Chapter 30: Internal Force
Thinking of this, Ye Shuo asked a lot of questions, for example –
“Wu Yi, Wu Yi, what exactly is this internal force? How is it formed?”
“Wu Yi, Wu Yi, is there a fixed route for the inner force to run? Does it rely on personal performance, or is there something else? Are there any taboos that must not be touched?”
“Can everyone cultivate this inner strength, or does it require certain conditions to be met?”
“Does learning martial arts require the assistance of a technique? What is the difference between one technique and another?”
…and so on.
Because the little prince asked some very simple questions, basically you can find the answers by flipping through the book.
Besides, Wu Yi had never heard that someone could accomplish anything just by asking questions. If he wanted to get started, he needed someone to watch over him carefully and teach him patiently. Among all the secret guards, Wu Yi was a talented person picked out of a hundred, otherwise he would not have been able to serve the emperor.But despite this, when Wu Yi first started practicing, it took him a full half month to slowly feel the Qi with the guidance of his leader. This is even more difficult for ordinary people who have no foundation and no one to teach them.
Therefore, Wu Yi just thought that Ye Shuo was just curious as a child and answered his question casually.
Afterward, Ye Shuo quickly understood that the so-called internal force was actually just a kind of energy. As for the reason for its formation, no one knew it, but it had always existed from ancient times to the present.
Ye Shuo guessed that this was probably what made this world different from his previous life.
Since anyone with the right physique can practice it, regardless of occasion, time or place, the difference is probably that it exists in the air that everyone can access. It is colorless and odorless, so it exists like oxygen, but is invisible to the naked eye.
Ye Shuo quickly accepted this matter.
As for the differences between the exercises, there are actually differences. Just like mathematics, there are some fixed formulas, but the solutions are very different. The same problem can be solved in many ways, some are more convenient and quicker, and some are more complicated.
But overall, they all lead to the same goal, which is to make the “qi” in the body more solid and powerful.
“You mean, the location of Dantian is here, right?” Ye Shuo opened his eyes, covered his stomach and insisted that it was Dantian.
Wu Yi was caught off guard and subconsciously wanted to correct: “No, my lord. It’s here.” As he said that, he pointed to the place where the Yinjiao, Qihai, Shimen and Guanyuan acupoints intersected below Ye Shuo’s navel.
[T/L = Various Acupoints.]
“Then…” Ye Shuo pretended to understand and moved his hand down a little bit: “Is it here?”
Although it is a little lower, it is still far away from the Dantian.
He obviously didn’t understand.
“It’s still not right.”
After several attempts, Wu Yi considered for a moment and said, “My lord, I’m sorry.”
As he spoke, under Ye Shuo’s expectant gaze, Wu Yi gently pressed his palm towards Ye Shuo’s dantian.
In just a moment, Wu Yi withdrew his hand.
In an instant, Ye Shuo felt a heat in his dantian, and something seemed to have appeared in his body out of thin air. He immediately understood that this should be Wu Yi’s internal force.
However, this heat was not Ye Shuo’s own after all. His untrained body was like a funnel. The heat was stored for less than two breaths before it quickly dissipated.
Wu Yi just wanted to answer his question in the simplest and quickest way, so naturally he wouldn’t put in much effort.
Although he looked at Wu Yi with surprise on his face, Ye Shuo secretly noted down the trajectory of the movement of this internal force.
From bottom to top, they are Guanyuan, Mingmen, Zhongshu, Zhiyang, Lingtai, Juque… until Shenting, Baihui and Fengchi.
From top to bottom, they are Qi Hai, Fu She, Hui Yin… Ji Men, Yingu, Sanyin Jiao and Yongquan.
From left to right and from right to left, there are seven acupoints respectively. In total, this heat passes through sixty-four acupoints.
[T/L = If someone really wants the vast knowledge, then click here.]
These acupoints are arranged in a certain order. As long as Ye Shuo works his way back in order, he doesn’t even need any written records to know how Wu Yi’s internal force works.
As a subordinate of his cheap father, Wu Yi is always around to protect his cheap father. Even if he is not the strongest, he is one of the strongest.
And the word “Wu” is very telling.
Wu Yi, Wu Yi… It’s hard for Ye Shuo not to have associations.
‘Your technique is great, but now it’s mine.’
Ye Shuo silently recited this sentence in his heart, but his face behaved very well. Soon, he asked the last question –
“I heard that my grandfather was a brave warrior who rarely lost a battle in his life. So… how good is his Kung Fu?”
“The Duke of Zhen’s kung fu is naturally excellent.”
Wu Yi said this without much hesitation.
Ye Shuo saw that although there was admiration in his eyes, there was no longing or fear. Ye Shuo immediately knew what was going on.
As expected, since the royal family is the ruler of this country, their foundation is naturally the strongest.
Ye Shuo felt relieved and also gave up the plan of looking for his mother.
Wu Yi would never have thought that just with a small, unintentional action, his biggest secret was known to others.
