Back when he was a new student, Zhou You had already heard of Li Hao's great reputation.
Although Li Hao's late father had only been a low-ranking officer among the City Gate Guards, his family had barely crossed the threshold into officialdom.
Then an unexpected mishap occurred, and Li Hao's father died in battle.
The youth's fate swiftly reached a turning point, and his family's circumstances took a sharp plunge.
The government's compensation was delayed again and again, while the relatives and clansmen his father had once looked after showed their true colors.
Watching his family property be swallowed up and his mother and younger brother left with no one to rely on, Li Hao gritted his teeth and joined Jianxiong Martial Arts School.
He had a stubbornly ambitious nature. Within two months, he had cultivated Martial Force and become an Official Martial Arts School Apprentice.
With a backer now, the clansmen no longer dared act recklessly and returned his father's belongings.
The government's response also arrived belatedly. Naturally, it said nothing of compensation, merely agreeing to let him take up a post and draw wages. However, he could no longer inherit his father's official position. After all, one radish filled one pit, and someone else had long since taken it.
Li Hao was proud and resolutely refused to become a common soldier in the City Gate Guards.
He chose to remain at the martial arts school, swearing to break through the Blood Qi Gate and restore his family's fortunes.
The Blood Qi Gate was a height his father had failed to reach even in death.
Driven by that pent-up determination, Li Hao had trained desperately after joining the Outer Court, never wasting a moment.
Zhou You felt that Li Hao was rather similar to himself. Both harbored many secrets in their hearts and were unwilling to share them with others.
"Belongings? I understand."
A flash of insight struck Zhou You. Rumor had it that among the belongings Li Hao's clansmen had withheld, aside from the family property, were also the martial arts notes left behind by Li Hao's father.
Li Hao's father had been a martial officer of the City Gate Guards, practicing the internal martial art, Thousand Army Shattering Fist.
Since Li Hao had cultivated Martial Force, he must have been practicing his family's inherited fist art and did not want others peering into it.
No wonder Li Hao had looked so unwilling when he heard that Zhou You wanted to be his sparring partner.
Zhou You laughed silently. What a coincidence—he too wanted to secretly cultivate Wild Goose Formation Fist and did not want Li Hao to know.
The two both had secrets, yet they had silently reached an understanding.
The eighth training ground was located in the Outer Court, a place Zhou You had never set foot in before.
Tall walls surrounded it, along with huge blocks of bluestone, while thickets concealed it from view. It was a secluded place to practice martial arts.
Compared to it, the place where new apprentices trained was simply an open parade ground, with people constantly coming and going.
"Let's make three rules. I like quiet. Unless something major happens, let's speak as little as possible."
After bringing Zhou You to the training ground, Li Hao spoke to him with a solemn expression.
Though they both had ties to Senior Disciple Shen, personal friendship was one matter, while martial arts training was another.
Zhou You nodded. "That was what I was thinking too. Before it gets dark, why don't we divide up the grounds? We can each train separately and not disturb one another."
"Hm?"
Li Hao was startled. How could the other man be even more reluctant than him about being Sparring Partners?
Zhou You's suggestion suited him perfectly, and he agreed without a second word.
The two men lifted the stones scattered across the ground and piled them along the center of the training ground, building a temporary stone wall.
The bluestone blocks in the training ground were fine stones quarried from the mountains, targets for apprentices to temper their Martial Force against.
They stacked them layer by layer, quickly dividing the training ground into two equal halves.
Zhou You carefully examined the stone wall. It was at least four or five meters tall, piled so tightly that there was not even a crack to peek through.
This stone wall was an unauthorized construction. It would be fine if no one discovered it, but once it was found, it would definitely be torn down.
Considering that Senior Disciple Brother did not have a habit of making surprise inspections, they would remain separated by it for now!
"That'll do!"
"Unless one side makes a request for sparring practice, neither may enter the other's grounds."
After agreeing on the rules, the two entered their respective halves of the training ground and began practicing in earnest.
Zhou You heard the sound of air splitting beyond the stone wall. Li Hao had already begun training impatiently.
