Galloping Horse Strength

Heaven and earth possess righteous qi, bestowed in myriad forms.

Below, it becomes rivers and mountains; above, the sun and stars.

In man, it is called vast and noble, surging forth to fill the blue vault.

At times, it becomes the tablet that strikes down traitors, smashing the rebels' heads apart.

Such is the majesty of this qi, fierce and eternal through the ages.

When it pierces through sun and moon, what is life or death worth?

My heart grieves on and on; does the vast sky know no end?

The sages have long departed, yet their codes remain from ages past.

Beneath the eaves, I unfold a book and read; the ancient way shines upon my face.

Yang City Thirteenth High School.

Senior One, Class Nine.

The clear sound of reading echoed through the classroom.

Every student sat upright, full of spirit, heads held high as they loudly recited the Song of Righteousness from their textbooks.

"You must remember: practicing martial arts to strengthen yourselves is not for acting fierce and fighting recklessly, bullying the weak, or flaunting your power. Those who practice martial arts should uphold righteous qi, assist the government in sweeping away organized crime and evil, maintain public order, and work together to build a safe, stable, harmonious society.

"Besides strengthening the body, martial arts training must also strengthen one's will.

"When you encounter injustice, you must dare to step forward."

After the students finished reciting the Song of Righteousness, a man in his thirties, dressed in a black martial arts uniform, spoke from the podium.

All forty-five students sat obediently, listening without blinking to their Martial Arts Teacher's lecture.

The man in the black martial arts uniform was their Martial Arts Teacher, Zhou Wu.

Two hundred years ago, Spiritual Energy Resurgence swept across the globe, greatly changing people's physical constitutions.

An ordinary twelve-year-old could lift a hundred-jin barbell. An elderly woman who had trained could break pre-resurgence hundred-meter sprint records. In such an environment, a worldwide martial arts craze began.

Martial arts experts who had once existed only in wuxia novels began truly appearing in reality.

However, martial arts training was not better the younger one started. Children who were too young had yet to fully develop physically or mentally, and beginning training too early could easily harm their bodies.

Dragon Ascending Nation stipulated that martial arts courses could only be offered in high school. Middle school students could only study martial arts theory and basic fist-and-kick techniques.

Of course, wealthy children from well-off families could naturally come into contact with martial arts early if they hired private martial arts coaches.

Children from ordinary families only had the chance to encounter martial arts after entering high school, changing their destinies through martial arts cultivation.

Yang City Thirteenth High School ranked at the bottom among all high schools in Yang City, and its students all came from ordinary families.

The wealthy children from well-off families all attended Yang City First High School or Yang City Second High School, the key schools.

Among these students, a youth of around sixteen or seventeen sat in a corner near the back row. He was thin, with ordinary features—the sort of utterly generic face that would vanish into a sea of people.

Qin Fen thought he was hallucinating.

Right after he had loudly finished reciting the Song of Righteousness, this crude Panel had suddenly appeared before his eyes.

He could see it, but he could not touch it.

Qin Fen: Ordinary Person

Martial Arts: None

Righteous Qi Value: 0

"Class officially begins now. Today, I will teach you a strength-training martial art."

Zhou Wu's voice pulled Qin Fen's attention back, and he stopped staring at the Panel before him.

Every student in the classroom sat upright, ears pricked as they listened attentively. No one was distracted.

Cultivating martial arts could make one incredibly powerful, granting all manner of miraculous abilities: catching blades barehanded, splitting gold and iron with one's palm, walking upon water, swallowing gold and turning it into stone, becoming impervious to blades and spears, and shattering the air with a punch.

Those with profound martial arts attainment could even fly through the skies and burrow through the earth, shatter mountains and rivers with a sword, cleave the firmament with a blade, and bring their fist techniques to divine heights. They were like immortal Buddhas of ancient times walking the world—one person could destroy a nation or shelter one.

Such people bore a resounding title: Land Immortals.

"Martial arts cultivation is divided into external training and internal cultivation.

"External training mainly tempers the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones. Only when external training reaches its peak, breaking open the Mysterious Gate Aperture within the body and nurturing Internal Family True Qi, can one cultivate internal arts and begin internal cultivation.

"Otherwise, even if peerless internal arts lay before you, without opening the Mysterious Gate Aperture, it would all be in vain.

"The training in external training means tempering the body—training one's physique, tendons, bones, and skin.

"To reach the external training realm, the most common and simplest method is to rely on external objects to pound the body. But the person wielding them may not know their own strength and fail to control the force properly, often causing injuries.

"This requires specialized medicines for internal consumption and external application. Without medicinal aid and unwavering perseverance, ordinary people find it difficult to cultivate external arts through external pounding. Moreover, none of these medicines are cheap; ordinary families simply cannot afford the expense.

"Therefore, the internal cultivation masters of the Martial Arts Bureau created the foundational external training art, Galloping Horse Strength, based on the physical condition of ordinary people. This foundational external training art is the most suitable for youths of sixteen or seventeen to cultivate. All high schools across the country teach Galloping Horse Strength.

"This foundational external training art can increase your strength and unify your force. Once force is formed, you can use it to temper your skin, flesh, tendons, and bones. Even without relying on external objects to pound your physique, you can raise your external training realm.

"The cultivation posture of Galloping Horse Strength is very simple. Watch carefully."

Zhou Wu suddenly displayed the fist form of Galloping Horse Strength. His feet planted firmly as he stepped with the momentum of a galloping horse. White mist seemed to spill from his breath, while his body opened and closed in broad movements, slow as a fiery steed about to charge forth.

