The Legend of Min Hong

Chapter 12: Training the Chaotic Shadow Steps

The importance of footwork is arguably even higher than attacking techniques! Because if you can't even land an attack on your opponent, to what end is the power behind your attacking techniques.

Moreover, Min Hong was an assassin in his first life, which made him understand the importance of footwork, when he was being attacked.

Although, he had his own personal footwork techniques from earth, when compared to the footwork techniques in the level of "Chaotic Shadow Steps", even if the skin on his face is as thick as that of a crocodile, he would be extremely embarrassed to execute it.

In this world where spirits and monsters abounded, the basics had not been changed; Footwork was still one of the most important things.

Min Hong could still remember all he read from the [Chaotic Shadow Steps] manual, with the power of his universal soul, its ability to now split his attention into ten and his photographic memory, it would be a curse if he forgot what he read a night ago.

The technique had seven basic movements which were exquisite and profound in their usage of force and energy. Moreover, these seven basic steps can be furtherly executed such that two steps won't reoccur.

That was just way too overpowered. If one arranged seven steps and in seven different ways that each pattern doesn't reoccur, one would have up to 5000 steps.

This means if one wants to escape, one would have already taken 5000 chaotic steps before one's enemy would have the opportunity to catch up. (Check 7 permutation 7)

In that situation, if one wanted to at least flee, only someone at a higher cultivation would be able to catch up. That means this technique is the strongest evasive technique in any particular cultivation level. Although this technique is bound by one's cultivation base, it was still an extremely good technique.

"Don't just stand there." Min Rou pointed at the at the wooden poles she prepared this morning.

"This is called the Array of a Thousand Shadows, within these two years, you must be able to reach the 3600th pole in a single minute. When you are able to achieve that, you would be considered to have achieved the 'One with World' level in the Chaotic Shadow Steps technique.

"Mom, why are there only 1000 wooden poles here? I thought the Chaotic Shadow Steps are about 5000 in total? Min Hong asked with a confused frown.

"The technique only has 7 primary steps, normally that was what the ordinary technique depicted. If one takes the last step which is the 7th step, one would have to start again from the beginning, and at that point your opponent would not give you that opportunity. This was the flaw of the original technique."

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"This was so until that expert modified the technique, which now included unrepeated continuous steps. One would have to permutate these seven steps until one can reach the 5000th step, but that's for someone who had achieved the 'One with Dao' level in the technique."

"Don't belittle this technique, because that means you have to permutate these steps until you reach the 1000th step. That's why that expert made this "Array of a Thousand Shadows", these poles are already permutated to the 1000th step. All you need to do is step on all of them without falling to achieve 'One with Man' level in this technique."

Min Rou explained, before she walked forwards and pointed the stick in her hands to the shortest pole. "Stand atop this pole".

"Yes." Min Hong easily jumped atop the wooden pole. He instantly felt wobbly. The pole wasn't very thick, there was only enough space for a single foot. However, after falling about 14 times, his earthly sense of balance was sharpened and put to work.

"Listen to my orders. Whichever one of the seven primary steps I ask you to use, that's what you use" Min Rou said after Min Hong balanced himself. "The fifth step!"

Min Hong instantly tried to charge forward and step atop the next pole in front of him, but he collided with the iron weight hung atop with the pole and fell down with a loud bang.

"Remember, whenever you're moving in the Array of a Thousand Shadows you must not hit the iron weights. Once you do so, you'll have to start over again, even if you're on the 999th pole."

Min Hong was startled when he heard this, this training seemed somewhat impossible. "If it wasn't for the "Array of a Thousand Shadows" you probably need to spend at least a hundred times the amount of time." Min Rou added when she saw Min Hong's startled expression.

"Moms training is even way harder and harsher than grandpas." Min Hong thought to himself for a second. But he clenched his jaw and continued, he refused to believe he couldn't train this technique.

He once again hoped atop the starting pole, and then slanting his body a little, he dodged pass the iron weight and moved to the next. However, he had placed so much weight on the pole. His body swayed for a while before steading himself, only for the second iron weight to hit his head and falling with another loud bang.

"Remember, your steps must be light and steady on the poles, while your movements have to be flexible enough to dodge the iron weights. Your steps must be spot on and it must take an advancing stance to make moving to the next pole easier. Just now, you swayed wildly like a leaf in the wind. If this was a life or death fight, you would have been Killed ten times over by an enemy who noticed a flaw in your movements. Continue!"

"The seventh step!" "The first step!"

"The sixth step!" "The second step!"

"The fifth step!" "The third step!"

"The fourth step!" Min Rou snapped one order after another.

