Great Accomplishment

On the seventh day of stance training, someone finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

He was a burly man in his early twenties, surnamed Fang.

The moment Instructor Han turned around, he withdrew his stance, squatted down to rub his knees, and muttered, "Standing every day, standing every day—this Stake Stance, this Stake Stance—when is it ever going to end?"

Several people beside him loosened their stances as well.

Instructor Han glanced back at him without the slightest surprise, then walked to the front of the group and stood there with his hands behind his back.

"Rest for a while."

Everyone was stunned.

Instructor Han usually never allowed anyone to rest.

Before half an hour had passed, whoever dared loosen their stance would get kicked by him.

Yet today, he was taking the initiative to let them rest. Something was off.

"I know what all of you are thinking," Instructor Han said. "Does stance training even work? When will I teach you boxing? You keep planting yourselves here day after day, with no end in sight, afraid you'll waste your time and never reach the Body-Tempering Realm."

No one dared make a sound. The man surnamed Fang lowered his head.

Instructor Han walked over to the weapon rack, pulled out a staff as tall as his eyebrows, and planted it on the ground. The stone slabs trembled.

"You think stance training is useless? Then let me tell you what exactly you are standing for."

He tapped the staff against his own leg, producing a clang.

"The Body-Tempering Realm—what does it temper? Skin, flesh, tendons, bones. You forge them layer by layer, deeper and deeper. How do you forge them? Not by relying on supplementary pills, but by standing in stance. There are many kinds of stance arts. Most people learn Basic Stance Art, the kind sold everywhere for a few taels of silver. The stance arts taught by martial halls are improved from Basic Stance Art. Some are light and nimble, while others are heavy and solid."

"Mountain-Settling Stance is the stance art of Mountain-Suppressing Martial Hall. It is exceptionally fierce when it comes to forging tendons and bones."

"When you stand, your blood and qi sink downward—from your chest to your dantian, from your dantian to the soles of your feet. Every inch your blood and qi sinks, your tendons and bones are washed once. Day after day, year after year, your skin and flesh become firm, your tendons lengthen, and your bones grow dense."

He tossed the staff back onto the weapon rack.

"If your stance foundation is solid, then after breaking through the Body-Tempering Realm, practicing boxing or saber arts will yield twice the result with half the effort. Stance training is the foundation. If your stance art is powerful, then before you even begin martial training, every bone and every tendon in your body will already be prepared."

"On the other hand, if your stance foundation is weak, everything you practice afterward will fall short by a breath. Your foundation will be hollow. No matter how impressive your punches look, they will only be flowery forms with nothing underneath."

After hearing this, the man surnamed Fang stopped rubbing his knees.

Instructor Han continued, "The Mountain-Settling Stance I teach you has three stages: Beginner, Minor Accomplishment, and Great Accomplishment."

"None of you have even entered the Beginner stage yet. Entering it is difficult. Ordinary people need a year, perhaps even two."

"After Beginner comes Minor Accomplishment. Your blood and qi will sink deeper, your lower body will begin to take root. You can stand for two incense sticks without your legs turning sore, and a push won't knock you down. For ordinary people, reaching Minor Accomplishment takes three years."

"It depends on talent. Some are faster." He swept his gaze over the group. "Some are slower. Some will never manage it in their entire lives."

"Above Minor Accomplishment lies Great Accomplishment. With a Great Accomplishment stance, standing still makes you a mountain. Your blood and qi form their own cycle within your body. You no longer need to deliberately sink it—it moves downward on its own."

Someone sucked in a sharp breath.

A thin man in the back row raised his hand. "Instructor Han, is there anything above Great Accomplishment?"

Instructor Han glanced at him.

"Yes. Perfection."

"What is Perfection? It is training the stance art into your very bones, letting the blood and qi throughout your body move with the stance. Still as a mountain, moving like thunder shaking the heavens. When you stand in stance and close your eyes, you can feel the earth beneath your feet connected to you." He paused. "Almost no one can train a stance art to Perfection."

