Late at night, a full moon hanged on the sky with its soft light scattering to the ground, hoarfrost flowing just like the drifting snow.
The small lake was calm without any ripple as if it was a bright mirror, reflecting a round moon in it. The lake which was covered by the quietly soft light just like hid another world.
Chen Zong, who was lying alongside the lake with his hands behind his head, was bathing under the moonlight and staring at the moon, feeling at loss.
Having worked so hard but always got a little, he felt more or less unsatisfied.
But learning martial arts needed not only hard-working, but also needed outside support. If not, he would get hurt and finally destroyed. Just like Chen Zhigang, who could eat the meat of fierce beasts every meal to strengthen his body and could also take more energy pills to help himself cultivate. It was said that the siblings of the big families who lived in Fengwu city could eat energy pills very often.
If father's cultivation still existed, it would be easy for Chen Zong to eat the beast meat or take one energy pill every once in a while. But there was no "if", fact always was the fact. The giving out of energy pills in Chen family every three months was the most exciting moment to Chen Zong, but today it was ruined.
Sometimes, when thinking of this, Chen Zong felt at a loss.
His qi and blood deficiency was inborn, unless there was a proper panacea which could cure him, or else he would be eaten up with diseases and this would seriously slow him down which would make his dreams and aims farther and farther.
But panacea, how difficult to find it! Even his dad who ever had the seventh level of Qi-Blood Realm couldn't find it.
Having thought this for a while, Chen Zong suddenly found today's moon was extremely bright.
"No! Something seemed to be falling." Chen Zong tried his best to open his eyes as big as he could, only to find a flame which seemed brighter than the moonlight was falling swiftly. "It is on my direction," he said.
"No!" Chen Zong finally came to life when that sword-like flame came right towards him. When he hurried to duck away, that sword-like flame, just like knowing his intention, fell down a hundred times quicker, shot straight between Chen' eyebrows just as quickly as stars crossed the sky, and vanished.
As if being shot through the head, he felt extremely painful, the sense of pain attacking him from top to bottom like an erupted volcano, which made him in comma immediately.
……
"Where am I?" Chen Zong looked around, only to find a dark void. When he lowered his head, he couldn't see his body, but only to feel his existence, which was so weird.
Streams of silvery light floated from the distance, Chen Zong was attracted to follow them by flying. No idea how far he had fled, Chen Zong finally saw the light source, a roll of silvery glow floating at the center of the dark void. Getting closer and closer, Chen was more and more shocked.
It seemed the silvery glow was formed by countless silver dragons and every dragon seemed to be from the void which connected not only the heaven and earth but also the past and future, containing unfathomable mysteries.
At the center of the glow weaved by countless silver dragons floated a piece of fragment in the shape of the point of a sword. The fragment was silvery white, emanating ancient and profound waves.
Getting closer, finally Chen Zong' awareness floated into the glow weaved by countless silver dragons. And when he got touch with the tip of the sword, something seemed to burst and impact powerfully everywhere, which made Chen totally lose his consciousness.
Suddenly, the glow between his eyebrows kept flicking, emitting a dazzling aura that eclipsed the moonlight.
Layers of light spread like water waves, suffusing every part of Chen Zong' body, as if something were constantly being squeezed out from his body.
After the midnight the moon began to verge to the west and the flowing light around Chen's body flowed back to the point between his eyebrows, constricting its glaring brilliance. Chen Zong's fingers moved automatically and eyelids twitched open. He firstly felt blank, later nauseated. Because something smelly was coming into his nose, and that stench was just like rotten rats which had died for a long time, which kept him retching continuously.
"What happened?" Chen Zong exclaimed at the sticky filth over his hands and body. Moreover, his eyesight got shaper than before, as he could still distinguish the black-red filth, the resource of the stench.
Chen Zong took off his clothes, jumped hurriedly into the lake, and tried his best to wash himself. It was not until he scrubbed more than ten times that he finally got rid of the black-red filth After that, Chen was surprised to find that his skin had become as fair and ruddy as the baby's, and all those scars from practicing martial arts and paleness from qi-blood deficiency didn't exist anymore.
His body was so light as if he could fly to the sky only by one simple leap. His heart beat forcefully and he was full of energy. He had never felt like this before, which made Chen Zong laughed so loud out of ecstasy that even started waves in the lake.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
……
Chen Zong didn't sleep the whole night, but he was still energetic.
"Great, not only is my deficiency of qi and blood cured and I am not weaker anymore, but my cultivation also break through to the second level of the Qi Blood Realm." sitting along the lake, Chen couldn't help being happy and excited.
"It is said that some old panacea could help refine the vessels and wash the marrows. Is it like what happened to me??"
"I am more powerful, much faster, more agile and more astute. I am a different man."
Saying that, he posed Tiger Squat, his heart beating quickly, his blood surging, and more powerful strength floating in his limbs and bones. The tip of the sword in the middle of his eyebrows fluttered, the silver dragons danced, which made Chen Zong forget everything except the fist position.
He swung a punch!
Tiger Rush!
It seemed that the punch had broken the air, stirring a wind.
Tiger Turn!
Tiger Leap!
Tiger Rage!
The last punch rumbled the air.