Actually, all footwork techniques relied on synchronizing some basic movements. But the difference between these techniques was like night and day in terms of their results.

Some would make you as agile and graceful as the wind, while others would make you as fast as a bolt of lightning, or as unpredictable as a spirit.

Each technique has its own unique mysteries and would naturally have different effects in battle.

Using Min Hong's training as an example. The height of these poles would make him possess the ability to step on thin air and float for a short period of time, while the weight of his steps would make him as agile and graceful as the wind.

The alternating steps and dodging of iron weights would make his steps have a chaotic pattern which makes him unpredictable and lastly, if he improves the amount of time taken to reach the 700th pole, his speed would have increased.

Not to forget that with each collision against the iron weights and hard fall, his body would naturally grow stronger and more durable, increasing his body's endurance level.

"Huff!" He jumped too high, and his head hit the iron weight, causing him to miss a pole. He fell with another loud bang.

Not saying a word, Min Hong went back to the first pole.

"Bang!" His foot wasn't light enough.

"Bang!" He angled his body too much when dodging an iron weight.

- - - - - - - - - - -

On these thousand poles, Min Hong was dashing like a flash, wildly drilling in the seven basic steps. Because of the obstruction of the iron weights, Min Hong's body has undergone many awkward stances to dodge them. But no matter which stance he used, the key thing is that his feet and center of gravity must be stable!

"Mom, how long do I have to train for?" Min Hong had crashed so many times, his body was aching.

"Hong'er, you have to start from the first pillar and get to the 1000th pillar, then jump down without hitting any iron weights within a minute. In other words, you must achieve the 'One with Man' level of mastery!" Min Rou grinned as she spoke.

Min Hong was stunned when he heard this. "What? In one minute? In such little time even if I ran on flat grounds, I wouldn't be able to cover that much distance." 1000 wooden poles with each about two meters from each other, that was a distance of about 2000 meters. It would take him about five minutes to do that, if he ran at top speed."

"Later, when you cultivate to the Qing stage, you would be able to travel that distance on the flat ground in one breath which is approximately two seconds. Min Rou grinned again.

"Moving through 1000 poles within the Array of a Thousand Shadows as though you were on flat ground only then can you achieve the 'One with Man' level in the Chaotic Steps.

"Then what about the second, "Shadow Part"?" Min Hong couldn't help but ask, because Min Rou said "Chaotic Steps" not "Chaotic Shadow Steps."

Min Rou infused Qi into the wooden stick in her hand and struck one of the iron weights, which created a domino effect on the rest of the iron weights and when the last iron weight was hit, like a pendulum, it started another domino effect from the last to the first iron weight. And like that these iron weights continuously swayed in a wild and chaotic manner.

"The shadow part, requires you to start from the first pole, traverse through the 1000 poles and land steadily without touching any of the swaying iron weights in the same time limit.

Once you can do that, you would have reached the 'One with Man' level of the Chaotic Shadow Steps." Min Rou grinned once again with her eyes narrowed into slits, but this time, that grin looked like the grin a devil would have before making one's life miserable.

"I'd have to traverse 1000 poles of these swaying iron weights to achieve 'One with Man' level of this technique? Bb b but that's impossible? I would only have maybe a quarter of a breath to dodge one iron weight and jump to the next wooden pole.

And with such time limit" Min Hong knew this was going to be too hard, impossibly hard.

"That's why I said without the Array of a Thousand Shadows, you'd at least require 20 years to master the technique. Min Rou said. "From now until lunch time, you will continuously practice here at the Array of a Thousand Shadows."

"Then if I achieve the 'One with Dao', how powerful will the technique be? You can at least tell me that, right?" Min Hong asked.

"If I have to describe it even if ten thousand arrows rain on me at the same time, they wouldn't be able to touch a single hair on my head." Min Rou looked at her son.

"Ten thousand arrows all at once? Min Hong visualized the thick cluster of arrows raining down but none was able to touch him. This technique is indeed overpowered in the same cultivation level, but it's just as hard to train.

Min Rou smiled. "Don't be discouraged. Even I couldn't reach 'One with World' level till I was at Mid Dan Formation stage. "Father reached mastery when he was at Peak Dan Formation stage." Min Rou said.

"Grandpa?" Min Hong was surprised and delighted. He couldn't believe this man who smiled and spoke warmly to even the servants of the Min Family would be such an expert.

Min Hong immediately rejoiced in his heart. Whatever his mom or even his grandpa can do, he can do better, especially since he had a universal soul and the memories of his first life!

"Continue!" "The seventh Step!" .

Min Hong flashed across the Array of a Thousand Shadows, occasionally crashing.