The First Lesson

Wu Ming had long anticipated Jia Yi's awakening, so he was not as nervous as the others. Instead, he took the opportunity to cultivate his Spiritual Force for a while.

Before setting out, he had already switched his set to Dual Spirit-Martial Cultivation. His Spiritual Force talent had therefore increased by 5.5 times, and the efficiency with which he converted spiritual power had soared.

With a cultivation speed more than five times faster, his progress was no worse than that of Spirit Readers who possessed Solid Spiritual Force Crystals.

"Excellent. An hour of cultivation now is already worth more than half a day of bitter training in the past."

Wu Ming was quite satisfied with this result.

If he maintained this pace, even without any additional opportunities along the way, he was fully confident that within eight months, his Spiritual Force would enter the intermediate Battle General realm. And that would mean becoming a Battle General in both martial cultivation and Spirit Reading.

If Wu Ming mastered a related guidance technique during that time, even one that only doubled his efficiency, he could easily cultivate to the advanced Battle General realm. If he obtained some decent resources on top of that, even the War God realm would be within reach.

He withdrew his thoughts.

The instant Jia Yi opened his eyes, Wu Ming's Spiritual Force sensed it. He naturally stopped cultivating and lowered his head to look at the frail youth.

Perhaps because the virus had consumed most of his body's reserves, the youth truly looked extremely thin, almost like skin stretched over bones.

But the reality was that Jia Yi's Gene Evolution had been remarkably thorough. Even without a Spiritual Force talent, the extent of his genetic evolution was no less than Ruan Qingzhu's.

Wu Ming also keenly noticed that Jia Yi's breathing carried a peculiar rhythm. He was not merely breathing passively according to his body's instincts; it was likely the breathing technique of his family's Xingyi Quan.

After all, although Jia Yi had been physically weak before, that did not mean he could not learn martial arts. On the contrary, he had most likely come to this martial arts hall hoping to improve his physique through the effects of internal martial arts.

At that moment, Jia Yi struggled to sit up in bed and said to Jia Qingshan beside him, "Uncle, you've worked hard these past few days."

"It's good that you've recovered. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known how to explain things to Qinghe."

Jia Qingshan shook his head, glanced at Wu Ming, and said, "But since you managed to pull through this ordeal, you should properly thank young friend Wu Ming. He traveled all the way from Shushi with the special medicine that pulled you back from death's doorstep."

Only then did Jia Yi understand the identity of the unfamiliar young man in the room. He hurriedly struggled to rise and solemnly said to Wu Ming, "Jia Yi thanks Brother Wu for saving his life."

"You're overstating it. Hall Master Jia Qingshan has already paid the reward." Wu Ming waved his hand. "Besides, I'm not that old. I'm only eighteen this year, so there's no need to call me big brother."

"Oh? What a coincidence, I'm eighteen this year too." Jia Yi looked somewhat surprised. "I was born in July. What about you?"

"...May."

"Then you really are older." Jia Yi grinned. "Calling you big brother is perfectly right!"

"Fine." Wu Ming did not dwell on the matter of forms of address any further. He was merely surprised that Jia Yi was genuinely the same age as him.

At this point, Jia Qingshan took over. "Jia Yi, this time, you can be said to have found fortune in misfortune. After the virus altered you, the problem of your congenital weakness has been completely eradicated. The only issue now is that you're somewhat malnourished, but that's easy enough to handle."

"During this period, I'll arrange medicinal meals for you to replenish your foundation as soon as possible. At the same time, you'll begin recovery training. Don't rush into practicing the forms yet. Start by standing in the Three-Body Stance and familiarize yourself with force."

"Understood, Uncle," Jia Yi obediently replied.

Jia Qingshan nodded, then turned to Wu Ming and the other two. "Since you've come here to learn martial arts, you'll stay at the hall from now on. I've already arranged the dormitories. The two young ladies will stay in the women's dormitory on the third floor. As for young friend Wu..."

After a pause, he continued, "The dorms here are all shared rooms. Will you stay with Jia Yi, or should I arrange another roommate for you?"

"No need to trouble yourself. I'll stay with Jia Yi." Wu Ming shook his head.

More importantly, he was curious about how this genius from the original story would perform in reality, so he could clearly assess where his own current talent stood.

"Alright." Jia Qingshan nodded and checked the time. "It's three in the afternoon. I'll give you two hours to prepare your daily necessities. Gather at the training ground at five sharp, and we'll begin your first lesson."

"Jia Yi, you'll join them as well. Review the basics once more."

"Yes, Uncle." Jia Yi nodded.

Jia Qingshan then left, taking the small stove and medicine pot with him. Jia Yi looked at the three of them and asked, "Did you bring any daily necessities when you came?"

When the three shook their heads, he added, "I'll take you to buy some. Time is tight, so we need to go and return quickly."

The four of them went downstairs. Jia Yi drove them to a nearby town, found a department store, and helped the three of them purchase all kinds of daily necessities.

On the way back, he briefly introduced the martial arts hall's daily cultivation routine. His tone was calm, but when he mentioned the intensity of the training, he still gave them a warning in advance.

"Training here means getting up at six in the morning. You wash up and eat breakfast, then formal training begins at seven. You keep training until nine at night before you're allowed to return and rest."

Jia Yi said to them, "Most importantly, this place is remote, so there are basically no entertainment activities. There is only the monotony of training. I hope you can prepare yourselves mentally."

Wu Ming nodded calmly. For him, enduring some hardship was nothing. What mattered was whether he could learn something real here.

Ruan Qingzhu, who sat beside him, was also fairly composed. After all, she had been a top student in her final year of high school and had long grown accustomed to an intense study schedule.

In her eyes, life here was simply studying replaced by martial arts training. There was nothing she could not adapt to.

Among the three, only Zhu Hongyu looked troubled. As the only third-year college student, her daily rhythm could not compare with that of a high school senior.

Just thinking about training every day from seven in the morning until nine at night made her calves ache faintly.

But then she remembered that her father had swallowed his pride to secure this spot for her. No matter what, she could not let him down. She could only grit her teeth in secret and swallow back her thoughts of retreat.

After returning to the martial arts hall, the three temporarily went their separate ways and returned to their dorms to make their beds.

Wu Ming went downstairs once more midway through, carrying his equipment back to the dormitory. At the same time, he switched his set to "Close-Combat Grandmaster," preparing for the upcoming lessons.

As his roommate, Jia Yi naturally noticed the equipment cases and vaguely sensed their weight, but he wisely did not ask any questions.

Before long, it was nearly five. The four arrived at the training ground on time. The sky was gradually darkening, and Wu Ming noticed around a dozen students training separately in the distance. There were both men and women, all in their early twenties.

He also spotted Jia Mengyun among the crowd. Jia Mengyun was stepping across Plum Blossom Stakes while practicing footwork. When he saw the group appear at the edge of the training ground, he paused in surprise, then grinned and nodded at them.

Wu Ming nodded back but did not greet him aloud, because Jia Qingshan had already appeared on the training ground and stopped before the four of them.

His gaze swept over them. Without any unnecessary opening remarks, he said directly, "The foundation of Xingyi Quan lies in stance training, and the entry point to stance training is the Three-Body Stance."

"Today's first lesson will teach you this."