Body Tempering Realm

"Senior Brother, take a look at this move of mine, Fierce Tiger Probes with Claws. Am I doing it right?"

Time flew by.

By now, Li Yun could be considered one of the Martial Hall's "old hands."

Every so often, a newcomer would come and ask him questions.

Li Yun never held back. Whatever he knew, he taught them.

After all, every time he taught someone, his understanding of Tiger Subduing Fist deepened a little more.

"When you punch, extend your arm without locking your elbow. Twist your waist and back to generate power."

Li Yun rose from Tiger-Subduing Stance. He stepped half a pace forward with his left foot into a bow stance and drew his left fist back to his waist.

As he exhaled, he drove his right fist straight forward, the fist's eye facing upward. Power came from his waist, passed through his shoulder and arm, and finally reached his knuckles.

Then he stepped forward into a bow stance with his right foot and drove his left fist forward.

"Just like that. Practice by alternating sides."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Having just finished a set and answered the newcomer's question, Li Yun sat down to catch his breath.

Someone came up beside him.

"I heard Zhu Daqi's been building up his qi and blood at an astonishing pace. It won't be long before he develops Bright Force!"

Li Yun turned to look at Wang Xiaofei.

The guy had passed out several times while training.

He said he couldn't keep up nutritionally, and the more he trained, the more depleted he became.

"Everyone has their own fate. Just focus on yourself.

"But you—if you keep training like this, it won't be long before you die."

Wang Xiaofei showed no reaction to Li Yun's words.

After a brief silence, he replied calmly:

"If I don't train, I might as well be dead."

"..."

Ever since joining the Martial Hall, Li Yun had eaten and slept there.

He could be said to have shut out the world and focused single-mindedly on practicing Tiger-Subduing Stance.

From the apprentices' conversations, he learned that another wave of refugees had arrived from the south.

The population of the Outer City had surged.

And the problems that came with it were piling up.

The most obvious one was that the price of grain had soared to twenty coins per catty, and it was still climbing.

Without enough to eat, people couldn't survive.

When people were on the verge of starvation...

Li Yun said nothing more. Once his breathing had settled, he got up and resumed his training.

Words were empty. Only strength was real.

Watching Li Yun charge ahead so fiercely, Wang Xiaofei couldn't help feeling envious. He was even more jealous of Zhu Daqi.

The three of them had joined the Martial Hall at the same time.

Zhu Daqi had earned the hall master's favor and become his direct disciple. He didn't have to pay tuition, and he often received extra instruction.

Li Yun had the same sort of build as Wang Xiaofei, but he had money to spare and could pay his meal fees in full. His nutrition might not have been plentiful, but at least he wasn't wasting away.

As for Wang Xiaofei, he hadn't made any real progress, and he had only wrecked his health.

Thinking of his older sister at home, Wang Xiaofei gritted his teeth and began practicing Tiger-Subduing Stance again.

Another month passed.

When your mind was fully immersed in something, time flew.

Li Yun devoted himself entirely to Tiger-Subduing Stance.

Just as he finished a full set of basic punches and exhaled while settling into his final posture, a wave of heat suddenly surged through his body. The transformation erupted without warning.

Li Yun clearly sensed the channels through which qi and blood flowed inside him. It was as if a warm, unyielding force had burst through them.

Like a river choked with silt finally breaking through its dam, his qi and blood surged through his meridians, instantly reaching every limb and bone. His whole body felt refreshed.

The muscle soreness and stiffness in his bones and sinews left over from training melted away beneath the cleansing rush of qi and blood. In an instant, most of the discomfort was gone, leaving only faint tingles drifting through his skin and flesh.

His heart stirred, and he instinctively raised his eyes. Suddenly, the world before him seemed to brighten.

His vision had undergone a tremendous transformation!

On the two jujube trees by the far wall, he could clearly see two green caterpillars on the leaves.

Wang Xiaofei sat slumped beside him, breathing heavily with a rough "huff, huff." From farther away came the sounds of punches and kicks as people trained.

