First Glimpse of the Path

At 7:15, Qin Fen and Chen Bo arrived at school.

Seeing the extra 8 points of Righteous Qi Value on the Panel, a flicker of delight appeared in Qin Fen's eyes.

All the way here, he had been looking for chances to do good deeds. Besides helping a blind person cross the street, he had stopped pedestrians from running red lights and helped an old man who collected recyclables push his cart...

All told, he had gained 8 points of Righteous Qi Value.

"8 points of Righteous Qi Value. If I put all of them into Galloping Horse Strength, can I raise it by a realm?"

Qin Fen clenched both fists, took a deep breath, and silently recited in his heart.

"Righteous Qi Value, upgrade Galloping Horse Strength."

Qin Fen's body trembled. His qi and blood surged, his muscles and bones suddenly becoming several times tougher, while his strength increased sharply.

Then, a flood of insights about Galloping Horse Strength rapidly poured into his mind.

At that moment, his understanding of Galloping Horse Strength was as though he had undergone long years of hard training. His body had already formed the memory of Galloping Horse Strength, and with a mere thought, he could assume the most standard Galloping Horse Strength stance.

Qin Fen: Ordinary Person

Martial Arts: Galloping Horse Strength/First Glimpse of the Path (2/30)

Righteous Qi Value: 0

Sure enough, Galloping Horse Strength had risen from Rudimentary Understanding to the realm of First Glimpse of the Path.

Galloping Horse Strength was a basic martial art. Based on mastery and proficiency, it was divided into four realms: Rudimentary Understanding, First Glimpse of the Path, Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber, and Peak Realm.

As long as one became familiar with the stances and circulation routes of Galloping Horse Strength, one had entered the realm of Rudimentary Understanding. After that came constant, repeated practice, until one could assume the perfect Galloping Horse Strength stance with a single thought—that was the realm of First Glimpse of the Path.

A step further, the realm of Entering the Hall and Reaching the Inner Chamber meant one had cultivated force. At that point, whether walking, sitting, or sleeping, one's posture would carry the form of Galloping Horse Strength. It was equivalent to cultivating at all times and in all places.

At Peak Realm, one could channel force throughout the entire body. With a punch, the force would rise from the feet, pass through the legs, back, arms, and finally the hands. Strength would course through the whole body, and force could be unleashed or withdrawn at will.

At an even deeper level, the force throughout the body would flow smoothly and become instinctive—able to be released and retracted alike.

"Qin Fen, did you hear the sound of galloping steeds?"

Chen Bo asked.

He scratched his head. Just now, he seemed to have heard Galloping Steeds Sound by his ear, but it had vanished in an instant.

"Huh, Qin Fen, why do I suddenly feel like you're a little different?"

Chen Bo looked at Qin Fen, unable to stop himself from sizing him up from head to toe.

"You only noticed now? Haven't I become taller and more handsome?"

Qin Fen lightly flicked his hair and laughed.

"Stop being so narcissistic. Study hall is about to start. Hurry up."

Qin Fen and Chen Bo parted ways and returned to their respective classes for self-study.

When he entered the classroom.

Qin Fen discovered that none of the students were sitting on their stools.

They were all holding the standing-post stance from Galloping Horse Strength, knees bent as they half-squatted and recited passages from their textbooks.

Everyone was diligently practicing the standing-post stance of Galloping Horse Strength, not wasting a single moment.

In this era where martial arts reigned supreme, no one wanted to remain an ordinary person. They all wanted to get into a Martial Arts University and become martial artists admired by all.

If one did not strive in youth, one would only grieve in old age. Do not wait until you are old to regret not struggling hard in your younger days.

After using the Panel to raise his proficiency, Qin Fen's understanding of Galloping Horse Strength had already reached the realm of First Glimpse of the Path. Everyone else in the class was still at Rudimentary Understanding, and with his current eyesight, he could tell that most of their Galloping Horse Strength forms were far from standard.

In the entire class, only a few students' stances barely met the mark.

If the stance was not standard, then no matter how diligently one cultivated, the effect would be negligible.

Qin Fen walked to his seat without saying anything. Although he could see that his classmates' Galloping Horse Strength stances were incorrect, they might not believe him if he spoke up.

Everyone had only begun cultivating Galloping Horse Strength yesterday. What gave him the right to say that his cultivation posture was the standard and correct one?

Out of forty-five students, only you, Qin Fen, were practicing correctly? That was thinking too highly of yourself.

If he opened his mouth to offer guidance, he would definitely be met with doubts, sneers, and sarcasm from some students.

Senior One had only just begun, so no one knew each other well. He could not even call some classmates by name, and with the Class Division approaching, there was no time for classmates to become familiar with one another.

Students of the Martial Arts Class and the Liberal Arts Class were destined to belong to two different worlds, unable to walk the same road.

Soon, self-study ended.

The first class of the morning was Moral Education.

A person without knowledge was a defective product; a person in poor health was a waste product; a person of poor character was a dangerous product.

