Chapter 136: Heart Spirit Domain
[Congratulations! You have comprehended the ’Star Shattering Tai Chi Technique’.]
Suddenly, the notification sound made Lin Yi’s expression change slightly.
And just as the notification ended, the old master finished performing his Tai Chi Boxing.
A kind smile appeared on his face. "How was it? How much did you remember?"
Lin Yi quickly snapped out of his trance. "I remembered most of it!"
Hearing this, the old master seemed somewhat surprised.
This Tai Chi Boxing Technique was the true inherited martial art of his Yi Family.
It had been refined over several generations of the Yi Family to become the complete technique it was today.
He had never demonstrated it in front of an outsider before.
And though the technique’s movements seemed slow, every exertion of force could strike with a thousand pounds of weight.
It was a true killing art.
The profundities contained within the technique were incredibly difficult to fully grasp.
The old master had demonstrated this refined Tai Chi Boxing for Lin Yi precisely because he wanted to see the extent of the young man’s talent.
He wanted to see just how high his aptitude could reach.
What he hadn’t expected was...
’I only performed it once, and he already remembers most of it?’
The old master chuckled and nodded. "Excellent. In that case, perform the parts you remember. Let me have a look!"
"Alright!"
Without another word, Lin Yi took his stance.
From the opening posture to the final punch, he perfectly replicated the old master’s every move and form.
The old master smiled, nodding from time to time.
He seemed quite satisfied with Lin Yi’s aptitude.
At the very least, he had grasped the essence of Tai Chi Boxing; his movements weren’t just standard.
Even his timing for exerting force achieved the ideal effect every time.
But after Lin Yi threw a few more punches, the smile on the old master’s face began to fade.
In that instant, he realized that time itself seemed to have frozen around them.
Even a few falling leaves hung suspended in midair.
Then Lin Yi threw a soft punch, seemingly without any force.
Suddenly, the old master heard a soft SNAP.
In that same instant, an invisible force pulverized the leaves.
Not a speck of dust remained; they simply vanished into thin air.
The power of this punch was something the old master had never seen before.
In fact, this had completely surpassed the power of his own Celestial Spirit Tai Chi Boxing, the one refined by the Yi Family for generations. It was something else entirely.
CRACK! CRACK! With each punch, the explosive force caused the very air to distort.
Once Lin Yi had finished the entire set of Tai Chi Boxing movements, he stopped.
"Old Master... how was that?" Lin Yi asked with a smile.
His words finally snapped the old master out of his shock.
He stared at Lin Yi, his eyes filled with a mixture of shock and delight. "That Tai Chi Boxing just now... did you come up with it yourself?"
"Huh? No, I just learned it from watching you," Lin Yi said, shaking his head.
"You learned this entire set just from watching me perform my Tai Chi Boxing?"
Seeing Lin Yi nod, the old master was a little dumbfounded.
The technique Lin Yi had just performed was clearly more complete than his own.
Even the effect of each strike was greater than that of the Celestial Spirit Tai Chi Boxing.
It was as if the Celestial Spirit Tai Chi Technique had been refined and upgraded on the spot.
If what Lin Yi said was true, then he had watched the old master perform the Celestial Spirit Tai Chi Technique once and gained some sort of enlightenment from it.
And in doing so, he had subconsciously refined and upgraded the Tai Chi Boxing...
’My god, just how high is this kid’s aptitude?’
’He can innovate immediately just from watching me once? And not only that, he improved it, drastically increasing its effectiveness!’
’Every strike carries ten thousand pounds of force... He can even make the surrounding space freeze completely while using this technique!’
’It’s like being forcibly pulled into his rhythm... or could it be... a Heart Spirit Domain?’
The shock in the old master’s heart was written all over his face.
His expression as he looked at Lin Yi grew increasingly complex.
As the chief of the New District Martial Arts Alliance and the director of the New Star Martial Arts Hall, he had seen countless talented students.
