"I see that kid has weak foundations and a dull temperament—not martial arts material. All he's got going for him is some grit and brute strength. And this is the kind of disciple you can teach?"
Atop Mount Baiyan, Cheng Fengxiao asked curiously.
Weak foundation!
Poor aptitude!
Doesn't even speak the language!
And even under these conditions, Yan Chuang can still teach him?
Yan Chuang chuckled. "If I could teach Jinpeng, Yutang, and Wei Quan, what's one more kid, no matter how dim he seems?"
"True!"
Cheng Fengxiao slapped his forehead and laughed. He had recently been so dazzled by Yan Chuang's talent and the rapid progress of Yu Jinpeng and the others that he almost forgot—just four or five months ago, all three of them had been absolute blockheads, the worst of the worst.
Even Yan Chuang himself had been dull and unremarkable back then.
Not until July or August...
When his children rebelled and left home...
Did those disciples—and Yan himself—begin to advance with astonishing speed.
Thinking back, Cheng Fengxiao still found it unbelievable.
But on closer reflection—
It wasn't just Jinpeng and the others. Since July, over a hundred apprentices had joined the Ironwire Martial Hall. Cheng Fengxiao had recently reviewed the registry that Yan Chuang had asked Jinpeng to compile—134 disciples in total. Some had trained for four months, others for less than one, but nearly all were progressing rapidly. Many had already grasped the basics of "Horse Stance" and the "Twelve Bridge Hands" within a month or two. A good number had moved on to "Tiger Form Fist" and "Crane Form Fist." Some had even begun practicing "Thousand-Jin Drop" and "工 Character Taming-Tiger Fist"—astonishing speed.
Most of these people were originally considered unteachable—so lacking in talent that even schools had turned them away. They came to Ironwire Martial Hall lured by the promise of guaranteed mastery in the "72 Arts" and the reputation of Yan Chuang, the "Golden Finger of Guangling."
They came to learn the "72 Arts"—
But their surprisingly fast progress with "Horse Stance" and "Bridge Hands" naturally led them to pursue deeper training in Tiger and Crane forms.
They paid higher tuition.
They gained deeper skills.
The martial hall—
And the apprentices—
Everyone was happy.
Ironwire Martial Hall was now thriving.
Before, they had no choice but to accept anyone.
Now that they were popular, they could afford to be selective.
The martial hall—
Was only getting better!
"You managed to train Jinpeng and the other two so well."
"You've handled over a hundred disciples at once without neglecting a single one."
"Now you only have one kid to teach. Even if he's not the sharpest, it's nothing for you."
Cheng Fengxiao sighed with admiration—he couldn't match Yan Chuang's teaching skill if he tried.
After the casual chat—
Cheng Fengxiao said to Yan Chuang, "Let's stay here for a while. You focus on teaching the kid the local language and writing. During the day, I'll scout around the area. There's a deep forest to the south—I've got a hunch it might hold some hidden treasures."
Each to their strengths!
The master and disciple pair split up to act.
Nightfall.
Yan Chuang sat cross-legged among the craggy stones atop Mount Baiyan, reflecting on the essence of cultivation.
"Practicing fist techniques circulates qi and blood, tempers bones and tendons, refines flesh and skin. In the process, you begin to perceive the transformation of inner strength. With enough mastery, qi and blood become robust, strength becomes potent, and a mysterious internal energy—nei jin—emerges from the muscles. It waxes and wanes with each movement—rising in motion, fading in stillness."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid the rocks, Yan Chuang was practicing the Ten Animal Forms:
Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Leopard, Crane, Lion, Elephant, Horse, Monkey, Panther!
Every move made his muscles tremble, with bursts of inner energy exploding forth. Combined with physical strength, the power was tremendous.
Through this, nei jin tempered his body—his bones, muscles, and flesh becoming tougher and stronger.
Yan Chuang immersed himself in sensing the rise and fall of his inner energy, in its refining effect on his body.
He kept at it.
Then—
He shifted from the Ten Forms to "Hundred-Step Divine Movement":
"Feet move, legs move, waist moves, arms move!"
"When running, the whole body moves!"
"Tendons and bones connect with flesh, generating inner energy that gathers in the legs and feet."
Whoosh!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Yan Chuang darted among the rocks—so fast he seemed to be everywhere at once. His movements blurred like ghosts across the vast mountaintop, his presence omnipresent.
His speed was astonishing!
"It's not just about physical movement. The key lies in nei jin."
"Mysterious and subtle, it empowers the body. With the propulsion of 'Hundred-Step Divine Movement', I can unleash performance beyond human limits."
