Primordial Stance Technique

[Name: Chen Xun]

[Bone Structure: 4 points (Lower C)]

[Comprehension: 5 points (Grade C, Middle Tier)]

[Cultivation: None]

[Martial Arts: None]

[Universal Points: 0]

This was Chen Xun's current body panel, exceedingly bare-bones.

"My Comprehension is actually a little stronger than my Constitution."

Chen Xun guessed that it might be related to his fusion with the memories of his past life.

Ever since fusing with those memories, he had felt that his memory had improved considerably. He was also more focused when doing things, and his thoughts had become clearer.

"What are Universal Points for? And how do I obtain them?"

The moment that thought crossed his mind, a piece of information appeared in Chen Xun's mind.

"So that's how it is."

Chen Xun immediately understood.

According to the prompt in that information, Chen Xun had to cultivate a martial art to the Perfection realm before he could obtain Universal Points.

Universal Points could be added to Constitution and Comprehension, strengthening the former and improving the latter.

They could also be added to martial arts, allowing those martial arts to break through.

They could even be used to unlock more equipment slots.

In short, if he had enough Universal Points, Chen Xun could become the strongest genius and Martial Artist in this world, bar none.

This made Chen Xun's gaze burn, and his emotions surged.

Suddenly, a hand slapped his shoulder, dragging him from his fantasies back to reality.

"Chen Xun, are you all right? Why have you been squatting here the whole time?"

Sun An looked at Chen Xun with some concern.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

Chen Xun hurriedly shook his head, then stood and pulled Sun An away.

Before leaving, however, the corner of his eye remained fixed on that stone lock, reluctant to part with it.

If there had not been so many eyes around, he would have long since been unable to resist putting that stone lock into an equipment slot.

The equipment slots were a space that had suddenly appeared within Chen Xun's body after he touched the stone lock.

There were three equipment slots in total. Each had one cubic meter of space and could store equipment as well as other items.

However, once equipment was placed inside, no other objects could be stored there, regardless of the equipment's size.

And equipment was something like that stone lock.

If Chen Xun successfully equipped that stone lock, he would immediately grasp the proficient-level [Primordial Stance Technique]. Furthermore, he would receive a certain bonus when cultivating the [Primordial Stance Technique].

It could be said that the effect was extremely good.

To obtain more equipment slots, he had to unlock them with Universal Points. Unlocking the first required one Universal Point, the second required two, the third required four, and so on.

"I am an Attendant of the estate, and I will also be your instructor from now on."

A burly middle-aged man walked in from outside, appeared before the crowd, and spoke in a loud voice.

At once, everyone's attention was drawn to him.

"My surname is Jia. From now on, you may call me Instructor Jia."

Instructor Jia's words carried a slight accent. The moment he finished speaking, laughter rang out from the crowd.

"Who was laughing? Step out."

Instructor Jia's brows drew together as he shouted.

The crowd hurriedly moved aside, exposing a panicked figure before Instructor Jia.

"I-I didn't mean to."

At that moment, the man was so nervous that he could barely speak without stammering.

"Why were you laughing? What was so funny?"

Instructor Jia stood a head taller than the man, and his muscles completely dwarfed the other's. His intimidation was overwhelming.

"I-I..." He stammered for a long while without managing a complete sentence.

"Since you won't speak, don't blame me for being discourteous."

Then Instructor Jia made the man hold a twenty-pound stone lock in each hand and stand beneath the sun.

"You will stand there for the entire day. I will be watching you, so don't even think about slacking off."

After dealing with that man, Instructor Jia began teaching everyone how to cultivate.

With that man's fate serving as a warning to kill the chicken and scare the monkeys, everyone else obediently listened to Instructor Jia.

"The martial art I will teach you is called the Primordial Stance Technique."

"This is a Stake Stance most suitable for beginners on the market. Not only do the major Lineages and martial halls of our Liu Yun County teach it, several other counties also pass down this Stake Stance."

