“Quick, quick, I have to get to the Martial Hall… No, wait.”
Just as Su Yu was sprinting from the Su Family to Lin’s Martial Hall at full speed, he suddenly stopped.
He realized he didn’t need to run so fast. Since the schedule said “go to the Martial Hall to train,” the act of “going” was part of the plan.
Whether he ran or walked slowly, it was still “going.” Walking slowly would even give him time to think about this damn schedule.
[Detected: Executor is slacking during schedule execution. Electric shock punishment countdown initiated.]
[Three]
“Damn it, I’ll run! I’ll run, okay?”
Su Yu had no choice but to cry and speed up again.
But after a while, he started panting heavily. The Lin Family Martial Hall was a full five miles from the Su Family small courtyard! That was 2.5 kilometers! And he hadn’t eaten breakfast!
There was no way he could keep up that full speed the entire way.
But the moment his running pace slowed even slightly…
[Detected…]
“What a curse!”
Gritting his teeth, Su Yu forced his dead legs to move faster.
—
After who knows how long—or whether his legs still had any feeling—Su Yu collapsed like a corpse in front of the gate of Lin’s Martial Hall.
The moment he slumped to the ground, that damn countdown mercilessly rang again.
[Detected…]
[Three]
Hearing the countdown, Su Yu couldn’t help cursing, “Damn it!” But what else could he do? He grumbled and forced himself back up.
The countdown immediately stopped.
But Su Yu didn’t have a moment to rest. Without pausing, he pushed open the gate of the Martial Hall, and the Outer Courtyard came into view.
This place, which had once disgusted him and which he had deliberately avoided, suddenly seemed incredibly pleasing to the eye. Even the air here felt infinitely fresher than outside.
The sky was still dark. Other than the candle flames burning inside the two big red lanterns hanging at the entrance, the courtyard was pitch black—nothing could be seen.
Not wanting to hear that annoying countdown again, Su Yu didn’t hesitate or pause. He took down one of the red lanterns and used its light to search along the courtyard wall.
“Found it. Good thing I didn’t remember wrong.”
Soon, he found the [Martial Formula] for “Standing Stake Skill” carved into the wall.
This was a basic energy circulation [Martial Formula] common to all martial arts. The threshold to obtain it was very low, since basically every school had its own adapted version of the “Standing Stake Skill,” or had created an entirely new circulation [Martial Formula]… That was why the Master of Lin Family Martial Hall had so brazenly carved this “Standing Stake Skill” onto the courtyard wall.
Since he wasn’t afraid of others stealing it by learning, he might as well carve it here for the disciples to reference during training.
But…
Even though this “Standing Stake Skill” was practically common knowledge, it still recorded a genuine training method.
It documented the most basic Microcosmic Cycle for Orifice Opening, telling you which orifices to sense in sequence during the stance, in order to cultivate so-called Inner Force… That was why Su Yu had sprinted here. He needed to know the sequence and locations for the Orifice Opening cycle before he could start training. Otherwise, just doing the stance, he could do that at home!
But even he knew that “just standing” couldn’t be considered training. The damn schedule would never accept that.
“In this world, the start of martial arts training is to open the Nine Orifices of the Human Body. The Standing Stake Skill is the most basic method for opening orifices.”
Su Yu dared not slack off. He placed the lantern at the base of the wall where the “Standing Stake Skill” was carved, then adjusted his posture according to the instructions: feet apart, knees slightly bent, arms curved in front of his chest, ten fingers facing each other.
After setting his posture, he began to sense the Nine Orifices one by one following the diagram of the human body on the wall.
The so-called Nine Orifices of the Human Body referred to the seven orifices of the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, plus the two orifices of the front and back yin—nine in total.
Successfully sensing and opening just one of them was considered initiation into the Martial Path, known as First Tempering.
“No, what exactly am I supposed to sense? How come I can’t sense anything at all?”
Right now, Su Yu couldn’t even sense any of the Nine Orifices, much less maintain the stance correctly. He was off here and there.
But that wasn’t really his fault. He had just sprinted a full five miles at top speed, and his legs were still trembling. How could he maintain the stance? Sensing the orifices was even more impossible.
Still, it seemed that as long as he kept practicing like this, the countdown wouldn’t sound again.
‘I guess just going through the motions counts as training…’ Su Yu thought to himself, and unconsciously started slacking off again.
But the moment that thought arose…
[Detected: Executor repeatedly attempting to slack off during schedule execution. Electric shock punishment initiated!]
Before Su Yu could react, a violent, jarring electric current surged through his entire body, making him twitch violently on the spot, the whites of his eyes showing.
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHH——!!!”
“What the hell, you start with zero frames?!”
As the shock ended, Su Yu cursed through ragged gasps.
He really had no more tricks!
He had thought he could barely handle these short shocks, at least hold back from screaming, so others wouldn’t look at him like he was some kind of Jia Hao.
But that was when there was a countdown. Who knew this schedule could instantly switch to combat mode?!
[Detected: Executor is still slacking during schedule execution. Sustained electric shock for 10 seconds. Countdown initiated.]
[Three]
The cold mechanical voice didn’t stop because of his complaints.
This time, Su Yu didn’t dare have any more devious thoughts. He hurriedly arranged himself into the most standard stance he could manage, then focused all his effort on sensing the so-called Nine Orifices.
He felt that with his talent, even just sensing one orifice—let alone opening it for initiation—would take at least a year or two… Because right now, he really couldn’t sense anything at all.
But regardless, he had to do his best to sense while holding the stance, or else he’d get shocked!
Just as he was carefully focusing on the orifices, a flash of red appeared before his eyes, accompanied by that familiar mechanical voice.
[Training subject “Standing Stake Skill” has been registered.]
[Standing Stake Skill Training Progress: 0/100 (First Level – Left Eye Orifice)]
For a moment, Su Yu’s expression froze, then a faint gleam of joy crept onto his face.
[Detected…]
But the next second, his face fell again. He didn’t dare think about anything else and could only focus on the stance.
—
“What’s that noise, Old Lin? Shouldn’t you go check if there’s a thief?”
Meanwhile, inside the Inner Courtyard bedroom of Lin’s Martial Hall, a middle-aged woman lying on the bed patted the burly man beside her with some worry.
“It’s the Outer Courtyard. Sounds like some kid who came early to train. Don’t worry about it, go back to sleep.”
The man replied calmly without even opening his eyes, though a hint of curiosity crossed his face.
“I wonder which kid it is…”
“Must be Xiao Zhou. He’s the most diligent among the Outer Courtyard disciples.”
“Maybe, but Zhou Yuan’s Qi and Blood aren’t this weak.”
Then, silence fell again over the bed.
But while that bedroom quieted down, a candle lamp flickered to life in another bedroom inside the Inner Courtyard.
“Someone’s training in the Outer Courtyard?”
“At this hour… it must be Senior Brother Zhou, right?”
A soft, hesitant murmur rose from the courtyard. A graceful figure carrying a small lantern stepped out, the candlelight reflecting the faint blush on her cheeks, like a shy rose.