Chapter 4: Is he a waste of talent or a genius?

  Dear kids, hurry up and collect it if you haven't done so, thank you.

  The next day, Zhang Cheng got up early and walked slowly out of the room to the martial arts training ground within the family compound, wanting to take a stroll here to ease his depressed mood.

  However, as soon as he entered, he saw a figure standing in the martial arts arena stretching his muscles and tendons, and could hear the sound of fists and feet punching from afar.

  Zhang Cheng knew that this person was none other than his father Zhang Fang.

  Because after he came to this world, he found that Zhang Fang would come to this place to practice boxing every day at this time. After discovering this, he also followed suit and came over every morning.

  The purpose of doing so is twofold. Firstly, it is to breathe in some fresh air and relieve his mood. Secondly, he would watch from the side and try to remember the moves of the fist technique he was practicing.

  Although he couldn't practice due to physical reasons, it's still pretty good to have a glimpse. Moreover, after remembering it in his mind, who knows, maybe next time he crosses over, he can use it again.

  Zhang Cheng walked slowly to Zhang Fang's side and watched his open-and-close fist method, nodding involuntarily.

  "Cheng'er is here." Zhang Fang felt Zhang Cheng's arrival, stopped and looked at Zhang Cheng, asking: "Cheng'er, what do you think of your father's earth-shattering fist? Has it improved compared to a few months ago?"

  At this moment, Zhang Fang's appearance was not like that of a father at all, but rather one who was humble and eager to learn, just like an apprentice asking his master for guidance, with a very sincere attitude.

  In fact, most people in Shaoyang City only knew that the Zhang family had a sickly child, but not many people knew that this sickly child of the Zhang family was also a genius.

  As Zhang Fang knew, Zhang Cheng had possessed super strong memory since he was five years old, and his understanding of martial arts was many times that of ordinary people.

  Let's take Zhang Fang's Xuan Di Fist as an example. Although it is only a mid-level fist technique, he has been practicing it since childhood and has spent 20 years continuously tempering and polishing it, making his understanding of this fist technique reach a level that others can only look up to.

  If Zhang Fang is considered an authority on this set of boxing techniques, then no one in the entire Shaoyang City would dare to utter a word against him.

  But one time, when I was practicing boxing in the training hall, Zhang Cheng happened to see me and said that my movements were all wrong.

  After a set of boxing moves, he found himself in a completely wrong position, which made him very annoyed.

  After all, he has been indulging in this set of boxing for more than 20 years. Every move, every punch is deeply recorded in his mind and engraved on his bones.

  Then he himself was discussing with Zhang Cheng, but at that time, Zhang Cheng's words were completely unacceptable to him, because he felt that what Zhang Cheng said had many places that were completely different from his understanding.

  It wasn't until later when he had the time to reflect on what Zhang Cheng said that he realized Zhang Cheng's words actually made some sense, and after careful consideration, he found that it was his own misunderstanding.

  For a moment, Zhang Fang took Zhang Cheng's shout as thunder from heaven.

  Later, he again summoned Zhang Cheng to test his ideas and demonstrated all the boxing techniques he knew in front of Zhang Cheng, then asked for his advice to see where he was going wrong.

  Every time Zhang Chengdu could give him some advice, each piece of advice would allow him to understand the entire set of fist techniques a little better.

  From then on, he knew that his youngest son was a genius in martial arts, and his comprehension was so strong that even he, an old man, couldn't compare to him.

  If it weren't for his physical condition, even his eldest son, Zhang Long, the most talented of the young generation in the Zhang family, would not be able to compare with him.

  It was also because of Zhang Cheng's existence that in these five years, although Zhang Fang's internal energy cultivation had not made any progress, yet these five years allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of martial arts than before.

  With his current seven-peak strength, relying on his breakthrough in martial arts, he also has the power to fight against high-ranking eighth-grade masters.

  Although he can't defeat an 8th rank master with his current martial skills, it's also not easy for the 8th rank master to beat him.

  "Father, to be honest, your fist technique hasn't changed much from a few months ago." Zhang Cheng paused and said: "The name 'Ground-Shaking Fist' wasn't chosen casually. To cultivate this fist technique, you must understand why it's called Ground-Shaking Fist and how to make it possess the power of shaking the ground after it's thrown out. If you don't grasp this point, no matter how long you practice, you'll only be doing superficial work and will never master the true essence of this fist technique, nor can you bring out its true power."

  "You've already told me this before, and I've thought about it carefully over the past few months. Now, when I throw this set of punches, each one is infused with tremendous power. Each punch can create a huge crater in the ground. Can't that be considered 'shaking the earth'?" Zhang furrowed his brow, asking in confusion.

  "Father, you only know one side and not the other. Although every punch you throw is very powerful, you should also know that the effect of force is mutual. The stronger the force you use to attack, the stronger the counterforce you will receive. This way of fighting which hurts the enemy a thousand but damages oneself eight hundred, I think this definitely isn't what the founder of this boxing style wished for."

  "Moreover, doing so would also waste too much energy. Although it would temporarily increase the power of the Earth-Shattering Fist, it couldn't be sustained for long. Once the energy is depleted, there would be no more power left, and at that time, one could only wait to be slaughtered."

  "Oh, come on, just tell me straight out! What exactly do I need to do?" Zhang Fang asked directly, having been confused by Zhang Cheng.

  "My father's idea is right, overturning the earth requires strength, without strength it can't be done. But also can't be too rigid, as the saying goes 'excessive rigidity leads to easy breakage', so we need to achieve a balance between rigidity and flexibility." Zhang Cheng explained.

  "But it's already been fierce, how can it be gentle again?" Zhang Fang was still confused.

  "Father, I ask you, is iron hard?" Zhang Cheng asked.

  "It's tough, but what does this have to do with this set of boxing moves?" Zhang Fang didn't understand why Zhang was asking like this.

  "Steel is hard, this is common sense, everyone knows. However, knives, guns, swords, spears, axes, hooks and forks are all made of steel, but why can they be soft, hard, sharp or blunt?" Zhang Cheng did not answer Zhang Fang's words, but asked another question instead.

  "This..." Zhang Fang suddenly stopped, he hadn't thought of these things.

  "It's actually very simple, it's just the way of using force." Zhang Cheng paused slightly and then said: "Alright, Father, that's all I can tell you, as for how to achieve gentleness within firmness, I don't know either, after all, I'm not practicing martial arts, so you'll have to figure it out yourself."

  Actually, Zhang doesn't know why he has such a thorough understanding of martial arts. However, he knows it should be related to the "Mi Zong Da Shou Yin" he has been practicing all along.

  In those years when he was still on earth, it was relying on "Mi Zong Da Shou Yin" that he passed the entrance exam of Tsinghua University.

  But he himself can't make clear what kind of influence Mahamudra has on him.

  He only knew that after cultivating the first imprint, his spirit and memory were much better than before, and many things could be seen more clearly than ordinary people.

  It's just a pity that his current physical condition can no longer allow him to practice the "Mahamudra" anymore, otherwise he really wants to see what special abilities the "Mahamudra" will bring to himself when he reaches the ninth level.

  However, the ninth imprint should not disappoint him. After all, a powerful technique becomes increasingly difficult to practice as it progresses, and the more difficult it is to practice, the stronger it becomes...