Five Animals Fist Entry!

Jiang Tian was slightly taken aback; he hadn't expected the seemingly simple-minded Zhang Ergou to take the initiative to tell him these things.

Zhang Ergou reached out and pointed toward a man not far away.

The man had a fair complexion. Even though he was wearing the Five Animals Martial Hall's cotton uniform, he had draped a green silk robe over it, the fabric embroidered with subtle patterns that looked expensive at a glance.

His phoenix eyes were slightly upturned, and while his features were decent enough when viewed individually, they looked inexplicably awkward when combined on one face.

The man was surrounded by several martial hall disciples, all of whom wore fawning smiles, acting as obsequious as if they were ready to bend over at any moment to serve as his stool.

"Do you know the three great families of Blackwater County?" Zhang Ergou asked.

"I do," Jiang Tian nodded. "Wang, Li, and Xu."

"That is the fifth young master of the Li Family, Li Batian," Zhang Ergou lowered his voice.

"Don't let his presence in the martial hall fool you; he is already at the level of Hidden Energy, and before long, he might even touch the threshold of Manifest Energy."

Jiang Tian took another look at the man.

"He has a rather strange temper," Zhang Ergou's eyes flickered.

"Someone sparred with him before, and they were evenly matched, but once the sparring ended, he couldn't handle losing and turned hostile on the spot."

He paused. "In short, stay away from him. Even if he tries to show you favor later, don't pay him any mind."

"Understood."

Zhang Ergou then pointed to one of the few women in the martial hall.

She had a heart-shaped face, peach-blossom eyes, and a waist so slender it looked like it might snap in a strong breeze, yet her chest was full and firm, stretching the martial hall uniform into a sharp, striking curve.

Most eye-catching was the tear mole at the corner of her eye, which added an air of natural charm.

She stood there quietly, looking quite delicate, giving the illusion that she would collapse at the slightest touch.

If Jiang Tian hadn't seen this girl lift a stone pedestal larger than herself with one hand and walk a dozen steps without changing her expression, he almost would have believed it.

"This is the hall master's only daughter, Yuan Manzhi," Zhang Ergou's voice held a hint of reverence.

"Don't let her porcelain-doll looks deceive you. In this martial hall, even counting the senior brother who is away escorting caravans, her strength ranks in the top three. She is a genuine Manifest Energy expert."

"Hiss!"

Jiang Tian gasped.

Truly, one should never judge a book by its cover.

"And that one," Zhang Ergou nudged his chin in another direction.

"The third young master of the Cai Family, Cai Yuming, a practitioner of Hidden Energy."

"The Cai Family is a rising clan from these past few years. While their prestige and wealth don't yet match the three great families, their momentum is fierce, and there is a vague trend of them becoming the fourth family of Blackwater County."

He paused and added, "Although this Cai Yuming is a young master from a wealthy family, he is kind-hearted and worth befriending."

Jiang Tian nodded thoughtfully.

He didn't know why this Senior Brother Zhang was suddenly telling him all this, but he wouldn't take it all at face value; he still needed to form his own judgment on everything.

"Follow me."

Zhang Ergou patted him on the shoulder. "Today, I will teach you the signature martial art of our Five Animals Martial Hall."

"Alright!"

Jiang Tian's eyes lit up; he had finally reached the main event.

Zhang Ergou led him to a relatively secluded corner of the courtyard and first introduced the origins and nuances of the Five Animals Fist.

The Tiger Style represents slaughter and ferocity, being extremely yang and rigid; it is the move with the highest single-target lethality in the Five Animals Fist.

The Bear Style represents defense and power; it can be used to attack or defend.

The Ape Style represents agility and change; strikes are like the wind, with effortless retraction and release.

The Deer Style is light and graceful, focusing on movement techniques.

The Bird Style takes its essence from lightness, training agility and footwork.

Each of the five styles has its strengths, and only when combined do they form a complete set of the Five Animals Fist.

After finishing his explanation, Zhang Ergou rolled up his sleeves and took two steps back.

"Watch closely. I will break each move down into small actions, and you will learn them step by step."

"Understood." Jiang Tian nodded vigorously.

Zhang Ergou took a deep breath, sank his waist, dropped his hips, and slowly raised his arms.

The next moment, he moved.

As the Tiger Style emerged, his entire aura shifted abruptly. His arms rotated like a windmill, his punches striking like a tiger descending a mountain. Each punch carried a low, whistling sound of displaced air, and his footsteps thudded against the ground, as if a real tiger were pacing the courtyard.

Before the ferocity of the Tiger Style had dissipated, his figure lowered, his arms circled, and his breath sank down instantly.

The five styles rotated, flowing in one continuous motion.

Jiang Tian stared with intense focus, his eyes not blinking once.

With the blessing of his Innate Wisdom Root, every movement Zhang Ergou made was firmly imprinted in his mind.

Not only that, but those fluid motions were automatically broken down in his mind into frame-by-frame images: the exact position of his knees when his arm reached a certain angle, where his center of gravity rested, and the precise moment his breathing shifted...

