Use Your Imagination!

The next day, at dawn.

The Martial Arts Hall was bustling with activity.

Zhao Hongzhou changed into his martial arts uniform and had just stepped out of the Rest Room.

His eyes lit up when he saw the figure ahead of him. He strode forward and reached out to pat the other person's shoulder.

Before his palm could land, the figure ahead suddenly spun around, shifted sideways, eyes flashing like lightning as his right hand chopped down like a blade.

The hand blade stopped an inch from Zhao Hongzhou's neck, its fierce wind cutting past him.

Zhao Hongzhou's outstretched left hand froze in midair, and he forced a stiff smile onto his face.

"B-Brother Shan, it's me!"

"Just a reflex. Sorry!"

Li Qingshan shook his head, withdrew his hand, and glanced at the Rest Room behind Zhao Hongzhou.

Good thing he had left the Chopping Knife in the Rest Room just now. Otherwise...

Thinking of that, he lightly pinched the bridge of his nose and added another warning.

"Don't pat me from behind lately. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back."

"I won't, I won't."

Zhao Hongzhou rubbed his neck, still shaken, then asked curiously,

"Brother Shan, when you went back yesterday, were you practicing Martial Techniques the whole time?"

Li Qingshan had never had such terrifying "reflexes" before.

"We just entered the Martial Arts Class. What Martial Technique would I be practicing? It was only a bit of combat instinct."

Li Qingshan gently shook his head and looked past Zhao Hongzhou. Yu Lei was walking toward them.

"Li Qingshan, can you tell me how you trained?" Yu Lei's eyes shone brightly.

She had witnessed the entire scene just now.

Compared with the other students in the class, she had gotten the chance to encounter martial arts earlier and had long been practicing Martial Techniques.

Yet she absolutely could not match Li Qingshan's lightning-fast reaction.

Meeting those bright eyes, Li Qingshan considered for a moment before saying,

"It's actually not difficult. As long as your imagination is strong enough, you can do it."

"Imagination?"

Yu Lei was dumbfounded. She had not expected such an answer.

Zhao Hongzhou, meanwhile, furrowed his brow in deep thought. No matter how he pondered it, he could not understand what this had to do with "imagination."

"Mm... when you practice, don't confine yourselves to your current surroundings. Give full play to your imagination and imagine an opponent—for example, Wolf Poison!"

Li Qingshan spoke eloquently, becoming increasingly fluent.

"Brother Shan, I get it." Zhao Hongzhou's eyes lit up.

"You mean we should create a powerful opponent in our minds and use the threat of life and death to spur ourselves onward."

"You can be taught."

Li Qingshan patted Zhao Hongzhou's arm lightly and nodded in satisfaction.

"A life-and-death threat?" Yu Lei seemed to understand something.

Martial Technique training naturally could not do without sparring. Even her Uncle, Wan Keshan, had personally sparred with her before.

But that kind of "sparring" could never involve a life-and-death threat.

Still, wasn't that more reliable than "imagination"?

Yu Lei looked at Li Qingshan, her gaze gradually turning strange.

Could merely using "imagination" to create a life-and-death threat really work better than genuine combat?

Unconsciously, Yu Lei took a step back.

She had seen this kind of "imagination" before—not in the Martial Arts Class, but in a mental hospital!

Li Qingshan noticed Yu Lei's odd expression too, but he had no mind to dwell on it.

His right hand once again rose to pinch the bridge of his nose, and a trace of exhaustion flashed through his eyes.

How could it be that easy to learn?

He had traded his life for it—over a hundred lives, at that!

Though the Projections that died would not truly be injured, the pain was incomparably real.

As time passed, the students gradually arrived, and the formation naturally took shape.

However, while lining up, Li Qingshan noticed that every student had positioned themselves behind him.

He had been forcibly shifted from the middle of the line to the very front row. Zhao Hongzhou, Yu Lei, and Hong Qian stood beside him.

Li Qingshan looked around behind him and found that two people were missing.

"Liang Mingyu and Liu Jingya didn't come?"

Hong Qian glanced at him and said,

"One was scared unconscious by Fierce Beasts, and the other was frightened to her knees by you. They probably had no face to show up?"

"I heard that after class yesterday, the two of them voluntarily withdrew from the Martial Arts Class."

Zhao Hongzhou spoke in a sneaky, low voice, eagerly sharing gossip.

The corners of Yu Lei's lips curled up as she added,

"No, they were directly expelled by Teacher Wan."

