Jiang Tian is a Promising Talent

The other three were all stunned.

No one expected that Jiang Tian, who was usually soft-spoken and wouldn't even utter a curse word during an argument, would actually resort to physical violence!

Wang Xiaolan was the first to snap out of it; she hurriedly crouched down, pulled a small blue handkerchief from her pocket, and frantically wiped the blood from Zhang Qingfeng's face.

"Brother Qingfeng, are you alright?"

"Get lost!"

Zhang Qingfeng snatched the handkerchief away, shoved the crouching Wang Xiaolan aside, and wiped his face haphazardly.

Wang Xiaolan stumbled from the push, lost her balance, and landed hard on her backside.

Her face was filled with shock, and a sense of grievance instantly exploded in her heart; her eyes turned red, and tears welled up in them.

She couldn't understand why Zhang Qingfeng would treat her this way.

It was only a few days ago that he promised to marry her and treat her well.

Zhang Qingfeng stood up unsteadily, his face, which was not particularly handsome to begin with, looking even uglier now due to his twisted expression.

Nosebleed still flowed, smearing half his face and making him look both pathetic and ferocious.

He wanted to charge forward and return the punch, but when he looked up and saw Jiang Tian's physique, which seemed a size broader than before, and those indifferent eyes devoid of any warmth, his heart immediately faltered.

"Jiang Tian! You dare hit me?!" He retreated two steps, shouting with a fierce expression that masked his inner cowardice.

"Do you really think you can do whatever you want just because your brother is a government runner?"

"Are you leaving or not?"

Jiang Tian's gaze was icy, his tone indifferent.

"If you don't leave, I'll cripple you right now."

He had truly intended to kill with that punch earlier.

Although this was a chaotic era, the law still held some weight; otherwise, Zhang Qingfeng wouldn't be standing here talking right now.

Staring into those eyes, Zhang Qingfeng's body instinctively shrank, and the words in his throat were choked back.

"You just wait!"

He glared viciously at Jiang Tian, turned, and fled, his footsteps fast and chaotic, looking exactly like someone chased by a dog.

Wang Xiaolan sat on the ground, feeling at a loss.

She looked at Jiang Tian with her tear-filled, red eyes.

What met her was a pair of eyes without a ripple, as if looking at a total stranger.

She rose in silence, bowed slightly to the three of them, lowered her head, and hurried off in the direction Zhang Qingfeng had left.

"Holy cow!"

Li Goudan let out a strange cry, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

"Brother Tian, how many days have you been practicing? How did you knock Zhang Qingfeng down with a single punch?"

"A few days," Jiang Tian replied dismissively.

Li Goudan clicked his tongue: "You were the type who would be panting just from carrying a box of books... this change is way too huge!"

He paused, hesitated for a moment, and then lowered his voice: "But Brother Tian, doing this... isn't it a bit bad?"

"If people don't offend me, I won't offend them."

Jiang Tian didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood the implication of the second half.

The two of them had a much deeper friendship with Jiang Tian than with Zhang Qingfeng, and they knew exactly what kind of person Zhang Qingfeng was, so neither of them intended to speak up for him.

At this moment, Xiao Ce, who had been silent all along, spoke up with a grave tone, warning: "Brother Tian, Zhang Qingfeng has been getting very close to a disciple of the Kaishan Martial Hall recently... be careful."

"Alright."

Jiang Tian's eyes flickered, and he nodded.

A martial hall disciple, huh...

The three chatted for a few more moments before parting ways.

After breakfast, Jiang Tian headed toward the martial hall.

Along the way, he collected a few more trait points here and there, though it couldn't compare to yesterday; half of the people he encountered on the road were ones he had seen yesterday, and traits could not be extracted repeatedly.

However, counting the points extracted from Li Goudan and the others, he already had over three hundred.

When he arrived at the martial hall, many people were already in the courtyard.

As expected, Zhang Ergou was there to guide him through Post Standing again.

Jiang Tian could feel that after practicing for one more morning, he should be able to meet the standard for learning martial arts.

When Zhang Ergou saw Jiang Tian, his eyes clearly froze for a moment.

He rubbed his eyes, walked over to Jiang Tian, circled around him to look him up and down, and asked with a puzzled expression: "Junior Brother Jiang Tian, why do I feel like you've become even sturdier than you were yesterday?"

"Really?" Jiang Tian's expression remained unchanged.

"I don't think so, you saw it wrong."

"Impossible to be wrong!" Zhang Ergou frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Jiang Tian.

"My memory isn't that bad! You were definitely not this tall yesterday!"

Jiang Tian pursed his lips.

It seems he wasn't that easy to fool...