"For you, as long as you cultivate this Stake Stance to the Minor Accomplishment realm, you will certainly be able to condense Blood Qi."

"All right, no more talk. We begin the lesson now. Watch carefully."

Afterward, Instructor Jia began demonstrating the [Primordial Stance Technique] for everyone.

As he demonstrated, he explained the details and key points of every movement.

After performing the entire set once, he began requiring everyone to follow the movements he had taught and imitate them once.

This Stake Stance had nine movements in total, each one more difficult than the last. If one could complete the entire set smoothly and without interruption, it counted as getting started.

After getting started came proficiency, then Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, and Perfection.

"This movement is wrong, and your method of exerting force is even more outrageously wrong. Change it like this."

"Are you performing acrobatics? Your movements are completely distorted."

"You're not bad. Your imitation looks fairly convincing, but only the form resembles it. Your muscles are exerting force with errors everywhere."

All eleven people present were given pointers, and their mistakes in movement and exerting force were corrected.

Among them, the best performer was undoubtedly Liu Feng, whose bone structure was Lower B.

In just one morning, he could already complete the first three movements of the [Primordial Stance Technique] with convincing form, earning Instructor Jia's praise.

As for the others, they could only master two movements at most, with some having grasped only one.

"All right, cultivation ends here for the morning. Follow me to eat."

"When it comes to martial practice, three parts are training and seven parts are eating. Now that you have begun learning martial arts, you naturally cannot eat as you did before. I will take you to the Martial Artists' cafeteria, where you will eat with the estate's other Martial Artists."

"As for you, keep standing there as punishment."

Thus, Instructor Jia led Chen Xun and the other ten away, leaving only the last man standing beneath the sun in despair, exhausted, thirsty, and hungry.

Before long, everyone arrived at the Martial Artists' cafeteria.

There were not many people here, only around twenty or thirty. Yet every one of them had a spirit unlike ordinary people. They were all powerful and vigorous, striding as though wind followed their steps.

When they saw Instructor Jia, quite a few Martial Artists greeted him.

As for Chen Xun and the others, they were naturally ignored.

To them, only once Chen Xun and the others became Martial Artists would they be qualified to associate with them.

Chen Xun followed Instructor Jia and got himself a Martial Artist's meal. There were two dishes and one soup. Both dishes were meat, and they were exceedingly fatty.

In his past life, Chen Xun would never have eaten such fatty meat.

Now, Chen Xun turned directly into a vacuum cleaner and wolfed it down.

Since awakening his memories three months ago, this was the most lavish meal he had eaten.

While fleeing hardship, he had eaten wild vegetables and wild fruits. After entering the Li Estate, he could only eat vegetarian dishes, with the occasional egg or a dish like tofu that had a hint of oil.

Chen Xun was not the only one. Several others wolfed down their food just like him.

Among the eleven, only three ate slowly and elegantly.

"Country bumpkins are country bumpkins. They've never eaten anything good."

Li Peng quietly mocked them through a mouthful of food.

His father was a steward of the Li Estate. He had eaten plenty of good things since childhood, and his sense of superiority was immense.

Then his gaze shifted and landed on Chen Xun. He shot him a vicious glare.

"Damn country bumpkin. If not for you, my father wouldn't have had to waste so much money."

Back then, Li Peng had stood behind his father, so he had naturally seen the transaction between him and the Third Steward clearly.

Although he did not know precisely how much had been spent, it definitely could not have been less than ten taels.

That was no small sum. Chen Xun's annual wages were roughly the same amount.

Chen Xun sensed Li Peng's gaze and raised his head to meet his eyes.

Li Peng glared at Chen Xun provocatively. Chen Xun frowned, but did not respond to the provocation and continued lowering his head to eat.

"Is he taking out his anger on me?"

Chen Xun thought to himself.

Anyone could guess that in order for Li Peng to cut in line, his father must have given the Third Steward quite a few benefits.

Now it seemed that those benefits had clearly been given in vain.

