Master the Bear Form Fist, Swallow the Bear's Gall (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Although he had suffered a setback in that previous collision, it allowed him to tangibly experience the natural, momentum-crushing essence of the Five Animals Bear Form Fist.

Unlike the explosive violence of the Tiger Form Fist, the power of the bear was heavier and more barbaric.

Seeing the Black Lump charge close and rear up on its hind legs to pounce, Li Yuan stepped with his left foot and turned his body, narrowly dodging the brunt of the assault.

Simultaneously, his left arm shot out like a serpent from its hole, transitioning from a Tiger Form move into a "Tiger Tail Kick"—using his arm in place of a leg to sweep horizontally toward the side of the Black Lump's neck.

"Pa!"

The strike landed, but the Black Lump merely shook its head; it then took advantage of the momentum to swing its head around, opening its blood-stained maw to snap at him!

Li Yuan hurriedly retracted his arm and retreated, his movements somewhat disheveled.

A realization began to dawn within his heart.

The boost in comprehension brought about by his study of techniques was finally showing its effect.

This brief confrontation made the descriptions of the Bear Form Fist in his mind increasingly clear.

It was an artistic conception of transforming oneself into a mountain, using clumsiness to break finesse and weight to break lightness.

In short, brute force creates miracles.

The Black Lump missed repeatedly and grew increasingly manic; with a roar, it brought its palms together like giant fans from both sides toward Li Yuan, intending to crush him.

Li Yuan sucked in a sharp breath, then slightly bent his knees and sank his hips, rooting himself to the ground like an ancient tree.

Recalling the diagrams of the bear form from the manual, he mimicked the posture of the Black Lump's pounce, thrusting his arms forward like a clumsy bear.

"Boom!"

A duller, heavier impact echoed out. Although his arms were still numbed and his chest felt stifled by the shock, he had firmly withstood that bear-hug strike!

Suddenly, a panel quietly emerged.

[Technique: Five Animals Bear Form Fist (Entry)]
[Progress: 30/500 points]
[Note: Heaven Rewards Diligence; as long as you put in the effort, there will be a return.]

"It worked!"

With every attack and defense, he strove to verify and combine the Black Lump's observed force-generating methods with the fist theories he had learned.

Li Yuan felt his body gradually adapting to this heavy, barbaric rhythm, and the circulation of his blood and qi seemed to align with the cadence of the bear.

Li Zhi and Chen Quan, watching nervously from the side, were terrified.

Even for them, having spent most of their lives only hearing about how formidable martial artists were, they had never seen one with their own eyes.

"Good heavens, are all martial artists this fierce? It seems sending Chicken Kid to learn martial arts was the right choice."

Chen Quan had originally opposed Chicken Brother learning martial arts, feeling it was less stable than entering into servitude.

Watching Li Yuan, his thoughts began to shift quietly.

Li Yuan had first suffered a loss by clashing head-on with the Tiger Form Fist, but then his movements changed, becoming as steady as the Black Lump.

"This kid... he was like a fierce tiger a moment ago, why is he mimicking the Black Lump now?" Chen Quan's eyes widened.

"He is using this beast to practice his fist... first testing his strength with the Tiger Form, and now he is intent on the Bear Form!"

Li Zhi was, after all, Li Yuan's uncle, and he saw through Li Yuan's intentions.

Having grasped the Bear Form Fist, Li Yuan felt incredibly exhilarated.

The newly comprehended intent of the Bear Form urged him to step forward, his fists striking out in succession like bear paws.

Although he lacked the massive strength of the Black Lump, his strikes carried a sense of heavy, fierce power.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Black Lump could still wave its paws to resist at first, but it was already at the end of its rope.

Under Li Yuan's close-quarters barrage, its body began to sway unsteadily.

"Crack!"

The sound of bone fracturing rang out.

The Black Lump's massive body stiffened abruptly, its eyes beginning to glaze over.

It then began to collapse slowly.

"Thud!"

The massive body hit the ground, splashing up a spray of snow.

