Chapter 30: The Fist Technique and Stance Training Advance Once More!
"Can practicing stance exercises more help control the closing of pores?"
Late at night, Chen Jue went up to the reservoir, his mind constantly occupied by this question as he trained. He began with an hour of Boat Boxing practice, followed by another hour of Eight Immortals Stance on the small boat, both skills improving significantly.
Especially while practicing the Eight Immortals Stance, Chen Jue increasingly felt that those experts on the forum truly possessed real martial arts skills. His own pores, as he practiced, alternately closed and opened, exactly as the young moderator of the Internal Martial Arts subforum had described.
The more proficient he became in stance training, the more freely he could control his body. Yet, he still couldn't achieve the state of full pore closure like he had when chasing the thief earlier that morning.
He probably hadn’t realized it himself: after jumping off the bus, his sense of justice and adrenaline had overridden his rationality, and in his urgency to apprehend the thief, his thoughts affected his physical state.
Just as the forum experts said: when your intent surges, power arises naturally, and the pores close instinctively.
Though he couldn’t yet close his pores at will and unite his whole body's strength, as his proficiency with the Eight Immortals Stance increased, he felt that the so-called mastery of "Bright Energy" was not far off.
...
Descending the hill, he glanced at his attribute panel:
Player: Chen Jue
Age: 27
Health Index: 98%
Strength: 1.01
Agility: 0.98
Intelligence: 1.23
Constitution: 1.58
Skills: [Boat Boxing Lv1 (162/200)] [Twelve Forms of Yijin Jing Lv1 (10/200)] [Eight Immortals Stance Lv1 (166/200)]
Available Attribute Points: 0.32
"Earned 0.06 attribute points tonight."
"I've been saving up free attribute points for almost three days. Might as well add one before bed."
He glanced at his agility stat, still below "1," and, feeling a surge of compulsion, added 0.02, letting agility break through the human limit of "1."
Back home, he turned off the stove for the Ten-herb Tonic Soup he'd been simmering for two hours, poured the medicinal broth into a large enamel pot to cool.
After resting for a while and watching the steam dissipate, Chen Jue deemed it drinkable. He invested 0.08 attribute points, maxing out the proficiency of Boat Boxing and Eight Immortals Stance.
Instantly, a long-lost muscle memory spread through his body. His understanding of the boxing and stance deepened, reaching a point with no blind spots or misunderstandings.
His interest piqued, Chen Jue leapt onto the solid wood table in the living room. With a soft shout, his pores instinctively contracted and closed under the stimulus.
A warm current spread through his body; Chen Jue knew this wasn't inner energy or true qi, but the rapid surge of blood within!
---
After days of observing and learning in various martial arts and internal boxing forums, Chen Jue was well aware that real-world martial arts couldn't produce any so-called true qi. The "qi" that experts often spoke of was, in fact, just vital energy and blood.
Previously, his skills weren't refined enough to fully master the method of circulating vital energy. But now, with his stance and boxing both improved, he automatically grasped this so-called qi method!
"So comfortable!"
"This is the feeling!"
"Just like when I sprinted this morning!"
Chen Jue's eyes brightened. He practiced stance and boxing on the solid wood table for nearly half an hour, watching his strength, agility, and constitution each rise by 0.05 points, before the feeling of emptiness and fatigue swept over him.
Fortunately, he was prepared. He jumped off the table, hurried to the kitchen, and drank the cooled Ten-herb Tonic Soup in one go, then performed the closing posture of the Eight Immortals Stance.
Warm energy spread from his stomach, nourishing his whole body. Chen Jue relaxed his pores, and a visible wave of heat surged outward, white mist steaming, hot air billowing. He seemed like a pot of boiling water.
Only after the tonic soup was fully digested did the sweat stop pouring out.
Then Chen Jue stepped forward and punched into the air. A crisp "snap," like a whip cracking, echoed in the kitchen, his pores closing instinctively at the moment of the punch.
