Deadly Technique of the Fist from the Boat: The Laughing Eight Immortals!

Chen Jue had no idea that he was already under the watchful eye of the wealthy tycoon staying next door. He watched an episode of a documentary exploring the universe in his room, and when Yu Yue messaged him on WeChat to come over for dinner, he left his room and headed to the first small villa.

Outside, the sea wind howled relentlessly, its mournful wails filling his ears and stinging his face. As he walked past the neighboring house, the bodyguard standing in the front yard fixed a piercing gaze on him.

“So dedicated, huh?”

“Guarding the place outside even in this gale? Doesn’t he need to go in for a meal or a rest?” Chen Jue glanced at the bodyguard, then strolled leisurely to Uncle Yu’s house.

He happened to meet a few strangers just getting out of that Great Wall pickup truck—a bodyguard dressed in the same attire, and three middle-aged men and women carrying large bags of fresh vegetables, meat, eggs, and seafood, as well as a few crates of obviously high-end wine and beverages. Clearly, these were the chef and housekeepers from the tycoon’s villa next door, borrowing Uncle Yu’s car to make a trip into town for supplies.

Chen Jue didn’t pay them much attention, brushing past them and entering Uncle Yu’s house.

Dinner was another tableful of homemade seafood dishes prepared by the housekeeper. After a heavy barbecue at noon, something light and tasty was just the thing to soothe the stomach.

Too much grilled food can cause inflammation, but most seafood is cold and cooling, which helps balance things out.

On the table tonight was the city’s signature delicacy—raw river crab, made by cleaning and butchering fresh female swimming crabs with red roe, then marinating them in salt and aged wine. There was also Uncle Yu’s homemade fermented mud snails, raw snails washed and pickled in wine to ferment, giving them a rich aroma of wine lees and an unforgettable aftertaste.

Out-of-towners might gag on these dishes on the spot, but Chen Jue had grown up in this city and had eaten them since he was a child, savoring them just like Uncle Yu’s family.

During dinner, the Yu family chatted animatedly about the arrival of the tycoon next door. With bodyguards, housekeepers, and a private chef in tow, it was a spectacle they had never encountered in all their years running a guesthouse and farmhouse.

Chen Jue listened with amazement as he ate. The mysterious tycoon’s imported yacht alone, worth over a hundred million, made it clear he was no ordinary man—likely a business magnate whose fortune could rank on any list.

If it weren’t for the need to take shelter from the approaching typhoon, someone of that caliber would hardly have chosen a place like Dongdao County with its ordinary sea views.

…

After dinner and some conversation, the wind outside grew even stronger.

Once his food had settled, Chen Jue took his leave, intending to return and practice his nightly exercises.

Passing by the tycoon’s villa again, he saw its lights blazing and laughter spilling out. The bodyguard who had stood watch at the gate was now gone, probably inside for dinner, but from the rooftop, a pair of eyes still tracked Chen Jue’s movements.

His senses, sharpened by years of training, picked up on the surveillance. He looked up, smiled at the bodyguard, and then pushed open his own door.

He changed into swim trunks and diving goggles, slung a bath towel over his shoulders, and slipped out the back door of his villa, heading unhurriedly for the rocky coast behind.

He knew full well the bodyguard on the neighboring rooftop would spot him leaving, but in nothing but swimwear, his intentions were obvious—he was going for a swim. It might seem odd to plunge into the sea at night in such weather, but for the sake of his training, Chen Jue didn’t care.

After all, the rich guests next door would leave as soon as the typhoon passed, sailing off in their luxury yacht; their paths would never truly cross. Why should he worry about what others thought?

…

Crossing the narrow path behind the cliffs, Chen Jue reached the stony coast in five or six brisk minutes.

By now, with the typhoon nearing, the night wind by the sea was bone-chilling, laced with flying sand and dust that would sting any ordinary person’s face. But Chen Jue, hardened by his practice of two forms of iron-body skills, was unfazed by the elements.

But as he arrived at the rocks, Chen Jue paused. Rather than going straight for the stone sphere for his underwater practice, his gaze fell on a wooden fishing boat moored beside the rocks.

This was obviously the boat Yu Yue and the others had used for fishing earlier. The engine had been removed and stowed on a higher rock nearby, wrapped securely in a green plastic tarp weighed down with stones. Up close, the tarp reeked of oil and brine.

The wooden boat itself wasn’t worth much, tied to the shore with a thick rope. The engine, left covered nearby, would be safe even in a typhoon. Local fishermen often did the same—leaving their boats here rather than hauling them all the way back to the harbor, saving effort and fuel.

Chen Jue eyed the small boat, rocking and tossing on the waves, an idea suddenly flashing in his mind. Tonight, instead of his usual underwater training, he decided to try something new. He set his towel aside, took a running start, and leapt onto the rocks as if on level ground, launching himself seven or eight meters through the air and landing heavily on the wooden boat.

If Yu Yue and the other fishermen wanted to board, they’d first pull the boat closer and step aboard carefully to avoid falling in. But Chen Jue needed no such precautions. Even if the boat was eight meters away, he simply jumped—and landed squarely.

His astonishing leaping ability was clear for all to see.

“Let’s practice Ship Boxing for a change!”

“I’ve always trained Ship Boxing on calm reservoir waters. On the open sea, the experience will be completely different.” The thought excited him, and as soon as he settled into the Eight Immortals Stance, he began to practice the yet-unmastered Ship Boxing on the wildly pitching little boat.

Sure enough, after just one circuit of the boat’s edge, he felt his proficiency in Ship Boxing soar, clearly enhanced by the wind and waves.

With the typhoon approaching, the sea roared beneath him, tossing the little wooden craft up and down, its prow and stern alternately rising, falling, listing, and swaying. Standing there practicing his forms, Chen Jue finally understood the ancient fishermen’s thrill of battling the sea.

Fortunately, his mastery of the Eight Immortals Stance meant he could stand as firmly as on dry land, no matter how wildly the boat rocked—nothing could throw him overboard. Half an hour of Ship Boxing later, the progress bar finally maxed out.

Then, as a wave rose up in a flurry of white spray, the Ship Boxing skill broke through from Level 2 to Perfection!

A new, unfamiliar muscle memory surged through his body. Glancing at his newly perfected Ship Boxing skill, Chen Jue saw an annotation appear.

But unlike the buffs granted by other perfected skills, this time there was a new technique: the “Laughing Eight Immortals”—the Ship Boxing finishing move.

"Laughing Eight Immortals": In the west wind and bitter waves, the Eight Immortals cross the seas, laughing at Penglai. Their fists ride the crest of the waves, each displaying their unique skills drawn from the heart of the ocean.

The moment Ship Boxing reached perfection, Chen Jue comprehended this finishing move. Rather than a fusion of fist, palm, and leg techniques, it was a close-quarters grappling move: a sudden intake of breath followed by raucous laughter delivered at close range to disrupt the enemy’s focus, then binding and dragging the opponent into the sea in a desperate struggle.

Once caught by this move and dragged into the water, it would take only seconds for the victim to drown or choke. The attacker, without help, would vanish beneath the waves as well—a heroic yet tragic fate.

“This technique… the very spirit of sacrificing oneself for home and country!”

“No wonder only the coastal fishermen of that era possessed such fiery passion and courage!”