"Haha, the second level of Qi Blood Realm is indeed much powerful than the first level!" Chen Zong put his fist back and stood there, laughing in excitement.
The first level of practicing martial art was the Qi Blood Realm, consisting of 9 sub-levels.
Level one to level three were to strengthen the body and enrich the blood which were the basic. So the people who were in these three levels were martial apprentice.
When in the first level, each arm owned 25kg to 50kg of power.
When in the second level, each arm owned 100kg to 150kg of power.
When in the third level, each arm owned 200kg to 250kg of power.
This was the standard. However, someone born with strong power would exceed the standard. As in Chen Zhigang's case, he was in the third level while his arm owned 300kg of power.
Chen Zong's arm owned less than 50kg of power before, but now he owned 100kg to 150kg of power. It was totally a saltant improvement. Due to his added level, both his power and speed were strengthened and improved, so did the power of his Tiger Fist.
"Practice again!" Chen Zong constituted the Tiger Squat after a shout.
In the past, he always felt weak and tired after keeping practice for three or four times due to his lack of energy. But now he still felt vigorous after five times of practice.
Again and again, he felt carefree. His clear mind made it easier to understand the Tiger Fist. He fully grasped the details that he used to ignore. By the tenth time, he jumped like a tiger and gave a punch as an attacking tiger. The punch had torn the air and the sound it made was just like a fierce tiger howling in the distance.
"I just achieved Great Accomplishment of the Tiger Fist." Chen Zong was astonished. The day before, he had been worried about how long he would take to fully master the Tiger Fist. While one day passed, he made it. That was amazing.
"That must be relevant to what happened last night." Chen Zong said silently and excitedly. He took a breath to calm down and kept on practicing in this trend so that he could make further progress.
After another ten times of practice, each punch of Chen Zong could bring out a strong howling wind just like a fierce tiger howling in front of him.
"It's the peak of Great Accomplishment!" Chen gasped in shock. Even though he had already known the power, he was still astonished. All the blood surged in his body, then it became bigger and bigger just like the water of the Yangtze River, which made his tiredness disappear suddenly.
"I have practiced the Tiger Fist Great Accomplishment, exercising 50% of my body. It's much better than Little Accomplishment. The effect of my practice is much obvious now." Chen Zong was very glad. However, he soon frowned, "It's only 29 days from the battle of familial martial artist. Even though my Tiger Fist has advanced to Great Accomplishment, I can't improve my power to the third level of Qi Blood Realm in such a short time. So it'll be difficult for me to reach the top 3 in the competition."
The battle of martial artist would be held once a year and the top 3 would get the opportunity to practice in the Chen's clan hall in the Fengwu town. There were more superior martial arts to learn and more resources for cultivation. All the juniors in the tribe were looking forward to this opportunity and they regarded it as the chance to become famous. But there was a limit that only the family children who were less than 15 years old could join it. Chen Zong would be 15 in three months, so it was the last chance for him.
To practice in the clan hall and become stronger and powerful, then searching for the precious medicine to cure his father and to regain his power. These were the goals and wishes of Chen Zong all the time.
"If I can own basic martial arts better than Tiger Fist, I would be faster in my practicing speed." He said to himself. He himself knew it was impossible. However, it seemed that the sword cusp in the middle of his eyebrows understood what he had said. The cusp quivered and then a silver dragon rushed out and disappeared in Chen Zong's brain.
Chen Zong trembled and kept standing there like a statue, as if he was struck by thunder.
Half an hour passed, Chen Zong woke up and started to laugh. He thought it might be the reward of the god for his former rough time.
In half an hour, Chen Zong got the basic martial arts, which was much better than Tiger Fist – Eight-move Swordsmanship. "The Eight-move Swordsmanship require the unity of footwork, body and sword. 60 percent of the body could be exercised once in Rudiment, 70 percent in Little Accomplishment, 80 percent in Great Accomplishment and 100 percent in the Completion." Chen Zong murmured and was a little dazzled.
Just now, he was still worrying about his slow speed in practicing Tiger Fist. And then, there appeared a much better martial art, especially a rare one on weapons.
"Can I get everything I required?" He doubted, "Two energy pills?"
Nothing happened. He thought it was mainly because he required too much. So he begged for one pill this time. Nothing happened again. He gave up and turned his attention to the Eight-move Swordsmanship.
A sword was a must to learn the swordsmanship.
"Every family children could get a weapon for free once reaching the first level of the Qi Blood Realm." Chen Zong said, walking straight to the clan weapon house and thinking about the Eight-move Swordsmanship.
Eight-move Swordsmanship contained eight sword skills. They were Crouching Sword, Pulling Sword, Rushing Sword, Looping Sword, Cutting Sword, Free Sword, Dashing Sword and Exploding Sword.
The states of body were standing, crouching, leaping, turning and rotating.
The states of footwork were rushing, slipping, tapping, moving, jumping and turning.
The eight types could be used together and separately. Each move should be matched with relevant body state and footwork to wield its mightiest power. The detailed instructions of every move and change were clearly printed in his mind."It's of great difficulties to combine the sword, body and footwork together when in rudiment."
"But once in rudiment, I would be more powerful with it than I'm with the Tiger Fist."
Suddenly, Chen Zong was high spirited.