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 [Heavenly Mandate] in hand, yet my progress is still this slow."

After dinner, Lu Cheng could not help but sigh inwardly.

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Even 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 beginner level.

The distance to perfection in the realm was truly a long road without end.

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

Martial artists in the first realm of martial cultivation were called Martial Children.

In terms of martial cultivation, it was like the stage of a human child.

This entire stage was about refining strength and generating force.

The final requirement was to gain control over oneself and make one's force as unified as one.

Externally, one had to achieve what Feng Zhan had: where intent moved, force emerged; where the body moved, force arrived.

Internally, force followed intent, driving qi and blood through the body.

In the initial stage, one freely controlled the external force in the muscles and bones of the waist, back, limbs, and so on.

In the middle stage, it extended to the internal organs. With stance training combined with breathing and exhalation, one produced internal force.

The later stage was the union of inside and outside, truly achieving seamless unity.

These corresponded respectively to minor accomplishment, major accomplishment, and perfection in the Mystic Eagle Stance Technique.

"At this pace, I'll need at least more than half a month to train this Mystic Eagle Stance Technique to minor accomplishment."

"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 named 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 kind of concept was it to become a Qi Refinement expert in merely three short years?

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

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

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

The further one progressed in training skills, the harder it became.

If it truly took a year or half a year just 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 need to push harder. Within ten days, I must break through to minor accomplishment!"

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

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

He had thought he was the earliest, but unexpectedly, three others had already begun standing in their stances.

And from the looks of it, they had been practicing for quite a while.

Lu Cheng had some impression of all three.

One was named Zhuang Xing. Aside from Lu Cheng himself, his aptitude was the best, only a thin line away from being Fine Jade Talent.

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

Therefore, whether it was to make full use of their aptitude or to prevent their families' investment from going down the drain,

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

Their diligence rivaled Fatty's sense of relaxation.

Fatty truly was an odd character.

During yesterday's full day of practice, he rested for one incense stick after practicing for one incense stick, and after every full hour, he ate half a pork knuckle.

Several times, even Feng Zhan could not help wanting to scold him.

When the three in the square saw Lu Cheng, they were equally surprised.

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

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

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

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

The reason the three had begun working hard before dawn was partly because Lu Cheng had spurred them on.

Even Lu Cheng, a dignified Human Hero, worked so hard. What reason did they have to slack off?

Yet they had truly not expected that Lu Cheng not only stayed up late, but also rose early.

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

But they could not show it.

The two with poorer family circumstances 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 so early today too."

He had already trained for half an hour, so it was just time for a break.

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

The longer he delayed him, the less time Lu Cheng would spend training.

Best of all, he could chat until dawn and make Lu Cheng's early rise entirely pointless.

At the thought, Zhuang Xing's heart blossomed with delight. He had to bite his tongue hard to suppress the corners of his mouth.

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

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

Everyone's physical condition 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 beginner level yesterday, but there was no need to tell Zhuang Xing that.

Lu Cheng glanced at Zhuang Xing. Though he did not know why this fellow seemed so happy, it probably was not because he had reached the beginner level and wanted to show off.

Lu Cheng shook his head.

"It's only been one day. I don't have the slightest clue."

"True enough." Zhuang Xing nodded.

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

That way, he could use the opportunity to "exchange experiences" with him.

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

Weren't young people supposed to care most about saving face? Why did that not work on Lu Cheng?

Zhuang Xing was left speechless for a moment.

Seeing Lu Cheng about to assume his stance, Zhuang Xing held it in for a long while before blurting out a line that made even 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, seeing through his little scheme in an instant.

He found it laughable, yet somewhat helpless as well.

At the end of the day, martial cultivation was one's own path.

Even competition for 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 stepping on others. He was quite the strange one.

Thinking this, Lu Cheng lost even more interest in wasting words on Zhuang Xing.

After leaving behind a single "Not bad," he set his stance 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 body's balance.

Zhuang Xing wanted to say something else, but Lu Cheng had already closed his eyes. Zhuang Xing's face flushed red at once.

He shot Lu Cheng a vicious glare, then returned resentfully, deeply nursing a grudge against Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng did not see it, and even if he had, he would not have cared.

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

Whenever a part of the silhouette's body bloomed with light, 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 completely unaware, merely gritting his teeth and persevering.

After a while, the sky brightened, and the disciples gradually arrived at the square.

Some were surprised that Lu Cheng's group of four had arrived so early, some did not care, and some secretly resolved to rise early tomorrow to practice as well.

Since Lu Cheng had started out in a corner, Fatty, the Hu Brothers, and the other six naturally gathered around his side.

Feng Zhan had said he would no longer teach them, but he still kept wandering around the square.

Whenever he saw a disciple with an incorrect posture, he corrected them.

As he walked, he eventually came over to Lu Cheng's group.

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

But when he drew closer, surprise appeared in his eyes.

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

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

But viewed up close, especially on Lu Cheng himself, they possessed an inexplicable harmony.

There was only one possibility: he had found the key to the stance training and entered the beginner level.

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

Those with good comprehension would naturally make adjustments after practicing a few times.

Those with poor comprehension had to slowly wear themselves into it.

As for how long that adjustment took, for some people, it was a lifetime.

Lu Cheng had spent one afternoon on it, which already counted as outstanding comprehension.

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

Then he turned and glared fiercely at Fatty, kicking him in the backside.

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

Fatty let out an "Ow!" and sprawled onto the ground.

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

When martial artists trained, the cultivation was not only bitter—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's group of four, many more disciples began "rising early and sleeping late."

Whether they had found the key and entered the beginner level was unknown, but Lu Cheng's gains were plentiful.

His progress in stance training far exceeded his expectations, successfully passing one hundred.

[Twelve Forms of the Black Hawk Stance]

[Grade: Low-Grade Human Tier]

[Realm: Beginner (102/200)]