Maniac Training
The first thing you were taught under Zhang Jue’s tutelage was how to accept your chaotic inner strength. You spent seven days and seven nights writhing in pain in the jungle as Zhang Jue systematically broke down your meridians, the channels by which a person’s qi travels.
“Vessels are useless,” he said. “All you need to do is to unshackle your qi from the narrow channels that constrain it. Your qi has transcended the need for a path. The harmony of the Way is heresy to your being. Let your strength flow freely; embrace the discord and chaos, and you will become more powerful than you can ever imagine.”
Then, he added, dispassionately, “If you survive this.”
You did, somehow. In the blinding pain you somehow found in yourself the will to cling on to life. By the end of it, however, streaks of white had appeared in your hair, far before your time. You had always looked slightly older than your age, but now, at merely fifteen, you could pass for a man of twenty. The agony may have shortened your lifespan, though you do not know for sure. Without meridians it meant that any injuries you suffer to your internal system can no longer be healed by the qi of others. You would have to cope on your own.
However, you gained power out of it. For the first time in your life, you were now able to use your inner strength. The Southern Maniac named it Yuanshi Hundun (原始混沌, Primordial Chaos). The orderly world was born after yin and yang came into perfect balance and harmony; before that there was nothing but dark and undifferentiated chaos. Befitting its name, the Yuanshi Hundun coursing through your body is unpredictable and barely controllable even at the best of times. When channeled, however, it gives you a burst of strength and speed at the expense of making your strikes and movements erratic. Due to its nature, it is impossible for you to cultivate your neigong via calm meditation and docile practice.
Master Zhang praised you for surviving; that lasted for all of two seconds before he set the tigers on you.
***
Training on Yinhu Island is harsh and deadly. You often find human bones during your training; no doubt scattered remains of your master’s former apprentices. The first part of your training was spent in the jungle that you shared with countless deadly beasts. You approached this obstacle mainly via:
A. Trapping. By learning to identifying the lay of the land and the tracks of the animals, you placed traps with which you could capture or kill the beasts. To do this you needed a keen eye and a mind for constructing and placing traps. (PER+1, INT+1, Traps+2)
B. Stalking. You turned the jungle into your own playground, hunting the animals that hunted you without their knowledge. Your senses became keener, and your movements quicker. (PER+1, AGI+1, Sneak+2)
C. Head-on assault. You contested the beasts’ territory in a show of strength. You beat them down in a direct fight, though you only managed it after downing copious amounts of alcohol. (STR+1, END+1, Drinking+2)
D. Befriending. In a stroke of rare good fortune, you somehow managed to befriend the animals. Your master was slightly amused at your approach, and proceeded to kill all of your animal friends. You were inspired to compose a great poem to lament their passing. (CHA+1, LUC+1, Artistic Skill+2)
***
After your ordeal in the jungle, during which you developed a combined qinggong skill out of your fundamental knowledge, your martial arts training began in earnest – your regimen was strict and brutal, with no time to even sleep. You were kept awake and functional by ingestion of raw snake and bear gall bladders that Zhang ripped out. At times you wondered why the island was not yet depopulated, and then your skull was cracked open because you were not paying attention while sparring with your master.
The Southern Maniac had plenty of techniques, and all of them were ones designed to kill. He was less of a swordsman, preferring to relish in flesh-to-flesh contact, though it did not mean he was not handy with a sword. Your training focused on your unarmed and sword skills, the ones you were already proficient in. The first technique he taught you were the Shouwang Claws, (獸王狂爪, Mad Claws of the Beast King), his signature technique. With it, Master Zhang could rend flesh from bones, dig out a man’s heart, or tear off a limb. You do not aspire to that much, but even in your inexperienced hands the technique is lethal. Besides that, you were also taught another technique:
A. Fanfeng Feixue Sword (反風飛血劍, Counter-Wind Flying Blood Sword). Developed by Zhang Jue as an unorthodox variant of the Huashan Sect’s renowned swift sword technique, it is meant to counter their rapid slashes with even wilder, more furious and brutal attacks of your own that would spill their blood across the arena. It has never been tested against Huashan in actual combat.
B. Chuzhan Fist (除斬拳, Dividing Sundering Fist). Developed by Zhang Jue as a counter to the Taiji Fist of the Wudang Sect. Zhang believes that it is possible to disrupt the gentle negation stance of Taiji, breaking their harmony by applying more force, faster than they can handle, and thus this technique focuses on ruthless, straightforward attacks that attempt to overwhelm the enemy with sheer power and speed. It has never been tested against Wudang in actual combat.
C. Wuni Fist (五逆拳,Five Deadly Sins Fist). Developed by Zhang Jue as an answer to the famed Luohan Fist of Shaolin Temple. In response to the straightforward, direct attacks of the Arhat, the Deadly Sins movements focuses on attacking the weak points in such a straightforward technique by utilizing a variety of clutches, grabs and throws in addition to quick, jabbing strikes. It has never been tested against Shaolin in actual combat.