While recalling the essential techniques, Du Ruo naturally began practicing the San Ti Shi Zhan Zhuang. Because of its difficulty, the San Ti Shi is divided into two types. The most basic is the Double-Weight Three-Body Stance, which involves placing the balance during the stance between both legs, allowing them to bear the weight together.
Du Ruo chose a more difficult practice method: the Single-Weight Three-Body Stance, where the center of gravity is placed on a single leg.
This is because the Single-Weight Three-Body Stance is the fastest and most effective way to achieve Huan Jin.
There is no room for perfunctory effort in practicing martial arts; only effective practice can yield results. Furthermore, the skill-related knowledge in his mind would not allow him to be perfunctory.
Du Ruo set his posture, emptied his thoughts, stopped overthinking, and began to experience the changes in his Body.
Half a minute after setting the Single-Weight Three-Body Stance, sensations of soreness, numbness, and itching began to rise from his feet, spreading throughout his entire Body, and then his Body began to tremble involuntarily.
This feeling was truly unbearable, as if ants were crawling all over him. Slowly, Du Ruo realized that his stance was about to lose its proper form.
"Whew... that was a bit short. I didn't even reach one minute."
Not long after the trembling began, Du Ruo could no longer persist. He let out a breath, stood up straight, stretched his Body, and then switched to the other leg to continue the stance.
There is a standard for achieving Huan Jin in the Xingyi Santishi, which is to persist for three minutes.
With the correct posture, being able to maintain the Single-Weight Three-Body Stance for three minutes counts as completing the Huan Jin.
The involuntary trembling of the Body just now was actually the beginning of Huan Jin. During the trembling, the stiff force in the Body is dispersed, turning into integrated force. However, one must also be careful; while trembling is fine, the posture must not be deformed.
The further one goes in Zhan Zhuang, the more difficult it becomes. The first two and a half minutes test the Body, while the final thirty seconds are a test of perseverance and conviction. Therefore, practicing martial arts is a process of persistence and, even more so, a tempering of the Martial Dao heart.
The Xing Yi Quan knowledge Du Ruo obtained from the Panel let him know how to practice and what the correct way to practice was, so he would never take a wrong turn. San Ti Shi Zhan Zhuang is not about the duration, but whether the posture is correct and whether one can persist with perseverance.
If the posture is correct, one minute of practice yields one minute of skill; if the posture is wrong, practicing for ten years is useless.
Du Ruo practiced for half an hour. Just as he began to feel a bit restless, he saw the Panel flicker.
Skill: Xing Yi Quan LV0 1/100
Attribute Point: 0.01
"Did it only increase by one point of proficiency and attribute point after half an hour of practice?"
Du Ruo stopped his movements and sat on a chair to rest, while looking at the Panel before him with a surge of excitement and satisfaction in his heart.
Du Ruo found a long-lost joy. This joy was simple and pure; he had only felt it before when he was a student, playing an online game for the first time and watching the character he was manipulating level up.
"Then next is: Add Points!!"
Du Ruo looked at the familiar Panel, and at the same time, a "+" sign appeared behind the Essence, Qi, and Spirit values, indicating that he could Add Points.
Without hesitation, Du Ruo added the only 0.01 Attribute Point to the lowest value, "Essence".
Du Ruo only felt a surge of heat flowing from his Dantian throughout his entire Body. The muscle soreness from his recent exercise seemed to have been relieved.
"Keep up the good work. Next, it's time to practice the Taolu of the Xingyi Five Elements Fist."
After adding the points, Du Ruo felt it carefully. It was a pity that apart from his Body feeling a bit more comfortable, there didn't seem to be much improvement. Clearly, the values were still a bit low.
Du Ruo decided to strike while the iron was hot and began to try the Taolu of the Xingyi Five Elements Fist to see if it increased experience by one point per practice, or if, like the San Ti Shi, it required reaching a certain practice duration to gain experience and Attribute Points.
Another reason was that Zhan Zhuang actually requires one's Mind to be relaxed. Usually, when one is restless, it is not recommended to perform Zhan Zhuang or Static Cultivation.
The Xingyi Five Elements Fist is the basic boxing technique of Xing Yi Quan, including the five fists: Splitting Fist, Drilling Fist, Collapsing Fist, Cannon Fist, and Horizontal Fist. Each boxing technique is paired with the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
The Practice Method for the Five Elements Fist is very particular and requires considering the connections between the Five Elements.
With the existence of skill knowledge, and because these movements had no requirements for the Body and could be easily performed, Du Ruo's practice was like a textbook from the very beginning, with his movements not having the slightest deviation or error.
He performed the boxing technique once, but the skill did not budge.
Du Ruo was not disappointed but continued to practice. At the same time, he emptied his thoughts, stopped overthinking, and devoted himself to experiencing the changes that the boxing practice brought to his Body.
Until half an hour passed, the skill proficiency flickered again, increasing by one point, and at the same time, the Attribute Point increased by another 0.01.
Without hesitation, he added the Attribute Point to "Essence" again. The fatigue in his Body dissipated, and his energy recovered a little. This feeling of immediate reward for his efforts was truly exhilarating, making Du Ruo unable to stop himself from becoming addicted to it.
Every time the experience bar flickered, Du Ruo felt satisfied. This visible growth gave Du Ruo great motivation.
Du Ruo knew that from now on, his life would become smooth, because every bit of effort yields a reward. He would no longer have to take wrong turns, would no longer hit walls, and would not even have bottlenecks—at least, that was the case when it came to practicing martial arts.
Du Ruo practiced until he was oblivious to everything else, but sounds began to come from the first floor; it seemed his family had returned.
However, Du Ruo was at his most excited moment and had no intention of stopping.
Just as Du Ruo had been practicing wholeheartedly for three hours, he added the obtained Attribute Points to "Essence" again. The Panel changed, which forced Du Ruo to stop.
Name: Du Ruo
Age: 31
Essence: 8.02 8.08
Qi: 7.99 8.10
Spirit: 7.99 8.42
Attribute Point: 0.00
Skill: Xing Yi Quan LV0 6/100
Note: The host's Body cannot withstand the full extent of the skill; please work hard to improve yourself.
Six points of skill proficiency was the result of Du Ruo's three hours of wholehearted dedication.
Besides that, the biggest change was that his Essence, Qi, and Spirit had all decreased, especially his Spirit and Qi, which had dropped significantly. At this moment, as Du Ruo relaxed, he felt a headache, and he felt that the bowl of noodles he had eaten in the afternoon had been completely absorbed. His stomach was empty, and he was extremely hungry.
Du Ruo frowned and sighed, knowing he could not continue practicing.
The fundamental purpose of practicing martial arts is to strengthen oneself, and unrestrained practice is definitely not a good thing. Furthermore, for a beginner like Du Ruo, blindly continuing to practice could easily damage his Foundation, which would be counterproductive.
At the same time, it made Du Ruo completely understand one thing: this is reality, not a game where one can practice endlessly.
"This is also good. At least it shows that I am playing the game, not the game playing me."
Thinking of this, Du Ruo revealed a smile instead. This real feeling made him feel at ease; if he could practice endlessly, he might really turn into a machine.
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