【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Manifest Force 1/600)】
“From this moment on, I am a true member of the Martial Dao world!”
After ten years of stumbling, finally stepping into Manifest Force, Huo Yuanhong felt an unparalleled exhilaration, a sense of thorough enjoyment!
After cleaning the dust from the small training room, he walked into the adjacent bathroom, took a shower, and washed off the sticky sweat and accumulated grime.
Wiping himself dry and changing into a clean set of clothes, he headed straight to the nearest pharmacy to buy twenty-four external plasters and two jars of internal medicinal ointment.
This was a two-year supply for an ordinary person, totaling one hundred silver dollars, almost his father's entire annual income, truly frighteningly expensive.
Huo Yuanhong naturally couldn't produce that much money, so he could only use his most precious item—a jade bracelet left by his mother—as collateral, agreeing to settle the medicine bill and interest within a month to retrieve the bracelet.
Then, carrying the medicine, he arrived at a quiet grove nearby, found a sturdy-looking old tree, and began to continue practicing his fist techniques.
His sandbag was broken; he needed to find something to replace it.
“After entering Manifest Force, the fragmented martial arts knowledge I’ve accumulated over the past ten years has been completely exhausted. I wonder if I can continue practicing…”
Huo Yuanhong tentatively threw a punch.
“Hmm?”
His eyes immediately lit up.
It works!
When he threw that punch, he clearly had no idea how to continue practicing, but a dense flood of insights, or rather, deductions, still surfaced in his mind.
It couldn't compare to when he had prior knowledge to reference for Qi cultivation, and his speed had slowed, but he was still continuously getting stronger.
It was like someone who had never studied mathematics solving a math problem, using Heaven-Defying talent to deduce the answer. Although his speed was certainly not as fast as someone directly applying a formula, being able to deduce it from scratch was Heaven-Defying enough.
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Manifest Force 2/600)】
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Manifest Force 3/600)】
...Amidst the whistling of his fists, Huo Yuanhong's mastery of Manifest Force deepened at a visible rate.
From being not very proficient at first, only occasionally landing a Manifest Force punch after trying dozens of times.
To being able to land a Manifest Force punch once every three to five attempts after more than an hour.
The Manifest Force entry stage, which ordinary people would need two or three months of hard training to overcome, was almost completed by him in just over two hours.
The once dazzling Junzi Jian, whose back he couldn't even hope to see, now had his back within his sight!
The distance between them had shrunk from two major realms to one major realm!
And the distance between them was shortening every single minute!
For the following period, apart from necessary sleep, he stayed in the grove practicing his fist techniques, applying internal and external medicines.
When thirsty, he drank from the nearby well; when hungry, he gnawed on the steamed buns he brought.
When the steamed buns ran out, he would buy two large bags at the nearest steamed bun shop, cherishing every single moment.
Time unknowingly flowed by in this monotonous yet addictive cycle of practicing fist techniques, eating, and sleeping.
By the morning two days later, Huo Yuanhong's Manifest Force progress had reached 【126/600】, having long since completely passed the unstable initial entry stage.
Bang! ... Bang! ... Bang! ... Dull thuds occasionally echoed through the grove.
Huo Yuanhong was fully immersed, sweating profusely, and only stopped when he reached 【135/600】, picking up his waterskin and gulping down some cold water.
“Young man, who is your Master? You’ve already entered Manifest Force, why are you still practicing basic routines?”
A voice came over. Huo Yuanhong turned his head to see a middle-aged man in a long gown, faintly exuding the aura of a Great Master, clearly not an ordinary person.
Behind him followed a young woman in a white training uniform, her steps as light as a cat's when she walked. It was impossible to discern the depth of her martial arts, only that it was definitely far above Manifest Force.
Huo Yuanhong had an impression of these two. When he hadn't achieved Manifest Force, he occasionally came here to practice his fist techniques, and he would see these two two or three times out of ten.
But this middle-aged man and young woman had never even glanced at him.
He had also deliberately maintained his distance to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
This time, he figured it was because he had mastered Manifest Force that he was finally worthy of the middle-aged man’s attention.
“I don’t have a Master, I just practice on my own.”
Huo Yuanhong replied.
“No Master?”
A hint of surprise flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes, then a look of understanding, “No wonder, no wonder you’ve clearly consolidated Manifest Force, yet you’re still practicing basic fist techniques and haven’t started practicing Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist)’s Six Great Openings…”
“Six Great Openings? What is that?”
Huo Yuanhong had never even heard of it.
The middle-aged man, however, seemed to be in a good mood and said with a smile, “The Six Great Openings are the core of Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist)’s grand framework, divided into Ding, Bao, Dan, Ti, Kua, and Chan…”
“Among them, the most ferocious is undoubtedly the Ding Jin (Apex Force), famous for the Ding Xin Zhou (Apex Elbow). One elbow strike breaks bones and severs tendons; few dare to face it head-on!”
“Come, place your hand on me and feel the flow of my force…”
The middle-aged man beckoned, signaling Huo Yuanhong to place his hand on his two force-generating joints.
