"Breakthrough!"
His mind clicked on the plus sign.
5 points of energy flashed, instantly vanishing, and the Zhengyang Stance transformed.
Great Completion!
Whoosh.
Zhang Lingshan's body trembled slightly, and a warm current, identical to the one from his previous Breakthrough, inexplicably flowed out from within him, surging wildly through his limbs and bones.
Hiss, hiss, hiss.
Zhang Lingshan suddenly heard a sound.
Strangely, the sound wasn't coming from outside, but from within his body.
He sensed carefully and discovered the sound was coming from his body's flesh and skin.
His body seemed to be growing!
Normally, the body's growth happens bit by bit in an unconscious state.
But at this moment, the growth changes were concentrated.
Not only was his flesh and skin hissing.
The bones inside his body were also making clicking sounds.
It was as if someone who hadn't moved for a long time suddenly stirred, causing their bones and joints to pop loudly.
Zhang Lingshan was immersed in these changes, wishing only that time wouldn't stop and he could keep growing.
Since transmigrating to this world and inheriting this short, stocky body, he had truly had enough of being less than 1.5 meters tall.
Discrimination, there was discrimination everywhere!
He wanted to become taller, bigger, and stronger, and never be looked down upon again.
Whoosh—!
He exhaled a mouthful of stale air.
Zhang Lingshan calmed down, and the changes in his body had completely finished.
He checked his height; he was about five centimeters taller than before.
Although not much, he had finally surpassed 1.5 meters.
Moreover, he was only fifteen years old now and still had potential to grow, plus the improvements brought by the panel.
The future was promising.
Continuing to examine his body, Zhang Lingshan found that his flesh and skin seemed to have become firmer.
As a short, stocky person, his body was inherently wider than others; one could say he only grew in width, not height.
But now his body had lengthened, his proportions had become more coordinated, and his muscles had also lengthened, gaining greater contractile force and elasticity.
His strength, he could clearly feel, had increased significantly.
'Given my current state, I should have successfully cultivated the Zhengyang Stance,'
Zhang Lingshan thought to himself.
But as to what it truly looked like when successfully cultivated, he had never seen it, so he tidied up and immediately returned to Hong's Martial Arts School.
While eating lunch, he heard everyone discussing that Tie Feng would be taking the Zhengyang Stance assessment in the afternoon.
It was a good opportunity to go and observe.
...
Hong's Martial Arts School.
Hong Zhengdao sat imposingly at the entrance of the main hall, his eyes like torches, frequently frowning as he watched the Disciples practicing stances in the outer courtyard.
Beside his table, Little Stone, Shi Lei, was diligently serving him, fanning his Master with a fan.
"Stop fanning!"
Hong Zhengdao suddenly struck down his fan impatiently, then abruptly stood up and roared sternly.
"What good are any of you?! You can't even practice this basic stance properly, are you even trying?! With attitudes like yours, you come here to learn martial arts? I think you shouldn't eat lunch today. Go back and think carefully about why you spent so much money to come here!"
The Disciples dared not speak, all lowering their heads to listen to the Martial Hall Master's lecture.
Precisely at this moment, Zhang Lingshan's figure emerged from beside the screen. Although he quickly stopped and lowered his head to listen, he still caught Hong Zhengdao's attention.
"Where did you go?! Instead of practicing properly, what are you running around for? You little brat, if you don't want to learn, then get out..."
He blurted out the curse.
But he suddenly stopped, realizing it was Zhang Lingshan: "Oh, it's you. Have you recovered from your injury?"
"I've recovered. Thank you for your concern, Martial Hall Master."
Zhang Lingshan quickly went along with it.
Hong Zhengdao nodded: "You're not bad. As soon as you recovered from your injury, you immediately returned to practice. You're much better than these lazy slackers. You truly live up to hitting your head against the wall; you have a sincere talent for martial arts..."
As he was speaking, he noticed that everyone's expressions were off; they all had strange looks, as if they wanted to laugh but couldn't.
Hong Zhengdao's face darkened, and he was about to get angry and scold them.
Suddenly, he heard Shi Lei beside him say: "Master, you've misunderstood. This kid's injury healed a long time ago, but he gave up practicing stances a while back. He just comes every day to get two meals. Now that it's time for the afternoon meal again, this kid came running over."
The Disciples all nodded in unison, following up with words of agreement.
Just in time, a live target arrived to attract the Martial Hall Master's attention, so everyone else wouldn't have to be scolded.
"Is that so?"
Hong Zhengdao looked at Zhang Lingshan with a gloomy face.
Zhang Lingshan said unhurriedly: "Replying to the Martial Hall Master, this student has been cultivating the stance technique at home and has made some progress. I request the Martial Hall Master's inspection."
After saying that, regardless of whether Hong Zhengdao agreed or not, he immediately began to perform the eighteen forms of the Zhengyang Stance once.
The Disciples didn't expect Zhang Lingshan to be so bold, not flustered at all in front of the Martial Hall Master, and performing it so solidly.
At the very least, he performed it much more smoothly than most of them, and every stance was held very standardly.
Just based on this point, he had already surpassed half of the people.
'This kid actually...'
Shi Lei watched, his eyes glazed over.
He had only taught him once, and it had only been a few days, yet he had actually successfully cultivated the Zhengyang Stance?
Could this kid have secretly found another Senior Brother for extra lessons?
But even with extra lessons, it shouldn't be this fast.
Alas, if only he had known this guy was so talented, why would he have given him a cold shoulder for the sake of three qian of silver.
He had just called him useless at noon, and in the afternoon, he passed the stance technique assessment.
He regretted it immensely!
Shi Lei felt annoyed in his heart.
Because he noticed his Master's body was slightly leaning forward, his eyes gleamed with light, and a smile was on his face – that was the expression of someone who cherished talent.
With this kid's talent, coupled with his resolute heart for martial arts shown by hitting his head against the wall, it wouldn't be long before he would be above him, becoming his Senior Brother.
'I need to find a way to build a good relationship. After all, I was the one who taught him the Zhengyang Stance; that counts as a teaching favor.'
Shi Lei pondered in his heart.
"Good!"
When Zhang Lingshan finished performing the forms and concluded, he heard Hong Zhengdao let out a loud shout.
He strode quickly to Zhang Lingshan's side, squeezed his shoulders, lower back, and thighs, and praised: "Not bad, not bad, you've practiced quite solidly. Everyone watch carefully, this is what a true martial arts practitioner is like. He managed to Cultivate it even while injured, what reason do you have to be lazy? All of you, practice properly!"
After saying that, he pulled Zhang Lingshan into the main hall and said: "From now on, you are my registered Disciple. You may call yourself a Disciple and address me as Hong Shi."
"Yes, Hong Shi!"
Zhang Lingshan quickly bowed.
Hong Zhengdao smiled and had him and Shi Lei stand to the side, then sat on a chair and looked at Tie Feng, saying: "Didn't you apply for the assessment? Perform it once for me to see."
"Yes."
Tie Feng quickly obeyed the command.
A moment later.
Hong Zhengdao nodded reluctantly: "Acceptable. You'll be successful in a few more days. I'm in a good mood today, so consider it passed."
Tie Feng quickly bowed and saluted, secretly glancing at Zhang Lingshan beside Hong Zhengdao, his heart filled with mixed feelings.