Chapter 16
"What Kunlun teaches is martial arts. Martial arts come from nature—but they also transcend it."
"You need to quietly attune yourself to the rhythm of the natural world, to the surge of strength within your body."
"Power originates in the mind. When your mind is strong, your strength follows. When your mind becomes perfect, so does your power."
"You need to sit atop a mountain and feel the shifting wind and clouds, the changes in weather and the turning of the seasons. All of that is nature. And nature is always changing—just like martial arts, just like strength."
"Don't cling to form. Your power is already immense. Form will only restrict it. Let it go. Relax. Let your power express itself in whatever way feels natural and free."
"Qi is the origin of all people—and everyone's Qi is unique. I can't teach you to understand yours. But I can tell you this: perception of Qi is tied to nature. The deeper your understanding of the world around you, the more naturally you'll come to feel your Qi."
"Qi is law, principle—it's everything. The wind, the rain, the thunder, the lightning. It's all Qi. And Qi cannot be forced. It comes naturally. When your understanding reaches a certain point, you'll feel it. That's fate."
. . .
Every day, under Lei Gong's strange teachings, Li Ji trained in bizarre and unconventional ways. Sometimes he was tasked with striking a bird's egg with full strength without breaking it. Other times, he had to fall asleep while standing—even when wide awake—or sip Longjing tea mid-battle. All sorts of strange and seemingly pointless exercises. More than once, Li Ji was tempted to sneak off the mountain in the dead of night and leave this nonsense behind.
But his growing strength kept him from doing so.
"Alright, that's it for today's training. Tomorrow, you'll do somersaults while drinking water—without choking." Lei Gong's methods were strange, but Li Ji always managed to complete them smoothly. That, in turn, made Lei Gong more and more pleased with him.
"Master, can I go hunting today?" Li Ji asked, removing the porcelain bowl from his head. Today's training involved martial arts sparring while balancing a bowl on his head. He felt like a circus performer—but a far more skilled one.
"Go ahead, but don't overdo it. We need to maintain ecological balance," Lei Gong sighed. In the past, he and Amu could fill their stomachs for two weeks with one hunting trip. Now that Li Ji had joined them, one trip wasn't even enough for a single meal. Lei Gong had long since given up on feeding the kid.
"Understood, Master." Li Ji bowed cheerfully. Finally, he'd get to eat properly. Despite Kunlun's vastness, it didn't have much in the way of food. A few scattered fruit trees were all he had when he stayed put, and they weren't nearly enough to fill his stomach. This wasn't Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where he could raid the cafeteria for snacks. If he wanted to eat here, he had to earn it. So every time Lei Gong gave him permission to hunt, it was cause for celebration.
. . .
"What should I go for today? Roast rock sheep? Grilled hare skewers?" Li Ji clung to a cliff face, his mind already racing with recipes.
"Nah, I'm tired of those. Let's go a bit further down the mountain—see what's near the base. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a wild boar. If I do, I could trade it with the locals for a domesticated pig. Wild boar meat isn't exactly delicious."
Li Ji muttered to himself, practically drooling at the thought.
Despite the Kunlun Mountains being remote, there were still a few villages scattered in specific areas. Over the years, as more tourists and hikers began visiting, these places slowly began to develop. Sometimes Li Ji visited a nearby village to buy supplies, but he didn't carry much cash, so it was always a short trip.
Then—*thud!*
Two people suddenly dropped from above, landing just a few meters in front of him.
"Damn, that was close. If they'd hit me, that wouldn't have ended well," Li Ji muttered, eyes twitching at the near-miss.
"These mountain climbers are insane. Climbing Yuxu Peak with no gear? What's wrong with people?" He walked up to the bodies. Their limbs were twisted unnaturally, faces unrecognizable from the fall. Bones jutted where they shouldn't, blood soaked their clothes—but their golden hair was still intact. Enough to hint at who they were.
"A couple. Died far from home." Li Ji stomped once. The ground cracked beneath his foot, forming a two-meter-wide pit. He dragged their bodies in and covered them with stones. "Hope you rest in peace. Maybe pick a safer hobby in your next life."
As he turned to leave, his eyes caught on a small bag lying nearby.
"Almost missed that." He picked it up, intending to bury it too—until three passports fell out.
"Three passports? So there's someone else?" He opened the first—and instantly froze when he read the name: *Daniel Thomas Rand-K'ai.*
"Wait a second… Danny Rand?" He rubbed his temple, a headache forming. "Don't tell me I just walked into the plot."
He flipped through the other two passports. As expected: *Wendell Rand* and *Heather Duncan.*
"In the original story, Heather was supposed to die protecting Danny from wolves… But here, both parents fell off a cliff together. Life really doesn't follow the script."
He glanced back at the burial mound. "Also, wasn't Wendell supposed to save Duan, the Lord of Kunlun? There's no one named Duan here, though. Guess real life's even messier than fiction."
Then he looked at Danny's passport again. "Still, if Danny didn't fall, he must still be alive. The kid's got plot armor—he's the original Iron Fist successor after all. Tough life, tougher luck. But…"
Li Ji slipped Danny's passport into his pocket. "Guess I'll be holding onto this. You're late, Danny. I've already taken the Iron Fist mantle."
He buried the other two passports with the bodies. "Taking your son's legacy makes me owe you one. If I save him, that should settle the karmic debt."
Standing near the cliff's edge, Li Ji muttered, "Let's find the kid."
Then, with a light push, he kicked off from the edge, bouncing off rocky surfaces as he climbed down with ease, stepping across the vertical cliff like it was a trail.
"If I go by logic, he should've fallen along the same line as his parents." His eyes scanned every crevice, every ledge, hyper-aware of any signs.
"There you are."
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