The extended weekend came as a nice reprieve for Fan Zhong and he mostly spent it attempting to compose new songs to chronicle his experiences. At the end of the weekend, he even made a calligraphy piece that resonated deeply with him of the character for ‘palm’. The piece used soft curving lines with a few that were thick and sturdy like a mountain. He felt this perfectly encompassed his feelings on the clan palm style, soft while searching for an opening with steady and stoic blows to finish the fight.

Through these experimental forms of reflection, understanding came to him. For minor breakthroughs and moments, he found his musical talents were more effective in helping consolidate the insights he gained. When it came to calligraphy minor benefits could be gained by envisioning fights with opponents but normally those pieces ended with ugly marks across them resulting in little actual progress. He found that where calligraphy truly shined was after breakthroughs to make breathtaking pieces representing the total of his experiences with a technique, style, or skill.

“Today we start the training of a proper clan warrior. Until now you have learned the palm techniques which allow the clan warriors to serve as such excellent bodyguards reacting in situations where access to weapons is not guaranteed.” Fan Cheng calmly explained.

Both he and Fan Zhong stood in the middle of the training clearing facing each other with ten paces of space between them. Fan Zhong stood upright, hands clasped behind his back studiously absorbing his brother's words. Fan Cheng meanwhile stood opposite him a pair of staves held vertically to either side, one in each hand.

The staves were slightly taller than either Fan Cheng or Fan Zhong, who stood around the same height of 1.8m, with each having an intricate set of fan clan crests carved into a ring around the shaft at either end.

“However, although clan warriors can go into battle bare-handed we are not without weapons. Indeed when it is known battle awaits us the humble staff is what our clan trains in. Now don’t be deceived although the staff may not have the cutting power of a sword even normal bamboo staves can crack skulls when swung by the strong bodies of martial artists. These however are no normal staves they are made from Green Palm Bamboo and are Mortal Magical Treasures cut into shape by the clan craftsmen. This bamboo grows close to the shores of the Flowing Grass River in wide fields of Flowing Grass that are aspected to wood and water elements. In such an environment the bamboo feeds off the concentrated wood qi of the grass becoming a natural wood-aligned treasure.” Speaking with a scholarly tone Fan Cheng paused briefly to throw the staff in his left hand to Fan Zhong.

Catching the staff in one hand Fan Zhong almost stumbled forth before righting himself and taking the staff in both hands. The bamboo staff felt smooth in his hands and heavier than he would have expected. Naturally, he had trained with a normal staff a few times as a child however as a trainee he had never had a chance to hold the weapon of a true warrior. Perhaps he could have requested to if he had been interested in martial arts earlier in life but he supposed his lazing about had caused those chances to slip through his fingers. A loud crack pulled his attention back to Fan Cheng and he was surprised to see a metal shield had been placed on the ground.

The shield now lay in pieces around a crater that ended at the end of the lower part of Fan Cheng’s staff, the upper half setting in his upturned palm in void gate stance and his main hand resting a palm on top of the lower portion of his staff. Immediately Fan Zhong was able to tell from the stance and body position that Fan Cheng had executed an origin palm strike and somehow carried the force into the end of his staff, shattering the shield.

“ As you can see the Green Palm Bamboo is made from a mortal natural treasure of the 5% grade and even with that low of a grade it is harder than steel. Don’t think of your Green Palm Bamboo as a simple bamboo weapon, when you wield it swords will shatter and armor will break.” Fan Cheng’s tone was solemn as if a painful memory of underestimating the weapon's attack power was running through his mind.

Meanwhile, Fan Zhong was shocked. Although the staff was a bit heavier than he expected it was by no means as heavy as a fully metal weapon. With this, he had the durability and striking power of a weapon that was superior to steel while maintaining the lightweight and speed of an actual bamboo staff. Considering just this fact alone he understood why a weapon made of even low-grade natural treasures was so prized.

In his mind, a question stirred. If low-grade natural treasures were this strong and durable then how strong were even mid or better yet high-grade natural treasures. He knew little of natural or magical treasures but seeing this staff lit a fire in him to discover more about the subject. Carefully he made a mental note to question Fan Cheng on such things during his knowledge lessons.

