Everyone's gaze swung over in unison.
In a corner of the training grounds, Qin Xuan was still steadily holding the Mountain-Breaking Stance.
Apart from the outer courtyard senior disciples, the other newcomers had either collapsed onto the ground or were bracing their hands on their knees, panting heavily.
Only Qin Xuan remained like a nail driven firmly into the ground.
His posture was still straight and firm.
Sunlight fell across his taut profile. Fine beads of sweat slid down his cheeks, soaking his clothes.
His arms had never wavered in the slightest, and his legs remained rooted, showing none of the distress of someone on the verge of exhaustion.
"Good grief... he can still keep going?"
Li Tie's eyes widened. He instinctively rubbed his thigh muscles, which were trembling with soreness, his face full of disbelief.
"We did well just to last the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, but he hasn't moved even now?"
Wang Dahu dropped his playful grin and frowned as he studied him. "He looks so scrawny. How is he such a freak?"
Jiang Fa focused his gaze on Qin Xuan's stance.
Qin Xuan was thin and lacked Wang Dahu's build and the powerful muscles honed through years of physical labor.
Yet the tension and relaxation of every muscle in his body were perfectly balanced.
It was exactly as Wang Shi had described: relaxed without slackening, taut without stiffening, with all his strength sinking and gathering downward.
He showed none of the common faults most people had: leaking strength, sagging at the waist, or locking their knees.
Precisely because he used every bit of strength just right, Qin Xuan saved himself a great deal of unnecessary expenditure.
Each breath set his internal breath circulating, and every muscle performed its own task, without the slightest wasted movement or effort.
This was the fundamental reason he could hold his stance longer and more steadily than the other disciples.
Could this be what they call a genius?
Jiang Fa wondered to himself.
Compared with Qin Xuan, he was truly far behind.
But he was not discouraged.
All because he possessed the talent [Heaven rewards diligence; Learning Inevitably Bears Fruit].
As long as I work hard enough, no matter how difficult it is or how wide the gap, I'll eventually catch up with them, or even surpass them...
Wang Shi stopped patrolling the grounds.
He walked straight to Qin Xuan's side and slowly circled him, the sternness on his face easing a little for once.
He raised his hand, bent his fingers, and lightly tapped Qin Xuan's lower back. "Good. Your waist strength is firmly locked in, and your breath has sunk properly. Of today's new disciples, you're the only one who has truly grasped the word 'sink.'"
At his words, many of the disciples slumped on the ground turned to look.
The gazes of the veteran disciples held even more envy, along with a trace of jealousy.
Seeing that Qin Xuan was still holding on,
Wang Shi spoke approvingly. "The rest of you, rest for half a quarter-hour and recover your strength. We'll practice the stance a second time shortly. Qin Xuan, extend your practice as you see fit. Hold on as long as you can. It will only benefit you."
After giving his instructions, Wang Shi turned toward the disciples resting in clusters, his face stern once more. "Use this break to loosen your muscles and joints. Don't just lie flat! Lying down will make your taut muscles suddenly relax. When you take the stance again, the soreness will double!"
A chorus of groans immediately rose across the training grounds.
After resting a little, Jiang Fa stood up again.
He glanced at Qin Xuan, who was still holding his stance, then began his own practice.
He closed his eyes.
He silently rehearsed the key movements of the Mountain-Breaking Stance in his mind, trying to find the feeling of "all the strength in his body moving downward."
Sink the shoulders, sink the elbows, sink the Qi, Sinking Jin...
The faint thread of Qi and blood he had only just tempered began slowly flowing through his body beyond his control...
Just then, he suddenly felt a warmth against his chest.
It was very faint.
It felt like a sun-warmed stone pressed against his skin, almost imperceptible unless he paid close attention.
Jiang Fa froze for a moment and instinctively touched his chest.
A small protective charm hung there, suspended from his neck by fishing line.
It was something Qingyu had left him when she departed...
Feeling its warmth in his hand, he could not help picturing that delicate little face from his memories...
"Hold your stance properly! Never let yourself get distracted during stance practice. Dividing your attention will only slow your progress!"
A stern shout suddenly exploded beside Jiang Fa's ear.
Jiang Fa instantly snapped back to his senses and hurriedly readjusted his posture, not daring to slacken in the slightest.
For the moment, he put that earlier oddity out of his mind.
This practice lasted the entire morning.
