Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance

Martial arts room.

Ji Xuantong sensed Lu Chenzhou's bearing and suddenly asked:

"You've reached the Second Stage, haven't you?"

"Reporting to Teacher, I haven't been tested yet."

"Go get tested yourself after class. Shi Ruyu said you broke through to the First Stage three months ago. If that's true, then your cultivation speed... is quite good."

Having received his approval, Lu Chenzhou said:

"It's because the teachers taught me well."

Ji Xuantong asked:

"Have you taken supplements during this time?"

Lu Chenzhou did not hide it.

"Qi Boost No. 1. I only drank one box."

Ji Xuantong was slightly startled inwardly.

If it was genuine, then Lu Chenzhou might not simply have inferior innate bones. He had studied Lu Chenzhou's progress over the past nine years. Among those with inferior innate bones, his cultivation progress had indeed been relatively fast, but that was also because he studied diligently and trained bitterly. His comprehension had actually been ordinary.

"Could he have attained sudden enlightenment?"

In olden times, some people who had originally been dull and untalented would attain sudden enlightenment one day due to some event or stimulus, their cultivation progressing a thousand miles in a single day.

Sudden enlightenment meant that some latent potential within the body had been activated.

It might even be a precursor to awakening a Martial Bone Dao Fetus.

The reason he had taken Shi Ruyu as a disciple was because he had seen this potential in her as well.

This girl also had inferior innate bones. Relying on diligent study, bitter training, and decent family circumstances, she had barely met the special admissions assessment standard for a martial arts university. Four years later, having failed to meet Pingjiang Martial University's assessment standard for remaining at the school for advanced studies, she entered society.

During this period of observation, he had discovered that Shi Ruyu's comprehension was quite good, and her cultivation progress had surpassed that of the past. She had the possibility of awakening a Martial Bone Dao Fetus, so he had accepted her as a true disciple.

Of course, these were all merely his conjectures. For a talent like the Martial Bone Dao Fetus, which surpassed common sense and could not be measured by technology, no one dared make guarantees.

Moreover, if one awakened too late and missed the prime time for charging toward the martial arts realm, then once Blood Vitality declined in old age, the upper limit after awakening would not be very high either.

Ji Xuantong decided to observe for a while longer.

If Lu Chenzhou could maintain this momentum going forward, he would accept him as a true disciple.

As for the true disciple fee, Lu Chenzhou's family was poor, so he could just charge a token amount.

A Martial Artist had limited energy and could only accept so many true disciples in a lifetime. But once one accepted a disciple, one had to raise them as a successor, like father and son!

By the rules of the ancient martial world, a master held an even higher status.

Ji Xuantong felt somewhat expectant.

This tiny Flying Swallow Martial Hall had both Shi Ruyu and Lu Chenzhou, these two crouching dragons and fledgling phoenixes. If they both became Martial Artists in the future, he too would benefit without end.

He had also secretly observed the character of these two.

They should both be people who repaid kindness and held upright dispositions.

He also knew about Lu Chenzhou standing up for justice.

He appreciated that quality in the young man.

Pulling back his thoughts, Ji Xuantong took out a beautifully bound black book.

It was as thick as a dictionary, ancient and imposing.

"This is the Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance. It will be the most important lesson in your martial arts cultivation from now on, without question! First, give it a rough read-through and tell me how you feel."

Lu Chenzhou accepted the booklet. It had a full 720 pages!

He opened to the first page. What met his eyes was a diagram of the human body's acupoints, intricate and interwoven like stars, with twenty different human postures illustrated below.

He flipped roughly another page ahead. Every page was the same.

"Well? How does it feel?"

"Complex and profound."

Lu Chenzhou answered truthfully. He had learned stance work before, but it had been far simpler than this. As a foundational martial arts skill, he had never seen stance work that resembled a heavenly tome like this.

"That's right. This is martial arts!"

Ji Xuantong suddenly exuded a terrifying aura. Faint sounds of surging waves and a swallow's cry came from within his body, and even the floor seemed to tremble.

Lu Chenzhou blurted out:

"Bone-Tendon Resonance?"

"Correct. It seems you know quite a bit about the common knowledge of Martial Artists as well. When your control over the human body reaches a realm like mine, your bones and tendons can resonate, producing your own Martial Dao Resonance and merging with your bearing and demeanor, transcending the ordinary!"

At this moment.

Ji Xuantong seemed like a roaring machine, shaking mountains and overturning earth.