“Now you may remember that our clan style cultivates earth Qi and as such our qi techniques receive no help from these staves. Indeed since earth overcomes wood in the elemental cycle our techniques would be 5% weaker when used this way. However we don’t need them as technique amplifiers, they are simply high-quality weapons. If you ever break through to the master realm the clan will spare no expense to make an earth-aligned magical treasure for you.” Fan Cheng finished and flourished his staff, raising his off-hand and seeming to somehow spin the staff on his palm as his main hand resumed its readied posture for the void gate stance. In this posture his offhand dipped slightly back to him and the staff stopped with the center of gravity resting it at his offhand palm, his main hand palm resting on top of the lower end of his staff. “The good news is that the clan staff and palm techniques don’t differ, once you get used to the feeling of the weapon and maneuvering it your technique attainment in the palm techniques will allow you to transfer the force of your strikes into the weapon. To begin with, we will be learning to maneuver the staff. The clan technique for this is to use a method called ‘contact juggling’ where you maintain contact points with the weapon along your body to allow it to seemingly slide and spin freely within your forms. Here, this master will show you!”

With these final words, Fan Cheng nudged his staff with his main hand and sent it spinning in his offhand palm. He then pushed his arm forward and the staff seemed to glide on his elbow while still spinning before it rode up onto his shoulder around the back of his neck, as he ducked his head to avoid the spinning weapon, and then proceeded down his main hand shoulder and elbow into his waiting palm. A shockwave boomed as he spun it one more time in his hand before slamming the butt into the ground smiling, apparently very pleased with his display.

“Simple for a heaven-defying genius like you, no?” The Grin on Fan Cheng’s face grew even wider

For the next three hours, Fan Zhong attempted to mimic the spinning movements of his brother’s contact juggling. After the hundredth time he dropped the weapon he gave up counting. By the end of the session, he was just barely able to execute a basic origin palm and then use the contact juggling to execute a spin on his offhand palm to reset the staff into his void gate stance.

That night he wrote a song that was filled with subtle emotion. It spoke of the hubris of the frog in the well and the realization one made when they understood how much bigger the world was. In this way his eyes had been opened, he had thought his progress in the clan techniques was truly a large step however after discovering that he still could not even use the clan’s weapons he felt his achievements were truly too small.

Even though he had known the clan trained with staffs as their primary weapon he had always seen his brother and father speaking as well as using palm techniques. But of course they could! His father and brother were master and grandmaster realm martial artists respectively. They could utilize Qi taking advantage of the palm force created when using the techniques. This gave him a new appreciation for how truly terrifying his brother's achievements were, master realm at only 18 years old?

He decided to finish the piece with a hopeful crescendo. One that spoke of enjoying the journey and accepting the progress he had with each step, the rising crescendo heralding the adventure going ever forward. With that, he got up and carefully removed the spirit stones that powered the relighting formation on his hut’s torches, gently cupping the remaining flame and blowing it out.

When the birds heralded the morning Fan Zhong met his training with a renewed determination. He truly felt as if the morning melody was mimicking the hopeful crescendo of his late night's works. The day progressed as normal and with it, he was finally able to execute all three of the origin palms consistently while using contact juggling to slide the staff along his body to resume his stance.

Upon the next day, his ability to use the shifting palms with his staff and contact juggling started to form with only a few hundred drops of his weapon. That night his song spoke of shifting sands and winds, evasive sounds that rose and gave way when the crescendo reached a peak heralding a sudden change to quiet retreating notes. Ending this tune were sharp staccato tones that brought to one's mind decisive blows that pierce all defensives resembling the shifting stances having found an opening that gave way to aggressive fight-ending counters.

On the third day, he started working on his receiving palm techniques with the staff. These proved more difficult for him as the receiving palms usually involved both hands and had no obvious striking points for the staff. After conversing with Fan Cheng on how to incorporate the weapon into the techniques his brother revealed that for the receiving part it was mainly put into the stronger of the two palms that formed the receiving technique.

This was to reinforce the disruptive power of the counter by holding the staff parallel to the body; one would also bring the weapon into position to aid the follow-up hit. After this one could guide the staff with their foot in the path of the follow-up kick or knee strike using the weapon as a transfer medium for the hit just like a palm strike. With this guidance Fan Zhong’s appreciation for the versatility of contact juggling combined with the clan style grew by leaps and bounds.

For the rest of the week, Fan Zhong worked primarily on his receiving palm techniques although he did still practice the others. By the end of this week, he finally felt comfortable executing all of the techniques and using contact juggling to return to his void gate stance. With the week over and more free time during the weekend, he decided to compose another song. One that wandered containing notes from all parts of the spectrum before building all of these melodies and notes into a single combined melody that decrescendoed to a soft and peaceful ending.

To him this song spoke of taking in all experiences from a variety of angles, accepting all parts of the world and bringing them to the origin. In all the world he felt that nothing represented the receiving palm techniques better than this song. Quickly he decided that it was the best of his compositions that had been inspired by the palm techniques.

Upon reviewing the previous songs he started making slight improvements. Changing a note here and there, adding tempo changes and more complex dynamics. Before he knew it he had spent most of the weekend changing all of the songs into a set of pieces made to be played one after the other. Now only one day of his weekend remained. Calming himself and looking inward he felt like he was on the precipice of something, the resonance that dwelt deep inside him vibrating to fill him with energy.

