58: Chapter 58 The Intent to Subdue the Dragon
The next morning, Lu Mingyuan was awakened by a howling sound.
He got up and went out, seeing dozens of beggars practicing martial arts on the flat ground at the mountaintop. Some were punching, some kicking, and some swinging staffs; shouts rose and fell, making the mountain forest rustle.
The Sect Leader stood in the center of the crowd, slowly performing a few palm techniques.
The palm technique was extremely slow, so slow it seemed he wasn't practicing but pushing clouds. Yet with every palm strike, a faint rumble of thunder echoed in the air, like muffled thunder rolling in the distant sky or a hidden dragon whispering in a deep valley.
Lu Mingyuan watched, entranced.
There were only three moves—starting, striking, and retracting. Yet within these three moves, infinite variations seemed hidden. Starting was like a dragon lurking in the abyss, striking was like a dragon ascending to heaven, and retracting was like a dragon returning to the sea. Each move was simple to the extreme, yet profound to the extreme.
The Sect Leader finished the three moves and stood still, concluding his practice.
He looked at Lu Mingyuan: "Do you understand?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head: "I don't understand."
The Sect Leader smiled.
"It is right that you don't understand. This is the Dragon Subduing Palm, the sect-defining ultimate technique of my Beggars Gang. In eight hundred years, no more than ten people have been able to understand it."
He beckoned: "Come here."
Lu Mingyuan walked over.
The Sect Leader said: "Show me a punch."
Lu Mingyuan was startled.
"Punch however you like, use your greatest strength."
Lu Mingyuan nodded, took a deep breath, and threw a punch.
For this punch, he used seventy percent of his power. With his Early Stage Nascent Soul cultivation and twenty-three years of hard-earned martial Dao Foundation, the punch produced a sharp whistling sound in the air; where the fist wind reached, leaves ten feet away rustled and fell.
The Sect Leader watched the punch and nodded.
"Plenty of power. But do you know where the problem with this punch lies?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
The Sect Leader said: "When you throw this punch, you are using force, not momentum."
"What is the difference between force and momentum?"
"Force is your own, momentum belongs to heaven and earth," the Sect Leader said. "When force is exhausted, it is gone; when momentum is borrowed, it is inexhaustible."
He walked to a giant boulder, weighing at least ten thousand catties.
"Watch."
He slowly pushed out his right palm, his movement so slow it was as if he were supporting a thousand-catty weight. But the moment his palm touched the boulder, it burst apart, shattering into seven or eight pieces.
Lu Mingyuan's pupils contracted.
The Sect Leader retracted his palm, calm and composed.
"This strike used momentum, not force. Where does momentum come from? From the earth, from the mountains, from the rivers, from heaven and earth. I simply borrowed it to use for a moment."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"The true meaning of the Dragon Subduing Palm lies not in subduing the dragon, but in borrowing momentum."
The Sect Leader began to teach the three remnant palm moves.
It was called teaching, but it was actually just a demonstration. He performed the three moves over and over, each time extremely slowly—so slow that Lu Mingyuan could see the movement of every muscle, the rhythm of every breath, and the flow of every wisp of True Qi.
Lu Mingyuan followed along.
On the first day, he practiced three hundred times and gained nothing.
On the second day, he practiced another three hundred times, still without understanding.
The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day...
Every day, he practiced those three moves. Starting, striking, retracting. Starting, striking, retracting. He repeated them thousands, tens of thousands of times, until his arms ached, his True Qi was depleted, and he was utterly exhausted.
The Sect Leader never gave instructions; he simply finished the three moves every morning and then went to handle the gang's affairs. Sometimes he mediated disputes, sometimes he distributed grain and rice, and sometimes he just sat by the fire, listening to the beggars tell their stories.
While practicing his palms, Lu Mingyuan watched.
He gradually discovered that the way the Sect Leader handled those matters was the same as the way he practiced his palms.
It was all about borrowing momentum.
When mediating disputes, he didn't force a judgment of right and wrong but followed the ways of the world, letting both parties find their own way out. When distributing grain, he didn't give charity from a high position but made the beggars feel they were helping others, not being helped. When listening to stories, he just sat there, letting people's emotions flow and settle naturally.
He never used brute force.
Yet everything he did succeeded.
At dusk on the seventh day, Lu Mingyuan was still practicing those three moves.
Starting, striking, retracting. Starting, striking, retracting. He had practiced until he was numb, until he forgot what he was doing, simply repeating mechanically.
Suddenly, as he pushed out a palm strike, he felt something.
It wasn't strength; it was something indescribable.
It was as if when he pushed out this strike, the entire heaven and earth were helping him. The wind blew from behind, pushing his palm; the earth rose from beneath his feet, supporting his body; the distant Dongting Lake, with its vast green waves, seemed to tremble slightly, resonating with his strike.
As the palm landed, a bluestone ten feet away silently split apart.
Lu Mingyuan stared blankly at his palm.
The Sect Leader had appeared behind him at some unknown time.
"Enlightened?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment: "I've gained a bit of insight."
"What did you realize?"
"Extreme Hardness Gives Rise to Softness."
The Sect Leader nodded.
"Tell me more."
Lu Mingyuan said: "If this strike uses force, it is hard, rigid, and irreversible. But if it uses momentum, there must be softness within the hardness, and flexibility within the rigidity. Just like the lake water, it seems extremely soft, yet dripping water can pierce stone; softness can overcome hardness."
