Doomsday Cognition Guide

After returning from the county town, life went back to its previous rhythm.

Uncle continued repairing the section of the wall behind the mountain. Father reassembled the generator, and Uncle had all the materials hand-rolled into stainless steel—his special ability was probably about to awaken. Mother and cousin tended the vegetable garden. Li Xuan practiced standing meditation every morning, spent the morning practicing spear and fist techniques, and went out in the afternoon to spar with lone zombies. His internal strength was already solidified; he could make sandbags fly backwards with point-blank force, but he knew he hadn't yet mastered internal strength. It wasn't that he lacked power, but that his method was wrong.

Regarding the methods of cultivation, he knew the true origin of these things. It wasn't the basic training he learned in the army in this life, but something from another timeline—after leaving the county town, he went to the provincial capital, joined the army, and only there did he truly begin to systematically learn Chinese martial arts. That system was first promoted by the military in that timeline. Now that he was bringing these out ahead of time, it wouldn't be wrong for him to simply say "I learned it in the army."

In that memory, the person who reported the promotion of martial arts to the nation was Shi Hao, a special forces combat instructor. Li Xuan essentially stole his credit. However, Li Xuan believed that Shi Hao, with his personality, wouldn't care—he was a pure soldier and martial arts fanatic; the sooner the nation promoted martial arts, the sooner casualties among frontline combat personnel like soldiers and police would be reduced. He had a clear conscience.

He had heard a very vivid analogy to explain the difference between whole-body strength and hidden strength.

In the stage of integrated power, the human body is like a stick. Power originates from the feet, travels along the legs, waist, back, shoulders, and arms, and is transmitted completely to the fist. The entire chain is rigidly connected, and the vibration waveform remains stable from beginning to end with a constant frequency. Muscle coordination merely amplifies the amplitude, making the power greater and more integrated; the essence remains unchanged. Therefore, when integrated power strikes a person, it knocks them away—the force acts on the surface, propelling the entire body to displacement.

In the stage of internal strength, the body is like a whip. A low-frequency vibration originates from the soles of the feet, followed by a higher-frequency vibration in the calves, then the thighs, then the waist and hips, all the way up to the fist. Each muscle does not simply transmit force, but rather pushes along the direction of fascia rebound, accelerating the entire vibration chain step by step. The force does not increase, but the frequency changes. The high-frequency vibration penetrates the surface and directly affects the internal organs. The ancients described internal strength as "striking a person like hanging a painting"—a person struck by internal strength will not fly away, but will be suspended in place, the force penetrating the body and injuring the internal organs.

The problem is, a stick is easy to make, but a whip is difficult. A stick is hard; as long as the muscles are coordinated, it's fine. A whip is soft; each segment requires independent fascial elasticity to create frequency, and if the rhythm is slightly off, the power dissipates. Therefore, internal strength emphasizes "using intention, not force."

After mastering the whole body technique, he began to practice the Fangcun Kill technique.

In that memory, "Fangcun Kill" was a close-quarters joint-locking fighting technique created by Shi Hao. Its core was the joints—shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers, hip, knee—every joint in the body was a potential attack point. All attacks were completed within a very small space; the finishing move of one action became the starting point of the next, with joints meshing and rolling like gears. The footwork wasn't jumping; it involved the toes touching the ground to propel the body horizontally, creating distance while maintaining balance, allowing the next attack to follow.

However, this style of boxing has a crucial threshold: the entire body must possess integrated power. Joints are inherently fragile structures. If the power of the whole body is not flowing smoothly, striking a wooden stake with the shoulder is a direct, head-on collision. The reaction force is entirely absorbed by the joint capsule, leading to injury after only a few repetitions. Once integrated power is achieved, the power flows throughout the entire body, and the joints are no longer just points of impact, but rather nodes in a transmission chain—when the shoulder strikes, the reaction force travels down the spine to the waist and hips, to the soles of the feet, and disperses into the ground. The joints are only responsible for transmission, not for bearing. On this foundation, by developing hidden power and neutralizing power, the true power of the "square-inch kill" can be unleashed—hidden power allows the force of each strike to penetrate the surface and explode internally, while neutralizing power allows for extremely rapid switching between hardness and softness in the joints; whatever the body touches becomes the point of attack.

