Showing Off Successfully

After lunch the next day, Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei went to the Training Ground together for extra practice as they had the previous few days. Compared to earlier, there were many more people on the grounds.

After practicing for a while, Xiong Lei could barely suppress the delight on his face. He quietly pulled Zhuang Jin aside beneath an unoccupied patch of shade. "Jinzi, I've completed the first step—Grasp Blood Qi and refine Inner Breath. I can feel the bottleneck Master Ping talked about."

Zhuang Jin's expression paused slightly. Suppressing the complicated emotions in his heart, he sincerely congratulated him. "Brother Xiong, congratulations. Today is the eighth day since we entered the Shen Family to learn martial arts. According to Master Ping, you'll probably break through the Martial Practitioner Bottleneck in another fifteen or sixteen days and become a Formal Martial Artist."

He asked curiously, "By the way, Brother Xiong, what does a bottleneck feel like?"

"What does it feel like? It's just... it's just..."

The feeling was truly difficult to describe. Xiong Lei stammered for quite some time without managing to explain it clearly. Then, a flash of inspiration struck him. Combining Ping Yongfeng's metaphor for a bottleneck with his own life experience, he said, "A bottleneck is like the bamboo membrane inside the bamboo tube Master Ping mentioned. Wearing down the bottleneck with Inner Breath is like... poking it with a tender willow twig!"

As he spoke, he made a circle with his left hand and repeatedly jabbed his right index finger into it. "When you poke through that membrane, you've broken through the Martial Practitioner Bottleneck. Then you're a true martial artist."

Watching Xiong Lei talk while demonstrating, Zhuang Jin suddenly could not help laughing.

When Zhuang Jin laughed, Xiong Lei also realized that his movements seemed somewhat indecent.

Though he had never experienced relations between men and women, he knew a little about them. He had once seen a male dog mounted on a female dog's back, thrusting again and again. Back then, he had even leaned closer to inspect them carefully and had wanted to separate them for further observation, only to be beaten until he howled by his father... Realizing it now, he burst into laughter as well.

Sunlight filtered through the swaying shade of the trees, scattering mottled flecks of light. The two laughed freely, and for a moment, it seemed they had forgotten all their exhaustion and worries.

That night, when Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei returned from their extra practice, they heard Wang Rui asking the others about their progress again.

Ever since the argument on the night Hou Yong had come looking for them, Wang Rui had torn all pretense with the two of them and no longer asked about their progress. However, he still asked the other dormitory members as usual.

The other Martial Students answered as they always did, saying they had not felt anything.

Only Bi Kai seemed to be suppressing something. When Wang Rui finally asked him, he could not wait to say, "Ah, the first step, Grasp Blood Qi? I completed it today. I thought it would take another ten days, but I did it on the ninth day. What did it feel like? Nothing much. I just kept practicing, and then I grasped my Blood Qi and refined my first thread of Inner Breath."

Wang Rui: ...

The other Martial Students in the dormitory: ...

He had really shown off right in their faces!

Seeing Wang Rui's pained expression, as though he had eaten shit, Zhuang Jin shook his head slightly. Just as he had always thought, asking others about their progress—checking answers—would only make oneself uncomfortable no matter what. Why bother?

Xiong Lei watched the spectacle from the side with great interest. He had also grasped his Blood Qi, so naturally he was not jealous of Bi Kai. Still, seeing the other dormitory members clearly sour with envy and jealousy, yet force smiles as they congratulated him, was rather amusing.

The next day, news of Bi Kai grasping his Blood Qi spread. Since Xiang Qichen had already done so two or three days earlier, the Martial Students' nerves, which had relaxed by two or three parts, tightened once more. After lunch, after dinner—whenever it was, the Training Ground was blazing with activity. Especially as the minimum half-month deadline Ping Yongfeng had mentioned for the Middle-Top Lot drew ever closer, the trend only intensified.

