"Let's talk about ordinary people first," Li Pancheng said after a moment of thoughtful silence. "If ordinary people don't practice martial arts, they just flail their arms and legs in a fight, with no concept of dodging, shifting, or turning. Basically, whoever has greater strength and a bigger build wins. Even if your speed happens to be slightly superior, if your frame is too small, you'll generally lose. At the level of ordinary people, victory or defeat is decided purely by physical conditioning."
"Next are martial artists. Once someone learns a martial art—whether it's external hard qigong or internal body technique—certain movements called 'forms' are produced. Actually, there's a lot more to these forms than most people realize. Many people think martial arts forms are just routines, comparable to counting 'one, two, three, four' like dancing. That's a fundamental misunderstanding. If it really worked like that—where you just strike a pose and call it martial arts—what would happen if your opponent simply ran away while you were posing, or pulled out a weapon to attack you from a distance?"
"So-called forms actually serve two purposes. The first is to condition specific parts of the body. For example, looking at Brother Hao's style of boxing, the forms within it condition three areas: the forearms, the waist, and the legs, right? That's why Brother Hao's body is much stronger in these three areas than an ordinary person's."
"The second purpose of forms is for maneuvering and combat in the heat of battle. It's not about mechanically striking poses, but about application. Take how I saw Brother Hao fighting my wife: your fists never strayed from her head. But how did you manage to target her head so precisely? You have to remember that after using the Spirit Snake Footwork, her speed was already astonishingly high. At a distance of three meters, she could leave afterimages on an ordinary person's retina. Ordinary people wouldn't even be able to track her position, let alone hit her—they'd probably be struck before they could even blink. Yet, I saw Brother Hao using specific movements from your boxing style, such as this one."
With that, Li Pancheng stood up and planted his feet on the open ground. Keeping his right foot in place, he twisted his left foot against the ground, his entire body shifting its front orientation toward a different direction with astonishing speed and absolute naturalness.
"Just like that. This is actually the form and footwork you use in your daily practice. At the same time, when you raise your fist, the inside of your forearm naturally presses slightly downward, allowing you to react with a twitch that defends the vital points of your chest at the absolute fastest speed. This is also a form from your boxing. When these are combined in daily practice routines, one aspect of any martial art is the 'practice method' where everything is combined as a whole, while the other is the 'combat method' where it's broken down into countless small details. Being able to apply them flexibly is what makes a qualified martial artist. Otherwise, you're just throwing rigid punches, practicing dead forms, and a person who fights with dead forms is a dead person—not worth worrying about."
Saying this, Li Pancheng sat back down and smiled warmly again. "That's the difference between a martial artist and an ordinary person. We use forms to condition our bodies. To use a trendy modern phrase, we use the most scientific postures and methods to train, making our training efficiency a hundred or a thousand times greater than an ordinary person's. Furthermore, when we fight, thanks to thousands and tens of thousands of repetitions, martial arts forms are already deeply ingrained in our flesh and soul. We can instinctively execute the attack, defense, and evasion postures that best conform to human biomechanics almost without thinking. Therefore, at the level of martial artists, it's no longer a contest of who is bigger or stronger, but a comparison of who is more proficient with their forms, whose forms are more refined, and who has conditioned their body better. That is what a martial artist is: the way of life and death invented by human wisdom, something that allows a weak physique to triumph over a strong one—that is kung fu!"
Hao Qi fell into deep thought upon hearing this. In truth, for the past nine years, he had practiced the Arhat Fist wholeheartedly—thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times. By now, having thrown well over ten million punches, the Arhat Fist truly felt as if it had become a part of his body. The various forms of the Arhat Fist could be executed purely by instinct, blurring the distinction between practice methods and combat methods. But listening to Li Pancheng's explanation now, a wave of sudden realization washed over him. Indeed, when he fought, he never rigidly performed a complete form from start to finish; instead, he applied small techniques from within a form based on the situation—whether it was a punch, an arm strike, leg work, or footwork. This perhaps resembled what Feng Qingyang said to Linghu Chong when he first began teaching him in *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*.
"I accept your instruction with utmost respect," Hao Qi said as he stood up and cupped his fists in a formal salute.
Li Pancheng, who was usually impeccably polite, simply sat back and accepted Hao Qi's salute with a relaxed posture before smiling. "Sit down, sit down. Let's continue."
Xue Na chimed in from the side, "Right, get to the point! Getting to the point is what matters!"
