Stake Standing Proficiency

As Li Jinshui walked out of the cafeteria doors, the corners of his mouth had nearly split to his ears.

Forty thousand yuan had landed in his hands that easily.

He had originally thought Yao Xiaona had something wrong with her, but who would have thought...

She really did!

She was already dumb, and I scammed her out of forty thousand. Looks like this school isn't a place I can stay for long.

Li Jinshui knew perfectly well that this money was scorching hot.

Leaving aside whether other students or teachers would set their sights on him, Yao Xiaona's personality and behavior clearly showed that she was a greenhouse flower well protected by her family. Once her family found out, they would certainly come knocking.

But before I left, I even elevated our revolutionary martial friendship a little. That counts as repairing our relationship, making it easier next time to... Cough, no. Her family probably won't make things too hard for an aspiring young man from the bottom rung like me, right?

Li Jinshui shook his head. He really had no confidence in that.

In any case, money earned by his own ability—how could there be any reason to give it back?

Without the slightest hesitation, he sprinted straight toward the library.

Only once the money had been spent would it truly be safely in his pocket.

But I can't use all this money to buy martial arts. Right now, I still need to raise my strength quickly...

As Li Jinshui ran, he pulled out his phone and operated it at lightning speed.

He opened the Flash Group Delivery app and quickly searched through the listings.

The cheapest Iron-Skin Beast steaks were selling for 2,800 yuan per jin, four hundred yuan more expensive than at school.

And there was an additional two-hundred-yuan delivery fee?

What a rip-off!

Li Jinshui continued scrolling.

Other, higher-quality Exotic Beast Meat ranged from four or five thousand yuan per jin to twenty thousand, with delivery fees rising accordingly.

Looks like this little bit of money won't last that long either. But if I keep buying meat...

Li Jinshui looked at the two jin of Exotic Beast Meat still unfinished in his hand and felt thoroughly sick of it.

In the end, he gritted his teeth, searched for a chain pharmacy, and chose the most basic Supplement Potion.

[Datang Pharmaceuticals · D-Grade Supplement Potion]

Price: 20,000 yuan per vial.

Delivery fee: 1,000 yuan.

Buying it!

He had to taste the saltiness of such a high-end product.

Li Jinshui paid directly, then strode into the library doors.

When he returned to the martial arts section on the second floor, he no longer hesitated at all and headed straight for the bookshelves holding fist-and-kick martial arts.

Right now, I, Li Jinshui, have yet to grow my wings. My strength is meager, a dragon trapped in shallow waters, and my funds are limited...

In short, mastering any offensive martial art first would not be a long-term solution. Survival had to come first.

The core secret of staying alive was being able to run.

After weighing the Basic Body Technique against the Basic Lightness Skill for a moment, Li Jinshui quickly made his choice.

Although body techniques were nimble, they were only suited for dodging, circling around opponents, and close-quarters entanglement.

Lightness skills were different. They allowed for long-distance dashes, leaps, and rises and falls, making them the most suitable for speeding up and fleeing for his life.

He immediately scanned the code and paid 16,000 yuan for a copy of the Basic Lightness Skill, then bound its authorization code.

Now this is secure!

Li Jinshui let out a slight breath of relief. After spending fiercely in a panic, he had only a little over four thousand yuan left on him. For the moment, he did not have to fear anyone coveting his money.

He remained where he was and began reading the lightness skill manual.

Compared to Stake Standing, martial arts training methods were much more complex, involving the dynamic coordination of breathing techniques and qi-blood circulation routes.

For quiet techniques like Stake Standing, one only needed to stand still and repeatedly breathe and circulate qi.

But martial arts were varied and ever-changing. Every movement and exertion of the body affected the rhythm of one's breathing and the flow of qi-blood.

Therefore, the martial arts deduced by those before him were like unique, precise keys, able to match the body's ever-shifting state.

This also meant that martial arts required more time and energy to study.

Only after the manual's contents could be recited backward and forward and engraved in one's heart could one begin practicing step by step. Otherwise, incomplete mastery could easily result in internal injuries.

