"Every day of practice can equal a year of cultivation..."
Huo Yuanhong muttered.
One day's practice for a year's worth of Skill , that means a month is thirty years of cultivation, and a year is three to four hundred years of cultivation!
Even if one's talent was utterly mediocre, three or four hundred years of accumulated cultivation would surely allow anyone to cross the three Realms of Practice strength , Manifest Force, and Dark Force, becoming a Master-level Huajin Expert, right?
With such astonishing results, even without a renowned master or a deep foundation built from childhood, he would still, at an incredible speed, catch up and surpass those core disciples from Powerful Families.
Hope!
After struggling in the darkness for so long, now... he finally saw hope!
He saw hope to change his own destiny and the destiny of his Family!
Once, "Martial Arts Genius" was just a false image he fabricated to deceive his Father, but from now on, he possessed the ability to turn that lie into reality.
He... would truly become the pride in his Father's heart!
After dinner, Huo Yuanhong digested his food slightly, then walked into the simple, cramped training room on the second floor.
In the center hung an old sandbag, surrounded by necessary protective measures, and yellowed boxing gloves, arm guards, and other protective gear were laid out.
This training area was set up by his Father, who had saved money for two years by scrimping and saving.
Huo Yuanhong picked up the clay pot in the corner and unsealed it.
"Whoosh!"
A pungent smell of traditional Chinese medicine immediately rushed out.
This was an internal medicinal paste his Father had bought a few days ago. Combined with external plaster, it could replenish the Qi and essence consumed by a Martial artist during practice, and also had some bone-strengthening effects.
Huo Yuanhong scooped out some medicinal paste, mixed it with water, and drank it. He then applied the external plaster.
Immediately after, he put on his boxing gloves and arm guards, calmly looked at the sandbag in front of him, and assumed his boxing stance.
Stomping the ground, twisting his waist, swinging his arm, throwing a punch.
Bang!
The night was deep, and a dull thud echoed in the small training room. The sandbag remained motionless, showing almost no change.
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Practice Force 21/100)】
A line of text appeared before his eyes. This was the progress he had achieved in his boxing skills through his own exploration.
He was still a long way from entering Manifest Force, meaning he had taken too many detours over the past years, and in most cases, his practice had even gone astray.
The four steps to achieving Manifest Force—"Force originates from the root, Dominator by the waist, emanates from the spine, and manifests in the hand"—he hadn't truly mastered the first step.
This was normal, after all, to truly master martial arts, one needed a master to guide them hand-in-hand.
But he didn't have such conditions; in the past, he could only grope in the dark, practicing blindly by feel.
But at this moment, after throwing this punch, a flood of insights immediately surged into Huo Yuanhong's mind, as if he had continuously refined it hundreds of times in another timeline. He instantly realized the flaws and deviations in his movements.
"The force floats at the knees; the stomping force isn't enough!"
Stomping the ground is a common movement in Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist), using the rebound force from the foot's impact with the ground to enhance one's own strength!
It corresponds to the first step of Manifest Force's power generation method, "Force originates from the root, Dominator by the waist, emanates from the spine, and manifests in the hand" — Force originates from the root!
After absorbing the experience, Huo Yuanhong adjusted his posture, his toes gripping the ground tightly like old tree roots, shifting his center of gravity towards the Yongquan acupoint at the sole of his foot.
Finding the right feeling, he stomped the ground, twisted his hips and waist, and threw a second punch.
Bang!
This time, the sandbag visibly swayed, clearly indicating much stronger force.
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Practice Force 22/100)】
"My waist and hips are a bit stiff; the force is stuck in the lumbar spine, making it difficult to transmit upwards!"
As before, a flood of insights surged into his mind. After carefully experiencing them, Huo Yuanhong understood the root of the problem.
"Again!"
He adjusted his movements and threw another punch!
Bang!
The moment his fist struck, the sandbag vibrated violently, and faint fist imprints appeared.
Compared to the previous punch, the force was even stronger!
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Practice Force 23/100)】
"Obvious progress!"
This feeling, completely different from groping in the dark before, made Huo Yuanhong somewhat addicted.
Then came the fourth punch, the fifth punch, the sixth punch... With each punch, a tidal wave of insights would surge into Huo Yuanhong's mind, as if he had instantly refined it three or four hundred times in his heart, constantly adjusting his movements and the angle of his force generation.
As long as he digested the insights in his mind, his boxing skill would improve by a notch!
"So that's it, this is the effect of 'Martial Dao Deification,' equivalent to a practice amplifier. Every punch practiced yields almost the same result as practicing three or four hundred punches!"
