Meng Yongzhi nodded.
"I know. Police Chief Long told me about it. Keep the prize money and decide how to spend it yourself. Just use it for things that'll help with your martial arts training."
"You were really in danger this time. Don't take such a risk again."
Meng Chuan promised he wouldn't do it again, saying this time had been an accident. After demonstrating his fist technique for his uncle once more, Meng Yongzhi returned to the living room, thoroughly satisfied.
"Yongzhi, I just heard. The kid earned three hundred thousand?"
Xue Na leaned over and asked.
Meng Yongzhi lowered the newspaper in his hands and frowned, displeased.
"That money was earned with his life on the line. Don't even think about taking it."
Hearing her husband say that, Xue Na hurried to defend herself.
"I was just asking. I haven't even said anything, and you're already taking me to task."
"As long as he keeps training in martial arts, the kid will go further and further. What's three hundred thousand? Once Chuan'er becomes a martial artist, earning three million will be a breeze."
This time, Xue Na didn't argue. When she'd gone grocery shopping that morning, she'd seen posters all over the streets and alleys announcing the perfect conclusion of Yong'an's Young Eagle Cup.
Even in a competition for children under fourteen, the top prize was as much as a hundred thousand.
"Honey, do you think Chuan'er could compete in one of those tournaments?"
Great Chu governed the country through martial arts, and martial arts had flourished among the people as a result. People weren't interested in movie stars or singers, and the country didn't encourage them, either.
At the same time, ordinary people didn't like watching films or television dramas in their free time. They preferred watching martial arts tournaments.
In everyone's eyes, no program could catch the eye like a thrilling martial arts duel.
For some of the most popular martial arts superstars, tickets to a single match could be resold for several times their original price.
Hearing his wife's words, Meng Yongzhi replied firmly:
"Of course he can. I believe Meng Chuan will make a name for himself in the ring one day!"
In the bedroom, Meng Chuan's stance resembled the Chinese character for "person." His upper body stood proudly straight, like a green bamboo, while his knees were slightly bent and his legs rooted firmly to the floor like the coiled roots of an old tree.
His posture was identical to the demonstration in the Illustrated Guide to the Sancai Stance—a textbook-perfect practice.
It was extremely difficult to keep one's posture correct and one's breath smooth while maintaining inward focus during a stance. The soreness constantly radiating through the body tested the practitioner's willpower and perseverance at every moment.
"This [Sancai Stance] looks simple—you just stand still. But you have to keep your form from changing while also deliberately controlling the rhythm of your breathing. It really isn't simple."
Ever since gaining the One Proof Eternal Proof trait, whenever Meng Chuan practiced martial arts, he could pinpoint problems with unerring precision.
After completing several cycles of movements, Meng Chuan felt he still had strength to spare, so he kept going.
After a grueling hour and a half, he was drenched as if he'd been steamed in a sauna. Sweat ran from his forehead to his thighs. Feeling his body reach its limit, he could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the bed.
"Whew, an hour and a half. That's a huge improvement over before."
Meng Chuan guessed it might be because this was his first time practicing the stance after gaining the One Proof Eternal Proof trait, which had made the improvement especially pronounced. He'd added a full half hour.
If he improved by half an hour every time he practiced the stance, then after a few years he might be able to plant himself in the ground and hibernate through winter.
He checked the results. The boost to his comprehension from One Proof Eternal Proof worked on the Stake Technique, too. Otherwise, Meng Chuan wouldn't have gained so many new insights while practicing just now.
[Taiyi Three Talents Stance: Human Stance (2%) → Human Stance (3%)]
"It went up by 1% just like that. The result of one stance session today is almost as much as the total of the previous week. This One Proof Eternal Proof really is incredible!"
Only now could Meng Chuan clearly feel the difference between a genius and an ordinary person.
According to what Master Luo had said, the difficulty of practicing the Stake Technique increased in steps. The higher one's proficiency, the harder it became to improve—the later stages were more than a hundred times harder than the early ones.
With his talent from before, he probably could've practiced until he died without breaking through to the [Earth Stance].
There might be people with traits suited to the Stake Technique, or with top-grade or better bone structure, whose progress was faster than his right now.
But with the [Martial Dao Limit-Breaking Panel], countless traits would stack together in the future. Any genius would have to bow before him.
Before he knew it, Saturday had arrived. In just a few short days, Meng Chuan's panel had undergone a complete transformation.
[Martial Arts] [National Compulsory Basic Fist Technique: Limit-Breaking (One Proof Eternal Proof) (Super)] [Pao Fist: Beginner (82%), Limit-Breaking Available] [Limit-Breaking Trait: Heavy Strike (Beginner)] [Stake Technique] [Taiyi Three Talents Stance: Human Stance (6%), Limit-Breaking Available] [Limit-Breaking Trait: Morning and Evening Hearing the Dao (Beginner)]
Pao Fist was the new fist technique Master Luo had taught him earlier. In just a few days, he'd gone from not having learned it at all to being on the verge of reaching the proficient level.
He had One Proof Eternal Proof to thank for it. Every time he practiced the fist technique's routine, it became an indelible memory embedded in his body.
That meant every subsequent practice brought Meng Chuan new insights built on the last.
But none of this would've been possible without Meng Chuan's own hard work. Just like before, he practiced his fists at four in the morning before going to school. After coming home, he practiced the Human Stance, then showered and went to bed once he was exhausted. The next day, he did it all over again.
"My qi and blood probably don't just exceed the first threshold anymore. I'm likely close to breaking through the second Qi-Blood Pass. I can get a proper measurement at the martial arts center today."
Meng Chuan's strength had changed almost from one day to the next that week. He'd never experienced this kind of rocket-like progress before.
But at school, Meng Chuan hadn't announced how much his strength had improved. Neither his classmates nor his teachers had noticed the change.
The fuss at school over the National Compulsory Basic Fist Technique hadn't been his intention in the first place.
He wasn't someone who liked to show off. He usually preferred to keep a low profile.
Besides, half of his class was made up of students studying academic subjects. As long as he didn't make trouble, no one had time to pay attention to his changes. The principal and homeroom teacher were busy, too, and still thought he was a stubborn fool who practiced the National Compulsory Basic Fist Technique to the exclusion of everything else.
What's more, most students with talent for martial arts had been recruited by various martial arts high schools. There was no need for them to attend a general high school.
Ping'an High School wouldn't have professional martial arts teachers until the students chose their academic or martial arts track in their second year. In their first year, they mainly had to practice on their own.
Early that morning, his good buddy Wang Yue excitedly called to ask him to meet at the martial arts center. From the excitement in Wang Yue's voice, Meng Chuan still couldn't tell what he had in mind.
But it was a good thing, all the same. Meng Chuan hoped Wang Yue would take his martial arts training more seriously.
Meng Chuan had just changed in the locker room and hadn't even had time to eat breakfast when Wang Yue dragged him onto the training floor.
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