Chapter 717: Long Meng Teaches “Force”
Ice Sculpture Capital.
In a training room, two dragonmen were currently fighting in close quarters.
One was white scaled and blue eyed, the other was red scaled and orange eyed, the former was mainly defending, while the latter was mainly attacking.
It was Long Meng and the dragonman youngster.
“A chance!” The dragonman youngster slid.
Long Meng lightly jumped and evaded.
The dragonman youngster exerted his tail, powerfully bracing himself, this caused the force of his slide to suddenly change!
Long Men ‘s expression was unchanging as he swung his palm like a blade, instantly chopping in a fierce clap of wind.
The two fought in the air, and because they weren’t using battle skills, they weren’t putting any effort into those, and this became a tussle of strength.
Both sides were gold level, and although Long Meng wasn’t as strong as Long Fu, his technique was better.
Long Meng withstood the dragonman youngster’s punches and kicks, exerting his waist, twisting his body, and turned the dragonman youngster off balance, throwing him through the air.
The dragonman youngster flew some distance, and just as he hit the ground, he saw Long Meng charging over!
Long Meng turned from defense to attack, a string of continuous unarmed attacks created a gale that assaulted the senses, his spacious clothes’ hems also clapped with booming echoes of wind.
The dragonman youngster’s footing was unsteady, as parrying the blows became increasingly strenuous.
He spared no efforts to fight, utilizing every part of his body and did his utmost to defend himself. However, the wild dragon claws cutting and the dragon teeth biting did not help him flip this losing battle.
Ding.
A dull echo.
Long Meng struck the dragonman youngster’s chest dead center, throwing him into the air.
The dragonman youngster landed on his back, straining to straighten himself and bounce back up.
Battle skill – Dragon Pearl.
He extended his right hand, and opened his dragon claw, from which gold battle qi bubbled out. The battle qi rapidly condensed into a reddish-gold dragon pearl.
The dragon pearl boiled, rapidly increasing the local air temperature.
But a moment later, the dragonman youngster coldly snorted, and threw his claw, revoking the Dragon Pearl battle skill, “Hump, it was agreed upon that there was to be no battle skills or external battle qi, I lose!”
Long Meng nodded, then looked down at his training clothes.
The clothes had just one tear in them; when the dragonman youngster was struggling, he cut it open with his dragon claw.
“How many training sessions has it been?” When Long Meng saw the cut in his clothes, he gasped in surprise mentally.
Since he began advising the dragonman youngster, the latter’s unarmed combat skills have soared, making rapid progress daily.
Once Long Fu’s basic combat skills were horrendous, he had a powerful body but was unable to truly exhibit it.
The current Long Fu could not only display his powerful constitution but could also move unpredictably and agilely.
If he hadn’t experienced it personally, Long Meng would never believe there was such a gifted dragonman in this world.
He coughed, then Long Meng stared at the dragonman youngster, “It seems you have practiced the Dragon Pearl battle skill proficiently.”
“However, what I like more is your act of cancelling the battle skill.”
“Let’s sit down and chat.”
Long Meng reached out to indicate that, then sat in a kneeling posture. His buttocks didn’t touch his legs and feet, while his upper body was straight as a log.
The dragonman youngster sat on his buttocks, his legs bending into a cross-legged position. His dragon claws rested on his knees as the young man carefreely said, “Long Meng, you’re praising me a bit too much, hehehe.”
Long Meng looked tranquil, his tone was slow and steady, “Indulging on one’s desires is easy, but restraining oneself is usually at least ten times harder.”
“The essence of martial combat does not lie with attacking, but in not attacking.”
“The martial goal is not in killing or injuring but lies in stopping conflict.”
The dragonman youngster’s mind moved, but on the surface he just asked, “What does that mean?”
Long Meng faintly smiled, “This is the philosophy of the eastern martial arts, it really is somewhat shrouded in fog. Let me explain this in another way.”
“Did you know our dragonman bloodlines come from the dragon race?”
The dragonman youngster replied, “Of course.”
Long Meng continued, “The earliest dragonmen were produced from dragons and humans mating.”