From this single art, one could understand all martial skills:
"Martial artists build strength through qi and blood, condition their body—tendons, bones, flesh—as a foundation. Then through skill training, they develop inner energy. That energy empowers their body. Add martial techniques, and the sum of these determines a warrior's strength."
Qi and blood = raw strength.
Tendons, bones, flesh = endurance.
Inner energy = explosive power.
Martial arts mastery = technique.
All these—broadly speaking—form the foundation.
Above this foundation are extras: knowledge, courage, weapons—these also affect a warrior's power.
But the core foundation is what truly counts.
"In the past—"
"We trained fists to cultivate nei jin."
"Stood in stances to strengthen qi and blood."
"That was the traditional path to strength—but the efficiency was too low. That's why the 'Ten Tigers of Guangling' were the martial pinnacle. Beyond that? Only geniuses could go further."
"Why was it so hard?"
"Because the training was slow."
Thus, nei jin remained weak and unstable.
And even strong qi and blood had limits.
But with the emergence of the New School—or more accurately, the Shanhai Realm—a breakthrough came to the martial traditions of Great Yan:
Secret elixirs!
Secret arts!
The former directly enhanced qi, blood, or the body—speeding up training.
The latter improved energy circulation, making both internal energy and strength grow faster.
Thus, the New School developed rapidly, producing stronger warriors.
But even most New School methods still followed the old path—training martial skills to develop inner energy. It could be called "Blood and Qi Martial Arts," "Nei Jin Martial Arts," or "Internal Boxing." The New School was just a stronger version of the Old.
But Yan Chuang—he had something new again.
"Besides martial arts."
"Besides qi and inner energy—I have the Hun Yuan Gong!"
The Hun Yuan Gong: Internal-External Unified Cultivation—
Foundation in body—bones, tendons, flesh.
Fuel from qi and blood.
Nourishment from inner energy.
Built upon twenty years of Internal Boxing, Hun Yuan Gong took the massive qi, the flickering inner energy, and refined it into one unified breath—a Mixed-Origin Inner Force (nei li). This nei li flowed through the meridians—gentler, longer-lasting, always present.
Unlike inner energy, which flared during combat and faded after, nei li remained, constantly nourishing the body and gradually improving it, day by day.
Not only that—
In combat, one didn't need to use flashy moves. A simple strike, even a plain palm, carried nei li and its devastating force.
Harder to predict.
Harder to defend.
That's surprise.
Unlike traditional forms like Tiger Fist—when someone used it, their moves gave them away. Even without touching, opponents could read it:
"Oh! Tiger Form Fist! You're about to use the Three Strengths."
They'd see—
Sink and center! Qi rising from the dantian!
Ah! That's "Gathering Strength!"
Arms inward, palms aligned, wrists turning!
Say no more—"Drawing Strength!"
Palms fall, fingers point down!
That's "Throwing Strength!"
With experience, one could counter not just the technique, but the nei jin as well.
Which is why—
At the martial arts tournament, Yan Chuang's use of the "Hundred-Flower Misdirection Fist" earned him stunning victories. Others thought he used Silk-Twisting Fist with Silk-Twisting Energy, but once they engaged him, they realized—no! It was Void Fist with Water-Touching Energy! Surprised and misjudging, they fell into his trap.
This was the flaw of nei jin.
But nei li was different—
Silent!
Shapeless!
Impossible to read or prepare for. That, too, was surprise.
Ultimately, nei li and nei jin came from the same root. But nei li added two steps:
Refinement.
Storage.
That's where the difficulty lay.
So while inner force (nei li) was superior, it was also much harder to master.
In the old days, internal techniques existed—but training them took eight to ten years, and even then only yielded a trickle of nei li. Use it once in battle and you'd be empty. That's why top warriors rarely went all out—they saved their strength for the critical moment.
Back then, internal cultivation just wasn't worth it.
Only with the arrival of the Shanhai Realm—and its secret martial arts and elixirs—did inner force become viable.
Yan Chuang, though lacking those resources, had Hun Yuan Gong—
"Level Xin, One-Star!"
"My internal technique is stronger than anything Guangling Academy teaches!"
From outer to inner—
Unified cultivation.
Yan Chuang sat atop the stone. Qi and blood surged. Inner energy flickered. And in his meridians, his inner force grew—absorbing qi and inner energy, collecting drop by drop into a river. At first a trickle—then a flood.
The speed of this accumulation far surpassed the "Five Animal Play"—by ten, even a hundred times!
Hun Yuan Gong—
Truly powerful!