The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

On the third night after Zhou Xing received the Five Animal Frolics manual and the Shaoyang Peiyuan Decoction prescription.

Something happened in the side hall that Chunlan and Qiuju would never forget.

After serving His Highness his dinner, they cleared away the dishes as usual and prepared to leave.

His Highness suddenly called them to stay, saying he had something to show them.

Chunlan paused slightly as she held the tea tray, exchanging a glance with Qiuju.

His Highness has been practicing calligraphy behind closed doors these past few days.

Occasionally, he would stand in the middle of the room and do some strange things, but they just assumed he was a child playing a game and didn't pay much attention.

Now that His Highness suddenly said he wanted to show them "something," both of them felt inexplicably nervous.

Zhou Xing pulled the thin booklet out from under his pillow, opened the title page, and saw a small figure meticulously drawn in fine brushstrokes.

Stand with your feet apart, knees slightly bent, arms wrapped around as if holding a ball, and next to you, in tiny characters, mark the breathing rhythm and the route of blood circulation.

He pointed to the picture and said it was a set of health-preserving exercises called Five Animal Frolics.

From now on, the two of them will practice with him every night after dinner.

Chunlan curiously leaned over for a look, but before she could say anything, Qiuju covered her mouth.

She recognized a few characters and pointed to the picture, asking what it was. Zhou Xing nodded seriously and said, "Bear shape."

Qiuju remained silent for a long while, then repeated the name that she found unbelievable in an extremely subtle tone.

Chunlan took the booklet and flipped through a few pages until she reached the page with the bird shape.

The person in the picture stands on one leg with their arms outstretched like wings; the pose is quite beautiful.

However, the breathing rhythm indicated next to it is extremely strange.

When inhaling, tighten your anus and abdomen; when exhaling, expand your abdomen and relax your waist.

She stared at the words for a long time before finally unable to resist complaining that this was no bird at all; if a bird breathed like that, it would have fallen off the tree long ago.

She had served His Highness since childhood, always speaking softly and never uttering a disrespectful word in his presence, but at this moment she simply couldn't hold back anymore.

The "immortal magic" book that His Highness brought back looks exactly like a street performer's trick.

Qiuju also came over for a look and, unusually, offered her opinion.

She is usually quiet and doesn't say more than ten sentences a day, but every time she does speak, she hits the nail on the head.

She asked why a perfectly normal person would insist on imitating bears and birds, since bears can't fly and birds can't stand still.

He said this with an extremely serious expression, as if he were genuinely perplexed by this serious philosophical question.

Zhou Xing didn't explain, but just smiled and said that this was a cultivation method given by an old immortal outside the palace, and that practicing it could strengthen the body.

Chunlan looked at him suspiciously.

What she feared most was that His Highness would be deceived; these days, there are plenty of people who swindle others by posing as "old immortals."

Last year, an old Taoist priest selling "elixirs" was caught at the palace gate. The elixirs were later found by the Imperial Hospital to be made of flour.

But seeing that His Highness was in such a rare mood, she couldn't bear to spoil his fun.

Moreover, His Highness has been extremely kind to them during this time.

He never put on airs of a master and helped her so much that she could finally walk with her head held high in the palace.

Her heart softened, and she gritted her teeth, saying that she would try practicing and if it didn't work, she would return it to the old immortal. Then she tugged at Qiuju's sleeve, inviting her to join in.

That very night, a scene unfolded in the side hall that Chunlan and Qiuju found so vivid in their memories that they wanted to disappear into the ground.

The three people stood in a row in the center of the room, with Zhou Xing at the very front, his movements precise and methodical.

Seriously assume the bear-shaped standing posture.

Chunlan stood to his left, imitating him by bending her knees and lowering her waist. As soon as she lowered her center of gravity, she felt her thighs ache terribly.

Qiuju stood on the right, took a deep breath, opened her arms and posed like a bird, her movements were more graceful than Chunlan's.

But her breathing was always out of sync with her movements, either too fast or too slow, which made her sweat profusely.

Summer nights are inherently hot and humid, and although the side hall was well-ventilated, the three of them were drenched in sweat after practicing for only a short while.

