"It’s fine if you want to hide your true powers . It’s impressive that you reached such a level at your age, and it is probably better for you if fewer people know what you are capable of . It will seem more reasonable if you revealed your skills after several years of training," Fei Baiyun said, patting Garen’s shoulders .
"Okay, let’s go to the training floor . Today, I will teach you the White Cloud Combat Arts . These skills are not only used in combat, but also used in killing your opponents," he continued .
"Yes! Master!" Garen was excited .
**********
Several minutes later .
On the second floor of the Martial Arts Hall .
Fei Baiyun and Garen stood across from each other . The evening sun made the carpet shine scarlet .
"Your fundamentals are good, so I will teach you the entry level stances first . "
Fei Baiyun stepped forward and raised his right palm, slanting it upwards . He also put his left fist by his waist .
"This is the basic stance of White Cloud Combat Arts . Take a closer look," Fei Baiyun said with a clear voice . He saw Joshua coming from the first floor and nodded his head . Joshua looked at him and closed off the stairway with a cover .
"There are four basic skills in the White Cloud Combat Arts: Swing, Rush, Stomp, and Strike . These skills will help you in attacking, dodging, defending, and assassinating during fights . You can use them in whatever order you want . I will show you the Stomp first," Fei Baiyun continued .
After finishing the sentence, Fei Baiyun stomped forward with a single foot . His body leaned forward and it looked like he put all his body weight on that foot .
*Pong*
The floor shook and the noise it made echoed in the hall .
"And the Rear Stomp!" Fei Baiyun kicked his other foot backward and it sounded like his foot slashed apart the air . Wearing an ordinary pair of flats, his extreme burst of speed and strength made each of his movements look flawless . Garen couldn’t even imagine what would happen to someone if they were standing behind Fei Baiyun .
"There are two different types of Stomps, one is more about speed,, and the other about strength . You need to combine them with the Explosive Fist Arts skill and use them on your feet . In order to do it properly, you need to harden your blood vessels and your muscles before applying the force to your feet . When you use the Stomp skill, your Qi and blood will be drawn to your bottom half . This will not only hurt your enemies, but will also surround yourself with Qi . You need to carefully manage your breathing and your heart rate while using it," Fei Baiyun said and demonstrated the Stomp several more times . He asked Garen to try it after the demonstration and whispered Garen the secret techniques before letting Garen start .
It was fine if Garen’s stance was wrong, but if Fei Baiyun found that Garen was not matching his breathing with his heart rate, he would slap or kick Garen . The kicks and slaps actually helped Garen perform the actions properly .
"There is one universal rule in the White Cloud Gate, and that is Stability . Whatever you do, you do it with stability . You need to make sure your Qi and blood are stable, then apply them onto the skills you use . You will be able to modify your skills and make them explosive this way," Fei Baiyun said .
"If you turn on the water faucet and block the water with your finger, the water will burst out when you let your finger go for even a bit," he continued
Step by step, Garen started to focus on practicing the Stomp and tried to make sure his breath matched his heart rate, following everything Fei Baiyun said .
He was still thinking about the Stomp when he got back home . The White Cloud Secret Arts would bring him incredible power when the skills were combined with the Stomp .
The White Cloud Secret Arts technique was like an engine, and the higher the level he reached, the bigger the burst of power he would have . Every skill in the White Cloud Combat Arts aimed to increase one’s strength .
Garen kept practicing the skills he learnt over the next several days as Fei Baiyun taught him all four forms .
The Swing was all about swinging the feet and arms like a whip . The Rush used the Mammoth Strike to counterattack . The Strike could help Garen reach his peak for a short duration, allowing him to use his arms like knives to stab into the enemy’s eyes .
There were many possible combinations when using the four forms and different combinations were designed to be used against different opponents . Garen found some useful books in the tiny library room and there was a lot of information written by previous Masters of the White Cloud Gate . Garen found the standard combinations and applications of the four forms and also created some combinations by himself .
Garen learned the four forms in a hurry and he made sure he could at least reach the standard level . One month had passed since the final exams and he began to think about his attribute points . He finished the exams with no problems, but he was not expecting a high grade . He only wanted to focus on practicing martial arts .
He could increase the level of the White Cloud Secret Arts as long as he had the requisite medicinal herbs, though it would take some time . The Explosive Fist Arts, however, required tempering the body by beating it with wooden clubs in addition to some special potions . Advancing to the next level of Explosive Fist Arts was not a simple matter of using Attribute points .
