51: Chapter 51 Initial Formation of Ming Jin: Shattering the Green Pistol with a Single Punch

While morning dew still clung to the bluestone slabs of the training hall, Chen Wu's 'Crushing Fist' had already left its thirty-seventh new mark on the wooden dummy. Unlike previous days, the edges of the fist print shimmered with a cyan-gold burr, like a blade gilded by sunlight—this was the sign of 'Brute Force Entry.' Qi and power formed a visible energy layer at the point of contact, making the century-old dummy emit a groan of pain.

'Let the Qi travel three inches from the Dantian, and let the force penetrate seven-tenths through the knuckles.' Chen Wu silently recited the formulas from the Virtual Manual, his left foot stomping forward in a 'Stamping and Grinding Step.' The bluestone slab rippled with spiderweb cracks under this step, yet it didn't shatter as it usually did. Lin Mo's hand, holding the high-speed camera, suddenly froze. The slow-motion footage on the screen showed the energy wave traveling halfway along the stone slab's grain, actually stirring a circle of ripples on the rim of a water vat three meters away.

'This is "Force traveling in curves rather than straight lines"!' Grandpa Wang's dry tobacco pipe made a crisp clack against the threshold. The old man stood under the corridor with the morning light at his back, his bronze pipe bowl reflecting the dancing golden light on the wooden dummy. 'Brute Force isn't about hard smashing; it's about making the force drill through gaps like water. Look at this fist print, its edges are as neat as if cut by a knife—that's proof of the Qi Energy wrapping the force.'

The Virtual Manual on the tablet flipped pages automatically, and the 3D imagery of the 'Crushing Fist' section suddenly accelerated. The movements of a Qing Dynasty Martial Master overlapped with Chen Wu's silhouette. When the punching angles of both perfectly aligned, a prompt suddenly popped up on the screen: 'Brute Force Purity 70%, can attempt "Brick-Shattering Force Test."' An attached 3D model of a blue brick was decomposing, with every molecular structure marked with pressure points.

When the veterans from the nursing home arrived carrying half a cart of blue bricks, the morning mist had just drifted over the training hall's threshold. Old Zhao, the leader, stabbed a shiny bayonet into the pile of bricks, the copper ring of the scabbard clinking. 'Little Master Chen, we picked these up from under the old city walls during demolition. These are blue bricks from the Daoguang era, thirty percent harder than today's cement bricks!' His hands, covered in shrapnel scars, patted the brick surface, his calloused fingertips brushing over the moss in the cracks. 'Back then, we used these to build machine-gun nests; even the Japs' shells couldn't blow them open.'

Chen Wu's fingertips brushed across the surface of the blue brick, his Qi Sense capturing the fine internal cracks—that was the 'momentum' left by time, like a fuse buried within the brick. When his palm covered the brick surface, the cyan-gold Qi Energy suddenly traveled along the grain, condensing into a grain-sized point of light at the center of a certain brick. Lin Mo's camera caught this exact moment; the point of light on the screen suddenly exploded, reflecting a fleeting golden chrysanthemum on the brick surface.

When Grandpa Wang's courtyard was suddenly cleared out, the neighbors thought the house was being demolished. Thirty Daoguang blue bricks were laid out in three rows in the yard, each painted with a different cinnabar symbol: the character for 'Mountain' represented standing firm, 'Water' represented neutralizing force, and 'Wind' represented penetration—this was a force-testing tradition passed down from the older generation to measure the ratio of hardness to softness in Brute Force.

'Try the "Mountain Brick" first.' Old Zhao drew his bayonet and slashed heavily across the first brick; sparks flew, but only a shallow mark was left. The old man suddenly lowered his voice, his knuckles tapping a piece of shrapnel in the brick's crack. 'Beneath this lie the bones of my comrade. He used this brick to block bullets back then... today, let it see what real Chinese force is.'

Chen Wu's Qi Energy circulated three times in his Dantian, and he suddenly remembered a warning from the Virtual Manual: 'Brute Force is like a candle flame; it can illuminate or incinerate.' When his right fist hovered three inches above the 'Mountain Brick,' the cyan-gold Qi Energy suddenly constricted into a line, like a taut bronze wire. In Lin Mo's camera lens, the cinnabar symbol on the brick surface began to blur as if bleeding, merging with the color of the Qi Energy.

'Ha!'

