"The fist stance consists of thirty-six static stances, encompassing postures such as standing, walking, moving, and striking. The primary purpose of practicing the stance is to arouse Qi and Blood, enhance bodily potential, and lay the foundation for future martial arts practice.
When one can successfully hold all thirty-six movements in a single session and persist for half an hour, one can master the Qi and Blood, which counts as entering the threshold, and then proceed to learn boxing techniques.
After crossing the threshold, through year-round perseverance, one can achieve minor success; upon minor success, the Qi and Blood become like mercury and one's strength reaches a thousand catties—this is the prerequisite for entering the realm of Dark Force.
Those with exceptional martial talent, like the Senior Apprentice Brother, have the opportunity to practice to major success. One who reaches major success can wield a force of three thousand catties, uprooting willows and tearing apart tigers and leopards with bare hands, though that is merely the foundation for elevating martial prowess into the realm of Hua Jin.
Beyond that, legend has it that there is also the realm of Consummation. If one can bring the Stance Skill to Consummation, one can accumulate Qi and Blood to the pinnacle state of a mortal. At that point, even without prior practice in Jin force, one would have the opportunity to bypass the acquired cultivation tiers of Ming Jin, Dark Force, and Hua Jin, stepping directly into the Xiantian Realm.
It is said that three hundred years ago, a Sage Qin practiced the stance for sixty years, experienced a sudden epiphany, and stepped into Consummation. With a single stride, he reached the Xiantian Realm, soaring upward out of nowhere. Later, he was even favored by immortals, who took him in as a disciple—leaving behind a celebrated tale.
It is only a pity that the realm of Consummation is a height ordinary people cannot reach; it can only rely on a heaven-sent epiphany."
While Chen Yi and Gong Qingyun were attempting to practice the stance, the instructing martial artist explained the key points of the Stance Skill and some basic common sense to them.
This martial artist was also a disciple of Gong Quanhui, ranked ninth, and named Li An.
Thirty-six movements, six basic postures—Li An spent an entire morning first having the two boys learn the basic movements, then teaching them the corresponding Breathing Technique.
The remaining time was dedicated to stance practice.
On the first day, Chen Yi could not even last three minutes. He only made it to the third movement out of the thirty-six before his muscles grew sore and exhausted, and his body lacked the strength to support him any further.
This was because beginners had not yet learned how to mobilize their Qi and Blood.
In comparison, Gong Qingyun persisted for a quarter of an hour on the first day, finishing the six movements of the first posture.
Watching Chen Yi fall so far short of himself, he chuckled heartily, "Little Chen, you might be slightly better than me at reciting medical books, but when it comes to martial arts talent, the gap between us is immense. You'd better apply yourself."
There was no helping it; Chen Yi was simply too emaciated. At fifteen years of age and standing around one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, his weight was probably at most one hundred catties. For the past half year, he had barely managed to survive, receiving almost zero nutritional intake.
Gong Qingyun, on the other hand, despite being two years younger than Chen Yi, was nearly as tall and possessed a very sturdy build.
A lifelong diet of medicinal broths and meat provided him with a level of Qi and Blood far surpassing that of his peers.
Consequently, after seven days, when Li An reported to Gong Quanhui on the young masters' cultivation progress, he mentioned: "The Young Master's physical condition is exceptionally good. If he applies himself, there is a chance he will cross the threshold within two months and can officially begin learning boxing."
"Mm." Gong Quanhui stroked his goatee and nodded slightly, in a good mood. It was worth the hefty sum he had spent in his early years nurturing the boy with medicinal broths; his younger son's talent was not much inferior to his own back in the day."
"And what about that Snow Country kid?" Old Master Gong asked casually.
"As for him..." Li An glanced at his master's expression and answered honestly, "That one truly lacks any talent for martial arts. His body is severely depleted; even if he were to practice the stance for ten years, it would be difficult for him to reach minor success. Compared to Young Master Qingyun, the difference is like heaven and earth."
Old Master Gong's mood improved even further. "Heh, Little Jiu, you're being a bit harsh on an ordinary person. How could a servant ever compare to Qingyun? Just have him practice the basics; don't teach him anything too difficult. In the future, when he's by Qingyun's side, having the capability to handle some odd jobs will be enough."
"Understood, Master." Li An understood, and a preliminary plan for teaching the two of them formed in his mind.
......
Chen Yi's physical condition was indeed far inferior to Gong Qingyun's. During every morning practice—from learning the stance movements to attempting to hold the stance—he could not even last half the time Gong Qingyun managed.
Yet, unlike Gong Qingyun, who scampered off to play the moment his morning lesson ended, Chen Yi would practice the stance for a while whenever he had a spare moment and his physical strength recovered.
What Chen Yi relied on was relentless perseverance.
On the first day, Chen Yi seized four opportunities to practice, barely managing the eighteenth movement before his fingers were too tired to lift and his eyes too heavy to keep open.
On the second day, Chen Yi spent another full day and finally finished all thirty-six movements once.
[Gong Family Fist Stance (1/2000): Persist in daily practice; two thousand times will bring success.]
A line of golden characters flashed across Chen Yi's mind, then shrank and settled upon the Purple-Gold Fate deep within his consciousness, vanishing from sight.
From then on, every time he completed a round of the fist stance, it would automatically appear and increment by one digit.
