Chapter 156 - 112: The 3 Training Methods of Iron Sand Palm

After hearing Elder Wu’s description of the Iron Sand Palm, Chen Jue was struck by a peculiar feeling.

Ever since he’d started learning traditional martial arts, he found that he simply couldn’t get away from the Dragon Gate Sect.

First, it was Tai Chi and Pile Skills, then the ear-strengthening Heaven-Drumming Technique, and now it had all come full circle to the Iron Sand Palm, which enhanced the durability of the hands. Fate truly worked in mysterious ways.

Of course, it wasn’t as if Chen Jue absolutely had to learn the Iron Sand Palm.

He had plenty of free time now. By sticking to a regular exercise routine to raise his Attributes, his physical constitution would naturally improve over time.

But things like skin toughness and the body’s Resistance Ability couldn’t be effectively improved through modern, Western-style exercise alone.

And the [Strongest Human Training Plan] Chen Jue had set for himself was all about becoming stronger in every way, from the inside out.

It wasn’t just about having strength that surpassed an ordinary person’s; he also needed a level of defense and Resistance Ability that ordinary people lacked.

To put it bluntly, Chen Jue wanted to be a Hexagon Warrior, not some lopsided strongman who only knew how to pump iron to build Strength.

As for whether practicing these skills would actually be useful, Chen Jue had no way of knowing.

In any case, he was still young, and with the aid of his panel, he had all the time in the world for trial and error.

...

After finishing his chat with Elder Wu, Chen Jue slung the Bow Box over his back and walked deeper into the park.

He first went to the lakeside to do his daily strength training: practicing the Horse Stance while drawing the Hard Bow. He must have gotten used to it from the day before, as his body had adapted. This second time, he managed to practice drawing the Hard Bow for a full 20 minutes.

And just as Chen Jue finished his practice, a notification popped up on his panel:

——————

[Ding~]

[You have completed a high-intensity endurance and explosive power training session. Your upper body muscles have been thoroughly exercised.]

[Strength Attribute +0.02]

——————

’The efficiency is decent, but I didn’t break my limit this time. Is it because I was deliberately holding back?’ Chen Jue wondered, shaking his sore and aching arms.

Since he had arranged to get a professional training plan from Li Rui today, Chen Jue had intentionally held back while practicing, not drawing the bow to its full extent.

Otherwise, without any Free Attribute points to spend, he would have to rely solely on his natural recovery. After drawing the 110-jin Hard Bow, his arms would need a full day to completely heal.

After putting away the Bow Box, Chen Jue checked the time and slipped into the small grove he usually frequented.

Zhao Jianguo was still there, leading his Tai Chi Class. Seeing them, Chen Jue set down his Bow Box and began practicing his Tai Chi Pile Skill a short distance away.

The thousand-yuan tuition he’d paid had expired, so it felt inappropriate to continue training with the class. He kept his distance to avoid any awkwardness.

At nine o’clock sharp, the Tai Chi Class began to disperse. Only then did Chen Jue approach Zhao Jianguo to talk.

"Xiaochen, you want to learn our Dragon Gate Sect’s Iron Sand Palm?" Zhao Jianguo asked, a little surprised.

He hadn’t seen Chen Jue in a while, and he noticed that the young man had changed again.

It wasn’t just that his hair had grown back. Chen Jue’s physique, and indeed his entire demeanor, had become remarkably poised and confident.

"I’ve been practicing archery recently, and the bowstring is tough on my hands, so I wanted to learn a skill to strengthen them." Chen Jue explained his desire to improve his hands’ Resistance Ability.

Hearing that Chen Jue had taken up a traditional weapon like the bow, Zhao Jianguo’s interest was piqued. He asked to see the Black Bow and gave it a try.

"This bow is stiff!" Zhao Jianguo exclaimed. He first tried a casual pull and found he could only draw it halfway.

Then, he settled into his Pile Skill stance. With a sharp HISSS of breath, Chen Jue saw his abdomen swell, his eyes widen, and his arms tremble slightly. It took a great deal of effort, but he finally managed to draw the 110-jin Qilin Bow into a full moon.

"Master Zhao, that’s amazing!" Chen Jue said with a small smile.

Zhao Jianguo, however, shook his head, his face slightly flushed. "Amazing? What’s so amazing about it? I’m almost 60 years old. My stamina isn’t what it used to be. I can only manage to draw it once."

"Huh? Master Zhao, you’re almost 60?" Chen Jue was genuinely shocked.

After training in Zhao Jianguo’s Tai Chi Class for a month, he had always assumed the master was in his late forties, maybe approaching fifty. He never imagined the man was almost sixty years old.

It seemed that practicing Tai Chi regularly, and correctly, really did have a powerful life-extending effect.

"I’ll be 60 after the New Year."

"Once you get older, your stamina really declines. I used to draw hard bows like this all the time back in the Dragon Gate Sect." Zhao Jianguo handed the bow back to Chen Jue. After taking a few deep breaths to compose himself, he picked up his thermos and took a few slow sips.

Chen Jue glanced into the thermos and saw ginseng, black goji berries, dates, and several other Chinese medicinal herbs he couldn’t name. It was clearly a concoction for nourishing one’s vitality and blood.

"So, Master Zhao, have you ever learned hand-conditioning skills like the Iron Sand Palm?" Chen Jue asked curiously. He had noticed that after drawing the bowstring, there wasn’t a single purplish mark on Zhao Jianguo’s palm.

"I have indeed practiced the Iron Sand Palm. It’s one of the secret, mandatory skills for new disciples of the Dragon Gate Sect."

"Iron Sand Palm is just a general term laymen use for this type of palm technique. It has three different training methods and three different names."