“Dragonmen then mated with each other or other races, progressively developing to form their own fixed ethnic group in current times. As dragonmen, we both enjoy the dragon race’s superior bodies, while also having the corresponding systemic problem – the draconic nature disturbs us.”
“Draconic nature?” The dragonman youngster frowned.
Long Meng kept going, “Dragonmen are universally arrogant, they look down upon other lifeforms, and the stronger they are, the more egotistical they are. This is not rare, but in the general situation, this is the draconic nature.”
“Naturally, the specific dragonman bloodlines are different, and so too are there differences between draconic natures.”
“For example, my bloodline originated from a white dragon, thus I am inclined towards callousness and indifference.”
“As for you, it is obvious you have red dragon bloodline traits and are disposed towards irascibleness and impulsiveness. Red dragonmen are normally bold and fearless, but from another point of view, they blindly rush indiscriminately into action.”
“On the battlefield, because of this temperament flaw, red dragonmen suffer grave losses.”
“You can regard draconic nature as a widespread temperament flaw.”
“You have saint level potential and wide prospects. Your red dragonman bloodline’s quality and concentration are both exceptional, and your draconic nature is very serious. But you haven’t succumbed to draconic nature, and your temperament is not partial towards irascible impulsiveness.”
“There is something like that?” The dragonman youngster’s mind moved greatly.
Bloodline really influenced nature and to a deep degree.
The dragonman youngster had an especially deep experience, because he could use the Bloodcore to transform into different life shapes. He remembered quite clearly that when he turned into the Surging Wave fishman form, he had a strong natural affinity for water, like he was wrapped up in it.
The dragonman youngster secretly analyzed, “According to his principle, my draconic nature should be getting heavier. Because I don’t have a stable dragonman bloodline, my current dragonman form is the combined appearance of the Flame Dragon King bloodline and my human bloodline.”
“Under normal circumstances, this kind of life shape is not stable, worse off than those artificial magic beasts on Mystifying Monster Island. It is only because of the Bloodcore’s support can I force this fusion without backfire or collapse.”
“As for why my human nature has suppressed my draconic nature, it is because I am not only using the Flame Dragon King Bloodline, but also the other dragon bloodlines I’ve absorbed. Most of them were white dragon bloodlines.”
“White dragon and flame dragon bloodlines counteract each other; therefore, my human nature maintains control.”
This was how the dragonman youngster always acted when facing Long Meng.
The main reason was that he was worried that his constitution wouldn’t perform good, and Long Meng would doubt he had a saint level bloodline
Long Meng had a serious expression, earnestly replying, “With regards to fighters like us, our bodies are natural weapons, and if we indulge our desires, don’t restrain our temperament and allow them to be expressed, then our weapons will drive us, and we won’t be the master of our weapons.”
“Always be aware of draconic nature, be vigilant of it, suppress it, master it, and ultimately, maintain a clear mind, that is the proper path to elevate our martial skills to a new state.”
“It is precisely because of that that my martial path has been elevated, and I mastered my ‘force’.”
Hearing Long Meng mention “force”, the dragonman youngster’s eyes shined, his interest thick, “I know about ‘force’! But I can’t grasp it, it’s too hard! I don’t have the faintest outline of the fundamentals.”
Long Meng laughed, “What is referred to as force is actually grasping subtlety, uniting body and mind.”
“We must know our body well and master it. The more you know of yourself, the faster you can function. You have to know when your fist descends, it can smash the porcelain and also the bricks underneath it. You must know what result you want to attain, and how much strength should be used to achieve it.”
“In terms of mentality, we must control our mind and keep it crystal clear. However, the draconic nature is usually too strong and maintaining this is very difficult. Only by mastering this, cleansing the self, and understanding one’s heart can one control their thoughts.”
“We dragonman have strong bodies, and usually exceptional bloodlines, that represents our growing draconic nature.”
“And this strong draconic nature is what makes controlling our thoughts so hard.”
“Therefore, usually, those outstanding fighters that master power don’t have the best bloodlines. They are normally beautiful inside and out, have abundant experience, experienced the world to the utmost, and washed themselves beautifully clean. Or perhaps they were cut off from the rest of the world from a young age, was instructed by a very competent teacher, diligently cultivated, and their mind was like a newborn baby for their entire life.”
