Chapter 5

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"Me too, I have Mystic Qi now?" Yang Dingtian said in surprise.

"Practice boxing for three hours," the old man said. "The key to practicing boxing is not the correctness of the movements, but how to communicate with the Mystic Qi in your abdomen, making your boxing techniques and Mystic Qi integrate. Learn how to control the Mystic Qi in your abdomen. Not only should you be able to gather Mystic Qi from your meridians to the Qi Sea, but you also need to learn how to channel the Mystic Qi from the Qi Sea to your meridians. Only then can it be useful in battle."

"How do I communicate with it?" Yang Dingtian asked.

The old man said, "Feel it!"

After saying this, the old man closed his eyes.

Yang Dingtian began practicing the first move of the Zhengyang Fist. At first, he kept his eyes open, being meticulous and cautious, but the Mystic Qi in his lower abdomen's Qi Sea showed no reaction. After practicing dozens of times, the Mystic Qi still didn't respond. So, Yang Dingtian closed his eyes and practiced, no longer worrying about the accuracy of the moves, and focused on sensing the Mystic Qi. To his delight, the little mouse-like Mystic Qi began to stir. However, it only stirred slightly, as if the attraction wasn't strong enough to draw it out to the meridians.

Yang Dingtian continued to practice with his eyes closed, trying his best to sense the little mouse-like Mystic Qi, and to get close to it and summon it. But the more he tried to get close, the more it held back. Initially, it would stir, but later it became lazy and ignored him.

So, Yang Dingtian opened his eyes again and practiced the correct way, following the proper form, for dozens more times. Then, he closed his eyes again and tried to sense the little mouse-like Mystic Qi. To his surprise, as soon as he closed his eyes and focused on the little mouse, it jumped up eagerly, almost ready to spread throughout his body.

Yang Dingtian was overjoyed. The little mouse-like Mystic Qi seemed to be alive. It would keep its distance when he tried to get close, but when he ignored it, it would come to him.

Yang Dingtian quickly closed his eyes again and continued practicing, trying to sense the Mystic Qi. The martial arts of this world were too wondrous, and Yang Dingtian was completely absorbed in it.

"Stop for today, don't practice anymore," the old man suddenly said.

"But the little mouse jumped up, I was about to succeed," Yang Dingtian said.

"It won't jump back into your meridians today. The sudden jump was the best result for today," the old man said. "Don't practice anymore, or you'll regress."

"Ah! Comparing people can be frustrating," the old man sighed again and slowly closed his eyes.

Yang Dingtian didn't believe it and continued practicing secretly. As the old man had said, not only did he not make further progress, but he also regressed. The little mouse became less active and eventually lay there lazily, not moving at all.

The next day, Yang Dingtian practiced for an hour and felt the little mouse seemed to have grown a bit and was more active.

However, during the next three hours of practicing the Zhengyang Fist, even though he managed to make the little mouse jump vigorously, he still couldn't summon it out of the Qi Sea. It seemed that the Qi Sea had an irresistible pull on the little mouse, and it was reluctant to leave.

On the third, fourth, and fifth days!

Finally, Yang Dingtian managed to draw the little mouse out of the Qi Sea in his lower abdomen. It ran around his body like a real mouse, completely out of control. Wherever it went, that part of his body would heat up and feel as if it was swelling. Yang Dingtian let out a low exclamation.

The old man opened his eyes and saw Yang Dingtian running around. He sighed and shook his head, saying, "Comparing people can be frustrating."

Others needed three months to draw Mystic Qi from the Qi Sea to the meridians, but Yang Dingtian only needed five days.

"Sit down, close your eyes, and regulate your breathing. The Mystic Qi will return to the Qi Sea automatically," the old man said. "The first move of the Zhengyang Fist is about drawing in Qi. It gathers the Mystic Qi from the meridians to the Qi Sea, accumulating it to make it stronger. Then, it channels the Mystic Qi from the Qi Sea back to the meridians."

"So, you've completed the first move," the old man said. "The next move will teach you how to guide and control the Mystic Qi, when to gather it and when to release it, and where to direct it."

"The third move teaches you how to separate the Mystic Qi. You can't always release all of it when you strike. Sometimes you just want to teach someone a lesson, not kill them, so you need to release only a part of it and retain the rest."

"The fourth move teaches you how to channel the Mystic Qi out of the Qi Sea to attack an enemy, then stop it midway and retain it in a specific meridian, ready to be released."

"The fifth move teaches you how to attack with Mystic Qi while quickly gathering new Mystic Qi from the body to the Qi Sea, preparing for the next attack."

"The fifth move is the most important," Yang Dingtian said.

