48 Inevitable
[Tai Lung's POV]
{2 months later)
It has been a year since I broke out of prison now and I was still in the middle of my journey towards the East Coast of China.
It should have taken me a week at most with my new movement technique and speed but sometimes, it was the journey and not the destination that you desired.
I have continued my training and used the many bandits and criminals I encountered as training dummies. I have also looked into the nature of Chi itself and how Monkey King supposedly used his Chi to enhance himself and even do the palm attack.
My conclusion was that Chi was an energy that could be shaped however the wielder wanted to. It seems to respond highly to the imagination/visualisation, will and belief of the user.
In my training to be more efficient in my use of Chi, I have found that if you have great imagination/visualisation, will and belief then the cost of Chi to execute a technique is a lot less.
That gave me a whole new perspective on how I saw Chi and it really solidifies the name I give. 'The fuel of miracles.'
You can increase your visualisation/imagination by meditating, your 'will' by hard training and you can strengthen your belief by knowing the concepts behind the technique or giving logic to what you are doing. If you lack one of these things, the techniques can still be achieved by compensating with a lot of Chi.
But if you were great in all of these three aspects, you can execute techniques easier and with a lot less Chi. These three things make it easier to create miracles and to achieve the impossible.
From this, you can see why Chi could be so different depending on the nature and character of the user.
It gave me a new perspective on the teaching of the Dragon Scroll which was, you do not need a secret ingredient. To make something special you just need to believe that it is special.
Belief was one of the things that made a huge difference when using Chi. For example, if you see someone execute a technique before, you will have an easier time believing in yourself to be able to learn that technique.
Or if you have a scroll that explains the concept and logic behind the Kung Fu or technique you are trying to learn, it becomes a lot easier to believe. Or in my case, have the knowledge that it exists in other worlds and saw characters execute it before.
This also helped in the visualisation and imagination part. But the tricky one was having the sufficient 'will.'
I assume that if there were two injured people in front of you and one of them was someone you love and truly wanted to heal while the other was an enemy and someone you hate, you would have an easier time healing the person you love as you truly had the will and intent to heal said person while you might need a lot of Chi to heal an enemy.
I did not know how much these things affect the usage of Chi exactly but I knew it had an effect. Chi seems to be a highly flexible energy and power system than initially expected.
This would explain how Po was able to use the Wuxi finger hold, something thought to be a legend and what masters used to scare their students. Po was enlightened that you just need to believe that something is special to make it special so he had belief. He also had a shit ton of Chi and the will to put the movie Tai Lung away for good.
There was no description of how the Wuxi finger hold work exactly other than that it was lethal. So Po must've visualized or at least wanted to imprison the movie Tai Lung again to a place he could never escape from. Thus the technique materialized as a way to banish someone to the spirit realm.
At least these were the theories I have come up with. It was hard to learn more than that in such a short time without any materials to help me. I did not have thousands of years to study it like Oogway did.
The danmed tortoise, he could've at least left some writings about it.
Other than the new things I have learned, nothing much happened while I was travelling. The few masters I came across all rejected my challenge to a duel for some reason so what else could I do? Attack them anyway?
The rumours about what happened in Gongmen had also spread and like always, the people like to make up their own stories. I have been hiding my identity with my cloak so I did not notice much of the reaction they had towards me but I was not worried.
My reputation could not get worse than it already was. I was done trying to prove anything else or try to get a good reputation by my actions. The last time I did that backfired on me so I learned from my mistake.
They could talk about me however they want. The reason why I cared in the first place was because of my desire to surpass the legacy of Oogway which wouldn't be possible without being accepted and worshipped by the people.
But I have come to realize that it was a futile effort.
'The path you walk shall not lead to glory as you wish. Your quest for validation, a failure.'
'For Destiny is not kind to those who defy her. The Universe worked to right the accident.'
'History remembers a villain you never wished to be. Your legacy and ambition died at the hands of someone whose's was forgotten.'
The prophecy Soothsayer had told me came to my mind. At first, I thought I would achieve what I wanted by staying close to Po and saving the world every time in his place. By doing that, I thought I would be plundering his future legacy and his fame.
But I was wrong, Po would be the one taking all of my credit instead. I was not like Po or like Oogway, I was me.
So I stopped trying to walk the path to glory and I just walked my own path.
Isn't that funny? I was trying to be something I was not and I was not even aware of it. I was not the hero who saved the world from evil. I was not the pacifist whom people would come to respect.
I was something else.
I am Tai Lung.
If I want to leave a legacy and create a mark that history will remember, I will leave the legacy of Tai Lung and not just that of the hero or something I was not.
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You see? It's all about the journey. I got my character development while I was on a journey to Juniper City.
There was just something magical about travelling that you end up finding yourself before you find your destination.
I was currently in the Kingdom of Wu which was the most significant kingdom in the East. The Kingdom thrived due to its access to the ocean which gave them control over the waterway of cargo and ships.
This was the kingdom that supplied most of the foreign items in China. The famous Juniper City was also under the Kingdom of Wu. Another noteworthy fact was that it was also the birthplace of the infamous criminals, the Wu Sisters.
