Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Early in the morning.

After Luo Qingzhou woke up, he did not go to the bamboo forest to cultivate again.

He practiced boxing in the small courtyard for a while.

After sweating slightly, he stopped.

He returned to the house and sat down in front of the window to read.

It was almost noon.

Xiao Die hurriedly ran back from outside and said anxiously, “Young Master, Young Master…”

Luo Qingzhou’s heart skipped a beat. “Has Second Young Miss arrived?”

Xiao Die panted and said, “It’s not Second Young Miss, it’s Second Young Master. Second Young Master is here, and he even brought a lot of books.”

“Second Young Master?”

Luo Qingzhou was stunned. He quickly got up and left the room.

As soon as he arrived at the small courtyard, a young man in black walked in with large strides. Behind him were a few servant boys carrying two baskets of books.

This young man had a tall and straight figure. His features were very similar to Qin Wenzheng’s. He was a handsome and carefree man.

He was the Second Young Master of the Qin residence, Qin Chuan.

This was not the first time they had met.

The moment Qin Chuan entered, he chuckled heartily and said, “Qingzhou, I know that you are preparing for next year’s autumn examination, so I specially went to the library to buy some books for you. I heard from the shop owner that these books are selling very well. All scholars like to read them. See if these are enough. If it’s not enough, I’ll get someone to buy them for you.”

The servants placed two baskets of books in the small courtyard and retreated to the side, bowing to them.

Luo Qingzhou took a look before he cupped his hands. “Thank you, Second Brother. There’s no need for you to buy so many books.”

Qin Chuan smiled and said, “The more, the better. As a scholar, you naturally have to study more. You’re always reading in your room. Your books aren’t enough. There’s no need to stand on ceremony with me.”

Luo Qingzhou felt ashamed.

He had always been cultivating and only studying occasionally.

Ever since his return visit to the Chengguo Residence, after he saw Butler Wang and Xia Chan fighting, he could not calm himself down to study.

It was more important to practice martial arts.

In this era, martial arts practitioners were more respected and welcomed. There were demon beasts and villains everywhere.

He had talent, but that was useless against demon beasts and villains.

Only martial artists would have the ability to protect themselves!

A few young servants helped carry the books into the house and placed them neatly on the desk in the corner before retreating.

Qin Chuan glanced at the small courtyard and said, “Qingzhou, other than delivering some books to you today, I’m also here to teach you a fist technique to strengthen your body. You’ve been studying every day and lack exercise. Your body is too weak. You’ve been in this state for such a long time. If this continues, you’ll probably collapse.”

Luo Qingzhou’s heart warmed, and he felt touched by Qin Chuan’s kind gesture. He hurriedly thanked Qin Chuan. “Thank you, Second Brother.”

Qin Chuan patted his shoulder and smiled. “We’re family, so there’s no need to stand on ceremony. Come on, let’s go. We can’t practice martial arts in this small courtyard. Let’s go to the lakeshore in front.”

Luo Qingzhou followed him out of the small courtyard.

Xiao Die knew that Second Young Miss was coming today, so she did not follow them. Instead, she guarded the courtyard door, intending to inform Luo Qingzhou when the Second Young Miss came by later.

Luo Qingzhou followed Qin Chuan to the lakeside of Moonlight Rain Court.

The sun was shining brightly by the lake, and a gentle breeze was blowing.

The lake was sparkling, and white mist swirled around it. There was a group of egrets leisurely swimming among the lotus flowers.

There was no one here. It was quiet.

Qin Chuan stood by the lake and explained, “This fist technique is called the Countenance Cloud Fist. Legend has it that it was created by Daoist Countenance. Its movements are relaxed and easy to master. You can train every part of your body. Although it doesn’t have any power, it can strengthen your body and calm your mind. It’s very beneficial to scholars.”

“Qingzhou, watch carefully. I’ll slowly practice this set once before teaching you one move at a time.”

