Darkened Force

The more Meng Chuan fought, the more exhilarating he felt, and as the image of Master Luo elbowing the wooden stake flashed through his mind, inspiration suddenly struck.

Entering a peculiar state, Meng Chuan seemed to embody the very essence of martial arts; Instructor Liu Ru gradually unleashed her qi and blood, reaching the peak of the fourth barrier before she could just barely withstand his storm-like offensive.

Here it comes!

Meng Chuan lunged upward, leaping into the air as he transformed his fist into a chopping palm, striking toward Instructor Liu Ru.

Liu Ru's feet drifted, sliding onto another wooden stake, and Meng Chuan's vertical palm slammed heavily into the stake she had just been standing on.

As he exerted his strength and channeled his power, his entire body shuddered, and the qi and blood within him were rapidly mobilized.

In an instant, a latent power within his body erupted from his palm!

Crack!

A crisp sound of splitting wood came from the stake, with a crack extending from the top surface all the way to the base.

Because his force was still far inferior to Master Luo's, Meng Chuan did not completely shatter the wooden stake.

At this moment, the side of Meng Chuan's palm had turned bright red due to the counter-shock force of the stake.

Yet, he felt no pain at all; instead, he wore an expression of excitement.

"Dark Jin, it's done!"

"That strike just now was only possible because of the resonance within my body and the propulsion of a massive amount of qi and blood."

This was Dark Jin.

The reason why intermediate-level Martial Practitioners could crush low-level ones lay not primarily in the extra qi and blood, but in the devastating internal destructive power of Dark Jin!

Striking while the iron was hot, Meng Chuan sought to recapture that feeling once more.

In a flash, Ming Jin and Dark Jin erupted alternately, the two forces rotating and alternating as he hammered them into the same wooden stake.

Added to the previous palm strike, the wooden stake began to crack.

After a few more punches, he smashed the wooden stake into pieces!

Seeing this, Liu Ru cupped her hands in congratulations from the side:

"Congratulations, Little Meng, you have mastered Dark Jin."

"Thank you, Sister Ru."

Liu Ru waved her hand, stepped back, and said nothing more.

The wooden stakes in the martial arts hall were Master Luo's property, so Meng Chuan decided not to continue his destructive activities on the other stakes.

Instead, he stood to the side and practiced Luo Family Baji against the air, continuing to feel the exertion of Dark Jin.

Over an hour passed, and Meng Chuan continued to practice tirelessly and repeatedly.

His activation of Dark Jin became increasingly proficient, and the proficiency level of Luo Family Baji in his mind jumped from time to time.

Liu Ru stood to the side, stealing glances at Meng Chuan as he practiced his punches, burying her thoughts deep down so no one else could see them.

Regardless of whether she could become a personal disciple of Master Luo in the future.

Right or wrong, success or failure, it had nothing to do with Meng Chuan, and Liu Ru gradually began to admire him.

In winter, the sun sets quickly, and the sky was growing dark.

After Meng Chuan gave Fang Jianxing some pointers, the latter bid him farewell:

"Little Meng, I've practiced enough for today; my legs are almost killing me, haha."

"Brother Fang, you're a bit lacking in exercise; you should just stand more while you're working."

Fang Jianxing smiled helplessly:

"Ah, there's no helping that, I have to strive for the sake of all humanity."

Meng Chuan cupped his hands and said with a smile:

"Brother Fang, you are truly righteous!"

"I'll be heading off then, there's still work waiting for me at the lab."

"I'll see you out."

Standing at the entrance of the martial arts hall, Fang Jianxing asked casually:

"Who was that girl sparring with you earlier? She felt even more formidable than you, though she seemed to have a lot on her mind."

Meng Chuan explained:

"She is an instructor at our hall, so of course she's better than me, but she's preparing for the martial arts hall tournament recently, so she's probably under a lot of pressure."

Liu Ru hid her emotions well, and Meng Chuan had not noticed any clues from her appearance.

"I see, alright, no worries."

