Severing Time & Space

Perfect Physique

After washing up and getting dressed in a red and black hanfu, Wu Jian met up with Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu by the dining hall and entered. A lot of people were already present. The buzzing of conversation was a dull sound in his ears as they found a place to sit. It wasn’t long after they sat down that a maidservant, the same one who always attended to them, arrived with some congee, a bowl of fruit and nuts, and a side of honey.

Wu Jian was aware of the eyes on him as he sat between the two girls. He could feel the stares drilling holes into the back of his head. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he could have sworn people were glaring at him more than usual today.

I must be imagining things. People stare at me all the time. Hmm. I’m sure they’re glaring no more than usual. That must be it. I’m just being paranoid.

“Tomorrow is our day off, right?” asked Hou Jingshu as she scooped some congee onto her spoon. She had forgone the honey but liberally sprinkled nuts and berries into her food. After blowing lightly to cool it down, she placed the spoon in her mouth, then sighed in bliss. “This is delicious.”

“Anything would taste good when you’re hungry,” Wu Meiying said as she slipped her own spoon into her mouth. A smile lit up her face as the taste of berries, nuts, and honey touched her tongue. “But I agree, this is good. I do so love congee with honey. And yes, tomorrow is our day off. What do you two think we should do?”

“I would like to spend more time in the city,” Hou Jingshu said. “You two showed me around a bit, but I feel like we only scratched the surface. I would also like to visit the library and see if there are any books on cultivating and martial arts. As you know, my father didn’t let me learn any martial arts, so I don’t have my own style yet.”

“You’re not going to find anything good at the city library,” Wu Jian told her. “We’ll check the clan library after we’re finished with our lessons for the day. Tomorrow, we can travel into Zahn City and just enjoy ourselves.”

“We’ll need to tell Uncle that we are going out,” Wu Meiying said.

“I’ll tell him at dinner tonight.”

After finishing breakfast, the trio headed for the training hall, where they took turns sparring against each other for several hours alongside their peers. Then they headed for the library.

“I haven’t seen you kids in a while. Are you here for a new book?” asked Grandpa Son when the three kids entered the library.

“Grandpa Son, this time we’re looking for a martial art that will suit Jingshu,” Wu Jian said. “Can you think of anything that would work well with her?”

“Hmmm. She is a bit thin, but she has surprisingly dense muscles… girl, how often do you exercise?” asked Grandpa Son.

Hou Jingshu blushed only a bit at hearing her muscles being described as “dense.” That probably wasn’t something most girls wanted to hear someone say about their musculature, but because she admired strength, Wu Jian imagined she thought of it as a compliment.

“Um. I just started a month ago,” Hou Jingshu admitted.

“And your muscles have already become this firm?” Grandpa Son raised an eyebrow, mumbled something to himself, then nodded. “It looks like you might have a Perfect Physique.”

Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu all shared a glance. Each of them looked confused. None of them had ever heard of this Perfect Physique before. They turned back to Grandpa Son.

“What is a Perfect Physique?” asked Wu Jian.

As if he had been waiting for one of them to ask that question, Grandpa Son smiled and said, “A Perfect Physique is a unique and quite rare physical condition among cultivators whose bodies are uniquely suited for martial combat. Their bodies are perfectly maintained and balanced at all times, even when they don’t exercise at all, and they excel at using body enhancement techniques.”

There were many different kinds of techniques out there. Techniques were roughly divided into three categories based on their power, complexity, and how much chi was required to activate them. Earth techniques were the weakest. After Earth came Spirit—intermediate techniques. And finally, after Spirit came Heaven. Heaven techniques were the strongest, said to be capable of moving mountains, splitting seas, and controlling the heavens themselves.

Of course, Heaven techniques were rarer than a unicorn’s horn or phoenix feathers. A technique like that would never appear in a tiny country like the Shang Kingdom.

These categories were further divided into levels. Each category had three levels: low, middle, and high. A high-grade Earth technique would be stronger than a low-grade one, but it would be weaker than even the weakest low-grade Spirit technique.

“Body enhancement techniques are almost always Earth-rank since they only enhance a cultivator’s physical abilities, though I have heard legends of a Heaven-rank body enhancement technique,” Grandpa Son said. Then he chortled to himself and stroked his beard. “But you don’t need to worry about that right now. None of you will have to worry about techniques until you turn sixteen. For now, let’s find you a martial art style that is suitable for your body type.”

The Wu Clan had several different styles of martial art. This included weapon martial arts like styles for the yanyuedao and the ji. However, because they were a small clan, they were still lacking. There were around twenty different types of martial arts in total. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying had already gone through all of them and not one suited either of them, but maybe they would find something that would work with Hou Jingshu.

“Um, if possible, I would like to learn a martial art that utilizes a polearm weapon like a yanyuedao,” Hou Jingshu said, her tone uncertain.

Grandpa Son snorted. “Hmph. Do not be so hasty to pick a martial art for a weapon, child. While you can certainly learn how to wield a yanyuedao or any other weapon, you must first learn how to wield your body. Hmmm. However, if you are interested in picking up a weapon, then you won’t want to learn a more complicated martial art… I think I have something that will both fit your body type and desire to use a weapon. Follow me.”