Intro to Stance Training

Yang Chong's palms were massive; the moment they touched Li Yuan's shoulders, a heavy, solid force seeped into his body.

It then traveled downward, probing his shoulders, spine, waist, abdomen, and legs in their entirety.

Li Yuan felt his entire skeletal frame go numb.

"Hmm..." Yang Chong pondered for a moment. "Your constitution is actually much stronger than this old man anticipated—far better than the average person, but..."

He withdrew his hands and sat back down in his chair.

He looked at Li Yuan and said, "Your muscles and bones have already begun to set. If you want to grind them open now, you will have to endure several times the hardship of others and spend far more on silver and grain."

Li Yuan was eighteen this year. Generally, one must begin tempering their blood and qi at fourteen, then start attempting to break through the three stages of Skin Refining a few years later.

Only then, before their blood and qi began to decline at the age of thirty, could they begin Bone Refining.

Tempering blood and qi is not difficult in itself, provided one is willing to endure hardship and has enough medicinal wine and nutrition.

However, breaking through to the next realm depends entirely on one's constitution and comprehension.

"This humble one understands, but since I have resolved to practice martial arts, I do not fear hardship."

Li Yuan replied after a moment of silence.

"Since your mind is made up, I have nothing more to say."

Yang Chong shook his head inwardly. In Wuxi County, he had seen too many people from impoverished families trying to defy fate through martial arts.

"Literary arts for the poor, martial arts for the rich"—that was not just a saying.

No matter how good your talent is, if you have no money, what are you going to use to train?

People at the bottom can barely fill their stomachs, let alone maintain a state of blood and qi fullness for long periods.

In the blood and qi tempering stage alone, medicinal wine and meat are indispensable, costing at least a hundred taels of silver.

That is not even counting the "tea fees" and apprenticeship fees demanded by some of the martial arts halls in the Inner City.

Children of wealthy families in the Inner City temper their blood and qi from a young age; with their blood and qi overflowing, their success rate in breaking through the three stages of Skin Refining is far higher.

Thus, the gap only continues to widen.

"Yes, Master!" Li Yuan replied.

Seeing that his apprenticeship was successful, Li Yuan felt a weight lift from his heart.

"Good." Yang Chong nodded and instructed the lean, honest-looking man beside him:

"This is your Third Senior Brother, Zhao Qin. Take your junior brother to show him around and explain the rules.

Then, begin teaching him the 'Standing Root'."

"Yes, Master."

Zhao Qin led Li Yuan to the front courtyard and said, "The front courtyard is the training ground, and the back courtyard is where Master resides..."

He took Li Yuan on a tour, and once he was sure Li Yuan understood, he paused and said:

"Strictly speaking, until you enter the Skin Refining stage, you are only an apprentice and not a true disciple. However, there are a few rules I hope you will keep in mind, Junior Brother!"

"First, respect your master and the path; do not harm your fellow disciples! If there is a dispute, ask Master or your senior brothers to decide."

"Second, you are forbidden from privately teaching martial arts to others. Once discovered, your cultivation will be crippled, and you will be expelled from the sect."

"Third, before you break through to Skin Refining and become an official disciple, you are not allowed to throw the sect's name around outside or cause trouble."

"Therefore, if you cause trouble while still an apprentice and invoke the name of the Martial Arts Hall, the outside world will not acknowledge it.

This is an unspoken rule of the martial arts circles in Wuxi County."

As he spoke, Zhao Qin handed Li Yuan a set of clean training clothes.

Hearing this, Li Yuan nodded to indicate he had committed it to memory.

He looked toward the training ground, where dozens of people were practicing stance techniques, while on the other side, only a sparse dozen or so were sparring with one another.

"Junior Brother, the beginning of martial arts lies in the lower body. If the lower body is unstable, all techniques and power generation will be nothing but empty form."

As Zhao Qin spoke, he assumed a stance: feet slightly wider than shoulder-width, knees slightly bent, and his center of gravity lowered.

"This is the 'Standing Root', the foundational stance technique of our Five Animals Academy used to grind the lower body and begin to mobilize and condense blood and qi.

Watch closely; the essentials are..."

Zhao Qin carefully explained the essentials of the posture, the coordination of breathing, and the method of focusing one's intent.