Clearly, Yu Lei's information was more accurate.

"What a pity." Li Qingshan sighed.

The three of them froze and looked at him strangely.

Li Qingshan rolled his right ankle and said regretfully,

"I was originally planning to spar with her often in the future."

Spar with Liang Mingyu?

Yu Lei frowned in confusion. She had just opened her mouth to ask when she immediately closed it again.

At the front entrance of the hall, a burly figure was walking toward them.

Wan Keshan had arrived.

"Your discipline is not bad. I hope you can keep it up in the future."

Wan Keshan nodded in satisfaction at the quiet, orderly formation.

"Starting today, our focus for the next half year will be the cultivation method The Stars Are Calling."

"I know that some of you may not think much of it and believe it is merely a set of Broadcast Gymnastics."

"But I want to tell you..."

Wan Keshan's gaze swept across the crowd, and he grinned.

"This set of Broadcast Gymnastics is the most advanced creation on all of Ziying Star, and even throughout the entire Crimson Rainbow Starfield."

The most advanced?

Li Qingshan was somewhat bewildered.

He had not looked down on this cultivation method, but he had not expected it to be this incredible!

Li Qingshan was not the only one stunned. The other students wore the same expressions.

"You don't believe me?"

Wan Keshan looked at them and shook his head.

"Ziying Star is merely an ordinary Planet in the Crimson Rainbow Starfield."

"Whether it is the Communicators in your hands, the Sky Patrolers flying overhead, or even the countless high-tech products of New Continent, none of them can compare with those on the other great stars."

"Only The Stars Are Calling is different! It is the crystallization of countless Federation predecessors and has undergone thirty-six generations of refinement."

"Every time it is updated, it is immediately popularized across every Planet within the Crimson Rainbow Starfield."

"Even if some Martial Stars possess more profound Body Forging cultivation methods, those methods have thresholds. The only one that can truly be spread among the common people is The Stars Are Calling."

After that explanation, all the students came to a sudden realization, their expressions growing far more excited.

Wan Keshan saw it all, a flicker of amusement passing through his eyes as he began the main lesson.

"The Stars Are Calling has four realms: movements, Force Generation, breathing, and muscles..." Wan Keshan spoke unhurriedly.

When discussing Force Generation techniques and breathing coordination, he was especially thorough, making it easier for the students present to compare themselves against the standards.

An hour later,

Wan Keshan finally finished explaining the Third Realm.

Just as Li Qingshan's eyes gleamed and he prepared to probe the mysterious Fourth Realm,

"Rest for ten minutes. When you return, we'll begin training."

Wan Keshan waved a hand and said no more.

The formation dispersed, while Li Qingshan stood there blankly.

He had thought he understood Wan Keshan well enough, but it seemed he was still too young.

Wan Keshan merely smiled without speaking. Only after everyone returned did he say,

"Separate into groups according to your cultivation realms and prepare to train."

The students automatically split into three groups, spread out, and assumed their stances.

As a group by himself, Li Qingshan had plenty of open space around him.

He had just completed the first movement.

"Calm your mind and steady your breath. Pay attention to your breathing." Wan Keshan's voice reached his ears.

Just as expected!

Li Qingshan was not surprised and continued to the next movement.

"The focus of the Fourth Realm lies in Muscle Rhythm."

Now that he had reached the main point, Wan Keshan's voice turned solemn.

"Countless tiny nerves are distributed throughout the muscles of our bodies."

"Think carefully. Have you ever suddenly felt a muscle in your arm or thigh pulsating along with your heartbeat?"

"The Fourth Realm requires you to use your breathing to mobilize the heart's strength, sense the nerves hidden within your muscles, and master that pulsation."

"When generating force in each movement, simultaneously mobilize the nerves in the corresponding area and make the muscles tremble. As long as you can do that, your training efficiency will double once again."

Wan Keshan's explanation was straightforward and easy to understand.

But sensing the nerves hidden inside his muscles?

Li Qingshan calmed his mind and carefully felt the beating of his heart with every breath.

Yet Force Generation involved only his tendons and bones. How could it be easy to master the subtle nerves beyond them?

"Don't rush. Take it slowly. Your comprehension is good, so it shouldn't take you long to understand it completely."

Wan Keshan offered that advice, then turned and left.

Li Qingshan simply stopped agonizing over it as the illusory Status Panel flashed before his eyes.

Teacher was right. It would not take him long to "understand it completely"!

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