Especially after he developed a sense of qi through his Great Vajra Qi Gong, the sensation became even more pronounced. Whenever he practiced Tai Chi, he didn’t even need to consciously direct it—the thin stream of qi inside him would slowly circulate along with the movements and breathing of Tai Chi. The path it followed was quite different from that of the Great Vajra Qi Gong.

Simply put, when practicing Tai Chi, the route this stream of internal qi took inside him was much more complex than that of the Great Vajra Qi Gong. According to common knowledge, the more complex the route of internal qi, the higher the level of internal skill.

And it was obvious that, when Danny Goodwin practiced Tai Chi, the circulation of his internal qi was much more complicated than with the Great Vajra Qi Gong. Of course, that wasn’t the only difference.

Before he developed a sense of qi, his Tai Chi practice was still quite normal—he could play around with the Chen-style 18-form Tai Chi. But after he developed qi sensitivity, as the qi moved with his steps, he could only get as far as the fifth form, Single Whip, before the flow of qi would become chaotic. Not only chaotic—if he didn’t stop, he would definitely become dizzy and lightheaded, unable to stand steadily, as if all the strength in his body had been drained.

At first, Danny Goodwin was a bit scared. But after trying a few times, he found that although his strength was drained at the time, after resting for a while, he actually felt more energetic than before. Most importantly, the internal qi in his body also underwent some unexpected changes. The quantity didn’t increase much, but it seemed to be much tougher than the qi cultivated solely through the Great Vajra Qi Gong. Of course, this was just his own feeling—he had so little internal qi that he didn’t really know what the actual situation was.

“Could this be the legendary cheat code?” Little Leonard secretly rejoiced in his heart, and became even more diligent in practicing Tai Chi.

After practicing the Chen-style 18-form Tai Chi for a while, Danny Goodwin changed his approach. The 18-form Tai Chi was still too much for him at this stage. After practicing for a long time, he was still stuck at the fifth form, Single Whip. The flow of internal qi always felt less than smooth and complete. So, he simply gave up on the Chen-style 18-form and switched to the Li Deyin version of the simplified eight-form Tai Chi.

One good thing about Tai Chi is its wide popularity—so many people practice it, young and old alike, so there are all sorts of different schools. Not to mention the authentic Yang, Chen, and Wu styles, just after the liberation, for the sake of national fitness, Tai Chi spawned many new routines. The Li Deyin version of the simplified eight-form is the most widely practiced, and is especially suitable for beginners.

Danny Goodwin wasn’t a beginner, but practicing Tai Chi with internal qi was a new attempt for him. After trying several routines, he finally found that only this simplified eight-form Tai Chi allowed his internal qi to flow smoothly and completely. In other words, after finishing a set, the little bit of internal strength in his body was just barely used up, leaving him feeling thoroughly relaxed.

Life in the small mountain village was always very leisurely. Ever since Old Owen showed up at the wedding, he hadn’t appeared again. Other than Tyler Walker teaching martial arts to the young men in the village during the winter lull, nothing else out of the ordinary happened. Life just went on at a slow, easy pace.

Danny Goodwin lived at this slow pace too. In his previous life, Brian Walker was a lazy person, and in this life, Danny Goodwin was also lazy. But there was nothing he could do about it—he just happened to be interested in martial arts.

For others, cultivating internal qi was a very dull and tedious thing. But for this kid from modern China, it was full of endless curiosity.

Every day, he would unfailingly practice two hours of Great Vajra Qi Gong, then, before going to bed, do a round of Tai Chi. After working up a good sweat and squeezing every bit of strength from his body, he would go to sleep feeling wonderful. Was there anything more satisfying in the world than this?

Of course, some people would say that rolling around with your wife is even better. But the problem is, this kid is only three years old—even if he had a child bride, he wouldn’t have that function yet!

……

“Hey, ha, hey, ha…”

Loud shouts rang out from the open space north of the village, echoing far and wide—even the distant mountains seemed to answer back.

This kind of sound was no longer unusual in the village. There were quite a few little kids like Danny Goodwin who sat by the open space every day to watch, and even more who cheered when things got exciting, as if they were watching a comedy show.

At first, the young men in the village felt a bit embarrassed. But over time, they got used to it. After all, it was just a small mountain village, and the kids watching were all from the same community—some were even their own nephews or cousins—so they couldn’t really chase them away.

In their hearts, they actually hoped for more people to come and watch. But the “more people” they wanted weren’t these little kids, but rather the young women and wives in the village. Didn’t you notice that whenever a girl passed by, the shouts from this group of young men would immediately go up a notch?

“Youth is really a wonderful thing!” Sitting on a small stool, Danny Goodwin sighed softly, subconsciously touching his little arms and legs. “Too bad I’m just too young. In a couple more years, I should be able to join them, right?!”