After Qin Chuan finished speaking, he spread his legs and bent his knees slightly. With his arms crossed, he began to throw out punches.

He punched, opened his arms, stepped forward, and looked back.

At times, his actions were like an ape standing upright and looking at the moon. At other times, it was like a squirrel picking fruits lightly. Sometimes, it was like a pine tree proudly facing the wind.

As expected, his movements were slow and deliberate. He went one round around the courtyard. From the looks of it, it was easy to learn.

Luo Qingzhou stood at the side and watched carefully. He had every move Qin Chuan made clearly engraved in his mind.

There were not many moves.

After Qin Chuan was done, his face was not red and he did not pant at all. He was as calm as ever.

He smiled slightly and said, “For martial arts practitioners, they can master this set of fist techniques after watching a few times. However, it will be a little difficult for you scholars. There are some moves that you probably won’t be able to do. But that doesn’t matter. You can take it slow. After all, it’s just to strengthen your body. There’s no rush.”

“Come, I’ll teach you one move at a time.”

After speaking, Qin Chuan made a gesture to Luo Qingzhou.

Luo Qingzhou mirrored Qin Chuan. He bent his knees and spread his arms.

Qin Chuan took a look and exclaimed, “Oh? You did it really well. Qingzhou, from your stance, it doesn’t look like you’re a weak scholar.”

Luo Qingzhou then slowly threw out a punch.

Qin Chuan’s eyes lit up. He did not move anymore. He said, “Continue. Use all the moves you remember. You can disregard those moves that you don’t remember.”

Luo Qingzhou threw another punch.

He strode forward, spread open his arm, and punched again.

He executed each action without any pause between movements. Each movement flowed into the next like running water.

The surprise in Qin Chuan’s eyes intensified. He immediately stopped his actions and held his breath, watching carefully.

Luo Qingzhou’s mind recalled the moves Qin Chuan had just executed, and his body easily replicated the same movements.

Ten minutes later.

After Luo Qingzhou did all of the movements, Qin Chuan realized that he did not miss out on a single move.

Qin Chuan watched from the side, his face filled with surprise. “Qingzhou, have you learned this fist technique before?”

Luo Qingzhou shook his head and said, “I only memorized what you did earlier.”

When Qin Chuan heard this, he was even more surprised. “You have an amazing memory. It’s simply amazing.”

Luo Qingzhou said humbly, “As a scholar, I have to memorize books all day long, so this skill of mine was slowly honed. These moves are relatively simple. There are not many moves, so I can remember them all. If they were more complicated, I definitely wouldn’t be able to remember them.”

Of course, he was lying.

He had a photographic memory. There was nothing he could not remember.

Qin Chuan still looked at him in surprise. “The moves of this set of fist techniques are indeed easy to remember, but it’s not simple for you to be able to execute them all so easily. You’ve practiced fist techniques before?”

Luo Qingzhou was waiting for him to ask such a question. He answered, “I occasionally practice randomly. No one imparted it to me. Back then, I accidentally saw Luo Yu practicing boxing, so I secretly learned a few moves. Sometimes, when my back hurts from reading, I’ll practice a few times in the courtyard. After that, I’d feel much better.”

Qin Chuan’s gaze flickered, and his expression turned solemn. “Luo Yu? How could he have allowed you to see him when he was cultivating?”

Then, he added, “It’s not impossible. You’re a scholar and have never practiced martial arts, so he wasn’t guarded against you.”

Luo Qingzhou explained, “I accidentally saw a few moves and vaguely remembered some of them, but I might have remembered them wrongly.”

“I see,” Qin Chuan said.

He nodded and looked at Luo Qingzhou. “Qingzhou, come and do a few moves of what you saw Luo Yu do. I want to see if I recognize them.”

Luo Qingzhou did not hesitate. He immediately got into position and started throwing out punches.

He had only learned a few moves.

He deliberately made sure that his punches did not hold much power behind them.

Ever since his skin was refined, these few moves had become quite powerful.

