Chapter 5: Boneless Softness

In the evening, Jiang Li was still feeding the cats in the park. He concentrated so intensely that he could even sense the movements of insects deep in the grass.

Rustling...

Mosquitoes flapping their wings.

Beetles sucking the sap of young grass.

And lice crawling through the fur of stray cats.

All these sensations fell into his senses without the slightest error.

Even the squeaks of rats in the underground water channels were clearly reflected in his mind.

He could visualize his surroundings in his mind without using his eyes, a feat only possible when the mind is calm and free of distractions.

His own mental cultivation had reached the second stage of deep sleep, making him outstanding in the entire school. However, he was still far from the third stage.

Deep sleep requires absolute stillness and silence. The slightest movement would wake him up. He thought that entering deep sleep while moving in the third stage was simply impossible.

"It seems that after some time, my vitality is likely to reach 0.9."

Jiang Li felt his rapid progress, but he wanted to advance even faster. There was still more than a semester before the final exam, and he hoped to surprise everyone by getting into Starry Sky University, leaving them all amazed.

Cultivation must be done gradually. Even though he could use the milky white stone to enter the "fetal breathing" state, it was a process of gradually improving his physical condition and refining his spirit.

This was not the legendary genetic modification that could instantly turn a weak person into someone as strong as ten elephants and as agile as a bird.

Moreover, genetic modification techniques and gene elixirs were still one of the highest secrets of humanity, only circulating in the elite zones.

Human genes were the highest scientific mystery. Of course, this kind of thing was risky, with a high mortality rate from genetic modification. Some people even turned into half-human, half-monster creatures, losing their minds and killing indiscriminately.

Currently, Jiang Li's vitality was 0.8. But after a long time in the "fetal breathing" state, his body's resilience had greatly improved, allowing him to practice some high-difficulty martial arts.

"Hum! Ha! Ho! Yi!"

At night, in the early hours, when most people were sound asleep, Jiang Li was practicing boxing in a secluded part of the park, training his body. He performed many ancient martial arts and combat techniques he had learned at school, flowing like water.

After completing a set of boxing routines, his body was exhausted, drenched in sweat.

He wiped the sweat away and sat down in the park, the milky white stone in his mouth. Soon, he smoothly entered the "fetal breathing" state, faintly feeling his cells moving, greedily absorbing oxygen from the air.

An hour later, he woke up automatically. He checked his body, which had been bruised and bruised from training, and found that all the marks were gone. His mental and physical state had reached its peak again, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Very good. I have mastered all the physical courses I am currently learning, and I am outstanding. Next, I need to learn more advanced techniques." He took out an e-book from his backpack and pressed a button. Instantly, a virtual figure appeared, performing various high-difficulty movements, sometimes with bones entangled, sometimes with explosive attacks, actions that were almost impossible for a human to do.

Now, students learned through e-books, virtual figures, and 3D projections, which were vivid and lifelike, as if a teacher were explaining in person.

This was a C-level physical technique called "Boneless Softness."

This set of boxing routines had many strange movements, such as the body twisting like snakes entangled, the neck twisting 180 degrees, and was a high-difficulty boxing routine taught in the school's physical education class.

This technique was created long ago by experts in the military, combining ancient yoga, martial arts, boxing, and guiding techniques.

The boxing routines Jiang Li was currently learning were all D-level martial arts.

Martial arts and physical techniques were divided into levels: D, C, B, A, S, SS.

D-level physical techniques and martial arts were basic, practical, and powerful in combat.

C-level martial arts raised the standards significantly, involving the secrets of the human body's bones, tendons, and organs.

B-level martial arts were a combination of mental and physical techniques, with each movement combined with meditation. These were high-level secrets in the military.

"Boneless Softness" was not part of his current curriculum. To use an analogy, he was a primary school student learning addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, while "Boneless Softness" was calculus.

A primary school student who had just learned addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division starting to learn calculus would be considered a super genius.

Now, learning "Boneless Softness" on his own was actually very dangerous. Without guidance, performing these dangerous high-difficulty movements could easily result in broken bones, muscle tears, or even paralysis.

Originally, he could have chosen to learn some higher-difficulty D-level techniques, such as "Enemy Capture and Killing Techniques" or "Military Body Piercing Fist"... These had high physical demands but were fundamentally different from "Boneless Softness."

His clear intention in making a big leap was to push himself to the limit, drain his physical energy, and then quickly enter the fetal breathing state to recover.

He had discovered that the more exhausted he was, the more benefits he gained from entering the "fetal breathing" state.

"Once I learn Boneless Softness, I will surely shine."

"Boneless Softness, first move: Bone Twisting Spiral Kill!"

The virtual figure projected from the e-book performed the move in slow motion, the entire body twisting, the bones and muscles contorting, the body entwining and rotating like a rope, performing various actions like a spinning top.

This move was extremely difficult, truly boneless.

Or rather, the bones and muscles were like elastic steel wires, entwining and storing immense energy to release in an instant, as fast as an arrow from a bow or a bullet from a gun.

Crack, crack...

Jiang Li had only imitated the first move when he felt stars in his eyes, all his bones seemed to be breaking, and his muscles tearing. Before he could finish, he fell to the ground, stars in his eyes, gasping for breath like a fish out of water, unable to move.

With strong willpower, he got up, sat down, and began to rest, holding the "milky white stone" in his mouth.

Sure enough, he soon entered the fetal breathing state again.

This time, the fetal breathing state lasted for two hours. When he woke up, he was surprised to find that he had fully recovered, and his breath seemed stronger.

Once, he fell, exhausted, with bone and muscle injuries, and then entered the fetal breathing state to recover.

Twice, three times, four times...