It was Lu Chenzhou's first time witnessing a Martial Artist display his abilities up close in person. His heart raced with longing. It felt completely different from watching television—it was far too shocking!

Ji Xuantong said:

"The Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance differs from ordinary moving and still stance work. It is a cultivation method for tempering the human body's acupoints. Every acupoint has twenty types of stance work, making 14,400 kinds in total. If you master them all, you can open all 720 apertures of the human body!"

Lu Chenzhou said:

"So, if I want to become a Martial Artist, I need to open 720 apertures?"

Ji Xuantong laughed.

"You still think of it too simply. Do you know how many apertures I've opened? I, Bright-Winged Swallow, was born in the seventies with average innate bones. I began practicing martial arts at five, became a Martial Artist at thirty, and after cultivating for forty-six years, I've opened only sixty-six apertures."

Lu Chenzhou's first reaction was that Ji Xuantong was actually ten years older than his parents.

Yet he looked so young.

That was the benefit of practicing martial arts.

At the same time, he understood the difficulty of the Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance.

Remembering something, Ji Xuantong smiled.

"If you can open 720 apertures, you'll be able to laugh and chat freely with the Azure Heaven Dragon King."

"So that's how it is. Thank you for your instruction, Teacher."

Ji Xuantong stood with his hands behind his back, his expression stern.

"Many people think that once they become Martial Artists, they no longer need to practice stances. That is utterly wrong! In truth, becoming a Martial Artist is only the beginning of stance work.

Master Lingkong once said, 'Stretch the tendons and draw out the bones; enter the Dao through stance methods.' His venerable self explained the importance of stance work long ago, so your first lesson is stance practice.

..."

As the founding patriarch of the Pictographic School, Master Lingkong's many theories had profoundly influenced later martial arts studies. Even the Azure Heaven Dragon King had to respectfully address him as an elder senior.

After hearing this, Lu Chenzhou's heart surged.

He did not shrink back because of the difficulty.

Today, he had only just stepped through martial arts' great gate, and he was exhilarated beyond measure.

The Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance was the prerequisite martial art for every True Skill of the present age.

After the founding of the new Great Xia, the Martial Artists Association had gone through untold hardship to gather the stance arts that countless martial arts clans, powerful families, and mountain sects had hoarded like treasured brooms. Then, after generations of martial arts powerhouses researched them together, Myriad Laws Return to Unity, and the Heaven Stance that changed the martial arts landscape was born. The chief editor of the Heaven Stance was the former principal of Dragon-Tiger Academy.

The former principal was also a descendant of Zhang Tianshi of Dragon-Tiger Mountain, who had entered the Dao.

Thus, it was called the "Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance."

After introducing its background, Ji Xuantong began demonstrating.

"Before becoming Martial Artists, ordinary people generally begin with stance work for the acupoints in the hands or feet, developing the acupoints there. Once you can condense thirty apertures, you'll be only one step away from becoming a Martial Artist.

"I'll begin by teaching you the acupoints of your right hand, such as the Zhongchong Acupoint. Of course, if you're accustomed to using your left hand as your main attacking fist, then the left fist is fine as well. In any case, once your realm is sufficient, there's no distinction between left and right hands. They are both the two most important gates of the human body."

Lu Chenzhou watched with complete concentration.

Two thousand per lesson—he could not waste a single second!

With Fistheart Without Regret's blessing, his comprehension of fist arts was clearly better than before. After watching this one type of stance work once, he already had several degrees of confidence.

Seeing that he was eager to try, Ji Xuantong said:

"Practice it once and let me see."

Lu Chenzhou immediately entered the state and began demonstrating.

Ji Xuantong nodded slightly and praised:

"Not bad. To learn the Dragon-Tiger Heaven Stance, you need a foundation in Basic Fist Art and stance work. Many wealthy people want to learn this right from the start, but the results are worse instead."

Of course, he did not mind.

After all, making money was the main thing.

He suddenly asked:

"Right, your Basic Fist Art has reached Perfection, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

A glint flashed through Ji Xuantong's eyes. Seeing how skilled Lu Chenzhou was, he had felt that his Basic Fist Art should have reached Perfection. Sure enough, it had.

He remembered that Lu Chenzhou had only reached Major Accomplishment three months earlier. Based on his previous cultivation trend, it would generally take at least half a year, perhaps even over a year, to reach Perfection.

This speed was even a notch faster than many people with average innate bones whom he had taught. As for superior innate bones... sorry, he had never taught any.

He might have picked up a treasure.

Please vote monthly tickets, keep reading, and send recommendation tickets.