Chinese martial arts: From human punching bags to martial arts mastery

The night was deep, enveloping the entire boxing gym in a profound silence. The dim yellow oil lamps cast a hazy glow, and the only sound in the backyard was the soft rustling of the wind through the woodpile.

Yan Tieqiao leaned on his gleaming hardwood crutch, a chill creeping through his injured leg, yet he remained unmoved. His sharp, bell-like eyes were fixed on his beloved disciple, each word as heavy as metal and stone, each syllable carrying the blood of the martial world and the bond between master and disciple.

These three things directly revealed Chen Feng's future path, enemies, and hidden dangers, without holding anything back.

The first thing was "Water Rat," who was expelled from the sect for his bad character. In fact, Yan Tieqiao already knew that the traitor who sold his whereabouts and caused him to fall into an ambush and have his leg broken was this very scoundrel.

"I spared his life so you could practice on him. Once you're skilled enough, you can personally cleanse the sect—this is your debt, your blade, and also a way to set rules for the entire martial arts school!" Yan Tieqiao's voice was cold and hard as iron, each word carrying a resolute tone. This was foreshadowing, and also the first path of killing that was paved for Chen Feng.

Chen Feng nodded emphatically, his knuckles clenched suddenly, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He would drink the blood of this traitor!

Secondly, Yan Tieqiao's tone suddenly turned serious as he revealed Chen Feng's most dangerous nemesis. That person's cultivation was unfathomable, he held a high position in the Martial Arts Alliance, appeared virtuous on the surface, loved empty fame, but in reality he was narrow-minded, vindictive, and a hypocrite who hid a knife behind his smile.

The hatred for Yan Tieqiao's broken leg was largely due to this man. Gazing into the deep night, his tone carried the weight of entrusting his life to someone: "If anything happens to me one day, Chen Feng, you must protect Yan Xiaomei and her mother. They are my only concern!"

In short, it weighs a ton!

Chen Feng felt a burning sensation in his chest, nodded heavily, and etched this entrustment deep into his heart.

Thirdly, Yan Tieqiao directly pointed out the fatal flaw in Chen Feng's two attacks on the Axe Gang and the Green Gang's finishing blows.

He ran his hand across the firewood, the force penetrating the wood and leaving two distinct marks, one shallow and one deep: "You used a kitchen knife; the chopping marks are shallow and narrow, indicating skillful application of force. An axe's chopping marks are deep and wide, showing powerful and heavy force. The two are worlds apart; a martial arts master could see through them at a glance!"

Chen Feng's heart skipped a beat, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back. He had acted cleanly and efficiently the two times before, and no one had ever investigated him. It turned out that it wasn't because he hid well, but because Yan Tieqiao had been secretly cleaning up his mess and covering up his tracks, erasing all traces!

"Before the initial burst of power, conceal your edge!"

Yan Tieqiao sternly established the ironclad rules: "From tonight onwards, you must come to the boxing gym every single day, not even for a moment, not to show your face, and not to display any reckless courage!"

By the time he finished speaking, the night was already extremely deep, and even the stars had faded.

Chen Feng bowed deeply to Yan Tieqiao, turned and stepped into the night, hurrying home.

"Creak—"

When he pushed open the door, the room was still lit by a dim yellow oil lamp. His mother was mending old clothes under the lamp, and Xiao Aqiao was leaning on the table with her chin propped up. She was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping, but she was still waiting for Chen Feng to return safely.

"Brother Feng, you're finally back!"

Xiao Aqiao jumped up and rushed to his side. She immediately noticed the blood blisters on Chen Feng's palm, the tender red skin peeled off, and specks of wood chips and bloodstains on it.

Her eyes instantly reddened, and she gently touched it, her voice trembling with tears: "Your hand...does it hurt? How did it get so badly injured?"

The mother quickly put down her needlework, lit the oil lamp, and the flame crackled as it burned.

She walked over quickly, took Chen Feng's hand, and her brows furrowed instantly. She sighed with heartache, but she knew that her son was risking his life for his future, so she couldn't bring herself to say a word of blame. She turned around to get the ointment.

Chen Feng quickly stopped her, his tone calm and firm: "Mom, it's just a minor injury, nothing serious. Every man gets hurt when he's practicing boxing!"

He then spoke seriously, "Oh, right, I have something to tell you. For the next period of time, I will be focusing on my training at the boxing gym. My master will be teaching me everything he knows, so I have to train like crazy. I'll be leaving early and coming home late every day. Don't wait for me to eat, and don't worry about me; the gym provides meals!"

Little Aqiao clutched his clothes tightly, her eyes red, but she nodded understandingly, repeatedly whispering to him not to get hurt again.

Chen Feng agreed and went to rest early.

The pain and warmth of that night seeped into Chen Feng's heart, transforming into a fierce determination to become stronger, to protect his family, and to repay his teacher's kindness.

The next day.

As dawn broke, Chen Feng broke through the morning mist and headed straight for the boxing gym.

Yan Tieqiao was already waiting in the backyard and led him directly into the kitchen: "In the morning, ostensibly you'll be cooking, but secretly you'll be practicing martial arts, concealing your skills within the kitchen, so as not to attract attention!"

