Chapter 8: Training to be like an ape How much money did you put in, brother? Li Yuan was shocked, his worry overwhelmed his joy. The Li family had been in decline for many years, so how could they have any family wealth to give to this fat guy Sun? I'm afraid they're all borrowed... Taking a deep breath, Li Yuan concentrated his attention, not wanting to waste this hard-earned opportunity to learn martial arts. Nowadays, learning the craft of blacksmithing is so difficult, let alone martial arts? "Don't be dissatisfied. Who else would be willing to teach you such a precious martial art as the White Ape Cloak Hammer except me?" Fatty Sun snorted and said: "Stand still with the hammer in hand!" As he spoke, he raised his foot and kicked a prepared hammer over. Li Yuan shuddered, holding the hammer, and subconsciously glanced at the gray light on the hammer before standing out from the White Ape Post. "The Eighteen Hammer Techniques and the Zhuanggong Standing Technique you learned are not fake, but they are lacking something..." As soon as Li Yuan heard the voice, Fatty Sun came in front of him, his fat body leaning forward, full of pressure: "White Ape Breathing Technique!" A large hand like a palm leaf fan pressed on his shoulder, and Li Yuan felt a heat on his shoulder: "Watch carefully and remember this. I will only demonstrate this once!"
Li Yuan quickly concentrated. Fatty Sun took a deep breath, and when he exhaled, his breathing rhythm had changed. That was an extremely unreasonable breathing method. Li Yuan almost passed out when he tried it subconsciously. But at this time he naturally did not dare to be distracted at all. He concentrated and memorized all six changes of Sun Hao's breathing methods in his mind. "Inhale and exhale, three short and six long, one inhale and nine exhales..." …… "When you can maintain the Ape Six Breathing Method while standing still and practicing the Cloak Hammer, you will be considered to have entered the stage!" Just like before, after teaching, Fatty Sun kept his word and only taught once before turning back to the house. But not long after, he came out again and threw a booklet over: "In addition to the breathing method, the origin of the White Ape Cloak Hammer, the standing practice, and the hammer method are all in the booklet. As far as I remember, you can read? Then read it yourself. By the way, you can only read it here, and you are not allowed to take it out!" "Thank you, Chef Sun!" Li Yuan hurriedly took the booklet and immediately reacted: "How do you play?" "You still want to learn how to fight?" Fatty Sun sneered and turned back to the house: "Take another ten taels of silver and I'll teach you how to fight!" "Take more? My second brother actually gave him ten taels of silver?" Li Yuan took a breath of cold air. An apprentice in the middle courtyard earns thirty copper coins a month, which is less than one penny in three months. Ten taels of silver are used to send someone in, and if it is not for the purpose of learning martial arts, it would be a huge loss! Even if the two-story building where his second brother currently lived was rented out, it would only cost four taels of silver a year... "Ape Six Breathing Technique!"
Li Yuan's heart was bleeding with pain, and he dared not be distracted at all. He forced himself to memorize Fatty Sun's six breathing methods. If you forget even one of these, you will be so miserable that you will vomit blood. Under the moonlight, Li Yuan was sweating profusely, recalling Fatty Sun's breathing method over and over again. More than half an hour passed before he let out a sigh of relief, and the chill of late autumn instantly surged over him. "I've made note of this breathing method. I'll try it slowly later." Without any intention of going into the house, Li Yuan found a corner in the yard that was sheltered from the wind under the moonlight, and practiced his breathing technique several times before squatting down and taking out the booklet given by Fatty Sun. "Sure enough, being the chef in the middle courtyard is not as simple as those apprentices said..." Rubbing his cold palms, Li Yuan felt a little cold in his heart. After what happened tonight, he no longer dared to underestimate Fatty Sun. His second elder brother gave him ten taels of silver, but in more than a month, he did not feel any preferential treatment. He even suspected that if he had not shown some talent in recent days, this fat man would not even teach him this breathing method! "White Ape Cloak Hammer!" Letting out a sigh of relief and suppressing all distracting thoughts, Li Yuan carefully opened the booklet. Thanks to Li Lin's persistence, his predecessor was able to read and write. "The inside is the pile, the outside is the hammer, and breathing is the core! Using breathing techniques to penetrate the pile and hammer techniques is the entry point!" Li Yuan recited every word silently in his heart. The booklet contained the standing and hammering techniques he had learned in the past few days, without missing a single move, but it was more detailed. For example, the inner and outer three combinations mentioned by Qin Xiong, and the origin of this ape-shaped cloak hammer. The outer three harmonies focus on the coordination of hands and feet, elbows and knees, shoulders and hips. The inner three harmonies focus on the coordination of heart and mind, mind and qi, and qi and strength. The Qi in the inner three harmonies refers to the breathing method. Without the breathing method, it will be difficult to practice it even if you have this booklet. Not to mention the great realm of the six harmonies, even the inner three harmonies are impossible to achieve. "Beginner, Master, Minor Success, and Major Success! These are the four realms of the White Ape Cloak Hammer. I wonder what realm Qin Xiong and Fatty Sun are in?" Li Yuan was a little fascinated. Suddenly, he was startled and saw something that was of great interest to him: "Only when you have trained your body to resemble a white ape can you accumulate blood and turn it into internal strength!" Inner energy! Li Yuan flipped through the pages again and found only one page left. There was no mention of fighting techniques or internal strength, which made him quite regretful. "White Ape Cloak Hammer, easy to learn but difficult to master. For those with low-level physique, you need to stand for three hours a day and practice hammering for twelve times. It will take two years to get started and seven years to master it... A person with medium aptitude should be able to get started in half a year, and a person with excellent aptitude should be able to get started in a month or so! " Li Yuan closed the booklet.
