Stone Splitting Technique

When Anjing Zhen saw Kitasan Black the next morning, he clearly noticed that his Horse Girl was much more spirited than she had been a few days ago.

After a brief inquiry, he discovered she had received encouragement and support from a close friend. He offered a few words of encouragement himself, then proceeded with the morning training.

They started with a light jog to warm up, followed by a review of the homework left from the previous night: practicing gestures and sitting posture.

After confirming there were no issues, he proceeded to teach her a few new gestures and a specific standing pose.

"Trainer, this pose... it's so strange..."

She stood on the tip of one foot, with the other leg and lower calf dangling loosely behind her.

Her hands were held half-suspended in front of her chest like a kangaroo, her spine and head held straight and stretched forward.

Maintaining this posture, Kitasan Black felt as though she looked like a thief sneaking around.

The morning training took place on the academy track, and besides the two of them, there were other students training nearby.

Seeing Kitasan Black's bizarre pose, many students looked over with strange expressions, or covered their mouths to stifle a laugh.

"It is a bit strange."

Without denying the peculiar nature of the pose he taught, Anjing Zhen said casually:

"But so what if it's strange? Are you planning to stop training?

"Or are you saying you intend to look around like this during a race?"

Kitasan Black gave a start.

"Oh, right, I have to be completely focused during a race...

"I understand, Trainer! I will train seriously!"

Anjing Zhen nodded inwardly. Once he confirmed Kitasan Black was focused on her training, he flipped through his tablet and opened the trainer-exclusive interface.

The trainer interface was synced with the Horse Girl's Racing Account, allowing him to see changes in her follower count.

501... That's over 100 more followers than yesterday, right?

It seems that not only within the industry but also among the fan circles, the evaluation of Little Kita... doesn't seem very high.

According to the racing procedures, once a Horse Girl and a trainer sign an agreement, Central Treisen Academy reports it to the URA Association immediately, and the association completes the creation of the Racing Account within one or two business days.

At the same time, the association and its partner organizations push the Horse Girl's profile to various platforms in real-time.

If fans see a Horse Girl they find impressive, or one who already has some fame, they can click follow, leave comments on major platforms, and interact by casting fan votes.

Compared to her peers, Kitasan Black's pre-debut evaluation was clearly not very good.

Take the young lady from the Satomi family he met yesterday, for example.

Although the Satomi family only entered the Shining Series in recent years, they are wealthy and do not hold back on capital investment for training.

It is true that the Horse Girls from their family have performed well in races, which meant that even before Satono Crown had completed her Debut Race, she already had over 10,000 followers.

After two consecutive victories, her follower count has now surpassed 100,000.

100,000 followers is a threshold in the sport; only with this level of support can one participate in races above the OP level.

Otherwise, one is stuck circling in Pre-OP races, or shifting to the dirt track, steeplechase, or local races.

In comparison, Kitasan Black's follower count didn't even amount to a fraction of Satono Crown's, both before and after her debut.

However, seeing his Horse Girl's somewhat dismal follower count, Anjing Zhen felt no discouragement. He nodded, closed the synced interface, and pulled up the training interface.

Kitasan Black was not a Horse Girl who looked like a genius at first glance.

If one were to talk about a true genius, perhaps it would be someone like Tokai Teio, who was the most popular from her debut, won every race, and went all the way to win the Japanese Derby.

It wasn't that his Horse Girl lacked exceptional qualities; many trainers had already discovered her extraordinary strength and healthy physique.

The problem was that converting this ability into actual strength was no easy task, which was why her evaluations since entering the academy had remained low.

Under such circumstances, it was normal to have little fan support.

However, he happened to know how to facilitate that conversion, and he possessed the vision and training methods that were ahead of the times, so there was absolutely no need to worry about things like followers.

"Alright, hold it right there."

While operating the tablet, Anjing Zhen kept a close eye on Kitasan Black's training status. He had set a timer, and the moment the tablet alerted him, he called for a stop.

"This pose, combined with what I taught you yesterday—the training method remains the same.

"Once in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Don't do more, and don't do less.

"Later, I will gradually teach you the entire set of poses; doing the full routine will take about half an hour.

"Once you've learned it all, I will help you adjust your specific training schedule."

When Anjing Zhen called for a stop, Kitasan Black obediently stood up straight, then stretched her legs and arms a bit, looking somewhat surprised.

"Trainer, this training method of yours... it's really unique.

"It felt very uncomfortable and awkward when I first started, but I adapted to it after a while.

"And even after holding it for so long, I don't feel tired at all. This method..."

Tilting her head, she asked curiously:

"What exactly is the point of this?"

During yesterday's instruction, Anjing Zhen had indeed not explained what the poses he taught were for.

Those poses were a type of special training from his past life; they had no effect in short-term training and only held meaning through long-term persistence.

However, he had already figured out how to explain it, and since Kitasan Black had been too preoccupied with the novelty of it all yesterday to ask, he hadn't brought it up.

"You can think of it as a special form of cultivation."

He gave a casual explanation, looked left and right, and seeing a flower bed nearby, Anjing Zhen gestured for the surprised Kitasan Black to follow.

Walking to the edge of the flower bed, he rummaged around for a moment before picking up a flat, fist-sized pebble.

"Can you..."

Holding the pebble up in front of Kitasan Black, Anjing Zhen carefully weighed his words.

"Shatter this stone with a single punch, or kick it to pieces?"

"...Are you joking, Trainer?"

After staring at Anjing Zhen in confusion for a while and seeing that he seemed somewhat serious, Kitasan Black felt both stunned and troubled.

"This... a pebble this big? If it were a roof tile or something, I'd have no problem kicking it apart, but a pebble like this..."

"Oh. Then watch."

Nodding, he placed the pebble on the edge of the flower bed and crouched down, Anjing Zhen focusing his gaze on the center line of the stone for a moment.

Then, he suddenly drew in a breath and raised his hand, letting out a low shout as he brought his palm down like a blade, striking the center of the pebble.

"Tr, Trainer?! You..."

She had watched Anjing Zhen's preparations with hesitation, only realizing that her Trainer was serious once he actually struck; Kitasan Black had just started to cry out in alarm before suddenly falling silent.

A moment later.

"Huh--?! You... you split it?!"

"Mm, I split it."

Holding half of the pebble in each hand, Anjing Zhen looked at Kitasan Black.

"My strength is certainly nowhere near yours, but my control over that strength is undoubtedly far superior to yours.

"There are, of course, many techniques to splitting this pebble, but you don't need to learn any of them.

"You only need to know that the poses I taught you are meant to help you master your own Terrifying Power.

"The day you fully master that power, the day you can concentrate your entire body's strength into your feet and Legs...

"I can guarantee that your speed will be unrivaled."