279: Chapter 276, Phase Two Completed

"Stop, stop, I'm not fighting anymore! If we keep going like this, we'll be exhausted to death before we can even decide a winner."

Fifteen minutes later, Zhang Zhao retreated repeatedly, waving his hands continuously. His chest heaved violently, beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his body, and steam rose from his skin.

Li Changsheng was also covered in sweat, though his breathing was much steadier and more even than Zhang Zhao's, but he also felt quite tired.

The high-intensity sparring that had just lasted for nearly twenty minutes was entirely Southern Fist against Northern Leg.

It was either Parting the Wild Horses Mane, White Crane Spreads Its Wings, or Double Peaks Pierce the Ears, or it was the Southern style's continuous defensive and offensive Moves like the Twelve-Step Imitation, Heavenly Stance and Earthly Fiend, Lady's Dressing, Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix, and Ferocious Tiger Leaving the Cave—Moves that used the small to defeat the large, skill to defeat clumsiness, and speed to defeat slowness.

Theoretically, Zhang Zhao's foundation in Shaolin and Sun Style Tai Chi was stronger than Li Changsheng's understanding of Southern Fist, but Li Changsheng was very good at taking shortcuts. By the end, he was shamelessly using techniques from Tai Xu Fist, Tuntuxu, and Wushi Taiji.

Well, with Taiji, as long as the opponent's foundation isn't too much stronger, you can force a fifty-fifty draw.

They fought for a long time, repeatedly erupting with Dark Energy, but neither could do anything to the other.

"I used to think Southern Fist was mediocre, but now I'm impressed. This Southern Fist, after being improved upon Northern styles, is indeed very suitable for the weak to defeat the strong. Even if you can't win, you can just pester your opponent to death."

Zhang Zhao was very helpless; this exchange with Li Changsheng had truly frustrated him to no end.

Hearing this, Li Changsheng just smiled. Southern Fist was actually very strong; it should be said that it was not inferior to Northern Fist.

It was just that his own foundation in Southern Fist was a bit thin; he had barely learned the basics of five styles of Southern Fist.

But speaking of these five styles, only Tai Xu Fist, Nanzhi Fist, and Tuntuxu were quite comprehensive, and even then, he hadn't mastered them.

As for the other two, Duck Fist and Turtle-Ox Fist, they indeed had significant flaws, were not very practical, and were not comprehensive—a common problem with small-scale local fist styles.

"If my foundation in Southern Fist were more solid, even if I had mastered just one style, this fight would have been different."

Li Changsheng thought to himself. After this practical combat, his feeling about the biggest difference between Southern Fist and Northern Fist was that it was refined!

Yes!

Southern Fist was very refined in many of its Moves. This was because people in the Fujian and Guangdong regions were historically smaller and physically weaker.

Therefore, they paid more attention to details.

This had both pros and cons. The good thing was that it was more suitable for smaller people. As long as one practiced well, they could completely beat up big guys.

The bad thing was that it wasn't suitable for big guys. If a big guy practiced both Southern and Northern styles, they would find that Northern Fist and Northern Leg were more suitable.

After all, those with a large build lacked agility, while Southern Fist was more suitable for those with nimble hands and agile bodies.

Essentially, Southern Fist relied on techniques to produce stronger force and clever ways to subdue enemies. But if your raw strength was powerful enough to deal sufficient damage with a single punch, then these techniques were just flashy gimmicks.

Li Changsheng's strength and speed were terrifying enough, so in the exchange just now, Zhang Zhao felt uncomfortable, and he did too.

"Among Southern Fists, perhaps Hung Ga and Mo Family Fist are more suitable for me. The others, like Wing Chun, just don't suit me."

Li Changsheng shook his head inwardly.

Wing Chun became famous worldwide because of a few movies, but in fact, it was indeed a style very suitable for the weak to defeat the strong and for speed to defeat slowness.

If you look closely at photos of the real Master Ip, he was not strong, standing at 1.6 meters tall, yet he was able to enjoy great fame. This had a lot to do with the compatibility between Wing Chun and him.

If he were in Boxing, he would at best be considered a super flyweight.

Practicing the Three Internal Martial Arts or Northern External Martial Arts wouldn't bring out his advantages. The lighter and thinner one was, the more speed and agility became their specialty, and Wing Chun focused most on this.

Just as Li Changsheng and Zhang Zhao were catching their breath, Li Changsheng suddenly noticed a prompt in his mind.

[Congratulations to the host for completing the second stage of the Path of the Grandmaster. Challenge Dark Energy experts 4/4. Reward: Wushi Taiji (Complete), Free Attribute Point +1.]

[The third stage task of the Path of the Grandmaster is now issued: The hard requirement for a Grandmaster is Hua Jin. Reach Hua Jin before the age of thirty.]