"You're right, the fifth move is the most important and the most difficult," the old man said. "The human meridians are like streams and rivers, and the Mystic Qi is like the flowing water. The Qi Sea in the lower abdomen is like the vast ocean. Streams flow into rivers, rivers into larger rivers, and larger rivers into the ocean. The Mystic Qi comes from the universe and is absorbed through every pore and inch of the body. When the Mystic Qi in the Qi Sea is released, the Mystic Qi in the meridians can quickly gather back to the Qi Sea, while the body continues to absorb Mystic Qi from the universe. This process is continuous and endless. However, the speed varies. If you release all your Mystic Qi in one strike and it takes two minutes to gather it back, you would have been killed many times over."

Next, the old man began drawing the second, third, fourth, and fifth moves of the Zhengyang Fist in the snow.

"Summer is coming, and snowy days will become fewer. You need to memorize the remaining moves. In the coming days, I won't open my eyes again. You need to practice on your own, one hour for Qi cultivation and three hours for boxing," the old man said.

"Will you not guide me anymore?" Yang Dingtian asked.

"The Zhengyang Fist and the Heaven and Earth Technique are introductory martial arts, the simplest and most basic, but also the most difficult and important. Every Mystic Warrior must practice the Zhengyang Fist and the Heaven and Earth Technique to advance to the next level of martial arts. No teacher will guide you because it's impossible. Every warrior's perception and communication with Mystic Qi are different. Any guidance would be useless and might lead a beginner down the wrong path."

"So, the Zhengyang Fist and the Heaven and Earth Technique are the foundation for every warrior in this world. You can roughly predict a warrior's highest achievement from their practice of these techniques," the old man said. "Therefore, the启蒙期 (enlightenment period) is entirely dependent on insight and character."

Hearing that the Zhengyang Fist and the Heaven and Earth Technique were so important, Yang Dingtian couldn't help but ask, "Does that mean the faster someone completes the Heaven and Earth Technique and the Zhengyang Fist, the higher their future achievements will be?"

"Mostly, yes, but there are exceptions. The key is the warrior's perception and understanding of Mystic Qi, as well as their affinity and emotional connection. These are what truly determine a warrior's future achievements," the old man said. "Of course, this also relates to the Mystic Meridians. A warrior with high Mystic Meridian talent naturally attracts more Mystic Qi from the universe, has a larger Qi Sea, and has better control over Mystic Qi."

"So, in general, if all conditions are equal, a warrior's achievement is 70% determined by their Mystic Meridians and 30% by their character," the old man said. "If the Mystic Meridian talent and character are equal, then 70% is determined by the school, treasures, and equipment, and 30% by chance. Ultimately, it still comes down to the Mystic Meridians."

"What about my Mystic Meridians?" Yang Dingtian asked quickly.

The old man showed a strange expression and then closed his eyes.

Yang Dingtian was puzzled. What did the old man's strange expression mean? Was his talent really that bad? He didn't think so. Yang Dingtian was quite self-confident and believed he wasn't bad at anything.

So, he continued to practice intensely!

He completed the first move in just five days.

However, it took him fifteen days to control the Mystic Qi to burst out of his fist for the second move. This burst of Mystic Qi blew away a thin layer of snow, making Yang Dingtian incredibly excited and even more immersed in the wondrous martial arts of this world.

Next, he had to learn how to release and control the flow of Mystic Qi for the second move. It took him 25 days to complete this.

In total, it took him 40 days to complete the second move, which was more than twice the time it took for the first move, making him slightly depressed and doubting his talent.

Of course, if the old man knew, he would probably say, "Comparing people can be frustrating."

In this world, very outstanding individuals take nearly half a year to complete the second move.

The third move was even more frustrating for Yang Dingtian, as it took him two months to complete.

During this time, the old man never opened his eyes. As for the red Flame Pills, the old man had already given them all to Yang Dingtian, with instructions to take one every 15 days. Besides practicing Qi cultivation and the Zhengyang Fist, Yang Dingtian continued to build the ice steps during snowy days. As the little mouse-like Mystic Qi in his body grew larger, he became more resistant to the cold, stronger, and more agile.

By the time Yang Dingtian completed the third move, spring had turned to summer, and half of summer had already passed.

Even in the extreme cold, summer still brought snow, but the frequency and intensity of snowfall decreased. Therefore, the speed at which Yang Dingtian built the ice steps also slowed down.

So, Yang Dingtian desperately hoped that summer would end quickly and winter would come soon!

Yang Dingtian practiced the Zhengyang Fist, completing the first move in five days, the second move in 40 days, and the third move in two months. This made him mentally prepare for the third move, even setting a goal of about four months. However, to his delight, the fourth move only took him three days. He couldn't help but cheer, hoping the old man would open his eyes to show admiration or surprise.

But the old man remained with his eyes closed, making Yang Dingtian feel a bit disappointed, as if he had achieved good results but didn't get praise from his parents.

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