"This is what the forum experts call a sound worth its weight in gold!"
"And being able to close pores at will! Could this be mastery of Bright Energy?"
Delighted, Chen Jue looked at his arm, flexed his muscles, and saw the hairs stand up on the back of his arm. Testing other areas, he found that except for a few places like his eyelids, 99% of his skin could achieve pore closure.
"Looks like I really have reached Bright Energy mastery!"
"No wonder the stance and boxing are now Lv2!"
He checked his attribute panel:
Player: Chen Jue
Age: 27
Health Index: 99%
Strength: 1.06
Agility: 1.05
Intelligence: 1.23
Constitution: 1.63
Skills: [Boat Boxing Lv2 (1/500)] [Twelve Forms of Yijin Jing Lv1 (10/200)] [Eight Immortals Stance Lv2 (1/500)]
Available Attribute Points: 0.22
"The proficiency required for the next upgrade didn’t double to 400, but jumped straight to 500?" Chen Jue stared at the Lv2 proficiency requirement, lost in thought.
Additionally, his health index had risen by 1%, leaving just 1% to reach full value.
---
"I wonder how powerful I’ll become after mastering Bright Energy. If only I had a punching bag to test my strength." Chen Jue glanced around the room.
There was plenty of sports equipment, but nothing for testing punch force.
His eyes drifted to the freshly painted white wall, and an urge to punch it suddenly overwhelmed his reason.
With a muffled "thud," Chen Jue, possessed as if by martial madness, confident in his newfound mastery, stepped forward and punched the living room wall without hesitation.
The old house shook in response!
The spot he struck sank inward—the wall had a hollow core, thin red bricks on the outside, and a layer of white paint. Chen Jue’s powerful punch directly fractured the red brick, causing it to cave in, the white paint cracking in a ring.
But after the punch, regret set in. His fist hurt terribly.
He raised it for inspection: all the knuckles were scraped raw, blood oozing out, and though the bones weren't broken, there was a dull ache signaling micro-fractures.
"Damn!"
"Got carried away!"
Once his senses returned, Chen Jue cursed himself for getting so caught up in practice that he’d used his bare fist against a wall.
Fortunately, the injury wasn’t too serious. He hurried to find a piece of white gauze, disinfected with alcohol, sprayed on some herbal medicine, and wrapped it up.
After half an hour of fussing, the pain subsided somewhat.
He checked his health value: sure enough, the freshly raised 99% had dropped to 94%, a full 5% lost in one go, showing how much injury impacts the body.
...
With his injured right hand wrapped in a plastic bag, Chen Jue showered and went upstairs to lie on his bed, scrolling on his phone.
Unable to use his right hand, he typed with his left, posting a help thread on the forum and attaching a photo of his wounded hand.
"Help, experts! Are there any martial arts to increase body hardness? Practiced boxing tonight, hurt myself on a hard punching bag (see photo)."
It was peak activity hour, and soon many replied.
"Pat, newbie OP! Next time, remember to wear gloves when punching a bag (pat-pat)."
"There are plenty of arts for hardness. Which body part do you want to train?"
"Does anyone know how to increase hardness in that area? (dog head)"
"That’s the 'Unyielding Art' (comic)."
"Off-topic! (I’m calling the police!)"
The replies were lively, and after several off-topic jokes, a serious expert steered the conversation back: "If you just want to train your hands, try Iron Palm! For full body, consider Shaolin Body Conditioning, Golden Bell Armor, Iron Shirt—once mastered, you’ll be impervious to blades and bullets, even a drill bit can’t penetrate (dog head)."
He attached a GIF: a Shaolin monk pressing a drill to his temple, face grim and determined, the caption reading "I can’t take it anymore," turning this display of martial prowess into a meme. Chen Jue watched, dumbfounded, and responded with a meme of an old man glaring at his phone, then went off to search the hard arts mentioned by the experts.