Those who practiced martial arts trained through the bitterest cold of winter and the fiercest heat of summer. Those words were not without reason.
Feng Kingdom was now in the height of summer, while the Eternal Night World remained incomparably frigid.
Travelling back and forth between the two worlds, Li Qing's martial progress advanced at an inconceivable pace.
Around the seventh day after Thousand Commander Yuan Xiao led his troops out on campaign, crackling sounds like beans pouring from a bamboo tube came from within Li Qing's body in the furnace-like heat of the camp tent.
Crack!
"Whew! The Ancient Profound Hammer Technique has finally crossed the threshold!"
Counting the time spent standing in stance across both worlds, it had been nearly twenty days. Having endured both bitter cold and scorching heat, Li Qing's body had unexpectedly been tempered quite well, laying down an excellent foundation for martial arts.
Li Qing withdrew from his stance. He could feel that his strength had increased considerably; both the way he exerted force and the power already contained in his body had been noticeably enhanced.
Whoosh!
Inside the camp tent, Li Qing suddenly threw out a palm strike. The force that erupted from it visibly swept the blazing fire in the stove aside.
"Not bad. I should be able to beat two of my former selves now." Li Qing drew back his palm and said happily.
Although he was still some distance away from becoming an Outer Strength expert, he was already quite satisfied.
Ever since Thousand Commander Yuan Xiao had led his troops out to war, the Border Fortress seemed to have quieted down. No more news of bandits causing trouble had come back.
A few days ago, the court's Grain Transport Team had also arrived at the Border Fortress safely, without encountering any ambushes or mishaps.
Of course, if the court had not decided to reinforce the border with additional troops, Li Qing might truly have set his heart completely at ease.
Yesterday, a clear and specific piece of news had arrived from the court: General Lu Guanghong's entire Wu Li Army would reach the Border Fortress within a few days!
To everyone else, this was perhaps news too good to be bettered. Wu Chong, the cook, had learned of this matter yesterday and eaten several extra bowls of rice.
With enough grain in the granaries and a heavy army massed at the Border Fortress, it was reassuring no matter how one looked at it.
Yet Li Qing did not see it that way. Sharp-minded as he was, he considered many things.
If war had not been certain, the court would never have dispatched the entire Wu Li Army for no reason.
"It is not necessarily a bad thing. The more people there are, the more chaotic things become, and the fewer people will notice a mere blacksmith's apprentice like me."
Having decided to keep a low profile, Li Qing muttered to himself.
The entire Wu Li Army had thirteen Thousand Commanders and more than fifteen thousand soldiers. The people currently stationed at the Border Fortress were merely a tiny fraction of them.
Every Thousand Commander was a great expert, while General Lu Guanghong, who commanded the entire army, might even be a legendary Transforming Energy Grandmaster!
This army forged through martial skill was absolutely one of Feng Kingdom's pillars holding down the sea!
That night, after dinner, Li Qing returned to his camp tent.
After Thousand Commander Yuan Xiao departed on campaign, the entire Border Army had grown much quieter.
In the dead of night, Li Qing once more arrived in the Eternal Night World.
This time, however, he did not choose to continue standing in stance. Instead, he took out all three martial arts manuals he had obtained from the Yan family some time ago.
"On the path of martial arts, people do avoid biting off more than they can chew, but that is because human lifespans are limited. Only by focusing on one martial art can one go farther." Li Qing spoke softly to himself, then spread out the Beast Skin Scroll of Fierce Tiger Pounces and began to contemplate it.
He did not lack time. If necessary, he could spend vast amounts of it slowly grinding away at his martial progress.
"The Border Fortress will fall into chaos. To raise my combat power as quickly as possible in the short term, learning several more martial arts is definitely a highly rewarding choice."
His Ancient Profound Hammer Technique had already crossed the threshold. Next, he only needed to repeatedly polish its hammer techniques and moves; over time, he could slowly cultivate Outer Strength.
For others, this was basically the same. They spent their entire lives specializing in one martial art, then took one or two others as secondary studies. That was the way to travel farther down the path of martial arts.
Because every martial art emphasized something different, unless it was one of those supreme techniques, it was impossible for it to cover the entire body.
Gradually, Li Qing immersed himself in the artistic conception contained within the Beast Skin Scroll of Fierce Tiger Pounces.
This was a martial art created by a powerful martial artist. The Beast Skin Scroll contained not only the essence of the martial art, but also the martial aura and will left behind by that expert.
After a long while, Li Qing slowly opened his eyes and discovered that, without realizing it, he had assumed the stance of Fierce Tiger Pounces.
"This martial art mainly tempers the limbs. If cultivated to great mastery, one would at least become a great Internal Energy expert." The corners of Li Qing's lips slowly curved upward. He continued murmuring, "The artistic conception within the Beast Skin Scroll is abundant, but it has spirit without form. If one has never seen a true fierce tiger, it is truly difficult to practice, and even entering the gate would be hard."
The Yan family likely believed Li Qing would never have the chance to see a real tiger in his lifetime. Without personally understanding a tiger's ferocity, it would be difficult for him to master such an overbearing and fierce martial art.
What they did not know was that the image of a tiger had long been deeply imprinted in Li Qing's mind in his previous life.
Not to mention zoos, he had watched quite a few documentaries as well. Naturally, he knew what kind of savage creature it was.
From this Beast Skin Scroll of a fierce tiger, Li Qing understood the three levels of this martial art.
They were Tiger Form, Tiger Intent, and Tiger Spirit!
Through form, intent, and spirit, it perfectly displayed the ferocity of a fierce tiger.
"No written medium was left behind, but this method of passing down martial arts through artistic conception has its own unique merits. When cultivating the levels of Tiger Intent and Tiger Spirit, it can provide no small amount of assistance."
As he spoke, Li Qing suddenly shook his left arm. The muscles and veins on his arm bulged in an instant, and his palms looked incomparably savage.
"The person who created this martial art probably never imagined that the sun would disappear in the future, and that even finding a fierce tiger to observe would become something nearly impossible."
"But it has worked in my favor!"
That day, Li Qing continued practicing this savage fierce tiger martial art in the courtyard, so absorbed that he forgot himself.
As time passed, it seemed as if a certain baleful aura had stained his body, making him as fierce as a wild beast.
Like a true fierce tiger, he leaped and sprang about the courtyard. As his fists and palms shifted, even the air howled sharply.
Only after some three or four hours did he withdraw his stance in utter exhaustion, his whole body feeling as though he had just run a marathon.
"Whew!"
Sweat streamed over his body like rivulets, while heat rose from his entire body into the frigid air.
In the pitch-black courtyard, Li Qing opened his eyes, which seemed to gleam with green light.
Hunger and exhaustion swept through every inch of his body like a rising tide.
Yet he was exhilarated. This martial art suited him perfectly—broad and sweeping in its movements, following a path of fierce, overpowering strength!