"Gather round!"
Old Liang blew the whistle hanging around his neck, the sharp sound drawing the dispersed students together.
Led by Li Yuan and Xie Yucheng, they formed two lines based on their height.
"This is our new member, Qin Shi. Just like you, he is a child of an Old Factory Street worker. Get to know each other."
After a brief introduction, Old Liang began arranging the training schedule:
"Old rules, run ten laps first, within forty minutes. The last one will add five more laps!
Later, we will practice standing postures and forms. You've almost grasped the punches, steps, and body techniques taught in recent days; we'll have a sparring test later."
Crash!
Everyone rushed to the playground, legs running wild!
Everyone knew Old Liang's methods—students were punished ruthlessly when they made mistakes.
This school is different from those in the Urban Circle; even the most rebellious ones would obey after a few slaps.
Complaining to parents wouldn't work here on Old Factory Street either.
Families of workers always had simple trust in their teachers.
That's why even those dropouts who had experienced Old Liang's discipline avoided him like the Living Yama, despite not being in school anymore.
"Qin Shi, you stay."
Old Liang called out to Qin Shi:
"After capturing Qi Sensitivity, ordinary physical training won't do much for you. Your potential needs to be harnessed more efficiently.
We'll continue tendon stretching in the morning, and this time, you can rest only after they finish running."
The sun hung high, unbearably hot.
Forty minutes flew by.
Standing under the scorching sun, Qin Shi's face was contorted, sweat pouring, his skin as red as a cooked shrimp.
The veins within his body throbbed, causing muscles to shake violently.
It was clear that every second drained his immense physical strength.
"Tendon stretching is very important. The major tendons in the body, when stretched, enhance blood circulation and increase bone density.
Over time, the density and weight of the structure supporting your flesh will increase.
This is what the Old Martial Arts call 'Bone Weight and Tendon Spirit.'
Achieving this means your punches will hurt incredibly more, each punch worth ten of your opponent's!"
Old Liang made no secret of giving special attention to Qin Shi in front of everyone.
He had explained this countless times.
Old Martial Arts were never about armchair strategy; listening wasn't enough, one must grasp the essence and practice deeply.
Old Liang asked:
"Qin Shi, how do you feel now?"
"Upstairs feels numb and itchy, downstairs sore and swollen..."
Qin Shi gritted his teeth; the longer he stood, the clearer the heat flow inside his body became.
This time, the feeling came quickly.
Within just over ten minutes, Qi Sensitivity was captured, but it couldn't form a complete circulation.
Every time he tried to maintain consistent breathing, it would get disrupted because of physical exhaustion.
Thus, the tenuous Qi Sensitivity he had captured would break.
"That's exactly right!"
Old Liang was very pleased.
"From an earthworm in the mud, shedding its skin to become a snake, and finally transforming into a dragon soaring into the sky, it won't be easy!
Continue, another ten-minute practice!"
Old Liang was ruthless!
He was truly putting me through hellish training!
Qin Shi cursed inwardly.
Without the buff from [Deep Sleep] and the enhanced effect from [Muscle Memory],
he wouldn't necessarily withstand this demonic training!
"Two servings of nutritional paste daily weren't wasted, nor was the waived registration fee.
This kid has excellent muscle and bone structure, suitable for the Old Era.
With more polishing, he'll develop 'ape arms, wasp waist, mantis legs' no problem."
Seeing Qin Shi suffer, Old Liang was quite pleased.
In the Old Martial Arts training method, training muscles and bones was an indispensable key part.
But not everyone could endure it.
The pain from tendon stretching, the agony from tearing, and the knife-like joint friction... it's all hard to bear.
These agonizing tortures similar to corporal punishment repeatedly stimulated the brain, making it hard to concentrate and creating a sense of fear.
Thus, the Old Martial Arts only selected the best candidates.
The saying "Out of a hundred seedlings, one becomes a tree; a thousand woods, and only one soars into the sky."
came from this.
In contrast, the New Martial is much more gentle.
Advanced cultivation halls and large corporate clubs often have medical teams of dozens to hundreds of people.
Through various technological means like nutritional supplements, electromagnetic therapy, and high-energy slow-release fluids, they finely adjust the body system.
Reducing injury risk and ensuring steady growth of life force.
As for the downside,
it's very plain and simple.
Just four big words—Poor people, get out!
...
...