Everything was laid bare in perfect detail.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Zhang Ergou retracted his stance, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and tilted his chin toward Jiang Tian.

"You give it a try. Don't be afraid of making mistakes; it took me an entire day just to barely reach the entry level. This Five Animals Fist has many moves, and it's impossible to learn it in one go. Just practice, and I'll correct you one by one."

"Alright."

Jiang Tian took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and ran through the decomposed images in his mind from beginning to end.

Then, he opened his eyes and mimicked the stance, pulling his arms into position.

Tiger Style start, sink the waist, drop the hips, rotate the arms.

The punch landed.

[Beep! Due to your Innate Wisdom Root, Five Animals Fist proficiency +2!]

[Name: Jiang Tian]

[Lifespan: 16/17]

[Realm: None]

[Martial Arts: Five Animals Fist (Entry) (2+/200)]

Jiang Tian's eyes lit up.

That was it? He'd reached the entry level?

He suppressed the surprise in his heart and threw a few more punches in succession.

After finishing the Tiger Style, he transitioned to the Bear Style, shifted to the Ape Style, morphed into the Deer Style, and concluded with the Bird Style. Although the movements were still slightly raw, the framework for every single move and stance had been established.

[Beep! Due to your Excellent Bone Structure and Innate Wisdom Root! Five Animals Fist proficiency +3!]

[Beep! Due to your Excellent Bone Structure and Innate Wisdom Root! Five Animals Fist proficiency +3!]

[Beep! Due to your Excellent Bone Structure and Innate Wisdom Root! Five Animals Fist proficiency +3!]

On the side, the look in Zhang Ergou's eyes became increasingly strange.

He first frowned slightly, then his brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and his mouth unconsciously hung open.

No, wait—why did it feel like Jiang Tian had already reached the entry level with this set of Five Animals Fist?

That couldn't be right, could it?

How could anyone reach the entry level after watching it just once? How was anyone else supposed to live?

He narrowed his eyes, staring intensely at every one of Jiang Tian's movements.

The framework of the stance was correct. Although there were many rough edges in the details—the force of the Tiger Style wasn't crisp enough, the turn in the Ape Style was slightly stiff, and the footwork of the Deer Style was a bit sluggish—the skeleton was correct!

The path of every move was right!

Zhang Ergou opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

He suddenly remembered when he learned the Five Animals Fist, following his senior brother move by move for an entire day just to barely reach the entry level.

And now, this junior brother, who had been here for less than two days, had set up the frame after watching it once?

A genius?

No, "genius" wasn't enough to describe it.

Zhang Ergou took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his expression calm, even though his heart was in turmoil.

This wouldn't do. He had to talk to the master about this tonight.

After finishing the set, Jiang Tian retracted his stance and turned to look at Zhang Ergou: "Senior brother, I've finished one round."

"Hmm... not bad."

Zhang Ergou nodded, his voice calm.

He tried his best to appear unruffled, but in reality, he was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would reveal his shock.

Just then, a burst of exclamation erupted from the center of the courtyard.

"My god! Grade A Bone Structure!"

Jiang Tian turned his head to look—at some point, a crowd had gathered in the center of the courtyard, layer upon layer, packing the open space so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

"Grade A Bone Structure?"

Jiang Tian's gaze flickered, and just as he was about to go over to take a look, his vision was suddenly filled with two flashes of light, one purple and one blue.

[Extractable traits detected]

[Name: Zhou Mu]

[Realm: None]

[Traits: Innate Martial Bone (Purple), Innate Wisdom Root (Blue) (Extractable)]

Jiang Tian's pupils constricted sharply.

One purple, one blue.

Since he had awakened his system, this was the most luxurious configuration of traits he had ever seen!

One trait was purple, and one trait was blue.

A single person, carrying two top-tier traits.

"Extract!"

Jiang Tian did not hesitate, silently commanding in his heart.

In an instant, two rays of light, one purple and one blue, tore through the air from the crowd and vanished into the center of Jiang Tian's brow.

[Trait Points: 1970]

Jiang Tian's eyelids twitched violently.

A single person had contributed fifteen hundred trait points to him!

No, he had to see what this "angel investor" looked like.

With a thought, Jiang Tian squeezed into the crowd.

In the middle of the crowd, a young man was standing awkwardly beside Yuan Long.

He was wearing a tattered cotton jacket covered in patches, with cotton stuffing poking out in several places; it was dusty and looked exceptionally jarring amidst the neatly uniformed disciples of the Martial Arts Hall.

His face was smeared with a few black marks, whether from coal dust or mud, it was hard to tell.

His features were decent enough, but he looked somewhat dull and simple-minded, like a farm boy from the countryside who had never seen the world.

Facing the various gazes of the surrounding disciples—some envious, some jealous, some scrutinizing—he seemed rather shy, keeping his head down and not knowing where to put his hands, awkwardly twisting the corner of his clothes.

Beside him, Yuan Long stood at his side, his face, usually calm and collected, now glowing with excitement, as if he had picked up some incredible treasure.

The way he looked at Zhou Mu was filled with unconcealable joy.