Basic Footwork

"Hah!" Chen Shouyi woke with a start from his dream.

"Why is it different from what those practitioners online described?" Recalling everything from the dream, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind.

When Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self first senses the muscles, shouldn't it be "a blurry mess" or "a jumble of light and dark"? How could he, after the optimization, clearly see the outlines of the muscle fibers?

The thought flashed by. No matter what, he had to try it first.

He couldn't wait to sit cross-legged, but the moment he sat down, his mind calmed as if he had long been perfectly adept at entering tranquility.

About half an hour later, Chen Shouyi opened his eyes, mentally exhausted, with an expression of deep disbelief.

"How is this possible?"

On his very first attempt, his range of perception had already expanded below his chest and abdomen, covering his entire lower body.

According to the experiences of online practitioners, an ordinary person sensing their body for the first time could at most perceive the muscles of their toes or fingers. Even someone with naturally strong mental power could barely manage a whole foot.

As for the idea that he had an extraordinary mental gift, Chen Shouyi didn't believe it for a second. If he were truly talented, he wouldn't have struggled for so long to even get started with Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self.

Among the attributes in the Book of Knowledge, the ones most likely representing what was called mental power were Perception and Will. His Will might be a bit stronger, but only slightly above average. As for Perception, it was utterly unremarkable.

Then it suddenly struck him—the difference between his perception image and others'.

"Could it be that the amount of information I'm sensing is smaller?"

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. It was like painting a watercolor figure. The optimized Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self first sketched the body's outline with lines, then filled in the colors. The ordinary version, however, started filling in color from the very first brushstroke.

With the same number of pixels, the former could quickly outline the general shape of the figure, while the latter couldn't even finish a single stroke.

He got off the bed, picked up his wooden sword, and practiced a few Forward Lunge Stabs. Feeling carefully, he found no noticeable effect—it was the same as usual.

Then he smiled wryly at himself. After all, this was only the first practice. How could it have such an obvious effect?

Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self consumed a great deal of mental energy. Right now, he felt a dull ache in his temples and could barely concentrate. Doing homework was out of the question.

Luckily, tomorrow was the weekend, so he wasn't in a hurry to finish his assignments. But next time, he'd have to practice right before sleep.

He picked up the wooden sword again and simply continued practicing the Forward Lunge Stab.

The next morning, Chen Shouyi walked into the Youth Martial Arts Training Center.

Before he even entered the lobby, several flyers were thrust into his hands. He glanced at them—the ads were overblown, promising things like "Real martial artist instruction?" or "Twenty years of focused training?"

One of them was even from the Martial Arts Cram Class he'd signed up for over the summer.

Remembering how that cram class had gone, his face twisted.

"Crap!"

Spotting a trash can ahead, he stuffed all the flyers inside.

Before coming, he had already gathered a bunch of information online and had a target in mind. But before signing up, he needed to check it out in person.

He quickly took the elevator to the fifth floor.

Before he even reached the door, a pleasant female voice reached his ears:

"Do you know why the swordsmanship requirements for the Martial Apprentice exam are so high? As everyone should know, the gravity in the other world is three times that of Earth. This means even an ordinary savage has a physique stronger than most human martial artists.

Since we don't have the innate physical gifts of savages, we have to rely on technique to make up for it.

The Version 50 Swordsmanship we're learning now uses supercomputers to model human muscle movement. Every tiny motion of the muscles is precisely calculated, combining biomechanics and aerodynamics, to maximize speed and power without causing injury.

A qualified Martial Apprentice can burst out with three times their normal strength, a Martial Artist can reach five times, and for those above, Great Martial Artists, the explosive power is even stronger..."

Chen Shouyi found it hard to believe, but recalling how he had driven a wooden chopstick into the wall yesterday, he suddenly realized it might be true. When practicing the Forward Lunge Stab, each thrust was astonishingly fast.

If you compared the sword to a bullet, then the power transmitted and amplified through the body's muscles via various leverage points was its driving force.

It allowed an ordinary amount of force to be multiplied several times over.

The training room door was half-open. Peeking through the gap, Chen Shouyi saw a woman in hot pants with a striking figure.

"The online posts weren't lying—this instructor really is a beauty. I heard she just graduated from the Martial Arts Academy, only one step away from becoming a Martial Artist. They also say she's gentle and very patient."

"Is there something you need, classmate?" Within seconds, the beauty seemed to sense him and quickly turned her gaze his way.

She spoke with a smile in her voice, her tone soft, as serene as a blooming lily.

This eased Chen Shouyi's nervousness at being caught peeking. He quickly said, "I... I'm here to sign up for the swordsmanship cram class."

"Oh, I'm in the middle of a lesson right now. You'll have to wait a bit," she said with a smile.

"Okay, no problem!" Chen Shouyi waved his hands repeatedly.

"Would it be alright if I sat in and listened?"

The beauty paused, glanced at him, and nodded. "Sure, that's fine."

Chen Shouyi took off his shoes and quickly walked inside.

There were ten students in the cram class—six boys and four girls. Most were around Chen Shouyi's age, with a few who were clearly middle schoolers.

They glanced at him briefly, then ignored him.

Spotting a few benches for resting in the back, Chen Shouyi walked over and sat down.

Soon, the instructor continued her lesson.

"Today I'll be teaching the slash in swordsmanship. The slash, when broken down further, can be divided into the Immovable Slash, Small Step Slash, and Large Step Slash. Additionally, depending on the grip, it can also be split into the Separate Hand Single Slash and the Two-Handed Slash."

"The Immovable Slash involves no obvious foot movement, but the legs still need to exert force. Everyone, watch my legs!"

As she held the wooden sword and prepared to slash, her originally smooth, fair thighs immediately revealed countless fine, well-defined muscles, which began to rise and fall rhythmically, as if a force rose from the ground, traveled through her feet to her spine, and then reached her arms.

The next moment, her waist moved like a spring, and with a sharp swish, she slashed out a sword stroke. The arc was graceful and pleasing to the eye, filled with a strong sense of beauty.

In the time that followed, she demonstrated the Small Step Slash, the Large Step Slash, and the movements when gripping the sword with both hands.

Especially during the Large Step Slash, there was no sense of deliberate effort at all—just an ordinary step forward, like teleporting across nearly three meters. One slash, and it felt like the legendary technique of shrinking the earth into inches.

Chen Shouyi had watched many videos of martial artists and knew this was Basic Footwork—a unique step used by martial artists and Martial Apprentices in combat. Unlike ordinary walking, where the toes barely exert force, Basic Footwork required a clear "grip" or "dig" motion from the sole of the foot, while the spine swayed gently along with that force, not only balancing the body's center of gravity but also providing a propulsive boost.

It was quite strenuous and also quite difficult to practice.

When using Basic Footwork, to an outsider, it often gave the impression of slightly floating or shrinking the earth into inches.

It could unleash astonishing speed in an instant, replacing the ordinary walking method in combat.

Her demonstration was clean and fluid, like flowing clouds and water, without any superfluous movements. Though her speed wasn't fast, it gave off a powerful sense of strength.

Chen Shouyi felt that even if she were holding a wooden sword, being struck by such a slash would likely cut his body open.

His heart burned with excitement. He felt today was more than worth it—just this one technique alone was worth the price of admission.