The field fell silent. Even the birds chirping in the distance could be heard clearly.

"I have practiced stance arts for twenty years, and I am only at Great Accomplishment," Instructor Han said in an even tone, without any discernible emotion. "The heads of the several martial halls in Qingyun County are only somewhere between Great Accomplishment and Perfection as well. A truly Perfect stance art—I have never seen one."

The thin man swallowed. "Perfection is that difficult? Has anyone ever achieved it?"

Instructor Han shook his head.

"Unless you are a one-in-ten-thousand martial arts genius, no one trains for it. Great Accomplishment is enough. Once you achieve Great Accomplishment in your stance art and break through to Body Tempering, you can formally study martial arts at a martial hall. Perfection is too difficult and takes too long. Twenty years, thirty years—perhaps an entire lifetime. In the end, stance arts are meant to lay the foundation for the techniques that come later. Who would be willing to spend half their life on a single stance art?"

"So don't set your sights on Perfection. If you can stand your way to Minor Accomplishment, you will have hope of breaking through the Body-Tempering Realm. If you reach Great Accomplishment, the Sun Family's Mountain-Suppressing Martial Hall will make an exception and take you in. That will be more than enough for you."

He dusted off his hands.

"Enough. Get up. Keep standing."

The crowd sluggishly resumed their stances.

Zhou Yan set his stance, bent his knees slightly, lowered his spine, and sank his qi into his dantian.

He chewed over every word Instructor Han had said.

Others believed Perfection was not worth it. Spending decades on one stance art was worse than learning boxing and saber arts sooner.

But he was different.

He had the system. He could see his training progress. A Perfection that others could not reach in twenty years would not take him long at all.

Others were satisfied to stop at Great Accomplishment, but he could take another step beyond it.

And the system was called Martial Dao Limitbreaker.

Perhaps he could even reach a realm above Perfection!

One step could be the difference between heaven and earth. The firmer the foundation, the wider the road ahead.

Two more days passed after that.

Zhou Yan rose every day at dawn. The sky had not yet fully brightened, and the alleys behind the street were shrouded in mist.

While others were still turning over beneath their blankets, he had already arrived at the training ground.

It was not official training time, and there was no one on the field.

The spears and eyebrow-height staffs on the weapon rack were coated in dew. He set his stance and stood alone.

The morning air was cool, carrying a clean freshness as it entered his lungs.

His feet stood on polished bluestone slabs.

[Mountain-Settling Stance: Minor Accomplishment 37/200]

The system floated through his vision for a moment before shrinking away again.

The progress from Basic Stance Art was gradually being converted over.

Each time he stood in stance, the Mountain-Settling Stance value rose by several points.

He stood for half an hour.

Only then did the east begin to pale like the belly of a fish.

At three quarters into the hour of dawn, people gradually began arriving.

Ma Wu entered the field yawning, with one tuft of hair still sticking up and his eyes half open.

When he saw Zhou Yan already on the field, he clicked his tongue.

"You're here this early again? You're always the first one here. Are you here to practice martial arts, or to steal work from the roosters?"

Chen Dazhu arrived beside them as well. Tightening his belt again, he chimed in, "Brother Zhou really does work hard. Yesterday, after everyone dispersed, I came back to get something and saw him still standing here."

"Made of iron." Ma Wu shook his head and went to his spot, setting up a loose, slack stance.

His knees bent less than an inch, and his waist had not sunk at all.

Before the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed, he was already looking around, his thoughts wandering who knew where.

Someone nearby chatted idly. "Hey, did you hear? Someone else came for bone-testing today."

"Again? Didn't a batch just come last month?"

"The Sun Family is recruiting a lot this year. The nearby villages are sending over everyone of suitable age."

"What good seedlings could there be? The good ones were picked by martial halls long ago. The ones left for the Sun Family Guard Corps to test are all leftovers."

Zhou Yan listened without saying anything.

He himself was one of those leftovers.

Yet now, as he stood here, his Mountain-Settling Stance had secretly already passed Minor Accomplishment.

