Mountain and Sea Demon Martial Arts, Starting with Vertical Pupils

Liu Zhengshan looked at the bamboo basket with surprise in his eyes.

A plump wild rabbit, a gray-headed viper, four bamboo pit vipers and salmon snakes, and more than a dozen yellow-flowered snakes...

Countless snakes were intertwined, filling the bamboo basket to the brim. If it weren't for the bamboo lid deliberately holding them down, they would have overflowed.

After he finished counting everything, he subconsciously calculated the value of the basket of prey in his mind.

Nearly three hundred coins!

"You've caught a snake nest, kid?" Liu Zhengshan asked, his face full of surprise. "How come you caught so many today?"

He had been guarding the mountain pass for many years, and apart from some martial artists who had mastered the Nine Yang Strength, he had never seen anyone gain so much.

"Hehe, great skills." Chen Luo grinned.

"Is this something that can be explained by high skill?" Liu Zhengshan couldn't help but frown. "Why haven't I seen you with this ability before?"

"Perhaps it's because I broke through to the first level of the Nine Yang Strength last night."

Chen Luo thought for a moment and then offered a rough explanation: "After mastering the Nine Yang Strength, I can't explain why, but I just felt that catching snakes was a breeze."

"You've broken through to the first level of internal energy?" Liu Zhengshan was surprised.

"Yes, I managed to break through while practicing boxing last night."

Chen Luo smiled and replied, but inwardly he couldn't help but wonder why the other man looked so surprised.

Could it be that, subconsciously, he felt he couldn't master the Nine Yang Force?

"The initial stages of the Nine Yang Strength can indeed bring certain improvements to the physical body, and some people's five senses can even become more acute."

Liu Zhengshan nodded slightly. "You already have experience catching snakes, and you've also made progress in martial arts. It's understandable that you can catch so many snakes occasionally."

"Maybe." Chen Luo smiled; as long as it's plausible, that's good enough.

He couldn't possibly reveal the existence of the vertical pupils to Liu Zhengshan, but if he explained these gains as snake-catching skills or good luck, Liu Zhengshan certainly wouldn't believe him.

Attributing these achievements to the breakthrough in the Nine Yang Force is the best explanation.

In short, although the two have a good relationship, unnecessary suspicions should be avoided.

"By the way, it seems I don't have to worry about the taxes I owe anymore." Chen Luo took out his money pouch from his pocket. "I'll return the hundred or so coins I owed you this morning."

"No rush." ​​Liu Zhengshan shook his head lightly. "Just because you had a good day doesn't mean you can have it every day. Let's pay off the taxes we owe first."

"Okay." Chen Luo shrugged, left the mountain pass, and went straight to the shop that buys mountain goods.

The shopkeeper was equally astonished by the full basket of prey. "Little Chen, did you just poke a hole in the snake's den?"

"It's probably because I mastered the Nine Yang Strength technique yesterday..."

Chen Luo explained it again in the same words, and the shopkeeper finally understood. After taking stock, he gave a total selling price of 310 coins.

When Chen Luo finally left with a heavy bag of money, he still felt a little unreal, and even his steps felt light as a feather.

310 coins would have been an astronomical sum for him in the past.

But for now, it's just a day's income!

"I estimate I can pay all the taxes tomorrow, even faster than I expected."

"This is an incredible windfall!"

Chen Luo sighed as he couldn't resist buying ten steamed buns and a bag of pickled vegetables to go with them on his way to the martial arts school, a veritable act of revenge spending.

Then, as usual, they went to Zhengyang Martial Arts School.

Actually, you don't need to come to Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy every day.

Firstly, Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy has a relaxed management style with no attendance restrictions; whether a student comes or not each day depends entirely on their own initiative.

Secondly, the martial arts classes taught at the training center are rotated every ten days. For familiar disciples, what is taught is actually the same old content, so they don't need to be present every day to listen and observe.

Despite this, Chen Luo maintained near-perfect attendance for almost a year, except when classes were suspended due to rain or snow.

His insistence stemmed not only from his desire for martial arts lessons taught by Li Shen, but also from his yearning for the unique martial arts atmosphere of Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy.

Standing amidst thousands of disciples, witnessing those around him, some at the first or second level of strength, and others at the minor stage of the Nine Yang Strength, diligently practicing day after day, this very scene became a silent encouragement and spur, supporting him to persevere through the monotonous martial arts training.

The reason is similar to how many people in the past chose to study in the library rather than stay at home and study on their own.

The environment is really important.

However, he arrived earlier than usual today. After entering the mansion, he found an empty seat, sat down, and rested for a while while chewing on a steamed bun. The martial arts instructor had not yet arrived.