Li Peng naturally did not dare complain about the Li Estate, so he could only vent his anger on Chen Xun.

"Tsk." Chen Xun shook his head slightly.

Soon, lunchtime ended, and Chen Xun and the others received half an hour for a midday rest.

Everyone else returned to their own quarters to rest.

"Chen Xun, let's go back."

Sun An spoke to Chen Xun. The two shared the same communal sleeping quarters.

"I need to use the latrine. You go back first."

Chen Xun clutched his stomach and replied in a slightly urgent tone.

"All right, go ahead. I'll head back first."

After Sun An left, the urgency on Chen Xun's face vanished. Rather than going to the latrine, he returned to the Small Martial Arena.

First, he carefully observed the situation inside from the entrance.

He discovered that the man being punished was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did he run off to?"

"Forget it, it doesn't matter. It's better that he's not here, so I won't have to waste effort luring him away."

Chen Xun quickly entered the Small Martial Arena and headed straight for a stone lock.

This stone lock was precisely the white equipment Chen Xun had discovered earlier.

Then Chen Xun placed his hand on it. In the next instant, the stone lock vanished.

Chen Xun looked inward at the equipment slots within his body, and the stone lock was inside one of them.

At the same time, the attributes on the stone lock began to activate.

"This is...?"

Chen Xun felt as though several memories had suddenly appeared in his mind, memories concerning the [Primordial Stance Technique].

Moreover, Chen Xun performed several movements of the [Primordial Stance Technique] where he stood and found them incomparably smooth and fluid.

If the Chen Xun of that morning had been a rusty machine, then he was now a brand-new machine freshly oiled.

The difference was enormous.

"Good, very good."

Excitement filled Chen Xun's expression.

Then he suppressed his desire to continue cultivating, hurriedly left the Small Martial Arena, and returned to the communal sleeping quarters assigned to him.

"You're back."

Sun An had not yet fallen asleep. Seeing Chen Xun return, he greeted him.

"Mm." Chen Xun nodded, returned to his sleeping space, and closed his eyes to rest.

Low-ranking servants like Chen Xun could only live in communal sleeping quarters with ten people to a room. Both the environment and the smell were beyond words.

Low-ranking servants did not get a midday rest, so only Sun An and Chen Xun were sleeping in the entire room.

That afternoon, the eleven people continued receiving Instructor Jia's guidance in the Small Martial Arena.

The best performer was still Liu Feng, who had already grasped the fifth movement of the Primordial Stance Technique.

Of the others, even the least efficient had mastered three movements.

Chen Xun's performance, meanwhile, made it seem as though he had mastered four movements.

He was neither too far behind nor conspicuous.

In truth, Chen Xun had already secretly mastered all nine movements of the [Primordial Stance Technique].

As evening approached, Instructor Jia carried over a bucket of medicinal soup.

"This is Blood-Strengthening Soup. Drinking it will help you condense Blood Qi."

"One bowl per person. Come one at a time."

"Liu Feng."

Instructor Jia called him first.

"Here." Liu Feng hurriedly stepped forward, took a bowl of Blood-Strengthening Soup, and gulped it down.

Chen Xun was fifth in line.

He took the Blood-Strengthening Soup Instructor Jia handed him and drank it in one mouthful. The instant the medicinal soup entered his mouth, an intense flavor mingling the bitterness of grass roots with the fishy reek of dried blood and flesh rushed straight into his nostrils. The thick, sticky liquid slid down his throat with a faint burning sensation, like swallowing a mouthful of warm iron sand.

Chen Xun did not even furrow his brow as he drained the entire bowl of Blood-Strengthening Soup. The moment he handed back the empty bowl, a hot current surged up within his abdomen with a boom.

The medicine's power was anything but gentle. Instead, it carried a coarse, untamed wildness as it spread out from his spleen and stomach, drilling into his limbs and bones in the blink of an eye.

Chen Xun's entire body immediately turned red, his face flushed bright crimson.