Li Xuan erected three wooden stakes on the training platform. They weren't sandbags, but traditional internal martial arts stakes, about the size of a bowl, with solid bases and hemp rope wrapped around them. The three stakes were arranged in a triangle, less than an arm's length apart.

He stood between the three wooden stakes, closed his eyes, and mentally reviewed the entire force transmission chain. Then he opened his eyes, lowered his shoulders, and leaned sideways towards the first stake.

His shoulder blades loosened, and his shoulder joint shot out like a bullet from his muscles, slamming into the wooden stake. The force traveled down the stake, causing the upper half to tilt slightly backward, the base of the stake making a dull thud in the ground. He used the reaction force to dodge, his elbow already extended as his shoulder joint retracted—his elbow tip like a short gun, precisely striking the back of the stake. The stake bent in the other direction.

The body continued to turn, the toes touched the ground, the ankles twisted slightly, and the whole person glided out as if moving horizontally. It wasn't a jump, it wasn't a stride—the soles of the feet were flat on the ground, the center of gravity remained unchanged, and the person glided to the side of the second wooden stake.

The instant the feet touched the ground, a triple strike of fingers, fist, and palm was unleashed. The fingertips struck the foremost wooden stake, the force of the knuckles like a steel ball hitting wood, producing a crisp crack. The palm followed the fingertips as they retracted, the force of the palm pulling the body's center of gravity downwards. Before the palm force dissipated, the wrist twisted into a fist, the fist slamming solidly into the same spot. After the three strikes, the upper half of the wooden stake bent sharply backwards.

The knee, following the downward momentum of the body, thrust upwards, the toe striking the middle of the wooden stake. This was the most powerful strike, because the knee is the heaviest joint in the body, and the elastic force of the hip joint carried the weight of the entire leg upwards. The lower half of the stake shook violently, and the dust accumulated on the rope around the stake was shaken off in a flurry.

He had the power. With the power flowing smoothly throughout his body, the force of each strike could originate from the soles of his feet, travel through the entire body's transmission chain, and converge at the point of impact at the joint. But he sensed a problem.

There's a pause in the transitions between joints. The elbow strike is a beat slow after the shoulder strike, and the lateral movement after the elbow strike also pauses slightly. It's not that the transitions are broken—it's that each movement is too "integrated." The power generation habits developed through integrated power training are too deeply ingrained; every muscle is used to exerting force and contracting synchronously. But the "square-inch kill" doesn't require synchronization; it requires relay—the shoulder joint strikes and immediately retracts, the retraction force leading to the elbow joint; the elbow joint's retraction force leads to the lateral movement's inertia; the inertia of stabilizing the body leads to the fingertip's spring. One link leads to another; the retraction of the previous link is the spring of the next.

His body is still like a stick. A stick can generate the power of a whole force, but it can't generate the smoothness of connected joints. If you make a stick roll like a gear, of course there will be pauses.

Uncle Si returned from the culvert and stopped to watch for a while as he passed the platform. He saw that Li Xuan's body didn't move much, yet the wooden stake trembled four times in succession. "This set of boxing techniques has very small movements, but its power is not weak."

"This style of boxing is called 'Square Inch Kill.' It's close-quarters joint combat, generating power within a small area."

"You didn't just hop backwards with your legs, did you? You just touched the ground with your toes and moved sideways; it looked pretty weird."

"It involves using the toes to touch the ground and instantly propel the body horizontally. I haven't mastered it yet; it puts a lot of pressure on the soles of my feet and is very taxing."

"This will come in handy in real combat." Uncle Si paused for a few seconds. "When a zombie pounces, you don't need to dodge too much; you can just tap your toes to retreat, and you can even counterattack the instant you retreat. I'll practice too."

He leaned the steel bar against the wall and tried several times, but found he couldn't master this way of generating force; nothing he did seemed quite right. Li Xuan said, "To learn this kind of force generation, you must first master the whole-body strength. Fourth Uncle, you should practice stance training and whole-body strength first. Practicing this before the whole-body strength reaches your entire body is more likely to strain your muscles."

Fourth Uncle thought for a moment and nodded.

