Chapter 178: The Lightfoot Swallow Art
With his entry into the Martial path, Han Xuhan’s days fell into a strict routine.
Every morning and evening, he spent an hour practicing the moves of the Lightfoot Swallow Art under Xuanyuan Zhou’s guidance. If she was busy with her own cultivation, he went to consult Mu Ran.
At times when both of them were busy, he practiced alongside Xiao Wu, who was now one of Elder Long’s favorite pupils despite being from the Salted Fish Mountain Peak. The Elder lamented every now and then how Elder Daheng had lucked out with three martial geniuses in his shitty mountain.
True to Senior Brother Lin’s description, the Lightfoot Swallow Technique was the simplest martial art out there. Han Xuhan managed to grasp its essence within a few days, and all that remained was to put his comprehension into practice.
The manual had only seven sections.
The first section contained a breathing technique, meant to be used during every moment of a practice session. This breathing method unlocked and harnessed vital energy, which was the core of martial strength, just as important as qi is to Mystic Arts.
The second section dealt with stances that improved the practitioner’s physique when coupled with the breathing technique. There were twelve stances, each focusing on a distinct part of the body.
The third section took several stances and combined them into offensive moves. The practitioner had to execute each move while continuing the breathing technique for maximum effectiveness in combat.
Similar to the third section, the fourth section displayed several defensive moves, each of them combining two to five stances. The lengthier ones could even be called escaping moves in close combat.