161: Chapter 158 Stepping on the Transformation Stakes

Even the vehicles here slowed down slightly, as many people on board couldn't help but turn their heads to watch.

Little Mike was a student at a Blue Ribbon school in the Bay Area. Only ten years old, he was the shortest among his peers.

Being short was one thing, but he was also very frail. He was of Chinese descent, and although he had acquired US citizenship, his Asian face meant he was frequently bullied by other students at school.

Today, he followed the other students onto the school bus as usual, sitting silently in a window seat in the back row.

He had been bullied by his classmates again yesterday. The bullies were both Black and White; they had even gone so far as to pull down his pants, making him completely infamous at school.

He didn't want to come to school today and wanted to transfer, but his father told him that the family's situation didn't allow for it.

His father, whose mind was only on work, offered no comfort. Instead, he scolded him harshly, telling him that if he was bullied, he should ask himself what he did wrong!

"No one bullies you for no reason. You need to find the cause within yourself."

Hearing his father's response, Little Mike wanted to cry. He hadn't done anything wrong; some people just enjoyed bullying others for fun.

But he also knew that his father's and his own Asian identity were not well-received here. Some racially biased companies even strictly boycotted hiring Asians.

While it sounds nice to say this country is sensitive to racial discrimination, that only applies to Black people. For Asians, it's a different story; they are treated like a group completely cast aside.

When he was bullied at school, the teachers wouldn't help him at all; they would only turn a blind eye to such behavior.

Of course, there were exceptions, but there was a prerequisite: you had to be rich—very rich—and ideally become a member of the school board.

Thinking of this, Little Mike felt a wave of depression, staring blankly at the morning light outside the window.

Suddenly, he saw an Asian man performing strange movements on the bridge railing. Setting aside the movements themselves, just seeing him standing there made Little Mike's heart skip a beat.

Kung Fu!

The word surfaced in his mind almost instantly. It appeared so quickly because his room was plastered with posters of Brother Dragon.

While typical kids might have posters of cartoons or even superheroes, in Little Mike's heart, there was only one superhero: Brother Dragon! The legendary Lee!

"Oh my god, is that Bruce Lee?"

Watching the man with the same skin color as his own performing high-difficulty, high-risk movements that were unimaginable to ordinary people, he felt his long-suppressed heart begin to stir.

Looking out the window, the young boy's eyes flickered with admiration and a light called hope.

This person has the same skin color as me. If he can be this powerful, it means we aren't an inferior race meant to be bullied from birth.

Right!

I was never some 'yellow monkey'!

I want to be like Bruce Lee and say NO to everything!

—

Li Changsheng had no idea he had ignited a young boy's fighting spirit. Perhaps years later, there would be a frantic admirer of his who might become a combat expert proficient in American combat sports and even Chinese Kung Fu.

His physique might be ordinary, but by then, no one would dare to bully him casually anymore.

As Li Changsheng practiced his punches while taking small steps, he gained quite a few insights. His Taiji Stance, which hadn't progressed for a long time, suddenly leaped into the level of the Transformative Stance.

"I see. Practicing on flat ground is ultimately not as practical as this. Even standing in a water basin or on a hemisphere to sway with the wind isn't as good as this current situation."

"Discarding leads to relaxation, and relaxation leads to softness. Seek softness through hardness, use softness through hardness, use hardness through softness, and balance hardness and softness. Only then does it align with Taiji, becoming a unified whole, and the great work is accomplished!"

Li Changsheng was filled with emotion. He had set aside time to practice every day back in Shenzhen and never slacked off after returning to his hometown. However, after gradually getting used to the slight swaying of the water basin, he had slowly formed a fixed, rigid routine.

This caused his Taiji Stance to remain stuck at the level of the Moving Stance, but now, the Transformative Stance was truly achieved.

Softness through relaxation, using hardness with softness, and using softness with hardness—seeking a point of stability amidst the wind and this extreme imbalance.

It must be said that many principles of the Old Ancestors are interconnected; this actually shared quite a bit with the concept of the Doctrine of the Mean.

It contained principles for conducting oneself, for governance, and even more so, the Martial Dao was within it.

As he stepped into the Taiji Transformative Stance, Li Changsheng could vaguely feel the changes in his body.

"Is this what Taiji calls Tendon Transformation, Bone Expansion, and Qi Distribution?"

Li Changsheng could feel his steps and body becoming lighter, every step seemingly containing the most ingenious way of exerting force—a sense of being just right.

From an outside perspective, his walk had a distinct rhythm and a transcendent aura, giving off a somewhat ethereal feeling.

Tendon Transformation involves adjusting the body's posture to fully activate the tendons, making them strong and powerful. As the old saying goes: 'An inch longer tendon, a share more strength.'

So, there is a reason why Taiji Stake Training serves as the Foundation of Taiji.

Bone Expansion refers to the skin and bone membranes being fully activated, gradually producing air sacs shaped like hollow drums, thus creating a massive resistance against external strikes.

Taiji Stake Training is both a form of health preservation and an expression of Internal Martial Arts. When the skill is perfected, directing Qi to a certain spot can create a bulging sensation.

At this moment, Li Changsheng carefully directed Qi to his arm. Looking closely, he saw a raised area; unlike a muscular bulge, this was even more distinct.

As the Qi circulated, this small bulge began to move slowly, like a small air pocket constantly traveling under the skin.

This was Bone Expansion and Qi Distribution!

Generally speaking, even if one reaches the Transformative Stance, achieving this step isn't done overnight. It requires day after day of tempering the Foundation and accumulating Internal Martial Arts.

However, Li Changsheng had already entered the level of Hidden Power, which in today's martial arts circles would qualify him as a Sect Head.

Regarding this phenomenon, Li Changsheng had seen a television program before. There was a performance where a middle-aged man in a martial arts uniform demonstrated a bulge moving across the surface of his body.

At the time, he thought it was a magic trick or an illusion. Looking at it now, that was likely a master of Taiji Internal Martial Arts.

But it had been too long; it seemed to have been filmed in the early 2000s, and he had forgotten the name of the program.

"This effect is quite similar to the Twelve Forms of Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing; it also uses Qi to improve strike resistance."

He felt the effects were somewhat redundant, but it was better than nothing. Crucially, looking at his panel, both his Lifespan and stamina had seen significant increases.

[stamina: 9

energy: 11

Lifespan: 77 years and 10 days]

"My Lifespan increased by two years in one go? However, it probably won't grow so rapidly from here on."

Li Changsheng pondered inwardly. Then, finishing a set of Xingyi Five Elements, he resumed his running speed and began dashing toward Chinatown.