I practice martial arts by adding skill points in modern city-Chapter 54: 【051】Underwater Martial Arts Training

It is well known that the pressure one experiences on land is not the same as that underwater.

The deeper the water, the greater the pressure.

Moving in water significantly slows down one’s movements, so those skilled in water combat must be nimble, agile, and possess extraordinary physical strength.

Standing on a tree on the slope by the reservoir, Wang Longhu took off his clothes, leaving only his loincloth, and carefully hung them on the tip of the tree.

Then he suddenly leaped, taking advantage of the height difference, and flew seven or eight meters, landing on the cement dam built on both sides of the reservoir.

Walking down the sloping dam, Wang Longhu quickly found the water level reaching his waist, and then up to his shoulders.

As a native islander, Wang Longhu learned to swim as a child, so as soon as he entered the water, he familiarized himself a bit and took a deep breath, slowly descending below the water’s surface.

The deeper he went underwater, the more the pressure around him seemed to invisibly push his body upward.

To prevent himself from floating to the surface, Wang Longhu had to lower his waist, using his strength to fight the water pressure, maintaining a steady stance on the cement slope of the dam.

At this moment, his legs were like two old pine trees, desperately rooting themselves on the cement ground, his body swaying like a duckweed in the water.

Without much thought, Wang Longhu immediately stood in the three-body stance, calming his heart and spirit, and began to feel the differences when exerting force underwater compared to usual.

With his right hand placed at his waist, Wang Longhu sunk his center of gravity, formed a fist with his palm, and exerted force, throwing a Cannon Fist.

Ordinarily, on land, his Cannon Fist was as quick as lightning and explosive like a cannon, but at this moment, it seemed muted, raising only a few underwater waves and bubbles, slow as a turtle, the punch as soft as cotton, completely devoid of power.

Wang Longhu tried to channel his internal energy through the acupuncture points on his palm, but as soon as the energy reached his fingers, it dissipated instantly, not only failing to complete the underwater force emission but also causing chaos in his entire energy circulation.

He felt like a deflating balloon, with a torrent of bubbles spewing from his nose and mouth, disrupting his breath-holding state.

Quickly, he paddled his hands upward, breaking the surface to take a deep breath of fresh air.

"Why is it like this?" Wiping off the water from his face, Wang Longhu furrowed his brow, speaking to himself in confusion.

Practicing Dark Force underwater for the first time, the problems he encountered were completely different from when he practiced at his grandmother’s house.

At his grandmother’s, Wang Longhu could at least occasionally manage to channel the force through the acupoints, but underwater, his energy couldn’t even exit the acupoints, all blocked by the underwater pressure within his body.

Moreover, if the energy reaching the palms failed to be emitted, it would reverse and affect Wang Longhu’s entire body, leaving him unable to maintain a state of sealing his pores underwater.

Once he lost control, the outcome was akin to his previous near-drowning experience.

"Such harsh training conditions; if I can manage to emit force underwater, it would signify a true entry into the Dark Force realm." After a bit of thought, Wang Longhu identified the root of the problem.

Submerged, the water in the reservoir feels like a water membrane enveloping Wang Longhu entirely.

This water membrane, though soft and fragile, was practically like an impenetrable fortress to Wang Longhu, who hadn’t mastered Dark Force. His energy couldn’t break through this membrane, let alone be emitted externally.

The power of force emission was too weak, unable to concentrate into a cohesive strike, which was Wang Longhu’s current predicament.

For a normal Martial Artist, overcoming this threshold to channel energy through the acupoints requires decades of arduous practice.

Once reaching the Dark Force realm, the destructive power unleashed can be beast-like, surpassing human strength, akin to ’ascension’ or becoming an ’earthly deity.’

Taking a deep breath, Wang Longhu dove back underwater, having identified the issue preventing his force emission.

He wasn’t fixated on practicing force emission at the acupoints underwater; instead, returning to simplicity, he resumed the fundamental three-body stance of Xingyi Boxing.

Pile Skill is the mother of Martial Arts; a solid foundation in Pile Skill leads to progress in Martial Arts. Before, after advancing the three-body stance to Lv3, Wang Longhu hadn’t diligently practiced this fundamental Pile Skill.

He had focused all his efforts on Xingyi Boxing. Now, in a brand new and more challenging training environment, Wang Longhu chose a circuitous approach, first refining his three-body stance.

By increasing the limit of his body’s capacity to endure energy, he would later focus on force emission and mastering Dark Force underwater.

The path of martial arts is long and lonely.

Wang Longhu closed his eyes, concentrating all his attention on his legs, standing on the underwater slope of the dam like a rooted tree trunk.

No one would believe that there was a living person hidden at the bottom of this reservoir.

...

"It’s already dark; isn’t it inappropriate to come to this godforsaken place to fish?"

"What’s there to fear? This place is usually deserted, with large, fat fish. You don’t even need to bait the nest, and you think I’d not fish just because it’s dark? Are you even a real angler?"

"It has nothing to do with it being dark. My family told me that the Changkeng Reservoir isn’t clean. In the ’70s and ’80s, before the government fenced it off, it was filthy, with strange things in it."

"Come on, you fool, who believes in that stuff nowadays?"

