Basic Footwork

"Whew!" Chen Shouyi jolted awake from his dream.

"Why was it different from what those practitioners online described?" As he recalled everything from the dream, a trace of doubt flashed through his mind.

When first sensing one's muscles through Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self, shouldn't the scene have been "a chaotic blur" and "a jumble of light and darkness"? Why could he clearly see the outlines of his muscles after the technique had been optimized?

The thought flashed through his mind. Whatever the case, he should try it first.

Unable to wait, he sat cross-legged. Yet the moment he sat down, his mind calmed, as if he had long since become thoroughly practiced at entering tranquility.

About half an hour later, Chen Shouyi opened his eyes wearily, his gaze filled with deep disbelief.

"How is that possible?"

It was only his first practice, yet the range he could sense had already expanded to below his chest and abdomen—to his entire lower body.

According to the experience of practitioners online, when ordinary people first sensed their bodies, they could sense at most the muscles in their toes or fingers. Even those born with powerful mental strength could sense no more than one foot.

Chen Shouyi absolutely refused to believe that he possessed extraordinary mental talent. If he truly had outstanding aptitude, he would not have remained unable to enter the threshold of Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self for so long.

Among the attributes in the Book of Knowledge, perception and will were the most likely to represent the legendary power of the mind. His will might have been somewhat strong, but it was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person's. As for his perception, it was even more ordinary—so unremarkable that it barely stood out.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered how different the scene he sensed had been from everyone else's.

"Could it be because the amount of information I sensed was relatively small?"

The more Chen Shouyi thought about it, the more likely it seemed. It was like painting a watercolor portrait: the optimized Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self first used lines to sketch the contours of the human body before filling in the colors, while ordinary Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self filled in the colors the instant the brush touched the paper.

With the same number of pixels, the former could quickly outline a rough image of the person one wanted to draw, while the latter could not even finish painting it with a single stroke.

He got out of bed, picked up the Wood Sword, and practiced Forward Lunge Stab a few times. After carefully sensing himself, he found that there was not much of an effect; it was no different from usual.

He immediately laughed at himself. After all, this was his first time practicing. How could the effect possibly be so obvious?

Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self consumed an enormous amount of mental energy. At that moment, he felt a faint swelling in his temples, and it was difficult to concentrate. There was no point in doing his homework next.

Fortunately, tomorrow was the weekend, so he did not need to rush to finish his homework. However, next time, he could only practice before going to sleep.

He picked up the Wood Sword and simply continued practicing Forward Lunge Stab.

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

Before he had even entered the lobby, several flyers had appeared in his hands. He glanced over them. The advertisements were full of sky-high boasts: "Guidance from a genuine martial artist?" "Twenty years of specialized training?"

One of them was even from the Martial Arts Cram Class he had signed up for during summer vacation.

Thinking of the results of that summer cram course, his face twisted.

"Bullshit!"

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

Before coming, he had searched for a great deal of information online and already had a target in mind. However, before registering, he had to inspect the place in person.

He soon took the elevator to the fifth floor.

Before he reached the door, he heard a pleasant female voice:

"Do you know why the requirements for swordsmanship in the Martial Apprentice examination are so high? I'm sure everyone knows that the other world's gravity is three times that of Earth's. As a result, even an ordinary barbarian's physical qualities are somewhat stronger than those of a human martial artist.

"We don't possess the barbarians' innate physical gifts, so we can only pursue technique to make up the difference.

"The Version 50 Swordsmanship we're learning now was created through supercomputer modeling and analysis of the human muscles. Every movement of every muscle was calculated precisely, then combined with human mechanics and aerodynamics. Without causing injury, it maximizes speed and strength.

"A qualified Martial Apprentice can unleash three times their own strength, while a martial artist can even reach five times. As for the Great Martial Artists above them, the strength they can unleash is even greater..."

Chen Shouyi found it somewhat unbelievable. But when he remembered his astonishing performance yesterday, stabbing a wooden chopstick into the wall, he suddenly realized that it did indeed seem to be true. Whenever he practiced Forward Lunge Stab, every thrust was astonishingly fast.

If the sword were compared to a bullet, then the force transmitted and amplified step by step through the various levers of the human body, passing through every muscle, would be its powerful propellant.

It allowed an ordinary ounce of strength to undergo severalfold amplification.

The door to the practice room was half open. Through the gap, Chen Shouyi immediately saw a fiery woman wearing hot pants.

"The posts online weren't exaggerating at all. The instructor really is a beauty. I heard she graduated from the Martial Arts Academy not long ago and is only one step away from becoming a martial artist. She's gentle and patient, too."

"What can I do for you?" Only a few seconds passed before the beauty seemed to sense him and swiftly turned her gaze toward him.

A smile curved her lips as she spoke, her voice gentle and her bearing as tranquil as a blooming lily.

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

"Oh, I'm teaching a class right now. I'll have to trouble you to wait a while," she said with a smile.

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

"Could I come in and sit in on the class?"

The beauty paused, looked him over, then nodded. "Mm, you can!"

Chen Shouyi immediately 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, though one was clearly a middle school student.

The students glanced at Chen Shouyi once, then paid him no further attention.

Chen Shouyi noticed several long benches at the back for resting and walked over to sit down.

Soon, the cram instructor continued her lesson.

"Today I'll be teaching the slash in swordsmanship. When broken down further, slashes can be divided into Immovable Slash, Small Step Slash, and Large Step Slash. In addition, depending on how the sword is gripped, there are Separate Hand Single Slash and Two-Handed Slash."

"Immovable Slash means the feet do not move noticeably, but the legs still have to exert force. Everyone, look at my legs!"

As she held the Wood Sword and prepared to slash, countless fine, well-defined muscles immediately surfaced across her originally smooth, fair thighs. They began to rise and fall rhythmically, as if a force had surged up from the ground, passed through both feet into the spine, and then been sent into her arms.

The next instant, her waist bent like a spring. Swish! She slashed out, the graceful arc pleasing to the eye and filled with powerful beauty.

Over the next while, she demonstrated Small Step Slash, Large Step Slash, and the movements used when gripping the sword with both hands.

Especially during Large Step Slash, there was no sense of deliberate effort at all. With an ordinary step, she crossed nearly three meters as if teleporting. When she slashed, it was practically like the legendary shrinking the earth into an inch.

Chen Shouyi had watched quite a few videos of martial artists and knew that this was Basic Footwork, a unique stepping method used by martial artists and Martial Apprentices in combat. Unlike ordinary walking, which barely used the toes, this method was different.

When using Basic Footwork, the sole had to make a clear "grabbing" or "scraping" motion. The spine also had to sway gently along with this force. This was not only for balancing the body's center of gravity, but also served as a propulsive force.

It was quite strenuous and extremely difficult to practice.

To outsiders, using Basic Footwork often gave the impression of hovering slightly above the ground or shrinking the earth into an inch.

It could erupt with astonishing speed in a brief instant, replacing ordinary footwork in battle.

Her movements were concise and fluid as she demonstrated them, flowing like clouds and water, without the slightest unnecessary motion. Although she was not moving quickly, she gave people a sense of majestic power.

Chen Shouyi felt that even if she were holding a Wood Sword, being struck by a slash like that would probably really split his body open.

His heart burned as he watched. He felt that coming today had been completely worth it. Just this one move alone had earned back the price of admission.