Under One Person: Starting with the Dual Cultivation of Body and Soul

Chapter 127 Terrifying Comprehension

Seeing this, Li Chang'an stopped insisting and calmly stepped down from the training platform.

After finishing their vegetarian meal, Lu Jin and Li Chang'an bid farewell to Master Jiekong and left Lingyin Temple.

However, instead of driving directly back to Suzhou, they made a detour to West Lake.

The two strolled leisurely along the Su Causeway. A gentle breeze swept across the lake, bringing a touch of early autumn coolness.

"Chang'an, you did exceptionally well in that sparring match at Lingyin Temple just now." Lu Jin said, hands behind his back, looking at the shimmering lake, praising him without reservation.

Li Chang'an turned his head: "What does Grandfather mean?"

"You won cleanly and decisively, but also with great dignity. You gave Master Jiekong and Lingyin Temple ample face." Lu Jin stopped and said seriously, "You won cleanly and decisively, but also with great dignity.

Lu Jin sighed, and said with some lingering fear, "To be honest, when you first went on stage, I was really worried for you. I was afraid that you wouldn't hold back and would slap that little monk unconscious, or like Zhang Zhiwei did to me back then, make him cry."

"If things really get out of hand, I don't know how I'll handle it."

Lu Jin shook his head with a wry smile: "You want me to do what the old Celestial Master Zhang Jingqing did back then, and publicly curse you as a 'beast' in front of everyone? This old man of mine really can't bring himself to say that."

"Fortunately, you knew what you were doing. You used a clever technique to push him away. This saves face for both the Sanyi Sect and Lingyin Temple."

Li Chang'an smiled slightly upon hearing Lu Jin's praise; it was indeed something he had done intentionally.

He wants to be revered like a god; slapping the other person until they cry will only have the opposite effect.

Besides, it's not like he couldn't control his strength. If he could, there would be no need for him to do that.

He had controlled the force of that palm strike perfectly. If it had been a fraction too strong, Huineng would have been injured; if it had been a fraction too weak, Huineng might have been able to withstand a couple more blows.

Only by achieving this effortless and "just right" approach can one make the opponent accept defeat wholeheartedly and inspire genuine awe in the onlookers, including the monks of Lingyin Temple.

The two walked along the Su Causeway for a while, and Li Chang'an suddenly spoke up: "Grandpa, I discovered something interesting during that competition just now."

Lu Jin was watching the boats on the lake with his hands behind his back when he heard this, so he turned around and asked, "What's so interesting?"

Li Chang'an said, "When I was exchanging palm strikes with that monk named Huineng, it was probably because he had only recently been taught this unique skill, and the flow of Qi in his body was still very unfamiliar and stiff. Under the palm strikes, his Qi movement was completely undisguised, which allowed me to follow the clues and find some traces."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin's eyelids twitched; the words sounded somewhat familiar.

Where had he heard that before? He frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered that when Zhang Zhiwei competed with him back then, he seemed to have said something similar. He had found some clues about his reversed growth, and then, seeing an opportunity, he slapped Zhang Zhiwei's dantian.

These words, coming from that old man Zhang Zhiwei, were naturally not pleasant, but coming from his own disciple, they were so—pleasing! Lu Jin glanced at West Lake. He certainly couldn't be happy because of Chang'an's words; it was just that West Lake was too beautiful.

"Hmm!" He coughed lightly. "You've discovered the weakness of the Vajra Palm technique?"

"It's not exactly a weakness," Li Chang'an thought for a moment. "It's that we discovered its method of circulating Qi and some of its characteristics. The Qi circulation route of the Vajra Palm starts from the Dantian, goes through the Sanjiao Meridian of Hand Shaoyang, passes Jianjing, and goes all the way down to the Laogong acupoint in the palm, gathering Qi in the palm and hardening the entire hand like Vajra, before instantly unleashing the power within the body. That's why it's fierce, domineering, and indestructible."

He paused, then continued, "If our Qi transformation state of the Reverse Life Triple Stage is like blessing the entire physical body, then the Vajra Palm is like concentrating on a single point, blessing only the palm. The reason why Huineng was pushed more than ten meters away by my palm just now was because his life cultivation was not as good as mine. Even if he used the Vajra Palm, his absolute strength was still not as great as mine. What happened just now was a contest with no skill involved."

Lu Jin nodded: "To put it bluntly, it's about overwhelming force with sheer power."

"You could say that," Li Chang'an smiled. "But I have strength, while he lacks skill."

"What do you mean?" Lu Jin asked.

Li Chang'an said, "He hasn't grasped the essence of the Vajra Palm. During our exchange just now, I noticed that all his attention was focused on how to make his palms as hard as Vajra."

"But actually, the key to the Vajra Palm technique is the word 'great power.' 'Vajra' is just the foundation."

"There are too many self-defense and external training methods in Buddhism. If this palm technique only pursues the hardness of the palm, then it has no reason to exist. Wouldn't it be enough to just cover the palm with the Golden Bell Shield?"

"Therefore, the essence of this technique should be the unparalleled and powerful force that bursts forth. The strength is not obtained by practicing this palm technique, but by one's life force cultivation."

"In other words, this palm technique improves along with one's own life cultivation level. The stronger you are, the greater the boost this palm strike will provide."

"You brat—" Lu Jin pointed at Li Chang'an, finally managing to choke out a sentence after a long pause: "The Shaolin Temple's thousand-year-old secret technique, you just glanced at it, exchanged a palm strike, and you exposed its very essence?"

"It can't be called seeing through it, it's just seeing a little bit of the surface," Li Chang'an said. "Even if you want to imitate it, you can only imitate a little bit of the surface, just like how Kumārajīva in 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' used the Lesser Formless Skill to imitate the Seventy-Two Arts of Shaolin. However, our Reverse Life Triple Technique is no worse than the Lesser Formless Skill. It's still no problem to imitate his Qi circulation route."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin was even more astonished, her eyes widening: "You mean, you've seen someone else's unique skill once, figured out the principles, and now you can imitate it?"

"It can only imitate a little bit of the surface," Li Chang'an corrected.

"To be able to imitate even the slightest detail is quite remarkable!"

Lu Jin pointed to the calm surface of West Lake: "Imitate one for Grandpa to see."

He was genuinely curious about what his apprentice could possibly imitate.

"With so many people here, this might not be appropriate!" Li Chang'an said, looking at the tourists around him.

"Let's go, let's find another place!" Lu Jin glanced around and led Li Chang'an to a less crowded corner. "This is it, try it out!"

"Grandpa, isn't this still West Lake? Why the rush?" Li Chang'an said, "Aren't you afraid of damaging the scenic area and causing trouble for the company?"