Every student watched Zhou Wu's every movement with utmost seriousness.

The students seated in the back had their view blocked by those in front, so they simply climbed onto their desks.

Once Zhou Wu assumed the stance of Galloping Horse Strength, Qin Fen saw his muscles writhing. It was as though a little mouse had burrowed beneath his skin and was darting about, giving the sight a strangely comical air.

During his three years of middle school, he had studied relevant martial arts theory.

Qin Fen knew that was force.

Once one cultivated force, one could temper the tendons, bones, skin, and flesh without relying on external objects to pound the body.

Only upon reaching this realm could one be considered to have crossed the threshold of martial arts, barely qualifying as a Quasi-Martial Artist.

"My demonstration ends here. Next, I will teach you the method of circulating force in Galloping Horse Strength." After demonstrating more than ten times, Zhou Wu withdrew his stance and said calmly, "If you only know how to pose in fist forms but do not understand how to circulate force, then you are merely practicing flowery fists and embroidered kicks, with no real destructive power at all.

"When I call your name, come up and assume the Galloping Horse Strength stance.

"First, Cao Mang."

The student whose name had been called stepped forward and hurriedly assumed the fist stance of Galloping Horse Strength.

Perhaps because he was too nervous, he could not get the stance right no matter how he stood, making frequent mistakes.

"Don't be nervous. Relax."

Only after several corrections from Zhou Wu did Cao Mang barely manage to achieve the standard posture.

"Force will be transmitted once a week. If you still have not cultivated force after one month, that means you are not suited to martial arts. Give up early, study properly, become an intellectual, and add bricks and tiles to the construction of civilized society.

"If you can cultivate force within a month, you may apply to join the Martial Arts Class and devote yourself wholeheartedly to martial arts. Once your cultivation bears fruit, you can protect the nation and bring peace to the land, punish the wicked and evil, assist the government in sweeping away organized crime and evil, slay Aliens, and build a safe, stable, harmonious society."

As Zhou Wu spoke, he walked over to Cao Mang.

Then, he reached out and patted the student's body.

A special force poured from his palm into Cao Mang's body.

The influx of this foreign energy seemed to cause him tremendous pain, twisting his face slightly.

"Focus your mind and calm your qi. Remember the circulation route of this force." Zhou Wu said, "Practicing martial arts is not like eating or drinking; you cannot simply do as you please. The slightest error in the route of force circulation will damage your meridians, lead to qi deviation, and harm your foundation."

Hearing this, Cao Mang immediately gritted his teeth and endured the pain in his body. He carefully sensed the changes in the force within him, firmly committing its circulation route to memory as he hoped to enter the path.

One minute later, the force inside Cao Mang disappeared.

"Next, Guan Xingping!"

Guan Xingping rose from his seat, walked forward, and assumed the fist stance of Galloping Horse Strength.

Zhou Wu patted his shoulder, transmitting a special force into his body.

One minute later, Zhou Wu lifted his palm, and the force vanished.

One student after another voluntarily lined up to receive Zhou Wu's transmitted force.

Thirty minutes later, it was Qin Fen's turn.

Having watched so many students demonstrate before him, Qin Fen had already memorized the fist stance of Galloping Horse Strength by heart.

He had long been prepared and assumed a proper Galloping Horse Strength stance. Yet his tightly pressed lips still betrayed him, revealing that he was somewhat nervous after all.

Zhou Wu stepped before Qin Fen and placed a palm on his shoulder.

At once, Qin Fen felt a foreign energy surge into his body through his shoulder.

This foreign energy should have been the so-called force. It seemed to possess immense destructive power, wantonly damaging his body.

Only force cultivated by oneself would not harm the body.

That was provided the force circulated according to the route of the corresponding martial arts technique. If it rampaged recklessly through the body, it would likewise cause harm. In the terms of wuxia novels, that was called qi deviation.

Thus, foreign force invading the body was like a virus invading it, causing damage.

However, this force was under Zhou Wu's control and circulated according to the route of Galloping Horse Strength. Qin Fen had also assumed the fist stance of Galloping Horse Strength, so while the pain was unbearable at first, it gradually weakened afterward.

As this force circulated within him, the blood and qi in his body seemed to be stirred as well, trembling according to a unique rhythm and tempering his muscles and skin.

So this is the wondrous use of force circulation.

Qin Fen was secretly excited as he carefully sensed the force's circulation route and the rhythm of those vibrations.

Each time the force moved and trembled, his muscles seemed to be tempered, leaving him with a sore, tingling sensation.

Once, twice, three times...

After it circulated ten times, Zhou Wu removed his palm, and the force gradually weakened.

Qin Fen felt incomparably regretful. After the force circulated through his body ten times, he could feel that his strength had increased slightly and that his muscles had become a little firmer.

If it had lasted longer, the increase in strength would have been far more terrifying.

No wonder those who cultivated force could so easily possess the strength of a thousand jin.

Qin Fen returned to his seat, closed his eyes, and carefully reflected on the feeling of force entering his body just now.

Ring, ring, ring!

Only when the dismissal bell rang did it interrupt his thoughts, prompting him to open his eyes.

At that moment, he discovered that the crude Panel had changed.

Qin Fen: Ordinary Person

Martial Arts: Galloping Horse Strength/Rudimentary Understanding (0/10)

Righteous Qi Value: 0