Fist Techniques

Jiang Hao returned.

He was held in Du Juan's arms.

Hot water had long been prepared in the room, and precious medicinal herbs were already steeping in it.

This was the medicinal bath Master Jiang had ordered prepared—everything was ready.

Jiang Hao still didn't want to move a single muscle.

Circulating his energy through twenty full cycles in one go was truly exhausting, nearly his limit.

"Xi Que, check the water temperature."

Du Juan held Jiang Hao, refusing to let Xi Que take over even when she offered.

Though Jiang Hao only had two personal maids, the two of them were constantly competing with each other.

Du Juan cradled Jiang Hao and carefully stripped off his clothes.

Then Du Juan undressed as well. Jiang Hao was still too young—every bath required a maid to hold him.

This time, naturally, Du Juan got the chance to hold Jiang Hao during his bath.

Xi Que was deeply envious, but there was nothing she could do. She could only serve dutifully outside.

Jiang Hao was still a small child, his entire body fair and tender.

Held by Du Juan, soft and fragrant, Jiang Hao felt no embarrassment.

He had been attended to like this by his two maids ever since he was little.

But this was a medicinal bath, not an ordinary wash.

Du Juan sat down with Jiang Hao in the hot water tub, but for a moment she didn't know what to do.

"Just sit still and don't move," Jiang Hao said.

Right now, his whole body was immobile because circulating through twenty cycles had drained him too much.

But with the medicinal bath here, he could replenish that consumption.

Of course, he also needed to continue circulating his blood and qi.

So Jiang Hao began to operate the Great River Blood Nourishing Technique again, moving his blood and qi.

This time, he circulated very slowly.

Still, the medicinal bath was indeed effective.

Threads of warmth rose within his body, the heat coming from the bath itself.

Jiang Hao felt the soreness and fatigue throughout his body ease somewhat, and that warmth grew stronger, nourishing every part of him.

However, Jiang Hao didn't dare circulate too quickly.

The faster he moved his blood and qi, the more it increased—but the greater the consumption as well.

Right now, Jiang Hao was in a recovery phase and shouldn't expend too much.

"Young Master, this is a tonic medicine the master had brewed for you. They say it works very well for martial artists," the maid Xi Que said, carrying a bowl of soup.

"Tonic medicine?" Jiang Hao's eyes lit up at the words.

So Xi Que fed him spoonful by spoonful.

After drinking the bowl of tonic, Jiang Hao felt the warmth inside him grow stronger, until his entire body burned with heat.

Jiang Hao knew the moment had come. He no longer restrained the speed of his circulation and continued moving his blood and qi.

One cycle, two cycles, three cycles, four cycles, five cycles...

This time, Jiang Hao spent another two hours, completing five cycles.

Perhaps he could have done more, but Jiang Hao felt it was enough.

If he kept going, his body would suffer some damage again.

"This medicinal bath plus the tonic really works. Originally my limit was twenty cycles a day, but now I've reached twenty-five!"

"And this isn't even my limit. Other people's Bone Quality can't grow, but mine can keep increasing. As long as I continue to visualize the Great Sun, my Bone Quality will only get stronger, and then I'll be able to circulate even more cycles in a day..."

Jiang Hao's heart surged with excitement.

Du Juan and Xi Que helped Jiang Hao clean up, and then Jiang Hao went to bed.

He was very tired today.

But Jiang Hao had no intention of sleeping.

Nighttime was his most important time for cultivation.

Hum.

Jiang Hao closed his eyes and entered the Martial Arts Divine Hall deep within his consciousness.

He looked up and saw the Great Sun in the sky.

The Great Sun in the sky remained unchanged as always.

Over the past few years, Jiang Hao had never slacked off for a single day. Every night, he would sink into his consciousness to visualize.

As long as he visualized the Great Sun, his Bone Quality would continuously improve.

To this day, Jiang Hao still didn't understand the principle behind it.

There was also the Blood Moon and the Black Hole.

Jiang Hao had scoured ancient texts, but none recorded anything about a Blood Moon or a Black Hole.

"My Bone Quality is already strong, but Master said there are even more astonishing geniuses within the Huangtian Sect. My Bone Quality is far from the top—I still have to keep working hard!"

Jiang Hao understood the principle that there is always a sky beyond the sky, and people beyond the people.

