Form imitation

The next second, he moved, bending down with crisp efficiency and lightly touching his fingertips to the ground, beginning with difficult bodyweight exercises that ordinary people could not possibly perform.

He settled steadily into a four-finger planche, his long body held perfectly straight and absolutely parallel to the ground. Just four fingertips supported his entire weight, every muscle taut to precisely the right degree, without the slightest wobble. He performed a movement that ordinary Soul Masters could not accomplish through physical strength alone with effortless ease, even having strength to spare to keep making minute adjustments to how he applied force.

Several seconds later, he increased the difficulty again. Supporting himself on one hand, he slowly curled in three fingers until only a single finger touched the ground, completing an extraordinarily difficult one-finger handstand push-up. His straight body hung vertically in the air, steady as a rock, the tiny point of contact between fingertip and ground bearing his full weight and his entire 1.7-meter frame.

Front and back levers followed, along with static holds in midair. He switched between one nearly self-torturous muscle-training exercise after another, flowing like drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest hitch.

As the training intensity gradually increased, Bai Yushan willed his Soul Power into motion. Two faint, deep-blue glows lit up at his wrists. Profound patterns of electrical light instantly erupted across the two black iron rings fitted snugly against his skin, and faint electromagnetic fluctuations lingered around him.

These were the gifts Bi Ji had given him when he celebrated his first birthday with Na'er and Bi Ji: grade-two soul-tool gravity bracelets, specially made by the Spirit Pagoda. They could be activated with Soul Power to superimpose a gravitational field and temper the body.

Vast amounts of Soul Power poured continuously into the bracelets, and their deep-blue glow intensified. A tenfold gravitational field instantly enveloped his entire body. An invisible, crushing pressure abruptly descended, wrapping brutally around Bai Yushan's frame.

Under the crushing force of tenfold gravity, an ordinary Soul Master's bones would collapse instantly; even standing would be difficult. But Bai Yushan had long since grown accustomed to this extreme pressure. Sixty thousand volts of bioelectricity circulated throughout his body in tandem, fine currents passing through every inch of muscle, sinew, bone, and nerve pathway to strengthen his body's load-bearing capacity in every respect.

The immense pressure of gravity was neutralized layer by layer by his bioelectricity, while also squeezing out his physical potential in turn, forcing his muscles, sinews, and bones to keep breaking through their limits. His exercises remained precise and steady, and he even gradually picked up speed, using the extreme pressure of tenfold gravity to hone every detail of his body.

The full set of high-intensity bodyweight exercises lasted an entire hour, yet beneath the blazing sun, Bai Yushan's skin remained clean and fresh, without a trace of sweat. The fine beads of perspiration produced by his training evaporated instantly under the faint bioelectricity circulating around him as soon as they seeped through the surface of his skin.

With his warm-up thoroughly finished, Bai Yushan slowly rose, straightening his tall frame. The gravitational field around him remained at tenfold strength, without being reduced in the slightest.

He planted both feet firmly on the ground, lowered his waist slightly, raised his hands, and punched, beginning his daily training to refine his fist techniques.

Across two lifetimes of experience, he had never encountered orthodox martial arts or Soul Master fighting techniques. During the dozen or so years he had spent as a homeless boy in his previous life, his only exposure to martial arts had been martial-arts tales in piles of old books, Hong Kong comics and novels, and the occasional animated clip.

Traditional martial philosophy had always held: draw from the myriad things afar, and from one's own body near at hand.

There was also a saying: to learn boxing, first imitate form; through form, seek intent; once intent is grasped, forget the form!

Bai Yushan did not understand any of that. His knowledge of martial arts masters extended only to Black Tiger Ah Fu, whom he had watched in Jackie Chan Adventures at a general store in his previous life.

Thus, his method of honing his strength and control over combat techniques was simple and brutal. He based it purely on imitating forms, copying the force-generating postures of all things in the world to refine his own application of force.

The next instant, Bai Yushan abruptly moved.

He lowered his stance, his shoulders shifting slightly as the rhythm of force through his limbs changed instantly. Imitating a hunting cheetah, he suddenly lunged forward, his punches and kicks short and fierce. Every strike carried explosive power pushed to the utmost, matching the swift, ferocious ambush of the leopard form.