Li Yuan listened intently and assumed the stance as instructed.

After only half an incense stick of time, Li Yuan felt his legs begin to ache and swell, trembling slightly, while fine beads of sweat seeped from his temples.

But his will was firm; he gritted his teeth, maintained the posture, and carefully experienced the changes in his body.

Suddenly, his vision jolted as a panel appeared before him.

[Your will is firm, your focus is concentrated, and you are intently practicing the Five Animals Stance Technique]

[Skill: Five Animals Fist Stance (Entry)]

[Progress: 1/300 points (Cannot breakthrough)]

[Notification: Heaven Rewards Diligence; as long as you put in the effort, there will be a return.]

Seeing that although he appeared to be struggling, his posture remained standard and his focus intense, Zhao Qin could not help but nod secretly.

There were not many people who could persist this long during their first practice session; many would be exhausted after just a quarter of an hour.

"Junior Brother, if you feel you have practiced enough, there are Stone Locks nearby that you can use to assist your cultivation."

The Stone Locks were simply stones of varying sizes, meant to be held against the chest to accelerate the training process.

After Li Yuan finished his stance and rested for a moment.

Yang Chong approached him and pulled a pale yellow booklet from his robes, handing it over.

"This is the Five Animals Fist Manual. It may only be studied within the Martial Arts Hall and must be returned every time you leave. Read through it yourself first."

Li Yuan received it with both hands. On the cover of the booklet were four slightly scrawled characters: "Five Animals Play Manual."

He took a deep breath and opened the booklet.

Inside were five illustrations of human figures in different poses, each imitating the movements of five creatures: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird.

Accompanying the illustrations were textual annotations detailing the essential movements and breathing techniques for each style.

Yang Chong made a round among the disciples before returning to Li Yuan's side: "My lineage is inherited from the Five Animals Play."

The five animals are the tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird.

The Tiger Form is for slaughter, the Deer Form for speed, the Bear Form for body conditioning, the Ape Form for agility, and the Bird Form for qi cultivation.

These correspond to five styles of fist techniques: fierce, nimble, heavy, dexterous, and elegant.

"An average person has limited energy and can usually only choose one to master."

"You must choose the one best suited to your own nature as your primary focus."

"The other four forms can be used for reference and to broaden your understanding, but do not be greedy; otherwise, you will be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none."

His tone was calm, clearly having said this many times before.

Yang Chong's gaze was like a torch as he looked at Li Yuan: "The animal form you choose concerns your future path."

"You do not need to decide immediately. First, follow your senior brothers to refine your blood and qi, practice the basics, and feel the essence of the five animals. Once your stance work reaches a certain level, I will teach you the fist techniques."

If one cannot even stand steadily, what is the point of learning martial arts?

"Yes, thank you for your guidance, Master!" Li Yuan bowed, already beginning to ponder in his heart.

He had already achieved minor success in Archery, so he did not need to worry too much about long-range attacks.

What he needed now was either the ability to run fast when facing danger or the ability to hold his own in close-quarters combat.

Yang Chong added, "When your blood and qi are full, you can attempt to break through the first stage of skin refinement: the Ox Skin Realm."

"Every attempt to break through, if it fails, will cause damage to the body."

"If you fail repeatedly over a long period, the hope of success will only become increasingly slim."

"As for what lies beyond, you do not need to worry about it for now. If you have questions, you can ask your Third Senior Brother, Zhao Qin."

After saying this, Yang Chong walked away.

His meaning was clear: Li Yuan had only paid three months of tuition, and it would be good enough if he could successfully break through within those three months.

If he failed, he would have to continue paying money to keep refining his blood and qi.

Of course, Yang Chong would not withhold anything he was supposed to teach, but whether or not you could learn and understand it was your own problem.

I have my skills; as long as I am willing to practice, skin refinement should not be difficult, Li Yuan thought to himself.

Li Yuan continued practicing his stance until evening, his grey short-sleeved training clothes soaked through with sweat.

[Skill: Five Animals Fist Stance (Entry)]

[Progress: 10/300 points (Cannot breakthrough)]

[Notification: Heaven Rewards Diligence; as long as you put in the effort, there will be a return.]

After the day's training, Li Yuan dragged his exhausted body back to Blue Stone Village.