Chapter 31 : Chapter 31
Chapter 31. Getting Started with Benlei Fist!
After that incident, the superficial harmony in the dormitory was completely shattered, and everyone split once more into several small cliques.
After Gao Yuan openly cursed Chen Sanli, he went on to confront Wang Huan and even lumped Qin Yang into the conflict. Naturally, their relationship dropped to freezing point.
Li Shan often spent time with Chen Sanli and Wang Huan, so he also grew somewhat distant from Gao Yuan.
On the other side was the hard-training group of Xu Yuan, Tian Yang, and Xiao Sheng. After the incident, Gao Yuan instead gradually grew closer to them, occasionally practicing together.
In such an environment, time passed quickly, and soon it was December 18.
The matter of the water kettle had long passed, and the dormitory atmosphere had eased considerably. When Gao Yuan, Chen Sanli, and the others met, they would at least greet one another.
However, it was difficult to return to the warmth and friendliness they once had.
That evening, after everyone had washed up, they lay on their beds, chatting lightly.
At that moment, Wang Huan glanced at the group, cleared his throat, and suddenly said, “I wonder how everyone is progressing now?”
“I’ve barely reached the bottleneck of the second meridian. I’ll probably break through by the end of this month.”
He said this partly to check everyone else’s progress, and partly because the dormitory had been too stifling lately. He wanted to liven up the atmosphere.
“As expected of Brother Wang!” Chen Sanli was the first to congratulate him, then said with a bitter expression, “I’ve managed to nurture a trace of internal force, but controlling it to enhance my fist techniques is still far off.”
Wang Huan nodded. Chen Sanli’s aptitude had always been average, and now it seemed his comprehension was also mediocre. He continued, “What about you, Shan?”
“So-so. My comprehension isn’t very good. I don’t even know if I can get started by the end of the month… If I had known earlier, I would have chosen to focus on breaking through my cultivation.” Li Shan shook his head, not very optimistic.
“What about you, Yang?”
“I’m not very confident either.” Qin Yang’s expression looked somewhat unpleasant. He had originally thought that getting started with Benlei Fist would not be difficult, but after suffering repeated setbacks recently, he had not even gone to watch opera for several days.
“Yuanzi?” Seeing the atmosphere ease slightly, Wang Huan continued asking.
“I feel pretty good,” Gao Yuan said calmly. He had never been lazy, and after training hard with Xu Yuan over the past few days, he could already control some internal force. He would likely reach entry level by the end of the month.
“What about Brother Xu?”
“It’s alright,” Xu Yuan replied casually. Then he looked at the panel in his mind.
[Skills: Tai Chi Exercise (Major Mastery 3%) Stone Platform Stance (Minor Mastery 32%) Benlei Fist (Entry 61%)]
[Aptitude: 8 (Exceptional Bone Structure)]
He planned to focus on practicing Benlei Fist from now on. Once the martial technique was fully learned, he would feed its progress back into tempering his qi and blood, using that to break through to the second meridian realm. It would not take long.
However, this matter was too unusual. While others had not even succeeded in one aspect, he already had two within reach. Naturally, it was not something he could openly reveal.
Hearing such a vague answer, Wang Huan felt somewhat dissatisfied. “What do you mean ‘alright’? Why are you always so unclear?”
“Who can guarantee success in something like this?” Xu Yuan shrugged.
His progress was indeed fast, but there was no need to reveal it now and invite jealousy.
After all, every time he improved a skill in the future, his aptitude would also increase. With sufficient cultivation resources, he would soon surpass them, which would surely draw attention.
By keeping things ambiguous now, others could not gauge his true level. Even if they later became suspicious of his aptitude, there would still be a reasonable explanation.
Wang Huan shook his head and then asked Xiao Sheng, “What about you, Xiao?”
“Hard to say.” Xiao Sheng was not very confident either. Although he was diligent, his comprehension was only average.
“Tian?”
Hearing the familiar question, Tian Yang’s body trembled slightly as he hurriedly said, “I… I feel average.”
In truth, his aptitude and comprehension were both quite good, and he had been training hard alongside Xu Yuan. He had already developed some understanding.
However, he had suffered greatly from showing off his progress before, so he no longer dared to speak carelessly.
After going around everyone, Wang Huan found that their progress was largely as expected. After a moment, he tried to bring up some interesting topics to liven up the dormitory again.
But seeing that everyone had little enthusiasm after discussing their progress and responded coldly, he also lost interest and ended the conversation in an anticlimactic manner.
…
Time flew by, and soon it was December 22.
On the training grounds, inside a quiet chamber:
Xu Yuan lowered his stance into a horse stance, his upper arm tensed like a drawn bow. He suddenly threw a punch, its momentum fierce and its residual force formidable.
The heat of his breath met the cold air, forming a visible white mist. His knuckles grew warm, and the qi and blood within his body circulated continuously as support.
Suddenly, his body trembled. His punching movements became more natural and fluid. Each strike produced a crisp sound of cutting through the air, and his punching speed grew faster and faster—swift as lightning.
The faint internal force within his body, influenced by the momentum of his punches, extended outward like an extension of his palm. A strike landed on the ground from a distance, leaving behind a faint white mark.
“I’ve finally gotten started with Benlei Fist.”
Xu Yuan let out a long breath of turbid air, knowing that after many days of hard training, he had finally mastered the basics of Benlei Fist.
He opened the panel in his mind.
[Skills: Tai Chi Exercise (Major Mastery 3%) Stone Platform Stance (Minor Mastery 33%) Benlei Fist (Minor Mastery 1%)]
[Aptitude: 9 (Exceptional Bone Structure)]
As expected, Benlei Fist had advanced after reaching the entry stage.
“It’s just that this aptitude… it only increased by one point? This fist technique is far more difficult than the previous exercise.”
Xu Yuan looked at the aptitude section he cared about most. The increase was minimal.
“It seems that 8 points of aptitude is a threshold. Every further increase will be more difficult. Still, that is acceptable—quantitative changes will eventually lead to qualitative transformation.”
Improving aptitude was like stacking boxes; the higher one stacked, the harder it became. This also eliminated Xu Yuan’s idea of using simpler skills to artificially boost his aptitude.
“Now that I’ve gotten started with Benlei Fist, I can barely control the internal force I’ve nurtured. However, this force is still weak. It will likely need further nourishment through the growth of qi and blood.”
Feeling the changes brought by mastering the basics of the fist technique, Xu Yuan felt secretly delighted.
Only after nurturing internal force could a martial artist truly distinguish themselves from ordinary people—capable of shattering rocks with strength, breaking sturdy wood, and stepping into the threshold of the martial path.
If he could further break through to the second meridian realm, he would be able to live quite comfortably even elsewhere in the Prefecture City.
“Next, it’s time to break through to the second meridian realm. Only then will this internal force truly become threatening.”
Xu Yuan recalled Zhao Qiusheng’s earlier move. Compared to himself, the gap was enormous.
The other party had accumulated far more qi and blood than he had.
“So I must not become arrogant. I still have a long way to go.”