***********
The noon of November the 2nd .
In the White Cloud Dojo .
Garen was topless; he had recently started training under the sunlight . There was sweat all over his tanned skin .
He stood in the middle of the training room as two apprentices hit him in the back, chest, and the arms with two arm-sized wooden bars .
Garen closed his eyes as he tried to move his Qi and blood to the places getting hit in order to recover faster .
[It’s been a month since I started practicing the White Cloud Secret Arts and the Explosive Fist Arts, but nothing is leveling up . It’d be much easier if I could just apply points to the skills,]’ Garen thought and shook his head . He could still see his attribute bar and his skill bar after closing his eyes .
There were some changes to his attributes, but on the skill bar he could only see that the Basic Combat Techniques was replaced with the White Cloud Combat Arts . The two skill sets were combined and they were set back to the first level .
01
On the attribute bar, Garen could see his Strength and Stamina had both increased by 0 . 1 . His current attributes were Strength: 1 . 78, Agility: 1 . 10, Stamina: 1 . 04, Intelligence: 1 . 20, Potential: 377% .
[There’s barely any potential left on the Bronze Cross . One month passed, and I only got about 10% . I need to find some new antiques,] Garen thought, as he raised his hand to ask the two apprentices to stop .
The two stopped hitting Garen with the bars and were sweating heavily . They put down the bars and sat aside to rest .
"Garen, you are so strong . My arms are sore and you’re not even hurt!" one of the apprentices said admiringly .
"Keep training and one day you will be just like me . You will be able to learn the Explosive Fist Arts after you become a Formal Disciple," Garen said while he started to think about the distribution of his attribute points .
[I don’t need to apply points to the White Cloud Combat Arts since it will level up just from practicing . I thought I could just simply apply points to the White Cloud Secret Arts and Explosive Fist Arts, but it seems that it won’t work . These skills that need external help won’t be leveled up so easily,] Garen thought . He tried to apply points to the two skills many times, but it would not work . The only thing he could do was apply the points to his attributes .
He still remembered the night he met Grace, how he felt helpless against the pistol, and how fast the poison could travel through his body . Garen made up his mind as he stared at the Strength and Stamina attributes .
[Stamina increases my resistance, recovery speed, and will also increase my general defense . During the tests, I thought my organs were much stronger than before . The dojo’s arts did not make my organs stronger and I never specifically trained my organs . The effect probably came from the point I applied to the Stamina attribute,] Garen thought . He sat and took a rest, then finally decided to apply all his points to Strength and Stamina .
He stared at the Stamina attribute for three seconds as it changed from 1 . 04 to 1 . 34 . Adding one attribute point increased the Stamina by 0 . 3 . Garen could feel heat rush through his whole body; this sensation lasted for about ten seconds .
When he opened his eyes again, he felt he could see things clearer and that his hearing was enhanced as well . He looked at his right arm and his skin looked denser . Garen touched his skin; it felt silky smooth .
"You two can leave now, I’ll stay here for a while and will clean everything up after," Garen told the two apprentices . The two were used to situations like this and they knew Garen would stay late to train more, so they smiled and left .
Garen closed his eyes again, and he stared at the Strength attribute . He applied one point to it and it increased from 1 . 78 to 2 . 08 . Garen could feel his body getting stronger and the 0 . 3 increase to Strength raised his total force by 60 pounds, which was a third of a normal adult male’s peak strength . This meant that 0 . 1 Strength equaled 20 pounds .
[One more point,] Garen thought, as he was about to apply it to Stamina . Suddenly, something from the skills bar caught his attention . A word changed as he was preparing to apply the point to Stamina .
"White Cloud Secret Arts: Advanced . "
[What is this… Applying points to my Stamina can allow me to increase the level of White Cloud Secret Arts?!] Garen wondered excitedly .
[Can I apply points to it now?] Garen speculated . He stared at the White Cloud Secret Arts for three seconds and the status changed again . "Advanced" was no longer there and he saw "Completed" instead .
There should only be three levels of the White Cloud Secret Arts and the attribute point made it advance to the last level .
Garen was elated with the result, but he suddenly felt pain when he tried to stand up . His skin, muscle, and bones started to ache . He could feel heat cycling around his chest and it slowly spread to his four limbs . When the heat was almost gone, he started to feel a chill from the center of his chest travel through his body chasing after the vanishing heat .
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