Time rushed by, and several more days passed. It was now November 14th, the fourteenth day since Zhuang Jin's batch of Martial Students had entered the Shen Family to learn martial arts.

That morning, after Ping Yongfeng led the Martial Students through several rounds of Stance Training, Xiang Qichen suddenly raised his hand with wild joy on his face. He announced that he had broken through the second-step Martial Practitioner Bottleneck. Amid the uproar of the Martial Students, he stepped forward and lightly pressed his palm against a wooden board, leaving behind a palm print.

"Becoming a Formal Martial Artist in fourteen days—good, good, excellent!"

Ping Yongfeng clapped his hands in praise. Though he had known on the seventh day that Xiang Qichen had grasped his Blood Qi and was a promising martial artist seed, now that it had truly happened and the dust had settled, he was still quite delighted. Mm, with Xiang Qichen becoming a true martial artist, his quota for this month had already been fulfilled. At the very least, his pay would not be docked.

In his delight, he personally took Xiang Qichen away to move him into another room. When he returned shortly afterward, he called Bi Kai and Xiong Lei aside to give them guidance and share his own insights and experience in breaking through bottlenecks.

—Bi Kai had publicly told Ping Yongfeng the day after grasping his Blood Qi, while Xiong Lei had privately sought out Ping Yongfeng to tell him. Before doing so, Xiong Lei had asked Zhuang Jin whether he should inform Ping Yongfeng that he had completed the first step of Grasp Blood Qi. Zhuang Jin had analyzed the pros and cons for him. Not telling him would keep his progress secret, lessen others' jealousy, and avoid possible trouble arising from it. Telling him, however, would earn Ping Yongfeng's focused attention and perhaps some experience in breaking through the bottleneck. After considering it, Xiong Lei had ultimately gone to him in private.

To Ping Yongfeng, Xiang Qichen had already secured his quota. But if Bi Kai and Xiong Lei, these two martial artist seeds, also succeeded, that would mean exceeding his quota. Each extra martial artist earned him a reward of five mace of silver!

Many Martial Students were greatly stimulated by Xiang Qichen's success. Especially those who had yet to complete the first step of Grasp Blood Qi with only a little over one day left before the half-month deadline, and could not help growing increasingly anxious.

Zhuang Jin noticed the changes among the Martial Students at the Training Ground. They were becoming ever more restless and impatient for quick success. In their panic, many repeatedly practiced at speed, only to make their Stance Training increasingly disorderly. Perhaps they were chasing high numbers of repetitions to fool themselves into a little psychological comfort?

He shook his head slightly and continued at his own pace, neither hurried nor slow, persevering without interruption.

That day, after extra practice following dinner, Zhuang Jin returned together with Xiong Lei.

On the road, Xiong Lei said, "Jinzi, I feel like my Martial Practitioner Bottleneck is about to be worn through. I should become a true martial artist within the next couple of days."

"Brother Xiong is impressive."

"Jinzi, what about you?"

"I'm close too," Zhuang Jin said.

Close to grasping his Blood Qi and refining Inner Breath.

Although his body had suffered some deficits because of the previous owner, from the first day onward he had remained consistent: disciplined extra practice, careful contemplation and understanding. Diligence could make up for clumsiness, and coupled with his own measure of talent, he had finally reached this point today.

I have a clear grasp of my own condition. Within three days, I will definitely complete the first step—Grasp Blood Qi and refine Inner Breath. So it will take sixteen or seventeen days in total to complete the first step?

Master Ping said the first and second steps generally take roughly the same amount of time. But my bodily deficits are unfavorable for the first step. If I take sixteen or seventeen days to complete it, then my true aptitude should be slightly better than someone with a normal, healthy body who takes sixteen or seventeen days to complete the first step. Breaking through the Martial Practitioner Bottleneck in the second step may not take another sixteen or seventeen days. I still have hope of completing the second step and becoming a true martial artist before the month is over.