Smoke was already rising in the kitchen, and flames were spitting excited tongues from the stove, making it a perfect place for secret cultivation.

Following his master's instructions, Chen Feng stood with his feet apart, lowered his waist and assumed a horse stance, firmly establishing himself in the Tongbei Quan stance training. As soon as he focused his mind, the Qi and blood in his body began to circulate with the stance training, and an invisible progress bar seemed to appear before his eyes.

[Tongbei Quan - Stance Training for Beginners: 114/500]

With his hidden ailments fully revealed, his aura flowed along the stance training, and his experience points skyrocketed.

With each additional moment he stood, his muscles and bones became more taut, and sweat streamed down his forehead and chin, dripping onto the blue bricks and spreading out a small wet patch.

[Tongbei Quan - Stance Training for Beginners: 121/500]

Just as they were getting into the swing of things, a gentle, fragrant breeze wafted over.

Yan Xiaomei approached with a bowl of congee and cornbread. Seeing that he was covered in sweat and his cheeks were flushed, she took out a clean handkerchief without saying a word and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with a tender and careful gesture.

Not far away.

The master's wife leaned against the door frame, watching this scene with a knowing smile in her eyes. She didn't make a sound to disturb them, but quietly stepped back, leaving the two of them with a quiet space for cultivation.

......

[Tongbei Quan - Stance Training for Beginners: 147/500]

After a morning of standing meditation, Chen Feng felt his blood and energy flowing smoothly, and his foundation became even more solid.

In the morning, we practice stance training to build a solid foundation for internal strength; in the afternoon, we practice chopping wood to develop external chopping power.

The piles of hardwood were stacked like small mountains. Chen Feng gripped his axe tightly and had just brought down the first blow.

Yan Tieqiao, leaning on his cane, approached and spoke in a very low voice, barely audible to the two of them: "Wang Laojiu, the leader of the Axe Gang, is a master of the axe, and his men are so fierce that their axe power can cleave through steel plates. You and the Axe Gang are destined for a life-or-death battle. Chopping wood isn't just chores; it's training your chopping power, your inch-force, and your explosive power!"

A single sentence can awaken someone from a dream.

Chen Feng instantly understood his master's good intentions—this was no chopping wood, but a pre-battle against a master of the mountain-splitting axe!

With this thought in mind, he gripped the axe tightly, putting all his strength into each strike, sending hardwood shards flying, but he refused to stop even when his arms ached and went numb.

Not long after.

His already chafed palms were rubbed raw again by the axe handle, blood dripping from between his fingers onto the firewood.

Seeing this, Yan Xiaomei felt a pang of pain in her heart. She immediately fetched her medicine box, took out Yunnan Baiyao, and secretly mixed in the very little Qi Xue San that was left in the bottle. She carefully applied it to his skin and then wrapped it tightly with clean gauze.

Once the medicine is applied, the cooling sensation penetrates directly to the skin and flesh, and the pain instantly subsides by more than half. Its healing power far surpasses that of ordinary ointments.

This scene was witnessed by the fellow students practicing martial arts, and it instantly caused an uproar.

A group of people were so jealous they were practically bleeding with envy, jealousy, and hatred mixed together, their eyes piercing Chen Feng like knives.

Qian Hu, in particular, already saw Chen Feng as a thorn in his side. Seeing Yan Xiaomei taking such good care of him, his jealousy and hatred deepened, and his gaze toward Chen Feng became more sinister.

Just then.

"Knock knock knock—"

A series of urgent knocks sounded, and truckloads of hardwood were continuously being delivered into the boxing gym, piling up so much that there was no room to step in the backyard.

As the crowd watched the hardwood logs being chopped up pile up like a small mountain, their mockery and insults became even more unbearable.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so much firewood. I bet Chen Feng can't afford the tuition, so he's paying it off with labor!"

"I heard he was out visiting prostitutes and needed to buy their freedom. He's accumulated a mountain of debt from his affairs, so he's here working like a slave to earn money to pay it off!"

"No wonder, this good-for-nothing wants to be a human punching bag to make money, he's really a disgrace to us!"

"A good-for-nothing who can only cook and chop wood, does he deserve to be in a boxing gym? Does he deserve Yan Xiaomei's concern?"

The language was foul and offensive, each word piercing the ear but unable to penetrate Chen Feng's heart.

His face was ashen, and the veins on his axe-wielding hand bulged, but he remembered his master Cangfeng's instructions and remained silent, focusing only on chopping wood.

"That's enough!"

A cold shout suddenly rang out.

Yan Tieqiao came out just in time to see this scene. He slammed his cane down heavily on the ground with a dull thud, which made the ground tremble slightly. The poison in his broken leg surged due to the movement.

His face paled slightly, but his gaze swept over the crowd like cold iron as he shouted sternly, "Anyone who dares to utter another word, get out of the boxing gym immediately!"

When the master lost his temper, the entire room fell silent instantly. Those who had been shouting earlier all lowered their heads and dared not make a sound. They could only glare at Chen Feng with resentful eyes.

Chen Feng lowered his eyes, swallowing all the ridicule, malice, and jealousy into his heart, transforming them into immense force in his hands.

With a swift swing of the axe, the wood shattered like mud.