From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 8 Three Years
Time flies and three years have passed.

After the autumn harvest, the weather in the early morning was a bit chilly.

In the Xu family's orchard, the fragrance of fruit still lingers in the air.

Xu Fugui was practicing standing meditation. He was as still as a bell, his chest rising and falling, and he was breathing rhythmically through his mouth and nose. After a moment, he changed his posture.

There was a slight sweat on his forehead, but he didn't feel cold at all even though he was wearing only one layer of clothes.

The qi and blood in the body transform into faint essence, impacting the meridians and acupoints.

He has been practicing the Five Elements Posture for more than three years. At the first level, he has opened up all the Ren meridians and half of the Du meridian, and opened twenty-eight of the thirty-six life points of life and death.

Not far from him, a young man wearing coarse linen clothes and looking somewhat similar to him was also practicing桩.

It was Xu Xiaoniu.

Thirteen-year-old Xu Xiaoniu is a head taller than he was three years ago. Practicing standing meditation has made his body well-proportioned and his limbs strong and powerful.

Xu Fugui finished practicing earlier than him and watched quietly from the side, with only "satisfaction" in his eyes for his eldest son.

His son was almost as tall as him, only half a head shorter. He wasn't handsome, but he had regular features, thick eyebrows and big eyes.

"Huh, it's still not stopping?"

Xu Fugui was puzzled. They only did five sets of standing meditation exercises in the morning and never practiced more than that.

When practicing桩, it is important to know when to stop. Practicing too much will lead to a deficiency of qi and blood in the body and harm yourself.

He didn't say anything and watched Xu Xiaoniu practice the stance one more time before stopping.

"Dad, I've mastered it, I've mastered it!"

Xu Xiaoniu just stood still, took a deep breath, and excitedly told Xu Fugui the good news.

"It's done, great!"

Xu Fugui had been keeping an eye on Xu Xiaoniu's progress in his training. Perhaps because he was still young and could improve easily, Xu Xiaoniu's progress was much faster than Xu Fugui's.

As early as ten days ago, Xu Xiaoniu had opened up the Ren and Du meridians, and was only one point away from opening up the thirty-six life and death points.

Today I opened up the last vital point and completed the first level of the standing meditation.

"Come, let Daddy test your strength."

Xu Fugui rolled up his sleeves and wanted to demonstrate with his son.

"it is good."

Xu Xiaoniu couldn't wait any longer, so he rolled up his sleeves and stood facing his father.

The two of them stretched out their hands at the same time, left hand to right hand, right hand to left hand, interlocking their fingers and holding them tightly.

Each of them then extends their left leg into a lunge stance, knees touching, and straightens their right leg backward, pushing hard against the ground.

"Dad, shall I start?"

"Come!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Xiaoniu let out a low roar from his throat and suddenly exerted force, pushing his arms forward. His right leg plowed a hole in the ground due to the excessive force.

But he seemed to be pushing against a wall, and nothing moved.

"Humph~"

He groaned and put more strength in. He had used up all his strength, his fingers were white, his arm muscles were tense, and his face was flushed.

As a result, Xu Fugui remained motionless.

"call--"

Deflated, Xu Xiaoniu let out a long sigh, then retreated, his mood slightly downcast: "Dad, you're still the best."

"You're really good. You were just a little bit short just now. You're only thirteen years old. In two years, you'll definitely surpass your father."

Xu Fugui is now stronger than Xu Xiaoniu because he is an adult and has physical advantages, which makes up for the difference in the progress of standing meditation.

"Ah."

Xu Xiaoniu nodded and thought to himself that in two years, he would be able to become a man as powerful as his father.

"Daniu, you should be more restrained when you are outside and don't show off in front of outsiders."

Xu Fugui explained that although Xu Xiaoniu was not as strong as him, he was actually much stronger than an ordinary adult.

"Dad, I know."

Xu Xiaoniu was not the type to show off and had never revealed the fact that they were practicing martial arts to anyone else.

"The second level of Zhuang Gong, I will teach you after you have consolidated it for a few days."

Xu Fugui knew all the contents of the second level of the Five Elements Posture, but he had not yet reached that level, so he had never practiced it.

"Great!" Xu Xiaoniu couldn't help but look forward to it. If the first level was so powerful, the second level would surely be even more powerful. "I'll go up the mountain to chop wood, and you take care of the herb field."

After saying that, Xu Fugui picked up the axe on the ground, picked up a bundle of hemp rope and slung it across his shoulder, then walked towards Baihe Mountain.

----

In the afternoon.

The forest farm at the entrance of Baihe Village.

Du Hai was practicing martial arts with a dozen children.

These children are all from Baihe Village. The youngest are seven or eight years old, and the oldest are fourteen or fifteen years old.

Apprentices who are over fourteen or fifteen years old either have higher aspirations and go to the city to learn martial arts from a master, or give up as they have no future in martial arts, or practice martial arts at home.

"Starting posture ready, one!"

Du Hai said loudly with a stern look.

"Ah!"

The children followed his voice and performed punches and kicks in unison.

What they practiced today was the boxing and kicking kung fu that goes with the "Bear and Tiger Stance": "Bear and Tiger Body Technique".

"two!"

"what!"

"three!"

"Humph!"

"Freeze! This move is called Black Tiger Heart-Piercing. It's meant to rip out the heart, but look at what you're ripping out, someone's crotch?..."

Du Hai occasionally spoke out to point out some movements that were not done properly.

"Alright, the first two rows will continue with the basic punches and kicks, and the last row will practice the advanced forms."

He walked to the third row.

The third row is the oldest group of his students, except Xu Xiaogou and his second son Du Meng.

Xu Xiaogou and Du Meng were the same age, both only ten years old this year. Having trained for three years, they had both begun practicing advanced techniques.

"one!"

"two!"

"..."

"You're practicing with a ball."

Du Hai kicked Du Meng on the butt, knocking him to the ground and falling flat on his face.

"This move is called 'Man Xiong Ke'. It's like a big bear charging at you. You're just like a bear scratching itself against a tree!"

Du Meng got up and chuckled. He was used to being beaten by his father, so he brushed the dirt off his body without any concern.

Xu Xiaogou next to him couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Stop laughing, keep going!"

Du Hai glared at Xu Xiaogou and signaled everyone to continue.

When it comes to advanced moves, the differences between them become apparent.

Du Hai observed everyone present carefully with sharp eyes. Seeing Xu Xiaogou's standard movements and his own son's lacking in every aspect, he couldn't help but think: It would be great if my son had this talent.

There are also differences in talents such as physique and comprehension in martial arts training, but it is not as strict as the "spiritual roots" of cultivating immortals.

In Du Hai's opinion, Xu Xiaogou is a genius with outstanding talent.

In fact, his two sons are both talented, very similar to him back then, but slightly inferior to Xu Xiaogou.

"If I had such talent back then, I might have had a chance to reach the Xiantian realm."

Du Hai thought.

He was a high-level warrior, commonly known as an "acquired warrior." Having entered the realm of innate martial arts, he was equivalent to a cultivator in the early stages of Qi Refining, a "cultivator" who was superior to ordinary people.

"Stop, let's practice here first, rest for a while, and then we'll have a real fight."

When they heard about the "actual combat competition", everyone was excited and ready to go.

Du Hai would let them have a real-combat fight every once in a while.

What’s the point of practicing martial arts well? Actual combat is the real truth.

(End of this chapter)