Smack! Smack! Smack!
Zhou Xing, standing to one side, clapped his hands.
"Senior Brother Zhou!" Jiang Ning smiled.
Zhou Xing was all smiles as well. "Junior Brother Jiang, your learning ability is formidable. You only started today, yet your Five Animals Fist already has the proper form."
Jiang Ning smiled faintly. "Senior Brother Zhou flatters me. I was merely born with a strong memory, possessing Photographic Memory. I am only copying the cat while drawing the tiger!"
"So that was it. Otherwise, it would have been rather too discouraging for me!" Zhou Xing nodded with a gentle smile. Jiang Ning's answer did not surprise him.
To be able to perform such standard fist techniques on the very day he entered the school, the most crucial factors were memory and the ability to learn through imitation.
It had absolutely nothing to do with Martial Dao talent.
No matter how high one's Martial Dao talent or comprehension was, one first had to memorize the fist techniques, movements, and breathing essentials before displaying one's talent and insight.
Thus, in Zhou Xing's eyes, Jiang Ning's performance today merely proved that his memory and learning ability were exceptionally high, far beyond ordinary people. It could not prove anything else.
Then Zhou Xing spoke again. "But even so, Junior Brother Jiang's talent is still remarkable! At the very least, your starting point is far higher than that of ordinary people!"
A trace of wistfulness suddenly appeared on Zhou Xing's face. "I still remember that, just to memorize the essential meaning of the Five Animals Fist manual, I recited it for three days and three nights straight! I truly envy Junior Brother Jiang's talent!"
Jiang Ning smiled.
Zhou Xing continued, "It is getting rather late. I should head back! Junior Brother Jiang, do not be too hasty when practicing your fist techniques. Do not drain your body dry."
Jiang Ning nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Zhou. I understand!"
Before leaving, Zhou Xing added, "Junior Brother Jiang, are you satisfied with the effects of the wild ginseng?"
"I am!" Jiang Ning nodded.
"That is good!" Zhou Xing smiled, then walked toward the entrance of the martial hall.
Outside the martial hall, a carriage had long been waiting by the entrance.
"Young Master, why did you remain at the martial hall for so long today?" asked a man dressed in black fitted clothes, with a long saber at his waist.
Zhou Xing wore his usual smile. "I saw a fairly talented disciple who had just joined the martial hall, so I stayed a while longer."
"Does Young Master intend to recruit him?" the man in black asked.
Zhou Xing shook his head. "Although my Lineage business needs capable men, we would rather have none than accept the mediocre. We can discuss it after he becomes a true disciple of the martial hall. If he does not become one, it will not be so easy for someone from an ordinary family to enter the ranks of the Martial Dao!"
"Did Young Master not say he was rather talented? Can even he not pass the test?" the man in black asked.
"Hard to say. Judging from the way he practiced just now, he was clearly relying on his outstanding memory and trying to practice all five forms at once. If he cannot awaken to the difficulty of it soon enough, there is more than a ninety-five percent chance that he will fail!"
"Then why does Young Master not offer him some guidance?"
Zhou Xing shook his head. "Everyone has their own fate. There is no need to forcibly interfere! It would only too easily create needless troubles and resentment!"
Inside the martial hall.
Jiang Ning imitated the Deer Rest recorded in the fist manual, taking three short breaths and one long breath as he quietly recovered his strength.
After a while, as the medicinal effect of the wild ginseng continued to take hold within him, he felt his energy and physical strength grow abundant once more.
Then he began practicing his fist techniques again.
With the panel, every complete round of fist practice increased his experience by one point.
And with ten experience points, he could make the Five Animals Fist enter the beginner stage.
With that goal right before his eyes, so close at hand, Jiang Ning was filled with motivation.
[Five Animals Fist Experience +1]
After completing another round of fist practice, Jiang Ning rested for another quarter-hour, allowing the remaining medicinal strength to gradually spread through his body.
Only after his physical strength and energy had recovered did he begin his next round of practice.
[Five Animals Fist Experience +1] [Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Not Yet Initiated 6/10)
"Four more rounds!" Watching the experience value on the panel steadily rise, Jiang Ning grew increasingly exhilarated.
Jiang Ning rested for a full half hour more. By then, the sun was gradually setting.
Beneath the afterglow of the setting sun, he once more performed a complete round of the Five Animals Fist from beginning to end.
Following the remembered images in his mind, he constantly corrected his movements against the Five Animals Fist that Wang Jin had previously demonstrated for him, striving to make them match as closely as possible.
