The afternoon's lesson was much like the morning's — still cultivating 《The Starry Sky Beckons》, with Wan Keshan weaving among the students, instructing them tirelessly.
Together with their earlier talk in the office, Li Qingshan could clearly sense that Wan Keshan placed special weight on the Body Forging realm.
Because the focus of the next six months' lessons was all on 《The Starry Sky Beckons》.
This technique was the foundation of Body Forging, and Wan Keshan seemed to hope every student could raise it another stage within half a year.
After class, all the students bolted for the cafeteria, Yu Lei and Hong Qian no exception.
Li Qingshan plowed through two plates in a red-faced rush, then patted his belly, utterly content.
"Doing the day's two sessions at school saves a fair bit on food, and it doesn't hold up using nutrient fluid to keep forging my body at night."
Six Body Forging sessions a day — three times more efficient than before.
The half-year he'd estimated to reach Body Forging Layer 2 was now just two months.
Still, Li Qingshan didn't feel it was fast.
If the Wolfsbane projection weren't in his way, he'd already be happily grinding proficiency.
Once 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 rose to the fourth stage, his cultivation efficiency would double once more.
"Blocking my path is a grudge I'll never share the sky with!"
Li Qingshan's eyes hardened. He rose, said a quick goodbye to Zhao Hongzhou and the others, and hurried home without pause.
***
Down at the foot of the residential block,
it was evening, and many were out strolling to digest their dinner, children running wild and playing.
It took Li Qingshan some effort to find an open patch of grass.
A flurry of taps on his comm-band,
and soon a light-screen popped up, showing the training material for 《Phantom Step》.
The material included illustrated text and video explanations — very thorough.
Half an hour later,
Li Qingshan finished it all, thoughtful.
"Within a square inch, weave and shift."
Those eight characters were the guiding principle of 《Phantom Step》.
The foundation of 《Phantom Step》 was a set of footwork.
As long as you could walk through the whole set without pause, that counted as "Entry."
"Skilled" and "Mastery" required the footwork to be ingrained, turned into bodily instinct.
The instructor in the video, reaching this point, made a deliberate aside.
Training 《Phantom Step》 to "Mastery" gave a bonus to the speed portion of the Body Forging test.
This wasn't hard to grasp — the speed test was a shuttle run, and weaving and shifting were exactly 《Phantom Step》's specialty.
Reaching that part, Li Qingshan's first thought had been of Yu Lei.
"Yu Lei must have practiced 《Phantom Step》 too — otherwise, even with her natural gifts, she couldn't be so severely 'lopsided.'"
As for the "Greater Achievement" grade Li Qingshan most looked forward to,
the instructor offered only one piece of advice: real combat!
The "Greater Achievement" grade had already moved beyond mere footwork; practice alone was useless.
Only in real combat, under the spur of danger—
being able to sense it before the autumn wind stirs, the way a cicada does, and dodge an attack in advance — that counted as Greater Achievement.
"Even just a basic footwork art, trained to Greater Achievement, seems rather profound and unfathomable!"
Li Qingshan said with feeling.
If Greater Achievement was "profound and unfathomable," the Perfection grade beyond it was downright "mystical."
In the video, the instructor said only one line at the very end.
"Grasp the wonder of the square inch, and Perfection comes of itself."
Li Qingshan strongly suspected that instructor hadn't reached "Perfection" himself.
"At least I don't lack real combat." Li Qingshan let out a breath, then froze, struck by a realization.
"No — I don't need real-combat comprehension at all. With the Panel, whether Greater Achievement or Perfection, I just have to grind enough proficiency and it's no problem."
At the thought,
Li Qingshan brightened and began attempting the basic footwork.
He only had to record 《Phantom Step》 into the Panel, and then he could train it in the Martial Dao Space.
The sky darkened; the strolling elders and children headed home one after another.
"Granny, look at that big brother — he can't even walk!"
A little girl tugged at an old woman's clothes and stopped, pointing at the lawn nearby.
"Ranran, don't be rude!" The old woman scolded her granddaughter and looked where the small hand pointed.
There she saw a young man wobbling along, his steps bizarre, falling to the ground after only a few paces.
He immediately got up, stamped his feet irritably in place, then started over.
The little girl clapped her hands happily and said, excited:
"Granny, that brother's poses are so fun, I want to learn them too!"
"You will not!"
The old woman's face changed; she scooped up her granddaughter and hurried home.
An hour later, the wobbling figure finally stopped.
"Fuck, this footwork is completely against human nature!"
Called a set of footwork, but every step was not only unrelated to the last — they ran in opposite directions.
The previous step had just gone out, and the next was an immediate spin, utterly against the body's instincts.
A full hour and more, and only then did he make it through once.
Still rattled, Li Qingshan looked at the Panel.
[Li Qingshan]
[Realm: Body Forging 10/100]
[Technique:
Radio Calisthenics Set No. 36 — 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 10/1000 (Mastery)]
[Martial Skill: 《Phantom Step》 1/100 (Entry)]
[Function: Martial Dao Space Lv1 (1/100)]
[Available Time: 1 year]
[Time Flow: 1:10]
"Good, at least I've hit Entry."
Li Qingshan let out a breath and headed home.
On the way, he shifted his steps and tried twice more.
Stiff as the movements were, he never failed again.
Once recorded into the Panel, mastered once was mastered forever.
For anyone else, a single first success would be nowhere near "Entry."
Back home,
Li Qingshan opened the insulated case, took out a bottle of nutrient fluid, and drank it.
Then he went to the center of the living room and began his Body Forging cultivation.
Late into the night, the four Body Forging sessions were finally done, the nutrient fluid's effect spent.
Dragging his weary body, Li Qingshan lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.
The real cultivation was only just beginning.
His eyes opened on the familiar circular platform.
Li Qingshan didn't turn to face Wolfsbane as he had last night; instead he immediately began moving his feet, training 《Phantom Step》.
ROAR!
The howl came from far to near; in barely three seconds, the bloody maw was before his eyes.
Not a ripple crossed Li Qingshan's face; he simply followed the footwork's essentials into the next step.
His fine head slid smoothly into Wolfsbane's mouth.
CRUNCH!
A watermelon burst.
In the bedroom, his eyes opened and shut.
Li Qingshan returned to the Martial Dao Space, set off again, and picked up the footwork where he'd left off.
ROAR!
...
...
After a good twenty-plus deaths, Li Qingshan opened his eyes and looked at the Panel.
[《Phantom Step》 1/100 (Entry)] → [《Phantom Step》 2/100 (Entry)]
"Good — dying mid-way doesn't affect the proficiency gain. As long as I walk through it once in full, I get one point of Entry proficiency."
Li Qingshan's mouth twitched, trying to force out a smile.
But the shadow of being devoured by the wolf over and over really left him unable to.
"Wolfsbane..."
In the dark, a low murmur, and Li Qingshan closed his eyes once more.