Did I Really Become a Genius?

Nine o'clock.

The classroom had changed from Martial Arts Room No. 2 to No. 1. Zhou Quan explained that Room No. 2 was specifically for [Visualization], while Room No. 1 was where Breathing Techniques and Stance Training were practiced.

As for the other two rooms on the third floor, both were sparring rooms.

According to Zhou Quan, one was for combat technique classes, while the other was for practical duels between students.

"This is the entire layout of the third floor. The second floor is the living area—dormitories, cafeteria, and so on. As for the fourth floor, that isn't somewhere students can enter. The ones allowed up there are 'disciples.'"

"Oh, right. Want to go to the cafeteria together after class? I still have several portions of High-grade Nutritional Supplement there. Perfect timing—we can finish them off between the three of us today."

Zhang Fusheng thanked him with a smile, though his vigilance only grew.

What exactly was this guy trying to do?

The feeling of being watched so closely was deeply unpleasant.

His father often said that when faced with a sudden change, one must always strike first and never give the other side an opportunity to make trouble. Should he find a way to kill him?

Zhang Fusheng hurriedly suppressed the thought.

He had seen his father dispose of corpses, and had even helped before, but as for actually killing someone, he had never done it in either lifetime.

Why had that thought suddenly occurred to him?

Zhang Fusheng's thoughts turned. Was it because of the Dense White Bone Contemplation?

A chill ran through him. Fifty-one years of cultivating the White Bone Meditation had made him habitually view all living beings as white bones.

Had he become somewhat cold-blooded?

While his thoughts ran wild, the students in the martial arts room had more or less all arrived. With a rough glance, aside from the thirty or so people from yesterday, there seemed to be one or two new faces as well.

"Master divides the curriculum into four major categories: visualization, breathing, stances, and combat."

A woman stepped to the front. She was clearly the instructor for this class.

She had a delicate oval face, but the almond-shaped eyes beneath her long lashes carried a sharp edge.

Morning sunlight streamed through the windows and fell across her red hair. Whenever the wind blew, her hair danced like a cluster of flowing flames.

Her entire person resembled a longsword hidden within its sheath, poised to strike—elegant, solemn, dangerous.

"School Master's second disciple, Chen Yuque—Senior Sister Chen," Zhou Quan whispered. "That Senior Brother Niu from yesterday was the old man's eldest disciple."

Zhang Fusheng blinked, somewhat stunned. That boy who looked so simple and honest was actually the Eldest Senior Brother?

"But in my view,"

Chen Yuque spoke unhurriedly.

"Cultivation truly has only three directions: nourishing methods, training methods, and combat methods."

"Visualization Methods are purely nourishing methods. A Breathing Technique practiced alone is also a nourishing method, but when paired with Stance Training, it becomes a training method."

"New students who still don't know a Breathing Technique or Stance Training, step forward."

Zhang Fusheng and the other two new students stepped out.

"Mm." Chen Yuque nodded crisply. "Go sit to the side, then follow me in the Compassion Stance. Everyone else, start your stances and breathing on your own."

As she spoke, she assumed an extremely difficult, bizarre posture. She half-squatted on her right leg, with her left foot laid across her right knee, as though seated on an invisible chair with an excessively straight-legged cross.

At the same time, her left hand floated beneath her abdomen in a lotus-flower gesture, while her right hand curled into a fist and lightly tapped between her brows.

Zhang Fusheng and the other two students copied her. He lasted several seconds, while the other two nearly fell at once.

"This is called the Lotus Flower Stance."

Chen Yuque's calm voice carried over.

"If you can stand steadily within a month, that's already not bad. Stance Training is important, but not that important. It is mostly used in conjunction with a Breathing Technique, allowing the Mysterious Factor to circulate through the body faster."

As she spoke, she somehow produced a short staff.

"Now assume the Lotus Flower Stance again. I'll give you a feel for what it's like when it's properly formed. You first."

The short staff in her hand pointed at Zhang Fusheng.

"Yes, Senior Sister Chen."

Zhang Fusheng stepped forward, bending one knee into a half-squat, half-sitting posture, one hand forming a lotus flower and the other tapping his brow.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Chen Yuque nodded slightly.

"Not bad."

In the fourth second, Zhang Fusheng lost his balance. Just as he was about to fall, the short staff in the red-haired woman's hand lightly touched the top of his head.

Yet it was only a short wooden staff.

Zhang Fusheng could feel an immense force on the staff, irresistible yet exquisitely precise. His posture was forcibly adjusted—the angle of his bent knee, the center of his balance.

The Lotus Flower Stance suddenly did not seem so difficult to hold.

The short staff withdrew, and Senior Sister Chen looked toward the other two students, repeating the same method.

"This is the standard Lotus Flower Stance. Even without a Breathing Technique, Visualization Method, or Mysterious Factor, standing like this for an hour every day can improve your physical condition to a certain extent."

