"It's fine, let me take a look first. I just got back, so there's no rush."
Du Ruo felt deeply moved; his family's tolerance toward him exceeded his imagination.
"Hmm, if you have any ideas, tell us, and we'll help you weigh them. I'll have your brother-in-law help you ask around if there's any suitable work."
Du Na finally looked up and spoke to Du Ruo at this moment.
"Everything else is secondary. You should help your brother figure out if there are any suitable girls. Getting married and having kids early is what really matters."
In the end, Mom still brought up the most critical topic, and this topic received unanimous approval from the family. Even Huang Ya Mei, who had been bowing her head and eating voraciously, followed suit and nodded along.
"Cough, cough... Mom, when I came back, I noticed the entrance to the village wasn't as lively as before. What's going on? Did all those grandpas and grandmas move to the town?"
Du Ruo hurriedly changed the subject. It wasn't that he refused a blind date or didn't want to get married, but he still had a city mindset and always felt there was no need to be in such a hurry.
"They've all left. They're getting on in years, and your dad and I are getting old too. In a few more years, we might not even be able to look after the kids."
The topic became a bit heavy, which was something Du Ruo hadn't expected. In his memory, those people were all still capable hands at farm work; time truly spares no one.
……
Early in the morning, Du Ruo had a rare, good night's sleep. Huang Ya Mei was still in kindergarten, and his sister and brother-in-law needed to watch the shop, so after dinner yesterday, they took Huang Ya Mei and their Golden Retriever, told Du Ruo to come play in town when he had time, and then drove away.
Last night, Du Ruo also rarely stayed up late. His stomach was full, his head still had a faint, stinging pain, and the hypnotic effect of the frogs croaking and insects chirping at night was very strong. Before nine o'clock, Du Ruo went upstairs and quickly fell asleep, then slept until nine o'clock the next morning before getting up.
After getting up, Du Ruo felt refreshed. The Essence, Qi, and Spirit that had been depleted yesterday returned to normal levels in his body, which meant his current state had recovered. This indicated that he could start practicing martial arts normally today; if it hadn't recovered, he really wouldn't have dared to continue practicing.
"Perhaps I should consider prioritizing adding points to Spirit."
Getting up from the bed, Du Ruo pondered the side effects brought about by yesterday's continuous exercise and adding points.
Adding points to "Essence" could alleviate physical fatigue, but it required replenishing energy and made him easily hungry.
Moreover, practicing martial arts also consumed a lot of mental energy. Adding points to "Spirit" should be able to alleviate that, and later on, perhaps he would be able to continue practicing martial arts for longer.
Du Ruo didn't have a very clear understanding of the role of "Qi" yet, but after continuously adding points yesterday, the speed at which "Qi" dropped was extremely fast. Perhaps the warm current in his body was essentially "Qi".
"Looking at it this way, Essence, Qi, and Spirit are all interconnected. Should I try adding points to all three at the same time?"
After summarizing his thoughts, Du Ruo washed up and went downstairs. His dad had already gone out. Du Jianting was a Village Cadre, and at fifty-eight years old, he would be retiring in two years. This was only because few young people in the village lived there; otherwise, Du Jianting would have retired long ago.
After eating the breakfast Mom had prepared, Du Ruo said a word to her and then went to the backyard of the house. There was an open ground there, which was very suitable for practicing martial arts.
Looking at the towering Mount Huang and breathing in the fresh air, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, Du Ruo began his practice of the Single-Weight Three-Body Stance.
Practicing martial arts requires perseverance, especially since every time Du Ruo practiced, he could not only gain skill experience but also obtain attribute points. Therefore, Du Ruo was now also urgently wanting to find a suitable point.
How long was appropriate to practice every day without hurting himself, and how to add points better—this panel seemed to be just a mechanical program; everything required Du Ruo to explore adding points himself.
Du Ruo was already quite familiar with the practice of the Three-Body Stance. In a state of standing still, experiencing the feeling of his body muscles relaxing and his tendons and bones supporting him, Du Ruo had a feeling that his tendon and bone strength was gradually increasing while standing still.
Du Ruo was actually still at the most primitive stage of Zhan Zhuang. To truly achieve mastery in Zhuang Gong, it required the tempering of time.
The habits of force application formed by the human body during natural movement and the habits of bearing gravity are very difficult to change. Zhan Zhuang emphasizes setting the form in three months, which is the hundred-day Foundation Establishment. Normally, it takes about a hundred days to master the essentials of Zhuang Gong, but that is for normal people. Du Ruo believed that he might not need that much time.
Du Ruo was already starting to look forward to the day he mastered Zhuang Gong. By then, Zhuang Gong would merge into his body's instinct, and his force application habits in daily life would also change. That would be the beginning of Du Ruo's transformation.
Skill: Xing Yi Quan LV0（7/100）
Attribute Point: 0.01
Following the old rule, after the experience increased from Zhan Zhuang, Du Ruo stopped. This time he didn't add points; he decided to save up to 0.03 and then try what the effect would be if he added one point to each of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
He had already decided today that Essence, Qi, and Spirit could drop, but they must absolutely not drop below 8.00.
"Next, I'll start practicing the Five Elements Fist."
The Xingyi Five Elements Fist is actually based on the theory of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements from the Inner Canon, and it is applied according to the principles of the generation and restriction of the Five Elements. Since one practices the Five Elements Fist according to the theory of the Five Elements, the best practice method is to follow the order of the Five Elements' generation: Pi (Splitting), Zuan (Drilling), Beng (Crushing), Pao (Exploding), and Heng (Crossing).
The Five Elements Fist is the foundation for training Xing Yi Quan. It takes dispelling illness, fitness, and changing a person's temperament as a premise, while also aiming to deepen one's foundation. It is the mother fist of Xing Yi Quan.
Du Ruo followed the knowledge he had mastered in his mind, based on the basic Five Elements generation principle of Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, and Fire generates Earth, and practiced the punches in the order of Pi generating Zuan, Zuan generating Beng, Beng generating Pao, and Pao generating Heng.
After finishing a set, he didn't stop but continued to cycle through the Five Elements Fist Taolu.
Following this Taolu, Du Ruo didn't feel tired at all while practicing; he even enjoyed it somewhat. The entire set of Five Elements Fist was performed with Hardness and Softness in Harmony, possessing great aesthetic beauty and watchability.
At least in the eyes of Du Ruo's mom, it was like that.
Mom had actually discovered Du Ruo in the backyard a long time ago, but she didn't know what he was doing. It wasn't until Du Ruo had been there for quite a while that she came over to take a look.
As a result, she saw Du Ruo standing on the open ground of the courtyard, performing boxing techniques with extreme aesthetic beauty. Mom didn't understand boxing techniques, let alone National Martial Arts, but she was very happy just seeing her son's boxing look good.
Du Ruo had never liked exercise since he was a child; he was the type who would never stand if he could sit, and never sit if he could lie down. Mount Huang was right behind their house, but in her impression, Du Ruo was over thirty years old and seemed to have only gone up once.
It was rare to see Du Ruo practicing boxing today, especially with such Elegant and Flowing techniques, paired with Du Ruo's still-handsome face and his neither-fat-nor-thin physique. At least in Mom's eyes, Du Ruo was absolutely the most handsome at this moment.
Mom watched for a while, then silently walked away without disturbing Du Ruo's practice.
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