Chapter 22: After Great Success?

"Me? Heh, I am in the Tendon-Transforming Realm. I am only one step away from the Bone-Forging Realm."

Hong Zhengdao spoke with pride.

At his age, without any backing or powerful factions to rely on, having built himself up step by step through sheer effort was something worth being proud of in all of Jincheng.

"Master, you are about to stand at the peak of the Strength-Refining Realm!"

Zhang Lingshan said in shock.

Hong Zhengdao smiled slightly and waved his hand. "The peak is not so easy to stand upon. Eat, eat. One should not speak while eating or sleeping. Chew every mouthful thoroughly; it makes digestion faster, lightens the burden on the stomach, and is good for the body."

"Yes."

Zhang Lingshan immediately shut his mouth and focused intently on his meal.

Afterward.

He bid farewell to Hong Zhengdao and returned to the backyard of the Hong Family Martial Arts Hall to begin practicing strength-refining by lifting stone locks with Senior Brother Shi Lei and the others.

Strength-refining required technique.

According to Hong Zhengdao, these techniques were all contained within the Hunyuan Zhengyang Stance and the Red Line Fist he had taught, leaving Zhang Lingshan to figure them out on his own.

As the saying goes, "The master leads you through the door, but the mastery depends on the individual."

The master had already taught the techniques and instilled the key principles and learning methods; what followed was practice and tempering.

Stone locks, stone balls, and stone slabs were all kept in the backyard. As long as one had the heart to study and learn, comprehension was certain.

If one lacked the focus and was unwilling to think, then even if someone fed it to them, it would be like eating food someone else had already chewed—it would never truly become their own.

Zhang Lingshan understood this deeply. Thus, he did not disturb anyone, but instead quietly watched Senior Brother Shi Lei and the others practice.

He would first observe how others trained, and then apply those lessons to himself.

The reason the Hong Family Martial Arts Hall gathered them to practice together was to allow the fellow disciples to learn from and verify techniques with one another. If one did not utilize this, they might as well practice alone at home.

Soon.

Amidst the various demonstrations by his senior brothers, Zhang Lingshan saw the trick.

He picked up a fifty-jin stone lock and began practicing the Yang-Topping Stance from the Hunyuan Zhengyang Stance. When he could no longer hold it, he would switch to the Yang-Embracing Stance.

Through these repeated, alternating changes, he ensured he wouldn't drop the stone lock, continuously training different muscle groups.

He continued until he could no longer endure.

'Even with a fifty-jin stone lock, I can't even complete a full set of the Hunyuan Zhengyang Stance. How many years will it take to reach two hundred jin?'

Zhang Lingshan's heart felt heavy.

According to Hong Zhengdao, two hundred jin wasn't actually the Skin-Tempering Realm, but it would allow one to attempt a contest with a Skin-Tempering martial artist.

To truly cultivate to the Skin-Tempering Realm would take much longer.

Fortunately, after moving to Hongwu Street, whether it was because the Yang energy here was truly heavy or because Li Fu's family simply couldn't find them after the move, the following month passed with extreme peace and tranquility.

Even the red marks on his body became almost imperceptible, and the nightmares at night only occurred occasionally.

Everything was moving in a positive direction.

The only problem was that he had no money on hand, and being busy with cultivation left him no time to visit the apothecary to buy medicinal herbs like Spirit Root Grass.

Fortunately, the martial arts hall provided two meals a day, which increased his energy by 0.4.

Every four days, there was a bowl of Four-Harmony Soup, which increased his energy by 1 point.

By the end of the month, his energy had climbed back up to 20 points.

Unfortunately, 20 points of energy did not cause any change in the panel.

It was clear that for a breakthrough in the Red Line Fist, this amount of energy was still insufficient.

"Brother."

One day, just as Zhang Lingshan was about to head to the martial arts hall, his younger sister Zhang Lingyu suddenly called out to him. She stuffed a money pouch into his hand and said, "Master Hong let us move to Hongwu Street and helped us so much. Mother says we can't let people help us for nothing. Take this to buy Master Hong a gift."

Zhang Lingshan opened the pouch and was astonished. "Six taels of silver? Where did you get this?"

"Mother and I earned it together!"

Zhang Lingyu lifted her chin proudly. "My needlework skills are very high. Everyone comes to me for work. Many of your senior brothers from the martial arts hall even come to find me in person!"

"Uh..."

Zhang Lingshan was speechless. Looking at his sister's delicate, pretty face and her slightly developing body, he couldn't help but shake his head in warning. "I suspect they might have ulterior motives. Don't be fooled by their sweet words."

"How could that be? Do you really think I'm a three-year-old?"

Zhang Lingyu huffed, then compared her height to Zhang Lingshan's, saying smugly, "If you hadn't grown taller recently, I would be as tall as you by now. I'm not a child."

"Fine, fine, fine, don't talk to me about height!"

Zhang Lingshan, having his sore spot poked, didn't want to talk to his sister and gave her a roll of his eyes.

Among all the formal disciples of the Hong Family Martial Arts Hall, no matter how hard he worked, he was still the shortest.

Furthermore, since his energy accumulation had been insufficient to break through his realm, his height growth had been negligible.

He wanted to increase his energy as quickly as possible to break through his realm, thereby triggering another exciting growth spurt.

Perfect.

His sister had just provided him with a source of funding.

What a good child.

Although his sister gave him money to buy a gift for Master Hong, he felt that whatever he could buy with six taels of silver would never catch Master Hong's eye.

What kind of person was Master Hong?

A Tendon-Transforming expert—he lacked for nothing.

Rather than giving a gift, it would be better to fulfill the agreement he had made with Master Hong.

Master Hong had said that if he could train the Red Line to his upper arm within three months, his rent for three months would be waived.

Now, one month had passed. His Red Line was still at his shoulder, having only progressed a negligible distance.

To train the Red Line to his upper arm in the remaining two months, he certainly couldn't do it on his own.

He had to rely on the panel.

Therefore, these six taels of silver would be used to buy the most cost-effective Spirit Root Grass.

Six taels could buy six taels of Spirit Root Grass, which would take exactly thirty days to digest and could accumulate 12 points of energy.

Counting the energy he would gain from the martial arts hall over the next month.

By the end of this month.

Zhang Lingshan checked his panel.

Name: Zhang Lingshan Martial Arts: Red Line Fist (Entry), Hunyuan Zhengyang Stance (Great Success+) Energy: 56.6

"Huh?!"

Zhang Lingshan froze.

According to his expectations, the Red Line Fist should have been ready for an upgrade.

Why was there no plus sign after the Red Line Fist, while instead, a plus sign had appeared after the Hunyuan Zhengyang Stance?

What realm was the Hunyuan Zhengyang Stance after Great Success?

Zhang Lingshan's heart immediately surged with excitement.

He remembered Master Hong saying that after a martial art is mastered, there is an unknown realm, also called the Realm of Perfection, or the Realm of "Momentum."

After Great Success comes Perfection!

According to Master Hong, this unknown realm could drive away evil and suppress spirits.

Although Master Hong hadn't specifically mentioned the Hunyuan Zhengyang Stance—saying it was merely a possibility and not certain—since the possibility existed, it was worth a try.

"Breakthrough!"

Zhang Lingshan shouted in his heart.