"The first method is called Vermilion Palm. It’s a palm technique that involves circulating one’s qi and blood to the hands. When activated, the hands become engorged with blood and turn red. A strike leaves a vermilion-colored, plum-blossom-shaped mark on the target, which is why it was also known as Plum Blossom Palm."

"However, the Vermilion Palm is a Child’s Skill. You have to be a monastic to practice it."

"The second method is called Poisonous Sand Palm. During training, you have to mix the ’five poisons’—red snakes, geckos, spiders, toads, and centipedes—into the iron sand, so it’s also known as Five Poison Palm. Furthermore, you can only train this with your non-eating hand. Once mastered, that hand becomes a poison hand. It can poison others and even yourself, so it must be wrapped in deerskin day and night to contain the poison."

"The third type is the most common one, the Iron Sand Palm. It’s a Righteous Skill that strengthens you internally while training you externally, and it requires a secret medicinal formula to condition the hands."

"If you want to learn the Iron Sand Palm, I can teach you. However, you must first be initiated into our Dragon Gate Sect." Zhao Jianguo finished his explanation, his eyes narrowing as he once again extended an olive branch to Chen Jue.

"I can only learn it by becoming a disciple?"

"Can’t I just pay more in tuition fees?" Chen Jue asked quickly, his brow furrowed.

"A secret technique is called ’secret’ for a reason. It’s to prevent disciples from leaking it to outsiders."

"The Iron Sand Palm might seem like a crude skill, but it’s very particular. Every school and sect has a different training method. You see those people online making videos for a quick buck? Many of them end up with deformed hands. Their hands either swell up like bricks or the skin becomes necrotic and covered in black calluses. That’s because they’ve taken shortcuts with improper methods."

"If you don’t become a disciple, I can’t teach you. This isn’t about money." Zhao Jianguo shook his head, clearly a matter of principle for him.

"But I don’t want to become a Daoist priest!"

’Could it be because of that so-called "Outer Force" I developed through my stance training?’ Chen Jue couldn’t understand why Zhao Jianguo and his senior brother were so insistent on him joining their sect.

As for why Chen Jue didn’t want to become a Daoist priest, it was simply because he was used to his freedom. How could he possibly endure all the strict rules and regulations of a Daoist Sect?

Besides, he was about to start a sweet romance with Teacher Wu. He didn’t want to add a peculiar new identity for himself and mess up the most important thing in his life.

"Who said you have to become a priest?"

"You can just be a lay practitioner, like me, can’t you?" Zhao Jianguo huffed, then began to patiently explain the conditions for joining the Dragon Gate Sect as a Layman.

The conditions were simple, just five of them: First, one must be a law-abiding citizen of Huaxia. Second, one must piously believe in the doctrines of Daoism, respect the ancestral masters, and have a basic knowledge of Daoism. Third, one must study diligently and protect the sect’s interests. Fourth, one must guarantee not to break the law after taking refuge. Fifth, one must respect one’s teachers and unite with fellow members.

After hearing the five conditions, Chen Jue was a bit stunned. He muttered under his breath, "That’s it?"

"Of course that’s it! Just those five conditions! You thought it would be a huge hassle?"

"Once you’ve been initiated, received a Daoist name, been entered into the lineage, and accepted the five precepts, your daily life will be no different from an ordinary believer’s." Zhao Jianguo was getting exasperated.

If he had known Chen Jue was so averse to trouble and completely ignorant about the affairs of the Daoist Sect, he would have just laid out these mundane conditions plainly when he invited his senior brother Zhicheng over.

They might have successfully recruited him right then and there. There would have been no need to beat around the bush and go in such a huge circle.

"If those are the only conditions, then being a Layman sounds like a good fit for me," Chen Jue said with a chuckle, scratching his head. He hadn’t expected the barrier to entry to be so low.

...

In order to learn the secret Iron Sand Palm and increase the durability of his hands, Chen Jue decided to go all in.

He had also heard that the Dragon Gate Sect possessed many such secret skills. Besides the Iron Sand Palm Skill, there was the Nine Yang Eye Refining Method, which had tempted him for a long time. He also wanted to learn the Dragon Gate Sect’s secret Thirteen Forms of Tai Chi.

Since he didn’t have any particular faith anyway, believing in an orthodox branch of Daoism wasn’t a big deal.

Having accepted Zhao Jianguo’s invitation, Chen Jue discussed the details of the initiation ceremony with him there in the grove.

He learned that the initiation ceremony couldn’t be held on just any day. They had to choose an auspicious date from the almanac to build an altar, perform rites, and pray for blessings.

So, Zhao Jianguo pulled out his phone, scrolled through a digital almanac, and set a date with Chen Jue: December 15th, for the initiation at the Dragon Gate Sect.

"That’s still more than two weeks away. I’d better buy my tickets in advance." Chen Jue glanced at the almanac entry for that day; it was listed as auspicious for all sorts of activities and was indeed perfect for an initiation. With that, he confirmed the date with Zhao Jianguo.

The Dragon Gate Sect had two ancestral sites. One was the Dragon Gate Cave, where the founder, Qiu Chuji, achieved enlightenment. The other was the Changchun Temple, where Qiu Chuji passed away. The latter is now the White Cloud Temple in the Imperial Capital.

Chen Jue had been in Hang City for a long time and was planning to travel anyway. The round-trip flight or high-speed rail tickets weren’t too expensive, so he figured he’d just treat it as a vacation to the Imperial Capital.

After confirming Chen Jue would be joining the Dragon Gate Sect, Zhao Jianguo was overjoyed. He invited Chen Jue to lunch at a high-end restaurant near the park and then reported the news to his senior brother, Daoist Zhicheng. The matter was finally settled.