Gradually, Jiang Ning's fist techniques grew faster and faster. His swinging fists drove his sleeves through the air, producing fierce, fluttering sounds.
His fist techniques also became increasingly smooth.
Until he withdrew his fists.
Hah—
A full-throated cry of exhilaration burst from his mouth.
In that instant.
His body, pushed to its limit, felt as though a mouthful of vitality and blood erupted from his chest. He had been on the verge of exhaustion, yet now it was as if sweet rain had watered him, instantly restoring some of his strength.
[Five Animals Fist Experience +4]
Four experience points?
Jiang Ning was secretly astonished.
Then his attention was drawn to the changes within his body. At that moment, he felt an indistinct warm current arise from within his blood.
"This is..."
His eyes widened.
Bathed in the last lingering rays of the setting sun, Jiang Ning's eyes shone brightly. He could clearly feel that warm current moving through his body on its own. Wherever it passed, it felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring, incomparably comfortable.
"Could this be the power of vitality and blood recorded in the fist manual?" he asked himself.
"According to the fist manual, cultivating the first strand of vitality and blood meant touching upon the foundation of the Martial Dao. Strengthening one's vitality and blood until it could empower the entire body was an essential condition for entering the ranks of the Martial Dao."
He closed his eyes and quietly felt the warm current continuously flow through his entire body, bringing strength wherever it passed.
"This feeling! This feeling is too incredible!"
An intoxicated look appeared on his face.
At that moment, he somewhat understood why so many people in his previous life had become obsessed with working out. The pleasure of one's body growing stronger was simply enough to make one obsessed and intoxicated.
This was the first time he had truly experienced the pleasure of martial training. The thrill of his physique growing stronger was far more distinct than any workout from his previous life.
[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Beginner 0/100)
Looking at his panel, Jiang Ning wished he could practice another round of fist techniques at once and vent the exhilaration in his heart. But he understood that his body could no longer support continued practice.
When practicing fist techniques, too much was as bad as too little!
His body had already reached its limit just now. Had it not been for that great surge of vitality and blood erupting from his chest, he would now have been facing complete exhaustion.
Jiang Ning took the brocade box from his chest and opened it for a look.
"I need to use it sparingly!"
He immediately closed the brocade box again and placed it back at his waist.
"Poor scholars, rich warriors!!"
At that moment, Jiang Ning deeply understood the meaning of those words.
He had managed to practice the Five Animals Fist seven full times that entire afternoon only because of that wild ginseng.
He knew that if he ate another slice of wild ginseng, his physical strength and energy would recover completely again, enough to support one final round of the Five Animals Fist and bring it to the beginner stage.
But he could not bear to do it.
At the rate he had consumed it this afternoon, even one whole wild ginseng would not last many days.
After recovering a little strength, Jiang Ning thought for a moment, then assumed his stance once more.
This time, he intended to conduct an experiment.
He wanted to see whether a slacking style of practice could likewise increase the Five Animals Fist's experience.
The next moment.
He casually threw out each move and stance, while breathing as casually as usual, without using the breathing method suited to the Five Animals Fist.
After a short while.
A figure clad in blue fitted clothes emerged from the rear courtyard.
When she spoke softly, her voice carried clearly to everyone in the front courtyard.
"The medicinal soup is ready. You may go to the rear courtyard to collect it!!"
At those words, everyone stopped practicing.
"Come on, come on!! Time to collect the medicinal soup from the back kitchen!!" someone said excitedly.
After saying this, Li Qing looked toward Jiang Ning, who was still practicing his fist techniques.
Seeing his loose, sloppy stance and chaotic breathing rhythm, she could not help frowning.
"Junior Brother Jiang, you should go to the back kitchen and collect your medicinal soup as well."
"No hurry. Let me finish this set of fist techniques first!" Jiang Ning said as he continued practicing.
As he spoke, Jiang Ning punched faster, and his breathing became noticeably hurried.
Seeing this, Li Qing's brows furrowed even more tightly.
His movements were weak, and his breathing had no pattern whatsoever. In her eyes, it was no different from children playing house.
After watching for a little longer, she shook her head slightly, turned, and left.
Jiang Ning also sped up and completed one round of fist techniques.
He withdrew his fists and stood still, then waited silently for several breaths. No prompt indicating that he had gained experience appeared.
"So it really does not work!"
His suspicion was confirmed.
The next moment, Jiang Ning sprinted at top speed toward the martial hall's back kitchen.
After eating the wild ginseng Zhou Xing had given him and witnessing the strength of its medicinal effects, he attached even greater importance to the medicinal soup Wang Jin had mentioned before.
(End of Chapter)
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