Ignoring her, Li Pancheng continued, "Brother Hao, the purpose of my wife and me coming here is to persuade you to switch to a different martial art. That brings me to what I want to say next. We just talked about forms, which represent the degree and extent of physical conditioning during practice, as well as the power that can be unleashed in combat. Why are martial arts categorized into first-rate, second-rate, third-rate, and even lower-ninth-rate or unranked? The reason lies right here. Brother Hao's martial art can only condition three areas of the body, and the form techniques available in combat are very limited. Even though Brother Hao has already brought this art to the realm of mastery, let me ask you honestly: could you have lasted three moves against my wife when she used the Spirit Snake Fist?"
Hao Qi did not speak. Recalling the way Xue Na's body had twisted at will during her final use of the Spirit Snake Fist—making it nearly impossible to perceive her movement or attack direction, combined with her terrifying speed and presumably horrifying offensive power—he finally shook his head and said, "I couldn't block it. Let alone three moves, I probably wouldn't even last a single encounter before being defeated."
Li Pancheng nodded, his favorable impression of Hao Qi growing even stronger. Not only was he a true martial artist, but he also had a steady temperament and was unconcerned with trivialities. Moreover, hearing Xue Na recount many of her past experiences at the orphanage over the years, Hao Qi was clearly someone who valued loyalty and deep affections. And now, another virtue could be added to the list: he knew when to hold on and when to let go.
Li Pancheng immediately said, "Precisely. This Spirit Snake Fist is a top-tier martial art of the Li Family, and the preliminary training art for our supreme-tier Spirit Snake Wandering Body Palm. It is already a top-tier upper-grade martial art in its own right. One must thoroughly condition the spine and eighty percent of the body's bones before it can be used against an opponent; otherwise, it can only be practiced as a routine. To be honest, the Spirit Snake Fist my wife used just now could only unleash two or three tenths of its true power. If I were to use it, I could hold my ground against an Inner Force Expert for at least one move. Furthermore, this martial art conditions eighty-one parts of the body. Aside from the area around the Baihui acupoint on top of the head, it can even condition areas like the ****. In the history of the Li Family, at least three people have awakened inner force relying solely on the Spirit Snake Fist, without even practicing the Spirit Snake Wandering Body Palm. That is the power of a top-tier upper-grade boxing art."
"Beyond those two pros and cons, there is an even more crucial function to the grading of martial arts: physical conditioning. In truth, what we're doing now is just small-scale play. True experts—those who determine the fate of this world—are forever in the Inner Force Realm. A good martial art that can condition more parts of the body gives a person a much higher probability of awakening inner force. Even if one ultimately fails to reach the Inner Force Realm—since cultivation is three parts diligence, three parts martial art, three parts talent, and one part destiny—a good martial art can still allow someone to reach the Quasi-Inner Force Realm, which is the absolute peak of mortals. Therefore..."
"Brother Hao, let me put it this way: if you switch your martial art, accompany my wife and me to the military, and settle your mind to spend five years studying the martial art we give you, then five years from now, I will teach you this Spirit Snake Fist. What do you say?"
Xue Na let out a low gasp beside them, though she remained silent. Hao Qi, too, was deeply moved. Having lived in this world for nine years, he was well aware of its general common sense and naturally understood the immense value of the Spirit Snake Fist. Although the governments of various countries in this world strongly promoted martial arts for all citizens, advanced martial arts remained firmly in the hands of major clans, sects, and the elite. Commoners could generally only buy third-rate martial arts on the open market—for instance, the martial arts taught in universities were of third-rate standard. Second-rate martial arts required a hefty sum of money, and second-rate upper-grade martial arts were exceptionally precious, likely bringing lethal trouble to ordinary commoners.
As for first-rate martial arts, they simply did not circulate on the market. Even if they did, they could only be found on the black market or at auctions, monopolized and collected by clans, sects, and nobles. First-rate high-grade martial arts were so scarce even among those powerful factions that they were just a hair's breadth away from being secret, clan-defining, or sect-founding techniques. Their value was quite simply boundless. Judging by Xue Na's reaction, the martial art they had initially planned to offer him might not have been this Spirit Snake Fist at all; perhaps Li Pancheng was doing it as a favor to Xue Na, or perhaps out of recognition for Hao Qi having brought the Arhat Fist to the realm of mastery. But regardless of the reason, this favor was astonishingly huge. In colloquial terms, it was practically a debt of a second life.
Unfortunately, Hao Qi already had his own path and plans. While he did feel a certain yearning for the Spirit Snake Fist—if he had to compare, this Spirit Snake Fist was probably equivalent to the stronger upper-middle-tier martial arts of the 70-coefficient boxing skills in his System, or perhaps even the weakest of the 100-coefficient ones. One had to remember that the Sumeru Mountain God Palm and the Tianshan Six-Yang Palms of the Xiaoyao Sect were simply at the very pinnacle of the 100-coefficient martial arts.