With this, Chen Yi's mind settled slightly.
Two thousand times would bring success. If he completed one round every two days or so, it would take roughly fourteen or fifteen years to master.
And among those in the Gong Family records who had managed to practice the stance to major success within a decade or two, several had ultimately entered the Xiantian Realm.
Furthermore, the "success" referred to here did not merely mean major success; perhaps it pointed to the legendary realm of Consummation—though that was something Chen Yi still needed to verify for himself.
Besides, Chen Yi could only complete a round once every two days right now because of his Qi and Blood depletion and abysmal stamina.
His physical condition would not remain this poor forever.
If he could obtain sufficient nutrition or medicinal broths to condition his body and make up for the depletion of his Qi and Blood, his training volume should increase.
However, that required silver. Given Chen Yi's current status as a household servant, his daily meals consisted of one full bowl of gruel and one thin one—just enough to keep him from starving, with no oily nourishment whatsoever, let alone any monthly allowance to buy herbal decoctions.
Despite the harsh conditions, after day-and-night practice of the Stance Skill, the effects were becoming quite noticeable for Chen Yi.
On this late morning, following the morning practice, Chen Yi was refilling the water vat in the young master's room. Reflected in the water's surface, Chen Yi saw his youthful face, fuzz-like facial hair, and the faint traces of muscle barely visible on his thin, yellowish arms beneath his threadbare gray tunic.
Slaves who had managed to scrap together a life amidst the wars of this era could hardly be called healthy, let alone handsome.
He had to survive first before considering anything else.
Of course, that was his previous mindset. Now that Chen Yi was learning the fist stance alongside the others, he gradually developed an ambition: to learn how to circulate his Qi and Blood as soon as possible, hold the stance for a full half-hour, enhance his physical strength, forge a foundation for martial arts, practice martial techniques, and step through Force-Entering, Dark Force, Hua Jin, and Xiantian, advancing step by step to the very peak, to become that—
Li An had explained that stance practice had distinct realms. Entering the threshold of the fist stance allowed one to practice martial arts, while the subsequent stages of minor and major success corresponded to specific standards of mastery. As for those who could bring the stance to Consummation, they had the chance to spontaneously generate a breath of Xiantian True Qi and automatically step into the Xiantian Realm!
Although no one had been heard to reach the Consummation stance in hundreds of years, Chen Yi was different. His Purple-Gold Fate ensured that whatever he practiced, he would succeed; Consummation might not be an impossibility for him.
With this thought in mind, coupled with Chen Yi's determination to escape his current circumstances, he found even greater motivation.
Aside from his daily chores of chopping firewood, carrying water, and cleaning out the latrines, whenever his physical strength recovered, Chen Yi would seize every opportunity to stand in the stance and cultivate his skills.
Unfortunately, given his current physical state, practicing four times a day was already his upper limit. If he wanted to increase his training volume, he had to nourish his body to elevate his Qi and Blood and stamina; otherwise, he risked ruining his body through overexertion.
As for nourishing his body, with Chen Yi's current status as a servant, he had virtually no chance of earning money; he could only find a way to eat better—
At the very least, he needed to escape the communal pot shared with a few coarse-chores maids and free himself from the daily single bowl of clear soup and corn bread.
Pondering this, Chen Yi woke up early on the eighth day, spending an hour finishing his assigned chores of fetching water, sweeping floors, and cleaning the latrines.
Then, after completing the morning training session alongside Gong Qingyun, just as Gong Qingyun was preparing to scamper off to play, Chen Yi called him to a halt: "Young Master, in three more days, Master is going to test you on your medical books again."
Gong Qingyun stopped in his tracks, scratching his head as he looked at Chen Yi: "Those few pages you copied for me—won't they get me through it?"
Chen Yi shook his head. "Me copying books for you is fine, but when Master tests you, you must understand their meaning, or I'm afraid you won't pass this time."
"Then what should I do?" Panic flickered across Gong Qingyun's face. After all, he was only a boy of fourteen or fifteen, and he still feared his strict parent.
"I have a method," Chen Yi smiled faintly. "Actually, studying meridians and herbs isn't all that dry. Look, Young Master—if you follow me and understand it bit by bit using this human anatomy chart, you'll find the interesting parts hidden within."
Chen Yi retrieved a female nude meridian distribution chart he had found in the study, pointed to an acupoint around the waist and abdomen, and explained: "This right here is the Shenshu acupoint. Massaging it daily can stimulate sexual desire and reproduction. Generally, when a woman has difficulty conceiving, this point can be pressed to assist with fertility.
However, Young Master, many acupoints have two sides to them, much like anything else—there is a benevolent side, and there is a malevolent side.
If this acupoint is subjected to sudden, intense stimulation, it can amplify her desires. And if herbs such as plantain, privet, and rube are applied while stimulating this point, it can instantly transform into an aphrodisiac, leaving her unable to stop herself."
After racking his brains for a long time, Chen Yi had finally found an entry point to spark a teenage boy's motivation to learn:
The study of the opposite sex.
Sure enough, upon hearing these words, Gong Qingyun's eyes lit up brightly. He discarded the bow he had already slung over his shoulder and sat down right beside Chen Yi. "Tell me properly about these medicinal herbs and these acupoints."