"One part effort, three to four hundred parts return! Practicing for one day is equivalent to practicing for one year!"
"More importantly, ordinary people inevitably make mistakes when practicing boxing, their cultivation advancing and retreating. Practicing for a year might not even yield two months' worth of progress, and there are even many who get worse with practice... But I am different!"
"My martial arts will never regress, never suffer from Qi Deviation, always progress in the most correct direction, endlessly!"
"It seems like a year's worth of results, but in reality, it's equivalent to three, five, ten, or even more years of an ordinary person's fluctuating progress! And it can always move forward in great strides, without end!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ... With each successive punch, the initially difficult-to-manage heavy sandbag, under the impact of repeated fist force, vibrated and rotated rhythmically. It gradually became a plaything in his fists and palms, swinging freely according to his will.
It was as if he wasn't hitting a sandbag weighing twenty catties, but a ball of cotton!
A ball of cotton that he could knead and mold effortlessly!
The fist imprints on the surface of the sandbag also became deeper and deeper.
From less than half an inch at first, to later a full inch deep, with almost half his fist sinking into the sandbag!
Later on, Huo Yuanhong could clearly feel that with each punch he threw, a heavy force lifted from his horse stance, transferring upwards through the twisting of his waist to his upper body.
Unlike the vague and uncertain feeling of his previous blind practice, this sensation of his horse stance and waist linking up and becoming a single entity was incredibly real.
"Waist and horse power! I've already begun to initially integrate my waist and horse power!"
The unity of waist and horse is the integration of the power of the waist and lower limbs (horse stance). This is a necessary prerequisite for Manifest Force generation, ensuring that power can be transmitted from the soles of the feet through the waist and hips to the arms and fist.
If the waist and horse are not integrated, a "broken force" will occur during power generation.
At this point, he had already mastered the first two steps of Manifest Force generation: "Force originates from the root" and "Dominator by the waist"!
As long as he completed the remaining two steps, "emanates from the spine" and "manifests in the hand," he would integrate his force into a single line and unleash Manifest Force!
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Practice Force 51/100)】
Practice! Keep practicing!
This feeling of growing stronger with every punch he threw made Huo Yuanhong utterly engrossed!
It wasn't until the crow of a rooster that he finally came to his senses, feeling his stomach rumble and his vision blur from hunger.
He rushed into the kitchen, picked up a bowl of leftover rice, and began to gobble it down.
According to his usual appetite, a large bowl of rice like this would usually fill him up about seventy to eighty percent.
But now, after wolfing down a large bowl, he only felt about forty to fifty percent full and was still hungry.
He then made another bowl of fried flour tea, gulping it down. Only then did his stomach feel a little more substantial, but his body still had a faint sense of hunger.
"My physical fitness has become stronger, and my digestive capacity has also become stronger!"
Experts who have achieved success in martial arts have particularly large appetites.
For example, after Junzi Jian entered Manifest Force back then, he would eat two bowls of medicated food per meal.
At this moment, although his appetite hadn't reached Junzi Jian's level back then, the gap between them had greatly narrowed, and he was significantly stronger than last night!
Such astonishing changes overnight were truly incredible.
"Huh, the external plaster was absorbed so quickly?"
Huo Yuanhong removed the plaster and found that the paste, which he had just applied not long ago, had now lost its dark brown color, a sign that the medicinal power had been completely absorbed.
One should know that these plasters were not for one-time use; the vast medicinal power contained within them would normally take at least a month of external application to be gradually absorbed.
Now, after only one night of practice, it had been completely absorbed!
And judging by its appearance, it was likely absorbed much earlier, but he had been too engrossed in his practice to notice.
"Could it be that my 'Martial Dao Deification' talent not only provides hundreds of times the improvement in boxing skills, but also increases my body's ability to absorb medicinal power by hundreds of times?"
Huo Yuanhong was somewhat shocked. If this were true, it would mean that he could achieve the effect of a full year of external and internal application in just one day!
If this were to get out, it would be utterly inconceivable!
"I've eaten so much, and I still feel hungry. Perhaps this hunger isn't stomach hunger, but rather that the internal medicinal paste has long been digested, and my Qi and essence are insufficient?"
With this thought, Huo Yuanhong dug out the clay pot storing the internal medicinal paste and directly scooped out a spoonful to eat.
Not long after, the faint hunger in his body subsided considerably.
"A little more."
He scooped out a few more spoonfuls, eating an estimated half-year's worth, and then applied new external plaster. The hunger in his body completely disappeared.
At this moment, Huo Yuanhong felt his whole body brimming with inexhaustible strength, as if he had combined internal and external application with training for a full half-year. When he clenched his palm, a crackling sound emerged.