In midair, he abruptly twisted and extended his body, his arms tracing two clean arcs in imitation of a crane spreading its wings. His movements were light and swift, instantly counteracting gravity's suppression, his transitions between attack and defense flowing like clouds and water.

At times, he sank low and roamed, his body sliding close to the ground in imitation of a darting serpent. His path was strange and tricky, his punches and kicks coiling and clinging, locking down every space around him from which force could be exerted. At other times, he leaped up, his limbs tensing and relaxing in measured rhythm like a fierce tiger pouncing on prey. His blows were heavy and powerful, the wind of his punches tearing through the air with bursts of low, explosive reports.

There were no fixed routines, no embellishment from flashy techniques. Every movement was the purest imitation of form and release of force.

At the same time, Bai Yushan quietly activated his first Soul Skill, Electromagnetic Clarity.

Faint electromagnetic force instantly washed through his sea of consciousness and all his nerve pathways, opening a state of lucid perception in an instant. Every movement around him, the flow of air, deviations in his own muscular exertion, and the paths along which his Soul Power circulated all appeared clearly in his mind.

With this heightened perception, he could precisely detect the tiny flaws in every punch and clearly sense the unnecessary expenditure each inch of muscle made when exerting force.

Too much force in the previous lunge, a deviation in the path of the next arm swing, a slight imbalance in his center of gravity-all these minute errors were corrected instantly.

His form-imitation boxing grew increasingly polished, each movement precise to the utmost, completely eliminating wasted strength and Soul Power. Sixty thousand volts of bioelectricity flowed in an orderly fashion along his muscle fibers, perfectly matching the rhythm of force in every move and stance, increasing the power of his punches and kicks layer by layer.

The suppression of tenfold gravity not only failed to restrict his movements but instead became the finest shackles for cultivation, continually squeezing out his physical potential and making his control over strength ever more delicate and precise.

An afternoon passed in the blink of an eye. The sun sank westward, and the sweltering heat gradually receded. Eastsea Academy's sports field lost its daytime bustle as all the students dispersed, leaving it empty and quiet.

Bai Yushan had just finished an afternoon of extreme strength training. All the electrical light around him withdrew into his body, and the gravity bracelets at his wrists lost their luster, returning to plain black iron rings. He stood in the center of the sports field, tall and straight, his black hair slightly disheveled and his skin fresh and free of sweat. Despite enduring tenfold gravity throughout his grueling training, his breathing remained calm and steady, without the slightest disorder.

He was just preparing to wrap up and leave when a figure quietly appeared at the edge of the sports field.

Ye Yingluo had stood beneath the shade of a tree for a long time. Watching his physical control, which far surpassed that of his peers, and his free-flowing, explosively powerful set of form-imitation combat techniques had filled her with astonishment.

In her years of teaching, she had never seen such a heaven-defying new student. Even the academy's finest geniuses would struggle to temper their bodies under tenfold gravity with rank-sixteen Soul Power, let alone possess such proficient combat skills as well.

Suppressing her shock and doubts, Ye Yingluo composed her expression and stepped forward, deliberately gentling her voice.

"Bai Yushan, why didn't you come to class this morning? Did you have something urgent to attend to?"

Bai Yushan raised his narrow eyes and cast her a casual sidelong glance, his expression languid and indifferent, without the slightest respect for a teacher. His tone was flat and cold.

"What's it to you?"

Those few words froze Ye Yingluo's smile outright. Her brows drew tightly together, and anger abruptly flared in her heart. She had taken the initiative to lower herself and ask after him, only to receive such cold dismissal in return.

She forcibly restrained her anger and patiently continued trying to persuade him.

"You're just starting school. You should spend more time talking and getting along with your classmates. You'll be studying together for the next six years, and fitting into the group will greatly benefit your cultivation and growth. Going it alone isn't a lasting solution."

Before she finished speaking, Bai Yushan interrupted her with an impatient wave.

"What's it to me?"

His repeated rhetorical question was even colder, carrying utter distance and disdain.