The Cheat Arrived

The time it took to eat a meal passed in the blink of an eye.

After Fan Daniu was the last to leave the dining hall and take his place among the crowd,

a glance showed a group of nearly two hundred people radiating a brand-new vigor.

Escort Chief Wang nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile, "Eating—I'm sure you all understand now. How long has it been since you last experienced the feeling of eating your fill, of having enough to eat? That sense of physical satisfaction is what food brings you."

"Now I'll teach you Stance Training. Our escort agency's Dragon Soaring Stakework has three stances: the Walking Stance, the Standing Stance, and the Sleeping Stance. Combined with a particular rhythm of breathing and circulation, the Walking Stance seeks speed, the Standing Stance seeks endurance, and the Sleeping Stance seeks slowness."

"Practicing Stance Training consumes the body greatly. Therefore, practicing after eating your fill allows you to squeeze out the essence stored within your body after a meal to the greatest extent."

"Next, open your eyes wide and watch carefully. Each stance has seven movements. This is the Walking Stance!"

Immediately afterward, Escort Chief Wang began demonstrating.

For every movement, he explained in detail how one should breathe and circulate their breath, along with the mysteries behind it.

Zhou Ming and the others stared intently at Escort Chief Wang's movements, committing the breathing techniques for every motion to memory.

The entire martial training ground was silent except for Escort Chief Wang's voice.

Even everyone's breathing seemed to have stopped, for fear of missing any single movement from Escort Chief Wang.

A full two hours passed. From the Walking Stance to the Standing Stance and then the Sleeping Stance, Escort Chief Wang demonstrated and explained all twenty-one movements of the three stances from beginning to end three times in succession.

After stopping, Escort Chief Wang was drenched in sweat. He looked at the crowd and asked, "Did you remember them? Those who did, come forward and demonstrate. Tonight, you'll receive an extra bowl of beef."

In an instant, more than twenty people stepped out from the line.

Among them was his roommate, Yang Shu.

There was also Chen Li, who had previously told Zhou Ming that he did not like anyone sleeping beside him.

It was only during that morning's test that Zhou Ming had learned this person's name.

He had originally thought Chen Li was one of the old hands who had arrived earlier, never expecting him to be a newcomer from the same batch as them.

Fan Daniu leaned close to Zhou Ming and asked quietly, "Brother Zhou, when Escort Chief Wang demonstrated the third time, I saw you follow along from start to finish. Why aren't you going up to demonstrate?"

"My cheat finally arrived after twelve years of waiting. I'm studying it." As he spoke, Zhou Ming turned and glanced at Fan Daniu before continuing, "If you keep spacing out, that extra bowl of beef of yours is probably going to vanish."

Fan Daniu came back to his senses. Although he did not understand what Brother Zhou meant in the first half of his sentence,

he understood the part about the beef disappearing.

At once, he could not be bothered to keep chatting with Zhou Ming. He stared without blinking at the people demonstrating ahead, slowly following their movements and breathing as he practiced in a proper, methodical manner.

Although Zhou Ming's tone was calm, his heart was already surging with excitement.

His heart pounded wildly!

He felt as if his heart were about to leap out of his chest.

When Escort Chief Wang demonstrated for the third time, after Zhou Ming followed along from beginning to end, a panel abruptly appeared right before his eyes.

[Longhua Earth Transmigrator Handbook Panel]

[Host: Zhou Ming]

[Fate: Double Results with Half the Effort]

[Analysis: Do half the work, reap greatly increased rewards.]

[Technique: Dragon Soaring Stance, Level One (1/100)]

Looking at the panel that had appeared out of thin air, Zhou Ming was excited, but also somewhat speechless.

He was excited because his cheat had arrived; he was speechless because of the description written on it.

I may not have read much, but don't try to fool me!

Double Results with Half the Effort—fine, you could have said one part effort for three parts reward. What the hell did "do half the work" mean? Was this thing insane?