He was not the only one. Everyone else who had drunk the Blood-Strengthening Soup was the same.

Only after everyone had finished drinking did Instructor Jia speak. "While the medicinal effects are taking hold, continue training. Your cultivation results will be better. Once your body no longer feels hot, it means the medicinal effects have faded."

For a time, everyone on the scene immediately began practicing the [Primordial Stance Technique].

Seeing this, Instructor Jia nodded and turned to leave.

"I'm leaving. Once you're done practicing, head back."

After Instructor Jia left, everyone remained focused on cultivating the [Primordial Stance Technique].

Chen Xun glanced around, then quietly went to a shadowy corner and practiced the Primordial Stance Technique through once in full.

He immediately felt the difference.

He felt hotter, yet his mind was exceptionally exhilarated, and a tingling numbness spread through the muscles of his entire body.

According to the memories concerning the [Primordial Stance Technique] in his mind, this was the sensation of his skin and flesh being strengthened.

This filled Chen Xun with delight, and he threw himself even more deeply into practicing the [Primordial Stance Technique].

After dozens of repetitions, nearly half an hour had passed, and the sky was close to dark. By then, the flush on Chen Xun's face had faded, and the effects of the Blood-Strengthening Soup had worn off.

Chen Xun swung his arm and felt that his strength seemed to have increased somewhat.

By now, the Blood-Strengthening Soup the others had drunk had mostly been digested as well.

However, their efficiency in absorbing the medicinal effects of the [Blood-Strengthening Soup] was far inferior to Chen Xun's.

After finishing their practice, the others began chatting among themselves, and Liu Feng was undoubtedly the most popular among them.

Even Li Peng gathered around Liu Feng. The two spoke from time to time, occasionally bursting into laughter, seeming to get along extremely well.

When Li Peng happened to catch sight of Chen Xun, his eyes shifted, and he immediately called out, "That Chen Xun fellow, I see you've only just mastered the fourth movement, right? Why don't you come over and ask our brother Liu Feng for guidance?"

"I received brother Liu Feng's pointers, and I'm already close to mastering the fifth movement."

As soon as he said this, everyone turned to look at Chen Xun.

Under everyone's gaze, Chen Xun calmly replied, "Is that so? Then congratulations."

"But I'll pass. I'd rather wait until tomorrow and have Instructor Jia guide me."

"What, you don't trust my brother Liu Feng?"

Hearing this, Li Peng immediately shot back, his words brimming with malice.

Chen Xun narrowed his eyes and could not help glancing at Liu Feng beside Li Peng, only to see the other man's face covered in embarrassment.

"Forget it, forget it, Li Peng. Don't talk about Chen Xun like that. I've only just started learning too. It's normal for him not to trust me."

Liu Feng hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Fine, since you've put it that way, brother Liu Feng, I can't say much else."

Li Peng gave a smug laugh, then said to Liu Feng:

"Come on. I know a restaurant with excellent food. I'm treating today—I'll buy you dinner."

"Isn't that a little too extravagant?"

"Not at all. It won't cost much."

"You guys, want to come along too?"

"Sure, sure! It's not often brother Li Peng treats us."

Before long, five people centered around Li Peng and Liu Feng left together.

The others dispersed as well, each returning on his own.

Yet without anyone saying it aloud, they all became somewhat more distant toward Chen Xun.

Clearly, Li Peng's move had made everyone realize that he was targeting Chen Xun.

Those who did not wish to offend Li Peng naturally kept their distance from Chen Xun.

Sun An, however, remained unchanged in his attitude toward Chen Xun.

"Chen Xun, are you going back to sleep tonight?"

"No. I'm going out for a bit to see my younger sister."

"Alright, then I'll be going first."

The two parted ways, and Chen Xun headed toward the rear gate of the Li Estate.

Servants like them naturally could not use the main gate.

Moreover, he could not leave the estate whenever he wished. Normally, he only had one chance to leave every ten days.

Whenever that time came, he would go out to visit his younger sister.