"This... this is a profound grace," Hao Qi sighed. The other party had laid everything out so completely that he hardly knew how to refuse. In the end, he could only say, "Big Sis, Brother Li, I know I'm acting somewhat ungrateful right now, but please give me three months. Three months from now is my nineteenth birthday. If... once my nineteenth birthday has passed, I will agree to your request."
Xue Na glanced at Hao Qi with displeasure and snapped, "If what? Do you plan to push this boxing style all the way to the absolute peak of perfection? Tell me, how can someone be as stubborn as a brick wall?! Do you have any idea how much responsibility my husband has to shoulder by promising this Spirit Snake Fist to you? He'll probably be forced to kneel on a washboard the moment he gets back today!"
Li Pancheng smiled and gently patted Xue Na's small hand before speaking. "It's fine. Three months won't delay anything. Besides, being able to push a martial art to the peak realm is a tremendous enhancement to one's understanding of martial arts. You have to understand that I haven't pushed a single martial art to the peak realm myself. Once you reach the peak, even this unranked boxing style can be used by you to work wonders, gaining at least the power of a second-rate boxing style. By then, who knows, you might even innovate and create your own second-rate boxing style. So... three months. Is that Brother Hao's promise?"
Hao Qi earnestly thought of his ordinary life back on Earth, recalled the depression and despair he felt upon arriving in this world, thought of the resurgence that followed, and the dream that gave him the courage to go on living... The world was so vast, and he wanted to see it...
He thought of many things, but then his thoughts returned to reality, to everyday life, to the money Lin Xiong had pooled together for him, to seeing Lin Xiong bruised and battered time and again, and to the promise he had made to Lin Xiong: once he became an Inner Force Expert, he would take him to live the high life, eating and drinking like royalty...
And then there was the uncertainty of the System—whether practicing the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic would truly allow him to become an Inner Force Expert directly, just as someone who originally knew no martial arts at all, once equipped with the Arhat Fist, instantly mastered the first level of Arhat Fist...
All of this led Hao Qi to a firm decision. If, by his birthday, he had pushed the Arhat Fist to its peak yet still couldn't cultivate the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, or if cultivating it failed to grant him inner force, then he would truly abandon the System and forge ahead down-to-earth in this world, relying on the martial arts of this realm—whether for himself, for Xue Na, or for Lin Xiong...
Hao Qi cupped his fists and spoke solemnly.
"A promise is a promise!"
Chapter 8: The Rupture...
Ever since that conversation, Hao Qi had returned to his daily routine: attending school, practicing boxing, eating, and sleeping...
As he watched the proficiency of the Arhat Fist draw closer and closer to the peak realm, Hao Qi's heart grew increasingly anxious. After all, this truly concerned the greatest turning point of his entire life. What his future would look like—whether it would perfectly fulfill his dreams or settle into a down-to-earth, ordinary life—would be revealed the exact moment the Arhat Fist reached its peak. It was impossible for him to remain calm.
"Your mind is unsettled. Let's call it a day," Su Shiyan said, frowning slightly.
Hao Qi let out a breath and looked up at the sky. It was around three o'clock in the afternoon. Although he could technically continue practicing, his baseline quota of five thousand punches for the day was already complete, and his mind was indeed in disarray. It was better to finish early; otherwise, like those final punches he'd just thrown, without even a shred of empty-swing experience being registered, it would be a pure waste of physical stamina.
Seeing Hao Qi packing up his gear, Su Shiyan frowned as she looked at the punch marks he had left on the giant tree, particularly those from the final few strikes. Suddenly, she said to him, "Watch my sword."
In the blink of an eye, a flash of sword light illuminated the air like lightning. All Hao Qi saw was that glare, and in the very next instant, everything before him returned to normal. The quiet long-haired girl was still standing there, still holding her sheathed sword, remaining a good ten paces away from him.
"Just then... did you draw your sword?" Hao Qi asked in astonishment.
Su Shiyan did not answer. Instead, she looked at Hao Qi intently and said, "Ever since I've known you, every single punch you've thrown has carried sincerity, as if every strike were a query directed at the most honest depths of your own heart. That's why I thought highly of you. One who is sincere to martial arts will inevitably have martial arts be sincere to them. That's what my grandmother, an Inner Force Expert, told me when she initiated me into martial arts back when I was very little. She wanted me to be sincere to my martial arts, sincere to my sword, and sincere to my heart. That is why, even though I am half a year younger than you, I have already pushed a third-rate sword technique to the peak realm. That's also why I wanted to supervise you and have you learn martial arts from me. I believed you were that kind of person too. But today, I am deeply disappointed. I cannot see your sincerity. Are you... insulting the martial arts you've painstakingly practiced for nine years!?"