He first performed a round of Tiger Subduing Fist, using its moves to stir his Martial Force and sort through the details within his body that he had previously overlooked.
Lu Qiang had guided him with the eyes of a Blood Qi martial artist, and it had benefited him immensely.
After completing all one hundred and eight moves, Zhou You was drenched in sweat. He noticed that certain parts of his body were sore, numb, and faintly aching—areas that had never been trained before were tearing and strengthening.
Martial Force was a key. It strengthened the fleshly body, allowing one to cultivate even more Martial Force afterward.
Zhou You had added all three attributes to 22 points in one go, already surpassing many apprentices who had just entered the Martial Force stage.
He was in no hurry. He calmly worked Tiger Subduing Fist and Martial Force together, digesting the improvements brought by his strengthened body.
Half a day later...
Zhou You opened Wild Goose Formation Fist and read Lu Zhigang's martial arts notes.
Lu Zhigang had been born a commoner and possessed decent talent for martial arts. After joining the martial arts school, he cultivated Martial Force, became an Official Martial Arts School Apprentice, and mastered the essentials of Wild Goose Formation Fist.
Because he had failed to break through to Blood Qi for so long, the martial arts principles he had encountered remained only at the Blood Qi Gate, which happened to match Zhou You's current progress.
Yet he had cultivated Martial Force for over a decade, and his strikes were seasoned and vicious.
"Lucky. Just lucky."
Zhou You closed the booklet, a lingering fear rising in his heart.
The Lu Zhigang he had encountered had not been at his peak. He had been a defective version who had drifted from place to place, starved until he was skin and bones.
At the time, Lu Zhigang's muscles had wasted away and all his fat had vanished. The power of a single punch had not even reached thirty percent of his peak.
Otherwise, he would not have been so easily killed by Zhou You, who had only just begun his journey.
"Please do not blame me. Killing you, taking your money, learning your martial arts, and borrowing your name were all things I had no choice but to do."
Zhou You silently prayed into the empty air to Lu Zhigang's spirit in heaven.
Then he formally began cultivating Wild Goose Formation Fist.
"Pecking Ground Vertical Step."
This was the foundational footwork of Wild Goose Formation Fist. Because its movements dropped and rose like a chick pecking at rice, it was called Pecking Ground Vertical Step.
Zhou You balanced on the balls of his feet and landed without a sound. The tendons in his thighs and calves were like bowstrings, sometimes tightening and sometimes springing loose.
Tiger Subduing Fist, on the other hand, trained the bones, tempering one's skeletal frame to the hardness of forged steel and smashing enemies into pulp.
Wild Goose Formation Fist was different. Its momentum came and went like the wind, incomparably swift, with its focus on exerting force through the tendons.
Each step pecked at the ground. The posture appeared light, yet it secretly gripped the earth and borrowed strength from it.
Birds skimmed across the ground as they moved, unlike beasts. They hopped and leaped, making their movements difficult to predict.
A tiger's step carried the force of a downward pounce, while a bird's step carried the force of an upward lift.
According to martial arts theory, when force met force, one's center of gravity became unstable and hand movements were needed to adjust one's balance.
Thus, in the principles of Wild Goose Formation Fist, both hands were like wings. Coordinating with Pecking Ground Vertical Step, they struck high and low, appearing and vanishing like ghosts.
Zhou You benefited greatly, studying the secrets of Wild Goose Formation Fist bit by bit.
As long as he thoroughly mastered Wild Goose Formation Fist and Tiger Subduing Fist, merging them into one, he would be like a tiger grown wings—mighty and invincible.
"You practiced Pecking Ground Vertical Step for one hour. Experience Points +1."
"You practiced Wild Goose Formation Fist for one hour. Experience Points +1."
Wild Goose Formation Fist held an advantage over Tiger Subduing Fist: its moves were simpler, and the corresponding Experience Points were higher.
Name: Zhou You. Strength: 22. Speed: 22. Defense: 22. Experience Points: 632. Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice. Level: Initial Martial Force. Skills: Imperial Strike Hand lv8, Square Step lv8, Tiger Subduing Fist lv10, Pecking Ground Vertical Step lv1, Wild Goose Formation Fist lv1.
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