Chapter 78: Bajiquan and Fujian Bronze Man Technique

First came the experience gained from leveling up both the Natural School and Bagua Palm. With the advancement of the Natural School techniques, Du Ruo acquired additional methods for cultivating qigong, soft skills, and weapon techniques. The Natural School was a comprehensive sect; it included lightfoot techniques, which Du Ruo obtained at level zero, followed by hard qigong and combat skills at level one. Now, with the latest upgrade, the remaining soft skills were completed.

The upgrade in Bagua Palm brought deeper knowledge of weapon usage, such as the Bagua Twin Blades and Bagua Double-Handed Knives. Du Ruo absorbed the information, but paid it little mind afterward. He suspected that, at this rate, he might end up as a master of all weapons, proficient in every martial implement—though whether there would be an opportunity to use them remained uncertain.

Having assimilated the new knowledge from upgrading the Natural School and Bagua Palm, Du Ruo set them aside. He now anticipated the two freshly acquired skills even more.

Eight Extremities Fist—Du Ruo studied the knowledge within his mind earnestly, though at level zero, it offered little of note: a basic small-frame routine, fundamental understanding of the fist techniques, and basic exercises, much like what he'd seen online. The Eight Extremities Fist was exceedingly forceful; its ferocity was evident even in the small-frame routines, each movement brimming with power.

If Xing Yi Fist could be described as: "Starting like a steel wedge, landing like a hook," emphasizing stable force delivery, with each move connected seamlessly, attacking both on strike and withdrawal, then Eight Extremities Fist was: "Forceful and fierce, sudden changes in the fist, seizing victory through perilous momentum and rhythm." In simple terms, Eight Extremities Fist was fierce, clean, and direct—often deployed with a stomping force along a straight line, an art of violent simplicity that prevailed through risk.

In combat, Eight Extremities Fist would open the opponent’s central defense and seize victory with raw power, often ending the fight in a single move—the polar opposite of Xing Yi Fist.

Du Ruo felt inspired after reading, but practicing on this cliff was out of the question. To perform Eight Extremities Fist here would be madness—its straight-line movements had no place on the precipice. He resolved to practice it later, his curiosity now piqued by the Copper Man Technique, a skill he'd never encountered despite frequent research online. Moreover, it began upgrading automatically upon acquisition, deepening his intrigue.

Settling his mind, Du Ruo absorbed the knowledge. He soon understood why this skill could upgrade without practice.

The Fujian Copper Man Technique, as its name suggested, was a martial art from Fujian. The most famous martial tradition in Fujian was undoubtedly the Southern Shaolin Temple. In the film "God of Cookery," the Shaolin Temple depicted was the Southern branch, famed for its Eighteen Copper Men—each a paragon of steel sinew, mastering Shaolin's secret arts and renowned hard qigong.

Yet, the Fujian Copper Man Technique was entirely unrelated to these Eighteen Copper Men.

Copper Man Technique was an art of acupoint striking—not the acupoint skills seen in martial arts novels or dramas, where a touch could immobilize, induce laughter, or silence someone. Modern acupoint techniques exist—called "Kyusho" in Japan, "pressure point combat" or "pain point fighting" in the West.

Regardless of region, acupoint striking shares a critical limitation: it requires either surprise or a stationary target, making its practical application narrow and its study difficult, thus it never spread widely.

The theory held that blood flows throughout the body from the heart, circulating evenly because the heart pumps a special "tidal head" of blood. This "tidal head" travels along the body's meridians and organs according to the hour. Once one mastered the pattern of this movement, they could predict its location.

This concept parallels Chinese medicine's "Zi Wu circulation," which posits that qi and blood flow through twelve meridians, circulating according to twelve hours, leading the body's energy through constant cycles.

The Copper Man Technique sought to exploit this cycle, using specialized methods to strike or interrupt acupoints traversed by the "tidal head," thereby injuring an opponent—or, by timing an attack to the "tidal head's" location, halting blood flow and causing instant death.

At level zero, the Copper Man Technique taught how to strengthen finger force and identify acupoints—only those who mastered both could begin formal study.

Du Ruo immediately understood why the skill upgraded automatically upon acquisition.

Within his hidden weapon skills, Du Ruo had already learned the distribution of the body's meridians and acupoints, and he frequently practiced hand exercises, whether with glue or gripping rods. Even climbing the cliff had trained his fingers.

Thus, Du Ruo already met the basic requirements to study the Copper Man Technique.

With the upgrade, he gained deeper insight into the art and another skill.

Upon entering Copper Man Technique, his finger strength became formidable, and he acquired a set of acupoint-striking techniques for combat. Some might wonder: if one can already strike an opponent, wouldn't targeting acupoints merely increase the damage? What does it have to do with acupoint skills?

In reality, the most crucial function of this art was breaking an opponent's hard or soft qigong.

When Du Ruo fought the blond man, his cannon fist struck the abdomen, but the opponent used qi to tense his muscles, minimizing damage—a basic application of qigong. More advanced hard qigong could render one impervious like the Eighteen Copper Men, while soft qigong experts could toughen their skin like leather, or make it so slippery that attacks slid off harmlessly.

After mastering the Copper Man Technique, Du Ruo could break such defenses by striking specific acupoints. When hard qigong practitioners inhaled to tense their muscles, a targeted acupoint strike would prevent the muscles from forming. For soft qigong, disrupting the qi flow at a particular acupoint would cause a sudden loss of energy.

These acupoints were commonly known as the vital gates.