“To grasp power, both body and mind needs to be mastered, you can’t do one without the other.”
Long Meng’s words luckily cleared up some of the dragonman youngster’s questions.
The dragonman youngster had obtained a lot of fighter experience from divine blessings. These experiences mostly dealt with battle qi cultivation and battle skill usage, but few of them touched on force.
Because these were Charming Blue Goddess’ blessings, and Charming Blue’s followers were concentrated on oceanic lifeforms, therefore, the dragonman youngster had two kinds of experience with force, Running Water Force and Purification Force.
Running Water Force could give a fighter a defense that circled around them like moving water, it could withstand Cutting Force and Piercing Force, dispersing them upon contact.
Purification Force could affect battle qi, breathing, blood, and consumed food, filtering and purifying them all. When used on food, it could purify it, covertly increasing its ease of digestion, and could even allow a fighter to eat magic beast meat a level above them. If one was poisoned, they could use Purification Force to transform the poison. If they had an enemy’s battle qi, magic, or divine power in them wreaking havoc, Purification Force could target them and enormously help the fighter.
However, the dragonman youngster didn’t grasp these two forces.
Even if he turned into his fishman form, he was unable to. The experience in this was incomparable to the help the battle skill and battle qi experience provided.
According to Long Meng’s theory, this was because the dragonman youngster’s body and mind were not in the right place.
“However, I learned Penetration Force with the Grand Arena Medal, it was success in one stroke.”
“My body and spirit then met the standard for it, then why were they both incompatible with the other two forces?”
The harbored misgivings hounded the dragonman youngster, “Must I master both aspects before I am able to cultivate force?”
“I cannot achieve the standard you speak of Long Meng.”
“Are there no shortcuts?”
Long Meng waved his hand, “Don’t be anxious.”
“My meaning is that by completely mastering one’s body and mind, you’ll have a greater chance of grasping force, this is the highest criterion.”
“The reason I brought up force is because I see your human nature is suppressing your draconic nature. Furthermore, this is not the first time you’ve shown that. Your mind has already reached a passing grade, and cultivating force is possible for you.”
The dragonman youngster slightly shivered.
He shamelessly put on a pretense for Long Meng. Long Meng was not Cang Xu. He had a shrewd and ruthless insight, but he sincerely followed the martial path, had a high perspective, comprehended new things by inference, and could similarly make out a bit of his own nature.
The dragonman youngster looked overjoyed, he stood up and said, “So there really is a shortcut! Then teach me now.”
“What really is force?”
“I really want to learn it.”
Long Meng chuckled, “I can’t guarantee you can learn it.”
“Force is far rarer than battle skills, it is not universal by nature. One can master one type of force, but it won’t necessarily apply to another person. Especially when it comes to learning force, it has almost no value when it comes to instruction. This is because everyone’s body and mind is different.”
The dragonman youngster suddenly thought, “So that’s how it is. The divine blessings’ experiences on force instead hindered my grasp of Running Water Power and Purification Power?”
Long Meng slowly stood up, “Come, let me test you for a bit on what force suits you.”
Long Meng approached the young man and suddenly revealed his chest, “Use your fist to hit my chest.”
The dragonman youngster used his normal strength to directly hit Long Meng.”
“Again.” Long Meng was motionless as a mountain, “Use the same strength, don’t change the way you threw it either.”
The dragonman youngster punched again, looking flabbergasted.
Long Meng smiled, “What do you feel?”
The dragonman youngster spoke forthrightly, “The first punch felt like hitting a steel plate. The second time felt like dough.”
Long Meng nodded, “Correct, the first was hard force, the latter is soft force.”
“The most important thing is which of these two forces do you feel more distinctly?”
The dragonman youngster thought to himself, he had nearly the same affinity for both, but after some more consideration, he replied, “The first, hard force.”
The dragonman youngster questioned again, “Hard force, soft force, what are those? Why have I never heard of them?”
Long Meng didn’t hold anything back, “These two are the most basic forces. The forces we hear of daily are derived from these two basic forces.”
“For example, Penetration Force is a soft force variation, Cutting Force is a hard force application, Piercing Force relies mainly on hard force, with soft force complementing it.”
