Chen Jing held the porcelain bottle, and a thought stirred in his heart.
Instructor Wang had said that one Blood-Qi Pill was worth three months of grueling training. Could it directly increase the proficiency of the Fierce Tiger Stance?
What he lacked most right now was time. After the Fierce Tiger Stance reached Entering the Hall, advancing to the next stage required a full 2,000 proficiency points.
If he relied on himself and trained without pause day and night, it would still take three or four months.
But if he could use Blood-Qi Pills to give it a push, that would truly be like finding a pillow just as sleep overtook him.
Wang Chong clearly had no intention of letting them take the Blood-Qi Pills home to worship on an altar.
He waved a broad hand.
He told everyone to take the Blood-Qi Pills immediately and refine them.
"Pour out the pill and swallow it in one gulp. Then take your stance and use the Fierce Tiger Stance's method of circulating qi and blood to digest the medicine."
Hearing this, everyone did as instructed.
Wang Chong paced back and forth through the formation, offering pointers as he went. "Don't rush to brute-force it. The medicinal power spreads outward, so use the Inner Force of the stance to wrap it up and guide it bit by bit into the Dantian."
"Take it slowly. You can't rush this."
"This stuff isn't fiercely potent, but its lingering strength runs long. If you can't hold your stance or contain your qi, failing to refine it completely is just a waste."
Chen Jing pulled out the stopper and turned the porcelain bottle upside down.
A dark-red pill the size of a soybean rolled into his palm. It was perfectly round, and when he brought it close, he could smell a faintly fishy sweetness.
He took a deep breath, tossed the pill into his mouth, and swallowed it in one gulp.
The instant the pill entered his stomach, a surge of heat exploded from his lower abdomen.
The sensation somewhat resembled the heat that came with a breakthrough in martial arts, but it was gentler and more densely woven.
Chen Jing immediately assumed the Fierce Tiger Stance, bending his knees slightly, hollowing his chest and straightening his back as he sank his breath into his Dantian.
Wang Chong's rough voice carried clearly to everyone's ears:
"Feel that heat? That's the medicinal power of the Blood-Qi Pill. Don't let it scatter into your limbs."
"Use the force of the stance to gather it. Follow your breathing and guide it upward, along the spine, past the Jiaji point, into the Mud Pill Palace, then sink it from above back into the Dantian."
"Keep cycling it like that until you've refined every last bit of the Blood-Qi Pill's medicinal power."
Chen Jing followed his instructions and adjusted his breathing.
He used his mind to guide the current of heat upward along his spine.
Wherever it passed, his muscles trembled faintly, as though every tendon and meridian were being gently plucked by invisible hands.
He could clearly feel his qi and blood gradually becoming fuller under the impetus of that heat.
And the Fierce Tiger Stance proficiency on his panel was also climbing at a visible pace.
One point, two points, three points...
The number did not jump quickly, but it continued without pause.
The training ground was silent. Everyone was immersed in refining the medicinal power, with only Wang Chong's occasional instructions and a few distant birdcalls breaking the stillness.
Those who had not received Blood-Qi Pills stood at the edge of the training ground.
They watched with longing eyes.
Zhao Tianli stood with his arms folded against the weapon rack, his gaze sweeping over the veteran soldiers standing with their eyes closed.
"If I'd known, I would've joined the bandit suppression too."
He spoke quietly to Liu Xiaolan beside him. "My Fierce Tiger Stance has reached Minor Accomplishment too. If I had a Blood-Qi Pill, maybe I could go a step further."
Liu Xiaolan shot him a glance, her tone carrying a trace of reluctance as well. "You're already improving fast enough. These past few days, it feels like I've been stuck at a bottleneck. No matter how I train, I can't break through that barrier. My legs go numb from holding the stance, but my qi and blood just won't move."
Zhao Tianli nodded thoughtfully.
"I've been stuck for a day or two as well."
