Technique Fusion

After lunch, Lin Qing paid for the meal and rose to leave the bustling restaurant.

The afternoon sun had turned somewhat vicious, and there were fewer pedestrians on the streets. He followed the same route back to the small courtyard, shut the gate behind him, and cut off the clamor outside.

Unfortunately, there were no large trees beside the courtyard, and the walls were not very high either. Lin Qing could only continue honing the Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art at the foot of the wall. Fortunately, this technique did not involve broad, sweeping movements; otherwise, this tiny patch of shade would not have been enough for him to practice in.

In the blink of an eye, two days passed. For those two days, Lin Qing's life followed a three-point routine: eating, practicing, and sleeping.

On the first day, after returning from the restaurant at noon, he practiced for two hours in the afternoon, gaining 16 points of progress. After dinner, he practiced for another hour and gained 8 more points.

On the second day, he practiced for a full five hours, gaining 40 points of progress. It was now the afternoon of the third day, and his progress had reached 99/100.

As the sunset gradually dipped westward, warm golden light spilled into the small courtyard. Lin Qing slowly drew back his arms and let out his final breath, steadily concluding the technique.

Suddenly, Lin Qing sensed a subtle change in his body.

It was as though a clear forest breeze, the warmth of open fields, and the soft ripples of a river had wrapped tightly around him. Endless, vibrant vitality slowly seeped in through the grain of his skin, flowing through his limbs and bones, making every inch of his tendons and skeleton brim with vigorous life.

With a thought, a pale blue panel lit up before his eyes. The words Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art beneath the Recorded Techniques section gradually faded, appearing in another position.

[Host: Lin Qing]

Realm: Mortal (Breakthrough Time ∞)

Fused Techniques: Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art (Expand)

Recorded Techniques: Harmonious Essence-Nourishing Art (0/90), Meridian-Relaxing Heart-Calming Art (0/90), Spleen-Strengthening Life-Nourishing Art (0/90)

Seeing the changes on the panel, a trace of delight flashed through Lin Qing's eyes.

At last, he understood what the "Fused Techniques" section meant. The Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art had merged into his body and become his instinct, continuously circulating within him at a rate of one cycle every fifteen minutes.

This was the true strength of his system. From the information he had overheard at the restaurant that day, he had learned something about how martial artists cultivated.

For instance, stance arts used to advance into martial artists did not mean that one could become a martial artist simply by training them to perfection. One still had to continuously practice them to strengthen the body, bringing it to a certain level before attempting a breakthrough.

The proficiency of different stance arts only affected the efficiency with which they strengthened the body. This was easy enough to understand using knowledge from his previous life.

Knowing how to do the most standard push-up did not mean one would immediately possess perfect pectoral muscles. One still needed persistent practice to make the chest muscles grow.

The stance arts of this world were precisely such a form of "training method." Different techniques had an upper limit on how efficiently they could temper the body. When one's mastery of a technique reached that limit, it meant that technique had reached perfection.

Feeling the Qi and Blood in his body grow fuller than before, along with the increasingly robust sensation in his tendons and bones, he clenched his fist. He could clearly feel a measure of strength coming from his palm.

But he also knew that this Life-Nourishing Art alone was not enough to make him a Certified Martial Artist. The breakthrough time shown on the panel explained everything. Even if the Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art continued operating without pause through all twelve double-hours of the day, he would never become a martial artist in this lifetime.

To truly become a martial artist, he had to learn more profound techniques. The stance arts of the four great martial academies were the best choice available to him now.

He glanced at the panel again, just about to close it, when he suddenly noticed some other changes. The number of repetitions required for the three Life-Nourishing Arts he had recorded but had yet to practice had decreased?

If he remembered correctly, all four techniques had previously required 100 repetitions, meaning that practicing them 100 times would bring a technique to perfection. Now, the remaining three techniques had all changed to 90.

The change must have occurred after the Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art reached perfection. After thinking it over carefully, he came up with a guess.

The first possibility was that these Life-Nourishing Arts shared common ground. After bringing the Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art to perfection, practicing other life-nourishing techniques would let him draw inferences from one instance to another, speeding up his cultivation progress.

But if it was the second possibility, then the upper limit of his martial path would rise without end. That was, as a perfected technique merged into his body, his aptitude had improved.

There was no use in overthinking it. Once he recorded a few more techniques, he could test it and find out.

His body was no longer frail, and with the Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art fused into him, it would continue growing healthier. It was time to consider the matter of a martial academy.

He pondered as he lit the fire and cooked.

Bedrock Martial Academy had the most solid reputation and had been his chosen target from the very beginning.

As long as one was willing to endure hardship, the academy master would pass on the stance art. Most apprentices at the academy were honest commoners, so there was little chance of any so-called class discrimination, sparing him much unnecessary trouble.

Having made up his mind, Lin Qing decided to go to Bedrock Martial Academy tomorrow and take a master.

After dinner, Lin Qing did not slack off. Instead, he began cultivating another Life-Nourishing Art—the Harmonious Essence-Nourishing Art.

The Harmonious Essence-Nourishing Art was not much different from the Clear-Mind Life-Nourishing Art. It likewise took roughly fifteen minutes to complete one full practice session.

After practicing for an hour, his progress rose by 8 points. Following a simple wash, Lin Qing slowly drifted off to sleep.

At dawn, he practiced the technique twice as usual, then ate breakfast. Afterward, he returned to the small courtyard and took out his silver to count it.

The silver his father had left behind amounted to a little over eleven taels, while selling the land deed had brought in three taels. After arriving in the county town, three taels had gone toward rent, two mace toward books, and over two taels toward daily necessities, clothes, bedding, and the like. He still had eight taels and two mace of silver, along with two hundred copper coins.

After straightening his clothes, he pushed open the courtyard gate and headed toward Bedrock Martial Academy.