This was the first time the dragonman youngster had heard this theory.
War Merchant’s database included all kinds of battle qi techniques, battle skills, meditation methods, spells, and more, but never anything on force. War Merchant gathered this information for magic beasts, while force was the exclusive technique of intelligence races.
The dragonman youngster learned of two forces from the divine blessings’ fighter experience, but only felt their usage.
The dragonman youngster let slip as he was pondering, “Since all forces are variations and derivations of hard and soft force, then if I master these two forces, and combine them in different ways, can I master all forces?”
Long Meng shook his head, his gaze serene, “It isn’t like that.”
“The real order is just the opposite of what you just thought.”
“Only by mastering many kinds of forces can you combine your experiences, grasp the subtleties, and purify that into these two foundational forces.”
After a pause, Long Meng continued, “Normally, the forces a fighter can comprehend, then master are those that the fighter uses most often, are the best at, or has the greatest insight into.”
“For example, take a fighter whose best battle skill is Penetration Bone Finger. When he attacks with this battle skill, he controls each portion of strength in his body, and his mind is incomparably clear for an instant, it is possible that he grasps insight in that instant, thereby grasping Penetration Force.”
“Another example, a fighter who is exceedingly proficient at war hammers. They have perfect command of the war hammer, as if it was part of their body, a vivid part of their nature. Then it is possible that during daily training, he can have a flash of inspiration that can allow him to grasp Smashing Force, Gravity Force, or even Collision Force.”
“Many have said that it is more likely to happen during battle than during training.”
“Usually, the more intense a battle is, the closer the fighters engage, the more body and mind are united, thoughts will clear, leaving no impurities in them. Under this state of body and mind, grasping force is far more likely than normal.”
This is how the vast majority of fighters learn how to use force.
“Their body and mind attain a certain standard that allows them to grasp one, or perhaps two, or even three forces. They have only put one foot into the realm of force, and by no means have attained the next level of it, let alone mastered it all.”
The dragonman youngster interrupted with a question, “What is the mastery of force? Is it mastering hard and soft force?”
Long Meng nodded.
The dragonman youngster’s eyes contracted. In this, he was not Long Meng’s equal!
Long Meng took back the subject, “According to this test, you have a deep understanding of hard force, then your next objective is to learn a force derived from hard force, or a force that relies mainly on hard force.”
“Select a type you are most familiar with, the basic combat style you are most fond of, no matter if it is in attack, defense, or whether it is unarmed or with a weapon, no matter if it is based on basic combat skills or battle skills, so long as you feel it most agrees with your intentions and are most carefree with it.”
“Then constantly practice it, repeat it.”
“During this process, I will transmit into you the two fundamental forces - hard force and soft force.”
“This will enormously spur your grasp of force, and you will learn that corresponding force. But what it is specifically, I don’t know, it varies from person to person.”
“Of course, the greatest possibility is that this training fails.”
The dragonman youngster stared, “You can…pass on force?!”
This was a first for him.
“You can, so long as you grasp Resonance Force.” Long Meng nodded, his expression always tranquil.
“Resonance Force…” This was the first time he had heard of such a type of power.
He noticed that Long Meng’s combat skill mastery was far deeper than his.
His teachings on force had greatly broadened the young man’s horizons, and he gained quite a lot from them.
“Long Meng’s close quarters battle superiority is too great, if I fought him as I am now, I must do my best to avoid close combat, adopting long ranged warfare is the optimum choice.”
“I can feel that he is sincerely teaching me.”
“Why?”
“I am obviously his enemy, and if he wants to subdue me without a fight, isn’t that rather naïve?”
“Long Meng is not a naïve person!”
After interacting with Long Meng several times, the dragonman youngster had increased his understanding of him.
Since he returned from the Ocean Mother Nest, he had a profound level of insight into human nature. Before during the Snow Bird Harbor battle, he could effortlessly plan against Cong Mang. Then during the duel, he accurately gauged Mi Fang’s mentality.
The dragonman youngster could not determine the reason for this change. He judged that it was possible that it was because he was Charming Blue Goddess’ divine emissary and used many deception spells. For wasn’t cheating and concealing a power that targeted the mind?