Chapter Summaries

Chen Jue stunned the soldiers and martial arts experts with a punch that sent a heavy punching bag flying, earning widespread praise and an invitation to the afternoon sparring bouts. At the lounge, Master Li recognized Chen Jue’s stance as Boat Boxing and learned that Chen Jue claimed to have studied under Old Mr. Huang of Huang Family Village.

• Chen Jue demonstrated an explosive punch that burst a freestanding punching bag and sent it flying, leaving the crowd and invited martial artists astonished.
• Commissar Yao ended the morning activities and announced that the soldiers could watch more at the afternoon sparring bouts.
• Chen Jue rode with Commissar Yao, the commanders, instructors, and martial arts experts to the mess hall, where the guests gathered around him over lunch.
• After lunch, the guests viewed the unit’s displays and waited in a lounge for the afternoon activities.
• Master Li recognized Chen Jue’s opening stance as a Boat Boxing move, and Chen Jue said he had learned Boat Boxing and some Shaolin kung fu from Old Mr. Huang of Huang Family Village.

Chen Jue met Li Xiangning, a Boat Boxing inheritor, and learned about the style’s history and the limits of his own understanding of martial arts. Li Xiangning shared a family maxim for developing hidden strength, which Chen Jue planned to study after returning home.

• Chen Jue chatted with Li Xiangning and learned how Boat Boxing developed and survived through generations of practitioners.
• Chen Jue and Li Xiangning demonstrated their boxing and stance training, and Li praised Chen Jue’s bright-force skill.
• Chen Jue asked about hidden strength, and Li Xiangning recounted meeting hidden-strength practitioners at Mount Wudang.
• Li Xiangning shared his family’s Boat Boxing maxim for beginning to develop hidden strength, and Chen Jue thanked him.
• Chen Jue and Li exchanged WeChat contacts, and Chen Jue memorized the maxim before continuing the afternoon’s martial arts activities.

The afternoon sparring tournament began, and Chen Jue faced Taekwondo black belt Master Xie in his first bout. Chen Jue endured Xie’s powerful kicks with his body-conditioning skill, slammed him to the ground, and advanced after Xie conceded defeat.

• The twelve participants drew lots for six first-round bouts, and Chen Jue was matched against Master Xie.
• A combat instructor defeated the provincial sanda champion with a rear naked choke, and several other bouts followed.
• Chen Jue entered the ring as the crowd cheered, and Master Xie opened with a Front Axe Kick.
• Chen Jue absorbed Xie’s kick with his hardened body, seized his belt, and drove him toward the ground.
• Master Xie struck Chen Jue’s head with an airborne side kick, but Chen Jue remained unharmed and Xie landed dazed.
• Master Xie accepted defeat, asked whether Chen Jue had used Iron Shirt, and left the ring to seek a medical check.

Chen Jue fought Instructor Zou in the second round and won, then offered to face the remaining two competitors together in the final. He defeated Li Xiangning and Zhou Gang within seconds, leaving the soldiers stunned.

• Chen Jue struck Instructor Zou twice, evaded his kick, and threw him out of the ring, earning his concession.
• Chen Jue, Li Xiangning, and Zhou Gang advanced to the third round.
• Chen Jue proposed fighting Li Xiangning and Zhou Gang at the same time, and both agreed to team up against him.
• Li Xiangning attacked Chen Jue head-on while Zhou Gang joined in with powerful bridge-arm strikes.
• Chen Jue sent Zhou Gang flying out of the ring, then took Li Xiangning's punch and threw him out as well.

After defeating Zhou Gang and Li Xiangning, Chen Jue became the regiment’s martial arts instructor and agreed to compete in an army-wide tournament. A verse from Li Xiangning inspired him to investigate hidden strength, and the chapter ended with him plunging into a reservoir whirlpool.

• Chen Jue defeated Zhou Gang and Li Xiangning, then explained that he had used the Shaolin Body Conditioning Skill rather than Iron Shirt.
• Zhou Gang asked to become Chen Jue’s disciple, and Chen Jue offered to teach him when he visited the regiment.
• Commissar Yao appointed Chen Jue the regiment’s martial arts instructor and announced that the leaders would recommend him for an army-wide competition in October.
• Chen Jue accepted the recommendation after learning that the competition offered a larger allowance and a cash prize.
• At home, Chen Jue recalled Li Xiangning’s Boat Boxing verse, demonstrated bright force in the shower, and wondered how hidden strength worked.
• Chen Jue rowed to the reservoir’s whirlpool, performed Zhongli Sits on the Drum, and plunged into the water.

