In the training room that afternoon, the ceiling fan turned sluggishly overhead, creaking with an old, weary squeak.
Qin Shi pushed open the door and strode inside without a word. When he was still seven or eight meters from Li Yuan and Xie Yucheng, he planted his feet and gathered his strength, his body like a taut, powerful bow.
Suddenly, a fierce gust swept through the room, and his figure shot forward like an arrow!
As the muscles in his waist and abdomen contracted sharply, Qin Shi unleashed a vicious kick, driving force through his arch and shin.
"Brother Yuan, sorry about this!"
Smack!
The roundhouse kick was both fierce and fast, cutting a sharp arc through the air like a whip and slamming straight into his opponent!
There was no time or space to react. Li Yuan's head snapped to the side as if struck by a sledgehammer!
His solid hundred-pound frame was swept sideways through the air, crashing into the wall behind him like a human sandbag!
Thud!
A large patch of white paint shook loose from the wall!
After effortlessly taking Brother Yuan out with one kick, Qin Shi seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He twisted and raised his arms, bracing them against his neck just in time to block Xie Yucheng's ferocious hook.
He bent his knees and lowered his shoulders to absorb some of the force, keeping his stance rock-solid.
Then, like a compressed spring, he slammed into Xie Yucheng, who was trying to press the attack.
The overwhelming force shattered Xie Yucheng's offense, making him stagger and leaving his center wide open.
Whoosh!
Qin Shi surged forward in a flash, like a sharp blade plunging straight into the heart.
In almost no time at all, his long hand—the kind suited to playing piano—was pressed against Xie Yucheng's face.
His fingers curled inward and clamped down!
He lifted and pulled, as if yanking a white radish from the earth.
The thick sinews in his arm twanged one after another, making a terrifying sound like a taut bowstring being drawn.
The steadily growing heat turned scorching in an instant. His blood seemed to boil, stimulating his flesh and stretching his fascia as a surge of tremendous strength burst forth!
Thud!
Xie Yucheng's feet left the ground, his whole body going limp as he was hoisted into the air like a little chick.
The next moment, the back of his head sank heavily into the padded floor, the muffled impact like a cloth sack falling from a building more than ten stories high.
His eyes were wide with fury, blood vessels filling his pupils.
A hint of red seeped from his ears, nostrils, and mouth.
In an instant, he fell silent!
"I took them both down just as quickly! My progress has been incredible. My Life Force feels denser and denser, practically filling every cell!"
From the moment he walked in to the moment he struck, barely fifteen seconds had passed.
Aside from Qin Shi, no one else in the training room was left standing.
Combat was exhilarating!
He felt the satisfying rush of a vigorous workout, like drinking something ice-cold on a scorching summer day. Every pore in his body had opened up.
"Brother Yuan, Brother Cheng, don't take this personally. I was just getting some practice in."
Qin Shi chuckled. Li Yuan and Xie Yucheng had trained far longer than him, even taking lessons from Old Liang. But now, against someone who had only just started learning the fighting style, they would struggle to last even half a minute.
Strength, speed, explosiveness, even reaction time... He was overwhelmingly superior in just about every way.
"As the saying goes, a little indulgence doesn't count. My ridiculous rate of improvement is all thanks to my own hard work!
"Next, I need tougher opponents! If I get the chance, I'll spar with Old Liang, then use Combat Rewind to build up my experience.
"With my current physical condition, I shouldn't get pulverized by a single punch... right?"
Qin Shi waved a hand, his thoughts stirring.
His mental space went dark in an instant, like a dormitory after lights-out.
[Intermediate Achievement - Deep Sleep (4/30)]
"Now that's refreshing!"
Every morning, the moment he woke up, Qin Shi felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
No matter how exhausted he was that day, as long as he could lie down and fall asleep, his energy bar would be completely refilled by the time he opened his eyes again.
"It feels great to go out, level up, then return to base and replenish my status."
Qin Shi sat up, full of energy. He pulled on his clothes and, while washing up, took in the stream of information from the Monument Panel.
[Anchor: Qin Shi] [Growth Stage: Embryo] [Progress: 0.009%] [Monuments: Deep Sleep (Intermediate), Muscle Memory (Intermediate), Overgrowth (Beginner)] [Skills: Combat Rewind, Internal Vision]
"Getting past the ten-point mark is really tough."
Qin Shi spat out the water and quickly wiped his face with a towel.
For now, [Deep Sleep] was steadily progressing.
The requirements for [Muscle Memory] had increased now that it had become an Intermediate Achievement, and its progress had stalled for the time being.