After five days, Jiang Li finally learned the first move of Boneless Softness, Bone Twisting Spiral Kill.

His bones, muscles, and tendons became more tightly knit and solid, and he entered the fetal breathing state more frequently. It seemed that exhausting a large amount of physical energy to the point of exhaustion helped activate the functions of the milky white stone.

In fact, Jiang Li was eager to know what the milky white stone and the Great Dream Heart Sutra contained. It couldn't be as simple as just entering the fetal breathing state. Since it was called the "Great Dream Heart Sutra," it must contain some extraordinary techniques. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to unlock it.

He had been studying for days but found nothing.

Fortunately, entering the fetal breathing state more frequently was very beneficial for his body.

Next, he began to learn another move of Boneless Softness, "Bone Separation String Piercing."

This was an extremely powerful attack technique, where the bones were always like arrows, driving the body to shoot out and pierce the vulnerable parts of the enemy's body. This technique allowed the bones and muscles to separate, such as an arm extending a few inches when striking, which was the effect of bone separation.

It took him three days to master it.

Then came "Bone Shattering Cloud Collapse," an even more fierce move where the bones seemed to shatter, each attack as powerful as a cannonball, requiring even greater flexibility of the bones.

As for the later moves "Bone Shattering Boulder Break" and "Boneless Dragon Snake Dance," they could only be practiced if one's vitality reached the "1" level.

Jiang Li estimated that his current vitality was between 0.85 and 0.9.

One month later, in the early hours of the morning, the moonlight was like water. Jiang Li practiced the first three moves of Boneless Softness in the park, over and over, more than ten times. He was drenched in sweat, his bones aching, and some parts felt like they were about to crack.

If others saw him, they would be amazed. Even students with a vitality of 0.9 couldn't have such endurance to practice the first three moves of Boneless Softness more than ten times without rest. They could only practice three to five times before their bones couldn't take it and needed three days to recover.

Breathing... Jiang Li endured the pain, sat down, and after ten minutes, successfully entered the fetal breathing state.

This time, he remained in the state for five hours before standing up, refreshed and full of energy, with no soreness, feeling strong and clear-headed, at the peak of his prime.

He then began to study, reading various subjects like mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, history, and geography. He flipped through the books in his backpack, reading quickly and clearly remembering everything.

These cultural studies also counted towards his vitality, as knowledge was part of vitality.

After entering the fetal breathing state to rest and then studying, his thinking was sharp, and many difficult problems became easy. He could remember anything he read, deeply imprinting it in his mind, understanding and making it his own.

The night passed, and as the first light of dawn appeared in the east, Jiang Li stopped studying and entered the fetal breathing state to rest again.

In less than ten minutes, he was refreshed, not at all like someone who had been up all night.

Resting in the fetal breathing state was equivalent to several days of deep sleep for others.

He took out cat food from his backpack and continued to feed the stray cats. The big black cat had become very close to him, always circling around him. Unfortunately, he had to study, or he would have found it very interesting to keep the cat with him.

"Big Black, Flower Face Tyrant, Big Meng, Second Meng, Third Meng, Fourth Meng, Fifth Meng. You must be good. If you encounter stray dogs, let Big Black deal with them first. Don't charge into battle, okay?"

He patted each cat's head. The stray cats often encountered stray dogs and got into fights, but Big Black was strong and could protect the group.

The names of the little kittens, Big Meng, Second Meng... were given by Jiang Li. They were reluctant to let him go, biting his pants and rolling on the ground.

Big Meng even climbed onto Jiang Li's shoulder and licked him with his tongue.

The big black cat "Big Black" walked over, growled a few times, and the mischievous little kittens obediently returned to the cat house in the park, which Jiang Li had built for them.

The park was large, and the cat houses were hidden in the deep bushes, undisturbed by anyone.

"Unfortunately, you don't understand human intentions. If I could teach you crystal meditation, it would be great." Jiang Li petted Big Black.

According to cultivation theory, animals' minds were hundreds of times purer than humans, making them very suitable for various meditations. However, it was difficult for them to open their minds and understand what cultivation was.

In ancient times, some high monks could open the minds of animals, giving them human intelligence, such as foxes, cats, and monkeys. Once these animals opened their minds and practiced meditation, their progress was extremely rapid! In ancient times, there were even cases of foxes hypnotizing humans, causing many monster incidents.

Modern research on ancient monster incidents suggested that these were the result of animals gaining intelligence and rapidly advancing in mental cultivation, able to hypnotize humans and create illusions.

The elite zones had already begun this research, called the "Monster Project," to cultivate animals.

Jiang Li truly wished these stray cats could cultivate, so they would have intelligence and could survive better.

After feeding the cats, he had to go to school.

"Big Black, see you later!" Jiang Li waved.

Big Black also waved his paw, mimicking a human wave.

"Really comfortable, school, here I come."

On the way to school, Jiang Li felt a flame burning brightly in his chest.

Previously, he had a desire to avoid school, but now, with hope, he found the school atmosphere youthful and passionate, suitable for striving and achieving his goal of getting into Starry Sky University.

In this month, his strength had increased significantly, though not to the point of surpassing the school's top figures. However, the most important thing was that he had regained his confidence.

In just one month, he had made so much progress without any resources. With resources, he believed he could stand at the peak.

The family's resources were for his younger brother, and they were not wealthy. He wanted to obtain more resources on his own and didn't want to burden his parents.

He had to earn money on his own!

.........................................................................................

{Will the stray cats gain intelligence? What would happen if they could practice crystal meditation? Stay tuned. Meow! Big Black, Flower Face Tyrant, Big Meng, Second Meng, all come over, stretch out your paws, and show your support!}

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