Chen Jue trained his Eight Immortals Stance beneath the reservoir’s underwater current, rapidly improving his hidden strength and attributes. After a shorter second session brought the stance close to Lv3, he planned to return at night to finish training without attracting attention.

• Chen Jue stood over the reservoir’s Floodgate Valve and used the underwater currents to practice his Eight Immortals Stance, quickly raising its proficiency.
• After more than twenty minutes underwater, Chen Jue burst back to the boat and saw his stance reach Lv2 (362/500), while his attributes and free attribute points increased.
• Chen Jue returned home, cleaned himself, and rested after reflecting on the danger he had taken during training.
• The next morning, Chen Jue practiced underwater again but surfaced after a little over ten minutes, raising his stance to Lv2 (436/500).
• Chen Jue rowed back to shore and decided to return at night so villagers would not mistake his training for an emergency.

Chen Jue spent the day training, improving his attributes and endurance while waiting for his latest martial arts to advance. During underwater practice, the Eight Immortals Stance reached perfection and gained a Daoist bonus state, prompting Chen Jue to research the arts’ origins online.

• Chen Jue ordered more Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction and trained at home, bringing his free attribute points to 0.36.
• Chen Jue lifted heavier dumbbells, raised his Strength to 1.70, and noted his slower heartbeat and improved stamina after his Constitution exceeded 2.
• Chen Jue jogged around the reservoir wearing 70 kilograms of training weights and gained Agility.
• Chen Jue practiced the Eight Immortals Stance underwater until it reached perfection, releasing hidden strength from his hands and feet before surfacing for air.
• Chen Jue saw the bonus state [Pure Yang Lüzu, Enlightened Quanzhen] and searched online for information about the origins of Boat Boxing and the Eight Immortals Stance.

After mastering Hidden Strength, Chen Jue tested its needle-like force and posted a video demonstration to Tieba, thanking the forum experts for their guidance. The forum erupted in disbelief while a few genuine martial artists sought advice from their elders, and Chen Jue answered a video call from Master Li Xiangning.

• Chen Jue traced the Eight Immortals Stance to Quanzhen Daoist teachings and replenished himself with Ten-Ingredient Tonic Decoction after his breakthrough.
• Chen Jue demonstrated Hidden Strength by pressing his palm into a wall, leaving a deep handprint marked with tiny holes.
• Chen Jue filmed himself releasing needle-like streams of force underwater and considered the strain Hidden Strength put on his heart.
• Chen Jue sent the video to Master Li Xiangning, then posted it on Tieba to thank the forum experts for their guidance.
• Tieba users flooded Chen Jue's post and private messages, mostly accusing him of faking the video, while several genuine martial artists sought their masters' opinions.
• Chen Jue received a WeChat video call from Master Li Xiangning and began chatting with him.

Chen Jue told Li Xiangning how he developed hidden strength underwater, while a martial arts veteran and his grandson watched Chen's video and marveled at its power. The old man wondered who Chen was and learned the clip had come from Tieba.

• Chen Jue explained his underwater training to Li Xiangning, who praised him for developing hidden strength and offered to call on him if Boat Boxing faced a challenge.
• A sturdy young man named Xiao Jun visited his grandfather and showed him Chen Jue's video of needle-like jets of force underwater.
• Xiao Jun's grandfather watched the clip repeatedly and declared Chen Jue's skill extraordinary, far beyond the force he had managed in his own youth.
• Xiao Jun told his grandfather he had downloaded the video from Tieba, leaving the old man puzzled about what Tieba was.

The video of Chen Jue releasing Hidden Strength spread through martial arts circles, prompting an old martial artist to begin teaching his grandson. Chen Jue chose Wudang’s Supreme Ultimate Fist and Tai Chi Thirteen Stances as his next arts, and their practice began developing Hidden Strength throughout his body.

• An old martial artist recognized the Tieba video as genuine, downloaded it, and promised to teach his grandson the family’s martial arts.
• Xiao Jun sent Chen Jue a friend request, but Chen Jue’s account was already flooded with requests from other forum users.
• Martial artists across China and overseas reacted to Chen Jue’s video with envy, admiration, skepticism, and dismissal.
• Chen Jue searched for Taoist martial arts and chose the Wudang Thirteen Forms of Tai Chi and Tai Chi Thirteen Stances to learn.
• Chen Jue quickly raised both new skills to level 1, took a Shaolin Mighty Pill to offset their breakthrough effects, and felt warm currents spreading through his body as he practiced.