Chapter 61

Liu Hai's team emerged victorious.

"Brilliant!"

"Great job!" The crowd cheered, with Mother Xu, Li Miaomiao, and everyone else feeling delighted. Old Master Xu laughed heartily, and Wang Yi, Heng Fang, Yang Qingshuo, and Liu Chongyuan all admired the old veteran. Only Xu Jingming himself... stood there, dazed, watching the scene unfold.

His father's dual shields unleashed a burst of energy, his eyes filled with fervor, making him seem like a large, living tiger.

One pounce, and the enemy was sent flying!

Scenes flashed through Xu Jingming's mind.

When he was young, his father taught him the Ba Ji Tiger Pounce, hand in hand.

His father loved this move, practicing it every morning and evening for forty years. To him, it had become a technique deeply ingrained in his life.

"I understand."

Xu Jingming muttered to himself.

"Jingming, what's wrong?" Li Miaomiao looked at Xu Jingming.

"I'm going to the training ground to practice. Call me when the match starts," Xu Jingming said.

"We're the eleventh match, with about five hours to go. There's still plenty of time," Li Miaomiao said, noticing her boyfriend's state.

Xu Jingming nodded and disappeared from the stands.

******

In the personal space training ground, Xu Jingming appeared.

Now, very few people stayed to watch the matches, preferring to stay in the training ground.

"I love the spear techniques, every move, every form!"

"I am obsessed with the speed of the spear. I practice thrusting the spear thousands of times a day. I remember when my thrusting speed reached 18 meters per second, I was so excited in the national team that I couldn't sleep all night." Xu Jingming muttered, "I even abandoned the fluidity of the spear techniques to pursue the ultimate speed. For this, I studied anatomy, the structure of muscles and bones, and drew detailed diagrams. I studied the physics of force generation, working harder than I ever did for exams, and finally created the Shadow Thrust! By abandoning the fluidity of the spear techniques and defense, I achieved an ultimate speed of 25 meters per second! In the World Martial Arts Competition, as long as I found the opportunity to use the Shadow Thrust, the enemy was bound to lose!"

"I love Ba Ji Quan, using the force generation techniques of Ba Ji Iron Mountain Lean to create the ultimate move, Mountain Break."

Xu Jingming thought, "I practiced Ba Ji Stomping Foot and the long spear from a young age. Among weapons, I only love the spear. In the virtual world, I practiced the spear the most."

"What about shield techniques?"

Xu Jingming recalled the past, "That was purely a tool, taught by Master Liu Hai to help me better control my body's strength, a method of Tai Chi. Practicing shield techniques indeed refined my control over my body's strength... but from start to finish, shield techniques were just a tool."

"When did I ever love shield techniques?"

"Perhaps... only when using shield techniques to perform the Ba Ji Tiger Pounce."

Xu Jingming thought.

He remembered the first divine-level battle, when he used shield techniques to perform the Ba Ji Tiger Pounce, sending Sun Yuting flying. At that moment, he felt a sense of joy and satisfaction.

Because performing this move was infused with deep emotion, an emotion that had been naturally integrated since childhood through the practice of the Ba Ji Tiger Pounce.

Xu Jingming thought, "Father didn't practice shield techniques much in the past. It was only after entering the virtual world that he started practicing shield techniques. Using dual shields to perform Ba Ji! Everything was smooth and natural."

"After retiring, I also gradually integrated Ba Ji into shield techniques. But in the virtual world, I didn't continue!"

"I also love Ba Ji."

"This is the first martial art I practiced from a young age. Ba Ji elbow, shoulder, back, fist, palm... every part can generate force." Xu Jingming thought, "The shield techniques passed down by Master are very sophisticated, using force to counter force, and controlling the enemy with great skill. I reached 99% of the second level just by practicing the basics, but sophisticated shield techniques don't necessarily mean they are suitable for me."

"Whatever shield techniques I practice, I must love them from the bottom of my heart." Xu Jingming realized, "If I don't love them, how can my mind perfectly mobilize every part of my body?"

"I want to practice shield techniques, Ba Ji shield techniques!"

Xu Jingming's eyes were filled with passion. He clicked on the panel, set up the training assistant, and a metal dummy appeared before him: "Set the weight to 100 tons."

