Realms and Xingyi's Five Elements

Realms and Xingyi's Five Elements

"Brother Chen, when did you learn the Three-Body Stance?"

Gulp.

Shi Jian swallowed.

Without realizing it,

the way he addressed Chen Sheng had quietly changed.

"The night before last."

After receiving Chen Sheng's confirmation once again,

Shi Jian's expression immediately looked as though he had seen a ghost.

What the hell was there left to teach? Even his own stance probably was not this standard.

Shi Jian could not find the slightest flaw in Chen Sheng's Three-Body Stance.

It was completely textbook-level.

If Chen Sheng had not been Li Chenghu's disciple,

Shi Jian might even have suspected that Chen Sheng had come from another school to steal their teachings.

After all, Three-Body Stance Training was mandatory in many martial arts schools.

"Little Shi."

"Little Shi?"

It was only after Chen Sheng called out repeatedly that Shi Jian came back to his senses.

Cough, cough—

He pretended to cough to hide his embarrassment.

"Brother Chen, there's nothing wrong with your stance training."

"I think you can start practicing fist techniques directly."

At those words,

Chen Sheng's eyes lit up, and he instantly perked up.

He immediately focused, preparing to observe Shi Jian's movements.

"Watch closely."

"The Three-Body Stance is the foundation of Xingyi Quan. All fist techniques extend from it."

As he spoke,

Shi Jian assumed the San Ti Stance. In an instant,

the honest, simple aura around him vanished.

In its place was a steady, composed bearing.

"The basic fist techniques are divided into Five Elements Fist and Twelve Form Fist."

"Today, we'll start with Five Elements Fist."

As he spoke, Shi Jian did not slow his movements in the slightest. His entire body was like a treasured sword sheathed away.

The sword had yet to leave its sheath, but its presence had already arrived.

"Five Elements Fist consists of Splitting, Crushing, Drilling, Cannon, and Horizontal Fist, representing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth respectively."

"They can strengthen the five organs, fortify the tendons and bones, and nourish the spirit."

"Splitting Fist—use the body as an axe. One punch sends a man flying!"

The moment he finished speaking,

Shi Jian's eyes widened as he drew in a deep breath.

His breath moved like a wandering dragon, his heart and lungs resounding in unison.

He stepped forward, his arms raised as though gripping an axe.

Then he chopped down fiercely!

Crack! The air exploded with a sharp blast.

"Crushing Fist—piercing, crushing, exploding. Half a step conquers the world!"

"Drilling Fist—slip through any opening, swift as lightning!"

"Cannon Fist—fierce and violent, defense and attack as one!"

"Horizontal Fist—force rounded and complete, use the horizontal to break the straight!"

The Five Elements Fist flowed out in succession.

As Shi Jian swung his arms, Chen Sheng could faintly hear the sound of air being torn apart.

When his force erupted, it triggered a series of explosive cracks in the air.

Hoo—

After completing the five fists, Shi Jian stood still and withdrew his form, exhaling deeply.

A distinct cloud of white mist shot from his mouth, traveling a full two meters before slowly dispersing.

The sight made Chen Sheng's eyes shine.

It was exactly like the martial arts he had once imagined.

Coming to this martial arts school had been the right choice! At that moment, Chen Sheng felt incomparably fortunate to have entered the world of martial arts.

"Brother Chen, Five Elements Fist is both a fighting method and a training method."

"As a training method, combined with the Three-Body Stance, it can temper the five organs and strengthen the tendons and bones."

"As a fighting method, it can defeat enemies."

"I'll first help you become familiar with the movements. Once you've completely mastered them, you can try striking quickly."

Over the next three hours,

Shi Jian guided Chen Sheng through the basic movements of Five Elements Fist.

And during the practice,

Chen Sheng made a surprising discovery.

His lv2 Three-Body Stance could actually work in tandem with Five Elements Fist.

With lv1 Three-Body Stance, he had to concentrate at all times while holding the stance, maintaining the movement principles and breathing rhythm for the stance to have any effect.