However, he could not expose this fact yet.

After only two moves, Qin Chuan could tell the type of martial arts move it was. He laughed and said, “So it’s the Thunder Fist. I was wondering how he accidentally let you see it.”

Luo Qingzhou stopped and said, “Second Brother, so this is called the Thunder Fist? I saw Luo Yu punching from slow to fast, and the sound was getting increasingly louder as he continued. It’s very powerful.”

Qin Chuan smiled and explained, “The Thunder Fist was originally a very widespread technique. In the past, those new to martial arts would learn this first. However, due to the huge momentum and little power, it was very difficult for them to gain improvement. Gradually, they were eliminated.”

“It looks powerful but is actually weak?”

Luo Qingzhou was a little disappointed when he heard that.

He had wanted this Second Young Master to teach him the Thunder Fist, but it turned out that this technique merely looked good but had no actual power behind it.

Qin Chuan said, “It’s said that this fist technique was brought out by a Martial Master from a certain tomb. After teaching it to his disciple, it gradually became widespread. In the beginning, it was said that when this fist technique is cultivated to the extreme, not only can it rumble with thunder and have a shocking momentum, but when one punches out, a beam would also shoot forward. It can even attack people from afar, and it can even carry lightning with every punch. Its power is also quite powerful. Therefore, after everyone heard about it, they all started learning it. In the end, in the past few hundred years, no one has been able to master it. Moreover, this technique is not very powerful, and it is inferior to other kinds of punching techniques. Hence, gradually they got eliminated. Occasionally, some martial artists would use the Thunder Fist as a warm-up technique or to intimidate ordinary people who are ignorant of martial arts.”

Luo Qingzhou’s gaze flashed, and he thought to himself,

“So that’s how it is. It seems that it’s not a coincidence that Luo Yu was practicing the Thunder Fist when he called me over that day. He knew that I was going to meet him, and he knew that I was timid. Thus, he deliberately practiced that to intimidate me. That way, I wouldn’t dare to reject being his substitute for the marriage with the Qin family. Unfortunately, man proposes but god disposes. Despite all his scheming, I profited from that marriage. That day, when I returned to the Chengguo Residence, I saw how his eyes were glued to the First Young Miss Qin. He must be regretting his decision terribly.”

However, with the other party’s personality, he probably would not let it go so easily.

Thinking of this, his heart tightened. He felt that he had to cultivate with all his might to become stronger.

He would not allow anyone to take away all that he owned now!

“Second Brother, do you know the complete set of Thunder Fist? Can you teach me?”

Although this fist technique sounded a little useless, it was very suitable for him to learn now.

It was impossible for him to openly ask this Second Young Master for other martial arts techniques. This was because the other party, like Luo Yu, was preparing for the exam. Before the exam, it was impossible for Qin Chuan to reveal any of the martial arts techniques that he knew.

Also, although it sounded ridiculous and overconfident, Luo Qingzhou still set a goal for himself: He wanted to participate in Dragon Academy’s recruitment competition in Mo City next year! He wanted to defeat the high and mighty Second Young Master of the Chengguo Residence in front of everyone and make him fail when victory was within reach!

Since he planned to participate in the competition next year, it was inappropriate for him to ask Qin Chuan for other fist techniques.

Qin Chuan nodded and said, “Of course, I know it. If you really want to learn this, I’ll teach it to you now. However, this set of fist techniques isn’t like the Countenance Cloud Fist from earlier. This will be much more complicated and difficult.”

Luo Qingzhou cupped his hands and said, “Second Brother, if you’re not in a hurry, I’m willing to slowly learn.”

Qin Chuan smiled and said, “All right. Although you haven’t practiced martial arts and this set of fist techniques won’t have any effect, it’s enough for you to strengthen your body.”

“Qingzhou, watch carefully!”

As Qin Chuan spoke, he took a step forward and suddenly punched out.

The willows by the lake suddenly moved without any wind.