Living Stances, Combat Techniques, Tiger Form Eight Styles

What?

He Bi was startled, thinking he had misheard. But Cui Yao was a man of swift action. Before He Bi could even finish his daze, Cui Yao had already completed the test in a few moves. With a hint of surprise in his eyes, he confirmed, "Indeed, it's the Sensing Qi realm."

In this corner of the training ground, it was as if a pot of water had suddenly boiled over. The clamor erupted as the workers exchanged whispers, murmuring things like, "A restaurant waiter," "Just him?" "He has a brother in the Chief Escort's mansion," "It must be a noble helping him."

The noisy chatter washed over Cui Yao, who frowned.

"If anyone is unconvinced, step forward. I can test you too."

The crowd immediately fell silent.

"Practicing martial arts well is a skill, and having someone to support you is also a skill."

"If others can achieve something, you should think about how you can achieve it yourself."

"What's the point of saying sour things here!"

With a thunderous shout, the workers became as silent as cicadas, like rabbits before a fierce tiger, not daring to even lift their heads.

Cui Yao snorted coldly, telling them to resume their practice. Then he turned to look at Li Cunxiao, who remained still, and nodded slightly.

The Cui brothers both came from the military, and later, through a twist of fate, they joined Zhang Lishi's command.

Consequently, both of them had straightforward personalities, or to put it bluntly, simple and rough characters.

He couldn't be bothered to care whether someone had pulled strings or used tonics. In this world, how could there be so much fairness?

Why didn't they go and yell at the young masters and ladies in the inner city who paid to learn martial arts without having to do any work?

Moreover, Cui Yao knew the background of the Li brothers. It was truly a stroke of luck that the Chief Escort took them in casually. Apart from that, there was no extra special treatment.

"I've been watching you practice every day. With your physique, half a month is about right."

Cui Yao said only this. Without waiting for a reply, he led the two to another side of the training ground, where other escorts naturally took over.

He Bi finally came back to his senses. He looked at Li Cunxiao, wanting to say something, but seeing Cui Yao's back ahead of him, he held back.

On the other side of the training ground, there were less than half the number of people as those practicing horse stance. About twenty people, in pairs, were sparring and practicing their moves.

The so-called routines, put simply, were a form of formula derived from summarizing and refining methods for dealing with different situations.

How the opponent attacks, how they defend, I have corresponding methods to break, defend, or deceive them.

When routines are broken down, they become moves. Footwork combined with hand movements are footwork and living stances.

Living stances plus moves constitute combat techniques.

In popular legends, those peerless generals often fought for three days and three nights. But in reality, ordinary people would be out of breath after just ten minutes.

Qin Yu and Run Dong, by sensing Qi and Blood Essence, had physical qualities superior to ordinary adult men. However, after practicing for two quarters of an hour, they were already panting, and their movements began to slow down.

Just then, Qin Yu suddenly froze, as if he had seen something. Run Dong's fist didn't stop and landed squarely on his chest. Caught off guard, Run Dong immediately sat down with a thud.

"Qin Yu, why are you spacing out?"

"Look quickly, look over there! It's them, they've also broken through to Sensing Qi!"

"Them?"

Run Dong, initially confused, turned to look at his two roommates approaching, his expression instantly stiffening.

Thinking of the small sense of pride he felt that morning, he didn't know whether to congratulate them or do something else.

Fortunately, none of the three, Cui Yao, noticed this.

After leading the two to the side of the sparring group, he began to explain:

"The depth of practice in a martial art, in common terms, we call it entry-level, minor achievement, major achievement, and perfection."

"In our Escort Agency's Tiger Form Fist, entry-level is Sensing Qi, minor achievement is Controlling Qi. Major achievement and perfection are the realms of Strengthening Qi."

"You two have already reached the entry-level of Tiger Form Fist and can sense Qi and Blood Essence. The next step is to mobilize and control Qi and Blood Essence."

"Next, I will teach you the living stances and combat techniques, the 'Tiger Form Eight Styles'."

"When you can practice to the point where your strength reaches the four extremities and your qi follows the heart's movement, then your Tiger Form Fist will be considered major achievement."

Following this, Cui Yao began to teach them hand-in-hand how to rise and fall their bodies and shift their steps while standing in stances, and which footwork should be combined with which moves, explaining them one by one.

The footwork and living stances of Tiger Form Fist require rooted steps, with the feet not floating and the strength not dissipating. When landing, the feet are positioned one after the other yet compactly, as light and agile as a magpie landing, like a tiger crouching on the ground with might, or a cat's swift and nimble grace.

As for the hand moves, there are a total of eight:

Tiger Pounce, Tiger Push, Tiger Brace, Tiger Claw, Tiger Hug Head, Tiger Leap Mountain, Tiger Swish Tail, and Tiger Stomp Claw.

The names are simple and unpretentious, but when performed, each move is fierce, striking directly at vital points. Li Cunxiao and He Bi, watching Cui Yao demonstrate, felt a chill down their spines.

After Cui Yao finished his demonstration and left, the two stepped forward. They saw that the old wooden stakes wrapped in cowhide now had several finger holes and fist imprints.

A gentle blow caused fine, flour-like wood shavings to fall.

"So strong?"

Li Cunxiao clicked his tongue, but He Bi beside him shook his head.

"What's this? My father told me that once, when they were escorting goods, a horse got spooked. Chief Escort Cui, with just one hand, stopped a thousand-pound cart full of goods. That horse broke its neck and died on the spot!"

"One hand lifting a thousand jin? That's half a ton of strength!"

Li Cunxiao's heart burned with excitement. Just as he was about to inquire about the realms beyond Sensing Qi, Qin Yu, who had appeared out of nowhere, grinned and leaned in.

"Brother Li, Brother He, you've both broken through to Sensing Qi as well?"

Without waiting for them to ask, he began to proactively share his training experiences from the past couple of days.

Whether his words contained much genuine experience or was true or false was irrelevant; what mattered was that he quickly closed the distance between himself and the two of them.

Run Dong, however, stood awkwardly to the side, opening his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately closing it.

When the grueling morning training finally ended and it was time to drink the medicinal soup, Li Cunxiao took a mouthful and could clearly feel that the soup's heat was stronger than when he drank it while practicing stances.

Not only that, but when it came to work, the apprentices like them who were Sensing Vitality were assigned significantly less labor.

Furthermore, he heard from others that if there was nothing else to do after finishing work, the escorts would turn a blind eye if they occasionally went out.

Clearly, even as mere probationary escorts, their treatment already differed from that of ordinary apprentices.

Unexpectedly, when Li Cunxiao returned to his room after finishing his work, he found He Bi, who usually left the Escort Agency at this hour, waiting at his door.

He Bi got straight to the point:

"Brother Li, you've broken through to Sensing Qi. Did you also eat Demon Meat?"

Seeing He Bi lean in and ask in a low voice, Li Cunxiao thought, "Also?"

He had been worried about not finding a way to get Demon Meat, and now one had come knocking on his door.

"Brother He, you jest. I'm poor, how could I afford Demon Meat?"

He Bi smiled knowingly at his words, revealing an expression that said, "I understand."

"Brother Li, no need to overthink it. Chief Escort Cui won't concern himself with such matters. I've come here only to make a friend."

"It's not convenient to talk much here. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to a restaurant?"