Old Man Ji brought Chen Changan to one of the rafts and started to teach him the basics of using a knife.
"Do you know why Chinese martial arts have declined?" Old Man Ji threw out a question first.
Chen Changan thought for a while.
Some time ago, the reputation of 'traditional martial arts masters' in China was quite well known. However, a certain 'martial arts master' in the limelight was beaten up by a young man who had practiced Muay Thai for three to four years.
With a single punch, he fell to the ground, unable to get up. The young man was so frightened that he immediately tried to scam him.
Chen Changan didn't believe that the performance of these 'martial arts masters' was enough to prove that Chinese martial arts weren't good enough.
In the thousands of years of Chinese history, there were countless experts who came out of nowhere. It was enough to prove that martial arts contained great power.
So why couldn't Chinese martial arts defeat Sanda and Muay Thai?
Chen Changan gave his answer carefully. "Is it because of the lack of actual combat experience?"
Old Man Ji chuckled and gave his interpretation. "Because the military uses guns, Chinese martial arts have declined.
What were martial arts? The word 'martial' meant 'stop.' If you killed the enemy in advance and eliminated the root of the problem, the battle would naturally cease!
The best martial arts in China had never been fists and feet; it was a knife used to kill. It was used in an army that had killed many people.
"An armored soldier can kill more than ten unarmed fighters. In ancient times, a large number of soldiers left the army every year. Using knife techniques and training methods, it is the strongest martial art among the people."
Old Man Ji stroked his white beard and sighed. "Therefore, martial arts lost its legacy after the army switched to using guns. It could only let some clowns ruin the reputation of martial arts."
Chen Changan immediately started to play along. "You are amazing; you know so much."
Old Man Ji's lips curled into a smile. "What I'm going to teach you today are the knife skills that the military has preserved. Although I've been practicing with a kitchen knife for the past few years, I can still maintain 70% of my previous standard."
The old lady sneered and couldn't help but say stubbornly, "Hey, you damned old man. I was wondering why you were so aggressive when you were cooking. I thought you were possessed by a monkey spirit, but it turns out that you were practicing martial arts!"
Old Man Ji blushed slightly and coughed. "Cough, cough. Let me tell you the technique of holding a saber first. It's your first time, so you don't have any experience. The tighter, the better. When you're more familiar with the saber technique, you can loosen your grip a little."
Regarding this, Chen Changan could understand. Back then, Brother Long had used a knife to attack someone. In the end, the knife slipped out of his hand during the attack, and he was killed by the bicycle owner.
If you can't even hold a knife tightly, why are you still cutting people!
Old Man Ji smiled. "Here, you take the knife out first. Hold it tight and cut at the round barrel. The first day of practice will be over once you destroy the barrel."
Chen Changan took out a round wooden barrel from the trading market. He thought that the army's training method wasn't too difficult. With the Blade of Exorcism's quality, perhaps it would only take about ten slashes to destroy the round wooden barrel.
Old Man Ji could tell that Chen Changan was looking down on him, so he didn't say anything. He drew six red lines on the round wooden barrel with fish blood and wrapped a cloth around the Blade of Exorcism's blade.
"The faster you chop vertically, the better. You have to cut horizontally and restrict your freedom. When you run, you have to cut accurately. When you are familiar with all three, your saber techniques have reached the preliminary success stage."
Chen Changan choked. 'This is practically using a knife as a stick.'
Old Man Ji urged him. "Hurry up and practice. Don't dawdle like a woman."
The old lady behind the old man kicked him.
Chen Changan held back his laughter. He stepped forward and gripped the handle of his knife tightly; then, he struck the red line on the round wooden barrel.
Bam!
He hit it with a lot of force but failed to hit the red line drawn by Old Man Ji.
Old Man Ji sat on the raft to rest and said lazily, "Reduce your strength. Look at the target and try to hit the red line first."
Chen Changan slowed down his speed and slashed at the round wooden barrel again. He managed to cut the red line, but the round wooden barrel was unscathed. It could be described in a game term: "We failed to penetrate the enemy's armor!"
Chen Changan tried to keep his balance between strength and accuracy, but after only a few cuts, a new problem arose—his hands were sore.
Chen Changan practiced all the way until night fell, but he only managed to hit a red line.
Old Man Ji's task wasn't completed. Chen Changan could only smile awkwardly and return back to The Flying Henan People using the excuse of stewing fish soup.
"Hey, where's the red carp?" Chen Changan was surprised to find that the red carp he had caught yesterday had disappeared without a trace. He had no choice but to change the main ingredient to fathead fish.
Strangely enough, both the fathead fish and the carp were freshwater fish, yet they could live in the sea. Chen Changan guessed, "Maybe the Deep Sea World is different from Earth."
With that, he chopped off the fish head cleanly.
In this bowl of fish soup, Chen Changan added two little red flowers to nourish Zhang Li's qi and blood.
When the fish stew was served on the raft, Old man Ji suddenly said, "Doctor Chen, you should drink some too. You're poor in literature but rich in martial arts. If you don't have enough nutrition when practicing martial arts, it will hurt your vitality."
Chen Changan nodded and drank half a bowl of Little Red Flower Fish Soup. When he hugged the Mazu statue to sleep at night, the soreness in his arms actually completely disappeared. This made him click his tongues in wonder.
It wasn't until late at night when Orange indicated that all four members of the raft family were asleep that he cautiously opened the message interface.
"Congratulations, you have completed the delivery mission."
Chen Changan only accepted the mission reward after returning to The Flying Henan People. He had his own plans.
As the saying went, one shouldn't be completely disheartened when speaking halfway.
If the reward for the delivery mission was too tempting, nobody could guarantee that the raft family wouldn't take advantage of the fact that he was turning around to deliver a backstab.
Therefore, Chen Changan never revealed that he had received a delivery mission. He maintained the image of a 'good person' and 'good doctor' and said coldly, "I receive the mission reward."
The system reward was three consecutive hits.
"Congratulations, you have obtained diluted Mermaid Spring."
"Congratulations, you have received 200 Enas."
"Congratulations, you have received 0.0001% of the Deep Sea World's blessings."
Two hundred gold coins landed in the cabin and made a tinkling sound; it was quite pleasant to hear. Fortunately, Orange had pulled the boat far away. Even if it made a sound, it wouldn't affect the family on the raft dozens of meters away.
There was also a glass bottle with a light-blue liquid inside.
[Diluted Mermaid Spring]
Quality: Light Blue
Weight: 20g
Introduction: A group of beautiful mermaids has lived in the Ocean Forest for a long time. They placed the Spring of Life into the Ocean Eye of the Forest and prayed for the blessing of the gods to transform the Ocean Eye into Mermaid Spring. After consuming it, it has a powerful ability to extend one's lifespan. Even the diluted Mermaid Spring can increase the strength of one's life, allowing one's body to maintain its youthful vitality.
Evaluation: Ocean Forest is a famous romantic place in the Deep Sea World. I advise young people to behave themselves.
'Romantic…' Chen Changan's lips twitched as he suddenly realized a possibility. 'Could the mermaids be the greatsword of the Deep Sea World?'
…