Moonlight was cold and clear.
Jiang Ning stood in the courtyard.
[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Entry level 0/100)
He looked at his panel, lost in thought.
"Just this afternoon while practicing boxing, I actually gained another four points of experience value! Looking at it this way, it's not that practicing a boxing technique only gains one point of experience value, but as long as I practice diligently, the minimum gain is one point of experience value!"
After thinking it over briefly, Jiang Ning felt this was quite reasonable.
Common people often had moments of sudden comprehension in martial arts, and there were even sayings about drawing inferences about other cases from one instance.
If every practice session could only add a maximum of one experience point, wouldn't it be unreasonable to need to practice a common lower-level martial arts ten times just to reach entry level?
That would indeed be too illogical!
"This is more like it!!!" His heart was even more excited.
With this panel, it meant that diligent efforts would be rewarded by the heavens; hard work would inevitably yield results.
This was simply a direct path to the heavens.
How could he not be excited?
Immediately,
"Hu——"
He exhaled a breath of impure energy and slowly suppressed the excitement in his heart.
What changes would there be after entering the threshold of the Five Animals Fist?
According to the boxing manual, cultivating the first thread of Qi-Blood indicated entry into the Five Animals Fist.
At the entry level of Five Animals Fist, each practice session could temper the body and had the opportunity to cultivate Qi Blood Power.
Let's give it a try!
Jiang Ning clenched his fists. The physical strength he had consumed during the afternoon's practice had now fully recovered, thanks to the medicinal soup and a full meal, leaving him brimming with energy and full of power with no outlet.
Now was the perfect state for practicing boxing.
The next moment, Jiang Ning took up his stance and began to practice his boxing.
On the steps, Jiang Li also sat quietly in a chair watching.
Watching Jiang Ning's every move in sync with the breathing techniques, he looked fierce and imposing.
"Not bad! Really not bad!!" He nodded with satisfaction.
[Five Animals Fist Experience Value +1]
At the moment this prompt appeared, Jiang Ning suddenly felt a warm current in his body.
Wherever the warm current passed, it felt as if bathing in a warm spring, incredibly comforting.
He could feel his physique growing stronger under the nourishment of this Qi Blood Power.
[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Entry level 1/100)
In an instant, following the breakthrough in the Five Animals Fist to entry level,
"I now have two threads of Qi-Blood!"
Jiang Ning clenched his fists, feeling the two threads of Qi-Blood moving through his body as if under his command.
When the Qi-Blood Power arrived at his right palm, with its empowerment, Jiang Ning could feel his right palm becoming even more powerful.
This was the effect after entering the Five Animals Fist; one could mobilize the Qi-Blood Power in conjunction with the Five Animals Fist.
Under these circumstances, when the Qi-Blood Power surged into his fist, activating the Tiger Form resulted in an extremely strong explosive power, and activating the Bear Form greatly increased strength, as if taking root in the ground.
The Qi-Blood Power flowing into his feet, activating the Ape Form, made his movements agile and unrestricted, while activating the Crane Form significantly increased speed.
The next moment,
As the Qi-Blood fused, he activated the Tiger Form Boxing and threw a punch at the tree trunk in front of him, with an explosive force.
Peng——
A muffled sound echoed, the small tree shook, and the leaves rustled loudly.
"What is this!!!" Jiang Li, sitting in the chair, widened his eyes in shock at this scene.
"Is this the power of Qi-Blood reinforcing the fist?" He could hardly believe it.
When Jiang Ning withdrew his fist, the previously fragile-looking fist compared to the tree trunk was merely reddened, without any injury.
"Indeed, only when one has mastered the power of Qi-Blood can they barely be considered a martial artist!"
He murmured to himself, then walked towards a corner of the courtyard.
There, two rows of stone locks laid, ranging from 50 catties, to 100, 150, up to 1000 catties.
"I wonder if the afternoon of practicing boxing has increased my strength!"
He came to the smallest stone lock.
This was a fifty-catties stone lock.
He lifted it with one hand with ease.
"It definitely feels much easier, it seems that an afternoon of practicing boxing indeed increased my strength!"
Jiang Ning put the fifty-catties stone lock back on the ground, then placed his right hand on a hundred-catties stone lock beside it.
"I wonder if I can lift this hundred-catties stone lock." He murmured to himself.
He had tried to lift this hundred-catties stone lock before, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift it completely.
This was normal.
Because, based on his understanding, it was rare for an adult male in his previous life to lift a 100-pound dumbbell with one hand.
Moreover, in this life he was only eighteen years old, living in a feudal-like era where nutrition fell far short of that of normal men in his previous life.
So it had felt quite normal to him before when he couldn't lift a stone lock weighing 100 pounds with one hand.
A flurry of thoughts flashed through Jiang Ning's mind as he suddenly exerted force with his right hand.
The 100-pound stone lock instantly left the ground, being lifted into the air by his single hand.
"My strength has indeed grown!!"
Jiang Ning attempted to weigh it with one hand several more times until he was almost exhausted before he finally put down the stone lock.
