Chapter 33

Du Zhong suddenly released his full aura, immediately opened his eyes, and saw the person in front of him, then reined in his aura.

He discovered that the person was an old man.

After waiting for a full twenty-seven hours, the heavens finally rewarded his patience, and the old man had finally arrived!

A hint of joy appeared on his face, and Du Zhong quickly stood up, bowing respectfully.

In front of him, the old man smiled and nodded in satisfaction, saying, "You came quite early!"

Du Zhong inwardly sighed with a bitter smile. After waiting for twenty-seven hours, how could he not be early?

"You're late!"

Du Zhong stared at the old man and said directly.

"Young man, speaking so bluntly, you really don't know how to be flexible, do you? Do you talk to the elderly like this?"

The old man kicked Du Zhong's buttocks directly.

"Smack!"

Du Zhong didn't dodge and was kicked away.

Du Zhong returned with a sullen look.

The old man looked at Du Zhong and said, "Do you think I really wanted to see who would come earlier? Do you think I'm stupid? If you come before noon, you'll definitely be earlier than me! Do you think you can learn from me just by getting up early and not sleeping? What a good dream! Are you stupid or am I?"

Du Zhong's face showed embarrassment upon hearing this.

He had indeed been foolish in this regard.

"The old man is testing your character!"

The old man glanced at Du Zhong and said:

"Young man, your character is quite good!"

"The reason I broke our appointment was to test your character! If you had left after I didn't show up yesterday, we would have lost our connection! What right do you have to act superior when learning from someone? Even if I had to wait a year to learn something, I would wait!"

The old man looked righteous.

Du Zhong instantly understood.

It turned out the old man had deliberately broken the appointment and deliberately left him hanging for a day!

The old man's purpose was not to see if Du Zhong could come earlier than him, but to see if Du Zhong would feel deceived and leave after he broke the appointment.

He also wanted to see Du Zhong's reaction when he finally appeared.

It must be said that when Du Zhong noticed the old man's appearance, he immediately stood up, showing a respectful demeanor, which indeed pleased the old man.

Later, when he dared to ask the old man directly, it was a sign of his straightforwardness, not a complaint.

If it had been a complaint, the old man would have beaten Du Zhong and left, severing their connection!

After explaining, the old man laughed and said, "Starting today, you will temporarily begin learning from me!"

Du Zhong was overjoyed and bowed deeply to the old man!

"Don't be too happy yet, it's just temporary. Do you think it's so easy to learn from someone? Are you stupid? I still need to test you. If you fail the test, you'll be kicked out. Do you understand? If you don't understand, why are you so happy?"

"Ah, what a stupid student, truly a headache!"

Without waiting for Du Zhong to speak, the old man shook his head and muttered.

Du Zhong's face turned awkward again.

He had to quickly change the topic. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked respectfully, "Sir, after meeting you, I encountered another practitioner of authentic Baguazhang. However, when we fought, he was no match for me, and the sense of powerlessness I felt from him was vastly different from what I felt from you! I don't understand, why is there such a big difference between practitioners of internal martial arts?"

The old man smiled slightly and looked at Du Zhong with a profound expression.

"You're really stupid! Of course, it's because of the different levels! He's a child, you're a middle school student, and I'm an adult. You can knock him down with one punch, and I can kill you with one punch. Don't you understand such a simple principle?"

Du Zhong thought the old man's profound smile would lead to a surprising answer, and he was ready to listen attentively.

But unexpectedly... he was scolded harshly.

This was the third time he felt awkward today.

"Although all internal martial arts have the same foundation, there are strict levels within internal martial arts, and the gap between each level is significant."

The old man's expression turned serious, "Internal martial arts have four major levels: Mingjing, Anjing, Huajing, and Shenming. Each level is divided into early, middle, and late stages. Reaching Anjing is considered truly entering the realm of internal martial arts. The person you encountered who practices internal martial arts is just at the Mingjing level."

"Given your skills, you probably defeated him in one move, right?"

The old man smiled.

Du Zhong was startled.

He had only used one move in front of the old man, and although he had been kicked three times, he didn't expect the old man to have such a deep understanding of his abilities.

The old man could even determine that Du Zhong had defeated the opponent in one move?

Du Zhong couldn't imagine how the old man could make such a judgment.

"Yes!"

While feeling surprised, Du Zhong nodded respectfully.

Seemingly noticing Du Zhong's confusion, the old man smiled and explained, "With your current skills, no one below the Anjing level can match you! Even those at the early and middle stages of Anjing are no match for you. You can even fight against those at the late stage of Anjing!"

"Reaching the Mingjing level to this extent is truly remarkable!"

The old man marveled, then showed a mischievous smile, "If you were thrown into the martial arts world, you would surely scare a bunch of internal martial arts practitioners. Defeating someone at the Anjing level with Mingjing skills, ha! Interesting!"