Among the sixteen people who had entered with him, the man surnamed Fang had not even managed to stabilize the Beginner stage.

That afternoon.

Manager Feng brought several people to the training ground. Two half-grown children followed behind him, one boy and one girl. Both were skinny and wore patched hemp clothes. The boy was around fourteen or fifteen, while the girl was younger. They kept their heads lowered, not daring to look at anyone.

Two adults followed behind them, apparently their parents from the village.

The man clutched a battered straw hat in his hand, while the woman's eyes were red-rimmed.

Manager Feng had Instructor Han test their bones.

Instructor Han had the two children stand in a row. He began with the boy.

He squeezed his shoulders, felt along his spine, pressed his knees. His movements were practiced, and he finished in just a few motions.

"Inferior Lower Grade."

The boy's face instantly went pale.

Instructor Han walked to the girl. She shrank backward.

Manager Feng frowned. There were women in the Guard Corps, though very few. They were generally assigned as inner guards within the residence.

They were responsible for the safety of the Sun Family's female members.

Instructor Han did not care about that. He squeezed her shoulders and pressed her knees.

"Also Inferior Lower Grade."

The man holding the straw hat sighed.

Manager Feng wrote a few lines in his ledger, closed it, and said to the two children, "Go register."

The two children nodded timidly.

The man with the straw hat bowed several times in profuse gratitude, then pulled the woman away.

Only after they had gone far away did people on the field begin talking.

Ma Wu elbowed someone beside him. "Inferior Lower Grade. With aptitude like that, they'll need to stand in stance for a year."

Someone beside him agreed, "Exactly. Inferior Middle Grade can still be trained up a little, but Inferior Lower Grade really is..."

"Enough." Another older guard interrupted. "Aptitude is only one part of it. The key is whether a person is willing to put in the effort."

As he spoke, he glanced toward the edge of the field.

Someone there was still standing in stance. After Instructor Han called for a halt, most people had relaxed their stances, yet one person remained standing.

Zhou Yan!

The older guard jerked his chin toward him. "See that? That kid is also Inferior Middle Grade. He has been standing less than half a month, and his stance is steadier than you old hands."

Ma Wu turned to look, then turned back and muttered, "That's because he's risking his life. He comes every day at dawn and keeps standing after dark. Even iron would not endure that kind of training. He works himself to the bone, but I haven't seen him achieve anything."

"That is why he improves so quickly," the older guard said. "Bone-testing is only the starting point. It doesn't mean everything."

Several more days passed.

Ma Wu's stance grew looser and looser.

The novelty had completely worn off. Whenever Instructor Han was away, he simply leaned against the stone locks at the edge of the field and dozed off.

Most of the newcomers were about the same.

They could endure through the first ten days, but once ten days had passed, they began cutting corners.

When standing in stance, they no longer lowered their waists, no longer sank their qi, and bent their knees more and more shallowly.

That fat man, Chen Dazhu, was still standing.

But his talent truly was poor. He could never adjust his stance properly. Instructor Han corrected him seven or eight times, yet the next time it would still be crooked.

Chen Dazhu did not get upset. Every time Instructor Han corrected him, he changed it. Then it crooked again, and he corrected it again.

Instructor Han watched this group without scolding or urging them.

He knew this was normal.

Out of ten newcomers, having two or three endure for a month was already good. The rest were merely muddling through their days.

But Zhou Yan was still standing.

Every day, he was the first to arrive at dawn.

When Instructor Han arrived, he was standing. When Instructor Han left, he was still standing.

While others squatted to catch their breath, he stood. While others gathered to chat idly, he stood as well.

Once, Ma Wu truly could not hold it in any longer. "Don't you get tired?"

Zhou Yan answered while maintaining his stance, "Tired."

"Then why are you still standing?"

"Because I'm tired, I have to stand."

Ma Wu froze for a moment, rolled his eyes, and left.

In truth, Zhou Yan was not tired. Or rather, not as tired as he appeared.

