Practice Makes Perfect with the Five Animals Fist

Night fell, and the cold wind howled.

Inside the dilapidated house, a family of three sat huddled around a candle flame.

"Nannan... is the vegetable pancake tasty?"

Lu Yuan asked with a smile, watching Nannan as she held a vegetable pancake and devoured it with gusto.

On his way back, he had bought candles, a bag of coarse grains, and a few vegetable pancakes.

The gruel made from coarse grains mixed with wild vegetables, paired with the vegetable pancakes, could hardly be called a delicacy, but it was at least palatable. At the very least, Madam Yang would no longer need to dig for Guanyin Clay or make meatless broth just to fill their stomachs.

Moreover, this was only the beginning; he believed that things would only get better from here!

"So yumm-y... so yumm-y..."

Nannan's little head bobbed up and down incessantly.

"Xiao Yuan, are you truly set on practicing martial arts?"

Madam Yang did not ask where Lu Yuan had gotten the money for these things, but instead inquired about his martial arts training.

"Yes, only by practicing martial arts can I change everything and ensure you and Nannan live a good life!"

Lu Yuan replied without a moment's hesitation.

"Do not push yourself too hard; if you cannot succeed, just come back!"

After a brief silence, Madam Yang said.

"I understand!"

Lu Yuan nodded with a smile.

The next morning, at dawn.

As soon as Lu Yuan stepped out of the house, he saw Fang Chang already waiting outside.

Clearly, this fellow was even more impatient than he was to reach Song Academy.

The two did not delay, jogging all the way until they arrived outside Song Academy.

As if he had long anticipated their arrival at this hour, the gray-robed elder appeared right at the entrance.

The two did not say much, simply bowing and cupping their hands in unison toward him.

"Come in!"

The gray-robed elder nodded slightly at them and spoke directly.

The two exchanged a glance and walked into the courtyard, filled with anticipation.

One could see wooden stakes, stone locks, and other such items placed around the yard.

Twenty or thirty youths of similar age to them were seen training with great fervor.

Evidently, besides the two of them, there were others practicing martial arts at Song Academy.

"Chen Pi, come over here and teach him!"

The gray-robed elder beckoned to one of the tall, thin youths and pointed at Lu Yuan.

"Yes!"

The tall, thin youth named Chen Pi strode over toward Lu Yuan.

"Follow me!"

The gray-robed elder said to Fang Chang with a smile on his face.

"Brother Hong is going to have some competition now."

Chen Pi watched Fang Chang follow the gray-robed elder into the inner courtyard, a look of intrigue in his eyes.

"My name is Chen Pi, what is yours?"

Turning his head, Chen Pi asked Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan!"

Lu Yuan smiled.

"Then I'll call you A-Yuan!"

Chen Pi nodded with a smile and continued, "A-Yuan, I will teach you the Five Animals Fist now, so you must watch carefully."

"The Five Animals Fist is a true Yellow Grade technique, consisting of two parts: stance work and breathing techniques. The stance work has thirty movements in total, divided into Bear Stance, Tiger Stance, Ape Stance, Crane Stance, and Deer Stance, with six movements for each, along with their corresponding breathing methods."

"This is the Bear Stance, which emphasizes stability and solidity; the breathing method requires..."

"This is the Ape Stance, which emphasizes agility and adaptability, while the breathing method is..."

"This is the Deer Stance, which emphasizes..."

Chen Pi demonstrated while explaining in detail.

It was clear that his mastery of the Five Animals Fist was already quite impressive.

"Lu Yuan... have you memorized it?"

After finishing the demonstration, Chen Pi raised a hand to wipe away his sweat before asking Lu Yuan.

"Whether I've memorized it or not isn't important anymore; it seems my cheat has arrived!"

Lu Yuan naturally wouldn't say that out loud, but he discovered that an Ancient Scroll had suddenly unfurled within his mind.

On the scroll, there were two lines of golden characters.

[Practice Makes Perfect (Perseverance: the more you practice, the faster you improve; success is guaranteed)]

[Five Animals Fist: Not Yet Initiated (1/100)]

This was... the long-awaited benefit for a transmigrator, a heaven-defying golden finger?

If this were true, did it not mean that by practicing this Five Animals Fist, he would not only be guaranteed success but also improve faster with every repetition?

Without further hesitation, Lu Yuan immediately began to practice just as Chen Pi had instructed.

At the very beginning, he appeared extremely clumsy, drawing quite a few laughs.

But soon, he began to look like he knew what he was doing.

Although he was already panting and felt an intense soreness throughout his entire body, he still struggled to persevere.

After he completed a full round of the Five Animals Fist, the golden characters in his mind changed accordingly.

[Five Animals Fist: Not Yet Initiated (2/100)]

Suddenly, Lu Yuan was filled with motivation and couldn't help but start practicing again immediately.

[Five Animals Fist: Not Yet Initiated (5/100)]

Sure enough, after this round of practice, the proficiency had not only increased again but had jumped by 3 points—was this not proof that he would get faster the more he practiced?

Just as Lu Yuan couldn't resist going for another round, he suddenly felt not only body-wide soreness but also a wave of dizziness.

"Your body is too weak. Being able to practice twice a day is actually quite good. Besides, you weren't chosen by Master Song, so it's clear that, like the rest of us, your aptitude isn't very good. It's impossible to reach the initiation stage of the Five Animals Fist and become a true Bright Energy Realm martial artist in a short time, so there's no need to rush."

Chen Pi glanced at Lu Yuan and shook his head slightly. "You won't be able to perform a third round today. At most, you can only practice twice a day for now. If you force it, you'll only damage your body, which would be more trouble than it's worth."

"Brother Chen Pi, could you tell me more about Bright Energy Realm martial artists?"

Although Lu Yuan desperately wanted to practice the Five Animals Fist again to verify his hypothesis, he was well aware of his own physical limits, so he asked with curiosity.

"Once you reach the initiation stage of the Five Animals Fist, you can begin to nourish and temper your blood and qi. When your internal blood and qi reach a certain level, you can attempt your first blood and qi tempering. If successful, you can trigger Bright Energy and become a true Bright Energy Realm martial artist!"

Chen Pi didn't hold back and explained with a smile, "However, for those of us with mediocre aptitude, there is at most a twenty or thirty percent chance of success. If you fail, your blood and qi will dissipate, and you must nourish and temper them all over again before you can attempt the tempering process once more!"

"Haste makes waste. Martial arts is a process of accumulation; it requires Perseverance and diligent, hard practice. Unless you have exceptional aptitude or a powerful family background to support you, you can only rely on slow, steady grinding."

Chen Pi patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder lightly, then shook his head and sighed as he walked away.

Clearly, he was lamenting his own lack of exceptional aptitude and the absence of a family background to elevate him.

Perhaps for others, martial arts truly requires nothing but diligent practice with no shortcuts, and even with effort, there are bottlenecks and the constant possibility of failure—but I am different. I have a cheat!

Lu Yuan's eyes seemed to shine with a brilliant light, and he felt brimming with motivation.

Practice makes perfect, getting faster and faster, success is guaranteed.

As long as he practiced, he would definitely succeed, and the speed would only continue to increase.

"Brother Yuan, I'm so happy today! I'm going to treat you to a good meal, and while I'm at it, I'll tell you some incredible news, hehehe!"

Just then, Fang Chang suddenly rushed out from the inner courtyard, beaming with excitement.