Heaven and Earth Hunyuan, The Only Contending Word

The Lunar New Year period, with its visits to relatives and friends, soon came to an end.

That evening, Qi Yu returned to his residence. After bathing and changing, he was lying down.

In the dead of night, sudden footsteps echoed in the corridor.

Qi Yu shot up.

A "knock, knock, knock" followed.

Qi Changshun's voice rang out, "It's me."

Qi Yu opened the door.

Outside, Qi Changshun's figure blended into the night. "Yu'er, change into your training clothes and come with me."

After speaking, he added with extreme seriousness, "Do not ask any questions about anything you see today, and everything must be kept absolutely secret."

Qi Yu nodded heavily, then quickly changed his clothes and silently followed his father.

Upon reaching the study, Qi Changshun went to the bookshelf and, in a specific order, slowly pulled out seven books. With a soft click of mechanisms, the floor slid open silently, revealing a staircase leading down into darkness.

He picked up the candlelight from the desk and peered into the depths.

Qi Yu followed closely behind.

As they descended, the temperature dropped sharply. Qi Changshun's footsteps slowed. The candlelight dispersed a small patch of darkness, illuminating a sizable secret chamber beneath the Qi family residence.

A figure was lying reclined on a rocking chair. As the candlelight encroached, the rocking chair, which had been swaying, stopped abruptly.

The person's hands were clasped over their abdomen. Their face, in the dim, yellow light, appeared particularly terrifying, with scars crisscrossing their cheeks, rendering their original appearance unrecognizable.

Qi Yu's pupils contracted. At a glance, he saw the shocking data hovering above the man's head: 30~71 (91~202).

This indicated that the other party had suffered severe injuries and had almost completely lost their cultivation. Before losing their power, this man's strength had reached a terrifying level.

When the man moved, the "clanking" sound of chains followed.

His limbs were, in fact, bound.

However, the chains were long and did not impede his movement.

Qi Changshun said respectfully, "Address him as Uncle Yan."

Qi Yu bowed. "Uncle Yan."

Qi Changshun explained further, "Uncle Yan put the shackles on himself. There is no danger in approaching him."

Qi Yu nodded.

The man stopped the rocking chair and slowly sat up. In the candlelight, he sized up the young boy before him and got straight to the point. "Show me a set of your punches."

Qi Yu nodded, took a few steps back, lowered his stance, and clenched his fists. A layer of faint, dark metallic luster instantly surged, covering the skin of his fists, ready to strike.

Just as he was about to begin, Uncle Yan suddenly raised his hand. "Wait, come closer."

Qi Yu immediately retracted his stance, loosened his fists, and walked closer as instructed.

Uncle Yan stared at his hands. "Clench them again."

Qi Yu complied, and the faint dark metallic luster once again surged over his two fists.

Uncle Yan leaned forward, approaching the fists, his gaze meticulously observing them.

Time seemed to stand still. Meanwhile, Qi Changshun had already walked around and lit the candles in the secret chamber.

A circle of candlelight illuminated the space, accompanied by the quiet crackling of flames.

Qi Changshun waited nervously by the side.

After a long while, Uncle Yan slowly straightened up and turned his gaze to Qi Changshun. "Changshun, this child... can be taught."

Qi Changshun was overjoyed. He knew how demanding the strength and insight of the person before him were. He had only brought his son today with a sliver of hope. If it didn't work out, he would ask for medicine to assist his son, but he never expected... he would actually agree to teach him?

He was willing to teach his son?

Qi Changshun trembled. "Yu'er's talent..."

Uncle Yan said, "His bone structure is poor, but his talent... is quite good."

"Brother Yan, I will take my leave then."

"Good."

Tap, tap, tap...

The footsteps, light and quick, receded, disappearing at the end of the staircase.

Uncle Yan spoke again. "Show me a set of your punches."

Qi Yu took a deep breath and once again assumed the stance for the Spirit Serpent Skill.

Although he had just reached Great Accomplishment, his foundation was perfect. Every move flowed like water. The wind from his fists whistled, and his vital energy swirled and eddied in the room, even stirring up small whirlwinds.

Uncle Yan stood up, his hands behind his back, dragging his chains. He paced back and forth in silence, muttering, "You cannot learn my techniques. If you learn them, something will go wrong. Therefore..."

He hesitated for a long time, seemingly recalling the faint dark metallic luster he had just seen on the fists and the boxing style the young boy was now demonstrating.

Suddenly, his face showed determination, and then he stopped, taking out an object from his chest.

It was a golden sheet of paper.

He held it out solemnly, as if it were a treasure, "Look at this."

Qi Yu took it with both hands.

The paper felt cold and heavy in his hands, depicting extremely strange, twisted postures.

Each posture seemed like a combination of several stances.