I walked around one of the cities under the Kingdom of Wu and there was no reaction from the people as I hid my face under a hood.
I made my way towards the market to eavesdrop on some gossip and news while also trying out the foods they have here.
I have been avoiding the cities while I was travelling because as I said before, I was not very fond of cities. But you need go to a city once in a while to keep up with the news and rumours.
I entered the marketplace and I focused on my hearing. But I was not prepared for the news I heard from the people.
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[3rd POV]
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"Master Rhino is dead." Shifu declared after reading the message scroll.
"What!!" Po and the Furious Five who were all summoned by Shifu screamed in shock.
"You mean Master Thundering Rhino? The son of the legendary Master Flying Rhino?" Po asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"The Slayer of the Ten Thousand Serpents in the Valley of Woe?"
"Yes." Shifu confirmed and Tigress immediately came forward with a solemn face.
"Was it Tai Lung?" She asked the question that have been on everyone's mind. If someone killed Master Thundering Rhino then the only one capable should be Tai Lung.
"I thought so at first too but no. It was Lord Shen, the banished prince had returned." Shifu said as he started walking down the steps of the Jade Palace and went towards the gate while deep in thought.
His students followed him, "How? I thought Master Rhino's horn defence was impervious to any technique. Except for Tai Lung's of course." Crane asked.
"It was no technique, it was a weapon. One that breathes fire and spits metal. Lord Shen had created a weapon of destruction while he was banished and the Wi family helped him sneak the weapon into the city to kill Master Rhino while he was injured." Shifu said.
'That must be why my son attacked the Wi farm outside the city. He had seen through their ploy and tried to stop it, but they didn't listen.' Shifu immediately made the connection.
In the end, his faith in his son proves to be true. Tai Lung did not attack mindlessly but there was a reason. He was trying to stop the disaster but they were too blind and foolish to see it.
"So what are we going to do?" Po asked in a sullen tone.
That was the question in everyone's mind. They were not supposed to do anything as it was different from the canon.
In the movie, Lord Shen declared war against the whole of Kung Fu itself, claiming the weapons he created to be the end of Kung Fu. The Jade Palace had a deep connection with Kung Fu so it was natural for Shifu to order his students to destroy the weapon that threatened them.
But this time, Lord Shen did not declare war against Kung Fu because of Tai Lung. He also knew his weapons were inferior to the true might of Kung Fu from his confrontation with Tai Lung.
So there was no reason for them to interfere. It could be said that Lord Shen was just reclaiming his throne and from what the message implies, he even has the support of the noble houses.
The Jade Palace had no reason to interfere. As mentioned before, the Jade Palace was neutral with no support for any Kingdom or Politics.
But Shifu felt that they should interfere. It was almost like the Universe was urging him to make a move, to complete a destiny. After attaining Inner Peace, he had such gut feelings as if the Universe was speaking to him.
Something bad was going to happen and he could already guess what it was.
"I am going to send you all on a mission. You go to Gongmen City and observe how Lord Shen is treating the people and gather any information you can about this weapon." Shifu said.
Of course, the Jade palace did not have any political inclination, but they were always on the side of the people.
"Are you sure Master? I don't think we should interfere in such things." Tigress said. Shifu raised an eyebrow, wondering if that was the truth or if she did not want to help the City that discriminated against Tai Lung.
"Yes, I have known Lord Shen since he was a kid. He was always ambitious and he will not stop after he reclaimed his throne." Shifu said and touched his beard thoughtfully.
"There will be a war. With his new weapons, Lord Shen will seek to conquer the whole of China." Shifu said.
War was nothing new in this day and age. Although minor, there was always an ongoing war between kingdoms and the Furious Five have even participated in some. As long as the kingdoms followed the Codes of War, there was no reason to intervene.
Of course, a Great War was a different matter where the Codes of War have been totally abandoned. There have been no such wars in over a century and the Great War that was about to break out two decades ago was stopped by Tai Lung.
"You will enter the City normally and request a meeting with Lord Shen. When you are inside, you will accomplish your mission of gathering information while also giving a letter I will be sending to Lord Shen." Shifu said with a nod. Then he turned around and went back to the Jade Palace to write a letter.
It was an official letter by the Jade Palace that would congratulate him on regaining the throne and also an advice/warning from the Master of the Jade Palace to Lord Shen. It will remind Lord Shen to not take hasty action and to respect the Code of Wars in the process of realising his ambition.
Even if Shifu did not have the gut feeling, it was natural to send the letter as Gongmen had always been a city for Kung Fu masters. So they need to be in good relationship with the rulers.
But of course, things would not be simple as Lord Shen would definitely want to kill Po after learning he was a Panda and the Dragon Warrior to boot.
He will never allow the one destined to defeat him to live.
But they did not know that so Shifu sent his students on their way to Gongmen City. They were to observe the condition of the people under the new ruler, get information about this weapon and give the letter to Lord Shen.
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[IMAGE]
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Author : It is indeed canon that there was no such thing as Wuxi finger hold until Po used it.
May I be so bold as to request stones?
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