"Indeed! My speed of digesting and absorbing medicinal power has truly increased by hundreds of times!"
Huo Yuanhong's eyes lit up, full of joy.
The path of martial arts requires both practice and nourishment. Practicing boxing is the 'practice,' and internal and external application is the 'nourishment.' If nourishment cannot keep up with practice, the body will become depleted.
But now, he had not only increased his practice speed by hundreds of times, but also his nourishment speed by hundreds of times!
Hundreds of times the boxing improvement combined with hundreds of times the medicinal absorption speed—what terrifying talent this was!
He looked again at the translucent panel displaying his boxing progress.
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Practice Force 62/100)】
"Soon! Soon!"
At this rate, today, he would truly step into Manifest Force and become a genuine Martial artist!
And there were still twenty-nine days until the martial arts competition that would decide his fate!
"At that time, I will represent the Powerful Families, and I will not let any commoner pass. If you dare to appear before me, I guarantee I will beat you to death."
Junzi Jian's indifferent words from yesterday seemed to echo in his ears again.
"Twenty-four years old, two months ago he just transitioned from Manifest Force to Dark Force, entering the Dark Force Realm, with extremely strong combat ability..."
Recalling what he knew about Junzi Jian's experiences and strength, a surge of hostility lingered in Huo Yuanhong's heart.
In the martial arts competition twenty-nine days later, he would beat Junzi Jian to death in front of all the Martial Masters of Tianjin!
Considering Junzi Jian's extremely strong combat ability, to beat him to death, he himself must possess the strength of Dark Force Minor Achievement, or even Major Achievement, before the competition begins!
Just then, Huo Yuanhong heard laughter coming from the small living room, which was less than ten square meters.
"...In a blink of an eye, your A Hong has grown so big!"
"Yes, time spares no one, in a blink, we're all getting old..."
"I remember A Hong was just a tiny tot, and I took him to Nanshan Temple to offer incense..."
The speakers, by their voices, seemed to be long-time neighbors—Wu Xiaoxia, Aunt Wu, and her daughter Jiang Ting. They used to have a good relationship with his Family.
But unlike his Family, Aunt Wu and her Family lived nearby back then simply to hide their identities and avoid trouble.
Later, when Jiang Ting was eleven or twelve, she went to The West to study, and Aunt Wu went with her. Since then, there had been no news.
The two families hadn't seen each other for six or seven years.
After listening for a while, Huo Yuanhong understood.
It turned out that Aunt Wu's Family had recently settled down, and Jiang Ting had also been accepted into the Tianjin Women's Normal University, so they had returned to Tianjin and stopped by to catch up.
Women's Normal University!
Huo Yuanhong subtly glanced sideways.
As a new type of academy, there were only three Women's Normal Universities in the vast Tianchao, all directly under the Imperial Academy, recruiting only about a hundred new students each year.
Those who could get in were considered talented women in the eyes of the world, and they often came from noble backgrounds, not people ordinary folk could easily interact with.
And from his Father's tone, he was intentionally trying to set him up with Jiang Ting!
Although the two were worlds apart in terms of both talent and background, they were simply not a good match.
But in his Father's eyes, his own son was always the most formidable.
"A Hong is up! Come, this is your Aunt Wu, and Tingting!"
Seeing Huo Yuanhong push open the door and step out, everyone in the living room looked over.
"Aunt Wu, Tingting."
Huo Yuanhong greeted them.
"It's A Hong! Come, sit, sit, sit!"
Seeing Huo Yuanhong, full of spirit after his boxing practice, Wu Xiaoxia's eyes lit up. The hint of perfunctoriness on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a warm smile.
Boxing can change a person's spirit and demeanor!
The original Huo Yuanhong, having long engaged in arduous labor and servitude, his temperament had gradually become mediocre, and he walked with a slight stoop like an ordinary laborer.
But after practicing boxing all night recently, achieving changes almost equivalent to half a year of focused, undisturbed practice, he now walked with a straight back and bright, piercing eyes, imbued with the unique masculine aura of Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist).
More importantly... with powerful boxing skills and a stronger physique, his inner confidence naturally grew, emanating from within!
This kind of temperament was the most attractive, making him stand out in a crowd!
Regarding Father Huo's intentional matchmaking, Wu Xiaoxia had initially been very reluctant, but out of their past friendship, she couldn't explicitly refuse, so she reluctantly agreed to let the two youngsters interact.
But upon seeing Huo Yuanhong at this moment, she was immediately drawn to this confident temperament that emanated from within him!