Rapid Progress

"This Mystic Eagle Technique truly deserved to be a ranked cultivation method."

"The Mystic Eagle Stance is merely its foundational stance training. I have the [Heavenly Mandate] in hand, yet my progress is still this slow."

After dinner, Lu Cheng could not help sighing to himself.

With every point of exertion already mastered, and even every error and omission pointed out one by one, Lu Cheng had spent an entire day training bitterly, yet the Mystic Eagle Stance had only barely reached the entry level.

The distance to perfection still stretched away into the far horizon.

That morning, while teaching the Mystic Eagle Stance, Feng Zhan had also explained some basic martial arts knowledge to Lu Cheng and the other new disciples.

Martial artists in the first realm were called Martial Children.

In the path of martial arts, it was like the stage of infancy in a person's life.

The entire stage consisted of refining strength and generating force.

The ultimate requirement was to gain control over one's own body and make one's force as unified as one.

Externally, one had to achieve what Feng Zhan had: force emerging with a thought, force arriving with every movement.

Internally, force had to follow the mind's turn, driving one's blood and qi through the body.

In the initial stage, one could freely control the external force of the waist, back, limbs, and other muscles and bones.

In the middle stage, it extended to the internal organs. One used stance training alongside breathing and qi circulation to produce internal force.

In the later stage, internal and external became one, truly attaining seamless unity.

These corresponded respectively to Minor Achievement, Great Achievement, and Perfection in the Mystic Eagle Stance Technique.

"At this rate, I'll need at least half a month to train this Mystic Eagle Stance Technique to Minor Achievement."

"More than half a month? That's far too slow!"

Lu Cheng still remembered what Yunhuizi of the East Sun Sect had said yesterday.

That little girl called Du Ruo had a chance of breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm within three years!

That was the Qi Refining Realm!

Three years!

What did it mean to become a Qi Refinement expert in merely three short years?

Martial Child was the title for martial artists in the Force Refining Realm.

Above that, Body Refining Martial Artists were called Martial Practitioners.

Only above them came the Qi Refining Realm, whose practitioners were called Martial Warriors.

The further one progressed in training a skill, the more difficult it became.

If it truly took a year or half to reach perfection in the Martial Child realm, would it not take twenty years to reach the Qi Refining Realm?

"No. Today's bitter training was nowhere near enough. I have to push myself harder and break through to Minor Achievement within ten days!"

"Within three months, I must reach Perfected Strength Refining!"

Early the next morning, Lu Cheng arrived at the training ground before dawn.

He had thought he would be the first, but three others had already begun their stance training.

And judging by their appearance, they had been practicing for quite a while.

Lu Cheng recognized all three of them.

One was called Zhuang Xing. Aside from Lu Cheng himself, his aptitude was the best, only a hair's breadth away from Fine Jade Talent.

The other two came from families better off than Lu Cheng's, but their talent was worse than everyone else's.

Thus, whether to fully realize their own potential or to avoid letting their families' investment go down the drain,

the three of them were among the most diligent of the hundred-odd disciples.

Their diligence rivaled Fatty's talent for relaxation.

Fatty truly was an unusual specimen.

During yesterday's training, he rested for the time it took to burn one incense stick after practicing for the same amount of time. After practicing for a full hour, he ate half a pork knuckle.

Several times, even Feng Zhan could barely stop himself from rebuking him.

When the three at the training ground saw Lu Cheng, they too were rather surprised.

Everyone had seen Lu Cheng's perfunctory manner yesterday morning.

They had thought he had lost confidence because of flaws in his aptitude, yet that afternoon, he had seemed like a completely different person.

Not only had he performed all Twelve Forms of the Black Hawk Stance perfectly, but he had practiced without pause and had even been among the last batch to leave the training ground.

It had shut the mouths of those who wanted to mock him.

The three had begun training before dawn partly because they had been stimulated by Lu Cheng.

If Lu Cheng, a true Human Hero, worked so hard, what reason did they have to slack off?

But they truly had not expected that Lu Cheng not only burned the midnight oil, but had begun rising at dawn as well.

A faint thread of jealousy rose in all three of their hearts.

Yet they could not show it.

The two from poorer families merely nodded at Lu Cheng before continuing their stance training.

Only Zhuang Xing's eyes shifted. He withdrew his stance and walked toward Lu Cheng.

As he walked, he greeted him with a smile.

"Lu Cheng, I didn't expect you to come this early today too."

He had already practiced for half an hour, so it was just time for him to rest.

Lu Cheng, however, had only just arrived. If he took the opportunity to chat with him, Lu Cheng would not be able to practice.

Every moment he delayed him was equivalent to making him practice a little less.

It would be best if they could chat until dawn and make Lu Cheng rise early for nothing.

