The Huge Effect of New Skills on Stance Training

Basic Stance Training was created a thousand years ago by combining and refining the various stance techniques passed down from ancient times. After another thousand years of improvements by countless martial arts predecessors, it had become an exceptionally fine cultivation method.

It contained the crystallized wisdom of innumerable predecessors.

This stance technique had thirty-six forms in total. Though the number was not large, none of the forms were simple.

However, Chen Mo had already practiced it for twelve years and reached minor accomplishment in the stance technique. Every move was etched into his heart, so practicing it posed no difficulty.

After practicing for twelve years and still not reaching major accomplishment—wasn't that too poor?

Chen Mo admitted that he was indeed somewhat lacking, but not terribly so. There were quite a few classmates in his class who had yet to reach major accomplishment as well.

There were only a handful of young people in his residential complex who had reached major accomplishment. They all had to work and earn money to support their families, leaving them little time.

If they could not get into Martial Arts University or Liberal Arts University, they naturally had to work and make money. There was simply not much time to cultivate.

As for the elderly, their age had caught up with them, their qi and blood declining. They could not withstand high-intensity training, while this stance technique happened to require exactly that.

Thus, Chen Mo had not seen any elderly people who had practiced it to major accomplishment either.

Of course, he had interacted with too few people. There were surely some who had reached major accomplishment.

Chen Mo had no time to concern himself with others. After assuming the first form of the stance technique, he used Spiritual Perception to inspect his own body from within.

Very quickly, he saw the state of his body. Not even the slightest change could escape his Spiritual Perception.

Comparing it with the descriptions in the stance technique, he swiftly spotted the problems:

"My toes need to turn slightly inward. I didn't do that."

"My left knee is drawing inward!"

"My right bicep is tensed too much!"

"My neck is bent back a little!"

"My breathing intervals are wrong!"

"..."

In the first form alone, he discovered many problems.

Whenever he found a problem, he adjusted it immediately. Under internal inspection, these problems were swiftly corrected.

Once every problem had been fixed, he suddenly felt his entire body relax.

A sense of ease washed over him. Yes, ease and comfort—it was nothing like the hardship he had felt before.

Immediately afterward, he felt the muscles around the Bubbling Spring Acupoints in the soles of his feet begin to twitch faintly.

Qi Sensation had emerged.

Chen Mo's attention immediately shifted to the Bubbling Spring Acupoints. Then, he saw a point of light on each acupoint.

These points of light were the source of the Qi Sensation, energy converted by his own body.

Three seconds later, the points of light began to move, traveling upward along the meridians until they vanished at his kidneys.

Chen Mo had kept his eyes fixed on the two points of light, so he understood their purpose: to strengthen his kidneys.

Only now did he clearly see that Basic Stance Training was strengthening his body.

Before, he had merely heard that stance training was important. Only after seeing it with his own eyes did he truly understand its purpose.

"What the hell was I even doing when I practiced before? It was practically a waste of time!"

Chen Mo could not help sighing.

This Spiritual Perception was incredibly useful. It allowed him to avoid so many winding roads.

If he only had the System Panel, he would have to spend an enormous amount of time painstakingly accumulating proficiency, grinding his way upward through the panel.

Wanting to grow stronger quickly would be utterly impossible.

Take this stance form, for example. In his original posture, he would feel utterly exhausted after holding it for only a few seconds. Usually, he had to grit his teeth just to persist.

Let alone rapidly producing Qi Sensation.

But things were different now. It was almost absurdly easy. He felt as though he was not practicing stance training at all, but merely standing there comfortably.

There were no fewer than ten problems in the first stance form that Spiritual Perception had uncovered.

If the posture and breathing were wrong, the exercise would have no training effect.

No wonder he had practiced for twelve years without reaching major accomplishment. There had been far too many problems all along.

Without the skill Spiritual Perception, even if the Diligent Heaven Rewards talent took effect, he would have had to wait until he cultivated it to perfection before finding every problem.

Who knew how much time that would have taken?

If he used Spiritual Perception to adjust his posture, he could absolutely reach perfection in a short time.

Opening the System Panel, Chen Mo saw a notification:

"Basic Stance Training Proficiency +5."

At the same time, he noticed that his qi and blood had increased by one point, becoming 62.

Delight surged in his heart. Just practicing the first form gave him +5 proficiency. With only 23 proficiency points left, Basic Stance Training would reach major accomplishment. At this rate, he might even finish tonight.

Yet ideals were plump, while reality was bony.

As Chen Mo stood in his stance, his stomach began to rumble. Hunger surged over him like a tide, leaving him feeling as though his entire body had been hollowed out.

"Hungry! So hungry!"

Chen Mo hurriedly stopped training and went to the convenience store in his residential complex to buy Compressed Biscuits and replenish his energy.

The Martial Apprentice stage was the foundation of a Martial Artist. Tempering the muscles and bones and refining Qi and blood required an enormous amount of energy.

Chen Mo had just practiced Stance Training and refined his Qi and blood, consuming a huge amount of energy at once. That was why he felt so hungry.

The only things Chen Mo knew of that could provide massive amounts of energy were Qi and Blood Pills and Fierce Beast Meat.

However, both of them were extremely expensive.

Fierce Beast Meat cost over a hundred yuan per jin. Given Chen Mo's consumption, he needed three to four jin a day to meet the demands of martial arts training.

At three jin a day, that was three hundred yuan. In a month, it came to nine thousand yuan—far beyond what Chen Mo could afford.

He could only eat it a few times a month.

As for Qi and Blood Pills, each one cost two thousand yuan.

Qi and Blood Pills were made from Fierce Beast Meat and certain medicinal herbs that nourished the body and increased Qi and blood. The energy they provided far exceeded that of Fierce Beast Meat and could sustain someone for three days.

But after taking one, he had to wait three days before taking another.

According to Chen Mo's memories, the effects of absorbing Qi and Blood Pills varied from person to person. After he took them, most of their medicinal power went to waste, making them far less practical than Fierce Beast Meat.

Moreover, eating too many would build up drug resistance. When that happened, he would have to take higher-grade pills.

The value for money was far too low.

Chen Mo had no money, so naturally he could not afford pills.

Fortunately, in order to cultivate young Martial Artists, the state required every school to sell lunches containing Fierce Beast Meat to students at one-third of the market price.

At the same time, every student in a martial arts class received one Qi and Blood Pill for free. However, they had to take it on the spot after claiming it; trading was forbidden.

Lunches with Fierce Beast Meat were highly cost-effective, so Chen Mo always stayed at school for lunch, eating ordinary food at home for breakfast and dinner.

Even so, it still could not support Chen Mo's round-the-clock training.

This was also a major reason why his Qi and blood were weak and his realm was low.

"I still need to find a way to make money!"

After paying, Chen Mo saw that his phone balance contained only 1,459 yuan, and he could not help but frown slightly.

"These two weekend days, I can't just practice Stance Training. At this rate, after five more sessions, it'll reach Major Accomplishment. My Qi and blood can't increase much in a short time, so I'll set Stance Training aside for now."

"I should practice my saber techniques these next two days. Once I get them to mastery, I can work as a sparring partner at a martial arts gym."

Chen Mo had already looked into it. Sparring partners earned at least two hundred yuan an hour. One hour a day meant six thousand yuan a month.

It was the only way he could think of to make money quickly.

Besides, sparring could also increase his martial skill proficiency—killing two birds with one stone. Why not?

Having found a way to earn money, Chen Mo's mood brightened considerably, and he quickly left the supermarket.