David Brooks spoke again, then turned to Ethan Brooks and said, “Man follows the earth, earth follows the heavens, heavens follow the Dao, and the Dao follows nature. The so-called practice of martial arts can also be included in this general principle. However, in martial arts, at the beginning of imitating heaven and earth, we first mimic birds and beasts, such as dragon form, tiger form, crane form, and so on. Our lineage imitates a legendary creature—the Thunder Beast. The stance training we practice is naturally related to the Thunder Beast. Watch my stance…”

David Brooks assumed a posture.

This posture was somewhat like the horse stance, but while the horse stance requires the chest out, abdomen in, and arms held level, David Brooks’s stance had both hands raised high, palms together, reaching toward the sky.

The appearance…

Was a bit embarrassing.

Ethan Brooks imitated him.

“Your mind must be calm, your breath even, your spirit focused. If you can’t achieve these three things, the first step of stance training will be extremely hard for you. But lately, this old man has come up with a method: everyone should have their own hobby, and by cultivating a habit through that hobby, you can enter the right state. For example, before I practice martial arts, I do some calligraphy, and my mind quickly calms down. Emily follows my example, and Olivia likes to draw. You can also choose a hobby that helps you calm your mind. What do you like?”

“Me?”

Ethan Brooks thought for a moment and answered honestly, “My dream is to be a philosopher.”

“Philosophy needs a foundation of life experience. You’re only nineteen, too young. The ideas you express are just empty words. No, no, what else do you like?”

“What else do I like…”

Ethan Brooks paused. “I like listening to music.”

“I like listening to music too.”

Emily Brooks, standing nearby, said with a smile.

“Listening to music—won’t that be distracting…”

David Brooks frowned slightly, glanced at Ethan Brooks, and suddenly stopped talking, staring intently at Ethan Brooks’s stance.

“Second Grandpa?”

Ethan Brooks glanced at David Brooks.

“Don’t let your mind wander. Keep holding this state.”

David Brooks said.

Meanwhile, although Emily Brooks hadn’t practiced much, her perception was different. She saw it at a glance: “He’s entered a calm state.”

“Not bad.”

David Brooks nodded.

He was quite surprised. Eighteen- or nineteen-year-old boys are usually the most restless, so being able to calm the mind so quickly was truly rare.

“Focus your mind, calm your breath, don’t be arrogant, don’t be impatient, don’t rush, don’t dawdle.”

David Brooks offered guidance from the side.

The practice lasted the whole morning.

Nearly two hours.

David Brooks instructed Ethan Brooks to finish, watched him complete his training, and didn’t bring up martial arts again, only saying, “You must be hungry. Let’s eat first.”

Ethan Brooks then had a meal at his second grandfather’s house.

During the meal, David Brooks’s attitude became a bit more formal: “In martial arts, what do you want to practice? Fist and foot, sword and blade, or hidden weapons?”

“Sword.”

Ethan Brooks answered without hesitation.

“The sword, king of all weapons, the instrument of a gentleman. Good.”

David Brooks nodded with some satisfaction. “Your second grandfather has studied more than ten sword techniques and mastered several of them—enough to be called half a sword master. But I’d like to hear what kind of swordsmanship you want to learn first.”

“I want to learn swordsmanship that can sweep thirty thousand miles with sword energy, and with one sword, chill all nineteen provinces!”

David Brooks’s face darkened. “No such thing.”

“Then swordsmanship that can cut through the clouds with one strike and comprehend the Dao above the nine heavens would be fine too.”

“No such thing.”

“Then surely there’s swordsmanship where, on a moonlit night, dressed in white like snow, with a single strike, the celestial being descends from beyond the heavens?”

“No such thing.”

David Brooks snorted through his nose. “So young and you want to practice swordsmanship? Just practice fists and palms! Waving swords around—are you planning to kill someone?”

“Then… do you have a palm technique that descends from the sky?”

“No.”

David Brooks slapped the table. “You haven’t even built a solid foundation, and you want to practice fists, feet, or palm techniques? Go practice breathing exercises.”

“Breathing exercises!? Sure, sure!”

Ethan Brooks nodded.

Cultivating the essence of heaven and earth wasn’t bad either.

“In our lineage, for body training there’s the Thirty-Six Thunderbolt Forms, for energy training there’s Thunder Breathing, but unfortunately, the Thunder Dominator visualization method for spirit training has been lost…”

David Brooks continued, “The stance you just practiced is the Thunderbolt Stance, the foundation of the Thirty-Six Thunderbolt Forms. Now I’ll tell you about the rhythm of Thunder Breathing, this breathing technique. Once you’ve built some foundation, I’ll teach you the deeper secrets.”

Ethan Brooks memorized it carefully.

Perhaps because the two Ethan Brooks souls had merged after being reborn in this world, his memory had become excellent and his mind quick. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to rank in the top ten of the whole school.

David Brooks only had to say it twice, and he understood it completely.

Thunder Breathing was the core breathing technique of the Baili lineage. David Brooks had taken on five disciples, but only the eldest had inherited this technique, and even then, it wasn’t the complete version—the deeper secrets were still in David Brooks’s hands. But Ethan Brooks…

Had started practicing this core technique right from the beginning. It had to be said that one’s background directly determined one’s opportunities.

After the meal, David Brooks guided Ethan Brooks in practicing the breathing technique in the courtyard.