling forms came vividly to mind again—two tigers, male and female, entwining in combat, gradually merging into one.

A shift of his step, a subtle hook—though still slow, there was a newfound agility. Cat, tiger, leopard, wolf—these animal-imitative forms all shared similarities, and Master Lin’s hint was precisely about this shared essence.

So that was it!

Immersed in this realization, Kou Li lost himself in practice. If not for Zheng Bao’er reminding him to eat, he might have forgotten entirely.

After dinner, he found an excuse to slip away from Zheng Bao’er, sneaking off alone—with a bottle of Tenfold Jade Ointment at his waist, of course.

He’d spent ten thousand silver on the medicine and obtained four bottles in total. He’d used one and a half in the cliff cave, half a bottle just to heal the aftereffects of the Nine-section Blade.

Now that he’d decided to lay a solid foundation, he planned to push his boys’ stake training to the limits as well. Once both were at their peak, he should be able to face the eldest senior brother’s Northern Fist techniques head-on.