Capítulo 44: Training (V): TaiChi & Down The Peak

{TAI-CHI: According To A Lot Of People, This Was The Healthiest Form Of Martial Arts In Existence, It's Application For Defense Is Unpararelled And Is The Martial Art That's Most In Tune With The Breath Of Nature, The Life Blood Of The World Itself; Qi. To Fight A Master Of Tai-chi Is To Fight Yourself, Because They Never Hit Back, You Do. With Great Finesse And Skill In The Applications Of Using An Opponent's Force Against Them, Taichi Masters Of The Wudang Sect Have Become Almost Untouchable In All Of Their Fights. But Tai-chi Is Neigong, An Internal Martial Art That Bases On The Theory Of Using Softness To Counter The Hard, To Flow Like The Wind And Water. It Has It's Weaknesses, And A Lot Of Them Too, It's Just That To Fight With A Tai-chi Master Is To Humiliate Yourself In The Worst Possible Way. Because They Might Not Mean It, But Using This Art Makes It Seem Like You're Not Taking Your Opponent Seriously, You Will Hurt Using The Least Amount Of Force And Movements, More Often Than Not Dancing Around The Strikes Of A Cultivator And Leaving That Person Looking Like A Bumbling Fool.}

A RANDOM PRIOSNER OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY

"So Alex, what have you learnt from my demonstration, I hope you were paying close attention to what I was doing."

Alex nodded his head at his mom, there were so many twists and turns and moves in what she just showed him, but overall he could simplify it into 42 different moves. It was hard to call this a martial art and not an exercise, but at the same time you couldn't really call it an exercise either. Alex sat down crossed legged, lost in his own world as he analyzed and tried to understand what he had just observed, there were just too many profound knowledge to be gained from it.

"Do not stress yourself, Taichi is one of the most profound arts in existence, because of how much depth is holds, other martial arts have been derived from it. I will send you a proper manual later in the day, along with the manual for the Taiji fists, a more attack centered form of TAI-CHI. Unfortunately you're ready for another sword skill, not until you've mastered that which you have. In the mean time, why don't you explore the sect, you might find something you like. This life is a life of strength, but it's still a life, don't forget to live it."

Then she walked away, with Alex's eye following her every movement until she disappeared from his sight and down the mountain peak. Looks like every single member of his family had a thing for dramatic exits.

But Alex pondered on what she just said and realized that she was right, there has to be more to his life than just hiding himself away and training. And with Anya gone, he's bound to be very lonely, and while he's not looking to replace his best friend, it wouldn't be a bad idea to meet new people for once.

Alex went back into the mansion to get clean and at least put on some fresh clothes, he was sweaty from all the training, and somehow he just wanted to look his best on the way down. As he was getting ready he spotted both his swords, and his strange polymorphic walking stick, one of the masks already had a power to it, which was the power of Fire, but he still knew pretty much nothing about those masks, and their abilities, but that wasn't exactly his fault though, his bloody ancestors didn't give him much of a clue about what to do, only that the answers will be given to him by said walking stick, when he was ready.

It made him angry, but Alex decided to leave his swords behind and left with the walking stick, of course the stick was really ugly, so he had it shift into a belt that he used on the black jeans he was wearing. His long sleeved T-shirt was long enough to cover the belt, plus the disciple robes they gave to him also helped to keep it concealed. Apart from his name, this walking stick and the masks within were all he had left of his home, plus he knew it had great power, and there was no way he was going to leave it exposed for people to see, at least not until he has finally understood what it's all about.

Alex opened the door to his room and came face to face with an elderly man, this was the servant that had been looking after the mansion before Alex's arrival on the mountain peak, so right now in one way or another, this man was now his servant.

"Young master Zhang Feng are you going down the mountain? Please give me a moment to prepare so that I can accompany you." The old man said with a smile.

"Laozi you don't have to stand on all these ceremonies, sure I'll wait for you, but please in the future I would be better if you just called Alex, that's the name I'm used to." Alex said to him as he brushed imaginary dust off the black disciple robes on him.

The old servant just bowed his head a bit before vanishing from Alex's front, Alex was not surprised, at this point he already knew that the old man had more power than he was letting on, but it was absolutely weird seeing someone with his abilities being nothing more than a servant. Alex went outside and stood at the edge of the stairs that would lead him back down the mountain peak, he didn't have to wait long as five seconds later Laozi was back with a pitch black spear hanging off his back, and a little hand bag hanging off his shoulders.

Alex felt like he should probably ask a question, but at the moment he couldn't bothered to do so. It's not as if the old servant retrieved his spear just so that he could find a way to kill Alex. Anyway the young man accompanied by his old servant began to make his descent down the peak, going down to his new home, and invariably to his new family, But also.....to trouble.