Chapter 124 – The Formidable Practice of Habit
(TL’s note: Friday’s regular release.)
Jun Wu Yi worked around the clock over the next few days to finish Jun Mo Xie’s task, and managed to finish casting the metal to the desire shape. Even though the metal was only to be casted into a very small knife, but since Jun Mo Xie required the knife’s balance to be very precise, since he intended to use for personal tasks, the task became quite arduous.
Jun Mo Xie participated in the task, same as his uncle, but didn’t seem very exhausted at the end of it, while Jun Wu Yi was so exhausted that his thighs had swollen from the effort that he had put in, even though he was a very strong and burly man….
“Mo Xie, I wonder why I’ve never seen you practicing your skills?” Jun Wu Yi was quite surprised. This arduous task, which had been dauntingly difficult for the Sky Xuan expert, had seemingly been a child’s play for his nephew. On top of that, Jun Wu Yi had never seen his nephew practice his Xuan Qi, which was only making him more curious.
“Practice?” Jun Mo Xie looked at him in surprise: “Uncle, I practice all the time ah, how have you not noticed it yet?”
“Uh?” Jun Wu Yi couldn’t help but stare at him with widened eyes in astonishment.
“Uncle, do you really believe that only controlling your breathing while sitting cross-legged motionlessly, and tempering your Xuan Qi is the only way of ‘so-called’ practicing?” Jun Mo Xie’s tone was clearly expressing his amazement: “I think that we can practice our skills at all times, while eating, while talking, while fighting, walking standing or running and even when we aren’t doing anything at all! Even while we are sleeping, we can still practice in our dreams!”
“One day has twenty hours, and I don’t even waste a single minute of it. Even though we are talking to each other at this moment, I’m still practicing. So instead of asking me when I practice, shouldn’t you ask when I don’t practice?!” Jun Mo Xie smiled.
“Even now?” Jun Wu Yi’s eyes widened further.
“When walking we can practice our balance, and hone our senses of vigilance on our feet. We can also to exercise our hearing ability and our eyes, and our body’s sensitivity to our surroundings. As long as you are determined, you can practice all the time.”
Jun Mo Xie seemed quite serious about it: “While fighting, it is important for your mind to be active, and you can temper your mind to be calm while you’re undertaking a frustrating task. It’s important to practice such skills to the point where they start happening automatically; otherwise you might be unable to use your skills properly at a critical juncture, which is why I practice all the time. Do you understand my meaning?”
Even though Jun Mo Xie made perfect sense, but Jun Wu Yi’s eyes were still gaping at him, and it seemed as if they would pop out of their sockets.
“If I interpreted your words correctly…. then you intend to say that when you’re dodging an incoming attack, you’re not trying to move aside wholeheartedly and your mind is not in a state of chaos?” Jun Wu Yi gasped: “Isn’t that impossible?”
“How’s it impossible to tune your mind to that?” Jun Mo Xie sounded helpless: “All you need to do is melt your skills into your instincts, and make such actions a habit of your nature; if you can do that, then you need not think, or even intend to carry out an action….. Won’t it just happen by itself in this case?”
Jun Wu Yi was dumbstruck, but he was finally beginning to realize something: his own nephew was a freak of nature! When a normal man like Jun Wu Yi is confronted with a freak like his nephew, being uncomfortable and confused is only a natural human reaction.
Such kinds of bizarre practice methods could drive a person mad; in fact, for ordinary men, even mentioning such methods was an act of madness!
How could practicing Xuan Qi be this easy?
“There’s no need to deliberate while carrying out an action if it’s molded into your instincts. So to speak, while we are walking, we can look out for the things that lay ahead of us and what we might be stepping on, and while we talk, we can still use our nose to identify the smells in the air. This is why I was able to get through the forest with so much ease… my mind was constantly distinguishing my surroundings, and everything was happening instinctively!”
Jun Mo Xie smiled leisurely: “If practice can be done in this manner also, then why shouldn’t we do it? Just because you can’t focus your entire attention on your practice doesn’t mean that you can’t practice at all. This might seem very difficult in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it over time. And when that time comes, these actions will become your habit and as time will pass, they will be molded into your instincts and eventually you’ll even stop noticing the difference between actions and instinctive reactions.”
“It’s really that simple.” Jun Mo Xie smiled.
Jun Wu Yi was quite amused by his nephew’s ideas.
“No wonder that you are always so dull and indifferent… since your mind is always analyzing everything, it tends to appear as if you’re taking everything lightly, including your own life! Well, it seems that you’re not indifferent at all, but you’re just always analyzing everything with an open mind…..” Jun Wu Yi was finally beginning to understand. In fact, Jun Wu Yi had been unwittingly mimicking Jun Mo Xie’s methods, and now that he suddenly came to a halt, he started to feel as if his whole body was being gripped with a sense of fatigue.