Seeing that his fourth uncle was no longer troubled, Li Xuan also breathed a sigh of relief. He suddenly realized that his father was actually very suitable for practicing this set of boxing techniques—his father possessed the supernatural power of lightning, so the whole force was no difficulty for him, and it would also be of great help in the cultivation of internal force.

"Dad, you've already mastered the technique of using your mind to guide power through electrical control, which is equivalent to mastering the technique of generating whole-body power. The Fangcun Killing style of boxing is perfect for you."

The father placed the wire on the workbench and went to the wooden stake to try it out—the power didn't travel; it got stuck at his shoulder. He tried several times, and each time it got stuck in the same spot.

This result was within Li Xuan's expectations. His father's electric ability allowed him to take a shortcut—skipping the foundational stages of strengthening his muscles and establishing a conduction chain, directly stimulating his muscles with electric current and guiding his power with his mind. He had mastered the mental aspect, but his physical abilities hadn't caught up.

"You can't practice yet." The father withdrew his hand, his tone calm. He picked up the wire again.

"Start with the basics. Learn the moves first, build the framework. Then, in slow practice, use your mind to sense the transmission of power within your body, like sensing an electric current. First, establish the transmission chain."

The father nodded. He knew what he needed to improve—standing meditation, basic power generation, and weight transfer; he had to learn all the most fundamental things from scratch. But he wasn't in a hurry; he knew his own patience.

From that day on, he came to the platform every evening to practice stances, generate power, and learn the basic techniques. He learned the techniques quickly, but improving his physical fitness took time. Sometimes his fourth uncle would correct his stance: "Keep your knees off your toes." His father would nod and straighten up. With the two retired veterans teaching and learning, the training on the platform went from one person to the three of them—father and son.

After a period of practice, while the power of the Fangcun Kill was considerable, something felt off. The transitions between joints were never smooth—there was always a pause between the shoulder strike and the elbow strike, and a half-beat delay between the elbow strike and the horizontal movement. The power generation habits developed from whole-body power training were too deeply ingrained; every muscle was used to exerting force and contracting synchronously. But the Fangcun Kill doesn't require synchronization; it requires relay—the shoulder joint strikes and immediately retracts, the retraction force leading to the elbow joint; the elbow joint's retraction force leads to the inertia of the horizontal movement. One link leads to another, the retraction of the previous link is the ejection of the next. Using this method of power generation, the body naturally won't stiffen.

That evening, my cousin passed by the pond, carrying a small bowl for feeding the cave salamanders, and stood there watching for a while. Li Xuan had just finished a set of Fangcun Kill moves, his arm still stiff in mid-air, when he heard his cousin whisper something.

"Bro, are you doing a zombie dance?"

Li Xuan's hand froze in mid-air, and he scratched his head awkwardly. "A zombie?"

"Hmm." My cousin held up her bowl and gestured carefully, "Like this—stretch your arms out, but don't move your waist."

Li Xuan stared blankly at his cousin's movements. The stiffness in her gestures perfectly matched his perception of her. He had always thought Fangcun Sha was incredibly powerful, but he had never seen himself from an outsider's perspective. His younger sister didn't understand martial arts, but her eyes didn't lie. What she saw was a practitioner with stiff limbs, dislocated joints, like a puppet on strings.

That night, Li Xuan lay in bed, his cousin's words echoing in his ears. He closed his eyes, searching his memory for fragments of information about Fangcun Kill, Dark Force, and Soft Technique.

The veteran who taught him once said something that he didn't pay much attention to at the time. The veteran said that practicing only fist techniques without practicing judo is like replacing the motor of a rusty machine with a high-powered one—you'll have the power, but the parts will eventually break. The "square-inch kill" technique only trains joint power without stretching the fascia, resulting in stiffness. The joints are like unlubricated bearings, and the fascia is like an unstretched rubber band; the power is blocked halfway through. Turning a stick into a whip isn't about strength, but about flexibility. When the fascia is stretched and elastic, the connection between the joints naturally becomes smooth.

He suddenly opened his eyes.

This is it. The training focused on whole-body power in small-scale strikes, neglecting fascial elasticity training. While jujitsu was practiced, it wasn't integrated with these strikes, and fascial elasticity wasn't utilized during joint transitions.

