Practicing Martial Arts in the Midst of a Typhoon!

Practicing the Tiger's Roar Golden Bell technique involves channeling force throughout the body, making the skin and muscles quiver; once unleashed, it resembles a tiger's roar echoing through the mountains, fierce and imposing. However, Chen Jue had only just begun to train this internal hard skill and was still at the elementary stage. Fortunately, with the buffs from "Peerless Guardian" and "Master Lü’s Enlightenment," his progress was rapid.

This hard skill, rooted in Taoist tradition, also strengthens the internal organs, focusing on the lungs and throat, and includes secret techniques for cultivating powerful vocal force. As Chen Jue practiced in the living room, he let out muffled grunts and low growls, so much so that it seemed a real tiger lurked in the room.

Luckily, it was a typhoon day, and the howling wind outside drowned out the sounds of his training; otherwise, even Uncle Yu’s family in Villa One might have come to investigate the commotion.

After two hours, his proficiency with the Tiger's Roar Golden Bell had reached 55 out of 100—progress nearly soaring. With another round of practice, he would soon break through level one and master the fundamentals of this internal-external Taoist skill.

By six in the evening, dusk had fallen completely, and rain, driven by gale-force winds, pelted down like steel beads, stinging anyone caught outside. Thankfully, Chen Jue had already trained his internal force to fortify his face, and after mastering three hard skills, the pain from the rain was negligible. Without bothering with an umbrella, he sprinted to Villa One. As he opened the door, the aroma of stir-fried food greeted him.

Chen Jue grinned, shaking off the rainwater and greeted Uncle Yu; Yu Yue, it seemed, was still upstairs relaxing with computer games. He sat and watched television with Uncle Yu, chatting intermittently, and after twenty minutes, dinner was served—a meal Chen Jue enjoyed thoroughly.

Such a life was wonderful for Chen Jue: when hungry, someone cooked for him; when tired, he could rest at will. Most of his time was devoted to training and cultivation, a far cry from the stress of working in Hangzhou. The only downside was the expense—the rent, meals, and medicinal supplements required for his training amounted to a considerable sum.

Fortunately, Chen Jue had his attribute panel, which monitored bodily changes and ensured his training was safe from mishaps or deviation. For ordinary people, such intense practice would likely cost a fortune and might not even yield true mastery in martial arts. This was the difference between having a cheat and not.

After dinner, Chen Jue returned to his living room to rest and digest. When the time felt right, he once again donned his swim trunks and goggles, draped a bath towel over his shoulders, and exited through the back door.

Outside, the wind and rain had intensified; the typhoon would make landfall along the coast in a few hours, and though several hundred kilometers away, its effects were palpable. The path behind the cliff was now treacherously muddy and slippery, but Chen Jue's mastery of stance training ensured his footing was solid. Even on a rocking boat, he could walk as if on flat ground, so these conditions posed no challenge.

He made his way to the rocky shoreline under cover of night. The wild waves now battered the highest rocks; according to the news, tonight’s sea state was at level eight, with waves surging up to nine or ten meters high. Dense foam covered the waves’ slopes, turning the sea white, and gusts reached force ten.

The wooden fishing boat abandoned by Yu Yue and his friends was being tossed by the waves, occasionally crashing against the rocks. While not as fierce as a category twelve typhoon, ordinary people would be intimidated—standing on the slippery rocks would be nearly impossible.

Chen Jue surveyed the tumultuous sea, feeling a faint urge to retreat; though his martial arts had advanced, he was still human. Facing such ferocious wind and waves, a touch of fear was only natural. Yet the urge to train and gain attribute points prevailed over his hesitation.

Taking a deep breath, he hung his towel atop a clump of tall grass, climbed down to the rocks, and withstood several huge waves before reaching a crevice where he retrieved the stone ball he had hidden there. Seizing the moment as the waves receded, he leapt and plunged into the sea.

The icy water enveloped him as he sank, stone ball in arms, away from the roiling waves above, down to a depth of forty meters. Tonight, the underwater currents were far fiercer than before—several times stronger, in fact.

Usually, the currents felt like gentle willow branches brushing the body, but in typhoon weather, they transformed into steel whips, tearing and twisting against Chen Jue’s skin. Fortunately, his Tai Chi stance had reached level four, and he was able to withstand the force, albeit barely.

He planted his feet firmly into the soft seabed of mud and sand, embraced the stone ball, and began to practice Tai Chi. At level four, Tai Chi had transcended the basic thirteen forms, encompassing all the branches, large and small, that Chen Jue had studied online, integrating them into a unified whole.

As he practiced, his pores closed tightly, his force sunk deep, sometimes hard, sometimes soft, able to deflect the steel-like currents and also experience the subtle changes of the water.

In fact, Baguazhang includes similar underwater training methods: before entering the water, one must cultivate internal force for two years to strengthen the heart and lungs, then wear iron clothing to stabilize the body underwater, much like how Chen Jue used the stone ball as an anchor.

Once familiar with the water, the practitioner can sense the flow through every pore, gradually blending internal and external force into a single stream—an esoteric method for developing transformative power in Baguazhang.

But such training is meant to be gradual, built through daily practice!

Chen Jue, however, was harnessing the wild waves stirred by the typhoon—deliberately seeking out the fiercest underwater currents, adding fuel to the fire!

Under such extreme stimulation, his newly advanced level four Tai Chi stance progressed even faster. In less than ten minutes, his proficiency shot up to 426 out of 5000, as if he were playing an online RPG with a tenfold experience boost.

Amid the interplay of hard and soft currents beneath the sea, Chen Jue gradually gained insight into the transformation of force. Unfortunately, human stamina is limited; though his constitution was over level three, he could only endure underwater for eleven or twelve minutes.

Preserving some strength for his return to shore, Chen Jue ascended, stone ball in hand.

Just as he set the stone ball down, he felt the pores on his back suddenly stand on end—a surge of danger approaching, triggering his body's acute response!

In less than a fraction of a second, he spun around. In his view, the wooden fishing boat, which should have been drifting with the waves, had somehow broken free from its moorings and, propelled by an enormous wave nearly nine meters high, was surging forward, its bow low and stern high, barreling straight toward him!

His first instinct was no longer to dodge; turning had already cost him a fraction of a second. Seeing the boat charging toward him with the momentum of the wave—and remembering the lingering frustration in his chest from earlier that day—Chen Jue was ready to vent his anger.

He braced himself, stamping one foot onto the rock, sending shards flying; his pores closed, and his three hard skills activated simultaneously. Beneath his skin, his fascia tightened; from a distance, his body appeared cloaked in a dark bronze armor. The Iron Body, the Thirteen Guardians, and the Tiger's Roar Golden Bell all unleashed their force at once. A tiger's roar echoed from his throat, his heart pounding wildly, blood surging through his veins. Borrowing the explosive power of the Tai Chi form "Vajra Pestle," he used the rebound force to launch himself like a spring, expending the last bit of his strength, and struck out with a fist—executing the most powerful "Sky Cannon Punch" from Tai Chi, smashing it down upon the prow of the wooden fishing boat with a thunderous blow.