Taking a Beating

Qin Fen: Quasi-Martial Artist

Martial Arts: Galloping Horse Strength/Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber (22/100), Eighteen Falls Upon Touching/First Glimpse of the Path (1/30)

Righteous Qi Value: 21

Qin Fen glanced at the Panel. His Righteous Qi Value was only 21 points.

Whether he added them to Galloping Horse Strength or Eighteen Falls Upon Touching, it would not be enough to raise either to the next realm.

The Righteous Qi Value should be divisible. I don't have to add it all to a single martial art at once, Qin Fen thought. Then he silently recited, "Add 10 points of Righteous Qi Value to Galloping Horse Strength, and 11 points to Eighteen Falls Upon Touching."

At the shift of Qin Fen's thoughts, the Panel immediately flashed with light.

His body trembled slightly. His blood and qi flowed faster, the toughness of his muscles and bones increased by a small degree, and his strength rose by several dozen jin.

His head buzzed as memories related to Galloping Horse Strength and Eighteen Falls Upon Touching flooded into his mind. Qin Fen's understanding of both martial arts immediately deepened.

Qin Fen circulated his strength and felt that his jing li was stronger than before. Moreover, he could circulate two streams of jing li at the same time.

For instance, he could circulate jing li through his legs to increase his explosive power while directing another stream into his arm and fist to increase the force of his punch. Previously, he could only circulate one stream of jing li.

If he reached the Peak Realm, he would be able to link the strength throughout his entire body and attain Flowing Strength, the Second Realm of Jing Li.

Next, Qin Fen performed Eighteen Falls Upon Touching. His movements were smoother and far more practiced than before, without the previous stiffness. His proficiency had reached 12, bringing him one step closer to Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber.

Just as Qin Fen was preparing to continue practicing Eighteen Falls Upon Touching, Zhou Wu entered the training room with two students.

"Teacher!"

Qin Fen stopped moving and walked over to Zhou Wu.

"This is Qin Fen. He developed jing li three days earlier than you two," Zhou Wu introduced. "These are Shen Qiu and Li Heng. They have developed jing li as well. Whether Martial Arts Class A ends up being taught by me or not, you are all classmates in Martial Arts Class A. You should interact more, help one another, and improve together."

"Qin Fen, please guide us in the future."

"Let's learn from each other and improve together."

The three exchanged brief greetings.

"Qin Fen, how is your practice of Eighteen Falls Upon Touching?" Zhou Wu asked.

"I've already reached the realm of First Glimpse of the Path."

As he spoke, Qin Fen smoothly performed Eighteen Falls Upon Touching, without the slightest obstruction.

However, there was still a lack of spirit between his moves, or rather, they were not flexible enough. Simply put, he was still short of some heat. Yet reaching this level in only four days was already far from easy.

"Not bad. Starting today, we'll conduct sparring practice and apply your martial arts in actual combat." Zhou Wu said, "Go to the changing room beside us and put on the protective leather armor. Shen Qiu, Li Heng, the two of you watch from the side."

"Yes, Teacher."

Qin Fen answered and went to the changing room to put on the protective leather armor.

Before long, Qin Fen emerged from the changing room wearing leather protective gear.

His head, chest, thighs, and calves were all wrapped in leather guards. The inside of the gear was padded with sponge, which could absorb much of the impact. Qin Fen looked a whole size fatter.

Fortunately, the gear was light. All of it together weighed only a dozen or so jin. For a Quasi-Martial Artist with more than a thousand jin of strength, wearing such gear was no burden at all and did not affect his movements.

"Now we'll begin simulating a real fight. You may use any method you wish to attack me." Zhou Wu extended a hand and crooked his fingers at Qin Fen. "Don't hold back. Attack with your greatest strength and fastest speed."

"Alright."

Qin Fen circulated jing li into his legs and burst forth at his fastest speed.

At the same time, another stream of jing li flowed into his arm. He threw a punch, and the faint howl of fist wind could be heard.

"He can actually circulate two streams of jing li at once."

A trace of surprise appeared in Zhou Wu's eyes.

It seemed that aside from practicing Eighteen Falls Upon Touching these past few days, Qin Fen had not neglected Galloping Horse Strength either.

Having suffered once before, Qin Fen did not aim this punch at Zhou Wu's chest. Instead, he struck toward his head.

Having reached the level of Quasi-Martial Artist, he possessed a thousand jin of strength and could easily split bricks. What was more, this punch carried jing li. Even hard granite would be shaken until cracks appeared.

Zhou Wu's expression did not change. As Qin Fen's fist smashed toward his head, Zhou Wu swiftly reached out with his left hand and pressed down Qin Fen's arm from above. Then his right foot stepped out quickly, landing behind Qin Fen's right leg, while his right hand, arm, and shoulder slammed toward Qin Fen's centerline.

With that collision, Qin Fen immediately tipped backward. His right leg was caught behind Zhou Wu's right leg, and with a bang, he crashed down hard onto his backside. The ground trembled faintly.

This was the move "Wild Horse Collides with Trough" from Eighteen Falls Upon Touching.

"Keep attacking," Zhou Wu said. "The first thing in practicing martial arts is to train your body well. The most important part is learning how to take a beating. Only after being beaten more times will you know which parts of the body are most vulnerable and need protection, and which parts are the hardest and can be used for counterattacks..."

"Alright."

Qin Fen got to his feet and attacked Zhou Wu again.

Bang!

The moment he rushed forward, Qin Fen was sent flying and fell to the ground.

He could clearly see how Zhou Wu attacked, and he knew the various moves of Eighteen Falls Upon Touching, but his body could not react in time. Theory was theory, practice was practice, and actual combat was actual combat.

The three were completely different.

The most important thing in actual combat was the ability to adapt on the spot. One could not be rigid-minded.

Qin Fen was not discouraged. No matter what one did, one began by knowing nothing, then slowly became familiar and adapted. Going from ignorance to mastery required a process. No one could become a great fat man with one bite.

Zhou Wu possessed such rich combat experience because it had been accumulated over time. No one could achieve it in one leap.

Using Righteous Qi Value to increase martial arts proficiency merely shortened that time. And to obtain Righteous Qi Value, he still had to spend time collecting it. It could not fall from the sky or appear out of nowhere.

Even if pies fell from the sky, you still had to rise early to pick them up.

Qin Fen rose again, only to be knocked down and slammed hard onto the ground.

Like this, Qin Fen was knocked down again and again, then quickly climbed back up and rushed forward.

It was called sparring practice, but in truth Qin Fen was simply being beaten the entire time. Against Zhou Wu, he had no ability to fight back at all.

Shen Qiu and Li Heng, watching from the side, could barely bear to look.

Qin Fen wore leather protective armor that could lessen some of the impact, but each time Zhou Wu sent him flying and he crashed onto the ground with a tremendous sound, it was painful to watch.

The leather armor only reduced part of the impact; it did not completely cancel it out. Qin Fen still suffered injuries.

Yet Qin Fen did not care in the slightest, climbing up from the ground time after time.

After several dozen rounds, he no longer charged foolishly from the front. Instead, he jogged in circles around Zhou Wu, attacking from different directions. Though he was still knocked down in the end, his attacks became more flexible and varied.

Thanks to reader Bingxin Yijiao for the 1,000-coin donation, thanks to reader Pangyu 1100 for the donation, and thanks to reader Qiutian Suodi for the 100-coin donation.