“I still have to stay here for another month, then I’ll go to Tibet and India to look for what I’m seeking.” Richard Grant nodded: “Anyway, it’s fine. If you have time, come to me to learn. This is what we call fate.”

“Then do you see anything I still need to improve in this move?” James Carter quickly asked, “How can it be used in combat?”

“The ‘hating the sky for having no handle, hating the earth for having no ring’ I just told you is the mental method for practice. There’s also a mental method for fighting, called ‘Rage fills the chest and bristles the crown, flesh as tough as iron, bones as hard, dart like a nimble monkey, pounce like a tiger, never return without enemy blood.’” As he spoke, suddenly Richard Grant slid his foot and lunged at James Carter.

James Carter only felt darkness before his eyes, as if the whole world was covered, knowing nothing, then his face, throat, chest, and lower abdomen were struck—of course, very lightly and gently, without injury, but he was already on the ground.

Richard Grant’s speed was so fast that, compared to him, Scott Miller was like a child.

“So fast!” James Carter’s heart was still pounding, because just now, he felt as if a shadow of death had enveloped him.

Richard Grant was using the move of turning the soil with a hoe—raising the hand, then pouncing down.

“‘Rage fills the chest and bristles the crown, flesh as tough as iron, bones as hard, dart like a nimble monkey, pounce like a tiger, never return without enemy blood’?” James Carter heard this formula, pondered it, and felt his mind clear up a lot. The whole meaning of the formula was just one word: ruthless!

When using this move against an enemy, you burst forth in anger, and when you pounce, if you don’t get stained with the enemy’s blood, you don’t turn back. How fierce is that? How unstoppable?

“This is a brilliant martial art, containing many things. Hoeing and digging, forward and back, up and down, left and right. Once you master this move, you can easily pick up many martial arts.” Richard Grant explained much traditional martial arts knowledge, letting James Carter grasp it: “No matter how you change, I am just a hoe. The farmer’s move is invincible—the hoe can farm and feed the world, defend oneself, and even rise in rebellion. You’ve only grasped the basics of force in this move, still far from mastery. Now I’ll tell you, to master this move, you must first practice standing post.”

“Standing post?” James Carter didn’t ask further and focused on learning.

At this moment, Richard Grant had him stand one foot forward, one back, one palm forward, pressing below his own lower abdomen, supporting left and right, pulling up and down.

Once the posture was set, Richard Grant spoke again: “This posture, when shrunk, is a monkey; when expanded, a tiger; pressing down, an eagle; hugging the head, a bear; charging forward, a wild horse; light and flickering, a swallow… When you dig with the hoe, in that instant of change, after you settle, imagine yourself changing at will, use your mind and intention to control your muscles and bones, and let your strength rise from the ground.”

As he spoke, he took a stick and struck James Carter’s toes. James Carter was in pain, but endured it.

“When I hit your toes with a stick, to lessen your pain, you must grit your teeth, tense your toes, use force, and grip the ground tightly. The pain will lessen. This is also the principle of withstanding blows, the so-called ‘qi filling the body’ in martial arts. But in my view, this isn’t real qi, just using intention to control muscles. It’s false qi, not true qi, not a supernatural force.”

Then, Richard Grant forcefully pinched James Carter’s calf. James Carter felt a piercing pain, almost cried out.

Being pinched hard by someone feels just like this.

“When I pinch this muscle, you tense it, make the muscle tight, and bounce my fingers off!” Richard Grant said loudly.

James Carter quickly used his mind to command his calf, tensed the muscle sharply, and bounced Richard Grant’s fingers off.

Then, Richard Grant pinched all the way along, wherever he pinched, he had James Carter tense and bounce it off.

This kind of training made James Carter suffer greatly, but gradually, he felt his control and sensitivity over his body increase a little.

“This is the secret to the martial arts combat training state, and the true essence of so-called qigong. In every movement, imagine someone punching your body. Every part of your body, when struck, should maintain a state that can neutralize the opponent’s force. This is real training, not just posing or simply abusing your muscles.” Richard Grant used his fingers, palms, and stick to pinch, slap, and tap James Carter’s whole body in a rhythmic way, making every part tense in turn.

“With your breathing, every muscle in your body will undulate and assist your breath. This is body breathing in martial arts, not dantian or abdominal breathing. When you breathe with your lungs, every muscle helps, creating a resonance. Only then is your breathing perfect, and your strength at its peak.”

After an hour, James Carter was covered in bruises from all the pinching and slapping.

At this point, Richard Grant took out some medicated oil, rubbed it all over him, then helped James Carter massage away the bruises, and then said, “Now do two hundred calf raises, one hundred crunches, thirty push-ups, three minutes of planking, and ten minutes of spinal mobility exercises.”

He demonstrated for James Carter.