"Iron Thread Fist" comprises eighteen moves which aren't hard. Lu Yan got the gist of it in just two days.
What's challenging is that these eighteen moves must be executed in sync with specific breathing techniques, and practiced repeatedly until the Qi-blood in the twelve main meridians is sensed and successfully transported during the execution of the moves.
After three days of instruction, seeing that Lu Yan had a basic understanding and could practice on his own, Lu Qingshan returned to hunting in the mountains.
Lu Qingshan stated that one's appetite would significantly increase once they embarked on the journey of martial arts, so he had to stock up on food for Lu Yan.
Lu Yan had originally planned to go hunting in the mountains with Lu Qingshan, but now that he had just stepped into the world of martial arts, he had to focus entirely on it, putting hunting on hold for now.
Huff, huff, huff...
In the bamboo forest, Lu Yan agilely moved his body, throwing out blow after blow. His movements were already quite entertaining to watch.
In the beginning, he had to think about how to execute the next move after every attack, but after a few days of hard cultivation, the moves began to flow together smoothly.
With every punch he threw, a flash of light would illuminate the Dao Book in his mind.
Meanwhile, the Archery Clone still cultivated when energy was available, and would pause when there was none. It had nothing to do with the Iron Thread Fist.
Lu Yan speculated that once he mastered the Iron Thread Fist, he should be able to conjure up an Iron Thread Fist Clone.
Time flew by, and after twenty days, Lu Yan still hadn't gotten the hang of the Iron Thread Fist.
One day, Lu Qingshan came back very late. It was only after nightfall that he finally returned.
As soon as he walked through the door, Lu Yan smelled the scent of blood and saw the bloody wound on Lu Qingshan's shoulder.
"Qingshan, you're hurt. How bad is it? Did you encounter a large wild beast?"
Wang Cui asked urgently, her words laced with a touch of panic and worry.
"Woman, it's nothing. Look what I've got."
Laughing, Lu Qingshan unveiled a bundle of firewood, revealing a roe deer inside.
The roe deer weighed an estimated forty pounds, equivalent to more than a dozen wild rabbits.
"Dad, did you go into the depths of the mountain?"
Lu Yan asked.
Generally, there are few large animals in the outskirts of Woniu Mountain, but in the deeper parts of the mountain, large animals frequently appear. It is incredibly dangerous for an ordinary person.
"Yes, Yan, once you begin martial arts, you'll be able to refine your body by transporting Qi-blood. You will also need to accumulate Qi-blood, which will greatly increase your appetite. You will need a substantial amount of meat for cultivation, so I want to stock up on meat for you..." Lu Qingshan said before assuring them, "Don't worry, I have over a decade of hunting experience. I'll be fine."
"Dad..."
Lu Yan clenched his fists, feeling a twinge of sourness in his nose.
He knew well that despite Lu Qingshan's reassurances, the hunting trip must have been fraught with peril, evidenced by the wound on his shoulder.
"Dad, don't take such risks in the future. I would rather progress slowly in my training than see you put yourself in danger. What would my mom and I do if anything happened to you?" Lu Yan said earnestly, without any falsehood.
Now, he truly regarded Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui as his own kin.
"Yes, Qingshan, Yan is right. If anything happens to you, how could Yan and I survive?" Wang Cui followed up.
"Alright, I promise you both. I won't take risks without full assurance in the future. Cui, why don't you clean up the roe deer and marinate it with huajiao powder?"
Lu Qingshan said.
Huajiao, a wild spice with a salty and spicy flavor, can be ground into powder after being dried in the sun. It can be used to marinate and preserve meat for months without it spoiling.
Since they couldn't afford to buy salt, they had no choice but to use huajiao instead.
"Dad, let me treat your wound."
"Alright, Yan, once you've mastered the Iron Thread Fist, tell me. Then your mom will prepare more meat for you."
...
That night, Wang Cui stewed three pounds of roe meat. The aroma was intoxicating and Lu Yan ended up eating two pounds.
The two pounds of roe meat significantly boosted the progress of his archery practice.
