Jang-Guo was flapping his arms. Like a chicken would rustle its feathers in attempts at flight or fight, the boy too waved his hands up and down. He kicked with a jump. Coupled with the bizarre accompaniment of flapping his arms, the boy was unable to land properly and fell on his feet. Deepening his wounded pride, Jang-Guo saw he did not even connect with the tree in front of him.

“The Chicken Strike is truly one of the most difficult one to learn,” the light orb known as Sun Devouring Moon commented. “But once mastered! You shall strike with the ruthless abandon of a cock!”

“Master Sun Devouring Moon,” Jang-Guo looked at the orb with dead eyes, then fell back

onto his back, “this can’t be one of the Twelve Beastial Strikes.”

The orb glowed bright and threatened, “Boy, I gifted this legacy of mine to you, and I am even taking time out of my day to guide you through it! Don’t make me regret this and leave.”

Groaning, Jang-Guo got on his knees and kowtowed, “Master Sun Devouring Moon, please teach me what to do.”

“Boy, I am not your master. I merely handed you the martial arts. I do not accept disciples. How many times do I have to tell you that?” The orb glowed yellow as if slightly pleased and jubilated.

Jang-Guo raised his head and pounded his chest. “I, Tang Jang-Guo, respects the order of Heaven and Earth. Master Sun Devouring Moon gave me one of his own martial arts. This makes you my master!”

“Aiyah,” the orb flickered and dimmed, “boy, th-that’s not how it works.”

Jang-Guo rubbed his bald head in confusion. Then his eyes lit up. “Ah, your loyal disciple is sorry! I have never poured Master a cup of wine. Please, punish this insincere disciple.”

“Boy, please quiet down,” the orb sighed. “If you quiet down, I’ll show you the Twelve Beastial Strikes again.”

Jang-Guo nodded earnestly with a smile and knelt attentively.

The orb floated high above in the sky and projected a spiritual body. Rather than one appearing exactly like Sun Devouring Moon, the spiritual body was like a silhouette. The shadow figure went through all 108 steps of the Twelve Beastial Strikes. Each Beastial Strike consisted of 9 steps.

Tiger Strike consisted of a wide stance followed by aggressive stalking of the prey. After the prey show weakness, the Tiger would pounce forward with fearsome explosive strength. Then the Tiger would unleash a bout of claw strikes and tear into the prey without mercy.

“Master the Tiger within to tame the Dragon,” Sun Devouring Moon told Jang-Guo. “Imbue each strike with qi and each strike will be as if you are wielding a tiger’s roar in each hand. Blast away all obstacles! Rip apart evil itself with righteousness!”

Dragon Strike consisted of merely foot movements. Long sweeping footwork which made the waist supple like the string of a zither. Yet when the shadow moved quickly, Jang-Guo felt as if a raging fire burned underneath the shadow’s movements.

“Use the Dragon to position and intimidate the enemy! Then snap your waist and launch your body forward. This is how you will link each Strike!”

As soon as the shadow figure launched forward, it immediately transitioned into the Deer Strike.

Pivoting on its heel, the shadow leapt away. Bounding across a great distance with one push. Then it moved unsteady like a newborn fawn yet from its unpredictable movements, one was able to sense the profound potential of it. And when Jang-Guo least expected it, the shadow kicked forward and the illusion of a blade struck through him.

“Never be afraid to run away; it is a strategic retreat!”

“Is that not dishonorable, Master Sun Devouring Moon?” Jang-Guo asked. “As cultivators, must we not always do good?”

The light orb flared up and momentarily blinded Jang-Guo. “If you can live through certain death, then you can come back and talk then, boy!”

Finishing his outburst, the immortal turned his attention back to controlling the shadow.

“Next, these few strikes can be linked from the Deer Strike tremendously. To turn tail on an opponent is a great insult, and from that anger, one can strike with great effectiveness!”

The shadow abruptly stopped and kicked from behind. Then it turned and kicked some more, a flurry of indistinguishable shadow kicks emerged. This flurry of kicks gave birth to the illusion of a sandstorm.

Then it tumbled around like a monkey, taunting its invisible foe. With sharp almost whip-like fashion, the shadow monkey knocked about its invisible foe silly. After that, the monkey hooked its arms around its opponent like two surging vipers.

Gripping the opponent, these twin vipers moved its prey aggressively like the prey was nothing more than a puppet. With such violent movements, if the prey was real, surely its joints would be forcibly dislocated or entire limbs broken in two.