A short, sharp shout of force broke through the morning mist. The moment Chen Wu's fist made contact with the blue brick, there was no expected loud bang, only the 'poof' of Qi Energy penetrating the brick surface—like a fingertip popping a balloon. Old Zhao's bayonet suddenly sprang from the brick pile; by the time the scabbard hit the doorpost, the first blue brick finally split slowly into two halves. The break was as smooth as a mirror, even the grit embedded inside maintained its original arrangement.

'It's "Wrapped Force"!' Grandpa Wang's tobacco pipe fell to the ground. The old man stumbled forward to the brick, his withered fingers stroking the Qi Energy residue on the break. 'The Qi is like a padded coat wrapping the fist, drilling in first before exploding. This purity is at least 80%!'

The Global Martial Arts System's alarm sounded simultaneously. When the video of Chen Wu shattering the brick was uploaded, the tag 'Brute Force Trial' instantly covered the push notifications in 192 countries. Director Kimura of the Tokyo Martial Arts Hall was bowing to a Virtual Manual when the screen suddenly switched to Chen Wu's fist shadow. The 'Essentials of Baji Fist' on his lap suddenly flipped without wind, and cyan-gold patterns identical to the broken brick appeared on a blank page.

When the second 'Water Brick' was lifted by Qi Energy, the watching veterans suddenly held their breath. Chen Wu's fist stopped an inch from the brick surface, but the cyan-gold Qi Energy flowed over the brick like water, causing the entire blue brick to undulate in waves—this was an advanced application of 'Brute Force,' using visible Qi Energy to simulate water flow and test the permeability of force.

'Back then, I was building a floating bridge on the Yalu River,' Old Zhao suddenly spoke, his voice trembling in the morning wind. 'When the US shells hit, the water surface would ripple before surging—it's the same principle as this Qi Energy.' His hand unconsciously moved to the scar on his chest, where shrapnel had once been buffered by the water's flow, saving his life.

Chen Wu's fist force suddenly changed direction, the Qi Energy shifting from 'Wrapped Force' to 'Coiling Energy,' twisting along the brick's cracks like wringing a towel. Lin Mo's slow-motion lens captured an incredible detail: the internal cracks of the blue brick were changing direction under the guidance of the Qi Energy, the originally chaotic patterns gradually twisting into a spiral, forming a pea-sized Qi core at the center of the brick.

'It's going to explode!' Grandpa Wang suddenly took half a step back. Before his voice faded, the 'Water Brick' suddenly lit up from the inside, cyan-gold light seeping out along the spiral patterns like a trapped little snake. When the light reached its peak, the brick didn't shatter; instead, it peeled away layer by layer, each fragment maintaining the same curvature, forming a perfect Taiji diagram on the ground.

The monitors at the Bureau of Abnormal Incident Management jumped frantically. Data showed that the frequency of the Qi Energy from that punch was the exact opposite of the resonance frequency of the Grey Shadow Gene Serum—this meant Brute Force could not only shatter bricks but also neutralize gene toxins. Lin Xue's holographic projection suddenly appeared in the yard, the tactical screen on her combat suit playing Li Meng's test report: 'Brute Force Qi Energy can accelerate antibody generation. Recommend immediate clinical trials.'

Li Meng's video request popped up right at that moment. In the background of the hospital room, the youth was gesturing a 'Crushing Fist' with his bandaged hands. The red string of his peace lock was tangled with the IV tube, stirring a spiral in the medicinal liquid identical to Chen Wu's Qi Energy. 'Brother Chen Wu, I feel like the Qi can run through the tube now. The nurse said there's golden light in the medicine...' Before he could finish, the screen suddenly shook, clearly because he was secretly practicing again.

Chen Wu suddenly sent a burst of Qi Energy toward the phone screen, and cyan-gold light dots drilled in along the signal waves. The surveillance in Li Meng's room showed the medicine in the IV tube boiling instantly, the dark green sediment being swirled into a vortex by the Qi Energy, condensing into a miniature Taiji diagram at the bottom of the bottle—this was the first time Brute Force was transmitted via electronic signal, causing the online users of the Global Martial Arts System to instantly surge to 200 million.

By the time the last 'Wind Brick' was set out, the sun had already climbed over the ridge beasts of the training hall. This brick was twice as thick as the previous two, with the character for 'Martial' carved in reverse on its surface. It was a hall-protecting treasure Grandpa Wang had requested from the Baji Fist Ancestral Master Temple in his youth, said to be able to test the righteousness or evil of one's force technique.