Over the past twenty days, his archery skills had gradually improved and were now close to reaching the peak of perfection, a significant improvement from before.
"It's almost there. In a few days, I should master the Iron Thread Fist and reach the peak in archery."
Upon this thought, Lu Yan was filled with anticipation.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
As expected, his archery skills were the first to hit the peak of perfection.
In the bamboo forest, Lu Yan kept throwing punches. His body warmed up as steam billowed from his sweat, and he could clearly feel the Qi-blood rushing in the twelve meridians within his body.
After a while, Lu Yan stopped and focused his senses on his mind.
An additional human-like pattern emerged on the Dao Book, which then separated from the book, transforming into another 'Lu Yan'.
Above its head was labeled: Clone, Iron Thread Fist, Initial Understanding (1%).
"As expected, I was correct. Once the Iron Thread Fist is mastered, a clone is formed."
Lu Yan was very curious and examined the Iron Thread Fist Clone closely.
The Iron Thread Fist Clone was quite similar to the Archery Clone. It didn't wear any clothes, its body was transparent, and even the muscles, meridians, bones, and even internal organs were clearly visible.
However, there were also differences.
The Iron Thread Fist Clone was fully engaged in practicing the eighteen moves of the Iron Thread Fist. While it was executing moves, you could clearly see the red Qi-blood flowing through the twelve main meridians in its body.
But soon, the Iron Thread Fist Clone ceased to move.
Lu Yan's stomach also emitted a growling sound.
Since it was nearing dusk, Lu Yan decided to stop and return. Lu Qingshan had just come back from hunting.
"Dad, I've mastered the Iron Thread Fist."
Lu Yan announced.
"You've mastered it? Good, well done."
A beaming Lu Qingshan praised him.
Despite the praise, Lu Qingshan felt a slight disappointment. Given Lu Yan's talent demonstrated in archery, he had thought that Lu Yan would master the Iron Thread Fist sooner.
Ordinary people practicing third-rate martial arts can start making progress in about a month.
It took him 24 days at that time, while Lu Yan took 23 days, slightly better than him, but only considered above average.
This was far from the martial arts prodigy he had imagined.
But once embarked on the path of Martial Arts, there was no turning back for Lu Yan. There was no question of giving up halfway.
"After you have begun, you need to start accumulating Qi-blood. I will have your mother cook extra meat for you every day."
Said Lu Qingshan.
That evening, Wang Cui cooked two kilograms of meat, all for Lu Yan.
Lu Yan did not decline. As long as he could improve, their home would never run out of food and their lives would get better and better.
Devouring two kilograms of meat, the Iron Thread Fist clone immediately began to cultivate undistractedly.
Lu Yan shifted his focus to the Iron Thread Fist, and the Archery Clone stopped, no longer absorbing energy for cultivation.
The effects of cultivating via a clone were incomparable to an ordinary person. When people cultivate, there will always be distractions. However, when a clone cultivates, it is completely free from such disruptions. It empties everything and dedicates itself entirely to cultivation.
When the Iron Thread Fist clone stopped, dawn was just breaking, and the progress had increased by 20 points, reaching an initial understanding (21%).
Lu Yan calculated that although the same amount of meat was used, the time spent cultivating by the Iron Thread Fist clone and the Archery Clone was roughly similar, their progress was vastly different.
At the same initial understanding level, with two kg of meat, the ordinary Archery Clone could improve by 60%, while the Iron Thread Fist clone could only improve by 20%.
As expected, there was a reason martial arts was martial arts. It could not be compared to ordinary archery. The energy consumed at the same level was enormously different.
The breakfast still comprised meat, about a kilogram.
Lu Qingshan instructed Wang Cui to prepare meat for Lu Yan for each meal in the future, about a kilogram per meal.
After breakfast, Lu Yan immediately went to the bamboo grove to practice boxing.
Whooosh...
Lu Yan swung his fists, and the faint sound of fists splitting the air could be heard. Qi-blood in the twelve major vessels started to circulate, albeit at a very slow increase rate.
Three hours later, Lu Yan stopped practicing boxing.
"The progress of the Iron Thread Fist has only increased by 5% before stopping."