Seeing the old man enjoying himself, Du Zhong's facial muscles twitched involuntarily, and he quickly asked:

"Sir, what exactly is the Anjing level?"

Moreover, the old man said his skills were comparable to the late stage of Anjing. What exactly is the Anjing level? Why can it surpass him?

He knew nothing about it.

Since the old man had come and agreed to teach him, Du Zhong couldn't let this opportunity slip away. He must enter the realm of internal martial arts no matter what.

"Anjing is a level of power that cannot be described in words!"

The old man sighed and said, "You need to experience it yourself. If you can't experience it, you won't reach the Anjing level and enter the realm of internal martial arts. Even if you spend your entire life, you'll at most be a practitioner of external martial arts who can match the late stage of Anjing!"

"In my view, your body has already surpassed the limits of ordinary people. Continuing further won't bring much improvement!"

The old man looked Du Zhong up and down and said, "Even if you improve by a factor of two, you still can't match the lowest level of Huajing practitioners!"

Du Zhong was startled.

Huajing practitioners are that terrifying?

He frowned.

The old man only said to experience it but didn't specify how to do it, making him feel like an ant on a hot pan, unable to see a way out no matter which direction he went.

"Don't be anxious!"

The old man smiled and gently patted Du Zhong's shoulder, saying, "The gap between Mingjing and Anjing is like a thin layer of paper, or even less. Before you understand it, you feel there's no way in, but once you understand it, you realize there was no door to begin with. Martial artists don't even need Mingjing; once they understand Anjing, they can leap to the realm of internal martial arts. It's that simple!"

Hearing this, Du Zhong felt even more urgent, his mind racing.

The gap between Mingjing and Anjing is just a layer of paper, but what is this layer of paper?

Before understanding, there's no way in, and after understanding, there's no door. What does this mean?

Mingjing is clearly the power a person can unleash!

What about Anjing?

Is it the hidden power within the human body?

Du Zhong pondered, and the old man nodded slightly upon seeing this.

"Since I've promised to teach you, I won't go back on my word."

The old man smiled and said, "However, I will truly start teaching you once you understand Anjing and enter the realm of internal martial arts. This is also a test of your insight!"

Du Zhong nodded, coming out of his deep thoughts.

"Actually, understanding Anjing isn't difficult!" the old man added.

Du Zhong's eyes lit up!

He waited respectfully and quietly.

"To understand Anjing from Mingjing, you must understand two characters!"

"The traditional characters '愛' (love) and '儒' (Confucianism)!"

The old man looked at Du Zhong seriously and said.

Love and Confucianism?

Du Zhong was stunned, completely unable to understand.

Are these the keys to opening the door to Anjing?

At this moment, the old man covered his mouth and yawned, saying, "I'm old, I can't stay up late!"

Yawning, the old man turned and walked away, saying, "Go and understand! See how your insight is. When you understand, come see me. Don't come before you understand!"

With that, the old man left the park.

"Sir, thank you!"

Du Zhong shouted loudly, watching the old man's retreating figure.

He knew that although the old man had tested him in various ways from the beginning and said he would teach him after he understood, the old man had actually taught him everything in just a few short words. The rest was up to Du Zhong to understand on his own.

With a heart full of gratitude for the old man, Du Zhong watched him leave and then returned home.

On the way home, Du Zhong's mind was filled with every word the old man had said.

Anjing, Mingjing!

A layer of paper?

No door?

Love and Confucianism?

Deep in thought, Du Zhong unknowingly arrived at his doorstep, opened the door, and returned to his room.

Perhaps because he hadn't slept for twenty-seven hours, he was extremely tired. Lying on the bed, Du Zhong fell into a deep sleep while still thinking.

The next day, due to habit, Du Zhong woke up at six in the morning.

After making breakfast and leaving home, Du Zhong went to another place in the park to exercise, his mind focused on understanding Anjing.

He continued exercising until it was time to go to work. Today, he didn't jog; two hours of exercise were enough, and running would undoubtedly distract his thoughts.

"Understand!"

Taking a deep breath, Du Zhong looked up, realizing he was already standing in front of the hospital gate.

As usual, after entering the hospital, Du Zhong went directly to the security room.

The security room was deathly silent, everyone was smoking with their heads down, and the atmosphere was off.

"What's going on? What are you all doing?"

Du Zhong shouted.

Under Du Zhong's shout, Wang Ke stood up, looking at Du Zhong with a complex expression, hesitating to speak.

"Wang Hao, you tell me, what happened?"

Du Zhong frowned and asked.

"Captain!"

Wang Ke shook his head with a complex expression and said, "You should ask Heizi!"

Du Zhong raised an eyebrow and turned to Heizi, asking, "Heizi, you tell me!"

Heizi took a deep breath, glared at Wang Ke, and then looked at Du Zhong, reluctantly saying, "Captain, we just received news, you've been fired..."