Demonstrating the Fist Art

Kang Tianchen assumed a fighting stance but made no further move. As he waited for Li Changqing to recover from his mentally drained state, he began explaining the fist art.

"Psionic Energy is produced when human consciousness resonates with the Subspace Psionic Monsoon. Matter determines consciousness, and consciousness likewise acts upon matter. The exhaustion you feel now is not merely physical—it is also exhaustion of the mind."

"Subdue the heart's ape, tether the mind's horse. Use your own mind as the driving force to mobilize your body."

"Watch the movements!"

Li Changqing gathered his full attention and carefully watched the path of Kang Tianchen's fist art.

Kang Tianchen set his stance. His legs seemed like ancient trees taking root, firmly planted in the ground. His waist and abdomen were drawn tight, yet not rigid, as though surging waves rolled within them, natural as flowing water.

Li Changqing's gaze blazed as he imitated Kang Tianchen's movements and shifted his stance. The muscles and fascia throughout his body were unexpectedly drawn into motion by the fist art, while the unbearable fatigue made him want to collapse face-first onto the ground.

Just then, a stick tapped the end of his spine. In an instant, every pore on Li Changqing's body contracted, and his hairs stood on end.

"Focus! Find the feeling. You need to grasp the movement of every inch of muscle in your body, the position of every bone."

As Kang Tianchen instructed him, he used the stick to tap the key points of Li Changqing's movements.

He pulled a remote control from his pocket and muttered,

"Almost forgot about this."

He pressed the button, and the display projected a video of a Martial Artist practicing Tai Chi Fist.

"Watch the video and memorize the movements. I'll personally teach you the crucial points."

The movements of this fist art lay in the flow of muscles, tendons, and bones. Without Kang Tianchen's hands-on instruction, no one could learn such precise movements, refined through countless experiments, merely by watching a video.

Even so, the difficulty of this fist art still exceeded Li Changqing's imagination.

Before he had even completed eight movements, he was drenched in sweat, his muscles trembling all over. If not for his stubborn willpower, he would have already gone limp.

"If you're tired, rest for a while." Kang Tianchen lightly swung the wooden stick against the bend of Li Changqing's knee. Li Changqing's breath immediately gave out, and he slumped limply to the ground.

"What kind of fist art is this? It's way too exhausting." Li Changqing found it hard to believe.

It was only eight movements, yet he was already struggling to hold on.

He was a man who could finish a two-thousand-meter weighted run in under seven and a half minutes.

This was too absurd.

"Heh heh, this is an Old Technique capable of drawing in Psionic Energy." Kang Tianchen looked at Li Changqing, his eyes filled with deep astonishment.

"I never expected that after just finishing a fitness test, you could still perform eight forms in one go. Earlier, your vitality didn't seem particularly strong either. Strange."

Kang Tianchen stroked his chin, looked at Li Changqing lying on the ground like a dead dog, and waved his little stick.

Smack—

"Get up. Continue."

This time, Li Changqing lasted longer. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Chengtian Tai Chi Fist: Proficiency 2%

Unlike improvements to his physique, increased proficiency continuously deepened his understanding of Chengtian Tai Chi Fist. The unnecessary movement of his muscles decreased, and his expenditure of strength naturally plummeted.

"Strange, strange." Kang Tianchen clicked his tongue in amazement, wooden stick in hand.

Li Changqing had now reached the eighteenth form. He had actually performed two more forms than before. By all logic, as his stamina was depleted, each successive practice should have become more difficult.

The nineteenth form.

As Cloud Hands swept out, Li Changqing's vitality unexpectedly spread through his entire body like drifting mist.

With just that movement, his abundant vitality was nearly exhausted in an instant. His body swayed, and he could no longer control his balance.

Only then did Kang Tianchen smile. "I knew it. You brat has to have a limit too. Rest—"

Yet before he could finish, Li Changqing, who had been about to topple over, somehow steadied himself again against all reason.

Kang Tianchen: ???

Physique +1

Vitality Concentration: 40%

Heat surged through his body, and Li Changqing, exhausted in both body and mind, was revived at full health once more. In places the naked eye could not see, the fascia throughout his body was becoming increasingly smooth and rounded, brimming with astonishing elasticity.

As he stretched his limbs, faint crackling sounds rang out.

