Human strength is finite, yet the waves of the sea are endless!

Taijiquan, to the average person, is merely a gentle exercise practiced by elderly men and women in the park, a slow martial art for health, appearing soft and languid. Yet, at its core, it conceals two deadly techniques born for the battlefield. In the age of cold weapons, all martial arts, fighting skills, and forms were created primarily for self-defense and defeating enemies. But in these peaceful times, when martial heroes no longer break the law by force, martial arts have faded, their traditions lost, gradually transforming into a pursuit of health and the cultivation of martial virtue.

The practice and application of Taijiquan stand at opposite extremes. Its gentle, health-promoting movements have become widespread; almost everyone, young and old, knows a few basic forms. Yet those who truly understand the fighting techniques of Taijiquan are exceedingly rare. If Xingyi and Bajiquan evolved from battlefield spear techniques, then the structure of Taijiquan incorporates the essence of the whip and hammer—ancient weapons of war.

The Single Whip of Taijiquan, combining hardness and softness, can, when unleashed, flay skin and shatter bone. This whip is not the soft leather whip most imagine, but the steel whip wielded by generals on horseback in ancient times. The most famous of all was the pair of steel whips carried by Yuchi Gong, a renowned general of the Sui and Tang dynasties—he stormed three passes by day and seized eight camps by night, striking both the living and the dead, and ultimately, along with Qin Shubao and his twin bronze batons, became a guardian deity revered by generations.

Earlier that day, Chen Jue had displayed this Single Whip in the living room, cracking the air with an explosive force, shattering the tile beneath his feet, as though possessed by Yuchi Gong himself. And now, as for his Taijiquan Sky Hammer? It was nothing less than the manifestation of Li Yuanba, the fiercest warrior from the tales of the Sui and Tang, brought to life.

The hammer technique, once unleashed, was pure force and ferocity—like Li Yuanba, charging through armies with a pair of golden drum hammers weighing eight hundred pounds, riding a warhorse cloaked in clouds of dust, crushing all with a single blow. Not even the eighteen rebel kings who swept the land at the end of the Sui dynasty could withstand such a strike, overwhelming and unstoppable.

Thunder boomed!

The sound, like a thunderclap, reverberated beneath the raging wind and waves, drowning out all other noise. Chen Jue’s fist struck the prow of the boat—splinters burst forth, water sprayed, and the entire bow cracked as if hit by an explosive shell, half of it shattered.

The tip of the bow, bearing the brunt of Chen Jue’s Sky Hammer, was pushed from behind by waves eight or nine meters high. In that instant, the boat was like a chopstick suddenly thrust upright in the water, standing tall and straight in midair!

It resembled a Hollywood car crash—the front of a car smashing into another, and the body, propelled by immense inertia, flipping upright. The scene was uncannily similar, except this was not car against car, but Chen Jue against a boat!

But human strength has its limits. After practicing Taijiquan underwater for over ten minutes, Chen Jue had expended nearly all his energy. With this final, ferocious Sky Hammer, his pores could no longer remain sealed. The heat vented from within, and along with it, the force from three forms of hard internal training dissipated.

Meanwhile, the sea’s fury did not abate. A second wave swept in—following closely behind the first—pushing the wooden boat, still suspended in midair, into a tumbling arc. With a heavy thud, the boat, weighing thousands of pounds, crashed down, driven by the waves and inertia, landing squarely on Chen Jue, who was already trying to evade.

"It's over!"

The thought flashed through his mind. In that instant, Chen Jue felt as if he’d been struck head-on by a speeding car, his bones threatening to shatter. The world spun; his vision darkened, and the agony rendered him senseless for several seconds.

When he regained consciousness, stars danced before his eyes, and his chest was tight, breath short. Though his physical constitution and hardened muscles allowed him to withstand the blow—without spitting blood in dramatic fashion as martial heroes do in novels—a metallic taste flooded his throat, unmistakably the flavor of blood.

He forced himself to crawl from the rocks, but before he could even retch, two more massive waves delivered a mouthful of seawater. As for the culprit—the small fishing boat brought by Yu Yue and his friends—it had, after violently colliding with Chen Jue, smashed against jagged rocks and tumbled into the sea.

Now, the salty tang of seawater and the iron taste of blood mingled in his mouth, nearly suffocating him. Injured, exhausted, unable to seal his pores and retain warmth, the water crashing over him felt icily cold.

Staggering across slippery rocks, struggling upwards, each step was a battle. His face was deathly pale, his footing uncertain, and he reached for the bath towel hanging in the weeds, wrapping it tightly for warmth, shivering as he hurried up the path behind the cliff.

The path, which normally took only two minutes to climb, now took him nearly seven or eight to reach the back door of the villa.

He pulled open the door, too anxious to close it, stumbled into the living room, put on the clothes left on the sofa, then pushed through the front door, stumbling to the first villa, and knocked urgently on Uncle Yu’s door.

The door opened, revealing the warm-hearted innkeeper aunt.

“Auntie… could Uncle… take me to the hospital…” Chen Jue managed, not quite fainting but with the last of his strength spent, barely able to speak, nearly collapsing to the floor.

“Ah!”

“Ah Jue, what happened to you?”

“How did you get so badly hurt? Old man! Hurry up and take a look!” Seeing the scrapes and bruises on Chen Jue, and his frighteningly pale face, the aunt cried out in alarm.

Uncle Yu, who had been drinking tea and watching television in the living room, dropped his cup and rushed over to help Chen Jue.

Taking a quick look at Chen Jue’s condition, realizing something was wrong, Uncle Yu called upstairs to Yu Yue, who was playing games. The father and son quickly changed into rain gear, helped Chen Jue into the back seat of their Great Wall pickup, and sped toward the county hospital in Dongdao.

On the way to the hospital, Chen Jue lay in the back seat, his mind foggy, wracked with pain, his energy utterly spent. Before losing consciousness, he glanced instinctively at his attribute panel—strength, constitution, and agility all marked with glaring red exclamation points.

The health index had dropped from 105% straight down to 60%, a full 45% decrease.

“Add points… I need to add to constitution… why can’t I add points?” This was Chen Jue’s last thought before slipping into darkness.