Immediately sitting down at his low table, he began preparing his calligraphy tools by the light of the noon sun. Shortly he fell into a deep state of concentration, his brush holding still for long moments as he reflected on the experience of integrating his palm techniques with the staff as a weapon. Countless memories flowed through his mind as he remembered the myriad of small corrections he had made to his technique, constantly improving them by removing excess movements and controlling his momentum more.

Upon this recollection Fan Zhong realized that he had not only improved his ability to integrate techniques with the staff but also his intrinsic understanding of the style and techniques as a whole had improved. He was confident if they trained unarmed palm techniques again that instant he would be better than before he started training with a weapon. With this final realization his state of concentration ended and he stared at the piece that was now illuminated by moonlight.

The entire day had been consumed however looking at his work he felt no regrets. Upon the calligraphy paper sat the symbol for “Fan”, his clan name. Truly this was the most fitting piece to represent his experience, in the world there may be different palm styles and perhaps not all of them were not similar to the Fan clan style. However, his experiences as well as these songs truly represented the Fan clan uniquely with their martial style, this truth he felt deeply in his heart. Quickly underneath the calligraphy symbol, he wrote the title “ Journey to Subdue the Heavens” and used the calligraphy piece as a cover. Next, he placed it on top of the musical sheets that had been organized in the order he thought they should be played.

With this finished a rush of air pushed out in all directions from Fan Zhong and all of his torches momentarily went out before they relit. By the time the formations inside the torches came back to life Fan Zhong had already slumped over and fallen asleep at his table, truly exhausted. Fan Cheng, who had rushed over after sensing the wave of air emanating from his brother's training hut, looked upon his sleeping brother and smiled.

Quickly he pulled his brother into the bed and blew out the torches after removing their spirit stones. Lastly, he dusted off the cover of Journey to Subdue the Heavens while carefully putting away his brother's papers and calligraphy tools. Silently he returned to his hut smiling with anticipation for what new surprises his little brother would show in the coming days.

Beginning the next week Fan Zhong continued to practice the integration of weapon and palm technique. To change this up Fan Cheng had them once again begin the partner drills. Noticeably Fan Cheng seemed to be far gentler while dueling with weapons. It quickly became obvious that he was incredibly worried about injuring Fan Zhong during a weapons drill.

This suited Fan Zhong fine as he was able to extend the drill to a record of 5 whole exchanges now that his elder brother was more restricted! While Fan Cheng may have had to hold back more he was meanwhile free to push his improving strength to the limit. Naturally, he had no concerns about hurting someone in the master realm, the gulf of strength was simply far too large.

Although initially he had trouble understanding how his techniques had improved after his reflections he was quickly able to understand after once again drilling with Fan Cheng. Previously his transition between each technique had been marked by brief pauses or awkwardness, to an outside observer it was obvious each technique was a separate set of actions with little connection. Now that his experience had been consolidated each of his strikes connected into each other flowing from one technique to the next.

This was no master-level execution where the techniques were indistinguishable as separate moves; however he was no longer impeded by clear pauses and awkward connecting motions that were not a part of his techniques. Fan Zhong surmised that previously his technique attainment was only at the initial crest of the familiar realm barely qualifying to be recognized as such. With his new gains although he had not brought his understanding to a new realm he felt that he was firmly within the middle stages of the familiar realm. With increasing practice, he would be well on his way to the expert realm.

They continued training and drilling deep into the week and before Fan Zhong even realized it another week had passed. On the last day of this week, his older brother stopped their drills early for the day and began a new lesson.

“Finally you can fight like a warrior, now you must learn to move and sense like a warrior. We begin with sensing. You understand that mental energy is the primary separator between Second and Third-grade martial artists, yes? Since this is the case you need to prepare your mind to strengthen and train your mental energy. Remember mental energy passively increases your ability to perceive things, the speed at which you think, and your ability to exert more strength without hurting yourself. The mental exercise our warriors use is called ‘observing the roaming earth’ and it focuses on identifying the minute changes in an object. When fully trained you will be able to see the smallest tensing of muscles and movement of clothing from an opponent and to them it will seem as if you can predict the future, knowing their movements before they make them.” Explaining this he motioned for Fan Zhong to sit down in the center of the clearing and went to one of the huts retrieving a box that had an opened top with a small nozzle on one side of the inside.

On the bottom of the box were innumerable small stones. After he reached Fan Zhong his elder brother sat down opposite him on the ground setting the box between them.