'When Brute Force reaches its peak, it can penetrate wind and stone.' The old man pointed at the carvings on the brick with his tobacco pipe. 'But if your heart is not right, the Qi Energy will scatter into chaotic currents, failing to harm the brick and instead harming yourself.' He suddenly lowered his voice, the pipe pointing toward Chen Wu's chest. 'Zhang Tao's group also practices Brute Force, but they use gene drugs to force it. Their Qi Energy is black and foul-smelling. Remember, force is born from the heart; once an evil thought stirs, the Qi scatters.'

Chen Wu's Qi Energy condensed into a cyan-gold sphere in his Dantian, three times more concentrated than before. When his fist made contact with the 'Wind Brick,' he used neither 'Wrapped Force' nor 'Coiling Energy,' but let the Qi Energy cut in like a thin blade—this was the 'Penetrating Force' finally unlocked by the Virtual Manual, requiring perfect synchronization of power and Qi, passing through without resistance like sunlight through glass.

The comments on the global livestream suddenly stopped. 200 million viewers focused their eyes on that brick, watching the cyan-gold Qi Energy travel along the 'Martial' character's carvings, as if breathing life into the ancient script. When the Qi Energy filled the final stroke, Chen Wu lightly withdrew his fist. There was no earth-shaking roar; the entire blue brick suddenly turned into countless cyan-gold dust particles, forming a rotating airflow in the sunlight, eventually condensing into a translucent 'Martial' character suspended in the air.

'It's "Force Without a Trace"!' Grandpa Wang suddenly burst into tears. The old man tremblingly pulled an oilcloth bundle from his chest, containing a broken brick also carved with the 'Martial' character—it was a remnant from his failed force test in his youth. 'Eighty years... finally, someone can strike with "Penetrating Force"!'

Old Zhao's bayonet suddenly popped half an inch out of its scabbard, the blade reflecting the 'Martial' character in the air, as well as the figures of the veterans saluting. Sunlight passed through the character formed of Qi Energy, casting flickering spots of light on the ground. In each spot, different scenes could be seen: Li Meng gesturing 'Crushing Fist' in the hospital, Director Kimura bowing to the Virtual Manual, children in an African refugee camp practicing 'Stamping and Grinding Step' with sticks...

The Virtual Manual automatically closed at this moment, the cover revealing one last line: 'Brute Force initial success; it is not the victory of strength, but the clarity of the heart.' Chen Wu's Qi Energy slowly returned to his Dantian, but he felt a more massive power surging from all directions—it was the conviction of 200 million Martial Artists worldwide, flowing into his Meridians through network signals, satellite waves, and even the veterans' gazes, tinting the cyan-gold Qi Energy with a warm base color.

Lin Mo's camera recorded this miraculous scene: the 'Martial' character formed of Qi Energy gradually dissipated, but left countless tiny light dots in the blue brick dust, each dot playing footage of different people practicing martial arts. When the last light dot went out, the wooden dummy in the training hall suddenly emitted a long hum. Golden light seeped out from the century-old fist marks, producing a perfect resonance with Chen Wu's Qi Energy.

Chen Wu looked at the cyan-gold dust remaining in his palm and suddenly understood Grandpa Wang's words—the true essence of Brute Force was not about how many blue bricks were shattered, but about aligning power and Qi with the Dao, ensuring every point of contact was filled with respect and kindness. Just like that punch just now, what was shattered was the brick, but what remained was a conviction more solid than stone.

At sunset, on the bluestone slabs of the training hall, the spiderweb cracks caused by the 'Stamping and Grinding Step' suddenly healed, leaving only a layer of cyan-gold dust. Lin Mo's camera was still working, the lens pointed at the evening glow in the sky, where the clouds were forming a giant 'Martial' character, as if offering the most magnificent tribute to the Martial Artist who had achieved initial success in Brute Force.

And on the screens of 200 million viewers worldwide, the slow-motion footage of Chen Wu shattering the brick was still looping. More and more people began to imitate the opening stance of the 'Crushing Fist,' gesturing toward their home walls or stones in their yards. Although most lacked the essential technique, it allowed that cyan-gold Qi Energy to enter countless people's lives in another way.

This might be the ultimate meaning of Brute Force—not only to shatter tangible obstacles but to knock open intangible heart-barriers, letting the light of martial arts, like the cyan-gold Qi Energy, penetrate prejudice and estrangement to illuminate every Soul willing to believe that 'power can be used for good.'