Mountain-Settling Stance had fully connected with Basic Stance Art. The system had merged the progress of the two stance arts together. Every quarter hour he stood, the value rose. To him, standing in stance was not so exhausting. Seeing his numbers rise filled him with motivation.

But he could not let others see it.

So after standing for half an hour, he would deliberately wipe away sweat.

After standing for a long time, he would loosen his stance slightly and let his shoulders appear somewhat slumped, as though he were struggling about as much as Chen Dazhu.

When Instructor Han corrected him, he would adjust several extra times, making it seem as though he was working desperately hard but was not a genius.

Hardworking but not talented—that was what kept one from drawing attention.

The fifteenth day.

Zhou Yan stood in stance as usual. Instructor Han paced before the line, examining them one by one.

Mountain-Settling Stance: Minor Accomplishment 196/200.

The system numbers flickered. It was nearly at the threshold. Zhou Yan steadied his breathing and did not loosen his stance.

Several breaths later, the value reached its limit.

Mountain-Settling Stance: Great Accomplishment 1/300.

A wave of heat surged up from the base of his spine.

It traveled upward along his vertebrae, segment by segment, until every gap between his bones burned.

Then his blood and qi suddenly sank another level.

The soles of his feet pressed against the bluestone slabs, and his lower body became at least thirty percent heavier in an instant.

Mountain-Settling Stance, Great Accomplishment!

Zhou Yan's expression did not change, nor did his breathing falter. It merely became longer and more even than before.

Instructor Han paced over, stopping beside him, his gaze sweeping over Zhou Yan's stance.

"You've been standing well lately."

Instructor Han rarely offered praise.

"Thank you, Instructor."

Instructor Han took two steps, then looked back again.

Zhou Yan eased his breathing and drew his stance in slightly.

After reaching Greater Mastery, his stance was too steady. He had to hold it back a little so he would not stand out too much; he could not let people think he was improving too quickly.

But he knew where he stood.

Greater Mastery had been reached. His next goal was Perfection.

That evening, training ended.

Everyone was heading toward the mess hall when Manager Feng arrived.

He entered through the side gate with a list in hand, two saber-carrying guards following behind him.

Those who had not yet left the training ground all stopped.

Manager Feng unfolded the list and read out several names, all familiar faces from the guard squad.

"Zhou Yan, Ma Wu, Chen Dazhu, Liu Shun, Fang Ping, Sun Xiaoshi."

Zhou Yan looked up.

"The six of you, report to the manager's office at the hour of the Rabbit tomorrow morning. There's a mission."

Manager Feng left as soon as he finished speaking. He folded the list and tucked it into his sleeve, then led the two guards out through the side gate.

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

Then Ma Wu slapped Zhou Yan on the shoulder. "What did I tell you? A mission after only half a month in the squad—you've been noticed!"

Chen Dazhu scratched his head and came over. "What kind of mission is it?"

"Who cares what mission it is?" Ma Wu's eyes shone. "Anything's better than stance training. Standing there every day has made my legs go numb."

Fang Ping and Liu Shun also came over, and several newcomers formed a circle.

"Could it be guard duty at a shop? I heard the pharmacy on South Street is short-handed."

"South Street is Sun Family territory. Guard duty there is the easiest."

"Not necessarily. Maybe we'll escort a merchant caravan on a short trip, back in two or three days."

Caravans are good. The allowance for one trip is worth half a month's wages."

"Could we be leaving the city? There are several estates outside the walls, and things have been unsettled lately."

Ma Wu turned and asked an older guard passing by. "Senior, what sort of missions does Manager Feng usually assign?"

The old guard held a bowl, still chewing on a flatbread.

Only after swallowing did he speak. "Stop guessing. You won't know a manager's mission until you go."

"Some missions are cushy jobs. Some cost you your life. It all depends on fate."

After saying that, he hummed a little tune and walked away.

Ma Wu's smile stiffened, and Fang Ping and Liu Shun fell silent as well.

Chen Dazhu scratched his head. "Then... are we going?"

"Obviously." Ma Wu recovered. "We've already been named. How could we not go?"