Thunder Technique Fist

Wanting to buy an alchemy furnace for myself, I looked into where they were sold and found out that Gyorei Cave had a place called the Treasure Tool Workshop, where alchemy furnaces were made.

The days when there was no instruction from the inner disciples were fixed as the days ending in “six.” On one of those days, I went to the Treasure Tool Workshop to check the price of an alchemy furnace.

“Uwah, even a cheap one costs fifty gold coins.”

Even a small alchemy furnace cost that much.

“Oh my, what a cute boy we have here.”

I turned toward the voice and saw a robust-looking woman Taoist practitioner there.

“It is my first time meeting you. I am the outer disciple Kou.”

I greeted her politely. I could feel abundant qi overflowing from her body, so I had guessed that she might be one of the elders.

“I’m Min, the one in charge of the Treasure Tool Workshop. You were looking at the alchemy furnaces. Do you want one?”

It was Elder Min, who was said to be a great master of treasure tool crafting.

“Yes. But they’re so expensive that it doesn’t look like I can buy one.”

Elder Min stared at my face and seemed to remember something.

“You’re Kou, the one who won the Elixir Competition Festival?”

“That’s right.”

“If that’s the case, then I can understand why you’d want your own alchemy furnace.”

“Was this alchemy furnace made by you, Elder?”

“No, the small ones were made by the disciples. …Oh, right, I heard you’ve been using a new kind of lamp in Wallside Hall. What kind of thing is it?”

Since it was hard to explain, I decided to show her the real thing. I went back to Wallside Hall to get the oil lantern, then returned to the Treasure Tool Workshop and showed it to Elder Min.

Elder Min picked up the oil lantern and examined it carefully.

“It has an interesting shape. But it seems this shape has a purpose.”

“Yes, there are several design ideas built into it.”

“I want one too. How about exchanging it for a small alchemy furnace I made in the past?”

“Really? Thank you very much. But this oil lantern uses oil made from a Flame Spider’s Oil Generator Tube.”

“That won’t be a problem. I have an Oil Generator Tube too.”

If it was an alchemy furnace made by Elder Min, then it was surely reliable. I gladly promised to exchange it for the oil lantern. The exchange would happen after I made a new oil lantern, but I was truly happy.

Now that I was going to obtain an alchemy furnace in exchange for the oil lantern, I threw myself energetically into practicing the Thunder Technique Fist. The Thunder Technique Fist was unusual among Gyorei Cave’s martial arts in that it had been created as a martial art for fighting humans. Well, since it was a bare-handed martial art, using it to fight yōma would probably be difficult.

However, the Thunder Technique Fist possessed a secret technique powerful enough to defeat weak yōma. It was called Lightning Palm Strike, a technique in which one leaped into the opponent’s guard and slammed the palm heel into the face or chest. At the moment of striking with the palm heel, Heavy Yin Qi and Floating Yang Qi were released simultaneously from the palm.

As a result, a sound like a lightning strike was produced, and the opponent was blasted away. Nothing happened if the two kinds of qi mixed inside my own body, but when they mixed inside the opponent’s body, they seemed to produce a violent reaction.

Its power was tremendous, enough to kill even a wild bear if it was not a yōma. By the time I had finally mastered Lightning Palm Strike, snow had begun to fall. Full-fledged winter had arrived.

Because it was too cold outside, the inner disciples’ instruction was suspended. It would not resume until spring. Even though we could not take a break from chores like drawing water and cleaning even when it snowed, they certainly had it luxurious.

When snow was falling, Wallside Hall was dim even during the daytime because the windows were kept tightly shut. At such times, it was impossible to study in the library, so until now we had just done qi training. But my oil lantern changed that.

Since it was snowing, it was also impossible to practice outside. So Zengu, Ashin, and I brought our oil lanterns into the dining hall, and many of the outer disciples began spending their time there.

As the outer disciples started exchanging information in the dining hall, Ashin and Zengu talked about how their qi levels had improved through Girui Gong. Many of the outer disciples became interested in Girui Gong, and they moved the tables and chairs in the dining hall to the corners and began practicing Girui Gong.

The ones acting as teachers were Ashin and Zengu. Xiaotan and I did not participate and were talking instead.

“Don’t we need something like a training hall?”

When I said that, Xiaotan nodded.

“As expected, trying to practice martial arts and qi in the dining hall is pushing it.”

“The problem is whether the elders will approve it.”

When she heard that, Xiaotan made a grim face.

“That would be difficult.”

“In that case, how about we just build one ourselves?”

Xiaotan looked startled.

“Hah? Is that even something we can build?”

“I think we can if we take our time.”

“What about carpentry tools and lumber?”

“For lumber, I think we can cut down trees from the demon realm, carry them back, and use them. But we’ll probably have to buy the carpentry tools.”

“It can’t be helped, then. I and Yingjie, being the older ones, will put up the money. If we do that, the elders will probably approve it.”

“Still, it looks like it would take time to build.”

“By the time it’s completed, you might already be an inner disciple.”

Xiaotan’s words surprised me.

“Why do you think that?”

“When I heard you killed a Flame Spider with the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique, I thought you had already begun preparing to defeat a Thunder Bear. Even though you’re younger than I am… I was a little jealous.”

I looked into Xiaotan’s eyes. In those eyes was the will of someone trying to move forward. Xiaotan was desperately striving to become an inner disciple. That much seemed certain.

“Yingjie is getting a little desperate. Could you help him out?”

That was a little unexpected. Xiaotan and Yingjie were of the same cohort, but Yingjie was apparently older. Among outer disciples, there was said to be an age at which one gave up on becoming an inner disciple. Yingjie was nearing that age. That was why he was feeling desperate.

“Is that alright with you, Xiaotan-shixiong?”

“I still have time.”

There was apparently about a five-year age gap between the two shixiong. — It made me remember the past. In my previous life, I had desperately pushed myself in an effort to rise through the ranks inside the police. I do not think that was a mistake.

But I had thought so much only about myself that I had not looked around at the people near me at all. That was why I failed to realize I was being betrayed by a colleague. I was still young. So I decided that I would gain the strength to look around me and extend a hand to those I could help.

“That’s fine. I’ll have Yingjie-shixiong and Xiaotan-shixiong accompany my training. Have them absorb whatever they can learn from it. I’ll be grateful to have training partners too.”