Ultimate True Lord

"Hehe." Liu Longquan chuckled when he saw Jiang Ming notice the wall. "It's a habit from when I was young. Now that I'm old, these things just look nice on the wall. I haven't used them in a long time."

After saying that, he walked inside and opened the window. The sunlight outside shone into the room, instantly brightening the surroundings.

On the table, a round wooden plate holds various kinds of pastries. There are quite a few varieties, but only one or two pieces of each, each with a different color, and they are quite exquisite.

Liu Longquan took out a privately kept tea canister from the cabinet, boiled water and brewed tea himself, pouring a cup for himself and Jiang Ming.

After finishing all that, he sat down at the table, casually picked up a piece of brown sugar pastry, and popped it into his mouth, looking quite pleased. Liu Longquan then pointed to the pastries on the plate, indicating that Jiang Ming shouldn't be so reserved and could eat as much as he wanted.

So the two of them sat down at the table, drinking tea and eating pastries. The relationship between master and apprentice had clearly become much closer.

After finishing two pieces of pastry, Liu Longquan also began to talk about the power of gentleness.

"Softness and hardness are exactly opposite."

"The strength of this force lies in the three words: continuous, flowing, and enduring."

"Mian is the layering of strength, soft yet not broken, capable of using minimal force to achieve maximum effect."

"Flow refers to the flow of qi and blood, which moves and changes constantly in the arms."

"Long-lasting force is like a single strike that doesn't dissipate, with inexhaustible follow-up power, and its duration is far longer than that of hard force. Once soft force is unleashed, it can be used to deliver several strikes without diminishing in power."

Jiang Ming nodded. He had already personally experienced this when he used the soft force yesterday, and Master Liu's words made his understanding even clearer.

"When you first enter the realm of hard power, you need to practice until you can use hard power three times in a short period of time to be considered to have mastered the control of qi and blood."

"When you first enter the realm of soft power, you need to be able to use five moves of Red Sand Palm in succession with just one soft power without the power diminishing. That means you have solidified your soft power."

Liu Longquan explained the concepts of strength and gentleness in contrast, hoping to leave a deeper impression on Jiang Ming.

"Powerful yet effortless, the punch lands like a hammer."

"And soft strength, it makes light things feel heavy, and its power flows like a stream."

"The meaning of 'making light things seem heavy' is that one has a very precise control over one's strength, and can do two things with one unit of strength, thus greatly saving energy consumption."

"When the soft power is perfected, the force flows like a river. When the fists strike, it's like a continuous stream of water, layer upon layer, wave after wave. It's even possible to combine two soft powers in a short time to unleash astonishing force..."

Liu Longquan ate another piece of pastry, paused briefly, and then continued speaking.

"Furthermore, a master of soft power is not limited to using only soft power; he can switch between soft and hard power. He can deliver a powerful punch as well as a palm strike as soft as water."

"Masters of soft strength have stronger qi and blood, so when they unleash hard strength, they are naturally more powerful, far surpassing martial artists who rely on hard strength."

He glanced at Jiang Ming, his tone slightly expectant.

"The realm of soft strength requires painstaking practice. The brown sand layer of my Red Sand Palm also requires years of accumulated training. The Red Sand Pill I gave you before can accelerate this process."

"Plus the few red herbs I'll give you later, I hope you can try to break through the Entangling Force for the first time within two years."

Jiang Ming paused slightly upon hearing this. The refinement of the brown sand level actually required such a long time?

Master Liu's expectations for himself should be similar to Fang Heng's. In other words, even someone with top-tier talent like Fang Heng would need to cultivate for a full two years, which is three times the time required for the White Sand level.

This is still based on the supply of red sand pills and red medicine from Liulongquan.

However, Jiang Ming thought for a moment and realized that after breaking through from the brown sand level to the red sand level, one would become a Entangled Force Martial Artist. Experts of this level were extremely rare in the entire Wangyue City and were definitely honored guests sought after by all the major forces.

If it were really that easy to break through, martial artists specializing in the Entangling Force wouldn't be so rare and precious.

After a moment's thought, Liu Longquan continued.

"My Red Sand Palm technique is named after the idea of ​​red sand filling the sky."

"When you cultivate your brown sand realm to a relatively deep level, when you exert force with soft energy, your palms will turn brownish-red and some blood spots will appear. The stronger your qi and blood, the more blood spots will appear."

"When the blood spots become densely packed and merge into a vast expanse, like a torrential downpour, that means you can break through the Crimson Sand Realm..."

Afterwards, Liu Longquan talked with Jiang Ming for a long time, answering all of Jiang Ming's accumulated confusion and questions about martial arts cultivation.

Among them is some knowledge about visualization diagrams.

Only certain martial arts techniques that cultivate to the level of Entangling Force or higher possess visualization diagrams, such as the visualization diagram "Red Sand Fills the Sky" for Red Sand Palm. Visualization diagrams can help practitioners correct their path and cultivate in the right direction.

Some unorthodox martial arts, which take a radical approach, sometimes only have a general outline that is vague and unclear, making it very easy to go astray and become possessed by evil.

Next, Liu Longquan specifically pointed out the most common pitfalls and hidden dangers in the brown sand cultivation, so that Jiang Ming would remember them well.

One hour later.

Liu Longquan's mouth was dry from talking, so he took another sip of the cool tea.

"Go ahead. If you have any questions later, feel free to ask me. If I'm not here, you can go find your second senior brother."

Jiang Ming cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Master."

After saying that, he picked up the red sand pill and turned to leave the room.

At this moment, Liu Longquan suddenly spoke up and called Jiang Ming to a stop.

"By the way, after you break through to the level of Softness, don't be too flamboyant or cause trouble. Just keep being low-key and composed in your actions and conduct, just like you were before.

He sighed and said slowly.

"Sometimes, being too flamboyant is never a good thing."

"Disciple understands."

Jiang Ming clasped his hands in a fist salute again, then left the room.

……

……

In just half a day, the news of Jiang Ming's breakthrough in soft strength had spread throughout the entire Red Sand Martial Arts School.

Inside the inner courtyard.

Some of the formal disciples who returned to the martial arts school today all turned their gazes to Jiang Ming, their eyes revealing a hint of shock and envy.

Some of them remained at the white sand level, toiling away for one or two years without any hope of breaking through, a truly agonizing experience. Others failed in their attempts to break through to the brown sand level, their potential diminished, making their future even more arduous.

No one expected that Jiang Ming would actually take less than eight months to steadily step into the realm of soft strength!

It's important to know that Jiang Ming only broke through to the Qi-strength level near the deadline, barely becoming a formal disciple from the outer academy. He was usually quiet and reserved, and didn't stand out much in the martial arts school.

But surprisingly, it was him who accumulated knowledge and experience before achieving great things, becoming a late bloomer.

After crossing the threshold of hardness, it made rapid progress and directly broke through to softness.

At this point, Jiang Ming had become the fourth master of soft energy in the Red Sand Martial Arts School, second only to his second, third, and fourth senior brothers!