“Thank you.”
Huo Yuanhong knew the other party was going to instruct him in fist techniques, and he didn’t act coy or refuse, openly placing his hand on him.
“Watch closely.”
As the middle-aged man stomped his foot and exerted force, the ground trembled slightly, and a deep pit was trampled out.
At the same time, a violent force, like a Dragon turning over, suddenly erupted. With the twisting of his waist, hips, and spine, it instantly surged into his right arm, and with a vertical elbow, it slammed out!
Crack!
The old tree in front of him vibrated violently, the point of impact directly caved in, and shattered bark splattered!
“Amazing!”
Huo Yuanhong couldn't help but exclaim.
The old tree he chose was extremely hard; he had been hitting it for two days without any obvious signs of damage, but under the middle-aged man's Ding Xin Zhou (Apex Elbow), it actually caved in with one strike.
If it landed on an ordinary person, even if they didn't die, their bones would be broken and tendons severed!
After teaching him a few times with hands-on demonstration, the middle-aged man stopped and moved aside.
“Come, you try practicing.”
“Alright.”
Huo Yuanhong recalled the previous sensation: stomping his foot, twisting his waist, raising his arm, and striking out with a vertical elbow!
【Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist) (Manifest Force 136/600)】
“Hmm?”
Huo Yuanhong's eyes slightly brightened.
Normally, unless it was a breakthrough after long accumulation like when he first practiced stomping, he would need to practice dozens, even hundreds of times, to gain 1 point of experience.
Don't underestimate this 1 point of experience; according to Huo Yuanhong's estimation, it was equivalent to three or four days of hard work for an ordinary person with a complete Legacy and no mistakes!
But after learning the new force-generating technique of Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist), with just one punch, his experience directly increased by 1 point!
“Indeed!”
Huo Yuanhong was delighted.
The progress of his fist technique was his level of mastery over that technique.
Purely relying on his own exploration and deduction, while he would certainly master everything, it would take more time and effort.
But by standing on the shoulders of his predecessors, he could skip the process of exploration and deduction and directly practice, and his progress would naturally accelerate!
“Master, how long do you think it will take this person to master the Ding Xin Zhou (Apex Elbow)? Half a month? A month? Or two months?”
Not far away, the young woman asked with interest.
“I don’t know. This Master is not familiar with him; it was merely a whim.”
The middle-aged man took out the waterskin from his waist, took a gulp, and said nonchalantly.
His discerning eye was incredibly sharp; had this young fellow not mastered Manifest Force at such a young age, he wouldn't even be worthy of a second glance.
But as one of Baji Quan (Eight Extremities Fist)’s renowned killing moves, the Ding Xin Zhou (Apex Elbow) was not so easy to master, requiring extremely high precision and continuity in the flow of force. A slight deviation could lead to a huge error.
Many people go astray when practicing it without even realizing it, and without the guidance of a Great Master, they might never correct their mistakes in their lifetime.
Even in his eyes, if one could master it within a month, he would be considered a promising talent.
“Let’s go. We’ll come back in a few days to see.”
The middle-aged man hung the waterskin back on his waist, clasped his hands behind his back, and leisurely walked out of the grove.
If nothing unexpected happened, when he returned in three or four days, this young man should still be clueless.
If the young man's attitude was respectful and he proactively sought guidance, he wouldn't mind casually offering one or two more pointers.
“What’s there to see in a few days? Senior Brother, who was hailed as the number one Genius of the previous generation, took ten days to master it. Could this person be even more formidable than Senior Brother…”
The young woman chuckled softly.
Her Senior Brother was the number one person of the previous generation in Divine Spear Martial Hall, and even looking across the entire Tianjin of the previous generation, he was undoubtedly the strongest candidate!
“Don’t set your expectations so high. What kind of person is your Senior Brother? Compared to this Master in his younger years, he’s only slightly inferior.”
Speaking of his Great Disciple, the middle-aged man's face also showed satisfaction.
Over the years, he had seen countless outstanding young talents and many rare geniuses, but no matter where, his Great Disciple was like a crane among chickens, a shining sun of Martial Dao!
Mastering the Ding Xin Zhou (Apex Elbow) in ten days was only second to his own three-day mastery back then.
But who was he? Looking across the entire Tianjin, if he said his martial arts were second, no one would dare claim first!
Even though Wen Jian Martial Arts School had gained support from Powerful Families in recent years, and its influence grew, with more than a handful of Hall Master-level figures, they still never dared to challenge Divine Spear Martial Hall, which he presided over!
In terms of talent in Martial Dao, he considered himself rare in the world!
“Oh? How long did Master take back then?”
The young woman’s eyes showed admiration.
“About three…”
Crack!
Just then, a short, sharp striking sound interrupted their conversation.
The middle-aged man and the young woman couldn't help but turn their heads. In their gradually stunned gaze, a clear elbow-print indentation appeared on the old tree in front of Huo Yuanhong.
The Ding Xin Zhou (Apex Elbow)... was a success!