“Scorpion: never be afraid to fight from the shadow. Monkey: combine the gentle illusion of flowing arms before propelling those whips to break mountains. Snake: entwine your very being and break the opponent's’ spirits.”

Then the shadow figure took up a stance much like a chicken. Jang-Guo looked away for a short while in embarrassment. The chicken leapt forward and unleashed a hail of kicks as it descended. Once it landed, the chicken flapped its wings at its opponents, hammering away with heavy fists.

“The Chicken Strike is an arrogant strike. You leave yourself extremely vulnerable, but in that openness is the trap. As the opponent encroaches, strike fiercely,” Sun Devouring Moon proclaimed with a heroic tone.

“Master, did you create this strike as a joke?” Jang-Guo asked. He and the orb stared back at one another.

“...I was hungry for chicken,” the orb finally admitted.

“You could have been hungry for phoenix meat, or a more impressive beast than chicken,” Jang-Guo lamented.

“Boy, did your parents not teach you to respect your seniors? At least be thankful to the Heavens

that I was not hungry for pig.”

Next, the shadow performed the Swallow Strike. Each hand acted independent one another, as if the mind and body was perfectly divided down the middle. One fist would strike from above, the other would hover below. The nine forms truly captured the poetic flight of two swallows in love.

“This Swallow Strike was the first of the Twelve Beastial Strikes. Originally, it was called Sixteen Swallows Flying Through Moon Water; now, it is simply another fist bearing my idiosyncratic style.”

Jang-Guo nodded with great respect and seriousness.

Then the shadow demonstrated the Mantis Strike. This beast’s nine forms consisted of

hook fingers diverting the opponent’s strikes before it also striking.

“Be like bamboo when striking with the Mantis. It is one of the more pronounced internal-external hybrid strikes of this series.”

The Eagle Strike consisted of numerous elbow and knee strikes all targeting joints, as well as kicks and sharp claw strikes. Within its nine forms were an innumerable variation of how a practitioner could link the nine forms.

“The Eagle is free. Remember that; of all the Twelve Strikes, this is the most versatile.”

The eleventh strike was the Cat Strike. The shadow moved about slyly and strike only with sweeps or low kicks. Similar to the Monkey Strike, it too featured the use of acrobatics.

“Master, did you run out of ideas?” Jang-Guo asked.

“No, a cat saved my life once. When I was very young,” Sun Devouring Moon responded with fondness, “a pure white cat found me a rare herb after I was injured by a poison dagger after being betrayed while treasure hunting. From that point on, I have honored cats.”

The final strike was the Horse Strike. The shadow adopted nine stances, each being held for around a breath. Then the shadow faded to nothing.

“The Horse Strike is centered around stability. It is a defensive ‘Strike’. It acts as a foundation for all your other Strikes primarily.” Sun Devouring Moon finished. The orb dimmed visibly. “It seems today will be the day you leave me. I am going to leave for a moment. Practice your Strikes. When I come back, we will go to the girl and then talk.”

With a burst of light, the orb vanished. Sighing, Jang-Guo decided to deepen his understanding of the Dragon Strike rather than fail at the Chicken Strike again.

The bald-headed boy stretched his waist by bending left and right, twirling his body around like a wine bottle, and going up and down. Then, he launched into a repetition of the nine forms of the Dragon Strike.

By the time Sun Devouring Moon returned, the boy was drenched in sweat. Deep grooves lined the earth and long ridges were carved into the barks of several trees. Sun Devouring Moon observed the boy as he combined the Dragon Strike with his own Western Dragon Arts. The boy would move about, ravaging the earth like unquenchable fire, before launching forward — scooping up the soul of the earth — and striking with ferocious punches at a tree. The force sent leaves scattering down like rain, and using the Dragon Strike, Jang-Guo repositioned to punch through as many leaves as possible before they fell to the ground.

“Very nice,” Sun Devouring Moon beamed. “Now, let us go meet with Qiu’yue. She should be at the spring?”

Jang-Guo nodded. The two made their way toward the spring. They found Qiu’yue submerged up to her neck by the water while meditating. Sensing the arrival of Jang-Guo and Sun Devouring Moon,

Qiu’yue opened her eyes. She smiled and swam her way to shore.

“Any progress?” Jang-Guo asked. Qiu’yue shook her head. Her Tang-ge comforted her by saying,

“Well, at least you’re at the fifth stage of qi condensation.”

“Is the Four Shifting Forms really so hard to comprehend?” Sun Devouring Moon inquired.