And this golden page had dozens of postures, which meant that within it... there were at least three to four hundred types of stances.

These stances were all different and incredibly peculiar.

However, beyond this strangeness, there was a majestic, awe-inspiring, almost sacred pressure that swept over him through the dazzling gold.

Qi Yu felt his mind being captivated. The postures on the paper were no longer just drawings, but like divine and demonic statues on altars, exuding a heart-stopping aura.

Before entering, his father had already told him not to ask any questions about what he saw today and that it must be kept absolutely secret.

Therefore, even though he had doubts in his heart, he said nothing.

At this moment, Uncle Yan spoke, "A martial artist channels their strength, but one technique can only focus on one type of power. For example, although your Spirit Serpent Skill circulates blood essence throughout your body, its core is only in your hands...

I heard from your father that you are also trying to cultivate other stances. Have you also noticed that after practicing those stances, you always feel a different kind of force rising within you?"

Qi Yu nodded, "That's right, Uncle Yan."

Uncle Yan said, "That's because there is still blood essence force within you that hasn't been mobilized.

But as a martial artist, if you want to reach the pinnacle, why would you abandon any unused strength?

This page of golden scripture contains a stance from a secret technique called [Hunyuan Contending Force].

Contending force contends everywhere; limbs, bones, joints, big and small, all contend.

If you don't contend, it's idle; it's unusable.

The mountains, rivers, and stars of heaven and earth all contend; the limbs and bones of the human body contend at all times... Heaven and earth are in harmony, and only the word 'contend' matters."

He paused and said, "Try practicing it. You'll either get it or you won't.

But whether you learn it or not, never mention to anyone that you have learned [Hunyuan Contending Force].

If you learn some of it, during a confrontation, unless you can completely silence your opponent, do not use your full strength, lest they see something... Ask no further questions. Practice."

Hearing this, Qi Yu cast aside his distractions, calmed his mind, and began to imitate the first posture on the golden page.

He was only halfway through when he felt a small muscle in his arm begin to ache faintly.

This was just static standing meditation. If a single posture could cause muscle soreness, it meant that part of the muscle hadn't been trained at all.

But logically, he was already Eighth Rank and should not be experiencing this...

Moreover, every step of his Spirit Serpent Skill was practiced to perfection.

Therefore, this was not a problem with his practice, but the limitation of the Spirit Serpent Skill itself, or perhaps the terrifying nature of this Hunyuan Contending Force.

He gritted his teeth, sweat instantly seeping from his forehead, and he forced himself to hold the posture steady.

After maintaining it for only a moment, a strong sense of "heart pounding fear" seized him.

Deep within his body, it felt as if countless tiny bubbles were exploding between his flesh and blood, each burst bringing soreness.

Uncle Yan, holding an iron scale rod, stared at him.

"Lower your shoulder a bit!"

Crack!

The scale rod fiercely struck Qi Yu's slightly raised left shoulder, a burning pain exploding.

"Your back should be like a bow, sink it down!"

Crack!

Another strike landed on his slightly slackened lower back.

Two hours passed like years, under endless soreness, sweat, and the lashing of the scale rod.

Qi Yu felt that this practice of stances was countless times more exhausting than when he first started.

An unprecedented fatigue swept through his entire body, his muscles feeling completely disassembled and reassembled.

However, amidst this pain and exhaustion, he also felt the power of this page of stances.

Uncle Yan looked at him and said calmly, "Starting tomorrow, your Blood Activating Secret Soup will have some small changes."

Qi Yu nodded.

The next day...

Qi Yu hastily caught up on a short sleep and then plunged back into arduous training.

He sparred with an Eighth Rank guard, continuing to practice Spirit Serpent Skill; then came the cultivation methods for Five Plum Blossom Fist, Rooster Fist, and Mystic Tiger Fist...

Compared to the Hunyuan Contending Force stance, this originally tiring cultivation was actually much easier.

After finishing the set, he habitually drank the Blood Activating Secret Soup.

Today's soup seemed to have an unusual fragrant aroma compared to before, like a sweet, fishy scent.

He tilted his head back and took a large gulp. The taste was indeed much sweeter and smoother than yesterday.

If it was like a berry flavor before, then now it was a sweet fruit.

It was quite delicious.

However, the next moment...

BOOM!

It was as if a ball of fierce fire exploded within his internal organs, instantly engulfing his limbs!

Qi Yu leaped up violently!

He felt every inch of his flesh burning madly, a wild energy surging and crashing within his body, desperate to be released!

The majestic, bizarre, and "contending" divine and demonic postures from yesterday's golden page instantly exploded in his mind!

His body seemed to be driven by this boiling power, moving completely uncontrollably, striking a stance from the Hunyuan Contending Force stance method.