Night fell, shrouding the surroundings in darkness as black as ink.

On the dam of Changkeng Reservoir, two young men wearing helmet-style flashlights on their heads stealthily opened the rusty iron gate at the reservoir entrance, carrying boxes and carefully walking in with their fishing rods.

Because it’s necessary to protect the water quality from pollution, Changkeng Reservoir, being the only tap water production site in Dong County, is not open to the public even though it is rich in fish. People aren’t allowed to come in to do laundry or fish.

But some people just can’t follow the rules, and since Changkeng Reservoir is located in the countryside, no one guards the area at night. Many fishing enthusiasts sneak in to enjoy the perfect fishing environment of Changkeng Reservoir.

"You can’t not believe it. I’ve personally witnessed such rituals, so I have a mental block about ghostly things. When I was in school, I went to a Shaman lady’s house for a meal. At that time, a pregnant woman whose husband had gone missing was there.

Everyone said the man probably died outside, but the woman didn’t believe it. She brought the man’s personal clothes and her family members to seek help from the Shaman, to see if she could find out her husband’s whereabouts.

The Shaman wanted to hold a soul-calling ritual, which required ten people. I was called over to help. The Shaman and a group of adults stuck a pole over four meters high into the ground, surrounded by many incense burners and candles.

They started chanting strange scriptures and made us sing along while turning around the pole. Can you believe it? I saw with my own eyes that after who knows how many turns, the pregnant woman went mad,

climbed to the top of the pole and kept crying, saying something about being wronged, dying horribly, and things like that."

Seeing how vividly his companion spoke, the other person asked, "And then?"

"I was terrified. The Shaman told me to stay in the room and not come out without her permission."

"You make it sound so real. There are no such demons or ghosts in this world; it’s just people scaring themselves."

The two of them went to the dam, found a place suitable for sitting for a long time, and began to prepare for fishing.

Changkeng Reservoir has plenty of fish, so there’s no need to create a feeding spot. Plus, since this is the water source extraction site for the tap water plant, creating a feeding spot would easily pollute the water. If caught, they’d be taken to the police station.

The two hastily tidied up and started quietly casting their rods and fishing by the water.

The night breeze was quite pleasant.

Looking at the pitch-black water, the young man who was somewhat afraid of ghosts earlier had a constant look of anxiety.

"This place, Changkeng Reservoir, really isn’t clean. How about we find another place to fish?"

"Why are you so afraid of dying? What exactly is unclean here? Tell me."

"My family told me there was someone in Changkeng Village who learned some Daoist skills outside before. After some wandering, he injured his leg and came home to take on odd jobs. The money he earned each day was spent on buying old wine from the village shop.

One day in the evening, someone living above Little Changkeng got drunk and was about to walk up the mountain path behind. The Mage saw that something was wrong and followed, seeing the drunk man walk alone to the reservoir.

Suddenly, two women emerged from the water, coaxing him into the water. Fortunately, the Mage intervened, or else that drunkard would have directly died in this reservoir."

Listening to his friend’s story, the other person looked speechless and tilted his head to ask, "That’s it? It obviously sounds fake, right? You’ve been to school, and you take it seriously? How childish."

"What do you know? Some things are better believed to exist than not. It’s really mysterious. I advise you not to dismiss it. Let’s go, let’s find another place to fish."

"What are you afraid of?"

While they were talking, ripples suddenly appeared on the water not far away, spreading outward in circles.

The commotion immediately caught the attention of the two fishing by the shore, and they tacitly fell silent, staring at the water in a somewhat tense atmosphere.

Splash!

At that moment, a human head suddenly emerged from the water, and a carp leaped straight onto the shore. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the mountain forest beside the reservoir.

Because it appeared and vanished so quickly, in the darkness, the two fishing by the shore didn’t see clearly what it was.

It seemed to resemble a human, but people couldn’t possibly move with such a bizarre speed.

"A water monkey! It must be a water monkey," one person said nervously, getting up in a hurry.

"Damn, we really saw a ghost. Let’s go, let’s go. You were right, Changkeng Reservoir is really unclean."

Both were scared out of their wits and hurriedly packed their fishing gear and ran, not daring to linger a moment longer.

In such darkness, if you were dragged into the water by a water monkey, you wouldn’t even know how you died.

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Wang Longhu, all wet, climbed back to the tree where he hung his clothes, spat out a mouthful of water, wiped his face, and exclaimed excitedly, "I’ve discovered the secret to skill mastery! Practicing Martial Arts in a more dangerous environment increases proficiency faster. Practicing the Three-Body Pose underwater is even more effective than standing on a cliff edge. I’ll choose this in the future."

Looking at the drastic increase in proficiency for the Three-Body Pose on the panel, Wang Longhu grinned with delight.

But having trained all day without eating, his stomach let out a loud rumbling sound. Wang Longhu picked up his clothes and shoes and headed straight up the mountain, planning to go home and cook.

While using Lightweight Skill on the way home, Wang Longhu suddenly remembered something.

"There seemed to be two fishermen sitting on the dam earlier. Did I scare them by showing up like that?"

But Wang Longhu quickly dismissed the thought. Who cares, nobody could see him clearly in the dark anyway.

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