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The Limits Dojo was one of the important organizations in humanity's fight against monsters. It was currently the largest dojo on Earth and had been founded by Hong, the strongest person in the world today.
Limits Dojos could be found all over the world, and there was one in Yi'an District. It was where Zhang Junbao, Luo Feng, and the others usually trained.
This dojo had been established near the school so it could spot talented students in time. Many talents had been discovered early, before they made a name for themselves, and brought into the dojo for further training. This was one reason the Limits Dojo had remained so powerful.
After leaving school and arriving at the dojo, the three swiped their cards and entered.
Zhang Junbao looked up at the Limits Dojo. It resembled a gigantic monster crouching on the ground, ready to pounce on any prey that approached. Its lifelike appearance was striking, and every trainee who entered could feel the monster's terrifying strength.
In terms of area, the dojo was larger than Zhang Junbao and his friends' high school, and this was only a district branch.
"Hello, senior brother!"
"Hello, senior brother Luo Feng!"
Quite a few students were already training inside. Luo Feng was an advanced trainee, while most of the trainees here were students from nearby schools. When they saw him, they felt a natural awe, like struggling students looking at a top student.
"Tsk, tsk, advanced trainees really are different. Look at us two intermediate trainees. We're standing right here, and nobody pays us any attention!" Wei Wen joked.
"You little punk, what are you talking about? If it bothers you, you should train hard and try to reach the advanced level before graduation.
"Junbao will probably meet the advanced trainee standard in this test, so you'll be the only one left!"
Luo Feng said with a smile.
Zhang Junbao, who also came from an ordinary family, had caught up to him, but Luo Feng was not jealous. Instead, he felt motivated.
"That's right, Wei Wen, you'd better get moving. Didn't you see the way those female trainees looked at Luo Feng just now? They were like a pack of demonesses ready to tie him up and drag him home to be their stronghold husband. All that was missing was one of them saying, 'Holy monk, am I beautiful?'"
After a few teasing remarks, Zhang Junbao gradually relaxed. He had never been a reserved person to begin with, and Luo Feng and Wei Wen had quietly stood by him and supported him during the earlier incident. That had made him considerably fonder of these two newly met "old friends."
Only in hardship could true feelings be seen. Only when something really happened could you tell who your true friends were. Quite a few friends who were usually close to him had not even dared to stand up and say a word for him just now.
He could not blame them for that. Looking out for oneself was human nature, but from now on, they would be strangers. Offering charcoal in a snowstorm was always more touching than adding flowers to brocade.
Luo Feng and Wei Wen, on the other hand, were much better than the others in character.
"Then you two hurry up and let me hug your thighs, so I can catch up to you!" Wei Wen joked. He had not dared to step forward at first today either, but Zhang Haobai had gone too far, and Wei Wen could not stand by and watch.
After seeing Zhang Junbao's strength, however, he felt that he seemed to have made the right bet. There had only been three advanced trainees in the entire high school-oh, now there were probably four-and two of them were his best friends. Just thinking about it was exciting.
"Here, the legs are right here. Hold on tight!" Zhang Junbao and Luo Feng each stuck a leg out in front of Wei Wen and looked at him with smiles.
"Then I won't hold back!" With that, Wei Wen actually grabbed both their legs and dragged them away.
As an intermediate trainee himself, Wei Wen had no trouble picking up two men who each weighed over a hundred jin-provided, of course, that neither resisted.
Still fooling around, the three arrived at the testing area.
Luo Feng led them to the advanced trainees' testing area, where tests could be conducted individually. Only advanced trainees could bring others in, a small privilege.
The situation was special today, so Luo Feng had brought the two of them here.
"That's the Punch Strength Tester over there. Junbao, want to give it a try?" Luo Feng raised an eyebrow.
"Hahaha, then I'll show you what little I can do. I haven't tested myself in over a month, so I don't know how strong my punch is now, either."
Zhang Junbao slowly drew a breath. His whole body seemed to relax, but he was actually mobilizing all his strength.
This body's foundation was far better than his body's in his previous life. After gaining practiced control over it, Zhang Junbao quietly gathered his strength. With his degree of control, he could mobilize more than 90 percent of his body's muscles to exert force at once. An ordinary trainee was already remarkable if he could bring out 50 to 60 percent of his muscular strength.
This was not the kind of stacking hidden force used in the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade. It was simply basic force application with greater control over the body. The human body had many muscles, and not everyone could bring out the strength of them all.
