"I'm fine, I'm fine. The Snake Technique is just that kind of boxing technique. Fu Hua must have been stimulated, right? After all, normally, it would be no different from standing on a guillotine."
Takatsuki waved his hand and stood up with Mei's support: "But I pretty much understand Fu Hua's problem now. You said that Hamon and your martial arts underwent changes, which shouldn't refer to simple things like boxing techniques, right?"
Boxing techniques, at their core, are just some peculiar force application skills. When Takatsuki was hit just now, he discovered that there seemed to be a peculiar power mixed within, which reminded Takatsuki of Edge of Taixuan, the martial arts mental mantra Fu Hua created herself.
"I just felt it, Fu Hua. There seemed to be another power in your fist that I couldn't understand. That power must have reacted with Hamon."
Fu Hua nodded: "That's right. This is the martial arts mental mantra called Edge of Taixuan that I practice."
"I can't help you with that, after all, I haven't practiced any martial arts mental mantras, so I don't know why the two would react."
Fu Hua lowered her head and thought for a moment: "If you are willing, I can impart Edge of Taixuan to you as a return for your guidance."
"Eh? Is that okay? Usually, these kinds of mental mantras are secret teachings of various sects, and I probably can't become your disciple."
Fu Hua shook her head: "There's no problem. If everyone is willing to learn, I can teach it. Although Edge of Taixuan is a martial art, it is actually a mental mantra that trains the heart. It requires a long time to learn and high talent, but if you are all willing to discuss and learn together to fight Honkai, I welcome it."
"Then I'll trouble you, Teacher."
"No need to call me Teacher. We are just discussing and learning together."
Takatsuki waved his hand: "Learning knows no seniority, the capable are teachers. Or, Esteemed Fu Hua?"
Seeing Fu Hua's somewhat troubled expression, Takatsuki said: "Then how about this, I'll just call you Fu Hua, and you can just call me by my name, since we're all learning from each other."
Fu Hua nodded, seemingly accepting Takatsuki's suggestion.
Takatsuki was actually very excited about learning Edge of Taixuan, because he had known about the power of Edge of Taixuan for a long time, although he didn't understand its reason.
However, Kiana was very unhappy and kept making a fuss. In the end, Mei had to step in to calm her down.
The study session, which was originally supposed to be about answering Fu Hua's questions, somehow turned into a scene where Fu Hua was teaching four students.
"Before learning Edge of Taixuan, you must first learn Sword Heart Art. I will now recite the Sword Heart Art, and you must silently recite it in your hearts and engrave it in your memory."
Looking at the four people sitting cross-legged in front of her with their eyes closed, Fu Hua began to utter a strange sound.
It was like dreamlike gibberish, without any meaning.
Sword Heart Art is the foundation of Edge of Taixuan. Its essence is actually a technology from the previous civilization: Eminence.
However, the original material was obscure and difficult to understand, so with the help of a friend, Fu Hua compiled it into what later became the Edge of Taixuan mantra.
But its essence remained unchanged. Edge of Taixuan does not focus on meridians and dantian, but rather on the heart, using heaven and earth as the dantian and the physical body as the meridians.
Therefore, the most basic is the original Taixuan Sword Heart, which is also known as the Sword Heart Art.
"I've learned it!"
While the others were still sensing the rhythm of the sound Fu Hua was emitting, the first one to succeed was actually the most lively Kiana.
However, after Fu Hua glared at her, Kiana quickly quieted down, nervously looking at the others. But Bronya had already been startled awake by Kiana, though she didn't make a sound, just looked at Kiana with an unfriendly expression.
Mei and Takatsuki, meanwhile, remained in meditation.
While continuing to emit the Eminence, Fu Hua looked at Kiana with a somewhat complex expression. The first realm of Sword Heart is the Still Water Realm, which emphasizes calmness and stillness. This completely contradicted Kiana's personality, but Edge of Taixuan was not a mantra based on personality, so it was still considered normal.
