Chapter 20

Chapter 21: The Tiger Claw Obsession

After work in the evening, while everyone else went to sleep, Qian Xing eagerly ran to the park to practice the Nine Yin Manual, absorbing the moon's energy.

When the moon set and the sun had yet to rise, Qian Xing began to rehearse the tiger form he had learned during the day.

However, this time, his practice was in a demonized state, with scales covering his entire body and his sharp claws fully extended.

After transforming, Qian Xing felt an explosive surge of power throughout his body. If he didn't release this energy, he would feel extremely uncomfortable, as if his whole body was itching.

This was Qian Xing's first transformation into a demon. He was disheartened to discover a flaw in the demon form—it seemed to be bloodthirsty. If it weren't for the Nine Yin Manual, which condensed the white moon energy in his lower dantian, keeping him clear-headed, Qian Xing suspected he would have already been seeking out targets to kill to vent his murderous desires!

It turned out that the transformation of low-level demons, though seemingly cheap and effective, was difficult to control, as it was hard to suppress the demon's innate bloodthirsty nature. It was like those cheap baby formulas mixed with chemical additives—cheap but not good!

Fortunately, Qian Xing was practicing the Nine Yin Manual, the pinnacle of Chinese ancient martial arts, which helped him maintain his composure and calmness.

He saw his long, white, sharp claws moving in the air, instantly creating a swirling mass of pale white and green light.

Qian Xing's entire body left a trail of afterimages on the grass!

In an instant, Qian Xing's hands moved dozens of times, completing the tiger form that Sun Lihe had taken ten minutes to practice during the day in just three seconds!

Each of these tiger form gestures and boxing techniques had hundreds of subtle movements, meaning Qian Xing was punching at a terrifying speed of over seventy punches per second.

The originally flat grassland was now trampled like it had been walked over by dozens of horses, marked with Qian Xing's footprints.

Even a main battle tank, known for its ground defense, would probably not withstand such concentrated attacks in such a short time!

Just as Qian Xing was about to revel in his joy and celebrate, suddenly, his vision went dark, his body went limp, and his heart rate skyrocketed to over 200 beats per minute!

The scales on his arms quickly receded, and his demonized state automatically reverted.

A notification appeared before his eyes: "Due to your low stamina, you can no longer maintain the demonized state. Demonized state解除."

Qian Xing barely managed to stand, leaning on his thighs, and checked his attributes. He saw that his stamina, which had been at 90, had dropped to 24. If his stamina fell below 20, he would be unable to move!

He completed the entire tiger form in three seconds, which was indeed fast and powerful, but his stamina was almost depleted.

It seemed he needed to better control the timing and frequency of his attacks!

Qian Xing couldn't help but recall the performance of the Armored Sword Demon during the battle with Darba. Clearly, the Armored Sword Demon, though lacking in techniques, had simple and deadly attacks!

A Mongol soldier would be either gutted or decapitated with a single claw. From the moment he entered the Mongol camp until his death, the Armored Sword Demon probably didn't use as many claws as Qian Xing did!

This was the importance of techniques and combat experience.

Back at the martial arts school, Qian Xing arrived just in time for the students' breakfast.

In the crowded cafeteria, Qian Xing finally showed his prowess!

He devoured twelve steamed buns, six baozi, and five large bowls of porridge.

The surrounding students stared in shock at this unfamiliar fellow student. It wasn't until Qian Xing had consumed a third of the food on their table that the young men finally came to their senses.

Today, he was learning with a group of fellow students, and it was clear that the reputation of the super glutton had already spread.

However, Qian Xing paid no attention. After listening to Sun Lihe's public class, he pestered Coach Sun to teach him the finer points of stances and techniques.

In the martial arts school, just like outside, among a large group of disciples, only a few could truly receive the master's true teachings.

Normally, it would be very difficult for a disciple who had only met the master for the second day to receive such teachings.

However, Qian Xing had shown such talent the previous day!

Sun Lihe couldn't resist and explained all the subtle nuances of energy control to Qian Xing, eager to determine if this student was a once-in-a-century martial arts genius.

Indeed, Qian Xing, eager to learn the practical applications of the tiger form to survive in reality, couldn't wait to learn slowly.

After Sun Lihe explained and demonstrated once, Qian Xing, with over 98% accuracy, repeated the practice!

"Genius, a true genius!"

Sun Lihe's eyes bulged, feeling like he wanted to jump off the tallest building in the city!

Compared to Qian Xing, he felt his IQ had dropped below 10!

However, during the afternoon's practical demonstration, Sun Lihe finally regained some face.

He discovered that this prodigy-like student seemed to only use one hand form in combat—the tiger claw. Although he had learned the other techniques of the tiger form, such as the "fist form," "tiger whip kick," and "violent tiger elbow," he didn't seem to know how to use them in combat.

For a technique like the "violent tiger elbow," which required using both elbows to strike the opponent's dantian like a falling rock, Qian Xing insisted on using his tiger claws to dig into the opponent's dantian.

"Idiot!" Sun Lihe finally regained his dignity, angrily scolding, "If you only use your claws and not your hands, what will you use to block an attack to your head? You'll end up digging into the opponent's dantian while they smash your head, and you'll both die together! This technique requires using both elbows to strike the opponent's dantian, and the hands are clenched into fists to block the opponent's attacks!"

"Yes, yes, if I use my claws to dig into his dantian and he smashes my head, how can I block?" Qian Xing felt wronged, but what could he do? His demon powers were concentrated in his claws. He could only ask the coach to think of a way to adjust the techniques.

Since he was asking for help, "cigarettes and alcohol" were inevitable. Fortunately, Sun Lihe and Lei Hu, among others, knew how to take care of themselves. They enjoyed good food and drink but didn't indulge in the company of women.

They understood the saying, "Women are like a sharp knife that cuts the flesh," and knew that martial artists who indulged in such pleasures would soon deplete their essence and become useless.