"Hmm, this one looks even bigger than the one from yesterday," murmured Wang An.
The wild boar raised its head and sniffed the air.
"Over here!" Wang An clapped his hands.
The wild boar turned its head to look at Wang An. Wild boars had territorial instincts, and Wang An had intruded into its territory. To the wild boar, Wang An was nothing but an intruder.
After a moment's hesitation, the wild boar charged toward Wang An. It speeded up as it approached him. Soon, it was right beside him.
Wang An dodged swiftly.
The wild boar rushed past him and left behind a gust of wind, and then, it turned around to charge again.
In the narrow woods, the wild boar charged, and Wang An dodged.
Instead of bullfighting, he was "boar fighting." This was real combat. It trained his agility and reflexes.
Wang An was only dodging and was not counterattacking.
After four consecutive charges, there was another commotion in the woods, and another wild boar appeared.
"Two of them?"
Wang An squinted. Facing two wild boars at once was undoubtedly riskier than dealing with one.
"Come on!" Wang An beckoned to them.
Huffing and puffing, the two wild boars charged at him. One approached from the left and another from the right.
Wang An's body sank, and his feet seemed to adhere to the ground like suction cups.
With a sudden move, one of the wild boars charged past him and missed him entirely.
At that moment, Wang An's agility was like a monkey's. He swiftly twisted and dodged. Then, the second wild boar rushed past him.
Wang An felt his heart rate drop by half.
Just like the first time he faced a wild boar, dodging gave him confidence.
"Come again!"
In the woods, a peculiar scene unfolded. Two wild boars continuously charged at Wang An, but he evaded them every time.
This trained his eyesight, reflexes, and courage. One small mistake could result in injury or even death.
From above, one could see two wild boars circling Wang An aggressively. They charged, but Wang An was as nimble as a monkey and light as a bird. The two wild boars, despite their speed, could not even touch him.
After a while, the two wild boars stopped chasing him. They stood there panting heavily. They were clearly exhausted.
"Come on! Let's continue!" Wang An said to the two wild boars.
They charged again.
But this time, the two wild boars were slower than they were before.
Wang An's body sank, and he swiftly dodged one of the wild boars with a single palm strike.
Then, he turned quickly and delivered another palm strike on the second wild boar.
Both wild boars were sent flying almost simultaneously.
They crashed onto the ground, rolled a few times, and one hit a large tree while the other collided with a rocky hill. Both let out cries of pain.
"Pepper, George, are you okay?"
The two wild boars whimpered on the ground for a moment before getting up and running back into the forest.
"Well, it looks like they're okay. We'll continue tomorrow!" Wang An shouted toward the woods, but this time, he did not chase after the wild boars.
[You've just had a friendly exchange with two wild boars. This was a meaningful experience.]
'Yes, it was indeed a meaningful experience.'
He brushed off the grass and dust from his clothes. He then descended the mountain with a satisfied feeling.
Over the next few days, in addition to teaching his grandparents the Five Animal Forms at home and practicing Tai Chi himself, Wang An went to the mountains every day to practice with the wild boars.
Sometimes there was one wild boar, sometimes two, and at most, he had faced three wild boars simultaneously. The most dangerous encounter was the one with three wild boars.
During these practice sessions with the wild boars, his footwork made significant progress.
[Tai Chi experience +15]
[Tai Chi Experience +10]
[Intention Fist experience +20]
If practicing in the swimming pool was about balance and power, then practicing with the wild boars in the woods was all about speed and agility.
Regarding candor, Intention Fist excelled, but when it came to lightness and versatility, Tai Chi was more useful. Moreover, Tai Chi was not slow. It could be fast when necessary.
After several days, the wild boars no longer attacked him. Instead, they avoided him when they detected his scent. They had become afraid of him.
'Hmm, they're avoiding me now. Who says pigs are dumb? They are quite clever.' Wang An mused. 'However, this won't do. If you don't come to me, how can I practice and improve?'
Since the wild boars wouldn't bother him anymore, he went to trouble them. He went to their lair and forced them into combat.
[After a period of special training (sparring with wild boars), your body's agility and reflexes have improved.]
Time passed by, and his grandfather's back pain seemed to have become better with the Five Animal Forms exercises. This proved that the Five Animal Forms had some effect in treating and alleviating certain physical ailments.
Perhaps the old man felt the changes in his body, or perhaps it had become a habit after nearly ten days, but Wang An no longer needed to urge him to practice the Five Animal Forms daily. He did it on his own.
[After practicing the Five Animal Forms for a while, your body's muscle strength, power, endurance, flexibility, and digestive capacity have all improved to a certain extent.]
One day, as Wang An practiced the Five Animal Forms in the morning, a prompt suddenly appeared.
He remembered receiving a similar prompt nearly two months ago. Since then, his appetite had increased dramatically, and his strength had started to grow rapidly.
He had not expected to receive another prompt after just two months.
'It seems that the benefits of the Five Animal Forms are not just about strengthening the body, promoting health, and extending life, as described online. It truly can change a person's physique. It is almost like a rebirth!'
For more than ten days that he spent here, Wang An had taken some time each day to read the book called "Diamond Zen." He had firmly imprinted the cultivation methods and three palm techniques from the book into his mind.
Every day, he practiced the techniques described in the ancient book hundreds of times, but he had yet to receive any prompts from the system.
"Is it because I'm practicing them incorrectly, or is it just not the right time?" Wang An was puzzled.
He had thought it would be relatively easy to grasp the basics since he had a foundation in Tai Chi and Intention Fist. However, he was still struggling to make progress.
This was the first time he had encountered such an issue.
It was not just "Vajra Dhyana Palm Technique" that he could not seem to grasp. His progress in Tai Chi also seemed to have hit a bottleneck.
He practiced every day, but his experience points were increasing very slowly at a turtle's pace.
At this rate, he did not know when he would level up again. It might take many years.
'No need to rush. Take it slow…'
Wang An remained positive. In his view, martial arts practice was like polishing a stone. It could not be rushed. Sometimes rapid progress might not necessarily be a good thing.