Su Shiyan's words were severe, yet Hao Qi remained silent. In truth, his methods and thoughts were diametrically opposed to what Su Shiyan suspected. For one thing, if he wasn't sincere, or if he didn't throw empty-swing punches with his whole heart as Su Shiyan imagined, the System simply wouldn't award him any empty-swing experience. He had verified this countless times over the past nine years, so how could he ever dare to throw empty swings without putting his heart into it?
Another reason lay in his utter lack of choices. Ever since he transmigrated into the orphanage over nine years ago—alone, without relatives, and with no prospects or future—his sole option had been his bundled-in cheat. This System was his entire future; how could he possibly dare not to be sincere toward it?
Even so, Su Shiyan's words were well-intentioned, and sincerity toward martial arts truly was the most crucial attitude for a martial artist. Although he possessed the System, the System was by no means omnipotent—at least, his System wasn't. Therefore, he needed to embody that very spirit. Today, he had indeed been in the wrong.
"I accept your instruction with respect," Hao Qi said, cupping his fists solemnly.
Su Shiyan looked into Hao Qi's earnest eyes and nodded slightly. She then turned and began walking toward a nearby path, and Hao Qi naturally fell in step behind her. As the two walked along toward the dormitories, after a brief silence, Su Shiyan suddenly asked, "What were you thinking about just now? Was it about your nineteenth birthday?"
Hao Qi had once told Su Shiyan that the most crucial changes would occur on his nineteenth birthday, and that the path of his future life would be chosen on that day.
In reality, Su Shiyan had long since investigated every detail of Hao Qi's background going back eighteen generations. After all, she was a direct scion of an elite family—and not just any scion, but one of the core members of the inner circle. Furthermore, the Su Family was one of the most powerful clans in the Qianshan Empire, allowing her to leverage numerous familial privileges even within the Lanying Republic, with personal connections being chief among them. Therefore, investigating the family history of someone completely lacking in background like Hao Qi was a trivial matter.
While she hadn't intended to impart her family's martial arts—something she lacked the authority to do anyway—she genuinely appreciated Hao Qi as a person. He was a rare, true martial artist. Although he currently practiced only an unranked boxing style, as long as he switched to another martial art, given his disposition and talent, his future achievements would be limitless, with a strong possibility of becoming an Inner Force Expert. She understood all too well what an Inner Force Expert represented to someone from an aristocratic family like hers. Thus, whether out of appreciation or a desire to forge a favorable connection, understanding Hao Qi's disposition, family background, and past was a necessary endeavor.
Naturally, Su Shiyan knew that Hao Qi was an orphan whose background was entirely ordinary. Moreover, only an orphan could possibly spend over nine years practicing such trashy, unranked boxing. However, he had an adoptive older sister who also grew up in an orphanage, and that sister happened to be the fiancée of Li Pancheng, the eldest legitimate son of the Capital's Li Family.
One could easily piece together the rest of the story. Intelligence reports mentioned that his sister Xue Na cared deeply for him and held genuine sibling affection for him. That was why she kept pushing him to enter the military, specifically into the troops commanded by Li Pancheng. This was clearly an attempt to involve Hao Qi in the Li Family's internal affairs using the status of a maternal relative by marriage, though Hao Qi had consistently refused.
Su Shiyan was even aware that a little over a month ago, after Xue Na and Li Pancheng returned to the Capital Circle, they had deliberately sought Hao Qi out at the university—on the very night she had taken the Jade Skin Pill. Hao Qi had even crossed fists with Xue Na, facts that Hao Qi himself had admitted to. Thus, the fact that Hao Qi had trained a set of boxing to the realm of mastery could simply not be concealed. Given that, even if Xue Na came from a commoner background and didn't understand such things, Li Pancheng certainly would. As long as he wasn't an idiot, he would undoubtedly try to recruit Hao Qi.
A brother-in-law by marriage with a good personality, sound disposition, and exceptional martial arts talent—most importantly, a true martial artist—was quite literally an unpolished piece of raw jade. For the Li Family, having someone whose loyalty needn't be doubted, who carried no heavy family baggage, and whose minimum future achievement would be a Quasi-Inner Force Expert, would be an immense asset. Securing his future position as an external retainer for the Li Family was virtually guaranteed. Rumor even had it that the Li Family suffered from an imbalance where the women were more prosperous than the men, and Li Pancheng had several younger sisters; if Hao Qi agreed to the recruitment, becoming a true member of the Li Family was a visible future.
Su Shiyan felt she had already guessed the source of Hao Qi's internal conflict: he would likely have to give an answer regarding the Li Family's recruitment on his nineteenth birthday, and that indeed marked a massive turning point in his future life path.
Hearing the question, Hao Qi nodded and said, "Yes... regarding the changes on my nineteenth birthday..."