Chapter 5

A Master-level Cloak Hammer?!

Li Yuan's hand trembled, his heart racing, and he had to take several deep breaths to suppress the urge to wield the iron hammer in his hand.

In fact, just gripping the hammer handle made him feel invigorated, and the fatigue from standing in the horse stance seemed to vanish without a trace.

"No wonder the old man was so obsessed with the weapon inscription. I haven't even mastered a weapon yet, and it's already a whole different world!"

This feeling was incredibly strange, as if a lost arm had suddenly returned.

"Calm down, calm down. With so many people watching, it would be too conspicuous if the hammer disappeared..."

Despite saying he was calm, Li Yuan's heart was still racing with excitement.

This is a Master-level Cloak Hammer technique!

"Look at me!"

Kong Xiong returned to his position after guiding each apprentice, and with a loud shout, he drew everyone's attention.

Smack, smack!

Kong Xiong stepped out of the White Ape Stance, his arms swinging like whips, producing a crisp cracking sound:

"Power originates from the ground, rooted in the feet, controlled by the waist and hips, passing through the shoulders and arms, and manifesting in the wrists and fingers!"

"White Ape Arm Swing!"

Kong Xiong's body remained still, but the sound of his arms breaking the air was clear even to Li Yuan, who was standing in the back row. This pulled his attention away from the weapon inscription.

The same movement, but Kong Xiong was far superior to Lu Zhong, his form truly resembling an ape, agile and fierce.

Swinging the arms to generate power, the fists like hammers—this is the true White Ape Cloak Hammer?

"White Ape..."

Li Yuan stared intently at Kong Xiong, comparing his form and adjusting his own movements while recalling the apes he had seen in his previous life.

For some reason, he thought of the *Journey to the West* he had seen in his previous life, where the Monkey King was a lively and vivid white ape.

Ape, monkey...

"Similar to the mimetic boxing of my previous life..."

Li Yuan seemed to have some understanding of how to practice this martial art.

"Stance practice may seem simple, but it's hard to master! Remember what you learned today, and it will serve you well!"

Kong Xiong was already sitting in a large chair brought by the apprentices in the front yard, with Fat Sun smiling beside him.

"This trip wasn't in vain."

Kong Xiong took a sip of the tea handed to him by an apprentice and scanned the apprentices in the yard with a cold eye:

"A few of them have decent bones, but unfortunately, their foundation is too weak, and they may not be able to practice!"

"Which ones have decent bones, Brother Kong?"

Fat Sun glanced around. Apart from a few apprentices in the front yard, the rest had poor movements, almost unbearable to watch, even after Kong Xiong's guidance.

"Those few poor families."

Kong Xiong said casually, his eyes scanning the apprentices, growing impatient:

"Lu Zhong! Watch them stand for half an hour!"

"Yes!"

Lu Zhong stepped forward, rolled up his sleeves, and stood in the horse stance with meticulous attention to detail.

"Hmm."

Kong Xiong didn't stay any longer and turned to leave.

Fat Sun followed with a smile, glancing at the apprentices as he left. Li Yuan's heart stirred; did this fat man's eyes linger on him for a moment?

'This fat man's eyes seem a bit off...'

Li Yuan, who was on high alert, was very sensitive but didn't pay much attention, gritting his teeth to endure the pain.

But his physical strength was too weak, and soon he felt sore all over. Glancing around, he saw that the apprentices in the front yard were still standing, while those in the other yards were swaying and many had already fallen to the ground.

"I can't hold it anymore."

After a while, Li Yuan also found it hard to endure and staggered, loosening his stance.

The seemingly simple stance practice consumed an incredible amount of energy.

While Li Yuan was stretching, most of the apprentices were still gritting their teeth to endure, but in the middle yard, only Niu Gui remained.

Niu Gui was also gritting his teeth, but when Li Yuan also loosened his stance, he stood for a while longer before collapsing to the ground, drenched in sweat, feeling a bit relieved.

"I'm still the first in the middle yard!"

