Stillness Stance Training

After three days of deliberation, Uchiha Yu gave up on the idea of acquiring the Eight Inner Gates.

This forbidden technique was simply too painful to cultivate. Worse still, it offered no positive feedback. Forcing himself through it was more than he could bear.

Uchiha Yu had a very clear understanding of his own willpower.

Most importantly, during the Foundation Establishment stage, his central goal was to develop Natural Energy and his physical body in tandem, laying the firmest possible foundation for the next stage of cultivation.

From Uchiha Yu's vague recollections, all cultivation systems of the Daoist tradition considered a cultivator's body to be the precious vessel that carried them through the world. Once it was damaged,

before Foundation Establishment was complete, injuries that could leave permanent deficiencies in the body had to be absolutely avoided. One also could not damage one's fundamental essence; things like excessive indulgence were unacceptable.

Training at the intensity of Might Duy and Might Guy was simply more terrifying than indulgence. If anyone else trained like that, they would be pissing blood within days.

Uchiha Yu was certain that Might Duy had suffered from blood in his urine at least ten times over the past decade.

His body was practically riddled with damage. The muscles in his arms, legs, waist, abdomen, and back all bore traces of rhabdomyolysis, and it had clearly happened more than once.

Otherwise, there would not have been muscle fiber adhesions.

Might Guy was the complete opposite. Though he was only eleven, his training intensity already matched his father's, yet there was not the slightest hidden injury in his body.

Uchiha Yu was deeply astonished. In the end, he could only sigh. Might Duy was an incredible taijutsu expert, and an even greater father.

The Might Clan's training intensity could not possibly avoid causing hidden injuries. The reason Might Guy had none was naturally because of Might Duy's meticulous care and sufficient medicine.

Given Duy's income as a perpetual genin, he had spent all his money on his son. As for himself, he simply gritted his teeth and endured it, perhaps not even having enough money for painkillers.

If he had not embarked on the path of cultivation and achieved success in Foundation Establishment, Uchiha Yu might have resolved to spend a fortune hiring Might Duy. Duy would certainly have been able to design the strongest taijutsu training regimen for him.

Moreover, hiring Might Duy to supervise his training would also eliminate his lazy tendencies to the greatest extent possible.

But that was no longer possible. Uchiha Yu's body had undergone drastic changes, and the changes brought by Foundation Establishment were absurdly dramatic. Might Duy would not even need to examine him personally. A brief description to that taijutsu expert would be enough to expose Uchiha Yu's secret.

An Uchiha should not possess self-healing abilities greater than the Senju, much less chakra reserves exceeding those of the Uzumaki Clan.

Those were secrets that could get him killed.

So, he would wait until he completed the Foundation Establishment stage before exploring and experimenting on his own.

Bearing a load ten times his body weight, Uchiha Yu walked his route one step at a time. After circling Konoha, he walked back home one step at a time as well.

He pushed open the courtyard gate and, trembling, took the last few steps to his door. He glanced at the clock in the living room, and delight immediately surged through him.

"Seven forty-nine. That's a full five minutes earlier than yesterday. Not only did I improve, my rate of improvement has increased."

"I never thought it, meow. Such a stupid training method actually has such amazing results."

Miwa Masayo prowled around Uchiha Yu on catlike feet, circling him once as she carefully examined his bare upper body after he took off his clothes. She let out an astonished sigh.

After such intense training, his muscles were engorged with blood and bulged high, making Uchiha Yu look exceptionally strong.

He looked nothing like he had on the first day. Although Uchiha Yu's mind had felt wonderful, his body had reacted with muscle spasms and foam at the mouth, leaving Miwa Masayo utterly at a loss.

Nor was he like yesterday, collapsed in the hall with his soul blissfully ascending to heaven.

Today, Uchiha Yu felt an even stronger sense of exhilaration, yet he was able to lucidly remove his weights and vest, standing as he enjoyed Natural Energy repairing his entire body.

On only the third day, he could already finish his weighted training while standing. The speed of his progress made him decide to try stance training and see what effect stillness exercises would have.

After a quick rinse, Uchiha Yu changed into a loose set of training clothes.

Under Miwa Masayo's baffled gaze, Uchiha Yu attempted a Horse Stance.

He spread his feet shoulder-width apart, then slowly lowered himself, shifting his center of gravity downward and squatting deeper. Then, just as he had seen in short videos, he spread his feet farther apart and raised both hands to shoulder height.

After only three minutes, Uchiha Yu's brow furrowed tightly. Just as in his previous life, he felt soreness in his thigh muscles, which even began to shake noticeably.

Something was wrong.

He had seen people who could hold a Horse Stance. Those people were definitely not as strong as he was now, yet they could hold it for half an hour without their bodies trembling at all.

Right, they all said the key to the Horse Stance was relaxation, loosening the tendons and bones...

My thighs are as taut as iron pillars. There is no way I can relax. What am I doing wrong?

Let me think...

Right, the Horse Stance isn't the first step of stance training. The first step is something called the Hunyuan Stance. I remember it being a very relaxed posture. I'll try it.

The Hunyuan Stance was truly simple.

Following the vague impression in his memory, Uchiha Yu set his feet slightly apart at shoulder width, adjusted his breathing, and relaxed his body.

As his breathing steadied and his mind calmed, he slightly bent his knees, assuming a posture halfway between a squat and a seated position. At the same time, he raised his hands to shoulder width, spread his fingers, and turned his palms inward.

Relax, relax...

Gradually, Uchiha Yu found the feeling. His posture naturally began to change.

His wrists rotated inward, forming a posture of embracing inward and bracing outward. His shoulders grew increasingly relaxed, yet did not feel as though they had slumped at all.

Uchiha Yu began to understand. His feet truly felt as though they had taken root in the earth.

Slowly, he settled his shoulders and dropped his elbows, rounded his chest and extended his back. His whole body seemed to be embracing a great bell. Though his posture was seated backward, he stood there with perfect stability.

Miwa Masayo watched in confusion, but also found it quite interesting. Curious, she scampered and bounced around Uchiha Yu's body, yet she did not wake her litter-box attendant, who had unknowingly entered stillness.

Naturally entering stillness was not sleep. A person's spirit remained alert.

If danger arose, someone in stillness could react immediately, yet they would not be startled awake by the touch of a familiar, trusted living being.

After naturally entering stillness, Uchiha Yu's body relaxed further, and his posture continued to undergo tiny adjustments along with that relaxation.

Stance training did not seek a low posture. It focused on cultivating qi and blood, allowing qi and blood to fill the body and circulate on their own, eventually transitioning naturally into the stage of stretching tendons and pulling bones—that was, naturally becoming a low stance.

In theory, this was a basic skill. Under normal circumstances, it would take two or three years before one's physical condition met the requirements.

But Uchiha Yu's physical condition was immensely powerful, on an entirely different level from ordinary people. He could even be said to be a different species, so his progress in stance training naturally could not be judged by common sense.

Before he knew it, Uchiha Yu's posture shifted into a Horse Stance. His knees hung naturally, forming a low Horse Stance structure on their own.

Two hours later, he sensed the existence of his "tendons and bones" and made them pulse. His body trembled up and down along with the pulsing tendons and bones, while his thigh muscles truly entered a relaxed state, similar to the at-ease posture in military drills.

After the tendons and bones pulsed for about a quarter of an hour, Uchiha Yu sensed qi and blood.

They were not actual qi and blood, but an indescribable mental state. Yet it also felt as though there truly was a current of qi filling his body.

He even felt as though the crown of his head was suspended upward while his perineum sank downward.

It was exceedingly marvelous.