Qiu’yue showed him what little result she had of the First Form: Light Scattered Broken. The basic form was similar to River Carving Fist’s union of Yin-and-Yang, swirling circular palms creating the illusion of that union. A vague third palm manifested at Qiu’yue’s side before quickly dissipating.

Then the entire thing collapsed.

The girl pouted and stomped her foot in frustration. “The instructions are all so vague and the pictures are so blurry!”

“Light Scattered Broken, if mastered, should manifest in an impenetrable fortress encasing one’s own body: a thousand palms converged into the union of Yin-and-Yang. Thus, one can always redirect an incoming strike with a throw or counter-strike,” Sun Devouring Moon remarked. Then he said apologetically, “It truly is a matter of comprehension on the inner working of the martial art.”

Then Qiu’yue smiled. “Sun Devouring Moon senior, I’ve mastered the first stage of Rippling Water Acupuncture. Look, look!”

She hurried back toward the center of the spring and knocked her fist against the still surface. At first a slight rippling expected of the disruption occurred. Then less than a breath after the rippling reached the shore, a more tyrannical and agitated burst exploded across the waters in awesome waves spreading out toward the shore before reconverging back onto the center.

“Very impressive,” Sun Devouring Moon exclaimed. “Of course, since it is an art I devised, of course it would be impressive. Now, come here child. We must talk.”

The three gathered into a misshapen circle.

“As you have figured out, there remains a traitor in the Yun Yue Sect. As part of accepting my legacy, you must kill this intruder. This parasite on my sect.

“Normally, I would not concern myself with the sect’s affairs or pursue this grudge — but this traitor is without a doubt, the person who orchestrated the death of my daughter and wife. He was once my best friend and right hand man. So, before you kill me, I want you, if possible, to find out why he betrayed me.”

Remembering the scene of death from the Second Trial, Qiu’yue became sad and cradled her arms around the orb. Sun Devouring Moon was surprised and he flared up brilliantly.

“Master,” Jang-Guo pounded on his chest, “as your loyal disciple, I will avenge Master’s family!”

The orb beamed down at the children with such emotion and brightness that the two shielded their eyes.

“Good! Good!” Sun Devouring Moon declared. “What good inheritors of my legacy I have! Truly, I have never been more blessed. Now, let me tell you about the traitor.

“He is a master of disguise. A god, even. Once, while the rebellion still raged, we had to sneak into a town occupied by the enemy. He disguised himself as a beautiful woman completely. To preserve his cover, he even got into bed with the captain of the battalion occupying that town — then he murdered him while he slept.

“He is also a fearsome internal and external school practitioner. Defeating opponents several stages above him seem to be an easy job. The arts he has mastered rivals my own. If there is one defining feature about his style is beauty. Whether it was wine or women or himself, he wanted everything to be beautiful. But that is not saying much since the martial arts taught in my sect are often elegant and inspiring.

“But there is one identifiable thing about him even if he disguises himself. Somewhere on his body, there will definitely be a lotus tattoo. It’s a flaw of the transformation art he practices.”

Jang-Guo raised his eyebrow and asked, “Is there anything else special about that tattoo? Anyway to distinguish it from another martial art which would also feature a lotus tattoo?”

“No. I’ve seen the lotus appear in different areas, in different colors, and different sizes. But that’s only one part of the list. On a night when the moon is completely hidden by darkness, he will become extremely weak with pale blue veins visible all over his body, except his face, hands, and feet— even if in disguise. A lasting wound I gave him. He will definitely seek a Golden Buddha Relief dan to fight against the pain without fail. And lastly, the sight of spiders will send him into a destructive panic.”

Qiu’yue chewed on her lips, “Sun Devouring Moon senior, do you really think we can kill him?”

“No, but if you can gather evidence, then the sect will surely kill him then. I feel he has gathered quite a bit of influence through the decades he has lurked here. A great fear rest in my being that he may be close to whatever despicable plan he is envisioning.”

“Master, no worry, I will definitely make you proud.”

“Mmm,” Qiu’yue nodded earnestly, “little Qiu’yue will work hard.”

The orb glowed bright as if smiling, “Good, good. It is time for you two to go now.”

“Master, will we meet again?”

“Boy, I am not your master,” the orb chuckled and vanished.

The paradise around the two children also disappeared. The two were now in a cavern with walls of ice surrounding them. Up above, a white portal opened up.

Author's Note: Basically...exposition town this chapter was. But it's setting up for future events, ya know.

Anyhow, 25th chapter! Woo! Milestone!

And Chicken Style is an actual, legit thing. Looks nothing like how it's portrayed here. More like pulling on a rope kinda deal from the one video I saw.