Wild Martial Insights

Chen Mochuan had thrown himself heart and soul into practicing his fists, completely unaware of time slipping by.

When he glanced at the clock on the wall, he was slightly startled. It was already two thirty in the morning.

He'd been practicing for a full three hours.

After the initial excitement faded, although his body still had strength to spare, the night's exertion, coupled with sustained high-intensity focus, had pushed his mind close to its limit.

While practicing just now, he seemed to have entered a state of concentration similar to "Wisdom Heart," shutting out everything else and gaining greatly from it.

The information on the light screen confirmed it: his mastery of Foundation Building Fist had risen to [Great Completion (3%)].

At the same time, this fist technique tempered the bones, muscles, and Blood Qi. After this round of practice, his Blood-Qi Value had increased by another 0.03, reaching [3.06].

All of this made Chen Mochuan even more certain that [Spirit Devourer] possessed potential far beyond imagination.

Efficiently absorbing supplements might merely be its basic function. "Picking up" martial insights was its true core.

Moreover, he could clearly sense that he had yet to fully digest and absorb the Foundation Building Fist insights he had gained from the notebook.

What he needed next was painstaking, gradual effort. As long as he kept practicing his fists, he could slowly turn those precious insights into his own.

And before awakening Spirit Devourer, what he lacked least was diligence—let alone now.

Looking at the words on the light screen, Chen Mochuan slowly withdrew his stance and let out a long breath of hot, turbid air.

Joy and excitement still echoed in his chest, but his gaze had grown clearer and firmer.

This night's experience had opened the door to a brand-new world for him. He knew that from today onward, everything would be different.

It was late, and he still had school in the daytime. He took a quick shower, suppressed his still-active thoughts, and forced himself into bed.

"Bang!"

It wasn't until six in the morning that Chen Mochuan hurriedly shut his front door.

Having fallen asleep close to three, he'd unusually overslept. Even his four-thirty alarm hadn't woken him; at some point, he'd apparently turned it off.

Fortunately, despite sleeping only three hours, he didn't feel physically tired after getting up. Perhaps it was because he'd taken ten Blood Qi Supplements last night. His status on the light screen read [Blood Qi Abundant].

At that moment, his only discomfort was... unbearable hunger!

When he awakened last night, he'd basically eaten all the ready-to-eat food in the house. He could only head to the restaurant at the entrance of the residential compound for breakfast.

As he passed through the community square, he saw several elderly people standing in stances and practicing their fists.

In the Hua Nation, Root-Solidifying Stance and Foundation Building Fist had long been universally promoted. Men and women, young and old alike, could strengthen their bodies by practicing them regularly.

The spacious community square had thus become a natural Martial Arts Arena.

Chen Mochuan had intended to go around them so as not to disturb their morning practice, but his steps abruptly halted.

That sensation he'd noticed from the fist technique notebook last night surfaced again.

There were actually "spirits" here in the square that he could absorb!?

Without hesitation, he walked straight into the square and joined the morning exercisers.

At first, when they noticed an unfamiliar face, some of the elderly people glanced his way. But once they saw Chen Mochuan assume the Root-Solidifying Stance, they looked away again.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Chen Mochuan silently activated Spirit Devourer's ability.

In the next instant, he saw twenty or thirty extremely faint points of light appear across the square, like fireflies. Unlike the notebook's Spiritual Essence, they hadn't gathered into seeds, but were scattered sparsely through the air.

Chen Mochuan's thoughts stirred. The moment he thought of drawing them into his body, those points of light swarmed toward him and plunged into him all at once.

In an instant, countless chaotic fragments of images flooded his mind:

A trembling knee struggling to maintain balance; fragmented insights on breathing rhythms; a fleeting moment of waist and stance moving as one; the lesson of someone rushing for success and distorting their posture; and another person's shallow understanding of calming Blood Qi when closing a stance...

Decades' worth of confusion, insights, and muscle memory from different practitioners regarding the same stance training technique—these incomplete realizations from different people and different stages were like countless shattered mirrors, simultaneously reflecting every fragmentary detail of Root-Solidifying Stance and Foundation Building Fist.

Though they were all the most basic Root-Solidifying Stance and Foundation Building Fist content, they were far too numerous and fragmented, like dozens of people whispering in his ear at once. The sudden impact made him dizzy, and his temples throbbed violently.

"Young man, are you all right?" An elderly man with graying hair noticed something wrong with his complexion and walked over to ask softly.

The question pulled Chen Mochuan back from the vortex of information into reality.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." He forced a smile and immediately left the square.

Watching the youth's somewhat hurried retreating figure, the old man shook his head and sighed. "Sigh, young people these days have such weak foundations. He couldn't even handle standing in a stance for that short while..."

Having already walked some distance away, Chen Mochuan gently massaged his temples to ease the swelling pain in his head. He hadn't expected absorbing Spiritual Essence to have such a side effect.

Looks like absorbing Spiritual Essence isn't entirely risk-free. I'm still far too inexperienced in using Spirit Devourer. The next time I encounter this kind of scattered "wild" martial insight, I have to be more cautious.

However, when he saw the notification on the light screen, more than half of his frustration immediately dissipated.

[You activated "Spirit Devourer" and absorbed 26 incomplete martial insights, gaining a deeper understanding of Root-Solidifying Stance and Foundation Building Fist.]

As long as I gained something, it's fine. Once these fragmented experiences and insights are integrated, they should also speed up my cultivation.

He also noticed that, unlike last night's description of the martial insight, this notification contained the additional words "incomplete."

Though he had a guess in mind, he'd used Spirit Devourer to absorb martial insights too few times so far. He still needed more samples to confirm it.

Lost in thought, he had already left the residential compound and arrived at the restaurant he frequented.

He first ordered four baskets of soup dumplings and two large bowls of tofu pudding. After quickly wiping them out, he was still hungry, so he ordered another two baskets of dumplings.

Only after eating and drinking his fill did he get up to leave.

A grandfather and grandson at the next table watched him eat from beginning to end, their eyes wide with shock.

After a long while, the grandfather finally recovered. Looking at the bowl of tofu pudding his grandson still hadn't finished after ages, he snapped in exasperation, "You're already in your third year of middle school, and you still won't eat properly! How are you supposed to practice martial arts well if you can't keep up with your nutrition?"

Then, ignoring his grandson's fallen little face, the old man ordered another basket of soup dumplings for him.

A little after seven, Chen Mochuan entered the teaching building.

This was the first time in over two years that he'd arrived at school after six.

The moment he went upstairs, he saw Li Biao standing in the corridor with his phone in hand.

"Brother Chuan, I was just about to call you. You're so late today—are you all right?" Li Biao asked with concern.

Seeing other students in the corridor, Chen Mochuan didn't mention his awakening. He merely said he hadn't slept well, then headed toward the Martial Arts Arena with Li Biao.

But before they had taken more than a few steps, they ran straight into an obnoxious fellow.