He paused.
"Extreme hardness giving rise to softness doesn't mean softness comes after hardness; it means softness is inherently within hardness. Just like this Dragon Subduing Palm, it seems incomparably fierce, but when truly exerting power, the whole body is relaxed. Only when relaxed to the extreme can the hardness truly emerge."
The Sect Leader looked at him, a flicker of gratification in his eyes.
"Young man, these seven days of practice were not in vain."
He walked to the split bluestone and patted it gently.
"This stone was shattered by the vibration of your strike, not broken by your hit. What is the difference between vibrating and hitting?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"Hitting is force coming from me; vibrating is momentum coming from outside."
The Sect Leader smiled.
"Correct. The true meaning of the Dragon Subduing Palm lies in this word 'vibrate.' You are not hitting the person; you are borrowing the momentum of heaven and earth to vibrate them. Vibrate them until they cannot stand, vibrate them until their heart and gall burst with fear, vibrate them until they collapse without a fight."
He turned back and looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"This is 'subduing others with momentum, not overpowering them with force'."
That night, Lu Mingyuan sat alone atop Junshan Mountain, looking out at the distant Dongting Lake.
Moonlight like water spilled over the vast green waves, shimmering endlessly. The lake breeze blew, carrying moisture and the scent of fish, along with an indescribable vastness.
He was reflecting on the palm strike from earlier that day.
What had he felt when he pushed out that palm?
It was heaven and earth.
It was the wind, the water, the mountains, the moon, this Junshan Mountain where he had stood for seven days, and this Dongting Lake he had gazed upon countless times.
All momentum came from them.
And he had simply borrowed it for a moment.
But why couldn't he borrow it before? Why did it take seven days of practice?
Because before, he had tried too hard.
Wanting too much to "borrow," he couldn't borrow it at all.
Wanting too much to "succeed," he couldn't succeed at all.
Only by practicing until numb, until forgetting what he was doing, until completely emptying himself, did the momentum come on its own.
Just like Zen Master Huijue said, "resting is... Bodhi."
Just like Hui Ke said, "a punch is just a punch."
Just like Jingchen said, "that moment."
It turns out the Dao has always been the same.
Only the way of describing it differs.
The next morning, Lu Mingyuan went to bid the Sect Leader farewell.
The Sect Leader was practicing the three palm moves on the mountaintop; seeing him arrive, he concluded his practice.
"Leaving?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
The Sect Leader didn't try to make him stay, only asked: "Have you learned it?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"I have learned the three remnant moves. But as for the intent of Dragon Subduing, I've only just touched the doorway."
The Sect Leader smiled.
"Touching the doorway is enough. The rest depends on your own journey."
He took out a thin booklet from his robe and handed it to Lu Mingyuan.
"These are some insights I recorded when I was learning the palm. Although they are only remnant moves, the principles are the same. Take it and read it on your journey."
Lu Mingyuan took it with both hands and solemnly tucked it into his robe.
"Thank you, Sect Leader."
The Sect Leader waved his hand.
"No need to thank me. That palm strike was performed by you. I only told you that this path exists."
He looked at Lu Mingyuan with an indescribable look in his eyes.
"Young man, where are you going next?"
Lu Mingyuan said: "To Shuzhong, the Tang Clan."
The Sect Leader nodded.
"The Tang Clan excels in Hidden Weapons, breaking force with skill. You've just realized how Extreme Hardness Gives Rise to Softness; going to learn how skill breaks force is perfect."
He paused.
"Remember one sentence—hardness and softness are not opposites, nor are skill and clumsiness. Hardness with softness within is true hardness; skill with clumsiness within is true skill."
Lu Mingyuan bowed deeply.
"This Disciple will remember."
The Sect Leader didn't return the bow, but simply turned and continued practicing those three moves.
Starting, striking, retracting. Starting, striking, retracting.
Lu Mingyuan looked at that elderly back, at the palm technique slow to the extreme, and at the faint thunderous roar with every strike.
He suddenly remembered a sentence.
It was something Xuanweizi said: "True martial arts lies not in speed, but in slowness."
Now he understood.
Slowness to the extreme is true speed.
Clumsiness to the extreme is true skill.
Just like this Dragon Subduing Palm, slow as if pushing clouds, yet with one strike, a ten-thousand-catty boulder shatters.
This is "extreme hardness giving rise to softness."
Lu Mingyuan turned and walked down the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, he looked back.
Junshan Mountain still stood in Dongting Lake, misty and rain-shrouded, partially visible. On the mountaintop, that elderly figure was still practicing those three moves: starting, striking, retracting.
He suddenly felt a bit reluctant to leave.
In these seven days, he hadn't learned much martial arts. But from this old man, he had seen something—
Responsibility.
Thousands of beggars, old, weak, sick, and disabled, living hand to mouth. Yet this old man had gathered them together and allowed them to survive. Was it martial arts he used? No. Was it benevolence and righteousness? Not entirely.
He used "momentum."
Borrowing the momentum of heaven and earth, and also the momentum of people's hearts.
Making those people feel they weren't being saved, but were saving others; not being helped, but helping others. Thus, they found the strength to live on.
This is "The Greatest Hero."
It's not about how high one's martial arts are, but how many people one can hold in their heart.
He withdrew his gaze and turned to leave.
In his Dantian, that tiny Nascent Soul moved slightly.
He knew it was telling him—
The road is still long, keep going.