Chunlan almost burst out laughing several times, but seeing how focused His Highness was on his practice, she managed to suppress her laughter.

Qiuju kept frowning and struggling with her breathing rhythm. Her movements and breathing were always out of sync, and her face turned red from holding her breath.

After practicing for a few days, Chunlan and Qiuju were no longer as flustered as when they first started learning, but they had even more material to complain about.

Chunlan said the biggest problem with this set of movements is not that it's tiring, but that it looks ugly.

The bear shape resembles squatting in a toilet, the deer shape resembles having a cramp, the ape shape resembles stealing peaches, and the bird shape resembles a scarecrow blown askew by the wind.

She whispered to Qiuju in private that she would never let outsiders see them practicing this again.

Especially the bird pose with one leg standing and arms outstretched, every time I finish practicing it I feel like my ankle is about to break.

Qiuju didn't say much; she just silently rubbed her aching ankle and said, "I can't stand steadily."

That's a very accurate statement.

The bird-like movements may seem simple, but they require a high level of balance and core strength.

Autumn Chrysanthemum is calm and her movements are more graceful than Spring Orchid's, but she always sways back and forth because she can't control her center of gravity well.

Despite their complaints, the two still followed Zhou Xinglian every single day without fail.

The lives of palace maids were not easy.

Every day at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), one must get up to serve His Highness by washing and changing clothes, then sweep the courtyard, wash and dry the clothes, and prepare meals.

They were busy until dusk before they could finally rest.

Since this set of exercises was added, they have to practice standing meditation, arm extension, and breath regulation every day after finishing their palace duties. They are really tired.

But changes in the body also happen quietly without anyone noticing.

Chunlan noticed that she wasn't panting as much when moving clothes boxes lately. In previous years, she was always the first to catch a cold in autumn, but this year she didn't even sneeze.

Qiuju used to cough every time the seasons changed, but this year she hasn't had a cough at all. She walks with a lighter step than before, and even her skin is a little rosier than before.

Zhou Xing himself is also practicing.

The night he received the Five Animal Frolics manual, he read it through from beginning to end, and then began practicing it with Chunlan and Qiuju.

There was no deliberate effort to speed up the process; instead, the order on the diagrams was strictly followed.

First, practice the bear form to solidify your foundation, then practice the bird form to regulate your breathing and nourish your energy. Once you've developed a feel for these two forms, gradually add the deer and ape forms.

With the combined effects of the Shaoyang Peiyuan Decoction, the Qi vortex in the Dantian is slowly growing stronger at an efficiency far exceeding that of the past.

He broke through the peak of the second rank in less than ten days and officially entered the third rank.

On the night of his breakthrough, he sat cross-legged on the bed, feeling the vortex in his dantian, which was several times larger than before, slowly rotating.

Then he opened his eyes and smiled silently.

At nine years old, he had reached the third rank; this speed would place him in the top five among the seventeen princes.

The second prince, Zhou Xun, who was ranked ahead of him, entered the fourth rank at the age of sixteen.

The eldest prince, Zhou Cong, follows the path of literary cultivation, so his cultivation level cannot be directly compared.

He took a deep breath and used the "Hidden Edge Technique" to press all his third-grade qi and blood power into the hidden meridians deep in his spine.

Only a single, slowly rotating, pseudo-qi vortex remained in his dantian.

The boy in the bronze mirror had a calm expression and a composed demeanor; he looked like an ordinary first-rank prince.

After the breakthrough, he did not rush to practice the tiger and ape forms, but continued to consolidate the foundation of the bear and bird forms.

Hua Tuo's annotations on the techniques are extremely detailed, with each form containing both "training methods" and "fighting methods".

"Practice Method" refers to the standing meditation and breath regulation practices in daily cultivation, which are gradual and do not harm the body.

"Fighting methods" is a practical breakdown of this form.

Zhou Xing taught Chunlan and Qiuju the training method, but didn't mention the fighting method at all. He secretly practiced it himself when no one was around in the side hall.

He couldn't let the two palace maids know his true martial arts level; it was enough for them to be healthy, rarely get sick, and be able to run fast in case of danger.