Use Your Imagination!

The next morning.

The Martial Arts Hall was bustling with activity.

Zhao Hongzhou had changed into his martial arts uniform and was just walking out of the lounge.

When he spotted the figure ahead, his eyes lit up. He strode forward and reached for the other person's shoulder.

Before his palm could land, the figure in front of him suddenly spun aside, gaze sharp as lightning as his right hand rose in a chopping strike.

Whoosh!

The hand blade stopped an inch from Zhao Hongzhou's neck, the gust of wind from it scraping past.

Zhao Hongzhou's outstretched left hand froze in midair, and a stiff smile tugged at his face.

"B-Brother Shan, it's me!"

"Reflex. Sorry!"

Li Qingshan shook his head, withdrew his hand, and glanced at the lounge behind Zhao Hongzhou.

Good thing he'd left the machete in the lounge just now. Otherwise...

At that thought, he gently pinched the bridge of his nose and added a warning.

"Don't pat me from behind lately. I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself."

"I won't, I won't."

Zhao Hongzhou rubbed his neck, still shaken, then asked curiously,

"Brother Shan, when you went home yesterday, did you spend the whole time practicing martial skills?"

Li Qingshan hadn't had such terrifying "reflexes" before.

"We just entered the Martial Arts Class. What martial skills would I be practicing? It was just a bit of combat reflex."

Li Qingshan lightly shook his head and looked behind Zhao Hongzhou. Yu Lei was walking toward them.

"Li Qingshan, can you tell me how you trained?" Yu Lei's eyes gleamed.

She had watched that entire scene.

Compared to the other students, she had gotten the chance to encounter martial arts earlier and had long since begun practicing martial skills.

But Li Qingshan's reaction speed was something she absolutely could not achieve.

Li Qingshan met those shining eyes and pondered briefly before saying,

"It isn't difficult. As long as you have enough imagination, you can do it."

"Imagination?"

Yu Lei was stunned. She hadn't expected such an answer.

Zhao Hongzhou, meanwhile, furrowed his brow in thought. Yet no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out what this had to do with "imagination."

"Mm... when you're practicing, don't limit yourselves to your current surroundings. Fully use your imagination and picture an opponent. For example, Wolf Venom!"

Li Qingshan spoke fluently, becoming more and more animated.

"Brother Shan, I get it." Zhao Hongzhou's eyes lit up.

"You mean we should create a powerful imaginary opponent and use the threat of life and death to stimulate our own improvement."

"You can be taught."

Li Qingshan patted Zhao Hongzhou's arm and nodded approvingly.

"A life-and-death crisis?" Yu Lei seemed to understand.

Martial skill training naturally required sparring. Even her uncle, Wan Keshan, had personally trained with her.

But that kind of "sparring" could never create a true life-and-death crisis.

Still, that sounded more reliable than "imagination," didn't it?

Yu Lei looked at Li Qingshan, and her gaze gradually turned strange.

Could simply using "imagination" to create a life-and-death crisis really be more effective than actual combat?

Before she realized it, Yu Lei took a step back.

She had seen this kind of "imagination" before, just not in the Martial Arts Class. It had been in a psychiatric hospital!

Li Qingshan noticed Yu Lei's strange look as well, but he had no mind to dwell on it now.

His right hand unconsciously pinched the bridge of his nose again, and exhaustion flickered in his eyes.

How could it be that easy to learn?

He had traded his life for it—more than a hundred lives, at that!

Though only projections died and he wasn't truly injured, the pain was incomparably real.

As time passed, the students gradually arrived, and the line naturally formed.

However, while lining up, Li Qingshan discovered that every student had positioned themselves behind him.

Forcing him from the middle of the line into the very front row, with Zhao Hongzhou, Yu Lei, and Hong Qian beside him.

Li Qingshan looked around behind him and realized two people were missing.

"Liang Mingyu and Liu Jingya didn't come?"

Hong Qian glanced at him and said,

"One was scared unconscious by a Feral Beast, and the other was scared to her knees by you. They probably don't have the nerve to show up?"

"I heard that after class yesterday, the two of them withdrew from the Martial Arts Class on their own."

Zhao Hongzhou spoke in a sneaky whisper, eager to gossip.

The corner of Yu Lei's mouth curled up as she added,

"No, they were expelled directly by Teacher Wan."

Clearly, Yu Lei's information was more accurate.

