Movement Techniques

"Yes, Senior Brother Zhang."

Lu Qing had introduced them to the three yesterday; since everyone in the Daoist academy was a disciple of the same Master, they all addressed one another as senior or junior brothers.

Those who entered the sect earlier were called senior brothers, and those who entered later were junior brothers, regardless of age or gender.

Among the senior brothers who had already entered, none had yet been heard of taking on disciples of their own.

"The cliffs and streams behind the mountain are treacherous, and carrying water is no easy task. You two go and chop firewood first."

Chef Zhang gestured toward Ling Qing and Zhang Zhe, then looked at Zhu Guang.

"As for you, with your tender skin and fleshy face, I wonder if you can endure the hardship."

"Senior Brother, I can endure hardship, I truly can."

Seeing this, Zhu Guang spoke up in a hurry.

Having finally managed to officially enter the immortal sect, he did not want to end up like Wang Sheng, who was tricked into leaving with only a superficial spell because he could not bear the toil.

"Is that so? I was planning to keep you in the kitchen to help out, but since that is the case..."

"I am at your command, Senior Brother, and would be happy to help." Zhu Guang interrupted Senior Brother Zhang mid-sentence, grinning as he spoke.

As mentioned before, Zhu Guang was round and plump, with a fleshy face and a complexion as fair and smooth as polished jade.

Clearly, he had lived a very comfortable life since childhood.

With his plump and well-fed appearance, no one would believe he wasn't a lover of fine food.

For him, working in the kitchen was far better than being out in the wind and sun chopping wood and carrying water.

He wasn't on the path of tempering his body, and it was hard to say if he could hold out for long.

Even if the labor were equally tiring, staying near the food was far more comfortable than facing tree bark.

"In that case, follow me in a moment. You two go pick your tools."

Senior Brother Zhang said with a smile, clearly having seen through his intentions.

"Yes!"

Ling Qing and Zhang Zhe looked at the jubilant Zhu Guang with some envy, then each chose a shoulder pole and an axe before heading toward the back mountain.

"I didn't expect this fatty to be so blessed," Zhang Zhe teased on the way.

"Who told us not to have his 'blessed' flesh?" Ling Qing replied with a laugh.

Along the way, Ling Qing and Zhu Guang had grown quite familiar, reaching the point where they could share a few jokes.

However, neither felt too much envy; everyone had their own destiny.

Besides, the job of chopping firewood actually suited the two of them quite well.

Exiting the back courtyard gate, they followed a steep and rugged path down the back mountain. At the mountainside, they parted ways with those carrying water and crossed a single-log bridge to reach Firewood Mountain.

The name Firewood Mountain was something they had heard from others. All the firewood for the temple was gathered here, and it was said that the trees on this mountain had no other use besides burning, hence they were called Firewood Tree.

Ling Qing and his companion quickened their pace to catch up with the senior brothers who had gone ahead.

Among them were not only Li Family Uncle and Nephew and some of the gifted ones, but also some senior brothers from within the sect.

Liu Yun had been assigned to the vegetable garden to grow greens and was not with the group.

However, it was said that the vegetable garden required the use of manure, so it was no wonder Liu Yun was complaining.

Upon reaching Firewood Mountain, the two followed the others' example and each found a tree.

Ling Qing set his shoulder pole and hemp rope aside, swung his axe, and struck at the base of the tree.

"Thud!"

A muffled sound like a bronze bell rang out, and the tree bark didn't budge an inch.

At the same time, a force rebounded from the axe, numbing his hands and making his bones feel soft and his muscles weak; he nearly lost his footing and sat on the ground.

Zhang Zhe, on the other side, fared no better.

"Hahaha!" The others burst into laughter at the sight.

Only then did the two realize that the others had just been putting on a show and hadn't actually started working.

Most of those who were truly working were the senior brothers who had entered the sect long ago.

After a while, the one called Li Li walked over and said to them, "The timber on this Firewood Mountain is extremely hard. We usually climb the trees first to chop off the thin branches. You'll have to wait a while, until you're more familiar with it, before you can chop down an entire tree."

"Thank you," the two replied in gratitude.

Seeing no more entertainment, the others climbed the trees to chop firewood.

"It's alright, don't be angry. Everyone means no harm; we all went through the same thing," Li Li said, walking up to them for fear they might hold a grudge.

The two looked around and saw it was indeed so; even the senior brothers who had entered the sect were just making a show of it nearby, waiting to see them make fools of themselves.

Only after seeing Li Li come over to explain did they begin to head further up the mountain to find thicker trees to chop.

"It doesn't matter, we'll just prank someone else together next time." Zhang Zhe raised an eyebrow and said with a smile.

"Exactly." Ling Qing chimed in with a laugh.

"Good, that's the spirit."

Li Li gave a thumbs up, then leaned in with a mysterious look. "Let me tell you something else: try your best to chop wood, and carry as much as you can back in one trip. Use every ounce of strength you have, carry as much as you can, and don't you dare hold back."

"Thanks, Brother Li." Hearing this, Ling Qing and the other exchanged a thoughtful look before thanking him again.

Taking Li Li's advice to heart, Ling Qing tucked his axe into his waistband, grabbed the tree with both hands, and scrambled up like a nimble ape.

The upgrade of Five Animal Frolics to the expert level hadn't just increased his stats; it had granted him the martial experience befitting an expert.

His agility now rivaled that of those who had practiced martial arts since childhood.

Of course, that was compared to martial artists from a year ago, before the appearance of Time Fragment.

Now, people like Tian Yong and Zhang Zhe had already developed internal energy after clearing several instances.

Since the appearance of the instances, martial arts could be roughly divided into two categories.

One was the dynamic practice of tempering blood and qi, which focused on training the muscles, bones, and skin externally while holding a breath of qi internally.

This qi wasn't used for attacking, but rather held within to prevent the dissipation of strength.

The other was the static practice of circulating internal breath, which involved traversing meridians and acupoints to refine that breath.

When activated, it could enhance one's physique internally and sharpen weapons externally.

The Five Animal Frolics that Ling Qing practiced belonged to the dynamic tempering of blood and qi, while Tian Yong and Zhang Zhe had obtained static internal breath circulation techniques from the instances.

However, neither dynamic nor static practices were mutually exclusive; there was stillness within movement and movement within stillness.

They simply leaned toward different focuses.

Once one bridged the gap between heaven and earth and stepped into the innate realm, there was essentially no major difference between them.

Furthermore, fighting methods and training methods were not the same thing; knowing how to train didn't guarantee one could fight, and being able to fight didn't necessarily mean one's level of skill was high.

Ling Qing climbed up the tree, settled onto a branch, selected a limb as thick as an arm, and swung his axe down.

He utilized the Splitting Smash force-application technique from the staff style he had exchanged for at the Special Affairs Department.

"Crack!"

Seeing the notch carved into the wood, Ling Qing felt a surge of joy.

There's a way!

This branch looked about as thick as his Wooden Staff, and its hardness was comparable.

One had to remember that his Wooden Staff was made of Iron Birch Wood, capable of blocking bullets.

It was fortunate the axe was sharp, otherwise, it would have been hard to say.

Since Li Li had said not to spare any effort, he would exert his full strength; surely there was no reason for him to lie.

Even if one could know a person's face but not their heart, it didn't matter; at most, he would just waste some energy, and two spells would restore it anyway.