It takes more than an hour to practice twelve of the eighteen hammer techniques, and another three hours to practice standing still. The apprentices in the middle courtyard simply don't have that much free time. "If I practice like this, my body won't be able to bear the food I had before. I'll be ruined before I can finish practicing..." Li Yuan sighed in his heart, and his desire to leave the central courtyard became more urgent. Knowing that the apprentice in the front yard practiced for four hours a day, which was equivalent to three hours of practice for himself, he felt that it was a waste of time. There is no way to practice martial arts without quitting your job. The three taels of silver given by my second brother could not cover the expenses of practicing martial arts. "Martial arts training is too difficult. A White Ape Cloak Hammer that has no fighting method has to be taught in so many steps. But this is just the basics. Medicine supplements, aside from medicine supplements, without enough meat, the progress will be too slow..." Li Yuan muttered to himself, but looked towards the small house where the lights were still on. On the window paper, the huge figure of Fatty Sun could be vaguely seen. "Beginner's sword skills should be enough, right?" …… …… After sleeping for less than six hours, Li Yuan climbed up from the big bunk bed. He slept with his clothes on, so he got up gently, but as soon as he got up, he heard a sound behind him. "Do you get up so early every day?" Niu Gui’s low voice came. "Occasionally." Li Yuan didn't even look back and pushed the door open and walked out. The early morning hours in late autumn were getting colder day by day. Li Yuan first warmed up, stretched his muscles, and then began to stand in a posture, consciously adjusting his breathing. Ape Six's breathing technique is not complicated, but how can it be easy to adjust, or even go against, the breathing habits formed over the years? Li Yuan tried many times, but he felt a tightness in his chest. He couldn't even stand for half an hour and he couldn't hold on any longer. "How can a normal person breathe like this?" Pressing his chest, Li Yuan took a long time to relax before continuing to try, for fear that he would get a stitch in the side. After this happened several times, it was already dawn and the sounds of other apprentices getting dressed and getting up could be heard from inside the house. "Where are you going?" Seeing Li Yuan leaving the courtyard, Niu Gui, who had not yet finished his practice, couldn't help but ask. "Ask for leave!" Li Yuan answered and came to Fatty Sun's yard with a hammer. The rooster crowed three times before Fatty Sun yawned and pushed the door open. He was startled when he saw Li Yuan: "What are you doing here? You don't think that just because I teach you the Ape Six Breathing Technique, you don't have to work, do you?" "Master Sun, I want to learn how to cook from you."
Li Yuan lowered his head and bowed. As an apprentice in the Intermediate Court, if he wanted to improve his food and salary, he naturally had to ask Fatty Sun, the chef, for help. He had been preparing for this a few days ago and bought the butcher's boning knife for this purpose. Originally he was still thinking about building up friendships first, but after what happened last night, he felt he could give it a try. Even if it fails, at most he will be beaten and scolded. If it succeeds, it will solve his urgent problem. If you don't take good care of your body and don't get enough nutrition, you won't be able to use much of its power even if you have a mastery-level hammer. "You want to be my apprentice? You're really good at climbing up the ladder!" Fatty Sun wanted to curse but also wanted to laugh, but thinking about Li Lin's generosity, he left some room for him: "The money your second brother gave me is not enough to be my apprentice. That's another price..." Li Yuan didn't say anything, but just reached his hand behind his waist. "Still not leaving?" Fatty Sun was full of impatience, and he waved his hand to chase them away, but he was suddenly stunned and his anger surged up: "You dare to take my kitchen knife, little bastard? Are you nervous?" laugh! Pulling out Fatty Sun's big kitchen knife from his waist, before the latter could get angry, Li Yuan raised his hand and made a knife flower. On the way here, he went to the kitchen and took Fatty Sun's knife, which was a weapon that was no less powerful than a training hammer. "what?" Fatty Sun paused. He had been a cook for twenty years, so he naturally had good eyesight. "How many years have you practiced knife skills?" Fatty Sun was a little surprised. The cook in the central courtyard is responsible for the meals of about 180 people, so his knives are naturally not small. His meat cleaver is less than half a meter long and as wide as his face, it is not something that ordinary people can use. But that kid named Li Yuan made a few cuts with his knife, so skillfully that it looked like he was waving his hand? "Go back to cooking, I've practiced for a few years." Li Yuan lowered his head and answered. Having served an old man in his previous life, he naturally knew some knife skills and cooking skills, but the reason he could do it so smoothly was naturally because he had mastered the butcher's boning knife. This is also the reason why he came here. "Good boy, this technique must have taken at least three or four years of hard work, right?" Looking Li Yuan up and down, Fatty Sun's anger gradually subsided and he narrowed his eyes: "Have you remembered what I said yesterday? With your knife skills, it's not impossible to hire you as an assistant, but..." "Thank you, Chef Sun..." Li Yuan knew what he wanted to say, so he immediately handed over the meat cleaver with both hands: "The disciple only wants to be full. As for the rest, I will leave it to the chef to order!" (End of this chapter)
