Although he'd lost that first clash, it had let him truly feel how the Bear Form generated force: as natural as breathing, overwhelming its opponent through sheer momentum.
Unlike the Tiger Form Fist's explosive violence, a bear's strength was heavier and more savage.
The black bear charged closer. It reared up on its hind legs, ready to pounce again. Li Yuan stepped sideways with his left foot, twisting his body to narrowly avoid its head-on attack.
At the same time, his left arm shot out like a snake from its hole. He changed a move from the Tiger Form—the Tiger Tail Kick—using his arm in place of his leg to sweep toward the side of the bear's neck.
"Smack!"
The blow landed, but the black bear only shook its head. Then, following through with the motion, it swung its head around, opened its enormous, blood-red maw, and lunged to bite!
Li Yuan hurriedly pulled back his hand and retreated, his movements somewhat disheveled.
Gradually, he began to understand.
The boost to his comprehension from studying and practicing his skills was showing its worth.
But that brief confrontation had also made his understanding of Bear Form Fist all the clearer.
It was a state of mind in which he became a mountain, using clumsiness to overcome skill and weight to overcome lightness.
In short, brute force worked wonders.
The black bear missed again and again, growing increasingly frantic. With a furious roar, it swung its huge, fan-like paws inward from both sides, trying to crush Li Yuan between them.
Li Yuan drew a sharp breath. Then he bent his knees, lowered his waist, and settled his hips, rooting himself to the ground like the tangled roots of an ancient tree.
He recalled the Bear Form diagrams in the manual and imitated the black bear's attack. His arms moved forward like the clumsy paws of a great bear.
"Boom!"
A deeper, heavier crash rang out. His arms still went numb from the impact, and his chest felt stifled, but he held firm against the bear's crushing paws!
Suddenly, the panel appeared.
[Skill: Five Animals Bear Form Fist (Beginner)] [Progress: 30/500 points] [Reminder: Heaven Rewards Diligence. As long as you put in the effort, you will be rewarded.]
"I did it!"
With every attack and defense, he did his best to compare the black bear's way of generating force with the principles of the fist technique he'd learned, bringing the two together.
Li Yuan felt his body gradually adapting to that heavy, savage rhythm. Even the movement of his qi and blood seemed to fall into step with the Bear Form's cadence.
Watching tensely from the side, Li Zhi and Chen Quan were terrified.
Even they had spent most of their lives hearing how incredibly powerful martial artists were, but they had never seen one with their own eyes.
"Well, I'll be. Martial artists are all this fierce? Looks like sending Chicken Kid to learn martial arts was the right choice."
Chen Quan hadn't supported Chicken Brother learning martial arts at first. He'd thought that becoming a bondservant would mean a more stable life.
But watching Li Yuan, his mind began to change.
Li Yuan had first fought the Tiger Form Fist head-on, taking a beating. Then his stance shifted, and he grew as steady as a black bear.
"That kid... A moment ago, he was like a fierce tiger. How's he imitating Black Lump now?" Chen Quan's eyes widened.
"He's using that beast to practice his fist technique... First, he tested his strength with the Tiger Form; now his intent is in the Bear Form!"
Li Zhi was Li Yuan's uncle, after all. He saw what Li Yuan was doing.
Having grasped Bear Form Fist, Li Yuan felt an exhilaration he could hardly contain.
That newly grasped Bear Form intent drove him forward. His fists came down in rapid succession like a bear's paws.
He couldn't match the black bear's enormous strength, but his blows carried a weighty, crushing force.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
At first, the black bear could still swing its paws to fight back, but it was already at the end of its strength.
Under Li Yuan's relentless close-range blows, its massive body began to totter.
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking bones rang out.
The black bear's enormous body abruptly stiffened, and its eyes began to glaze over.
Then it slowly toppled.
"Thud!"
Its massive body sent a spray of snow flying.
The forest fell silent. All that remained was Li Yuan's ragged breathing.
Li Yuan hurriedly took out some dried meat, put it in his mouth, and began chewing to regain his strength.
[Skill: Five Animals Bear Form Fist (Beginner)] [Progress: 90/500 points] [Reminder: Heaven Rewards Diligence. As long as you put in the effort, you will be rewarded.]
Li Yuan's eyes lit up. Well, look at that—he'd gained another sixty points of proficiency in such a short time.
It seemed the Five Animals Fist improved faster when he practiced against beasts of the corresponding kind.
After all, the forms and intent in the Five Animals Fist came from the animals themselves.
By the looks of it, he'd have plenty of dealings with these beasts from now on.
He could clearly feel that after grasping Bear Form Fist, his qi and blood circulated more smoothly, and his bones and tendons seemed a little tougher.
This was what it meant to truly reach the beginner level!
Li Yuan had now reached minor mastery in Tiger Form Fist and the beginner level in Bear Form Fist.
He had a vague feeling that practicing all five forms might produce astonishing results.
Only then did Li Zhi and Chen Quan dare hurry over. They looked at the dead black bear, then at Li Yuan, whose body was spattered with blood.
Their faces were full of lingering fear and amazement.
"You're something else, kid. You..." Li Zhi opened his mouth, unsure what to say.
He could tell that after this life-and-death struggle, his nephew had been transformed. A steadiness he hadn't possessed before had settled over him.
Chen Quan sighed. "The younger generation is something else! Brother Yuan, you're destined for great things!
"This fist technique has really taught you something!"
Li Yuan slowly breathed out a mouthful of stale air and smiled.
"Uncle, Uncle Chen, I didn't let you down. We finally took down this Black Lump."
Next came the time to gather their spoils.
This black bear weighed six or seven hundred pounds, a considerable haul for all three of them.
They could probably sell it for sixty or seventy taels of silver.
But Li Yuan wanted to keep some of the meat for himself, and he also wanted to save the bear gallbladder—a highly nourishing treasure—for his own use.
"Xiao Yuan, you did most of the work this time. Uncle Chen and I were just guides. Give Uncle Chen a tenth of the spoils. I don't need any."
Li Zhi shook his head. Li Yuan had helped him when the taxes were collected last time, and he wanted Li Yuan to grow stronger.
A tenth would probably be worth a few taels of silver, nearly half a month's wages for them as mountain gatherers.
Li Yuan naturally refused to agree. After he insisted, the two men each ended up with a tenth.
Suddenly, Li Zhi remembered something and jolted.
"Quick! While the beast's body is still warm, take out the bear gallbladder!" he called, striding to the black bear's corpse.
With a practiced motion, he drew the hunting knife from his waist, found the right spot, and deftly opened the bear's belly. He carefully searched among the organs.
Chen Quan realized what was happening too and hurried over to hold down the bear's corpse.
Before long, Li Zhi's eyes lit up. He slowly drew a pouch-shaped organ from the warm abdominal cavity. It was about the size of an egg, dark brown, and covered in a thin membrane.
It was the fresh bear gallbladder. A faint, fishy bitterness filled the air.
"This is good stuff. It nourishes qi and blood and strengthens the bones and tendons. For someone who practices martial arts, it's an especially potent tonic." Li Zhi held up the still-warm gallbladder, his face brimming with excitement.
This single bear gallbladder was worth at least twenty taels of silver.
He turned to Li Yuan and held it out. "Xiao Yuan, quick!
"Swallow it raw while it's fresh! Its medicinal power is fierce, and if you leave it too long, it'll lose its potency!"
Li Yuan stared at the bear gallbladder, momentarily stunned.
Even in his previous life, he'd never seen a bear gallbladder with his own eyes, much less eaten one raw.
Before you continue