The next morning, he picked up the twelve-form contortion technique adapted from the Yi Jin Jing again. He held each movement at its limit, applying slight force in the direction of the fascia's rebound. The movements were slow, almost like yoga. He alternated between contortion and the "square-inch strike"—contortion stretched the fascia, while the square-inch strike utilized the most elastic moments to practice joint chain movements; when the fascia tired, he would return to stretching, allowing the elasticity to recover. Each stretch was held at its limit for a longer period, allowing the fascia to slowly adapt to the rhythm of the rebound; each rebound was gently pushed in the direction of the rebound, allowing the joints to learn to use leverage.

Once, when his mother came upstairs to bring him food, she saw him standing between three wooden stakes with his eyes closed, his body twisting at an extremely slow speed—turning to the side, twisting his waist, raising his knee, and pulling his elbow back. Every movement was like a video that had been slowed down ten times.

"What kind of training are they doing?"

"I learned it in the army." Li Xuan didn't stop. His mother didn't ask any more questions, put down the food, and left.

He practiced like this for more than ten days. Every morning he did contortion, in the afternoon he practiced grappling, and in the evening he did contortion again. The changes in his body weren't visible in just a day or two—his joints became more relaxed day by day, his ligaments lengthened day by day, and the elasticity of his fascia slowly accumulated. He could feel it himself, but outsiders couldn't see anything special about it. His cousin passed by a few times and saw him slowly twisting on the platform, looking somewhat confused, but she didn't say anything.

The changes occurred gradually. First, the shoulder strike to elbow block no longer caused a pause—when the shoulder joint retracted, the elastic force of the fascia in the scapula naturally propelled the elbow joint outward, eliminating the need for additional force. Then came the lateral movement—when the toes touched the ground, the slight adjustment of the ankle joint shifted the center of gravity, and the fingertips had already sprung out the moment the foot was firmly planted, leaving no gap in between.

By the thirteenth day, he had completed a full routine between the wooden stakes. He leaned sideways, shoulder to shoulder, the upper half of the stake tilting back. He shifted his body and delivered a backhand elbow strike, the elbow tip like a short spear, striking the stake before it could spring back, causing it to bend in the opposite direction. He shifted sideways, his body gliding across the water as he landed beside the second stake. The instant he regained his footing, he unleashed a triple strike: fingertips on the top rope, the heel of his palm striking the same spot, followed immediately by a powerful punch—the three crisp sounds almost simultaneous. Finally, his knee, following the momentum of his descent, slammed into the middle of the stake, the soil beneath it thudding.

He stepped back and wiped his sweat. The three wooden stakes were still swaying, but the way they were swaying was different from before—not swaying randomly, but each segment was vibrating at a different frequency. The top segment was vibrating at a high frequency from the fingertip flicks and the series of punches and palm strikes, the dent in the middle rope was left by the knee strike, and the loosening of the bottom stake was caused by the force of the shoulder strike and elbow strike traveling down the stake and loosening it.

That evening, my cousin came to feed the cave salamanders again. She saw Li Xuan practicing his "Square Inch Kill" technique in front of the wooden stakes. This time, his body didn't move much—his shoulder dipped slightly, and he had already crashed into the gap between the stakes; with a gentle nudge of his elbow, the stake bent in the opposite direction; his toes touched the ground, and his body slid out, delivering a three-hit combo of fingers, fists, and palm strikes like three consecutive bolts of lightning to the second stake; finally, he lifted his knee, using the force of the knee strike to bounce back and stand firmly in the middle of the three stakes. The movements were extremely small, without a single jump or a large swing of his fist. His whole body seemed to glide between the stakes, his toes lightly touching the ground, his body cutting from one angle to another.

My cousin watched for a while and said, "Brother, your movements look much more coordinated now."

Li Xuan stopped what he was doing and wiped the sweat from his brow. "What does that look like?"

My cousin tilted her head and thought for a moment. "It looks like she's dancing. It looks much smoother than before."

Li Xuan smiled. His younger sister didn't understand martial arts, but her eyes didn't lie. Real combat techniques incorporate dance-like movements, firstly to enhance their deceptive power, and secondly to make the movements more coordinated. To have mastered the Fangcun Kill technique to the point of resembling dance was considered a beginner's level.