Chapter 14: Testing Strength

The moonlight was cold and clear.

Jiang Ning stood in the courtyard.

[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Beginner 0/100)

He looked at his panel, lost in thought.

"When I was practicing this afternoon, I actually gained another four points of experience! Looking at it this way, it's not that one practice session only grants one point of experience, but rather that as long as I practice earnestly, the minimum gain should be one point!"

After a moment of thought, Jiang Ning found this quite reasonable.

Ordinary people practicing martial arts often speak of "epiphanies," or the idea of gaining high-level insights that allow one to understand related concepts through analogy.

If he could only gain a maximum of one point of experience per practice session, wouldn't it take ten full sessions just to reach the "Beginner" stage of an ordinary low-tier martial art once he achieved great success in his martial path?

That would be far too unreasonable!

"This is how it should be!!!" He felt a surge of excitement in his heart.

With this panel, it meant that his diligence would be rewarded by the Heavenly Dao; hard work would inevitably yield results.

This was essentially a path leading straight to the heavens.

How could he not be excited?

Immediately after.

"Phew—"

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, slowly suppressing his agitated emotions.

He wanted to see what changes occurred in the Five Animals Fist after reaching the Beginner stage.

According to the records in the manual, practicing the fist technique to condense the first wisp of blood qi signifies reaching the Beginner stage of the Five Animals Fist.

At the Beginner stage, every time the Five Animals Fist is practiced, it can temper the physique and provides an opportunity to condense the power of blood qi.

He would give it a try!

Jiang Ning clenched his fists. The physical strength consumed during this afternoon's practice had already been fully restored by the medicinal soup and his full meal. He felt energetic throughout his body, filled with a power that had no outlet.

It was the perfect state for practicing.

In the next moment, Jiang Ning took his stance and began to practice.

On the steps, Jiang Li sat in a chair, watching quietly.

He watched Jiang Ning's movements, noting how his breathing technique coordinated perfectly with every strike, making him look vigorous and powerful.

"Not bad! Truly not bad!!" He nodded with satisfaction.

[Five Animals Fist Experience +1]

The moment this notification appeared, Jiang Ning felt another warm current surge within his body.

Wherever the warm current passed, it felt as if he were bathing in a warm spring, incredibly soothing.

He could feel his physique continuously growing under the nourishment of this blood qi power.

[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Beginner 1/100)

In an instant, with the breakthrough of the Five Animals Fist, he had achieved the Beginner stage.

"I have two wisps of blood qi in total now!"

Jiang Ning clenched his fist; the two wisps of blood qi moved through his body as easily as his own limbs.

When the blood qi power reached his right palm, bolstered by its presence, Jiang Ning felt his palm become much more powerful.

This was the effect of reaching the Beginner stage of the Five Animals Fist: the ability to circulate blood qi in coordination with the technique.

In this state, when blood qi surged into the fists, practicing the Tiger Form resulted in explosive power; practicing the Bear Form caused strength to surge, rooting him to the spot.

When blood qi surged into the feet, practicing the Ape Form made his movements agile and unpredictable, while practicing the Crane Form greatly increased his speed.

In the next moment.

Merging his blood qi, he performed a Tiger Form strike against the tree trunk in front of him, unleashing a burst of fist force.

*Bang—*

With a dull thud, the small tree shook, and its leaves rustled loudly.

"This is!!!" Sitting in his chair, Jiang Li's eyes widened instantly at the sight.

"Is that the power of blood qi augmenting his fist?" He found it hard to believe.

At this time, after Jiang Ning retracted his fist, it was seen that his fist—which should have been fragile compared to the tree trunk—only showed reddened skin without any injury.

"It really is as they say. Only by mastering blood qi can one be considered a martial artist!"

He muttered to himself and walked toward a corner of the courtyard.

In that corner sat two rows of stone locks, ranging from 50 jin to 1000 jin.

"I wonder if my strength has increased after practicing all afternoon!"

He approached the smallest stone lock.

This was a fifty-jin stone lock.

He lifted it with one hand, and it rose easily.

"It is indeed much easier. It seems my strength really did increase after an afternoon of practice!"

Jiang Ning placed the fifty-jin stone lock back on the ground, then gripped the hundred-jin stone lock next to it with his right hand.

"I wonder if I can lift this hundred-jin lock," he whispered to himself.

He had tried to lift this hundred-jin lock before, but no matter how much strength he exerted, he couldn't lift it completely.

This was normal.

From his understanding, even in his previous life, it was uncommon for an adult male to lift a hundred-jin dumbbell with one hand.

Moreover, in this life, he was only eighteen and living in a quasi-feudal era where nutrition was far inferior to that of an average male in his previous life.

Thus, it felt normal that he couldn't lift it before.

As a stray thought flashed through his mind, Jiang Ning's right hand exerted force instantly.

The hundred-jin stone lock immediately left the ground, held aloft by his single hand.

"My strength has indeed increased!!"

Jiang Ning tried weighing it a few times with one hand until he felt somewhat exhausted, at which point he set the stone lock down.