He was well aware that Jun Mo Xie’s body’s Xuan Qi was nothing compared to his own, but still his nephew showed no signs of tiredness. He couldn’t help but admit that this ‘Habit’ was indeed a formidable force.
Previously, upon their return from their adventure, a servant had come to report a few messages: Du Gu Wu Di had come looking for the young master; Tang Yuan had also come looking for the young master; the young master had also received an invitation from a few other people including three invitations from His Majesty’s three sons, while another two nobles had invited him over for dinner!
Coincidentally, a generalissimo, two nobles and three princes wished to see him at the same time…
Suddenly if three of His Majesty’s sons were interested in making friends with the dandy Jun Mo Xie, then this really couldn’t be a coincidence…..
Jun Wu Yi looked at his nephew profoundly and said: “… Mo Xie, from now on, you can make decisions on your own. You understand our circumstances quite well, and your grandfather and I will no longer restrict your actions.” He paused for a moment and said: “We believe in you!”
Jun Mo Xie’s actions had borne excellent results in quick succession, and as a result, he had managed to create a formidable reputation in his uncle’s mind, so much so, that Jun Wu Yi was even beginning to admire his nephew, which is why he had decided to give Jun Mo Xie a free-hand. He had realized that even though Jun Mo Xie might seem indifferent to everything, he was always cautiously trying to concentrate on one thing: no matter what you do, avoid trouble! And like his bizarre practice methods, his sense of wariness had been embedded into his instincts by now!
So basically, if anyone tried to misuse Jun Mo Xie’s influence, then that man would end up having a bad day!
“Thank you very much uncle.” Jun Mo Xie’s reply sounded very earnest.
“Jun Mo Xie, you you you you, you kid! What kind of weird nuisance did you put in that wine? The seven of them are still unconscious! If anything happens to them… I swear on my life, I will tear you apart!” Du Gu Wu Di was so enraged that he jumped off his armchair the moment Jun Mo Xie walked into the room.
The valiant general had turned into a worried father overnight. The seven sons of the Du Gu Family were still asleep ever since he had brought them home from the Jun Family’s residence in a state of sleep. He had tried everything to dissipate the effects of the alcohol; tea, vinegar, soy sauce…. But nothing had worked. Finally, he ordered the physician to carry out a medical treatment, but even that didn’t bear any result. If the seven of them weren’t snoring thunderously in their sleep, an evident proof that the seven of them were sleeping under the effect of the alcohol, then the general might have lost his mind, and may have already attacked general Jun Zhan Tian’s only grandson. All seven had remained unconscious ever since they had consumed the wine, which was practically an unprecedented incident!
“Du Gu Wu Di, this little boy is sitting in front of you upon accepting your invitation and hasn’t said anything rude to you, then why would you scold me in such a manner? You came to my family’s house, and you stirred trouble with my grandfather; then you wantonly caused damage to our property, and didn’t even apologize, nor did you reimburse for the damages with even a single penny from you pocket…. On top of that your boys stole my wine, and yet you still accuse me of falsehood? Is there no justice left in this world anymore?!” Jun Mo Xie tried his best to mimic his father’s tone and style of speech.
“And, they still haven’t woken up? Well, I can easily fix that.” Jun Mo Xie was already laughing up his sleeve. I know how to wake them from their slumber. He lazily retreated into his armchair, and raised his arms and legs up. “Shall I prepare the medicine? They are obviously still under the effect of the wine, and I can give you a few shots of the cure, but…. You’ll have to pay me some money ah!”
“Money….” Du Gu Wu Di’s face was going black and it seemed like he hadn’t understood Jun Mo Xie’s intentions. The Jun Family has a reputation of being very honest and upright in the public eye; not wrongly so either. But why did their only heir have to be such a money grubber? He’s so blinded by money that he has even resorted to blackmailing and wrongdoings!
One jar of wine for twenty five million taels of silver….. he is more ruthless than the emperor!
“How much money do you need this time ah? You already ripped me off the last time, but you better not think of it again!” Du Gu Wu Di gnashed his teeth as he eyed Jun Mo Xie covetously.
“Seventy thousand taels of silver should be enough this time. The raw materials will cost a lot of money, so I’d say that it is a fair trade, and very affordable too…a genuine bargain!” Jun Mo Xie stretched the five fingers of his left hand, and two of his right, to indicate the price of his services.
“Oh, lucky me. Just seventy thousand taels? You know your hands aren’t big enough to carry so much silver yet…..” Du Gu Wu Di taunted.
“Don’t worry, I’ll use my toes if I have to.” Jun Mo Xie grinned. “I’ll go and get the raw materials, but you need to pay up right now; I don’t give out credit.”