"Grandma An, Grandma Ci, Grandpa Hui, are you all chatting here?"
Du Ruo took the lead and greeted them with a smile. At a time like this, he couldn't just walk by with his head down. The old men and women in the village were prone to gossip; if he walked past without even a greeting, who knew what they might start saying tomorrow.
"So the boy from Du Jianting's family is back."
Hearing Du Ruo's greeting, the elders stopped looking down to chat and smiled as they replied to him.
"Ding~"
Du Ruo had originally wanted to chat for a while longer, but a sound in his mind indicating a download completion rang out. Du Ruo knew that the small game must have finished extracting.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he nodded at the elders and then walked quickly toward a house at the end of the village.
While walking, he summoned the panel.
This time, what appeared before his eyes was no longer that small icon and extraction progress bar, but a page similar to the small game Du Ruo had played that night.
Name: Du Ruo
Age: 31
Essence: 8.02
Qi: 8.10
Spirit: 8.42
（The average value for the Essence, Qi, and Spirit of a normal adult body is 8, and the upper limit for a normal human is 10）
Attribute Point: 0.00
Initial Skill: Xing Yi Quan LV0（0/100）
Note: The host's body cannot withstand all skills; please work hard to improve yourself.
Practicing skills will grant skill experience and attribute points.
Attributes can be increased with points for Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
When skill experience is full, you can level up and obtain the next skill.
……
Du Ruo looked at the panel, his pace slowing down unconsciously until he stopped completely.
The excitement in his heart could not be described in words. This panel was just as he had imagined; it had truly extracted the skills from the small game he played that day.
Although it was only the extracted game skills and did not extract the character's exaggerated attributes along with them, seeing that he could continue to add points put Du Ruo at ease. At the very least, this already gave Du Ruo a chance for Transcendence.
At the same time, a segment of memory surfaced in Du Ruo's mind, as if he had known it all along and was only just recalling it now. It was very relaxed, natural, and deeply ingrained, and he could even easily understand the principles and reasons behind it.
The memory contained some basic knowledge of martial arts practice, as well as knowledge and practice tips related to the Xingyi Five Elements Fist and Xingyi Santishi.
The sudden influx of memory in his mind made Du Ruo overjoyed, and he also understood that this was the skill he had obtained as shown on the panel. He hadn't expected happiness to come so suddenly.
"I take back what I said. That wasn't a trash game; it was the most conscientious game in the world. I only hate that I didn't play it seriously at the time. I apologize for my attitude back then; I was wrong, and I was a bit too loud."
After absorbing all the skill knowledge, Du Ruo immediately apologized for his attitude while playing the game, feeling even more regretful for his perfunctory attitude at the time.
If only he could clearly remember all the skills. Now he only remembered that he had learned 《Xing Yi Quan》, 《Bagua Zhang》, 《Baji Quan》, and the like. It seemed there were also martial arts like Hidden Weapon, Weapon, Dian Xue, and Mind Method later on, but he couldn't recall the specific names.
"I wonder if I learned any cultivation methods like 《Eight-Nine Profound Art》. If I had, I'd be flying high."
Du Ruo muttered to himself, completely forgetting that the small game was called 『National Martial Arts Grandmaster』.
"Son? Why are you suddenly back? What are you standing at the door muttering about?"
The shout brought Du Ruo back to his senses. Only then did he realize he was already standing at his front door, and the person calling him was his Mom. His Mom was looking him up and down while speaking to him.
"Mom, you've lost so much weight, and you've become younger and prettier too."
Du Ruo looked at his Mom, suppressing his inner excitement. To avoid making her worry, he quickly rubbed his face, put on a smile, and started buttering her up.
"I have lost weight, haven't I? I've been trying to lose weight recently, and it seems the effect is quite good. Come on, go inside. Have you had lunch? I'll make you something to eat."
His Mom certainly fell for it, but what she cared about most was whether her son had eaten and if he was hungry.
"Not yet. I took the bus right after getting off the plane; I haven't stopped the whole way."
Du Ruo touched his stomach. It was probably about 1:30 PM now, and he was indeed a bit hungry.
"Alright, you eat some fruit. I'll go cook you a bowl of noodles. Tonight, I'll cook your favorite Stinky Mandarin Fish."
Hearing that Du Ruo hadn't eaten yet, his Mom couldn't sit still. She took some fruit for Du Ruo to eat first, while she went to the kitchen.
Du Ruo put his backpack in his room on the second floor and then started to walk around the house.
Having not returned for nearly two years, the house still felt familiar, and everything seemed unchanged.
After finishing the noodles and chatting with his Mom for a while, Du Ruo had originally thought she would ask all sorts of questions, such as "Why did you come back suddenly?", "Did you run into any trouble?", or "How is your dating life going?".
Who knew that his Mom would just tidy up his room and then watch him eat the noodles with a smile, asking nothing at all. After he finished, she only asked if he had enough and if he wanted more noodles; other than that, she said nothing else.
"Go to your room and rest for a bit. You must be tired from the journey. I'm going to find your Dad, and later we'll go buy some groceries. I'll make you something good tonight, and I'll call your sister and Brother-in-law to come back for dinner too."
After Du Ruo was full, his Mom cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and told him to go to his room to rest.
Du Ruo nodded and went upstairs. The martial arts he had just acquired were waiting for him to research them; he couldn't wait any longer.
"Since I have to practice to gain attribute points and skill experience, let's officially begin."
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Du Ruo recalled the knowledge about Xing Yi Quan in his mind.
"To practice martial arts, first change your force; Tai Chi uses Taolu, Bagua uses tree-turning, and Xing Yi uses Zhuang Gong."
The basic knowledge of martial arts practice was directly in his mind, and it was because of this saying that Du Ruo decided to start with Zhan Zhuang.
The so-called changing force is essentially changing the body's habit of Exert Force. Normal people use Muscle to Exert Force; the stronger the Muscle, the greater the force.
However, the Exert Force in Traditional Martial Arts uses the Tendons and Bones. Changing force is the process of changing the habit of Exert Force. As one practices, one gradually shifts from using Muscle to using Tendons and Bones, and then the changing of force is complete.
Zhan Zhuang not only completes the changing of force but also gradually strengthens the Tendons and Bones, so the practice of Santishi requires perseverance.
"Santishi is also called the Three Talents Stance, gathering the three talents of Heaven and Earth and Man, which are the upper, middle, and lower parts of the body. When Exert Force, one must achieve the unity of the three talents. Santishi is the basic Zhuang Gong of Xing Yi and the beginning of all changes in moves, which is why there is the saying that all methods originate from Santishi. When practicing, one must achieve the harmony of heart and intent, intent and Qi, and Qi and force."
It emphasizes the three tops, three hooks, three rounds, three poisons, Three Hugs, three hammers, three bends, and three stretches.
When setting up the stance for Xing Yi Quan, it emphasizes Dragon Body, Bear Shoulders, and Tiger Hugging Head, which is also called the internal and external six-harmony style.
When Exert Force, one needs to align the waist, pull the back, have the shoulders urge the elbows, and the elbows urge the hands, while also achieving sinking shoulders, dropping elbows, and using waist force. These are the three basic urging forces of Xing Yi Quan.
At the same time, one must also ensure that the tip of the nose, the tips of the hands, and the tips of the feet are aligned.
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