As for the "eating" and "foraging" required by [Overgrowth], he had no clue how to fulfill them.
Meal replacements, Nutritional Paste, and even the protein and carbohydrates he got from his regular diet didn't seem to meet the requirements.
"Surely it doesn't want me to inject Energy Liquid or take supplements. I saw Zhou Ning a few days ago, and he said Coach Luo at Silver Horse Gym was trying to sell his students some kind of Nine Dragons Fusion Package..."
Qin Shi's gaze swept across the translucent black frame as his thoughts wandered.
"[Muscle Memory]'s upgraded effect is really useful. The feedback is very detailed."
He returned to the bedroom and stood in front of the full-length mirror.
He studied himself closely as rows of tiny data lit up one after another.
Old Martial Arts Cultivation Method Lv. 1 (19/20)
Old Martial Arts Fighting Style Lv. 1 (17/20)
Physique 9.6 → 9.7
Spirit 9.8 → 9.9
"If the Physique and Spirit values are, as I suspect, a measure of my overall Life Force, then I'm already very close to the ten-point threshold for entering a martial rank."
The ability to turn everything he had learned and his ordinary mortal body into data had also come from an achievement unlocked by the Monument.
[Intermediate Achievement - Muscle Memory (2%)] [Muscle Memory: Strength must be cultivated through sweat. As long as training doesn't kill you, train like your life depends on it. Your willpower will carry you through!] [Attribute: Every improvement to your abilities will be precisely reflected in data.] [Advancement Path: Keep up more intense training, a more disciplined lifestyle, and better nutrition. Sculpt the perfect mortal body through perseverance, and you can upgrade again.]
"The road ahead never ends. Neither do the rewards I can earn or the strength I can gain!"
Qin Shi smiled. In the mirror, the boy next door—with his once-bookish air fading by the day—smiled just as brightly.
"The universe is so vast. I should go out and see it."
"Your Life Force has been fully awakened."
In the empty training room, Old Liang looked at his apprentice with satisfaction.
"Whether it's Old Martial Arts or New Martial Arts, the methods of developing Life Force aren't all that different. You squeeze your physical strength, push your spirit, and dig into your body's potential. In the end, you free your mortal body from mediocrity and make it transform.
"It's like a pile of firewood. Once it catches, the flames keep growing."
Qin Shi raised an inconvenient question:
"What if the firewood burns up completely?"
Old Liang shot the kid a look. Did he have to ask so many questions?
"Then you add more wood. How long do you think a fire will last if you don't keep feeding it? How do you think the Seven Great Limits of the Physical Body came about?
"Generation after generation of Martial Artists burned through their blood and bones, burned away their flesh, and still refused to give up or accept their fate. That's how they figured out a way forward."
Old Liang's expression grew solemn as he spoke. Then he added:
"That's why so many people call practicing Old Martial Arts 'stoking the fire.'
"You're young, Shi. You have plenty of fire in you. With just a little push, it's easy to get your Life Force surging.
"We call this the 'beginner's bonus period.'"
Was it like how beginner anglers somehow tended to land a huge haul?
Qin Shi rubbed his hands together, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Master Liang, tell me more about this 'little push.' You've got some secret human tonic stashed away for me, don't you? Waiting to give your apprentice a boost?"
Old Liang ignored his apprentice's nonsense. If he had any deep reserves, he wouldn't have failed to keep even the name "Hong Sheng."
"This is all the Golden Elixir Old Gu had left. Two bottles should've been enough, but you've got a body that can take a ridiculous amount of training. You're a rare tough nut. You endured the agony of Burning Sinews without making a sound.
"I figured we should stoke the fire again, burn through the great sinews in your body, and break through this first limit."
Qin Shi lowered his head and looked at the glass bottle wrapped in silk. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
"Master Liang, this stuff can't be cheap..."
He remembered that the man in the bathrobe selling miracle oil had asked four thousand a bottle.
Old Liang's meager salary came to barely over three thousand a month.
"We're master and apprentice. Why talk about money? If you were a student in my cram school, I wouldn't knock a cent off your bill. But you call me Master, and you're learning the Hong Sheng legacy. What we're after from now on is different."
Old Liang waved a hand and stroked his bad leg with a sigh.
"A master isn't much different from a parent. All we hope for is that our apprentices amount to something.
"I've made nothing of myself and ended up like this. I've let my own master down. But you'll definitely surpass me, Shi.
"Come on. Once you've forged twelve sinews, you'll be able to nurture a dragon in your mortal body!"
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