Habit

Changfeng Martial Hall.

Li Pin practiced his boxing off to one side. Whether coaches or trainees, they all kept their distance, lest they disturb him.

His performance that morning had won over everyone at Changfeng Martial Hall.

Without anyone noticing, his status had already vaguely surpassed Yang Danqing's, making him the second most important person in Changfeng Martial Hall after its master, Fang Lingjue.

After finishing a set of boxing, Li Pin let out a long breath.

Without even focusing his senses, he could imagine the changes in his own vitality, blood, and physique.

[Blood Qi +0.03]

Total: 29.81

"The next step is Embrace Qi into Dan. Last time, although I embraced Dan in a hurry, I had still made quite a few preparations, yet it ended in failure. It shows that Embrace Dan is no easy matter. This time, I have to proceed more steadily."

Li Pin planned to temper his Dan Jin until he naturally reached the realm of Embrace Qi into Dan, like water flowing into a channel.

It was a method somewhat akin to proving the Dao through strength.

Cumbersome.

But safe.

Tempering Dan Jin was cumbersome for other Hua Jin masters, but for Li Pin, who was "exceptionally gifted," it merely meant refining and optimizing it time after time until that perfectly unified force became instinct.

At that moment, Li Pin seemed to sense something and looked to the side.

Fang Lingjue had returned at some point and was watching him practice.

Noticing that he had come back to himself, Fang Lingjue asked, "Finished?"

"Finished."

"Come sit in my office?"

"Sure."

Li Pin answered and followed Fang Lingjue into the office.

Once inside, Fang Lingjue personally went to pour water and make tea for Li Pin.

Yet midway through, Li Pin took the teapot from him.

"I'll do it."

Fang Lingjue did not argue with him. He simply studied him for a long while.

Only after a full half minute did he say, "You've reached Dan Jin already."

"Yes. At the razor-thin instant between life and death, the mind flashes like lightning and flint. It really is the best time for sudden enlightenment and breakthrough."

Li Pin said.

"That may be true, but it's like snatching chestnuts from the fire."

Fang Lingjue said, "There are people like that in the Martial World, known as seekers of the Dao. But looking across all those seekers who poured everything into martial arts, not a single one managed to go far."

Li Pin knew Fang Lingjue was advising him to be more careful in the future. He nodded in agreement. "I understand. Nothing in life outweighs death. I cherish my life more than anyone."

Because...

He wanted to know just how far the flesh-and-blood body of a human could evolve.

In this day and age, even those who had reached the pinnacle of humanity, with no weaknesses whatsoever and hailed as Kings of the Century, could not withstand machine guns or artillery shells. At most, they could use the vibrations of Gang Jin to knock aside pistol bullets.

What realm lay beyond that, and what kind of scenery awaited there—no one knew.

He...

Wanted to see it.

Therefore, he would not die easily.

"It's good that you think that way."

Fang Lingjue said, "I was worried that both your breakthroughs had relied on life-and-death battles to ignite your body's potential, and that you might become addicted to the feeling of rapid advancement, playing with fire until you burned yourself. Since you can remain calm, it seems I was overthinking it."

Li Pin smiled.

"Before the Starfall Festival, you registered for the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Tournament. All of us thought you were going simply to gain experience. But now it seems... you had already been planning this back then, hadn't you?"

Fang Lingjue looked at him. "The young are truly to be feared."

"I only felt that by the time the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Tournament began, my cultivation should improve another step. To be honest, I had no confidence that I could stand out in the Jiangzhou Martial Arts Tournament, much less break into the top ten."

Li Pin said.

Embrace Dan!

It was a realm he had never touched in his previous life.

"Self-discipline. Self-confidence."

Fang Lingjue nodded. "Now that you can produce Dan Jin, do you want to go to Jiangzhou and obtain your Associate Senior Title?"

"No rush. It's only a certificate."

Li Pin said.

"True."

Fang Lingjue said, "And besides, now may not be the right time."

"Hm?"

"You saw the martial artist summons for Death Valley, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Death Valley bears death in its name, which shows how perilous it is. Taibai has enjoyed peace for too long. Many martial artists have lost the fierceness they had in turbulent times, when they fought vicious beasts and Demonic Beasts for living space. After several months, fewer than a hundred martial artists nationwide have signed up. Now there are rumors that the higher-ups will issue a compulsory conscription order."

