“I didn’t count, probably dozens of times,” Zhou Wen answered.
“Why didn’t you think of other solutions after making so many failed attempts?” Wang Mingyuan asked Zhou Wen with interest.
“I just wanted to try pulling it up,” Zhou Wen said.
When Wang Mingyuan heard this, he smiled and said, “You’re quite interesting. The three of you, tell him how you pulled the chain for the first time.”
Wang Mingyuan’s words were obviously directed at Hui Haifeng and the rest.
Hui Haifeng was the first to speak, “When I pulled the chains, I felt that the chain was too cold, so I sped up, pulling it all the way up before my hands froze.”
Seeing Wang Mingyuan’s gaze on him, Jiang Yan held the book in his hand and said, “I also felt that the chain’s bottom was too cold, so I slowed down my speed. Sometime after the chain leaves the frost, the temperature naturally gets higher. Slowly, I pulled the chain up.”
Zhong Ziya pursed his lips but didn’t say anything.
Wang Mingyuan said, “Ziya doesn’t abide by the rules the most. When he couldn’t pull it up, he used a Primordial Energy Skill to pull the chain up.”
“Speaking of which, three of the five students who studied under me succeeded the first time when pulling the chain. Two of them failed to pull it up, but you are the first to fail despite making so many attempts.” Wang Mingyuan smiled at Zhou Wen.
“Who was the other person who failed?” Zhou Wen asked curiously.
“One of your seniors who has already graduated,” Wang Mingyuan said indifferently and didn’t mention it again. He continued, “The rules are for rookies to pull the chain up before they are allowed to rest.”
“Alright.” Zhou Wen walked back to Dragon’s Well and grabbed the chain before pulling it up again.
However, Zhou Wen didn’t seem to learn from the lesson or use the experiences of his seniors. He continued pulling at the same pace as before, and eventually, he failed.
Wang Mingyuan only smiled and didn’t bother him anymore. He took off his arctic suit and changed into casual clothes. He then put on an apron and took out some vegetables to begin cooking.
Not long after, the dishes were ready. There wasn’t much variety and they were relatively light and plain. They were basically vegetarian dishes with the only non-vegan dish being hard-boiled eggs.
The few students gathered around the table to eat. Zhou Wen put down the chain and came over, ignoring the rules.
Wang Mingyuan didn’t say a word as he similarly handed a set of cutlery to Zhou Wen. Everyone was given a bowl of porridge and an egg.
After the meal, Zhou Wen continued to pull the chain. Wang Mingyuan, Hui Haifeng, and company did their own things. Apart from having the necessary exchanges, none of them spoke much.
Zhou Wen had originally come here to study palm skills, but he ended up becoming the chain-puller. He ate and slept as usual, and only managed to pull up the nearly 200-meter-long chain at noon the next day.
When the end was pulled out, Zhou Wen was taken aback.
The end of the chain looked like a giant fish hook, but upon closer inspection, he realized that it wasn’t a fish hook, but in the shape of a ship anchor.
Furthermore, Zhou Wen had seen such a ship-shaped anchor twice. The first time was at the Xiyuan Crystal shop, and the second time was on Gu Dian’s pocket watch.
However, the anchor didn’t have a woman’s side profile, and the hook was polished sharp. It looked like it was used as a hook.
Zhou Wen reached out to the side of the ship’s anchor and touched it. He couldn’t help but frown when he realized that it had signs of being polished.
“Dragons are very greedy creatures, especially when it comes to food.” As Wang Mingyuan spoke, he brought a bag of Companion Eggs over and used rope to secure them on the hook.
“Lower it. I hope there’ll be something next time,” Wang Mingyuan said as he looked at the bottomless Dragon’s Well.
Zhou Wen lowered the chain back down. After finishing all his work, he came in front of Wang Mingyuan and asked, “Counselor, is there anything else you need me to do?”
“In the future, you will be in charge of pulling the chain. Everything else will depend on your own interests. I heard from Little Fei that you want to learn palm skills?” Wang Mingyuan said gently.
“Yes.” Zhou Wen nodded.
“Most cultivators nowadays train in weapons. Even if it’s physical training, there are many people who train their fists and legs. There are very few who train their palms and fingers. It’s mainly because fistand leg-related skills are easy to learn but difficult to master. On the other hand, palmand finger-related skills are difficult to learn but easily mastered. There’s no real difference between the two. It’s the same when you practice either to the extreme. However, most people like to start with the simple. That’s why fist- and leg-skills are popular these days. As for palm- and finger-skills, they are difficult to gain basic mastery, making them unpopular,” Wang Mingyuan said with a sigh.
“If I wanted to train in palm skills, how should I gain a basic mastery?” Although Zhou Wen knew Ashen Palm, it was only a method of using strength and not a technique. Now, what Zhou Wen wanted to learn was technique.
“That depends on the type of palm skill you wish to cultivate in. Fists are external, while palms are internal. Ordinary fist skills go from the outside to the inside, while palm skills are the opposite. In the past, there was an old saying: Rather endure ten punches than a palm strike. It means that the palm strikes directly injure the organs, causing more serious damage to the body. However, it’s very difficult to gain basic mastery of such palm skills that focus on the internal. It requires long periods of practice. If you only wish to practice palm techniques, I have a few good ones. Gaining basic mastery is relatively simple. There are my comments on it. You can follow your own ideas to practice in it,” Wang Mingyuan said as he handed a diary to Zhou Wen.
Zhou Wen opened it and saw that it was filled with the content of the palm techniques. Furthermore, it was all handwritten. There were many parts that had detailed notes. They were crystal clear at a glance.
Wang Mingyuan’s handwriting was beautiful and graceful, a truly rare one. Even though Zhou Wen wasn’t a calligraphic expert, he found it extremely beautiful, leaving him comfortable just from looking at it.
“Thank you, Counselor. I’ll take a look at these palm techniques first. I’ll seek your advice on the rest later.” Zhou Wen had come here for the palm techniques. To him, the diary was like a treasure he had obtained.
Wang Mingyuan didn’t say anything else as he continued his research.
Zhou Wen stayed in the laboratory and had to pull the chain every day. Despite there being many Companion Eggs hanging on it when lowered, they were gone when he pulled them up. It was the same every time.
This left Zhou Wen somewhat curious. He wanted to use his cell phone to enter Dragon’s Well to probe, but he had recently been studying Wang Mingyuan’s palm techniques, so he didn’t deliberately enter the game.
There were a total of seven palm techniques recorded in the diary. Although the moves were different, they were mostly similar. However, Wang Mingyuan managed to note down some of their ingenuity.
Each palm technique was recorded and there were a total of seven moves. These seven moves were called Seven Distribution Palm by Wang Mingyuan. Each move was ingenious and had a completely different style.