357: Chapter 354 Feng Shui, Physiognomy, Health Preservation, and Martial Arts Association (Part 1)

Li Changsheng knew that Brother Jie meant well; the other party simply did not know his financial situation and wanted to help him out a little.

As for Boss Ma, he was truly willing to spend money and resources to support talent related to metaphysics, health preservation, and martial arts.

However, Li Changsheng was not really interested in that.

He shook his head, went to the restaurant to enjoy a hearty breakfast, and then came to the area on the second-floor deck of the cruise ship where he usually sunbathed. Habitually, he started with a set of Eight Brocades, followed immediately by Vajra Qigong.

Li Changsheng had developed a routine for this; if he did not practice for a day, he felt uncomfortable all over.

The Eight Brocades stretched his muscles and bones, while the Vajra Qigong boosted his Yang Qi for the day. After finishing both, he felt refreshed, as if the switch for his body had been activated for the day.

When he finished practicing, the first ray of sunlight just happened to emerge from the horizon, shining on him and sending a surge of warmth through his already warm body.

"The Eight Brocades really is a collection of martial arts foundations. While it is said to be for health preservation, the stretching of muscles and bones is precisely the stage for laying the groundwork in martial arts practice. Although it is not Stance Training, it has the effect of Stance Training while also possessing health-preserving benefits."

"The current version of the Eight Brocades has indeed undergone many improvements and has truly fused too many things together, but it is just like a pot of tea; the more you savor it, the more flavor it has."

"When first practicing, one mostly just feels the effect of stretching the muscles and bones."

"If you ponder it carefully, it is divided into the soft southern style and the hard northern style. Martial artists can learn the northern version, which is the Shaolin version of the Eight Brocades. Those with a poor Physique can learn the one recommended by the Sports Bureau; that one is softer."

Li Changsheng exhaled softly. Health-preserving Qigong exercises like Vajra Qigong and the Eight Brocades were just like old tea; the more one savored them, the more flavor they had.

Just then, a series of footsteps rang out: da, da, da. Listening to these steady footsteps, he did not need to think twice to know it was definitely Old Zhang.

He turned his head to look, and sure enough, he saw Old Zhang walking over with a booklet in his hand.

"Master Li, you are certainly leisurely. You asked me to go out and buy things, yet you are here practicing Tai Chi for health preservation?"

"It is not Tai Chi. By the way, did you buy it?"

Li Changsheng glanced at the item in the other person's hand. The cruise ship was docking for a day, and it would still take a few days to reach the port in Zhejiang Province, so he had thought about buying a book to read to pass the boring time.

"Here, it is this. But are you really going to study medicine? I think your current attainments are already enough. Could it be you really want to become an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head and handed the booklet over, unable to understand Li Changsheng's thinking.

He took the booklet and looked at it. On the cover, written in traditional characters, were the four words: [Benevolent Prescriptions for Saving the World].

This was indeed a medical book, and this version that Li Changsheng had requested to buy combined the Republican-era version and the version written by Daoist Master Zhang Zhishun.

The former was compiled by several medical experts over several generations during the Ming and Qing dynasties, while the latter was compiled by Daoist Master Zhang Zhishun during his time traveling on foot to practice medicine, recording his insights from practicing medicine.

"I checked this thing; it seems to mainly talk about traditional Chinese medicine for identifying herbs, typhoid and febrile diseases, strokes, colds, and other symptoms. It does not make much sense for us martial artists to study this."

Zhang Zhao frowned, feeling that martial artists only needed to learn methods related to treating bruises, lumbar muscle strain, bone setting, and the like; why would they need to study it so deeply?

"Hehe, Master Zhang, if you cannot study it, do not discourage Master Li. Do you know that many of the famous masters in modern times were also famous traditional Chinese medicine experts?"

"What does it mean to stop conflict and call it martial arts? Do you really think martial artists are just about fighting and killing? Without knowing a bit of medicine, how would those ancient martial artists pass on their Legacy? Does it not all boil down to the survivor being the king? You do not understand the Dao of survival."

Just then, a burly and imposing figure walked over from the side. It was none other than Azure Dragon.

"Whoa, are you not someone who practices Sumo and wrestling? Why are you pointing fingers at our Xia Kingdom's martial arts?" Zhang Zhao raised an eyebrow and teased with a smile.

"Sorry, I am an expert in Beijing-Tianjin wrestling. I specifically trained in Tianjin for a few years, and I also understand the Beijing dialect. Also, do not think that just because I have Mongolian nationality, I actually identify that way; I do not. I think I am a person of the Xia Kingdom."

"Does your Xia Kingdom not have the Mongolian ethnic group?"

Alright, Zhang Zhao really could not find any words to refute what this guy Azure Dragon said. However, according to this guy's logic, would that hairy bear to the north not also be a part of our Xia Kingdom?

Li Changsheng was not reading this medical book for himself; it was mainly because his grandmother was getting old. If she had a headache or fever, he could solve it with a few movements, and in case of big trouble, he could provide emergency aid.

Besides, learning an extra skill was never a bad thing.

The few of them just lay on their lounge chairs and began to sunbathe. Li Changsheng put the book aside; the sun was too strong now, so it was definitely inconvenient to read.

After a while, Azure Dragon spoke up, "Master Li, ever since we left that place, I do not seem to have seen you practicing boxing much. Do you martial artists not emphasize training through the three hottest days of summer and the three coldest days of winter?"

This also caught the attention of Zhang Zhao, who was sitting nearby. He himself spent an hour or two practicing every day. In contrast, apart from fitness and health preservation, Li Changsheng only occasionally threw a few punches at a dodgeball; it seemed he was only practicing his reaction speed.

Li Changsheng did not even open his eyes and replied indifferently, "How do you know I have not been practicing? Have I not been practicing in the gym?"

"Practiced? Practiced what?"

Zhang Zhao was confused. He thought back carefully, and Azure Dragon was also pondering.

Suddenly, Zhang Zhao thought of something. He looked at Li Changsheng in surprise and said, "Are you talking about that circling? Is this... Bagua Step?"

He remembered that for these days on the cruise ship, Li Changsheng would almost every day hold dumbbells while doing lunges and circling. At first, he thought this was a form of fitness training.

After all, fitness also had training methods involving holding dumbbells while doing lunges and squats, which exercised the waist, core, and legs.

"Hmm, strengthening my leg techniques."

"Master Li, you are amazing. Is there anything from the Three Internal Martial Arts that you do not know?" Zhang Zhao could not help but give a thumbs up.

He genuinely admired him. This Li Changsheng was truly a strange person. Other people learning martial arts all needed specialized masters to guide them, but this guy was different; every now and then, he would pull out a new martial art.

Sometimes he even suspected whether this Master Li had a System in his brain like in novels, one that could learn martial arts with a single click.

"Huh, what is going on down there? Did everyone not go down to go shopping today? Why are there still so many people?"

Suddenly, Zhang Zhao went to the railing, looked down, and could not help but exclaim in surprise.

Li Changsheng was also affected by the noisy sounds, so he got up, walked forward, and took a look. There were indeed many people.

The cruise ship was trapezoidal and had several floors. Each floor had a deck for leisure and sunbathing. At this moment, on the first floor below, the widest deck was occupied by quite a few men and women.

One of them was quite conspicuous; he was not tall and looked like an alien. It was none other than Boss Ma.

"Sigh, you guys did not go down to buy things either? Several of them went to the Hong Kong commercial street over there to buy souvenirs."

And then he heard Zhou Sheng's somewhat sleepy voice ringing out from behind him.