If this was the case, he would have to be more cautious when adding points to his Bone Structure in the future, prioritizing Comprehension instead.

Currently, by Yuan Long's standards, his Bone Structure would at least be rated as Grade B.

"Could it be that the first time practicing martial arts stimulated the potential in his body, causing his Bone Structure to change?"

Zhang Ergou muttered to himself, looking thoughtful.

He had already made up his mind; Jiang Tian was a promising talent, and he had to tell his master about these developments in detail tonight.

"Alright, let's continue with the Post Standing. You still have a few small details that aren't quite right, watch me..."

Seeing that Zhang Ergou stopped questioning him, Jiang Tian breathed a sigh of relief, focused his mind, and watched every one of the other's movements carefully.

On the wooden stake, Jiang Tian wrapped his arms around, his feet slightly turned inward, assuming a posture that looked like holding the moon, yet also like the roots of an old tree.

Zhang Ergou paced around the wooden stake, his voice neither high nor low, delivering every word into Jiang Tian's ears: "Remember, shoulder, elbow, and wrist must form a straight line, like three melons hanging from a single vine—heavy but not dragging, relaxed but not sagging."

Jiang Tian adjusted his right arm and immediately felt a subtle tension pulling from his shoulder all the way to his fingertips.

"Although this realm doesn't have a widely circulated name like Hidden Energy or Manifest Energy, we generally call it Blood Nourishing. Only by standing in the post for three hours can your blood and energy be sufficient to support your martial arts practice and proceed to Body Tempering!"

"Breathe."

Zhang Ergou's voice slowed down. "When inhaling, imagine the air entering through your nostrils, passing through your throat, entering your lungs, and sinking into your Dantian. When exhaling, don't push it out, let it sink down. Your lower abdomen should bulge slightly, not by using brute force to push it out, but by letting the energy sink down on its own."

Jiang Tian closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing.

Inhale.

The cold air passed through his nasal cavity, traveled down his throat, and he could almost see it circling in his chest before sinking heavily into his lower abdomen.

Exhale.

He didn't push the air out, but let that warm mass of energy slowly disperse within his lower abdomen.

He suddenly realized that his previous breathing had been floating in his chest, like a startled rabbit—rapid and shallow.

But now, as the breath sank to his lower abdomen, he felt like a tree that had taken root, becoming more stable than ever before.

"Good, keep it up."

Time ticked away, bit by bit.

Jiang Tian felt his legs begin to tremble uncontrollably, starting from his calves, then spreading to his thighs, and finally, even his waist and abdomen were shaking slightly.

His consciousness began to blur, with only one thought echoing in his mind.

Stay steady.

Cannot move.

His toes gripped the soles of his shoes tightly, his Yongquan Point was held hollow, his knees were slightly bent, and his hips were sunk.

Shoulders dropped, elbows hanging, wrists level.

Chest hollowed, back straightened, head suspended from above.

The energy within his body also became increasingly thick, growing from the size of a small snake to the size of a giant python.

The cotton-padded jacket on Jiang Tian's body was already soaked through with sweat, and white steam billowed from the top of his head; he looked like a pot of boiling water.

But his stance remained motionless, like an old tree that had taken root—unmoved by the wind, unshaken by the rain.

At this moment, every breath was an agonizing trial.

He could clearly feel every muscle crying out and the immense pressure on every bone. Although that warm current eased some of the soreness, his body's limits were approaching bit by bit; the trembling in his legs had turned from intermittent to continuous, his core began to loosen, and even his breathing became heavy.

But he did not move.

"That's it!"

As soon as those two words left Zhang Ergou's mouth, Jiang Tian leaped off the wooden stake, gasping for air, his chest heaving violently, his throat feeling incredibly dry.

"Drink this."

Zhang Ergou handed him a bowl of water.

The water was brown and emitted a scent of herbs mixed with blood, making one's throat tighten just by smelling it.

Jiang Tian held his breath and gulped it down in one go.

A warmth spread from his stomach, rapidly flowing to his limbs and bones.

The exhaustion in his body seemed to be gently stroked by an invisible hand, easing bit by bit, and the restless blood and energy in his body slowly calmed down as the medicinal water went down.

"Two days."

Zhang Ergou shook his head with a sigh of emotion.

"Back in my day, it took me seven or eight days before I could hold the Post Standing for three hours. You brat, you managed it in less than two."

"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Senior Brother." Jiang Tian gave a shy smile.

"I'm just doing what is expected of me."

Zhang Ergou chuckled, then turned to look at Jiang Tian and cautioned, "However, at the Five Animals Martial Hall, practicing martial arts is only one part of it. You also need to know who you shouldn't provoke and who you shouldn't cross."