Five Elements Stance Training

A little girl was sitting on the old sofa in the living room.

She was under ten, plainly dressed, and looked timidly at Lu Chuan as he entered, tears welling in her eyes.

The little girl was Lu Chuan's biological younger sister, Lu Wangshu.

The moment she saw Lu Chuan, the tears in her eyes could no longer be held back. They streamed down as she burst into loud sobs.

"Wangshu, don't be afraid... Your brother is here. You don't have to go anywhere, and no one would dare do anything to you."

Lu Chuan stepped forward, held Lu Wangshu, and comforted her softly.

At the doorway, Liang Ya could not help sighing inwardly at the sight, guilt and worry appearing on her face.

Half an hour later.

Lu Chuan finally coaxed Lu Wangshu to sleep. Only then did he take the bear paw from his backpack and hand it to Liang Ya. "Mom, help me prepare this bear paw. We'll stew it and eat it tomorrow."

"Alright!"

Liang Ya nodded, took the bear paw, and went into the kitchen to prepare it.

Lu Chuan carried his backpack into his room. There was still a bear gallbladder inside, and it would help with his body Tempering.

Not minding the heavy stench of blood, he swallowed the entire bear gallbladder in a few bites.

The first hurdle of Martial Dao Cultivation was body Tempering. Once one tempered the physique and generated Internal Strength, one had reached Beginner level, officially attained Martial Arts Reaching Rank, and Stepped into the Cultivation Path.

Bear gallbladders could strengthen a person's vital energy and essence, and were of great help in cultivating Internal Strength.

As the bear gallbladder entered his stomach, Lu Chuan felt so bloated that his belly seemed about to burst. A warm current spread from his abdomen and circulated throughout his body.

This was the energy contained within the bear gallbladder.

Ever since the Heaven and Earth Mutation a century ago, Spiritual Energy had revived. Nurtured by Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, all Living Beings in this world had undergone a complete rebirth.

The Human Race could cultivate and become Martial Artists, while savage beasts could evolve into Fierce Beasts.

Though that Black Bear was not a true Fierce Beast, it was already very close to becoming one. Its Flesh and blood contained pure energy.

This bear gallbladder had gathered most of the Black Bear's essence. For an apprentice like Lu Chuan, who had not yet formally Stepped into the Martial Dao, it was exactly what he needed.

In fact, if Lu Chuan were given a true Fierce Beast-level bear gallbladder now, he might not even be able to digest it.

After all, Fierce Beasts and ordinary wild animals were as far apart as heaven and earth.

Fierce Beasts nurtured Fierce Fiend Power Inside the body. This thing had also evolved from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, but it was exceptionally violent and filled every part of a Fierce Beast's body.

That was why even true Martial Artists did not dare eat Fierce Beast meat directly.

The violent Fierce Fiend Power contained within was deadly poison to Martial Artists.

Any Flesh and blood from a Fierce Beast had to undergo special treatment to neutralize its Fierce Fiend Power before it could be consumed.

This was also why, after hunting a Fierce Beast, all Martial Artists could only bring back its corpse or the most valuable parts of its body to sell to professional companies, rather than process or consume it themselves.

"What pure energy. I feel full of vigor. I need to take this chance and practice Five Elements Stance Training."

Lu Chuan exhaled a breath of foul air, immediately assumed an opening stance in his room, and began practicing Five Elements Stance Training.

Five Elements Stance Training actually had another name: Xingyi Five Elements Fist.

Before the Heaven and Earth Mutation, Great Xia had inherited Ancient Martial Arts, and Xingyi Five Elements Fist was one of the representatives of internal martial arts.

A century ago, Heaven and Earth underwent a mutation, and Spiritual Energy revived.

The first group to benefit were those who practiced Ancient Martial Arts.

Over the following century, the nation evolved many Ancient Martial Arts into various basic Cultivation Methods and promoted them across the country.

Xingyi Five Elements Fist was among the most widely promoted martial arts. After a century of updates and transformations, it had become vastly different from the original Xingyi Five Elements Fist, so it was renamed Five Elements Stance Training.

"The Five Elements are five beasts. Five Elements Stance Training imitates certain movements of five animals to achieve the effect of Tempering the fleshly body and physique..."

Lu Chuan muttered to himself as the many cultivation methods of Five Elements Stance Training surfaced in his mind.

His body followed his intent, performing all sorts of extraordinarily strange movements.