Not only that, with the increase in proficiency, Li Changqing watched the Martial Artist on the screen practicing Tai Chi Fist.

Some insights that Kang Tianchen had never explained aloud unexpectedly surged straight into his mind.

The next moment, he shifted his feet and, following the flow of his consciousness and muscles, drew a Tai Chi Yin-Yang Fish upon the ground.

The twentieth form, Invert Yin Overturn Yang.

"Holy shit, what the hell did you grow up eating?" Kang Tianchen was dumbfounded.

How could someone become more energetic the more he trained?

And he realized that Li Changqing's mistakes were actually decreasing.

This wasn't scientific!

This wasn't Psionic Energy!

The twenty-first form, the twenty-second form.

After that, Li Changqing's movements flowed without interruption. They gradually changed from clumsy to practiced, and even his mistakes rapidly diminished.

The final five forms were completed in one breath.

The twenty-four forms of Tai Chi Fist were fully completed.

Chengtian Tai Chi Fist: Proficiency 5%

As his proficiency increased, Li Changqing's understanding of this set of fist techniques deepened further.

His expression turned dazed. Looking back through his memories, he discovered many subtle steps he had performed incorrectly without ever noticing.

Miss by a hair, err by a thousand miles.

He had to correct them next time.

"You brat..."

Kang Tianchen's voice pulled Li Changqing back to himself. Kang Tianchen looked him up and down, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"The first time you practiced a fist art, you actually completed the whole thing after only three attempts." His face was full of confusion.

"Your talent isn't weak either. Why were you assessed as D-Class?"

Li Changqing chuckled. "Maybe I had an epiphany these past few days."

"That's possible." Kang Tianchen actually wore a completely serious expression.

Epiphanies were not uncommon in martial arts. Even legends spoke of people attaining enlightenment overnight and ascending in broad daylight.

By modern explanation, that meant ancient Martial Artists had resonated with Psionic Energy, entered the consciousness subspace, and achieved Psionic Ascension.

"Alright, you've learned the fist art. Once you can practice the entire set in one go while maintaining uninterrupted vitality circulation, you'll have officially entered the discipline."

Complete all of it in one practice?

According to Kang Tianchen, there was no shortcut to this. Just like when Li Changqing had paused to break through his limit earlier—even if his stamina recovered, that flow of vitality had been cut off.

"Coach Kang, what changes occur if this entire fist art is performed perfectly?"

"Of course there are." Kang Tianchen's lips curled upward.

"Watch."

At last, it was his turn.

That brat had been showing off the whole time just now.

As he spoke, he assumed his stance once more, but this differed from when he had demonstrated for Li Changqing earlier.

This time, Kang Tianchen no longer needed to ensure Li Changqing could see every detail clearly.

His movements flowed seamlessly, his vitality long and continuous, surging like a great dragon. He was on an entirely different level from Li Changqing.

He completed all twenty-four forms.

He suddenly raised both hands to his brow, then slowly pressed them downward.

His lips parted slightly, and a stream of white vapor shot from Kang Tianchen's mouth in an instant.

It streaked forward for several meters, only gradually dispersing after reaching the wall five meters away.

Li Changqing rubbed his eyes hard.

It was July. Even with the training hall's air conditioning, the room temperature was still over twenty degrees.

He could actually exhale white vapor, and send it several meters away?

Was he even human?

Li Changqing subconsciously let out a breath. Sure enough, not even a single white wisp appeared.

Kang Tianchen laughed.

"Exhaling breath like a sword is a sign that the vitality within your body has undergone Vitality Condensation. Once you reach this stage, you'll have entered the martial path and officially become a Lower-Rank Martial Artist."

He patted Li Changqing on the shoulder.

"Those people at your academy whose graduation evaluations are B-Grade reached this level without relying on Old Techniques."

"Don't aim too high. Those are geniuses; we can't compare with them. If you reach this realm within a year, you can officially join the martial arts school."

A year?

Li Changqing blinked as he sensed the continuously overflowing vitality within his body.

It probably would not take that long.

Still, he had not expected Jiang He to be so strong.

Without relying on Old Techniques, Jiang He had cultivated martial arts to the point of Vitality Condensation, able to exhale breath like a sword.

He decided that Jiang He would be the first small goal of his martial arts training.