The metal dummy was connected to a base, which probably accounted for half the weight, making it very stable on the ground.

"Pure Ba Ji shield techniques! Just thinking about it gets me excited!" Xu Jingming extended his hands, each holding a shield, and walked up to the metal dummy. He raised his right shield, leaned his shoulder against it, and directly charged at the dummy.

"Bang."

The dummy shook, and the base moved slightly backward.

"Let's warm up first." Xu Jingming leaned his right shoulder against the shield and charged at the metal dummy a few times. He then leaned his right shoulder against the shield and charged at the dummy again.

He then simply used his body to charge at the dummy, hitting it with his chest and back. Xu Jingming enjoyed himself, swaying like a bear, leaning against the dummy with different parts of his body.

Each "Bear Lean" made the 100-ton dummy tremble and move, showing that Xu Jingming could generate force through every part of his body.

"Weapons are just an extension of the body. The body must first be able to generate force perfectly for the weapon to do so." Xu Jingming thought, with body force being the most fundamental part of the weapon realm.

Xu Jingming performed the "Bear Lean" on the metal dummy over a hundred times before stopping.

"Warm-up is over. Actually, the Bear Lean is quite comfortable." Xu Jingming looked at the dummy in front of him. "Next is... Ba Ji Thrust!"

Father loved the Ba Ji Tiger Pounce the most.

Xu Jingming wasn't as obsessed as his father, but he loved many Ba Ji techniques, such as the "Ba Ji Thrust," which he loved just as much as the Ba Ji Tiger Pounce.

"Bang." Stomping his foot to generate force, the ground trembled slightly. Xu Jingming's dual shields struck the dummy like thunder, pushing it back by several inches and plowing a groove in the ground.

"The Ba Ji Thrust is like a thunderbolt, generating force faster and more abruptly." Xu Jingming practiced happily, stomping his foot and striking the dummy with his shields, pushing it back by several inches again.

Xu Jingming continued to perform the Ba Ji Thrust, each strike being at close range, and each impact on the metal dummy was quite terrifying.

The Ba Ji Thrust is the most widely practiced technique in Ba Ji Quan, while the Ba Ji Tiger Pounce is relatively less practiced.

The Ba Ji Tiger Pounce is the most ferocious, but it requires a distance to "pounce." It needs two or three steps to build up speed, a full-body charge. Sometimes in combat, there's no opportunity to use it.

Like in the first divine-level battle, Xu Jingming only suddenly charged and pounced when Sun Yuting was running towards the archer.

The Ba Ji Thrust, on the other hand, doesn't require distance and can be used even at close range. The sweeping technique in Xu Jingming's spear moves also originates from the Ba Ji Thrust.

He practiced the Ba Ji Thrust over a hundred times in one go.

"Ba Ji, Mountain Split!" Xu Jingming changed his technique, holding dual shields and facing the metal dummy, he suddenly raised his shields and charged forward.

Swish!

The raised right shield suddenly generated force, and his right arm, holding the shield, swung down like a large axe!

"Heaven and earth, one breath! Mountain Split!" Xu Jingming remembered the Ba Ji Quan mnemonic from the books at home. The ancients might not have studied the body as thoroughly, so they used imagery to guide the techniques.

Xu Jingming's shield struck the metal dummy with the edge of the shield, which was very sharp, not inferior to a heavy weapon's slash!

This strike, with the body's force naturally unified, also carried the "gravitational potential energy" from a physics perspective!

"Bang." The metal dummy's chest was indented, and it trembled and moved slightly backward.

"Ba Ji, Mountain Split!" Xu Jingming continued to practice, repeatedly striking the metal dummy with the edge of his shield like a large axe.

As he practiced, a smile gradually appeared on his face.

It was like when he was a child, happily practicing Ba Ji Quan in front of the training post. Back then, he practiced the Bear Lean, Shoulder Lean, Back Lean, Elbow Strike, and the five major techniques of Ba Ji Quan: Tiger Pounce, Thrust, Mountain Split, Sky Cannon, and Hard Climb of a Fierce Tiger.

While other children were interested in soccer classes and other entertainment, Xu Jingming was practicing Ba Ji Quan, and he enjoyed it.

After mastering Ba Ji Quan, he practiced the Stomping Foot and the long spear.

Ba Ji Quan was the longest he practiced.