Talented Martial Artists were a dime a dozen, especially in the New District.
And among those with immense talent, there were even more who were truly outstanding.
It was a perfect example of the saying, "There’s always someone better."
But he had never seen anyone like Lin Yi.
Someone who could watch a technique once and comprehend his own version on top of it.
Someone who could refine and innovate a martial art, unleashing even greater power and effect?
’Is this kid even human?’
’This... This is my...’
The old master felt his heart begin to race, and his vision slowly blurred with tears.
"Old Master? Why are you crying?" Lin Yi asked, a little puzzled.
He couldn’t figure it out. ’Was there something wrong with the technique I just performed?’
’Did I remember it wrong? Were the moves incorrect?’
He mulled it over. ’Every punch and form couldn’t have been exactly the same, but it was pretty close. Even if there were some wrong parts, that should be normal.’
’After all, I only watched it once. It’s impossible to remember everything perfectly.’
’Even if something was wrong, he could just point it out and offer a little guidance.’
’So why did it make the old master cry?’
Lin Yi was confused.
The old master immediately snapped back to reality and quickly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"I’m not... Who’s crying? The wind was just strong, got something in my eye!"
The old master hastily lowered his head, wiping away the tears.
At that moment, his heart was pounding with excitement.
After wiping away his tears, the old master said with a smile, "Kid, that technique was excellent. Come on, can you perform it one more time? Do you still remember it?"
"I can..."
Lin Yi nodded, then took out his phone to check the time.
It was already 10:30 in the morning.
After a long moment, he finally said, "Old Master, I’m running out of time. I can only do it once more, then I have to leave."
"Fine, just once is enough!" the old master said with a light chuckle.
So, without a second thought, Lin Yi once again performed his Shattering Star Tai Chi Boxing.
Meanwhile, the old master quietly positioned himself behind him,
following along to practice this upgraded version of Tai Chi Boxing...
At first, the old master could keep up with Lin Yi’s movements perfectly.
But as he continued, something started to feel off.
When he was just watching from the side, he hadn’t felt anything too significant.
It was only when the old master fully immersed himself in the practice that he discovered the true profundity of this upgraded Tai Chi Boxing.
In that instant, it was as if he had followed Lin Yi into a sea of stars.
The scenery around them had completely transformed into the vast expanse of the cosmos.
A sky full of meteorites and planets now revolved around them.
Lin Yi’s movements seemed slow,
but at the moment he exerted his force, a single punch shot out and completely obliterated a meteorite the size of a soccer ball.
As the old master’s shock grew,
Lin Yi’s body swayed slightly before he unleashed another sideways punch.
Force erupted in the span of a single breath.
BOOM—
Another shattering sound echoed.
It was as if that last punch had shattered a fist-sized planet from across the void.
Witnessing this scene,
the old master, amidst his shock, finally had a revelation.
This was his Heart Spirit Domain.
In other words, when Lin Yi used this upgraded Tai Chi Boxing,
he was unconsciously pulling people and objects around him into his Heart Spirit Domain.
Within this Heart Spirit Domain,
Lin Yi was a god. He could shatter meteorites with one punch.
And crush planets with another.
If an opponent were also pulled into this Heart Spirit Domain,
they would face certain slaughter with absolutely no chance of resistance.
However, the old master soon discovered a bug.
The Heart Spirit Domain had its limitations.
Specifically, Lin Yi could only pull the minds of those whose cultivation realm was close to his own into this space.
For instance, when the old master had been watching from the side earlier,
he had been very close but hadn’t been pulled in.
He was only able to enter Lin Yi’s Heart Spirit Domain now because he had willingly allowed it,
offering no resistance.
This meant that an enemy whose realm was far superior, whose spiritual strength was much greater than Lin Yi’s,
could not be pulled into this Domain.
But even with this limitation,
in the old master’s opinion, as long as the difference in realm with Lin Yi was no more than one star,
they could be pulled into the Heart Spirit Domain.