Li Yuan didn't know that the apprentices in the middle yard were secretly competing. After loosening his stance, he did some stretching exercises, his mind clearly elsewhere.

...

Another half an hour passed, and the apprentices in the front yard dispersed with Lu Zhong, while the others also left.

Li Yuan left as well, washed up quickly, and lay down early. It wasn't until midnight, when Niu Gui's snoring could be heard, that he yawned and pretended to go to the toilet.

Outside, the night was dark, the moonlight faint, and the forge was eerily quiet, with no sound of people.

"There are dozens of hammers; no one should notice if one is missing, right?"

Walking out of the middle yard, under the moonlight, Li Yuan was somewhat impressed with his own patience as he looked at the dozens of hammers on the edge of the training ground.

"Phew!"

Glancing around and seeing no one, Li Yuan directly picked up a hammer, and a gray light flashed before his eyes.

"All of them are unranked, this gray color must mean unranked, right?"

Li Yuan was very careful, quickly feeling each hammer.

There were forty-three practice hammers, all unranked weapons, but there were differences among them.

Most of the practice hammers only had a beginner-level hammer technique when wielded, but only a dozen or so were 'Master-level,'

However...

"This one has the deepest color. Although they are all Master-level, this one should be the best?"

Li Yuan picked up a hammer, choosing it while also exploring the use of the weapon inscription.

But his movements were quick, and after selecting the hammer, he decisively moved to a corner.

"Master!"

Almost just a thought, and under Li Yuan's gaze, the wooden-handled hammer instantly disappeared, with only a faint hammer shadow flashing on the palm inscription.

Damn!

Even though he had expected it, Li Yuan still trembled, his blood rushing to his face.

Such a large hammer, just vanished into thin air!

Li Dao shivered, closed his eyes, and on the small gray platform, a hammer had appeared,

And the palm inscription, like a starry sea, also rippled.

"This platform is too small, it can only hold a few hammers at most..."

Li Yuan observed meticulously, not missing any opportunity to study the weapon inscription. In a moment, he lifted the hammer.

The next moment, the large hammer appeared on the palm inscription, the only star that lit up!

Buzz!

Li Yuan felt a loud explosion in his mind.

"Again?"

In the corner, Li Yuan stumbled and fell to the ground, his vision going dark.

After a while, he recovered, struggling back to the dormitory, and closed his eyes, feeling the benefits of mastering the weapon.

White Ape Stance, Cloak Hammer!

Deep in his mind, it seemed like hundreds of different people were standing in the horse stance, practicing the Cloak Hammer, over and over again...

At first, Li Yuan felt excited, but by the middle of the night, with people still practicing the hammer technique in his mind, he couldn't bear it anymore.

"Practice, practice!"

In the middle of the night, Li Yuan gritted his teeth and got out of bed. When the night was at its darkest, he was already in the yard, standing in the horse stance.

His movements were stiff and awkward, no different from before, but he clearly knew where he was wrong and where he needed to adjust.

It was as if he were a seasoned practitioner, relearning this horse stance, with all the nuances and details clear to him, lacking only a stronger body.

"Lower body, tailbone, arms, ears, eyes... This horse stance has so many details?"

Li Yuan continuously adjusted his movements, feeling less and less tired as he practiced, even the drowsiness of the middle of the night was swept away.

When Niu Gui, who had woken up at the rooster's crow, pushed open the door, Li Yuan was just finishing his stance, having stood for a small part of the night.

"When did you get up?"

Niu Gui leaned against the wall, looking not so good, his body aching from continuous intense exercise.

"Just now."

Just now?

Seeing that Li Yuan didn't look very tired, Niu Gui felt a bit relieved.

Their exchange was brief, and Niu Gui eagerly stood in the horse stance, while Li Yuan yawned and went back to bed for a short nap.

He woke up again to the groans of the other apprentices.

Stimulated by Niu Gui's extra practice, a few apprentices were now aching all over but had to force themselves to get up.

The day's work for the middle yard apprentices was about to begin.