Paired with a Visualization Method?

A spark flashed through Zhang Fusheng's mind. Maintaining the pose with difficulty, he visualized himself as a stiff, grim skeleton.

That precarious sensation abruptly vanished.

He truly seemed like a set of remains that had not decayed for countless years. Fatigue, soreness, weakness—all of it disappeared. As he stood there, he even felt a kind of coolness.

At that moment, the other two new students had held on for more than ten seconds before still falling to the ground. Yet Zhang Fusheng stood firm, utterly motionless.

Twenty seconds, thirty seconds, one minute.

Not far away, Zhou Quan and the other old students looked at Zhang Fusheng with newfound astonishment.

Chen Yuque was somewhat surprised and observed Zhang Fusheng carefully.

Five minutes later, he was still maintaining a nearly perfect Lotus Flower Stance.

"Not bad." She nodded. "Practiced Stance Training before?"

"No," Zhang Fusheng said.

"No?" Chen Yuque raised her brows. She walked over, squatted down without the slightest concern, and reached out to pinch Zhang Fusheng's calf.

"You really haven't practiced before. Interesting. But talent in Stance Training doesn't amount to much."

Chen Yuque said calmly.

"If you have this kind of talent in Breathing Techniques and Visualization Methods too, then you can truly be called a genius."

She rose to her feet.

"Now I'll teach the three of you a Breathing Technique. Hong's Breathing Technique is called Spring Thunder."

"Spring Thunder evokes the end of winter, when a clap of heavenly thunder awakens all things lying dormant, shatters the silence, splits the shackles, and brings all things back to life. It complements the Dense White Bone Contemplation."

Zhang Fusheng listened with rapt attention. Senior Sister Chen was very responsible. As she explained the Spring Thunder Technique, she used her short wooden staff to tap points on the three of them.

Every tap landed on a key acupoint of the Spring Thunder Technique.

"Cultivate visualization, and you can perceive the Mysterious Factor. Cultivate a Breathing Technique, and you can squeeze the Mysterious Factor into your blood and qi, driving it throughout your entire body."

"Adjust your breathing so that it matches the rhythm of the first thunder of early spring. What is the first thunder of early spring?"

Chen Yuque set down the short staff, drew in a slight breath, then exhaled through her nose.

"Rumble-crack!"

The airflow collided with the sound of her tendons and bones, actually bursting forth with a peal of thunder!

"Once you have entered the Breathing Technique, your blood and qi can press against your tendons and bones, occasionally producing faint little thunderclaps."

"At Minor Accomplishment, qi flows through all the body's meridians, and those faint little thunderclaps can continue without end."

"Then, at Great Accomplishment, every breath reaches every limb and bone without missing a single corner. When you open your mouth and exhale, you can erupt with ear-splitting thunder like I just did."

Chen Yuque spoke in an endless stream.

"Of course, a Breathing Technique is only supplementary. It isn't as important as a Visualization Method, and the Spring Thunder Breathing Technique can only be cultivated to Great Accomplishment. All right, practice according to the essentials I taught you."

"A Breathing Technique depends on one's natural constitution. If you can enter the technique within a month, your constitution is considered passable."

Zhang Fusheng silently held the Lotus Flower Stance, performed the Dense White Bone Contemplation, adjusted his breathing, and attempted to align it with the rhythm of thunder.

I only need to get somewhat familiar with it. With my natural constitution, there's no way I can master it in a short time. I can only rely on the Contract Book. As he thought this, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Wait.

At the same time, Chen Yuque had already turned and gone to the side, guiding the old students through the Lotus Flower Stance and Spring Thunder Technique one by one.

"It's understandable if you can't master the Breathing Technique. Poor natural constitution, stagnant blood and qi, blocked meridians—it's all understandable. But you can't even hold the Lotus Flower Stance properly?"

"And you—how long have you been practicing? You still can't stand for ten minutes!"

"Lower your center of gravity, lower it!"

She moved among the students. If anyone's movements were even slightly wrong, she lashed out with her staff.

"Your name is Wang Xiangnan, right? Your stance is fairly good, but it still lacks something. The Lotus Flower Stance places importance on—"

Just as she was instructing him.

"Hummm-rumble."

A faint thunderous sound of tendons and bones rang out in the martial arts room.

"Mm, yes, this kind of thunder sound."

Chen Yuque said casually.

"A very standard occasional thunderclap. If it can continue without end, that counts as Minor Accomplishment—mm?"

She suddenly realized something was wrong.

That thunder sound had not erupted from among the old students.

"Hummm-rumble."

Another faint thunderclap sounded. Everyone in the martial arts room turned in unison toward the three new students standing separately in the corner.

Toward the delicate-looking youth holding a perfect Lotus Flower Stance.

"Hummm-rumble."

A third faint thunderclap erupted from within his body.

"Another monster?" Chen Yuque pressed a hand to her forehead.