This high-intensity physical training continued for four days.
Qin Shi left home every morning and returned exhausted like a dead dog every night.
From forty minutes of tendon stretching to two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
From capturing Qi Sensitivity to guiding circulation, ensuring at least two completions of Circulation of Heaven.
Old Liang showed no mercy, fully extracting every bit of potential from Qin Shi's body.
He aimed to convert all the nutritional paste he ate into rich life force.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, this phrase is absolutely true.
If it were Zhou Ning, he would be trained to vomit blood and faint on the spot by Old Liang!"
In the bedroom of a shanty on Baogong Street, Qin Shi opened the cabinet to take out clothes and glanced at the full-length mirror embedded inside.
The reflection in the mirror had solid muscles, tight skin, a well-proportioned body, and every line was just right.
Crack! Crack!
Qin Shi gently clenched his fists, joints made slight noises.
The fascia of his arms and shoulders instantly tensed like oxhide.
In his past life, achieving such results would have taken at least two and a half years of hard training.
And strict diet control, following the professional muscle-building process.
"In less than a week, now, I can take on two of my former selves."
Daily tendon stretching and capturing Qi Sensitivity rapidly improved Qin Shi's physical fitness.
Joint stretching, bone gap widening, tendon elongation!
All kinds of changes made him grow taller by a fraction.
Reaching about 1.82 meters.
"Old Martial Arts can indeed transform the body, and the physique changes quite significantly.
Shoulders have broadened, back has thickened, even shark muscles have emerged."
Qin Shi admired himself briefly, then casually put on a loose T-shirt, covering his fine physique.
The Monument Panel with a black border unfolded, showing impressive progress after the hard work.
[Basic Level Achievement—Deep Sleep (7/7)]
[Basic Level Achievement—Muscle Memory (61%)]
"Wonder what kind of skill I can unlock."
Qin Shi rubbed his hands expectantly, focusing all his attention on the Monument Panel.
As the conditions were met, the gray stele, which originally looked like a small mound of dirt, turned into white granite.
Exuding a hard and solid unique feeling!
Then...
A waterfall of text information quickly refreshed—
[Intermediate Achievement—Deep Sleep]
[Deep Sleep: Youth is great, you fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed. Every life stage requires sufficient rest, let alone your still-developing embryonic seed.]
[Trait: You will no longer face insomnia, and you can recover more physical strength and energy with a shorter sleep duration. Your immune system will be restructured, greatly enhancing virus resistance.]
[Advanced Route: Maintaining a good routine is essential. If you stick to early to bed and early to rise for thirty days, it can be upgraded again.]
"Never insomnia, quickly replenish energy bar, and an immune system boost like immunity from all diseases. Perfect!"
Qin Shi nodded, very satisfied.
Humans, as living beings, spend almost one-third of their life in sleep.
By shortening this duration, he could perform more physical training sessions.
Like the [Muscle Memory] achievement, which required more than twenty sets of exhaustive training daily.
But since he had to follow Old Liang's training and stand posts,
the various courses were too packed, making it difficult to complete on time and in quantity.
[Skill Unlocked: Combat Retrospect]
[Effect: Capture every detail of your opponent, magnify every movement, finding flaws and opportunities from them.]
"If it's an active skill, that would be incredible. Having it suddenly activate mid-battle would mean stopping time!"
Qin Shi's eyes twinkled as his thoughts wandered.
Moments later, he directed his mental focus, attempting to use the newly unlocked skill.
Seconds passed, and nothing happened!
The fantasized bullet-time slow-motion scene did not appear!
"What a pity, seems like it's triggered passively."
Qin Shi suppressed his disappointment, his eyes returning to the updated data panel.
[Anchor: Qin Shi]
[Growth Stage: Embryo]
[Progress: 0.009%]
[Monument Number: Deep Sleep (Intermediate), Muscle Memory (Basic)]
[Skill: Combat Retrospect]
"My efforts were not in vain! [Deep Sleep] has leveled up, progress has increased, and a new skill has been unlocked..."
Qin Shi silently pondered whether this string of numbers representing embryonic growth progress related to life force?
If so, would it mean that within such a short time, his life force had developed to 9 points?
"I must find a way to do a comprehensive test to know my current life force level.
If it's exactly 9 points, that would prove my progress is substantial, and passing the Amateur Level section exam would be within grasp."