During the whole process, he was unaware of anything and even felt that the little prince was easy to take care of and manage, not at all as troublesome as his master had worried about.
Look, after listening to the story, isn’t the little prince planning to go to sleep quietly and obediently?
“Wu Yi, I’m sleepy…I want to sleep…”
Ye Shuo rubbed his eyes, then slowly covered himself with the quilt: “Good night Wu Yi, see you tomorrow.”
Wu Yi vaguely understood that this good night should be a greeting to him. Wu Yi was about to say that this was not in accordance with the rules, but he saw that the little prince had wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and turned away.
Wu Yi was stunned for a moment, then he bowed and disappeared in the blink of an eye. At this moment, he was thinking that if the young prince could be as well-behaved and quiet as he was tonight, he would not mind telling him more insignificant stories like this one.
Wu Yi didn’t know that the moment he turned around, Ye Shuo, who was originally curled up in the quilt, suddenly changed his expression, raised the corners of his lips, and smiled silently.
Done.
Ever since Wu Yi mentioned inadvertently that people who practiced martial arts would have better physiques than ordinary people, Ye Shuo became determined to learn this thing.
In ancient times, when medical conditions were so backward, a cold could kill a person, so Ye Shuo would not miss anything that was said to be good for health.
As a person who had suffered from a serious illness, Ye Shuo would cherish his healthy body too much now.
As for the fact that practicing martial arts requires a strong physique, Ye Shuo thinks this is not a problem at all.
Although there is no conclusive evidence to prove that he inherited genes from his grandfather, but judging from various signs, it is basically certain.
The principle has been figured out, the hardware conditions have been met, and the way the internal force works has also been figured out. Now everything is ready, only the Dongfeng is missing.
[T/L =
Dōng Fēng means easterly wind; refers to the doctor, but here for ‘master’.]It’s just the order of the sixty-four acupoints, which is not a problem for Ye Shuo.
There are 52 single acupoints, 309 double acupoints, and 50 extra-meridian acupoints, totaling 720 acupoints in the whole body. When he was researching his family medical history in his previous life, he studied Chinese medicine for a period of time, and now he still remembers them all.
Wu Yi is usually a very cautious person, but he lost here.
After all, it is basically impossible to find someone who can remember hundreds of acupoints, but he was unlucky enough to meet one.
After a while, Ye Shuo checked again. After confirming that Wu Yi was not there, he lifted the quilt and sat up.
Then he reversed the heat trend chart bit by bit in his mind.
Soon, Ye Shuo began to try to find the sense of Qi.
About an hour later, he finally found some feeling.
At the beginning, it was just a wisp of smoke-like airflow like a firefly or candle flame that could be extinguished at any time. Ye Shuo controlled it carefully so that the airflow flowed through the sixty-four acupuncture points in sequence.
Like a star map waiting to be lit up, the air flow was swaying, and it was difficult to move forward.
Ye Shuo was not in a hurry and seemed very patient, pushing forward little by little.
Time passed minutes by minutes, and in the blink of an eye, it was about to dawn.
Fortunately, Ye Shuo, like the Sixth Prince, did not have the habit of having anyone keep watch in the room at night. Besides, the maids and wet nurses all knew that the little prince would be angry if their sleep was disturbed, so there had been no unusual movements in the room.
In the meantime, Ye Shuo vaguely heard the noise of the Sixth Prince opening the door to go to the study room next door. The noise lasted for about a cup of tea and then disappeared.
At some point, beads of sweat suddenly appeared on Ye Shuo’s forehead, and it was obvious that the most critical moment had arrived.
After struggling forward for so long, that trace of energy finally approached the dantian.
After circling for a long time, the airflow finally felt an inexplicable suction force and was completely sucked into the dantian.
With a “boom”, Ye Shuo was shocked. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes became exceptionally bright and energetic. He didn’t look like a man who had been up all night at all.
The same warmth also appeared in his dantian at this moment.
Although it was just a tiny trace that seemed to be about to go out at any time, and was even weaker than Wu Yi’s casual slap, Ye Shuo was already very satisfied.
At least it proves that his conjecture is correct, and all he needs to do from now on is accumulate experience.
As for how to release and apply it…
Ye Shuo thought of the techniques of modern martial arts. Modern martial arts do not have such a thing as internal force. What matters is practicing how to exert force.
To give an example, when you punch, you can’t just punch. No matter how strong the arm muscles are, they are ultimately limited. You have to start from the feet, push the ground with the soles of the feet, exert force with the ankles, go through the knee joints, and then to the thighs and waist and hips. The waist and hips drive the shoulders. What matters is that each part is transmitted and condensed into one.
I think the same principle applies to internal strength. If you want high attack power, you need high burst power.
Ye Shuo’s breath sank, and the gossamer-like internal force in his body instantly spread to the sixty-four acupuncture points. Feeling a force from inside out eager to rush out, Ye Shuo imitated what he saw in TV dramas, put two fingers together, and swung them out quickly.
The next moment, the red candle three meters away went out.