The cheat had arrived. Although it did not seem particularly useful, without any stat-point additions or the like, at least there was a progress panel to look at.

Now that there was a progress bar to watch, all he had to do was grind.

As someone from Longhua Earth, he was best at enduring hardship and working hard.

On the martial training ground,

as time passed, most people followed the twenty-odd demonstrators in practicing the stances and could basically complete an entire set of movements.

Only a very small number of people anxiously paced in circles where they stood.

After everyone had finished demonstrating, Escort Chief Wang swept his gaze over those pacing in panic and said evenly, "I'll demonstrate once more. Those who know it can practice on their own. Those who don't, follow along."

This time, Escort Chief Wang's movements were even slower.

Although Zhou Ming had learned it from the start, he still practiced alongside Escort Chief Wang, checking for omissions and filling in gaps.

As the stance movements continued, Zhou Ming's expression grew increasingly strange.

[Dragon Soaring Stance, Level One (2/100)]

[Dragon Soaring Stance, Level One (3/100)]

...

[Dragon Soaring Stance, Level One (21/100)]

After one full set of Dragon Soaring Stance, every movement added one point of progress. Wasn't this progress rate a little outrageous?

Zhou Ming did not think too much about it and continued practicing again from the beginning.

Just as he immersed himself in training, Escort Master Li's furious scolding rang out across the martial training ground.

"Can't even remember twenty-one movements—are you pigs?"

"Escort Chief Wang personally demonstrated it, and I even taught you hand in hand. This is already the fourth explanation, yet you can still mess up the fifth movement?"

"You idiots, can't you ask the people beside you when you don't understand? When practicing Stance Training, getting the movements wrong while pairing them with the breathing methods can cripple you!"

"Fan Daniu! Sleeping Stance breathing emphasizes slowness. Do you even recognize the word 'slow'? It doesn't mean hold your breath!"

As Escort Master Li scolded him, he slapped Fan Daniu's back. Fan Daniu staggered and fell face-first onto the ground.

A burst of laughter immediately rose from all around.

Escort Master Li stepped forward and helped the fallen Fan Daniu up, brushing the dust from his clothes.

His sharp gaze swept over the crowd as he said sternly, "I'm not joking with you. If the movements are wrong and the breathing methods are wrong, it really can ruin a person."

Following Escort Master Li's words, Escort Chief Wang said seriously, "Find partners yourselves and supervise each other's practice. If you see someone practicing incorrectly, stop them at once."

Seeing the solemn expressions on both men's faces, everyone realized the seriousness of the matter.

They quickly formed groups to practice, since no one wanted to end up crippled just from practicing Stance Training.

Once everyone began practicing, those responsible for supervision had comparatively little to do.

Someone asked, "Escort Chief Wang, when can we be considered to have entered the gate with this Stance Training?"

Escort Chief Wang glanced at the speaker and said blandly, "Compared to Tiger Leap Escort Agency's Tiger Leap Stakework, Dragon Soaring Stakework is a notch better. Each level increases one's strength by thirty jin. Once you reach that increase, it means that level has been completed."

Hiss!

The entire training ground sucked in a cold breath.

Fan Daniu's eyes widened as he cried out, "Escort Chief Wang, then if Stance Training reaches the ninth level, wouldn't that mean an increase of two hundred and seventy jin of strength?"

"You big fool, if you can train Stance Training to the ninth level, would you still care about that little bit of strength?"

"Exactly, exactly. Once Stance Training reaches the ninth level, you'll already have one foot in the realm of a Martial Artist. After becoming a Martial Artist, you'll go straight to a thousand jin of force."

Fan Daniu was left red-faced and muttered in a muffled voice, "I don't understand all that. I only came because I heard the escort agency had food and drink."

No one paid Fan Daniu any attention.

Yang Shu squatted some distance away and asked, "Escort Chief, aside from changes in strength, what changes will there be in our own blood and vitality?"

Escort Chief Wang nodded and said, "Mm, that's a good question. Escort Master Li, let the newcomers feast their eyes."