"What a pity." Li Qingshan sighed.

Huh?

The other three were all stunned and looked at him strangely.

Li Qingshan rotated his right ankle and said regretfully,

"I'd originally wanted to spar with her often in the future."

Her?

Spar with Liang Mingyu?

Yu Lei frowned in confusion. She had just opened her mouth to ask when she immediately closed it again.

A burly figure was approaching them from the front entrance of the hall.

Wan Keshan had arrived.

"Your discipline isn't bad. I hope you can keep it up in the future."

Wan Keshan nodded approvingly at the quiet, orderly line.

"Starting today, for the next half year, our focus will be on the cultivation technique The Stars Are Calling."

"I know some of you may not think much of it, believing it to be nothing more than a set of radio calisthenics."

"But I want to tell you..."

Wan Keshan swept his gaze over the crowd and grinned.

"This set of radio calisthenics is the most advanced product on all of Purple Star, and even throughout the entire Crimson Rainbow Star Domain."

The most advanced?

Li Qingshan was a little dumbfounded.

He hadn't looked down on this cultivation technique, but he hadn't expected it to be this incredible!

Li Qingshan wasn't the only one dumbfounded. The other students wore the same expressions.

"You don't believe me?"

Wan Keshan glanced at them and shook his head.

"Purple Star is merely an ordinary planet within the Crimson Rainbow Star Domain."

"Whether it's the Communicators in your hands, the Sky Patrols flying overhead, or even the various high-tech products of the New Continent, none of them can compare to those on other major planets."

"Only The Stars Are Calling is different! It is the crystallization of countless Federation predecessors and has undergone thirty-six generations of revisions."

"Whenever it is updated, it is immediately spread to every planet throughout the Crimson Rainbow Star Domain."

"Even if some major martial arts planets possess more profound Body Tempering techniques, such techniques have thresholds. The only one that can truly be popularized among ordinary people is The Stars Are Calling."

After that explanation, all the students came to a sudden realization, their spirits lifting considerably.

Wan Keshan took it all in, a smile flashing in his eyes as he began the main lesson.

"The Stars Are Calling has four levels: movements, Force-Exertion Stage, breathing, and muscles..." Wan Keshan spoke unhurriedly.

When explaining Force-Exertion Stage techniques and breathing coordination, he was especially thorough, making it easier for the students present to compare themselves against the instructions.

An hour later,

Wan Keshan finally finished explaining the third level.

Just as Li Qingshan's eyes shone brightly and he prepared to explore the mysterious fourth level.

"Take a ten-minute break. When you return, we'll begin training."

Wan Keshan waved a hand and said no more.

The line dispersed, while Li Qingshan stood there blankly.

He had thought he understood Wan Keshan well enough, but it seemed he had still been too naive.

Wan Keshan merely smiled without speaking. Only after everyone returned did he say,

"Spread out into groups according to your cultivation level. Prepare to train."

The students automatically divided into three groups, spreading out and assuming their stances.

As a group by himself, Li Qingshan had plenty of open space around him.

He had just finished the first movement.

"Calm your mind and focus on your breathing." Wan Keshan's voice reached his ears.

Just as expected!

Li Qingshan wasn't surprised and continued to the next movement.

"The fourth level focuses on Muscle Rhythm."

Having reached the main point, Wan Keshan's voice became solemn.

"Our muscles contain countless tiny nerves."

"Think carefully. Have you ever suddenly felt a muscle in your arm or thigh pulsing in time with your heartbeat?"

"The fourth level requires you to use your breathing to mobilize the heart's power, sense the nerves hidden within your muscles, and master that pulsing."

"When exerting force during each movement, simultaneously mobilize the nerves in the corresponding area and make the muscle tremble. As long as you can achieve that, your training efficiency will double again."

Wan Keshan's explanation was straightforward and easy to understand.

But sensing the nerves hidden within the muscles?

Li Qingshan calmed his mind and carefully felt the beating of his heart with every breath.

Yet only his sinews and bones exerted force. How could it be easy to master the subtle nerves beyond them?

"Don't rush. Take it slowly. Your comprehension is good, so it shouldn't take you long to grasp it."

Wan Keshan gave him that reminder, then turned and left.

Li Qingshan simply stopped dwelling on it as the illusory panel flashed before his eyes.

Teacher Wan was right. It wouldn't take him long to "grasp" it!