"When all is said and done, taking a stance is about finding the right fulcrum for your Inner Force and qi and blood. Find it, and everything falls into place like water flowing into a channel. Fail to find it, and you'll keep spinning in circles where you stand."
"This sort of thing is hard to explain. Everyone feels it differently."
Sun Tiezhu stood beside them, scratching the back of his head with a blank look. "What bottleneck are you talking about?"
Zhao Tianli and Liu Xiaolan looked at him at the same time, then looked away at the same time, silently agreeing not to answer.
Wang Chong moved through the formation.
He checked everyone's refining progress one by one.
When he reached Chen Jing, his steps suddenly halted.
Chen Jing stood with his eyes closed, the qi and blood throughout his body churning and steaming under the urging of the medicine.
His breathing was long and powerful, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. Looking closely, he somehow possessed the majestic bearing of a crouching tiger seated upon a mountain.
Wang Chong's pupils shrank slightly, and stormy waves rose in his heart.
Only then did he realize that Chen Jing's Fierce Tiger Stance had actually reached Entering the Hall!
Back when he was in the border army, which of those soldiers had not trained their stance for at least half a year before touching the threshold of Entering the Hall?
Yet this boy before him had trained for less than two months in total.
Less than two months, and the Fierce Tiger Stance had entered the hall.
This boy truly had talent!
Wang Chong suppressed the shock in his heart. He did not speak and disturb him, merely standing nearby to watch for a few extra moments.
Then he turned and continued checking on the others.
Chen Jing had no idea how shocked Wang Chong was.
Immersed in refining the medicinal power, his senses of the outside world had become blurred and sluggish. All his focus was on guiding that current of heat.
Following Wang Chong's method, he circulated the medicinal power along his spine five or six times. Each cycle was smoother than the last, and each cycle allowed more medicinal power to be absorbed into his tendons, bones, flesh, and blood.
Only after the final thread of heat had completely melted into his limbs and bones did he slowly withdraw his stance and open his eyes.
As he exhaled a breath of turbid air, Chen Jing felt as though he had soaked in a hot spring for an entire day. Every joint carried an indescribable comfort.
His strength had increased again. When he clenched his fist, his knuckles crackled, and the lines of muscle on his arms were more distinct than before.
Most importantly, he could not wait to glance at the proficiency on his panel.
The Fierce Tiger Stance's proficiency had increased by a full five hundred points.
Five hundred points! Chen Jing was elated. It meant that this single morning was worth nearly a month of his previous grueling training.
Instructor Wang had said that one Blood-Qi Pill was worth three months of hard cultivation, and that was not wrong either. After all, the others had not trained as diligently as Chen Jing.
Chen Jing felt that Blood-Qi Pills truly were wonderful things. If he could get a few more, pushing the Fierce Tiger Stance to Great Accomplishment would no longer be a distant dream.
In the span of one morning.
Everyone gradually finished refining the medicinal power.
Those who had taken Blood-Qi Pills all looked radiant and flushed. Even their voices carried several degrees more vigor than when they had arrived.
The people who had not taken any watched the changes in them, their eyes nearly turning red with envy.
Wang Chong gave a few more instructions regarding the next day's training, then dismissed everyone.
Chen Jing was about to leave when Wang Chong called out from behind him.
"Chen Jing, stay a moment."
Chen Jing stopped and turned around.
Only after everyone else had gone far away did Wang Chong take another porcelain bottle from his robes and hold it out to him.
This porcelain bottle was identical to the one Chen Jing had held. Its wax seal was intact, and the bottle gleamed faintly in the sunlight.
"This Blood-Qi Pill is for you."
Chen Jing paused, not reaching out to accept it.
He looked at the porcelain bottle in Wang Chong's hand, then at Wang Chong's face, and shook his head.
"Instructor Wang, this should be your reward. How could I accept it?"
Wang Chong pulled a stern face and pushed the porcelain bottle farther toward him.
"Why can't you? You saved my life. I, Wang Chong, am not the kind of man who doesn't know how to repay a debt. Take it!"
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