Lu Yan pondered. According to the pattern yesterday, wasn't a kilogram of meat supposed to improve it by 10%?
He quickly understood the crux of the matter.
During boxing, his body's Qi-blood was being mobilized. To accumulate Qi-blood, energy was also needed.
When he ate meat, the energy was divided in half. Half was absorbed by the Dao Book, which provided energy for the clone to cultivate, and the other half was absorbed by the body to provide nutrients and enhance Qi-blood.
With half the energy, the progress naturally also halved.
"It's not enough. There's simply not enough meat," Lu Yan sighed.
But For now, there were no better options. Only after improving his strength and going hunting with Lu Qingshan in the mountains could he obtain more meat.
Fine knives don't delay the work of chopping wood.
Lu Yan decided to get back home.
In these few days, the faces of the villagers of Kaoshan Village were filled with joy.
Because it was the season for harvesting potatoes. With good climate alternating between sunshine and rain, the potatoes grew plump. After paying the taxes, each family was left with a fair amount. With these potatoes, getting through the winter wouldn't be hard.
After the winter, when they began to plant other crops, a positive cycle would form, and life would start to improve.
Everyone was filled with hope.
"People in this era don't ask for much. To them, happiness is simply having enough to eat," Lu Yan sighed.
Four and half days later.
"I've finally reached slight achievement."
Lu Yan was elated.
Four and a half days, with three kg of meat every day, the progress could increase by about 15%, plus some other grains improving the progress by about 2%. Therefore, the progress could increase by about 17% daily.
Of course, personal boxing practice could also improve progress, albeit very slowly, and far from the progress of the clone.
Upon reaching slight achievement, Iron Thread Fist cleared eighteen secondary meridians in the arms and hands, connecting to twelve main meridians. The speed of accumulating Qi-blood during boxing practice did indeed quicken quite a bit.
Furthermore, as Qi-blood spread to the arms and hands through the secondary meridians, it could temper the arms and hands, enhancing their strength.
In fact, while boxing, other parts of the body could also be permeated by Qi-blood and tempered, but at a much slower rate compared to the arms and hands.
Once the Iron Thread Fist was activated, faint black lines would appear on the arms, similar to iron threads, hence its name.
The Iron Thread Fist clone also underwent changes. You could clearly see the 18 secondary meridians in the arms, with Qi-blood circulation, exactly mirroring the true body.
However, after the Iron Thread Fist reached a small success, both the clone and the true body practiced boxing together. With one kilogram of meat, the progress could only increase by 2.5%. The progress of Iron Thread Fist started to slow down.
In the blink of an eye, another half a month passed.
Iron Thread Fist clone, mastery (1%).
Originally, according to the previous progress, it should have taken just over a month for the Iron Thread Fist to reach mastery.
But because the previously stored meat was consumed, even though Lu Qingshan went hunting diligently from dawn to dusk, not every day had a successful hunt. The amount of meat Lu Yan ate daily was reduced from three kilograms to one and a half kilograms. Thus, it took a month and a half to reach mastery.
Still, this was equivalent to a decade of hard labour for ordinary people.
Lu Yan had roughly figured out the pattern. For each level that martial arts advances, with the same amount of meat, the progress made gets halved.
"Dad, I want to go hunting with you in the mountains."
Lu Yan spoke up.
With rapid boxing skill progress, the speed of accumulating Qi-blood naturally wasn't slow either. His height was growing rapidly too, reaching 1.7 meters now.
Remember that when he first transmigrated, he was still under 1.6 meters tall.
His strength exceeded that of an average stout man. Adding on the mastery level Iron Thread Fist, his fighting power was impressive. It was time to go hunting in the mountains.
This was normal. Ordinary people would still be at the stage of initial understanding after practicing boxing for several months.
At the initial understanding stage, not even the secondary meridians have been unblocked, and they could only mobilize the Qi-blood of the twelve major meridians. The speed at which Qi-blood accumulates is as slow as a snail. How could they be compared to Lu Yan?
Reaching mastery meant unblocking 72 secondary meridians.