At this thought, Zhuang Xing's heart burst into bloom. He bit his tongue hard before forcing down the corners of his mouth.

"So, have you found the trick to getting started with the Mystic Eagle Stance?"

The "trick to getting started" was not some fixed posture or technique that could be taught.

Everyone's body was different. Finding the most accurate state for one's own body required slow experimentation.

Lu Cheng's [Twelve Forms of the Black Hawk Stance] had already entered the introductory stage yesterday, but there was no need to tell Zhuang Xing that.

Lu Cheng glanced at Zhuang Xing. Though he did not know why the fellow was so pleased with himself, he assumed the man had not come to flaunt the fact that he had gotten started.

Lu Cheng shook his head.

"It's only been one day. I don't have a clue yet."

"Right." Zhuang Xing nodded.

He had expected Lu Cheng to say something like, "Almost," or, "I've already found the trick."

That way, he could seize the chance to "exchange experiences" with him.

Who would have thought Lu Cheng would directly admit that he had no clue?

Didn't young people care most about their pride? Why did that not work on Lu Cheng?

For a moment, Zhuang Xing was completely stumped.

Seeing Lu Cheng about to assume his stance, Zhuang Xing held it in for a long while before blurting out something that even made the other two glance over.

"What do you think of the Escort Agency's food?"

Lu Cheng looked speechlessly at the sweat-drenched Zhuang Xing and instantly saw through his little scheme.

It was laughable, yet also somewhat helpless.

In the end, martial arts was one's own road.

Even competition over cultivation methods and pills was something for the future.

They had not even taken the first step yet, and he was already thinking of suppressing and trampling others. What an oddity.

With that thought, Lu Cheng had even less interest in wasting words on Zhuang Xing.

After leaving behind a single "Not bad," he began his stance training on his own.

Today, he had to raise his proficiency to at least thirty.

He bent his knees, spread his arms, and let his muscles, tendons, and bones naturally work to maintain his balance.

Zhuang Xing wanted to say more, but Lu Cheng had already closed his eyes. His face immediately darkened with anger.

He shot Lu Cheng a vicious glare and stalked back in resentment, already deeply bearing a grudge against Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng did not notice. Even if he had, he would not have cared.

At that moment, he was wholly focused on comparing himself to the black figure in his Consciousness Sea.

Whenever a part of the black figure's body lit up, it meant his posture had gone out of shape.

He immediately adjusted it.

Before long, his legs began to tremble, and sweat started seeping from his forehead.

Yet Lu Cheng seemed entirely unaware, merely gritting his teeth and persevering.

After a while, daylight brightened, and the disciples gradually arrived at the training ground.

Some were surprised that Lu Cheng and the other three had come so early, some did not care, and some secretly resolved to rise early tomorrow to train as well.

Since Lu Cheng had begun in a corner, Fatty, the Hu Brothers, and the other six naturally came over to his side.

Feng Zhan had said he would no longer teach them, yet he still wandered around the training ground.

Whenever he saw disciples with incorrect postures, he corrected them.

As he walked, he eventually made his way over to Lu Cheng's group.

From several steps away, Feng Zhan saw Lu Cheng's movements, and his brows unconsciously furrowed.

Yet when he came closer, surprise appeared in his eyes.

From afar, Lu Cheng's movements differed greatly from what Feng Zhan had taught.

For example, the angle of his toes, the bend of his arms, and so on.

But seen up close—especially when performed by Lu Cheng—they possessed an inexplicable harmony.

There was only one possibility: he had already found the knack of stance training and entered the introductory stage.

This step of finding the knack did not place particularly harsh demands on one's physical aptitude. It depended more on one's comprehension.

Those with good comprehension naturally adjusted themselves after only a few rounds of practice.

Those with poor comprehension had to slowly grind away at it.

As for how long that process took, some people spent their entire lives on it.

Lu Cheng had taken only an afternoon. His comprehension was already exceptionally good.

Feng Zhan wanted to speak several times, but ultimately held back and sighed inwardly.

Then he turned and glared fiercely at Fatty before kicking him in the butt.

"What kind of nonsense is that stance? Anyone who didn't know better would think you were a quail!"

Fatty let out an "Aow!" and sprawled on the ground.

After catching his breath twice, he silently climbed back up. Under Feng Zhan's heavy-handed corrections, he resumed his stance.

When martial artists trained, training was bitter, and the beatings were fierce too.

Under such bitter training, time flashed by, and another three days passed.

Over those three days, led by Lu Cheng and the other three, many more disciples began "rising early and retiring late."

Whether they had found the knack and gotten started was unknown, but Lu Cheng's gains were abundant.

His stance training had progressed far beyond expectations and successfully exceeded one hundred.

[Twelve Forms of the Black Hawk Stance]

[Grade: Low-Grade Human Tier]

[Realm: Entry (102/200)]