"I still have strength left after lifting a hundred-jin lock with one hand. It seems my strength increased by ten to twenty percent in just one afternoon. The effect is truly obvious!!"

"This is just a pure physical change. If combined with blood qi, the increase in combat strength will be even more significant!"

At this moment, Jiang Ning gained a preliminary understanding of the martial path of this world. The effects of martial arts techniques were far more miraculous than any form of exercise from his previous life.

On the other side, Jiang Li stared wide-eyed at Jiang Ning's actions.

"Is my little brother a martial arts prodigy? He achieved such results after only one afternoon of practice??"

After finishing his test.

Jiang Ning struck while the iron was hot and continued practicing.

This time, it took him just over fifteen minutes to complete one full cycle of the Five Animals Fist.

[Five Animals Fist Experience +1]

He checked his internal state again and felt a surge of joy.

"According to the manual, only after reaching the Beginner stage of the Five Animals Fist is there a chance to condense blood qi, and even then, it is only a possibility!"

"An ordinary person usually needs to practice the technique three or four times to condense a single wisp of blood qi. Only those with extremely high talent and comprehension can ensure they condense a wisp almost every time they practice."

"I have practiced twice now, and I condensed blood qi both times. Does this mean I can achieve a hundred percent success rate in condensing blood qi?"

Jiang Ning assessed his condition. Thanks to the medicinal soup from the martial arts hall and that sumptuous dinner, he could likely support another two rounds of practice.

"I'll give it a try!" he thought to himself.

Just then, Jiang Li's voice rang in his ear.

"Little brother, have you actually condensed blood qi?"

Jiang Ning looked up to see Jiang Li standing, looking at him with eyes full of astonishment.

"Yes!" Jiang Ning nodded, choosing to tell the truth.

"It really is so!!" Jiang Li couldn't help but stare at Jiang Ning, as if he were seeing him for the first time.

Seeing Jiang Li's reaction, Jiang Ning smiled. "The Five Animals Fist is a low-tier martial art. As long as one reaches the Beginner stage, condensing blood qi is a natural progression! I have a strong memory; I can memorize the manual after one reading. I could perfectly memorize Master Wang Jin's movements after seeing him practice once. Plus, a senior brother was quite generous and gave me a wild ginseng worth over ten taels when I entered."

"Looking at it this way, sending my brother to the Canglang Martial Arts Hall was definitely the right move! Reaching the Beginner stage is equivalent to recouping those ten-plus taels of silver. Not bad, truly not bad!!" Jiang Li laughed heartily.

Jiang Ning merely gave a noncommittal smile. That wild ginseng, worth over ten taels, was indeed an unexpected surprise.

Without the powerful medicinal effects of the ginseng, he wouldn't have been able to reach the Beginner stage in a single day.

That night.

Jiang Ning practiced the technique two more times. Although there were no more surprises and he only gained two more points of experience, he successfully condensed two more wisps of blood qi.

Thus, his total blood qi reached four wisps.

As these four wisps merged, the flow of blood qi became thicker and more robust.

It circulated throughout his body, continuously nourishing his physique.

After finishing those two rounds, Jiang Ning could feel that his body could no longer sustain further practice.

Sensing this state, he did not force it.

Forcing practice beyond one's limit leads to diminishing returns and will inevitably cause injury.

He then asked Jiang Li about the doubt in his heart.

Specifically, what level of strength Xu Yunfeng actually possessed.

After Jiang Li's description, Jiang Ning gained a general idea of his brother's former strength compared to Xu Yunfeng's.

Before Jiang Li was injured, at his peak, his blood qi had already permeated his four limbs. The technique he practiced was an extremely common low-tier saber technique, primarily focused on killing enemies and secondarily on tempering blood qi.

Xu Yunfeng was different. It was highly likely that Xu Yunfeng had reached the limit below the Ninth Rank martial artist, with blood qi permeating his entire body.

Comparing the two, Xu Yunfeng was clearly a level above Jiang Li.

Understanding this, Jiang Ning realized that he was still far behind Xu Yunfeng.

Their strengths were not on the same level at all.

However, he was not discouraged, nor was he particularly fearful.

Given his rate of progress, as long as he was given time, he would eventually surpass Xu Yunfeng.

Now that he had joined the Canglang Martial Arts Hall, at least for the few months he was there, a clever person like Xu Yunfeng would not dare to strike him.

But Jiang Ning also knew that he might one day be caught in the crossfire of a conflict between the two major gangs.

Xu Yunfeng worked for Cao Bin, and to force his brother to comply, his previous threats might turn into reality.

Before that happened, he had to increase his level of martial arts as quickly as possible.

Once his technique reached the "Great Success" stage, 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 lean against a big tree for shade." Becoming a true disciple of Wang Jin would grant him a status and position no different from that of an ordinary official or a wealthy merchant.

In such a situation, even Xu Yunfeng wouldn't dare touch him, let alone the gangs that Xu Yunfeng might command.