Hearing these prompts, Li Changsheng felt both joy and worry.

What he was happy about was naturally that he could finally learn Taiji completely in the true sense.

Previously, whether it was Tai Xu Fist or Taiji Stake Training, these could only be considered as understanding Taiji from the sidelines.

But this time, truly learning Taiji meant so much.

When it came to reaching Hua Jin, mastering Taiji was definitely of great benefit. Although the Three Internal Martial Arts could reach Hua Jin more easily than other fist styles, if one had to rank them, Taiji would be the best.

"But why is it Wushi Taiji? Could it be because this is the orthodox Taiji? It's just that the current Wudang Taiji doesn't seem to be the original version from Grandmaster Sanfeng."

Although he hadn't delved deeply into Taiji before, as a famous Internal Martial Arts style, how could he not know anything about it?

It is said that the "Assassinating the King and Killing the Rack" incident during the Qing Dynasty made it impossible for Wudang descendants to openly practice martial arts, so they had to incorporate the fierce into the soft, thus changing the original Grandmaster Sanfeng Taiji.

The current Wudang Taiji was adapted by later generations, so strictly speaking, none of the current branches of Taiji could be called the orthodox Taiji.

However, just as Li Changsheng was feeling suspicious, the System's memory transmission was already complete.

In an instant, a massive amount of physical memory and cognitive memory flooded his mind and body, and Li Changsheng's eyes brightened little by little.

"So that's it, so that's it!"

Li Changsheng couldn't help but mutter to himself. It turned out that this so-called Wushi Taiji did not refer to the current Wudang Taiji, but to the ancient version of Wudang Taiji.

The ancient method of Taiji was also known as the Innate Fist, with 37 true forms.

It originated in the Tang Dynasty, and later Grandmaster Sanfeng incorporated his Innate Taiji into Daoist alchemy, merging martial arts and Daoist alchemy into one, allowing Taiji to also be used to seek truth, thereby giving Taiji its transcendent characteristics.

It focused mainly on health preservation and longevity, and it was more like the fundamental method of Internal Martial Arts, the general outline of Taiji.

The current Wushi Taiji belonged to Internal Martial Arts and had some combat capabilities.

But the Taiji of the past was hailed as the martial arts of the alchemy scriptures. Even if one were to research it today, from the classics left by Grandmaster Sanfeng such as "Treatise on Gathering Spirit and Qi for Learning Taiji," "Theory on Taiji Practice," "Song on Taiji Practice," and "Treatise on Taiji,"

It was not difficult to see from these books that Grandmaster Sanfeng's true Taiji back then was dedicated to Daoist alchemy practice and was a method of physical cultivation for alchemists.

And if one examined it carefully, one could find that many of the cores of Chen-style Tai Chi were extremely similar to Grandmaster Sanfeng's first article, "Treatise on Gathering Spirit and Qi for Learning Taiji."

And the subsequent Yang, Wu, and Wu (Hao) schools were all evolved based on Grandmaster Sanfeng's theoretical foundation.

Sun Style Tai Chi was a bit special because it originated the latest. It was created by the modern Master Sun Lutang, and was created by extracting the essence from the other major schools of today and combining it with Xingyi and Bagua.

"So... I have obtained an extremely precious ancient method of health preservation and Daoist cultivation. Its combat ability is not strong, unless I supplement it with other Taiji styles that are capable of combat. The System is trying to help me reach Hua Jin!"

After carefully contemplating it, Li Changsheng understood the System's intention. This ancient Taiji was more like a guide on how to preserve health, how to Cultivate the body, and the principles of Taiji's force generation.

It was equivalent to making one understand the starting point of Taiji's energy. This was to make Li Changsheng trace the source; the fundamental could be seen in the subtle details.

"According to the description of this ancient Taiji, practicing to Major Achievement, Hua Jin is just the entry point, and Bao Dan is the fundamental. With Bao Dan, the form Moves with the will, and one can exert force through the air; wherever the will goes, one can subdue the enemy. It's a bit mystical!"

Feeling the knowledge in his mind, Li Changsheng clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Bao Dan is still too early for me. For now, I'd better honestly comprehend Taiji Hua Jin first."

Shaking his head, Li Changsheng did not intend to dwell on this.

At this moment, Zhang Zhao had already calmed his breathing, and his gaze toward Li Changsheng showed that he still felt unfulfilled.

"Master Li, let's stop playing this Southern vs. Northern confrontation. You are an expert in Xingyi and Baji Quan, and I want to see your real kung fu."

Hearing this, Li Changsheng suddenly came back to his senses and looked at Zhang Zhao, discovering that this rough man's eyes were already glowing with excitement, as if he were saying, "Come on, beat me up."