Thinking of something, Fang Jianxing added:

"I know a bit of psychology, so I can tell when someone is feeling certain emotions."

Meng Chuan nodded.

Along the way, Meng Chuan explained some precautions for practicing the stance alone to Fang Jianxing.

When the car arrived, Fang Jianxing cupped his hands in farewell.

"See you next time, little Meng!"

"Bye, Brother Fang."

Meng Chuan turned and walked back into the martial arts gym. Just as he stepped through the front gate, a sudden sensation of coolness washed over the back of his head—it was the warning instinct of the Luo Family Baji.

He immediately raised his arm and threw an elbow strike backward, and Wang Yue went flying out with a thud.

"Holy crap, do you have eyes in the back of your head?"

Meng Chuan crossed his arms over his chest:

"With just those moves of yours, you want to ambush me?"

"You don't realize it, but the barrier between us is only growing thicker."

Wang Yue scrambled up from the floor and wailed:

"Damn it!!!"

Master Luo had notified him earlier that he had business tonight, so Meng Chuan went straight home after leaving the gym.

In his bedroom late at night, Meng Chuan's legs were shaking like a sieve, and sweat from his forehead dripped incessantly onto the floor.

He had no time to wipe it away, as his physical stamina was nearing its limit.

Hoo!

Meng Chuan collapsed onto his bed.

After five full hours, he had made another major breakthrough in the Taiyi Three Talents Stance.

[Taiyi Three Talents Stance: Human Stance (47%) → (48%) Awaiting Limit Break]

A single session lasted five hours, and every time he practiced, he had to challenge the limits of the human body.

How difficult the path of martial arts truly is!

Just after the Lantern Festival, Meng Chuan was on the rooftop practicing his punches early in the morning as usual when Master Luo called with good news.

"Good news, Meng Chuan, the optimization of the Guoyi Fist has passed the review."

Hearing this, Meng Chuan felt his heart tighten, a surge of excitement bubbling up.

He was usually composed, but this news was simply too good.

"Really, Master Luo? What should I do now?"

"Come over to my place first, we'll talk when you get here!"

"Understood."

Meng Chuan went downstairs and said goodbye to his uncle before heading out.

"Off to the gym to practice again, Chuan'er? Remember to balance work and rest."

Meng Chuan smiled and said:

"I'm not going to practice, there's news about the Guoyi Fist optimization, so I'm heading over to my master's place."

Upon hearing this, Meng Yongzhi sprang up from the sofa.

"Good, hahaha, I knew you could do it!"

"Go quickly, and remember to bring back the certificate!"

At the home of Luo Guanyun.

"After discussion, the Research and Judgment Group has preliminarily determined it to be a reasonable optimization. They will proceed with small-scale pilot observations using the version of the Guoyi Fist you optimized."

"Tell Meng Chuan to prepare and come over this afternoon; a very important person wants to meet him."

Bai Junfeng's voice came from the other end of the phone, and Meng Chuan, listening from the side, felt a wave of joy.

Luo Guanyun laughed heartily beside him:

"Hahaha, I knew my disciple would succeed!"

"Old Bai, which important person are you talking about?"

Bai Junfeng paused for a moment before speaking:

"The adapter of the previous version of the Guoyi Fist, Honorary President of the Martial Artist Association, and a Sixth Great Limit Heavenly King-level martial artist."

"[Shenji Baibian Zhao Yingchun]."

"Holy crap!"

Luo Guanyun fell silent, his heart filled with astonishment.

He had prepared himself mentally, but he truly hadn't expected the important person Bai Junfeng mentioned to be the Heavenly King Zhao Yingchun.

Shenji Baibian Zhao Yingchun was a living fossil of the Great Chu who had lived for nearly five hundred years. Throughout his life, he had revised the Guoyi Fist several times, determined to improve the physical fitness of the citizens of Great Chu from the most fundamental level.

He was also one of the founding members of the original Martial Artist Association. Alongside Taizu, he helped bring the Martial Artist Association onto the historical stage and was a pioneer of the martial arts era in Great Chu.