He would never become complacent or arrogant.

To have such a massive opportunity to continuously strengthen his Bone Quality—something others could only pray for—how could he ever slack off?

So, Jiang Hao began visualizing the Great Sun again.

Visualizing the Great Sun was painful, but it could increase Bone Quality.

No matter how painful, Jiang Hao had to endure.

Moreover, visualizing the Great Sun within his consciousness was essentially a form of rest.

It was even more effective than sleeping.

Over so many years, Jiang Hao had long grown accustomed to replacing sleep with "visualization."

The next day, Jiang Hao "woke up" from his visualization.

This had almost become his biological clock.

Every morning around seven o'clock, Jiang Hao would automatically "wake up."

After a full night of visualizing the Great Sun, Jiang Hao felt no fatigue at all. Instead, he was refreshed and brimming with seemingly endless energy.

Cultivation: Blood Qi Realm First Layer Bone Quality: 6.8 Comprehension: 2.5 Spirit: 1.7

Jiang Hao checked his three talent attributes.

His cultivation was still at the Blood Qi Realm First Layer.

That was perfectly normal. Even with his Bone Quality nearly seven times that of an ordinary person, he couldn't possibly break through to the Blood Qi Realm Second Layer in a single day.

Still, Jiang Hao's powerful Bone Quality allowed him to clearly sense the growth of his blood qi.

Even in just one day, his blood qi had increased significantly.

Today was Jiang Hao's second official day of martial training. He arrived at the Black Tower Martial Arts School early in the morning.

Jiang Hao thought he was quite early, but he didn't expect the school to already be buzzing with noise. Many students and disciples had already arrived.

"Little Junior Brother, a day's plan starts in the morning. As martial artists, we train in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer—never slack off."

The speaker was Third Senior Brother.

He had arrived at the school long ago and had already been practicing for a while.

"Yes, Third Senior Brother."

Jiang Hao didn't make excuses; he humbly accepted the advice.

"Alright, Jiang Hao is still a child, still growing. Don't be so harsh."

Second Senior Sister approached Jiang Hao with a smiling face. "Little Junior Brother, Master is looking for you."

Jiang Hao followed Second Senior Sister to where Master was.

"Jiang Hao, how is your body?"

Zhao Heita asked.

"Master, after resting for a night, this disciple's body is mostly fine now."

Zhao Heita nodded with satisfaction. "The human body has limitless potential. As long as you don't over-push it, that potential will slowly release itself. Especially at your young age—your body's potential is even greater!"

"However, a martial artist may have blood qi, but if they can't bring it out, it's useless. That's where Martial Skills come in."

"Your strong Bone Quality allows you to train in martial arts with half the effort. But Martial Skills are a contest of Comprehension and hard work."

"For now, you're only at the Blood Qi Realm. Too many Martial Skills will only distract you. Focus on mastering one fist technique. I'll teach you the Fierce Tiger Fist. It can mobilize the full power of your blood qi and is considered a very fierce and powerful fist technique."

With that, Zhao Heita began demonstrating the Fierce Tiger Fist.

Every punch produced an Explosive Sound in the air, looking incredibly mighty—truly a fist technique of great power.

"Jiang Hao, have you memorized it?"

"Master, your disciple has already memorized it."

"Oh? You remembered it after just one look? Then show me by performing it."

Zhao Heita had been preparing to demonstrate a few more times, but he never expected Jiang Hao to have already committed it to memory.

This caught Zhao Heita somewhat off guard.

Some people had decent Bone Quality but mediocre Comprehension.

Jiang Hao performed the Fierce Tiger Fist step by step, exactly as taught.

Though it was still crude.

Many movements didn't even reach their full extension.

But he had indeed memorized it.

A surge of joy rose in Zhao Heita's heart.

Jiang Hao's ability was comparable to memorizing something after a single glance.

He thought it over carefully—Jiang Hao was no ordinary child, but the widely renowned "Child Prodigy."

He could recognize characters at one, compose poetry at three, and even produced verses that were passed down through generations, earning the adoration of countless literati.

Though studying literature and practicing martial arts were worlds apart, They also shared common ground—those who excelled in letters had sharp minds, which in a sense was the same trait found in martial artists with high Comprehension.

From this perspective, Jiang Hao not only possessed superior Bone Quality but also excellent Comprehension?