Fang Lingjue said, "If even I can hear this news, then it's almost certainly true."

Li Pin listened and nodded.

"You've comprehended Dan Jin. Next should be Embrace Dan. Do you have a method for embracing Dan?"

"I summarized everything I have learned in my life and worked out a path to Embrace Dan. As for its exact effectiveness, I have yet to test it in practice."

Li Pin said.

Fang Lingjue froze, staring at Li Pin in disbelief. "Don't tell me you have no lineage!?"

He immediately followed up, "Where is your master!?"

Li Pin slowly shook his head.

"That's impossible!"

Fang Lingjue abruptly leaned forward. "Then... how did you cultivate Dan Jin?"

"I pondered and thought things through on my own before. Also... I watched videos for over a month."

Li Pin said.

"..."

Fang Lingjue stared at Li Pin, his breathing gradually growing heavier.

After quite some time, he blurted out in a loss of composure, "Holy shit!"

Li Pin's mouth twitched.

"Are you a monster!?"

Fang Lingjue muttered, "At your age, producing Dan Jin is something only disciples of Martial Saints, or direct disciples of exceptionally outstanding grandmasters, can generally achieve. And now you're telling me you have no lineage!? You don't even have a proper training method!?"

"That is indeed the truth."

Li Pin nodded in agreement.

"Whew!"

Only after a long while did Fang Lingjue let out a breath.

He abruptly pulled a USB drive from a drawer.

"Take it. It contains the White Crane Fist of the White Crane Style. I'll introduce you into the White Crane Style right away. If you truly have no lineage and reached this point through cultivation alone, then forget becoming a grandmaster's disciple—even becoming a Martial Saint's disciple is highly possible."

"That won't be necessary."

Li Pin did not touch the USB drive.

"Why?"

Fang Lingjue frowned.

"No particular reason."

Li Pin gave a soft laugh. "I'm simply not used to bowing respectfully and calling someone Master."

Fang Lingjue was stunned.

Then his pupils contracted.

He looked at this young man who smiled so harmlessly. After more than two months together, he had thought he understood him to some extent.

That was why he had so readily brought out the White Crane Fist manual.

But at this moment, hearing him say those words with a light laugh...

For the first time, he realized that he had never truly seen through him.

Stubborn.

Or rather...

Proud!

An indescribable pride, rooted in his sinews and bones, entrenched in his mind and will, giving off an indestructible, soaring sharpness.

It was clearly such a simple sentence, yet it was like a sword-light piercing straight into the clouds, illuminating the world...

It seemed...

His life was destined to leave earth-shaking marks upon this world.

After a long while...

Fang Lingjue could not help asking once more, "Is being respectful... so difficult?"

In society, who did not bend their back? Who did not lower their head?

Was it truly so hard to honor a master as one's father?

He could not understand.

"It isn't difficult."

Li Pin said. "But I'm not used to it."

"But if you do this, your path will be difficult."

Fang Lingjue said.

"Discovering problems and solving them—the process itself is rather interesting."

Li Pin said.

Fang Lingjue said nothing.

He could see it.

A newborn calf feared no tiger.

Perhaps it was to temper his spiritual conviction, refusing to allow even the slightest obstruction in his "thoughts."

Respectful, respectful, courteous.

Respect and courtesy, he was willing to give.

Yet simply because he was unused to bowing respectfully before others...

He would willingly abandon an enormous shortcut.

Young people...

"Your heart is higher than the heavens."

Fang Lingjue said.

"I only hope my fate will not be thinner than paper."

Li Pin replied with a smile.

He knew Fang Lingjue must be thinking exactly that.

But he did not care.

In his previous life, he had possessed neither talent nor lineage, yet he had still spent more than a decade reaching the peak of Hua Jin, only half a step away from Embrace Dan.

In this life, with "talent" at his side, if he still could not let his thoughts flow freely, live magnificently according to his own wishes, and fulfill life's greatest desire—cultivation—with an indomitable conviction...

Then this second life would have been wasted.