From absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to achieving divine mastery in martial arts

Old Huang led Canglian to a quiet open space.

The ground here is compacted soil, which feels solid and stable underfoot.

Gu Guolong followed, but he was very tactful, standing under a tree a few dozen steps away, neither getting too close nor too far away.

"Young Master, the essence of martial arts remains the same despite its myriad variations; its foundation lies in the word 'strength.'" Old Huang cleared his throat, his expression turning serious. "Ordinary people train strength using brute force, dead strength. But what we martial artists train is 'integrated power.'"

He stretched out his only hand and gestured as he explained, "The so-called 'whole-body power' means that the feet are rooted, the waist generates power, the shoulders transmit power, and the fist strikes with sharpness. The muscles and bones of the whole body should be like a whip, with power rising from the ground and flowing through each joint, so that you can finally strike with that crisp sound. And to find this feeling, the first step is to practice standing meditation."

As he spoke, he stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and one arm wrapped around his chest, assuming a basic horse stance.

"This is called Hunyuan Zhuang. Don't worry about anything else for now, just stand in this posture. After standing for a long time, your body will naturally feel soreness, numbness, swelling, and pain. When you feel that your feet are rooted to the ground, and your hands are holding a scorching fireball, and your whole body is filled with energy, that's when you've found the 'Zhuang feeling'. Once you reach the Zhuang feeling, the chain of power transmission through the muscles and bones is initially opened."

Cang Lian nodded, following Huang Lao's posture, he spread his feet apart, bent his knees slightly, and held his hands loosely in front of his chest, assuming a fighting stance.

He started to try.

At first, he deliberately put his weight on his heels, thinking of "standing like a pine tree" and making his foundation as stable as Mount Tai.

After standing for a while, I felt my leg muscles stiff, while my upper body felt light and airy, as if I were about to fall backward.

wrong.

He adjusted his posture, shifted his weight forward, and tried to grip the ground firmly with the soles of his feet, like tree roots digging into the soil.

Now I'm not afraid of falling backward anymore, but the pressure on my knees increases sharply, and my calf muscles quickly start to ache and tremble. My whole body feels like a fully drawn bow, so taut that it's about to break.

Not right either.

He then tried to tighten his waist and abdomen, drawing his qi inward, thinking about "sinking the qi to the dantian".

But when he tried to stop, his breathing became rapid and labored, and his chest felt tight, as if something was blocking it.

He tried to relax his shoulders and let his arms hang down completely, but as soon as he relaxed, his whole body collapsed, and he became a limp lump of mud, completely powerless.

Cang Lian frowned. He clearly felt that his stance was exactly the same as Huang Lao's, but he just couldn't find that so-called "stance feeling".

Time passed little by little.

Tried again and again, failed again and again.

He stopped consciously thinking about where his center of gravity was, stopped forcing his muscles to exert force, and stopped worrying about the depth of his breathing.

He simply emptied his mind and surrendered his body entirely to instinct, and suddenly he felt a sense of "relaxed yet slack, grounded yet not rigid".

At that very moment, a miracle occurred.

He felt as if the weight of his entire body had been "unloaded" in an instant, no longer pressing on a certain part, but sinking evenly into the ground beneath his feet through his legs.

His tense back straightened naturally, and he felt as if an invisible thread inside his body had been connected.

Between his arms, which were originally empty, it now felt as if he were holding an invisible, warm balloon, with a faint, continuous force flowing between his hands.

Just then, a flash of light appeared before my eyes!

[Destiny]: Visible Progress

[Practice Method]: Hunyuan Stance (Beginner)

[Proficiency Level]: 1/100

Cang Lian was overjoyed!

He understood instantly!

The function of this "golden finger" is not the so-called reward for hard work, but a "verifier"!

As long as his body posture, power exertion, and internal energy flow are truly on the "correct" path, this panel will provide feedback, transforming that vague feeling into clear text and progress!

It's not a shortcut to quick mastery, but a guiding light that will always show him the right direction on this dark path of martial arts!

As long as you practice correctly, you'll get a prompt!

Others, even if they practice correctly, may not even realize that they have practiced correctly!

"Huh?" Gu Guolong, who was not far away, showed genuine surprise for the first time in his eyes.

He could see clearly that Cang Lian's posture adjustments just now were chaotic and disorderly.

But it was in this chaotic adjustment that we found the right direction.

When you finally find that final feeling of being in a stance, your entire aura instantly changes, transforming from an empty shell into a complete and fulfilling whole.

In less than half an hour, such comprehension is simply unheard of!

Old Huang was completely dumbfounded.

He originally thought it would take at least ten days to half a month for this young master to get a feel for the sport, and it would depend on whether he could endure the hardship.

But it's only been less than half an hour, how... how did it work already?

He leaned closer, asking incredulously, "Young Master, how...how are you feeling?"

"I feel warm all over and my feet are very stable," Cang Lian replied calmly as she opened her eyes.

"It's done! You've found the right feeling for the stance!" Old Huang's voice trembled with excitement. He looked at Cang Lian with the eyes of someone who had just seen a piece of uncarved jade, no, a peerless divine weapon!

"A genius beyond compare! Young master, you absolutely have a great talent for martial arts! When I first started practicing, it took me a full three months to find the right stance!"

"A genius?" Cang Lian's mind was perfectly clear.

maybe.

But more importantly, he has guidance that others don't.

In the path of martial arts, his "visible progress" is the guiding light that illuminates his way!

Canglian maintained that "relaxed yet slack" posture, immersed in that wonderful "stance feeling".

However, this clarity did not last long.

Fifteen minutes later, the initial warm current was gradually replaced by a burning, aching pain.

His legs began to tremble uncontrollably, as if countless ants were gnawing at his muscles. Sweat slid down his forehead and dripped into his eyes, stinging and painful.

He could no longer stand, abruptly stopped, bent over, supported himself on his knees with his hands, and gasped for breath.

"Haha, young master, don't be in such a hurry." Instead of mocking him, Old Huang smiled approvingly. "Your body aches all over today, that's when you've really gotten the hang of it. Tomorrow morning, you'll know what 'extreme pain' really means. You'll probably feel like your body is falling apart just walking around."

He paused, a complex look flashing in his cloudy eyes, and looked Cang Lian up and down, saying, "Young Master, your physique is rather frail compared to the other young masters and ladies in the manor. It seems you haven't tasted that 'secret medicine.' If you could take a few pills, your progress in martial arts would be much faster!"

"Secret medicine?" Cang Lian caught her breath and keenly grasped the unfamiliar word.

Seeing his blank expression, Old Huang knew he had indeed been kept out of the core. He lowered his voice and explained, "This is a valuable item, a secret medicine specifically used to strengthen the body and improve physical constitution. The foreigners have their chemical agents, but we rely on the elixir formulas passed down from our ancestors. The Cang family has a closely guarded formula specifically for making secret medicines. It seems... the master hasn't let you have any contact with it."

Cang Lian's heart skipped a beat, and he pressed on, "You mean, regularly taking this secret medicine will make martial arts cultivation twice as effective?"

"Of course!" Old Huang slapped his thigh. "If it were someone who had taken the secret medicine, they could stand for half an hour today without any problem! This secret medicine can cleanse the marrow and bones, making people stronger than ordinary people from the inside out."