Water Treading

The hunters looked at one another, their windblown, sand-scoured faces filled with bewilderment.

Biao stood at the front, scratching the back of his head with a palm like a cattail fan as he asked gruffly, "Um... Lin, do you really have a way?"

Lin Yi had long grown accustomed to this bunch of rough men's blunt natures. Without beating around the bush, he turned and jerked his chin toward the outside of the tribe. "Follow me."

As for how to improve the clansmen's control over their blood and qi, it was quite simple to Lin Yi.

After all, before transmigrating, he had seen plenty of training methods for improving control—for example, the classic water treading and tree climbing from Naruto.

Though everyone was brimming with doubts, they obediently followed him.

Thirteen broad-shouldered, thick-waisted men lined up and followed Lin Yi through the tribe's dirt roads. Several women drying animal hides along the way looked up at the spectacle and could not help whispering among themselves.

"The hunting party is moving out together? Are they going hunting again?" "Doesn't look like it. They didn't bring any weapons."

Lin Yi led them all the way to the narrow creek beyond the tribe. The water was not deep; even at its deepest, it only reached an adult's chest. The current was gentle, and the riverbed was carpeted with smooth pebbles.

He walked to the water's edge, then looked back at them. "Watch carefully."

Then he lifted his foot and stepped onto the water's surface.

The instant his sole came down, a thin, even layer of blood and qi surged from beneath his foot, spreading across the water's surface like a nearly invisible film.

The water dipped slightly but did not break. Lin Yi stepped forward with his other foot and stood steadily atop the water. The stream flowed slowly past his feet without even wetting the tops of his shoes.

A suppressed wave of startled cries erupted from the hunting party.

"Holy shit!"

"He's standing on water??"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Lin Yi took several steps across the water. As he walked, he tilted his head and explained, his voice as calm as if he were taking a stroll through his own living room.

"The principle is simple. Continuously release a thin, even, unbroken layer of blood and qi from the soles of your feet, creating a tiny supporting force to hold up your feet. There are two key points."

He raised one foot to demonstrate. "First, your blood and qi cannot be too strong. If the output is too fierce, it will blast apart the water's surface and kick up spray. The recoil will knock your foot off course, and your whole center of gravity will scatter.

"Second, it cannot be too weak either. If the output is insufficient, it cannot support your weight, and your foot will sink straight to the bottom."

He turned around on the water to face the crowd. "The current is constantly striking your feet. You must make minute adjustments to your blood and qi output at all times, correcting dynamically so that the supporting force always remains just enough to hold you up.

"This training works on your control over the explosive force of your blood and qi, as well as the precision of your fine adjustments."

His gaze settled on the iron-tower-like figure, and he deliberately stressed his next words. "Brother Biao, especially you must practice this carefully. Your blood and qi are the most abundant of all of you, but as for your control precision..."

He did not finish the latter half, but the look on his face was enough to make Biao's ears begin to burn.

"All right, everyone can get into the water and begin training."

The group looked at one another, but in the end, they gritted their teeth and stepped into the creek.

The first hunter to try confidently copied Lin Yi's movements and stepped onto the water. Then, with a SPLASH, he toppled headfirst into the stream, sending water flying everywhere.

The second hunter learned from that lesson and eased up his force, but he still failed to steady himself. He plopped down onto the creek bed, and the water instantly covered his shoulders, making him cough several times.

The third, fourth, fifth... all thirteen men took turns entering the water and taking turns getting soaked. Before long, the creek bank was drenched as if a localized rainstorm had passed through.

Biao was the last to try. He took a deep breath and carefully spread his blood and qi beneath his feet before stepping down tentatively.

The water surface wobbled twice, and he remained standing for about two breaths.

Then the blood and qi beneath his feet suddenly exploded out of control. Water sprayed in all directions as his eighty-thousand-jin physique smashed straight into the creek, throwing up a water column taller than a man.

Lin Yi stood on the shore, watching Biao emerge from the water, dripping wet and wearing an aggrieved, unconvinced look on his rugged face. The corners of Lin Yi's mouth could not help rising.

But he did not laugh aloud. Instead, he cleared his throat and said in the tone of an instructor, "Not bad. Brother Biao stood for two breaths. That's progress. Keep going, everyone."

With his hands behind his back, he paced back and forth along the creek bank, his mouth not idle either.

"If you want to master the Savage Bull Diagram, you must complete this training.

"If you cannot even tread water steadily, forget about condensing complete Divine Markings on your skin. When you can run back and forth across this creek without falling in, I'll teach you the next step."

The effect of those words was immediate.

The hunters, who had been somewhat discouraged, had fire reignite in their eyes the moment they heard the words "martial skill."

After all, every one of them had been thinking about that blood-red Divine Markings diagram these past few days. No one wanted to be left behind right at the starting line.

Thus, the sounds of people falling into the creek grew denser than before, but after falling in, they also climbed back up faster.

Three days.

Over the next three days, Lin Yi kept watch by the creek every morning.

At first, he would enter the water himself to demonstrate several key movements. Later, he mostly sat on a stone by the shore, slowly chewing a piece of roasted jerky in his hand while watching a group of grown men flounder about in the creek like calves that had just learned to walk.

Whenever someone was about to succeed, he would offer a timely pointer: "Steady your left foot," or "Make the output from your right foot half a degree more even."

Whenever someone fell particularly badly, he would silently cast them a meaningful glance. That person would then grit his teeth, climb back up, and continue trying.

But Lin Yi had not been idle these three days either.

While watching over everyone's training during the day, his mind never stopped for even a moment.

The framework of that new cultivation method combining the Savage Bull Divine Markings and the Bluestone Blood-Transporting Method became more complete with each passing day, driven by his ever-growing comprehension.

He had originally expected it to take three days, but in reality, he needed only two and a half. Every part had been opened up and set in order.

On the night of the third day, Lin Yi sat cross-legged on his stone bed and, for the final time, worked through the blood-and-qi circuits of the entire cultivation method from beginning to end. The paths by which the Savage Bull patterns adapted to human meridians had all been calibrated; the conditions for initiating self-circulation and the rhythm for maintaining it had all been established; the integration points with the original formula of the Bluestone Blood-Transporting Method were smooth and unobstructed.

Every node connected end to end, forming a complete cultivation method.

It was done.

He opened his eyes and clenched his fist, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

The core logic of the new cultivation method was exactly as he had envisioned.

It would use the inscribed patterns of the Savage Bull Diagram to form permanent blood-and-qi circulation circuits, allowing blood and qi to oscillate and scour through the body on its own, tempering the flesh day and night.