So he took advantage of the break and got up to practice his boxing for a while.

"Light gathers at the center of the head, head upright; Qi sinks into the internal organs, back level and straight..."

Chen Luo silently recited the Nine Yang Force mantra, assumed a horse stance, and felt the transmission of energy from his dantian.

A moment later, he threw a powerful punch!

--call.

A faint sound of air being cut emanated from his strength, clearly indicating the power required for a high level of force.

Many disciples witnessed this scene, and each of them had a look of envy in their eyes.

Even some disciples who were originally sitting and resting were probably stimulated and stood up to start practicing their boxing.

Chen Luo couldn't help but chuckle at this.

Most of those who envied him were disciples who hadn't even mastered the Nine Yang Strength technique yet; he used to be one of them.

"Ah Luo, you've mastered it?" A young man walked over, looking very surprised.

"I managed to break through last night by sheer luck," Chen Luo replied with a smile.

The visitor was named Lu Qun, a friend he met at the martial arts academy, who was his martial arts partner.

I didn't see Zhou Xiaoliang today, but I ran into Lu Qun, whom I didn't see yesterday.

"It's true that hard work pays off! You've practiced diligently for so long, and now you've finally mastered it," Lu Qun congratulated with a smile.

His congratulations were heartfelt. There was no competition among the disciples of Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy, and since they all came from ordinary farming families, they usually encouraged each other when practicing martial arts, and there was very little jealousy or slander.

However, Chen Luo didn't feel much pride in this achievement.

Although nearly half of the disciples of Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy have not reached the entry level of Nine Yang Strength, in other words, at least half of the disciples are at the first level of Nine Yang Strength or even higher.

For example, Lu Qun himself is at the first level of strength, Zhou Xiaoliang has long since reached the second level of strength, not to mention the exceptionally talented Song Ruokui, who is only one step away from entering the Qingyun Martial Arts School.

"Given my aptitude and understanding, it took me a whole year just to reach the first level of strength, not to mention anything else. If I wanted to reach the second level..."

"It could take a year, two years, three years, or even longer!"

"Therefore, mastering the Nine Yang Strength is merely a beginning, only a stage victory; we must not be complacent!"

Chen Luo reminded himself of this.

Not long after, as Instructor Li stepped onto the martial arts stage, all the disciples in the circular arena fell silent.

Tonight's evening practice begins.

"If you want your fist to be powerful, you need to regulate your breath so that it is like the ebb and flow of the tide, with one wave rising as soon as another subsides."

Instructor Li's voice echoed across the training ground: "The first level of power emphasizes 'release,' with the qi following the fist, the force penetrating to a single point, like an arrow leaving the bowstring, clean and crisp. But the key to the second level of power lies not in 'release,' but in 'continuation' and 'layering'!"

As he spoke, he slowly assumed a boxing stance, his breath long and deep. "When you first begin practicing the first level of strength, your breath often dissipates in one exhale, and when you throw a punch, your breath dissipates, and when your strength is exhausted, your fist collapses. This is normal, but it is also the threshold that prevents you from entering the second level or even higher levels of strength. If you want to advance beyond the first level of strength, you must ensure that the energy in your dantian is not completely dissipated just before the power of that level is released. Instead, you must be like a dragon lurking in the abyss, secretly accumulating strength!"

During last night's practice, he talked about the key to mastering the Nine Yang Strength, which is to use Qi to guide the strength and use the strength to generate power.

Today, continuing from yesterday, the lesson will focus on the secrets of transitioning from one level of force to multiple levels of force.

This perfectly matched Chen Luo's Nine Yang Strength level. He listened attentively while simultaneously following Instructor Li's stance and throwing punches, all while constantly pondering and digesting the key points. For a moment, he was quite flustered.

"I need to slow it down a bit," Chen Luo muttered, then closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his vertical pupils were already activated.

However, as he activated his vertical pupils and looked at Li Shen performing martial arts on the stage, his eyes widened involuntarily.

On stage, Li Shen's demonstration and explanation were indeed slowed down, with each punch and movement becoming deliberate and methodical.

But that's nothing.

The key is.

Beneath Li Shen's seemingly ordinary actions, countless subtle "truths" were peeled away and magnified as if by an invisible probe, clearly reflected in his vertical pupils!

The trajectory of his breath was no longer a vague sensation, but transformed into visible pale gray vortexes that flowed and accumulated in Li Shen's dantian and throughout his body with each breath...

With the vertical pupil's enhancement, both "qi" and "strength" become tangible.

Chen Luo held his breath in disbelief.

Could this be...?

[See the big picture in small details!]