Everything was crystal clear.

[Tiger-Subduing Stance (Beginner): 1/5000]

"I've reached the beginner level?"

Li Yun slowly clenched his fist. The instant his knuckles tightened, his surging qi and blood rushed through his meridians and into his fist, carrying a searing, solid force.

His heart warmed with excitement, and he strode toward the Force Testing Stake.

It was as thick as a bowl, its surface covered in deep and shallow fist marks.

The Martial Hall had set up this wooden stake specifically for testing. If someone could break it with one punch, it meant their strength had reached a thousand catties.

Li Yun's actions didn't attract much attention.

Every day, people who thought their strength had improved came to test themselves. Most of them got nowhere, while everyone else continued chatting in groups or practicing their punches and stances.

Li Yun took a deep breath.

He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, soles pressing firmly into the ground. Shoulders lowered, elbows dropped, chest held in and back straight—the foundation of Tiger-Subduing Stance came together as naturally as breathing.

The next moment, his waist twisted sharply. His power burst from the soles of his feet like a clap of thunder, traveling up through his legs, waist, shoulders, and arms before pouring into his right fist!

"Ha!"

With a low shout, his right fist shot forward like a cannonball and slammed into the wooden stake!

"Bang!"

The muffled impact rang out like thunder.

Wood chips flew as the hardwood stake cracked apart.

The noisy Outer Courtyard abruptly fell silent. Every apprentice turned to stare at him.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother."

"Congratulations on entering the Body Tempering Realm, Senior Brother."

"..."

The Inner Courtyard disciple who was in charge of leading the apprentices in their daily training was the first to congratulate Li Yun after seeing what he had done.

His words broke the silence, and the whole atmosphere changed.

The place grew lively.

The new disciples all looked at their Senior Brother with undisguised envy.

The older disciples felt envy, too, along with a hint of resentment and jealousy.

This was the realm they had dreamed about for so long.

Li Yun was happy as well.

Once he entered the Body Tempering Realm, he could officially become a disciple of the Martial Hall, take an outside post, and earn money to support his training.

Hearing the commotion in the Outer Courtyard, Xiao Shun, who had been practicing his punches in the Inner Courtyard, came out to congratulate him.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother."

"Thank you, Second Senior Brother." Li Yun returned the greeting with a clasped-fist salute.

"Come on. I'll take you to see Master."

"All right."

Li Yun followed Xiao Shun through the Moon Gate into the Inner Courtyard and found Fu Huaixing teaching Zhu Daqi.

They didn't interrupt. They waited off to the side for nearly a quarter of an hour.

Only then did Fu Huaixing turn and ask:

"Xiao Shun, what is it?"

"Master, Junior Brother Li Yun has opened the qi-and-blood channels beneath the surface of his body and entered the Body Tempering Realm."

Hearing this, Fu Huaixing finally looked at Li Yun.

He looked him up and down. After a moment, he seemed to understand.

"You joined the Martial Hall on the same day as Daqi, right?

"Three months or so. Not bad, but keep working hard."

"Yes, Master."

Apart from the day Li Yun first joined, Fu Huaixing had never spoken to him.

After offering a few perfunctory words, he told Xiao Shun to take Li Yun to practice his punches, then turned back to continue teaching Zhu Daqi.

Li Yun didn't read anything into Fu Huaixing's attitude.

On the day he joined, Fu Huaixing had made things perfectly clear.

This was just a transaction.

Though Li Yun had entered the Inner Courtyard, he was still nothing more than an ordinary disciple.

They weren't close.

Li Yun's silence might have led Xiao Shun to misunderstand.

"Don't be discouraged. Keep training hard. Once you reach Bright Force, if you want to, Master will take you on as a core disciple and teach you personally."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. I was just thinking that I'll have to trouble you with teaching me the next stage of the training method."

"Haha, no problem. If there's anything you don't understand, just come ask me."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."