High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: The First Form: Furnace Initial Burning

Xu Wuyi withdrew his consciousness from the Battle Network Space and returned to the quiet of his home.

Without a moment’s rest, Xu Wuyi got to his feet and cleared an open space in his cramped bedroom.

He took a deep breath, recalling the contents of the Beginner section of the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace.

The Beginner and Entry Level stages consisted of twenty-nine Pile Skills movements in total.

These weren’t simple, static stances. They were complex, dynamic postures involving numerous twists, stretches, and vibrations. The goal was to guide and stimulate the Qi and Blood throughout his body in a specific manner, igniting the formless ”Melting Furnace” within.

Compared to the Basic Body Refining Technique, the difficulty was exponentially greater.

Xu Wuyi felt immense pressure just from the key points of the very first movement, ”Furnace Initial Burning.”

The movement required him to stand in an almost contorted posture. His spine had to be slightly curved like a bow, and his arms wrapped as if embracing a great cauldron. At the same time, his toes had to grip the floor, his calf muscles tense as iron, all while coordinating with a unique, intermittent breathing technique.

”Let’s begin.”

Xu Wuyi’s gaze hardened as he assumed the stance from memory.

The moment he tried, an intense soreness and a tearing sensation shot through his muscles. He struggled to regulate his breathing, attempting to guide his Qi and Blood along the pathways prescribed by the Cultivation Technique.

But it was too difficult.

The moment his concentration wavered, the flow of his Qi and Blood stagnated, and his posture warped along with it.

Within a few breaths, his whole body felt out of sorts. His Qi and Blood surged through several unfamiliar meridian pathways, causing a faint, stinging pain. It was nowhere near ”standard.”

’No wonder the information on the Battle Network said that only those with immense willpower can cultivate this... The difficulty is truly terrifying.’

Just as the thought flashed through his mind, the dormant Bronze Ancient Volume deep within his sea of consciousness began to glow faintly once more.

Posture severely non-standard. Qi and Blood circulation path incorrect. Practice interrupted.

A familiar line of dark red text appeared, cold and precise.

Instead of being shocked, Xu Wuyi was delighted.

’Here it comes!’

The Martial Arts Diligence Record’s harsh judgment had come through for him again.

It didn’t just judge the external form of his movements; it even monitored whether the internal circulation of his Qi and Blood was ”standard”!

It was like having a top-tier mentor constantly correcting every one of his internal and external deviations, forcing him onto the one true path.

He tried again.

This time, he slowed his movements severalfold, adjusting his posture bit by bit as if in slow motion.

At the same time, he cautiously used his concentration to guide the Qi and Blood within him, attempting to probe those unfamiliar circulation pathways.

Posture non-standard. Practice interrupted.

The notification popped up again. This time, however, there was no error with his Qi and Blood circulation, which gave Xu Wuyi a clear direction to work in.

He calmed himself and carefully recalled the previous sensation, comparing it to the description in the inherited knowledge and making corrections bit by bit.

Once, twice, three times...

Time slipped by, marked only by silent sweat and total concentration.

Xu Wuyi became completely immersed in a cycle of ”disassemble, test, correct,” forgetting his exhaustion, forgetting the passage of time.

He repeatedly broke down the seemingly simple Starting Form, ”Furnace Initial Burning,” into dozens of tiny components, each one undergoing hundreds, even thousands, of micro-adjustments.

How should the muscles exert force?

How should the bones and sinews provide support?

At which juncture should the Qi and Blood accelerate?

At which acupoint should it slightly gather?

The Martial Arts Diligence Record wouldn’t provide direct answers to these questions.

But its relentless ”interrupted” notifications were like the most precise GPS, forcing Xu Wuyi to think, feel, and fumble his way toward the one and only ”standard” path.

And sure enough, as he made adjustments, the stagnation and stinging pain noticeably subsided.

Although the posture was still difficult and the circulation of his Qi and Blood was far from smooth, at least he was no longer just fumbling in the dark.

However, this was only the beginning.

For the next three days, Xu Wuyi poured nearly all his time into practicing this first movement.

Time and again he assumed the stance, and time and again he was forced to stop by the unbearable muscle soreness and the stinging pain of his Qi and Blood going awry.

Sweat soaked through his workout clothes, leaving dark stains on the floor.

The Martial Arts Diligence Record was like the strictest of teachers, constantly pointing out every minute error in his practice.

It covered everything, from the macro-level form of his posture to the micro-level flow of his Qi and Blood.

Gritting his teeth, Xu Wuyi relied on his ever-strengthening willpower to bear it all.

...

「On the evening of the third day.」

Xu Wuyi stood firm in the center of the room once more.

After thousands upon thousands of failures and adjustments over the past two days, his body had grown accustomed to the extremely awkward posture. It had even become instinctual, something he could assume automatically.

He closed his eyes, cleared his mind of distractions, and slowly began the movement.

Spine slightly curved, arms wrapped, toes gripping the floor... Every detail surfaced clearly in his mind.

His Qi and Blood followed suit, no longer rampaging wildly but flowing with increasing proficiency.

Soreness, swelling, numbness, pain... All sorts of discomfort still lingered, but this time, they seemed to have been unified by a deeper power.

Just as his posture and Qi and Blood circulation reached a delicate equilibrium—

BUZZ!

It was as if an incredibly faint vibration hummed from deep within Xu Wuyi’s body.

A faint warmth quietly bloomed from his dantian and, following the intermittent circulation of his Qi and Blood, slowly spread throughout his limbs and body!

This sensation was completely different from the feeling of Qi and Blood nourishing the body when he practiced the Basic Body Refining Technique.

It felt more like a spark landing on dry kindling; though faint, it carried the distinct sense of ”burning.”

This was—

Furnace Initial Burning!

’I did it!’

Almost at the exact moment he felt that trace of warmth, the long-awaited notification finally appeared in his sea of consciousness:

Standard Practice Completed Today: 1

Immediately after, beneath the entries for the Basic Body Refining Technique and the Wind-Settling Spear, a new line of text glowing with a faint, reddish-bronze luster slowly took form:

[Martial Arts Diligence Record]

Martial Art: Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace

Current Realm: Beginner (0.1%)

Martial Arts Traits: Not yet unlocked

Evaluation: Furnace Initial Burning. Foundation reforged.

Cultivation Effect: Body becomes a Melting Furnace, its kindling ignited. Increases the efficiency of all-around physical development.

Staring at the words that had finally appeared on the panel, Xu Wuyi collapsed to the floor. His chest heaved violently, but an irrepressible smile spread across his face.

’I’ve finally taken this difficult first step!’

He could feel it. Just from completing that single effective practice session, his Qi and Blood seemed to have been tempered by some unknown force, growing more condensed. Even his Spirit had grown slightly from the intense concentration.

The effects were faint, but undeniably real.

”As expected of a B-Level Body Refining Technique,” Xu Wuyi muttered to himself.

Unlike the Basic Body Refining Technique, which required completing a full set of nine movements to count as a single effective practice, the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace showed results after just the very first movement.

’And this is just the first movement of the Beginner and Entry Level stages. There are still twenty-eight more to go, not to mention the Minor Achievement and Great Success realms...’

The road ahead was long and arduous.

But the light in Xu Wuyi’s eyes only grew brighter.

He wasn’t afraid of difficulty; he was only afraid of having no path forward.