The Martial Hall Master's Shock!

Baji Quan (Manifest Strength 1/600)

"From this moment on, I was truly a part of the Martial Arts World!"

After ten years of stumbling forward, he had stepped into Manifest Strength in a single day. Huo Yuanhong felt incomparably exhilarated, as though he had drunk his fill of a great draught!

After clearing the dust from the cramped Training Room, he went into the bathroom beside it and took a shower, washing away the sticky sweat and clinging grime from his body.

After drying himself and changing into a clean set of clothes, he headed straight for the nearest apothecary, where he bought twenty-four packets of external medicinal plasters and two jars of medicinal paste for internal use.

That was enough for an ordinary person to use for two years. It cost a full hundred silver dollars—nearly his father's entire yearly income. It was truly frighteningly expensive.

Naturally, Huo Yuanhong could not come up with that much money. He could only use his most precious possession—a jade bracelet left behind by his mother—as collateral. He agreed to settle the medicine bill and interest within a month before he could reclaim the bracelet.

Then, carrying the medicine, he went to a quiet grove nearby. He found an old tree that looked fairly sturdy and began practicing his boxing again.

The sandbag had broken, so he had to find something to replace it.

"After stepping into Manifest Strength, the scattered martial knowledge I'd picked up over the past ten years has been completely used up. I wonder whether I can keep practicing..."

Huo Yuanhong threw a testing punch.

"Hmm?"

His eyes immediately lit up.

It worked!

When he threw that punch, he clearly knew nothing about how to proceed afterward, yet dense insights still surfaced in his mind.

Or rather...

Deduction!

It certainly could not compare to Practicing Strength, when he had the knowledge of those who came before him as reference, and his pace had slowed somewhat. Yet he was still continuing to grow stronger.

It was like someone who had never studied arithmetic solving an arithmetic problem, relying on heaven-shaking talent to forcibly calculate the answer. Their speed would surely be inferior to someone directly plugging numbers into a formula, but being able to calculate something from nothing was already defying the heavens.

Baji Quan (Manifest Strength 2/600)

Baji Quan (Manifest Strength 3/600)

Amid the howling of his fists splitting the air, Huo Yuanhong's grasp of Manifest Strength steadily deepened at a pace visible to the naked eye.

At first, he was not very proficient. He had to try ten or twenty times before he could accidentally strike with Manifest Strength once.

But after a little over an hour, he could produce Manifest Strength once every three to five attempts.

The Manifest Strength Initiation stage, which ordinary people needed two or three months of hard training to pass through, was nearly crossed by him in just over two hours.

Even the once-dazzling Gentleman Sword, whom he had been unable to glimpse even the nape of his neck, was now someone whose back he could see!

The gap between them had shrunk from two major realms to one!

And the distance between them was shrinking with every passing second!

For the time that followed, aside from necessary sleep, he remained in the grove practicing boxing, taking medicine internally and applying it externally.

When thirsty, he drank water from the nearby well. When hungry, he gnawed on the steamed buns he had brought with him.

Once the steamed buns were gone, he went to the nearest bun shop and bought two large bags at once, cherishing every minute and second.

Time slipped away without his noticing amid the dull yet addictive cycle of practicing boxing, eating, and sleeping.

By dawn two days later, Huo Yuanhong's Manifest Strength progress had reached 126/600. He had long since completely passed the unstable stage of just entering the realm.

Bang!... Bang!... Bang!...

Dull impacts echoed through the grove from time to time.

Huo Yuanhong devoted himself to it wholeheartedly, sweat pouring down like rain. He practiced until he reached 135/600 before finally stopping, picking up the waterskin beside him and gulping down several mouthfuls of cold water.

"Young man, who is your master? You've already entered Manifest Strength, so why is he still making you practice basic forms?"

A voice drifted over. Huo Yuanhong turned to look and saw a middle-aged man in a long robe. He faintly carried the grand bearing of an abyssal pool and towering mountain; clearly, he was no ordinary person.

Behind him followed a young woman in a white training uniform. She walked as lightly as a cat. Huo Yuanhong could not tell the depth of her skill, only that it was surely far above Manifest Strength.

Huo Yuanhong recognized the pair. Back when he had not yet achieved Manifest Strength, he had occasionally come here to practice boxing. Two or three times out of ten, he would see them here.

But the middle-aged man and young woman had never once spared him a glance.

He had always deliberately kept his distance as well, to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Now that he had mastered Manifest Strength, he presumably finally had the qualifications to draw the middle-aged man's attention.

"I don't have a master. I just practice blindly by myself."

Huo Yuanhong replied.

"No master?"

A trace of surprise flashed through the middle-aged man's eyes, followed by what seemed to be understanding. "No wonder, no wonder. You've clearly stabilized your Manifest Strength, yet you are still practicing basic boxing techniques and have not begun Baji's Six Openings..."

"Six Openings? What is that?"

Huo Yuanhong had never even heard of it.

The middle-aged man seemed to be in a good mood, however, and said with a smile, "The Six Openings are the core of the Eight Extremes Grand Frame: top, embrace, single, lift, hip, and coil..."

"Of them, the most ferocious is undoubtedly Top Force, famed for the Top Elbow Strike. Once an elbow is driven forth, bones break and tendons snap; few dare receive it head-on!"