The mountain forest fell silent, leaving only the sound of Li Yuan's heavy panting.

Li Yuan hurriedly took out some dried meat, put it in his mouth, and began to chew to restore his stamina.

[Technique: Five Animals Bear Form Fist (Entry)]
[Progress: 90/500 points]
[Note: Heaven Rewards Diligence; as long as you put in the effort, there will be a return.]

Li Yuan's eyes lit up. Good heavens, in such a short span of time, it had actually granted him another sixty points of proficiency.

It seemed that practicing the Five Animals Fist against the same species of wild beast accelerated his progress significantly.

After all, the forms and intent within the Five Animals Fist were originally derived from these very creatures.

Viewed in this light, he would inevitably have to deal with such wild beasts frequently in the future.

He clearly felt that after grasping the Bear Form Fist, his circulation of qi and blood had become more harmonious, and his sinews and bones seemed to have toughened by a fraction.

This was what it meant to truly enter the threshold!

As of now, Li Yuan had reached minor accomplishment in the Tiger Form Fist and entry-level in the Bear Form Fist.

He had a vague intuition that if he practiced all five animals together, it might produce astonishing results.

Only now did Li Zhi and Chen Quan dare to step forward quickly, looking at the dead black bear and then at the blood-stained Li Yuan.

Both men's faces were filled with lingering fear and amazement.

"Good lad, you..." Li Zhi opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

He could see that after this life-and-death struggle, his nephew had been reborn; there was a sense of composure about him that hadn't been there before.

Chen Quan sighed with emotion, "The younger generation is to be feared, truly to be feared! Brother Yuan, you are surely destined for great things! This fist technique has finally allowed you to cultivate something real!"

Li Yuan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and smiled, saying:

"Uncle, Uncle Chen, I have fulfilled my mission; this Black Lump has finally been taken down."

Next came the time to collect the spoils of war.

For the three of them, this six or seven-hundred-pound black bear was a significant harvest.

If they took it to sell, it would likely fetch sixty or seventy taels of silver.

However, Li Yuan needed to keep some of the meat for himself, and he had to keep the Bear Gallbladder, a potent tonic, to consume himself.

"Little Yuan, you did most of the work this time, and your Uncle Chen and I were just here to lead the way. Give your Uncle Chen ten percent, and I won't take any."

Li Zhi shook his head; Li Yuan had helped him during the last tax collection, and he hoped to see Li Yuan improve his strength.

Ten percent would likely be several taels of silver, equivalent to what they made in over half a month of mountain foraging.

Li Yuan naturally could not agree to this, and after his insistence, it was finally decided that both men would receive ten percent each.

Suddenly, Li Zhi remembered something, and his body jolted in alarm.

"Quick! While the beast's body heat is still there, extract the Bear Gallbladder!" Li Zhi shouted in a low voice, lunging toward the black bear's carcass in a single bound.

He nimbly drew the hunting knife from his waist, found the right spot, and skillfully sliced open the black bear's abdomen, carefully rummaging through the internal organs.

Chen Quan also reacted, rushing forward to help hold down the bear's body.

Before long, Li Zhi's eyes lit up as he slowly extracted a sac-like object the size of an egg, dark brown in color and covered in a thin membrane, from the warm abdominal cavity.

It was the fresh Bear Gallbladder, and a faint, pungent, bitter scent immediately permeated the air.

"This is a good thing; it replenishes qi and blood, strengthens sinews and bones, and is a powerful tonic for those who practice martial arts." Li Zhi held the still-warm Bear Gallbladder, his face full of excitement.

This single Bear Gallbladder was worth at least twenty taels of silver.

He turned to look at Li Yuan and handed it over, "Little Yuan, hurry! Eat it raw while it's fresh! The medicinal power of this thing is overbearing; if you leave it too long, its effectiveness will be diminished!"

Li Yuan looked at the Bear Gallbladder and was slightly stunned.

Even in his past life, he had never seen a Bear Gallbladder with his own eyes, let alone eaten one raw.