Yet Li Jinshui merely read through the manual once from beginning to end before it was immediately recorded on the Heaven Rewards Diligence panel.

[Basic Lightness Skill (Not Initiated 0/100)]

All the obscure and complicated breathing methods and circulation routes of the Basic Lightness Skill were instantly and completely memorized in his mind.

This was true photographic memory!

I remember it, but if I want to use it, I still have to practice...

Li Jinshui sighed, utterly dissatisfied.

Seeing that no one was around in the spacious, quiet library,

he gently opened the plastic bag and took out the unfinished Exotic Beast Meat steak.

After taking a bite and swallowing it, he followed the method of the Basic Lightness Skill, sharply drew in a breath, and sprang forward several meters in succession.

Huh? It's not working?

After repeatedly springing back and forth several times, Li Jinshui received no feedback from the panel and could not help stopping.

The stream of heat in his stomach was still there; it had not been digested.

He immediately steadied his breathing and switched to Stake Standing.

[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +2]

The panel responded at once.

Food supplements actually don't work for cultivating martial arts? That's a little troublesome. Don't tell me I have to practice it myself?

Li Jinshui frowned. This was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Logically speaking, performing martial arts itself consumed quite a bit of qi-blood. And when one ultimately trained them to great mastery or even perfection, qi-blood would also circulate through the meridians on its own.

To a certain extent, the principle was similar to Stake Standing; there was probably only the difference between movement and stillness.

Then why did food supplements receive no feedback from Heaven Rewards Diligence when it came to martial arts?

I wonder if the potion will work. If it doesn't either, won't I have no choice but to seek improvement in danger?

Several images instantly surfaced in Li Jinshui's mind.

When others were in a group brawl, he would sprint around the outskirts?

He would set a room on fire, then race and leap wildly inside it?

Forget it. I'll get my Stake Standing up first.

He raised the Exotic Beast Meat to his mouth again.

Since he could not improve his martial arts for the time being, he would first lay down a solid foundation in Stake Standing. If he could reach minor accomplishment in Stake Standing, he could at least barely get by in the outer city.

[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +3]

[Weak Devouring the Strong, Heaven Rewards Diligence, Basic Stance Technique +2]

Before long, after the final several huge bites of Exotic Beast Meat went down his throat, Li Jinshui was so stuffed he nearly wanted to vomit.

This was nothing like ordinary meat. Even at the same weight, the fullness and energy brought by the two were as different as heaven and earth.

Good. My Stake Standing is finally proficient.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the nausea.

On the Heaven Rewards Diligence panel, the number on the Stake Standing line also jumped to 200/200, after which the words gradually blurred.

Boom—

The next moment, qi-blood within Li Jinshui's body began churning madly.

His heartbeat was like heavy hammers beating war drums. Amid the violent contraction and expansion of his flesh, fascia, and bones, fresh qi-blood continuously poured forth before surging wildly toward the Ren Meridian.

Pop!

Suddenly, a crisp yet faint muffled sound came from within his body.

Li Jinshui was instantly drenched in sweat. Every muscle in his body tensed, and he trembled so hard his body began shaking like a sieve.

The first acupoint of the Ren Meridian had only now been opened!

But it hurt too much—an indescribable pain that completely overturned the textbook descriptions.

When others opened acupoints, it was water grinding through stone: their qi-blood flowed like a babbling stream, slowly nourishing and gradually clearing the way until the fruit ripened and fell from the stem.

His method was entirely different. His qi-blood had brutally rammed it open, without the slightest foreplay, not the least bit of tender care for a flower.

The heavens truly were heartless!

Pop, pop, pop...

Ah~

Pop, pop, pop...

In an instant, a series of crisp muffled sounds echoed through the library, mingled with Li Jinshui's suppressed, restrained cries of pain.

It was clear that the suffering he endured in this Stake Standing breakthrough was far more intense than when he had first initiated it.

At last, as the eighteen key acupoints on the Ren Meridian were opened, the words on the Heaven Rewards Diligence panel completed their change.

[Basic Stance Technique (Proficient 0/300)]