Chapter 156: The Ever-Changing Taiji

“Thank you, I feel much better now.”

I said.
Thanks to the prompt icing,
my leg didn’t hurt much at all.
But after witnessing the wonders of true qi,
my desire to master external qi projection grew even stronger.

“No need to thank me.
It was my mistake in the first place—
and I even burned a hole in your stockings.”

Yi Zhiqiu said somewhat sheepishly.
At the same time, he suddenly realized a rather serious problem:
Why hadn’t he simply had Xia Yubing take off the stockings to dry them?

When drying the bra and panties earlier,
they had to stay on her body—
otherwise the beautiful girl in front of him would have ended up completely naked.
But the black thigh-high stockings could have been removed entirely.
Yet neither of them had thought of that.
As a result, he had spent quite a while “massaging” those beautiful legs.

“It’s fine.
Stockings don’t cost much anyway.”

I said, slipping off the other stocking as well,
leaving both legs bare.

“If Teacher Yi feels bad about it,
then just tell me about my earlier question.
Is there really a way to speed up cultivating true qi?”

“Shortcut methods?
Of course there are.”

This wasn’t any secret, so Yi Zhiqiu answered without hesitation:

“For example,
having a master perform ‘body infusion’—
transferring just a wisp of true qi to let the disciple sense the existence of qi.
Or consuming certain pills and elixirs.
But these are all shortcuts.
In the end, they make it hard to reach the true pinnacle.”

I had zero interest in reaching the pinnacle of mastery.
I was already starting martial arts far too late—
talking about peaks was meaningless.
As long as it was practical, that was enough.
Still, I didn’t say that out loud.

“Then teach me Taiji Quan.”

“Alright.
First, I’ll perform the full form once for you to watch.
You can look at the fist manual and follow the movements.
Afterward, I’ll teach you the breathing and qi circulation.”

Yi Zhiqiu said.
He first sent me a file on my phone,
then assumed his stance and began.

The file he sent was indeed a Taiji Quan illustrated manual—
a PDF compiled from the Taiji Quan Bar forum.
It was clearly just something downloaded from the internet.
I skimmed through it quickly:
only various postures and diagrams.
Did he really expect me to cultivate qi from these few pictures?

But by then Yi Zhiqiu had already begun.
His hands and legs moved in slow, deliberate circles.
Apart from the stronger sense of power that came with being young,
his movements were textbook perfect—
no different from the old men in the park.
Doing it in a suit, though, made the whole scene feel slightly off-style.

Yet there was one glaring difference from the park elders:
As Yi Zhiqiu drew his circles and forms,
a thick, majestic aura enveloped him.
It flowed continuously with every pull and push,
endless and alive.

If the faint breezes around the park practitioners were like gentle winds,
the aura around Yi Zhiqiu was like an impenetrable wall of qi,
firmly encasing him.
It felt as though anything that approached would be instantly repelled.

Gradually, I could no longer follow the exact path of his fists.
What I saw was a constantly rotating Taiji diagram—
one half black, one half white,
each containing a small dot of the opposite color.
Those two dots were Yi Zhiqiu’s hands.
As they moved, the entire Taiji symbol rotated and shifted in perfect harmony.

“Xia Yubing, how is it?
Did you memorize the movements?”

A voice suddenly spoke right beside my ear.

“Ah?”

Only then did I snap out of my trance.
Yi Zhiqiu had already finished and was standing in front of me.
Yet just moments ago his movements had seemed incredibly slow—
and now sweat glistened on his forehead.

“Spacing out?
Hehe, I guess it makes sense.
Asking a young girl like you to watch Taiji Quan
must be incredibly boring.”

“No, no!
It’s not boring at all—
I was just… completely mesmerized.
Teacher Yi, I’m sorry!”

I hurriedly explained, afraid he’d think I disliked learning martial arts.

But I wasn’t lying.
When Yi Zhiqiu practiced,
there was an undeniable beauty to it—
every gesture and motion carried a special presence and rhythm,
finding perfect balance between movement and stillness.

“No need to force yourself.
Learning martial arts isn’t something that happens in a day or two.
Whenever you want to learn, just come find me.
And actually… I also know Bagua Zhang, Zhenwu Sword, and other styles.
If Taiji Quan doesn’t suit you, maybe one of the others will.”

Yi Zhiqiu said.

“No, I think Taiji Quan is great.
Teacher Yi… could you please perform it one more time for me?”

I asked tentatively.
That constantly shifting Taiji diagram from earlier
felt profoundly mysterious.
Maybe just watching that would be enough.

“Alright then.
This time, watch carefully.”

Yi Zhiqiu assumed his stance again and began.

Unfortunately, no matter how many times he performed it,
I still couldn’t clearly see the path of his fists.
Once his aura formed,
all I could perceive was the ever-changing Taiji symbol.
My gaze was completely drawn in—
I couldn’t compare it to the diagrams in the manual at all.

“Ugh… I’m so sorry.
You performed it so many times,
and I still didn’t understand a single thing.”

I said guiltily.

Yet Yi Zhiqiu showed no impatience.
He picked up a towel, wiped his sweat, and said:

“It’s nothing.
For my usual training, this doesn’t even count as a warm-up.
Martial arts practice is always like this—
two or three rounds barely qualify as preparation.”

“Huh?”

I suddenly noticed the towel he was using.
The towels were hanging on a row of hooks on the wall—
the same ones I had casually grabbed earlier during the cleansing ritual
and stuffed into my mouth to bite on.

Back then I had assumed they were sterilized, special towels for exorcism.
But seeing him use one so naturally to wipe sweat…
weren’t these just Yi Zhiqiu’s regular training towels?

Yi Zhiqiu followed my gaze,
looked at the towel I had previously gagged myself with,
then noticed my rapidly reddening face.
Only then did he realize.
He quickly said:

“Don’t worry.
These towels are the ones I normally use for cleansing and washing my face.
I’ll wash them afterward, of course.”

That still wasn’t okay!
Cleansing basically meant bathing, right?
How could I have stuffed Yi Zhiqiu’s personal wash towel into my mouth?!

I shot him an embarrassed and annoyed glare.

Yi Zhiqiu could only cough awkwardly twice and say:

“It’s fine.
Let’s continue learning.
I’ll teach you the breathing and qi circulation method now.
As for the fist forms, you can search online when you get home—
or I can send you videos.”

Though his attempt to change the subject was rather clumsy,
learning the martial arts really was the priority for me.
So I forced myself to calm down
and continued studying the breathing method with him.

From this point on, things got more precise.
The rhythm of breathing,
the depth,
the frequency of exhalation—
all had to be carefully controlled.
And according to Yi Zhiqiu,
this breathing had to be coordinated with the fist movements to be effective.

Afterward, he taught me the acupoints—
using his fingers to trace along my body,
pointing from my face down to my chest,
then to my lower abdomen and dantian.

I was still not wearing any clothes.
Yi Zhiqiu explained that it was easier and more accurate to point directly at the locations without fabric in the way.
I could only grit my teeth and let him trace and point all over my body.

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