Takatsuki was the last to open his eyes. In terms of talent, he was the worst among the three.
Bronya? Bronya's mind was too restless, causing her to be directly woken up by Kiana and not continue.
"Ahem, Takatsuki, your talent is already very good."
Fu Hua coughed twice and said.
"But I'm so much slower than the others…"
Seeing that three hours had already passed, Takatsuki rolled his eyes: "You don't need to comfort me on this."
"It's not comfort. In fact, most people cannot even get started with the first step."
Takatsuki waved his hand to stop Fu Hua from continuing: "Actually, I couldn't get started either, but midway through, I discovered that Hamon really seems to have a chain reaction with Edge of Taixuan."
"But you mentioned that Edge of Taixuan is about the heart, and I probably know why. Because this thing called Hamon, although it originates from the physical body's power, its development changes with a person's will. A Hamon Master once said, if you encounter difficulties, just believe in Hamon!"
"There was once a Hamon Master who trained for nearly a hundred years and could reach the point of comprehending fate through Hamon. This was not because his Hamon was strong enough, but because his will could already influence the changes in Hamon."
"So, Hamon itself is also a power of the mind."
If one were to purely compare the intensity of Hamon, no one has been able to surpass Kars to this day. Just a single breath could produce Hamon comparable to the heat of the sun, directly melting a person's body. However, Kars only used Hamon; he did not understand its true essence to correct his own fate, which means that the evolution of Hamon relies on understanding and control, not just simply accumulating quantity.
"I see, that makes sense then."
Fu Hua nodded: "Then is there a method to train the understanding of Hamon?"
Simply generating Hamon through breathing techniques is merely accumulating quantity. For Fu Hua, it was meaningless; she did not lack longevity, nor did she lack means of attack.
"Regarding this question, I originally didn't plan to teach you, because it's too energy-consuming and somewhat counterproductive for Valkyries. But since Fu Hua you want to know, I'll tell you."
Takatsuki described the Hamon training that Caesar and Joseph had experienced from his memory.
"Although there's no Hell Pillar here, that was also a method to force out one's potential. After all, in that state, you either break through or die. As long as Fu Hua, you are disciplined enough, you can even use the academy's fountain for practice."
Takatsuki stood up: "It's already very late. Let's go back. On the way, I'll show you how to practice with the fountain."
The few of them followed Takatsuki to the fountain in the middle of St. Freya Academy. Takatsuki silently switched his character card to Caesar, then stepped into the fountain.
"First off, walking on water."
The others watched Takatsuki step onto the water's surface, ripples constantly forming beneath his feet, yet he showed no signs of sinking.
"And then…"
He approached the fountain step by step. The fountain's water fell on Takatsuki's body without any drops seeping into his clothes; instead, it slid off smoothly.
"Gather the Hamon on your fingertips and place them on the fountain."
Takatsuki extended two fingers and as soon as they touched the water column of the fountain, his entire body suddenly shot upwards, rising with the continuous stream of water until he reached the top of the fountain, where he stood steadily without falling with the water.
"Without relying on friction, but on the power of Hamon, you can achieve this. Friction requires a larger surface area, but with Hamon, the smaller the area, the easier it is, because less Hamon needs to be concentrated. Attaching oneself to water requires offensive Hamon, while remaining completely dry like me is a defensive type."
Takatsuki stood on the fountain, even lifting his foot to step on the continuously falling water: "To achieve what I'm doing, you need to use both types of Hamon simultaneously. If you can reach this step, then you can be considered a master."
Saying this, Takatsuki jumped down from the fountain, extended his hand, and in it was a fist-sized water ball. It formed a perfect sphere, without any change. Kiana curiously poked it and her finger went right through, feeling the coldness within, but when she pulled her finger out, not a single drop of water clung to her hand.
"This is also one of the uses of Hamon. Let's start practicing with these basics. Although it's not as versatile as Honkai Energy, Hamon itself is quite miraculous."