"Lifting a 100-pound stone lock with one hand effortlessly, it seems my strength has improved by ten to twenty percent in just one afternoon, this effect is truly remarkable!!"
"This is just a pure physical change, if coupled with the power of Qi-Blood, the increase in strength would be even more pronounced!"
At this moment, Jiang Ning had a preliminary understanding of Martial Arts in this world, realizing that Martial Arts Skills were far more miraculous than any exercise methods from his previous life.
On the other hand, Jiang Li's eyes widened as he watched Jiang Ning's actions.
"Could my younger brother be a martial arts prodigy? Just an afternoon of practicing martial arts, and he has achieved such effects??"
...
After the experiment was completed.
Not wanting to miss the iron while it was hot, Jiang Ning continued to practice boxing.
This time, it only took him a little over a quarter of an hour to complete the Five Animals Fist.
[Five Animals Fist Experience +1]
He felt his body again, and joy filled his heart.
"According to the records of the boxing manual, one only has the chance to condense Qi-Blood after reaching the introductory level of Five Animals Fist, but it is only a possibility!"
"Ordinary people practice a boxing form three or four times to often condense a strand of Qi-Blood, only those with high talent and comprehension can ensure nearly every time they practice a form, they are able to condense Qi-Blood."
"I have now practiced the boxing twice and each time condensed Qi-Blood, does this mean I can achieve a one hundred percent success rate in condensing Qi-Blood?"
Jiang Ning felt his own state and realized that the bowl of medicinal soup from the Martial Arts Hall and the hearty dinner could sustain him through practicing the boxing two more times.
"Let's give it a try!" he muttered to himself.
Just then, Jiang Li's voice resounded in his ear.
"Little brother, have you condensed Qi-Blood?"
Jiang Ning looked up to see Jiang Li rising to his feet with a shocked look in his eyes.
"Yes!" Jiang Ning nodded, choosing to tell the truth.
"Actually, it's true!!" Jiang Li couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at Jiang Ning as if he was seeing him for the first time.
Seeing Jiang Li in such a state, Jiang Ning smiled, "Five Animals Fist is a lower-level martial art, as long as one masters the basics of the form, then condensing Qi-Blood naturally follows! I have a strong memory, I can remember the boxing manual after one look, I memorized the entire form just by watching Wang Jin, the owner of the hall, once, and one generous senior brother gave me a wild ginseng worth over ten taels when I reached the entrance level."
"So, it seems that sending little brother to Canglang Martial Arts Hall to learn martial arts was indeed the right decision! Reaching the entrance level is equivalent to making back over ten taels of silver. Not bad at all!" Jiang Li laughed heartily.
Jiang Ning too offered a slight smile, noncommittally. A wild ginseng worth over ten taels of silver was indeed an unexpected delight.
Without the potent effect of the wild ginseng, he couldn't have mastered the basics of the form in one day.
...
That night.
Jiang Ning practiced the boxing two more times, and although he didn't get any unexpected delights, merely increasing his Five Animals Fist by two experience points, he did condense two more strands of Qi-Blood.
Thus, the total amount of his Qi-Blood came to four strands.
The combined power of these four strands of Qi-Blood became even more robust.
It circulated throughout his body, continuously nurturing his physique.
After practicing those two rounds of boxing, Jiang Ning could feel that his body could not continue any further.
Realizing this condition, he didn't force himself.
Overdoing boxing could do harm to his body.
He also asked Jiang Li about the doubts in his mind.
That was the level of Xu Yunfeng's strength.
After listening to Jiang Li's description, Jiang Ning had a rough idea of his brother's peak strength and that of Xu Yunfeng.
Before Jiang Li was injured, at his peak, his Qi-Blood power had already flowed through his limbs, and the cultivation technique he practiced was an extremely common lower-grade saber skill, primarily for killing enemies and secondarily for channeling Qi-Blood.
However, Xu Yunfeng was different; he might have reached the limit of a Ninth Grade Martial Artist, with Qi-Blood flowing throughout his entire body.
Comparing the two, Xu Yunfeng clearly outclassed Jiang Li.
Understanding this, Jiang Ning also realized that he was far from Xu Yunfeng's level.
Their strengths were not at all on the same level.
However, he wasn't disheartened, nor was he overly fearful.
With his rate of progress, as long as he had some time, he would eventually surpass Xu Yunfeng.
Now that he had joined Canglang Martial Arts Hall, at least for the few months, a smart man like Xu Yunfeng wouldn't dare nor would he make a move against him.
But Jiang Ning also knew that someday he might get caught up in the conflicts and struggles between the two major factions.
Xu Yunfeng, working for Cao Bin, might transform the previous threats into reality in order to pressure his older brother into submission.
Before that, he must improve his boxing skills as quickly as possible.
Once the boxing reached a great success, he could pass Wang Jin's test and become a True Disciple of the Martial Arts Hall.
As the saying goes, it is good to enjoy the shade when backed by a big tree, and becoming a True Disciple of Wang Jin, his status would be on par with that of ordinary officials and rich merchants.
Under such circumstances, not even Xu Yunfeng would dare to touch him, let alone the factions that he could command.