But lv2 Three-Body Stance had already given Chen Sheng a thorough understanding of every principle.

Even while practicing Five Elements Fist, he could continuously adjust his body, allowing the two to complement each other.

The training effect was stronger than standing in the stance alone! After three hours of learning and exercise,

all three of Chen Sheng's physical attributes rose by 0.02. It did not seem like much.

But that was because Chen Sheng was not yet proficient enough in Five Elements Fist, preventing the training effect from becoming continuous.

He believed that once he used Skill Points to upgrade Five Elements Fist,

the training effect would improve dramatically!

Thinking of that night's training, he could not help feeling excited.

"What are you so happy about, Brother Chen?"

At that moment,

Shi Jian, standing beside Chen Sheng, could not help asking when he saw him grinning foolishly.

After three hours together, the two had grown much more familiar.

Though Shi Jian looked mature, he truly had the straightforward nature of a young man.

He was the kind of person Chen Sheng got along with.

Therefore,

they no longer spoke to each other with the same politeness as before.

"Nothing, nothing."

"I just thought of something happy."

Chen Sheng quickly came back to his senses.

Seeing that Shi Jian seemed about to ask further, he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Shi, let me ask you something. Do you know how martial arts realms are divided?"

"I've seen people online talking about first rank, second rank, and so on. Is there some standard for distinguishing them?"

"Yeah."

Oh? Chen Sheng had only meant to change the subject, but seeing there really was something to it, he immediately became interested.

"Tell me more."

Shi Jian began explaining in detail.

"Those below the realm are divided into ten ranks, and those ten ranks are further divided into three levels."

"Ranks ten through eight train Bright Force. The main focus is building physical strength and twisting the strength of the whole body into a single rope."

"If your punch can produce an explosive crack, that is Bright Force."

At this point, Shi Jian revealed a proud expression.

"Your humble brother here is an eighth-rank martial artist."

"I'm only one step away from entering the next level: Hidden Force."

"Train a breath within, train tendons, bones, and skin without. Once the Periphery Tendons, Bones, and Outer Membrane are connected throughout the body, you can unleash Bursting Hidden Force, greatly increasing the destructive power of every punch and kick."

"Hidden Force corresponds to ranks seven through five."

"After that, train the five organs and six bowels until inner and outer become one. When Hidden Force spreads throughout the body and reaches the point where not even a feather can be added, that is Transforming Force."

"Transforming Force corresponds to ranks four through one."

At that point,

Shi Jian stopped.

Chen Sheng waited for a while. Seeing that Shi Jian did not seem to intend to continue, he hurriedly pressed him.

"What about after that?"

"There is no after that."

Shi Jian said it as though it were only natural.

"Bro, I'm only eighth rank. You expect me to know about entering the realm?"

He looked at Chen Sheng with an irritating expression that said, What are you even thinking?

But he quickly changed the subject.

"Still, that's just how it's said."

"Ever since the changes in the world, pure force can no longer fully represent one's rank."

"So in the end, it still comes down to physical strength."

As he spoke,

Shi Jian gestured with his chin toward the wooden door deeper inside the Martial Arts Training Field.

"Those Personal Disciples are all monsters with terrifying physical qualities."

"For example, Wu Ran. He's only trained martial arts for two months and is still at the Bright Force level."

"But not a single Hidden Force practitioner in the martial arts school is his match."

"Some have even seen him spar with Senior Brother Guo, who has reached Transforming Force, and he was not at a disadvantage at all."

"So for us, practicing martial arts is only about developing our bodies more effectively."

Hearing this,

Chen Sheng fell into thought.

What a coincidence.

As long as he kept training consistently, his physical qualities would not lose to anyone's.

Including those "Celestials" Li Chenghu dreaded so deeply.

Clang.

Just then,

a sudden sound interrupted Chen Sheng's thoughts.

The other martial arts school disciples around them also stopped what they were doing.

Chen Sheng followed the sound.

He discovered that the closed door had opened.

Li Xingwu emerged slowly with his hands behind his back.

Three people followed behind him.