By lunchtime, almost every student dragged their legs into the dining hall.
Lunch consisted of a large bowl of coarse rice per person, accompanied by two plain-boiled greens and a small piece of greasy fatty meat.
For Jiang Fa, who came from poverty, this already counted as a sumptuous meal.
As they ate, some could not even hold their chopsticks steady. Their hands shook so badly that they could not pick up any food.
Jiang Fa was hardly any better.
He held his coarse porcelain bowl, his fingers trembling slightly beyond his control.
The rim knocked against his teeth, making faint clacking sounds from time to time.
Li Tie squatted beside Jiang Fa, bowl in hand. "Just half a day was this hard to endure. How are we supposed to get through the days ahead?"
"You can't take it already, on the very first day?"
Wang Dahu approached from behind, shoveling food into his mouth.
Judging by his appearance, the pain in his body had clearly not affected his appetite at all.
He spoke indistinctly around his food. "I heard those senior brothers and sisters in the inner courtyard practice at least eight hours a day. What we've done is nothing."
"Eight hours?" Li Tie's eyes widened. "Wouldn't that mean practicing all day?"
"What did you think?"
Wang Dahu swallowed a large mouthful of rice. "How could the martial path be easy to walk? Which of those experts didn't train day after day, year after year?"
Li Tie nodded in agreement. "That's true."
Jiang Fa ate silently without speaking.
After the meal, there was a brief rest period before training continued in the afternoon.
Most chose to lie down and sleep, seizing the time to recover their strength.
Only a few veteran disciples remained up, continuing to sweat like rain in the outer courtyard grounds.
Jiang Fa turned his attention inward.
[Talent: Heaven rewards diligence; Learning Inevitably Bears Fruit] [Realm: None] [Mountain-Breaking Stance: 1/200]
An entire morning, and I only gained one point of progress?
Jiang Fa frowned.
At this rate, bringing the first level of the Mountain-Breaking Stance to perfection within three months would clearly be extremely difficult.
The further he progressed, the harder it would become to increase his Qi and blood.
With training day and night, if his body could not keep up with the nourishment it needed, forcing himself to cultivate would only overdraw his body and damage his foundation.
If he did not cut his losses in time, at best his cultivation progress would stall; at worst, he would be left with hidden problems that were difficult to remedy.
Ah, I can only take it one step at a time.
Though anxious, Jiang Fa could do nothing about it.
He could only force down that trace of agitation in his heart.
For the next several hours that afternoon, they continued practicing the Mountain-Breaking Stance under eldest senior brother Wang Shi's corrections and careful guidance.
Everyone's Mountain-Breaking Stance finally began to take proper shape.
The sun sank behind the western hills.
At long last, they endured until nightfall, bringing a painful day of cultivation to an end.
By the time Jiang Fa finished washing and returned to their room, Li Tie and Wang Dahu were already sprawled on their beds, snoring like thunder.
Liu Wen, however, was nowhere to be seen.
The martial hall did not restrict disciples from going out. As long as they were not late for morning lessons each day, they would not be punished.
As he sat on his bed and relaxed slightly, soreness surged through his whole body like a tide, making him suck in a breath of cold air.
Enduring the soreness, Jiang Fa turned his attention inward.
[Talent: Heaven rewards diligence; Learning Inevitably Bears Fruit] [Realm: None] [Mountain-Breaking Stance: 3/200)]
An entire afternoon of nonstop practice increased my progress by two points.
He was still far from breaking through to Ming Jin.
Looking at the numbers on the panel, Jiang Fa felt worried.
Night lay heavy, and all was silent.
Exhausted all over, Jiang Fa was just about to close his eyes when a flash of inspiration suddenly reminded him of something.
He reached up and removed the protective charm hanging from his neck.
The protective charm was sewn entirely from yellow silk, its stitches fine and its workmanship exquisite, with a pretty red cord knot securing the opening.
Ye Qingyu had given him this protective charm when they parted, saying only that it was something for him to remember her by.
Counting the days, he had already worn it for quite some time.
He hesitated, then recalled the strange occurrence that morning. Carefully, he untied the knot and tipped out its contents.
A thumb-sized piece of jade fell into his palm.
The jade was pure white throughout, its surface smooth as a mirror, without any flaws visible to the naked eye.
In the moonlight, faint glimmers seemed to flow slowly within the jade.
What is this thing?
A trace of puzzlement flashed through Jiang Fa's eyes.