Charles Warren suddenly felt a wave of anxiety: “Is Jessica Brooks going to leave after teaching me something?”

“That's right. After I teach you, I’ll be leaving. From today on, whatever I teach you, you just learn it. Aside from things related to boxing, don’t ask anything, don’t talk too much. If you ask even one more question, I’ll take back everything I’ve taught you.”

Catherine Turner glanced off into the distance.

Seeing this expression, Charles Warren realized this was no trivial matter. Although he didn’t know exactly how Catherine Turner would take back what she had taught if he talked too much, he vaguely sensed it would be something very bad, so he quickly nodded.

“All right, I’ll say this up front. Now I’ll tell you about the levels of boxing.” Catherine Turner said, “Boxing has three levels, three training methods, and three stages of skill. The three levels are refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit to return to emptiness. I’ve already told you about refining essence into qi, and as for refining qi into spirit, you’ve already started to touch on it. You used to be introverted and timid, but since you started practicing boxing, you’ve become braver. Boxing can change a person’s character—timid people become bold, hot-tempered people become reserved and deep, it cultivates a person’s temperament and disposition. This is the level of refining qi into spirit. As for refining spirit to return to emptiness…”

Catherine Turner thought for a moment: “Understanding the levels of life is something you comprehend step by step in living. Talking about levels in empty words easily becomes fake, grand, and hollow, so I won’t talk to you about levels. In the end, boxing comes down to practical training methods and skills.”

“I’ve already told you what the three training methods—ming jin, an jin, and hua jin—are. As for the three stages of skill, they are changing the bones, changing the tendons, and changing the marrow, which are training the bones, the tendons and muscles, and the bone marrow, respectively. The first two stages—bones, tendons, and muscles—are easy to train, but the bone marrow is the hardest to reach. If you break through the first two stages, you’re just a martial arts expert, but to truly reach the miraculous, to be reborn, you must master the third stage—changing the marrow.”

“Hmm, the bone marrow produces blood. Training to the marrow is like a complete blood renewal, with the meaning of being reborn.” Charles Warren listened intently, carefully understanding. “So how can you train your skill into the bone marrow?”

Catherine Turner said, “By using the vibration of sound. Pay attention, this sound doesn’t come from the mouth, nor from the movement of qi in the abdomen, but after your skill is well-trained, you can freely control every bone, muscle, skin, and internal organ in your body, making them all vibrate slightly in a regular pattern. All these vibrations combine into a faint sound, like distant thunder rolling across the sky. This is the ‘Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound.’”

Catherine Turner thought for a moment, then explained the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound even more perfectly: “Have you read Zhuangzi’s essay ‘Pao Ding Dissects an Ox’? In it, when Pao Ding dissects the ox, he uses his knife to make the ox’s bones tremble, and all the sounds merge into a beautiful music. The meaning is profound, with principles of health preservation. Also, when a bell is struck in a temple, after the bell rings, the lingering sound continues—that lingering sound is the whole bell vibrating slightly. When thunder rolls across the sky, it’s all the air vibrating together.”

“Evening drums and morning bells inspire deep thought; being reborn is basically the same principle. Come! Give me both your hands!”

Charles Warren stretched out both hands, letting Catherine Turner grasp his ten fingers.

A strange thing happened. As soon as Catherine Turner grabbed Charles Warren’s ten fingers, Charles Warren’s whole body immediately felt like a marionette, unconsciously trembling. At first, the trembling was intense, but then Catherine Turner gently exerted force, and the trembling grew smaller and smaller. Soon, Charles Warren stood there, and all the bones in his body were making a faint, unified sound, merging into the same Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound as Catherine Turner had just demonstrated.

After trembling for nearly half an hour, Catherine Turner suddenly let go. Charles Warren felt as if all the bones in his body had fallen apart, soft and weak, with no strength at all.

“I’ve forced his progress, but there’s not much time left, and I have to return soon. This is the only way to help him test his strength, otherwise I can’t teach him everything.” Catherine Turner thought to herself.

“Whew!” Charles Warren let out a long, rough breath. “Jessica Brooks, how come as soon as you touched me just now, I felt like I couldn’t control my body?”

Catherine Turner said, “This is the highest skill in Taiji push hands. With just a touch, I can sense every bone in your body and instantly break your center of gravity, making you lose your balance. The bones in a person’s body are connected like many levers—press this end, and the other end will rise. When your skill is high, with just a touch, your foot will be pulled up and you’ll jump out automatically. It’s not my force, but your own force bouncing yourself. This is the principle of using four ounces to move a thousand pounds.”

As Catherine Turner spoke, she grabbed Charles Warren’s leg and pressed it. Charles Warren immediately felt his leg bend uncontrollably, and he jumped backward, landing on the grass.

“How did I jump by myself!” Charles Warren got up, patted his butt, feeling a bit frustrated and confused.