People did not usually control many of their muscles consciously, so those muscles could only exert force instinctively and could not actively increase their strength.
As a martial arts grandmaster of his generation, Zhang Junbao naturally had a degree of control over his muscles that ordinary people could not compare to. The reason it was not 100 percent was that some parts of his body had not been trained in the first place.
Suddenly, Zhang Junbao's entire body resembled a giant dragon soaring into the air. His strength began in his calves and traveled through his waist to his arm. His whole body was like a powerful greatbow, drawn and ready to fire.
Explosive power burst from Zhang Junbao's right hand, striking the Punch Strength Tester like a cannonball.
Bang! Zhang Junbao's fist slammed hard into the punching target, making the entire pad tremble as the numbers on the display jumped wildly.
Finally, the number on the Punch Strength Tester stopped at "860 kg"!
"Heavens, how did you do that? 860 kg! That's already not far from a Quasi-Martial Artist!" Wei Wen cried. Even Luo Feng was stunned. That strength had already surpassed his.
If he remembered correctly, Zhang Junbao's punch strength had only been 580 kg a little over a month ago. It had risen by a full 280 kg, an increase of more than half. It was bound to astonish anyone.
"Heh heh, I've been thinking about a question lately. When our fists exert force, what are the other parts of our bodies doing?
"Although it's ultimately the fist that strikes, that force is actually transmitted through all the muscles in the body. The human body is a complete whole, so why shouldn't it be one when exerting force?
"When the fist strikes, don't the feet exert force? Doesn't the waist?
"If we could fully mobilize the strength of the other parts of our bodies, wouldn't our punches be stronger?" Zhang Junbao explained the Force Application Technique behind his Tai Chi Force to the two of them in modern terms.
According to his memories, many ancient martial arts manuals seemed to have been lost in wars, and very few had survived to the present. As a result, his Tai Chi Chuan had become nothing more than a recreational activity for the elderly, rather than a skill for fighting and killing.
That was because its core theories were too obscure and difficult to understand, and differed from modern ways of thinking.
Learning the empty forms of Tai Chi was easy for a beginner, and as a "sport" for strengthening the body, it was indeed quite good. But to truly unleash the power of Tai Chi Chuan, one needed to gain some understanding of the rules governing all things in heaven and earth. It was an extreme test of talent.
More importantly, the crucial techniques for exerting force and fighting had been lost, causing this martial art to be reduced to an exercise activity for old men.
It had even been used by certain so-called "masters" as a tool for swindling people out of money. Those who fought them were all highly skilled actors who could spring dozens of meters away from the slightest touch. It was truly despicable!
It was not that Tai Chi Chuan could not reach that level, but those so-called "masters," with their third-rate skills, could even claim that a lump of flesh growing on their hand was a Tai Chi ball they had formed in their palm. There was no way they could reach that level.
Kung fu was originally a killing art, so how could it have no corresponding techniques for fighting and killing?
Modern people might consider ancient times backward, but one must never underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. There were too many unsolved mysteries in this world. The construction of the Great Wall alone was enough to make modern technology shrink back, yet it was a product of thousands of years ago.
Most of what the ancients had passed down had vanished in the long river of history, causing ancient martial arts to be reduced to empty forms today.
"You can do that? No wonder every time I exert force, I feel like there's still strength in my body that I just can't bring out.
"If I learned this technique, wouldn't an intermediate trainee be able to punch as hard as an advanced trainee?" Wei Wen asked.
"In theory, it's possible. But you have to remember, your physical condition is only at the intermediate level. If you forcibly throw a stronger punch, you might land the blow without killing the enemy, only for your own body to give out first.
"It would be fine as a last resort when fighting for your life, but using it regularly would be inadvisable. Otherwise, why would advanced trainees need physical conditioning? No matter how good your force application technique is, you need your own foundation to support it.
"As the old Taiji saying goes, four taels can deflect a thousand jin. But that only works if you can use those four taels of force to move a thousand jin. Otherwise, you'll shatter on contact.
"Was that what you used against Zhang Haobai just now?" Luo Feng asked curiously.
"Heh heh, partly my own strength has increased, and partly their way of using strength was too crude. They only knew how to come straight at me, so I couldn't help giving them a casual nudge from the side, and down they went."
"Hahaha, you really aren't modest. If Zhang Haobai heard that, he'd be furious enough to die," Luo Feng said with a laugh.