“You will observe the stones in the box and whenever one of them even minutely moves you will touch it, this will cause the stone to light up and stay in place. Meanwhile, I will operate a fan outside this nozzle that will send a soft wind into the box to disturb the stones. We shall start easy with major movements and slowly I will make the stones move less while requiring you to identify the movements faster. This curtain over the nozzle will obscure my hands so that you cannot see what I am doing, your eyes and concentration are not to leave the box under any circumstances until the exercise is done if they do… hehehehe” Fan Cheng laughed while smiling eerily and spinning his punishment stick in his off-hand.

It turned out that the punishment stick also fell whenever Fan Zhong took too long to notice one of the stones moving. The box was about 1 meter by 1 meter and was fairly large with over a hundred stones of varying size within it all which were still as the dead. True to his word the beginning movements were bursts of wind from the nozzle that sent each of the stones rocking at the bottom of the box and although Fan Zhong was hit a few times he mostly managed it.

However, after an hour of the exercise, he was exasperated and demanded that his elder brother show him which stone that moved after being hit. Every time without fail after he was shown the correct stone, and Fan Cheng repeated the subtle streak of wind, he was able to see the slight rocking of the stone with great concentration. This exercise truly vexed him, it had the boringness of watching bamboo dry in the sun while making him stay on guard and alert as if dozens of enemy weapons were flying at him.

Fan Cheng only continued the lesson for a few minutes after the hour mark motioning for him to stand as he stowed away the box before returning to the clearing.

“Next we will work on moving like a warrior. The movement technique we will be working on is named “Momentum of Shifting earth” and has roots in the shifting palm techniques you learned while striking. With this, you take the momentum gained while moving and rotate it to support your new motion. The results of this are you must take wider circular motions such as when you do the footwork for the shifting palm strikes, this will allow you to gradually change the direction of your momentum while losing minimal amounts of energy in the effort. Observe!” Finished explaining Fan Cheng executed a set of shifting palm footwork forward.

The first set of movements was slow and exaggerated for Fan Zhong’s sake however the second step he took his upper and lower body moved in circular motions shifting and redirecting the momentum of his first step into the second. Soon the second step was slightly faster than the first and the next even faster than that. By the time Fan Cheng had taken 5 steps he was moving at a speed Fan Zhong could barely keep up with and on the 6th step, he turned into a blur. Next, he sped back to his original position and released the momentum into a palm strike that sent a shockwave of air rippling throughout the clearing.

“ As you can see the technique is not only for movement it can also be channeled into strikes, conversely when your mastery is high enough you can generate momentum from your palm techniques and convert it into speed for movement. Even the force made from contact juggling your weapon can be made into movement speed or striking force with enough practice. Now take your stance. This exercise is more akin to our stance training. You will go through the motions slowly and I will guide you.” Fan Cheng finished explaining and took up an observing posture beside him, carefully examining his brother.

Thus ensued another hour of training that dwarfed any session of stance training Fan Zhong had ever done. He felt as if he had been hit more times during this one hour for corrections to his movements than he had been in the entire last month of stance training and technique practice combined! Thankfully his brother also cut this session short as they were running out of time.

“ Good we will now take the time of day dedicated to drilling and alternate between movement and mental exercises while honing your skill in stance practice. For striking practice, we will alternate every day between open hand and weapon training. Get some good rest little brother, for we have far to climb on the mountain of martial arts tomorrow!” Fan Cheng’s last words boomed from his chest as he broadly smiled at Fan Zhong before he disappeared in a rush of wind.

The next bout of training was like a fever dream for Fan Zhong, weeks of arduous training with his new areas of work being far more taxing than his initial hardships had ever been. At one point he swore his dreams had been filled with nothing but the image of an endless field of stones with demons popping up from beneath them trying to steal his soul if he didn’t look at them. Another set of dreams plagued him of the world constantly spinning causing him to fall over in a dizzy heap whenever he stood, a constant state he ended up in when his attempts to redirect momentum went wrong and he ended up spinning out of control.

It took him until the end of the year, slightly longer than 5 whole months, to reach the familiar realm in the mental exercise and the movement technique. The day his brother claimed he had reached the threshold for both he exclaimed excitedly and that night he determined that he would write two more complementary works to his original music, completing a set that would encapsulate everything about the full style of a Fan clan warrior. However when he arrived at his hut, sleep overtook him and he resigned himself to starting work in the morning, he would use all weekend to finish this masterpiece! However when he woke Fan Zhong was horrified to find himself feeling incredibly groggy and unclear of his surroundings.

Sitting up he found that he was in a brightly lit forest with sturdy trees instead of bamboo. Beside him rested his staff, a hunting knife, and what looked like a full travel pack. With his expression growing more horrified by the moment he could only listen to the deep sounds of the forest waking up to a fresh morning, exactly what had happened to get him here?