It was clear that none of these three could be lacking in a person. To society and others, the most important was moral conduct. Especially for a martial artist, if their thoughts were extreme and their conduct corrupt, they would only bring even greater harm to society.

Therefore, moral education was particularly important.

The second class was medicine.

As the saying went, medicine and martial arts were one family. Martial arts emphasized externally training the muscles, bones, and skin, while internally cultivating essence, qi, and spirit. Especially in the cultivation of external arts, using external objects to hammer the body could easily lead to injury.

Therefore, martial artists needed to have some understanding of how to treat bruises and sprains. They did not need to be proficient, but they needed a general grasp—knowing what part of their body was injured and what precautions to take.

The third class was Human Anatomy.

Human Anatomy mainly covered knowledge such as the structure of human bones and the paths of the meridians.

Soon, afternoon arrived.

As soon as all the new students finished lunch, they returned to their classrooms.

Each of them assumed the posture of Galloping Horse Strength at their seats and cultivated diligently.

Yang City Thirteenth High School was merely an ordinary high school with limited conditions. The entire school had only one Martial Arts Hall.

Only students of the Martial Arts Class could enter the school's martial arts facility and use its various equipment for cultivation.

All the new students raced against time, not wasting even a moment.

If they could not cultivate force within a month, they would be cut off from martial arts from then on and could only become ordinary people.

Whether in textbooks or on television, martial arts were constantly promoted. Only martial artists could resist Aliens, defend the nation, and protect the people. Martial artists were the mainstream of this world. As hot-blooded youths, no one did not yearn to become a martial artist.

Qin Fen also assumed the fighting frame of Galloping Horse Strength and began cultivating.

Through the Panel, Qin Fen had used Righteous Qi Value to raise his proficiency in Galloping Horse Strength to the realm of First Glimpse of the Path. His body had already formed the memory of Galloping Horse Strength, and with a mere thought, he assumed the most standard Galloping Horse Strength stance.

When Qin Fen assumed the Galloping Horse Strength stance, a faint Galloping Steeds Sound rang out in the air.

However, all the students were immersed in cultivation and did not hear it.

Time passed second by second.

Soon, it was time for the first afternoon class.

Martial Arts Teacher Zhou Wu entered the classroom. Seeing the students all holding the stance of Galloping Horse Strength, he could not help but nod.

These students had been born into ordinary families, so when they came into contact with martial arts, they naturally treasured the opportunity beyond measure. Every one of them cultivated diligently. Their martial arts talent aside, at least their serious attitude was worthy of approval.

"Huh? In just one day, someone has already cultivated the Galloping Horse Strength stance to such a standard."

Zhou Wu swept his gaze across the students in the classroom. Though they cultivated diligently, their stances were not particularly standard. But when his gaze landed on Qin Fen, surprise immediately appeared on his face.

Such a standard Galloping Horse Strength stance had already reached the realm of First Glimpse of the Path.

Galloping Horse Strength reaching First Glimpse of the Path in one day—during Zhou Wu's more than ten years of teaching at Yang City Thirteenth High School, he had encountered such martial arts talent only once before. That person had also been Thirteen Middle School's only prodigy in the past decade to enter a Martial Arts University.

Zhou Wu looked at Qin Fen as though he had discovered a piece of fine jade.

Perhaps three years later, he too could get into a Martial Arts University.

As long as someone could enter a Martial Arts University, both the school and the Martial Arts Teacher could receive substantial rewards. Every year, the Martial Arts Bureau allocated funds to reward outstanding schools and teachers.

The amount of reward funding depended on the number of students admitted to Martial Arts Universities.

"Cultivating diligently is a good thing, but you must use the right methods. Every one of your stances is improper. No matter how hard you work, the effect will be negligible."

Zhou Wu walked to the podium and shouted.

"Good morning, Teacher!"

All the students opened their eyes, stood ramrod straight, and saluted Zhou Wu in unison.

"Qin Fen, come forward."

Zhou Wu looked at the student name list on the podium, matched it against the students' seats, and called Qin Fen's name.

"Yes, Teacher."

Qin Fen stepped out from his seat and walked to the front of the classroom.

"Just now, the stances you used for Galloping Horse Strength were riddled with holes. Aside from student Qin Fen, not a single one of you had a standard stance." Zhou Wu said, "Qin Fen, demonstrate it for your classmates."

"Yes!"

Qin Fen answered, then assumed the standing-post stance of Galloping Horse Strength. His feet planted firmly in measured steps, his body opening and closing in broad movements, slow and steady like a galloping steed about to burst into motion.

When Qin Fen assumed the fighting frame of Galloping Horse Strength, several students standing in the front row seemed to hear faint Galloping Steeds Sound, but it quickly disappeared.

"Do you see? This is the standard standing-post stance of Galloping Horse Strength. Only when the form is correct can training have any effect. If the standing-post stance is incorrect, then no amount of diligent practice will be of any use."

As Qin Fen held the fighting frame of Galloping Horse Strength and demonstrated for his classmates, Zhou Wu began instructing them on the essentials of practice.