"Come, place your hands here and feel how the force moves through my body..."

The middle-aged man beckoned, signaling Huo Yuanhong to place his hands on the two joints through which he exerted force.

"Thank you."

Knowing the other man intended to instruct him in boxing, Huo Yuanhong did not put on airs and refuse. He straightforwardly placed his hands there.

"Watch closely."

As the middle-aged man performed a Tremor Stomp and exerted force, the ground shuddered faintly, and a deep depression was stamped into it.

At the same time, a savage Internal Force erupted like an Earth Dragon turning over. As his waist, hips, and spine twisted, it swept into his right arm in an instant, then drove out fiercely with an upright elbow!

Crack!

The old tree before them shook violently. The point of impact caved in at once, shattered bark spraying everywhere!

"Amazing!"

Huo Yuanhong could not help exclaiming.

The old tree he had chosen was exceptionally hard. Even after he had struck it continuously for two days, it had shown no obvious damage. Yet under the middle-aged man's Top Elbow Strike, it had caved in with a single blow.

If it landed on an ordinary person, even if it did not kill them, it would leave their bones broken and tendons snapped!

After demonstrating it hand-to-hand several times, the middle-aged man stopped and stepped aside.

"Come, try practicing it yourself."

"Alright."

Recalling what he had felt earlier, Huo Yuanhong stomped, twisted his waist, raised his arm, and drove out with an upright elbow!

Baji Quan (Manifest Strength 136/600)

"Hmm?"

Huo Yuanhong's eyes brightened slightly.

Normally, unless it was a case like when he had first practiced the Tremor Stomp, where long accumulation brought sudden release, he needed dozens or even hundreds of repetitions to gain a single point of experience.

Do not underestimate that one point of experience. By Huo Yuanhong's estimate, it was equivalent to three or four days of hard work for an ordinary person with a complete inheritance who made no mistakes!

Yet after learning a new method of exerting force for Baji Quan, his experience had risen by one point after only a single punch!

"Just as expected!"

Joy surged through Huo Yuanhong's heart.

Boxing progress was his degree of mastery over the art.

If he relied purely on his own exploration and deduction, he would surely still be able to master everything—but it would cost far more time and effort.

But by standing on the shoulders of those who came before him, he could skip the process of exploration and deduction, directly begin practicing, and naturally progress faster!

"Master, how long do you think this person will need to master the Top Elbow Strike? Half a month? One month? Or two months?"

From nearby, the young woman asked with great interest.

"I don't know. I'm not familiar with him. It was merely a passing whim."

The middle-aged man pulled out the waterskin at his waist, took a drink, and spoke carelessly.

His standards were extraordinarily high. If not for this little fellow mastering Manifest Strength at such a young age, he would not even have had the qualifications to earn a second glance from him.

But as one of Baji Quan's rather famous killing moves, the Top Elbow Strike was not so easy to learn. It demanded an extremely high degree of precision and continuity in the movement of Internal Force. A difference of a hair became an error of a thousand miles.

Many people strayed down the wrong path while practicing without realizing it. Without guidance from a famous master, they might find it difficult to correct their mistakes even in a lifetime.

Even in his eyes, mastering it within a month would count as being a piece of workable jade.

"Let's go. We'll come back in a few days and take a look."

The middle-aged man hung the waterskin at his waist, clasped his hands behind his back, and leisurely walked toward the edge of the grove.

If nothing unexpected happened, when he returned in three or four days, this young man should still be unable to find the way in.

At that time, if the young man had a proper attitude and took the initiative to ask for guidance, he would not begrudge offering another casual word or two of instruction.

"What is there to see after a few days? Senior Brother was hailed as the greatest genius of the previous generation, and even he took ten days to master it. Could this man possibly be more impressive than Senior Brother...?"

The young woman laughed in disbelief.

Her senior brother was the foremost figure of Divine Spear Martial Hall's previous generation. Even across all of Jin Gate's previous generation, he was unquestionably the strongest candidate!

"Don't set your standards so high. What kind of person is your senior brother? Compared with me in those days, he was only slightly inferior."

At the mention of his eldest disciple, a satisfied expression appeared on the middle-aged man's face.

Over the years, he had seen countless outstanding young talents, as well as quite a few rare geniuses seldom seen in the world. Yet no matter where he was placed, his eldest disciple was a martial arts sun that stood out like a crane among chickens!

Mastering the Top Elbow Strike in ten days was second only to his own achievement of mastering it in three days.

But who was he? Across all of Jin Gate, if he claimed second place in martial skill, no one would dare claim first!

Even though Sword Inquiry Martial Hall had gained support from aristocratic families in recent years and its momentum had grown ever more immense, with more than a handful of Hall Master-level figures, it still never dared challenge Divine Spear Martial Hall while he stood guard over it!

In terms of talent in martial arts, he believed there were few like him under heaven!

"Oh? How long did Master take back then?"

The young woman's eyes brimmed with admiration.

"About thre—"

Crack!

At that moment, a short, sharp sound of impact interrupted their exchange.

The middle-aged man and the young woman could not help turning their heads. Under their gradually stiffening gazes, a clear elbow-shaped indentation appeared on the old tree before Huo Yuanhong.

The Top Elbow Strike...

Had been mastered!