Breaking Limits in Martial Arts: Grinding Your Way to Becoming a Martial Saint in a Chaotic Era

When Xu Qing returned to the martial arts school, it was already completely dark.

The courtyard was deserted, with only a few lanterns under the eaves swaying in the cold wind.

He walked straight into the inner courtyard, took off his outer robe and hung it on a rack, then put on a thin short jacket and began to practice standing meditation.

The delicious food from the Golden Scale Banquet was still churning in his stomach.

The medicinal fragrance of the precious fish, the warmth of the Laba porridge, and the rich flavors of the bear paw and deer tail had not yet dissipated. They gathered in his lower abdomen, as if his dantian were being warmed by a thin charcoal fire, gentle and mild, yet lingering.

He took a deep breath, his feet neither too far apart nor too far apart, his shoulders relaxed and his elbows dropped, and he firmly planted himself in the Three Talents Stance.

The Qi and blood flowed slowly throughout the body, transporting the warmth from the Dantian to the limbs and bones.

He could feel every muscle greedily absorbing the medicinal power.

The more you stand in the stance, the more stable your lower body becomes, as if your feet have taken root and become one with the earth.

One incense stick, two incense sticks, three incense sticks...

Sweat rolled down his forehead, dripping onto the blue bricks and spreading out a small wet patch.

He didn't wipe his sweat, nor did he even feel it. His entire mind was immersed in the circulation of his qi and blood, and he completely forgot about time.

Only when the moon rose above the horizon and climbed onto the roof did he slowly cease his movements and exhale a breath of stale air. The white vapor lingered for a long time.

He was slightly sweating, and the warmth in his lower abdomen had faded somewhat, but it hadn't dissipated. It had seeped into his bones and muscles, becoming a part of his body.

【Three Talents Stance (Minor Success): 129/200】

Xu Qing put on his outer robe, returned to the room, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes.

My mind is still replaying everything that happened today.

The competition at the Golden Scale Gathering, the moment Cheng Hong fell, the delicacies at the banquet, Lin Mu's attempts to win him over and his subsequent betrayal... all these events flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

He turned over, forcing himself not to think about those things and focusing on the flow of qi and blood in his body.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

......

Xu Qing woke up before dawn the next day.

After washing up, I went to the yamen to report for duty, patrolled the streets, and then returned to the martial arts school. I walked much faster than usual along the way.

Today, instead of immediately practicing standing meditation, he went back to his room and took out a tiger bone pill from the wooden box beside his pillow.

The pills, about the size of longan fruits, are jet black and glossy, heavy, and have a faint warmth when held in the palm of your hand.

The aroma of the medicine was many times stronger than that of the Qi and Blood Pills. It wasn't the pungent smell of herbs, but a mellow fragrance, like aged wine. Just one whiff made me feel a slight surge of blood and qi in my chest.

Xu Qing examined the pill in his palm for a moment, then tilted his head back and swallowed it in one gulp.

The moment the pill entered his stomach, a surge of heat exploded forth.

The sensation wasn't as gentle and lingering as Laba porridge, but rather like a ball of ignited oil, rising suddenly from the lower abdomen and sweeping through the body along the meridians.

Xu Qing felt every bone and muscle in his body trembling, and an unprecedented power surged from the depths of his body, as if something had been forcibly stretched open.

He gritted his teeth, neither moving nor making a sound, simply standing there quietly, letting the heat surge through his body.

The flow of Qi and blood became faster and faster, more and more intense, like a surging river washing over every stone on the riverbed.

After a while, the raging heat gradually subsided and became docile. But the power did not disappear. It remained in his body, like a tamed beast, quietly lying dormant, ready to be awakened at any moment.

Xu Qing opened her eyes and moved her fingers.

His joints made a cracking sound, much crisper than usual. He clenched his fist and felt that the strength in his palm had increased considerably compared to yesterday.

He stood up, walked to the training ground, and began to practice standing meditation.

This stop made a difference.

In the past, when I practiced standing meditation, my legs would start to feel sore and swollen after less than an hour, and my blood circulation would become sluggish.

But today, an hour has passed, and his legs show no signs of fatigue, and his breathing remains long and steady. He even feels like he has inexhaustible energy.

The power drawn from the Tiger Bone Pill was like an inexhaustible mine, continuously supplying his body.

Xu Qing was overjoyed and decided not to rest or eat breakfast, as he didn't feel hungry.

After standing in the stance, one practices boxing; after boxing, one practices standing in the stance again, repeating this cycle without stopping.

The Five Elements Fist techniques—Chong, Pao, Pi, Zuan, and Heng—were unleashed one after another, each punch carrying a heavier and fiercer force than yesterday.

He didn't stop for a moment, from dawn to noon.

His world consisted only of fists, stance training, and the surging blood and qi within his body.

Only after the surging energy within him subsided did Xu Qing finally stop, standing in the center of the training ground, panting heavily.

His shorts were soaked with sweat, as if he had been pulled out of the water. His face was flushed red from the heat of the moment, but his eyes shone like stars, filled with undisguised excitement.

That familiar line of text flashed through my mind—

【Three Talents Stance (Minor Success): 144/200】

Yesterday, the number was 129.

One Tiger Bone Pill allowed him to increase his progress by fifteen points in a single day.

Xu Qing looked down at his hands. His palms were slightly red from the blows, and the skin on his knuckles was a little tight, but he didn't feel any discomfort.

On the contrary, he felt full of energy.

He increasingly understood why medicinal supplements were necessary for martial arts training.

Practicing martial arts without medicine is like farming without fertilizer. But hard work alone is far from enough; even the most talented need time to mature. And time waits for no one. Precious elixirs can truly make one progress by leaps and bounds.

One Tiger Bone Pill is equivalent to many days of his hard training. No wonder those scions of aristocratic families, despite not showing outstanding talent, are still making rapid progress.

They have plenty of resources; they eat elixirs like food, and have access to precious fish and beast meat every day. They can even create a master just by throwing money at them.

And now, he finally has such resources.

He had two Tiger Bone Pills, and he had one left. There were also the rewards from the Golden Scale Banquet, the Qi and Blood Pills his master had given him, and the silver he had received from the Giant Whale Gang.

These are the assets he has to catch up with those scions of prominent families.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, the cold air filling his lungs, cool and refreshing, making him even more awake.

He walked to the water vat, scooped up a ladle of water, and poured it over himself from head to toe.

The well water in the twelfth lunar month was icy cold, but he didn't feel cold at all. He shook the water droplets off his hair, changed into dry clothes, and went back to the training ground.

We need to keep practicing.

......

The next morning, a piece of news spread like a thunderclap throughout Qinghe County.

The Wu family's merchant ship was hijacked on the Huanglong River.

The entire ship was filled with the finest silks destined for the prefectural city, worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

The crew members on the ship were either dead or wounded, and the ship and its cargo were all taken. Only a few crew members who escaped were left, covered in blood, lying at the Wu family's door, wailing.

When the news reached the Zhao family martial arts school, Xu Qing was practicing his boxing in the inner courtyard.

He stopped punching, wiped his sweat, and listened to Qin Liang vividly recount the news he had heard on the street, his brows furrowing slightly.

Huanglongjiang...

He looked south. He couldn't see anything through the courtyard wall.

But he knew that in that direction, there was a great river.

The Yellow Dragon River stretches for three thousand miles.