After finishing another session of the Single-Weight Three-Body Stance, this time holding it for two minutes and fifty-five seconds, Du Ruo was on the verge of reaching the three-minute mark. He did not force the progress, as that would not be beneficial and could even lead to self-injury.
Du Ruo ended his Zhan Zhuang posture. He saw the Attribute Panel before him suddenly flicker; the experience bar, which had been at 99/100, had changed, a new option appeared below the panel, and at the same time, some new memories flooded his mind.
Name: Du Ruo
Age: 31
Essence: 8.39
Qi: 8.41
Spirit: 8.73
Attribute Point: 0.01
Skill: Xing Yi Quan LV1（0/200）
You have obtained one Lucky Draw Chance. Would you like to draw a new skill?
"Draw new skill!"
Du Ruo temporarily ignored the new memories in his mind and silently chanted to draw a skill.
Skill: Xing Yi Quan LV1（0/200）
Natural Gate Cultivation Method LV0（0/100）
Immediately, a new skill appeared on Du Ruo's panel.
"Natural Gate? Is this the Natural Gate created by the modern National Martial Arts Grandmaster Du Xinwu?"
Seeing the words "Natural Gate," a famous figure immediately came to Du Ruo's mind. During his spare time, Du Ruo didn't just watch young ladies in short videos; he had also gained a basic understanding of many figures and schools related to National Martial Arts.
Not many people are familiar with Du Xinwu, but he once served as a bodyguard for Mr. Sun and was well-known to the world as the top bodyguard of that era, which shows how formidable he was.
Du Ruo stopped practicing martial arts, went to the lounge chair nearby, sat down, and began to recall the memories he had just received.
First was Xing Yi Quan. After the skill leveled up, the memories of the Xingyi Twelve Forms Fist appeared in Du Ruo's mind.
The Twelve Forms Fist consists of the Dragon Form, Tiger Form, Bear Form, Snake Form, Alligator Form, Monkey Form, Horse Form, Chicken Form, Swallow Form, Harrier Form, Eagle Form, and the twelfth form.
Beyond the basic boxing techniques, it involved the most crucial Combat Methods, Practice Methods, and even some miscellaneous training techniques. It could be said that what he obtained was an encyclopedia of Xing Yi Quan boxing techniques.
Du Ruo examined the knowledge of Xing Yi Quan in his mind, suppressing the urge to practice immediately, and began to recall the Natural Gate Cultivation Method he had just received.
According to what Du Ruo knew, the Natural Gate included Hard Qigong, Soft Qigong, and Lightness Skill. He was quite looking forward to it, but unfortunately, only one training method appeared in his mind: the Natural Gate Lightness Skill. There were no methods for practicing Hard Qigong or Soft Qigong.
"Tsk~ Only the Lightness Skill training. But fortunately, it didn't give me the boxing techniques; if it had given me the Natural Gate boxing techniques, I would be speechless."
It was understandable why Du Ruo felt this way, because while the Natural Gate did have boxing techniques, they were, to put it mildly, completely useless.
Natural Gate martial arts emphasize the skill itself rather than the boxing techniques. Without a strong foundation of internal power, those boxing techniques have no power, look particularly unappealing, and lack the training benefits of other boxing styles.
Du Ruo flipped through the Lightness Skill portion of the Natural Gate in his mind. He was even more curious about this. Lightness Skill—the kind that allows one to fly over eaves and walk on walls—who wouldn't want that?
Unfortunately, after finishing it, Du Ruo felt disappointed again.
The Natural Gate Lightness Skill does not train the body to become lighter; rather, it trains leg strength and overall body balance. Although his memory indicated that the Natural Gate Lightness Skill could allow one to fly over eaves and walk on walls, perform a "Dry Land Scallion" jump, and move as fast as lightning when mastered, it was not the kind of flying around seen in television dramas.
"Forget it, why ask for more? Having this is already good. I must not put the cart before the horse; the body is the foundation of everything. The Cultivation Method is just for better body conditioning. Once my Essence, Qi, and Spirit attributes increase, it's not impossible to achieve the kind of flying seen in TV shows."
Du Ruo tried to console himself, then stood up, ready to start practicing again.
Du Ruo put the Natural Gate Lightness Skill aside for now, as it was not his immediate priority, and he had an idea that needed some time to verify.
Returning to the open ground, Du Ruo decided to practice the Xingyi Twelve Forms Fist first.
The Xingyi Twelve Forms Fist is fundamentally different from the Five Elements Fist. The Five Elements Fist requires practicing the entire set to maximize the training effect.
The Twelve Forms Fist does not; one can choose to focus on specific boxing techniques based on personal preference or habit, with more consideration given to actual combat.
However, for now, Du Ruo did not intend to worry about preferences; preferences are something to consider only after one has mastered the basics.
The Xingyi Twelve Forms Fist is not just twelve moves, but twelve Taolu, each with its own core focus.
For example, the Dragon Form in the Twelve Forms Fist features expansive and open moves. Using this Taolu to fight someone directly wouldn't work; the fundamental purpose of practicing the Dragon Form is to train the spine, and learning to exert force through the spine is the core of this Taolu.
Another example is the Tiger Form in the Twelve Forms Fist, where the Taolu focuses primarily on pouncing. The fundamental purpose of practicing the Tiger Form is to train the hip bone and learn to exert force through it.
When practicing the Xingyi Twelve Forms, one must experience the force-exertion characteristics of every body part and apply them in actual combat.
Furthermore, in the Twelve Forms Fist Taolu, one basically starts with the Eagle Grasping Style of the Three-Body Stance, and all Taolu incorporate the five ways of exerting force from the Five Elements Fist: Splitting, Drilling, Crushing, Cannon, and Crossing.
This is the fundamental reason why the Xingyi Twelve Forms Fist can be considered the mother of Xing Yi Quan combat methods.
Du Ruo practiced the Twelve Forms Fist over and over, carefully experiencing how the corresponding body parts exerted force for each form. He could not be careless, because only by making the force-exertion of each part a physical instinct could he eventually discard the Taolu and engage in actual combat.
Du Ruo practiced for over forty minutes until his body felt uncomfortable, at which point he stopped.
Du Ruo opened the Attribute Panel again to add the newly obtained attribute points, but he was surprised to find that the Natural Gate skill, which he hadn't practiced at all, had actually gained one point of experience.
Name: Du Ruo
Age: 31
Essence: 8.40
Qi: 8.42
Spirit: 8.74
Attribute Point: 0.00
Skill: Xing Yi Quan LV1（2/200）
Natural Gate Cultivation Method: LV0（1/100）
"Hmm, that makes sense. The core of the Natural Gate Lightness Skill is actually training leg strength and body balance. Since practicing Xing Yi Quan naturally trains the legs, it's expected that there would be some growth."
Du Ruo looked at the increased experience for the Natural Gate Cultivation Method and thought to himself that this was the reason he hadn't actively practiced it just now.
He also wanted to know if every skill obtained required dedicated practice to gain experience.
Now the conclusion was clear: as long as there is a connection, or if the core objectives are the same, practicing Xing Yi Quan can incidentally increase the experience of other skills.
This is also reasonable. After all, as one's martial arts deepen, perhaps at a high level, one might be able to master the core of another skill just by glancing at it.
It was just a pity that attribute points did not increase due to skill growth; they required actual, dedicated practice to increase.
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