Like a Fierce Tiger, like an Ape Monkey, like a Giant Bear, like a Spirit Deer, like a Flying Crane.

This was how Five Elements Stance Training unfolded its five forms. Each form had anywhere from six to ten moves, for a total of thirty-six moves.

Ten minutes later!

Lu Chuan finally completed an entire set of stance training.

[Five Elements Stance Training +1]

Sure enough, at that moment, a message appeared on the System Panel atop the Bronze Ancient Tree in his Sea of Consciousness.

The next moment, Lu Chuan saw the Cultivation Method section on the System Panel change.

[Cultivation Method: Five Elements Stance Training (Beginner, 13/100)]

"It really worked. Five Elements Stance Training's proficiency increased by one point, raised from 12 to 13. Not only that, my own understanding of Five Elements Stance Training has improved a little as well, and my fleshly body and physique have also advanced slightly—though it's almost negligible.

"But as long as it works, there's hope..."

Lu Chuan was instantly overjoyed, streaks of sharp light bursting from his eyes.

Although he had Archery as a precedent, he had still been somewhat worried. Archery was a Martial Skill, while Five Elements Stance Training belonged to the Cultivation Method category. There was still a difference between the two.

Now, the stone hanging over his heart had finally fallen to the ground.

"One practice session takes ten minutes. That's six points an hour. If I work a little harder, I can raise Five Elements Stance Training to Proficient within a day."

Lu Chuan thought to himself, And the time may be even shorter. As my Five Elements Stance Training realm rises, the proficiency I gain from each subsequent round of Five Elements Stance Training should also increase.

This should be the same as Archery. So within ten days, I can absolutely cultivate Five Elements Stance Training to Perfection, generate Internal Strength, and attain Martial Arts Reaching Rank...

Lu Chuan's heart burned with excitement.

He took a deep breath, calmed the excitement in his heart, and continued practicing Five Elements Stance Training.

Move after move flowed forth. Lu Chuan felt smoother than ever before, brimming with drive.

[Five Elements Stance Training +1]

[Five Elements Stance Training +2]

[Five Elements Stance Training +1]

...

In the room, Lu Chuan seemed to have entered a state of complete self-forgetfulness, practicing Five Elements Stance Training again and again.

Watching his proficiency continuously rise, he grew increasingly exhilarated.

Meanwhile.

While Lu Chuan was immersed in his training, Yang Zuo, who had slunk away in disgrace after being frightened by Lu Chuan, entered a bar in the slums with two of his lackeys, his face gloomy.

"Brother Zuo, what do we do now? That Little Bastard Lu Chuan doesn't seem to fall for our tricks."

A yellow-haired young man following behind Yang Zuo gritted his teeth. "And I feel like he's gotten stronger. His Momentum was terrifying. Could he be about to cultivate Internal Strength and attain Martial Arts Reaching Rank?"

"Martial Arts Reaching Rank, my ass. He's just a stinking hunter who risks his life in the Wilderness."

Yang Zuo glared viciously and sneered repeatedly. "Do you really think Internal Strength is so easy to cultivate?

"Spiritual Energy has revived for a hundred years, and everyone in the world practices the Martial Dao.

"But what's the result?

"What percentage of Great Xia has become Martial Artists over the years? There might not even be one in a thousand.

"Without sufficient resources and someone to teach you word by word and hand by hand, how could you cultivate Internal Strength and attain Martial Arts Reaching Rank just by blindly practicing on your own?"

"Brother Zuo is right."

The other young man immediately nodded, then hesitated before saying, "Still, that brat won't play along. With him in the way, it won't be easy for us to take Lu Wangshu.

"How about we just do it the hard way? Call more brothers over. Why should we be afraid of one mere hunter...?"

"Shut up!"

Yang Zuo shot the man a fierce glare and barked, "If we could do it the hard way, would I have needed to play the grandson at the Lu Family's house?

"The Hall Master specifically instructed us that things have been a little tight lately. We absolutely cannot make too much noise.

"So we can only make the Lu Family hand her over willingly.

"But it doesn't matter. The money that Lu Chuan's old man borrowed before he disappeared was real enough, and the deadline is almost here.

"When the time comes, we'll make the son repay the father's debt.

"With the Lu Family's current situation, they definitely won't be able to repay it. Then we can openly throw Lu Chuan into prison.

"Without Lu Chuan, that mother and daughter of the Lu Family will be lambs waiting for the slaughter..."

As he spoke, a cruel smile immediately appeared on Yang Zuo's face.