Douluo Continent has a system, but I don't want to use it.

Chapter 8 Nine Palaces Steps

Fang Tian lived a monotonous life, going back and forth between home, work, and shopping, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.

"System, open your own panel."

……

Realm: Level 5

Soul Power: 252/500

Physical condition: 120/200

Spirit: 170/200

功法技艺：子午流注（初窥门径450/1000）、基础刀法（登堂入室4999/5000）、八段锦（登堂入室4999/5000）

Soul Skill: None

Seeing the unwavering proficiency in basic swordsmanship and the Eight-Section Brocade, Fang Tian was speechless. Four months had passed; it seemed this bottleneck required a long period of patient refinement.

But do I need to develop a footwork technique? Without footwork, I can't catch up when attacking, I can't run away when retreating, and I also lack flexibility.

However, in my previous life, I had only heard of footwork in movies and novels; I had never heard of any other footwork techniques.

Everyone says that this footwork was created based on the principles of the Eight Trigrams, that footwork was created based on the Big Dipper, and this footwork was created based on the principles of the Nine Palaces...

Anyway, what they said sounded very sophisticated, but he didn't tell us the specifics. He was just rambling on and on, bragging.

"Looks like it's time to test our intelligence again," Fang Tian thought to himself.

Of the eight elements—the Two Elements, the Three Powers, the Four Symbols, the Five Elements, the Six Lines, the Seven Stars, the Eight Trigrams, and the Nine Palaces—I know absolutely nothing about the other seven. Only the Nine Palaces, because I've played with it before, reminds me of the specific numbers to fill in on the diagram.

Four and two represent the shoulders, eight and six represent the feet, three and seven represent the waist, nine represents the head and one represents the feet, and five represents the center.

Fang Tian drew the nine-square grid on the ground and filled in the numbers.

Footwork definitely requires agility, speed, and surprise. If you don't understand its intricacies, the Nine Palaces diagram can indeed appear quite chaotic.

So, could we simply follow the numbers from one to nine? If we were fast enough, it would definitely be quite unexpected.

Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth; seeing something a thousand times is not as good as doing it once.

Fang Tian walked to the nine-square grid and stood on the number five. He stood on this number because the number "five" was about the same distance from the other eight numbers.

Fang Tian adjusted his body to face the number "nine" to reconcile his initial position.

Fang Tian lifted his left foot and stepped back, then stepped forward with his right foot, then stepped forward with his left foot, then stepped forward with his right foot, then stepped forward with his left foot, and finally stepped forward with his left foot, turning his body to the left. Now Fang Tian was stepping forward with his left foot on step five and his right foot on step four, facing the third position.

Fang Tian continued, raising his right foot to step on the sixth, his body turning to the right to face the seventh. He then raised his left foot to step on the seventh, and his right foot to step on the eighth, his body turning to the right to face the first.

……

Fang Tian moved continuously in the order of one to nine. When he reached the third time, he found that the movements overlapped with the first time. In other words, he could take eighteen steps, each step being a different variation.

"I stepped with my left foot first just now, now let's try with my right foot!" Fang Tian thought to himself as he began to take a step.

The movements were repeated on the third attempt. It seems there are eighteen different variations again.

There are a total of thirty-six variations!

"Hey! Why do I have to go from one to nine? I can go in reverse, from nine to one!" Fang Tian thought excitedly.

He lifted his left foot and stepped onto the ninth step... Fang Tian repeated this process several times in reverse. In the end, he also derived thirty-six variations.

"This gives us seventy-two variations, and when actually walking through these seventy-two variations, each step can either continue along the original sequence or go back in reverse. This means each step has two variations. In this way, we have one hundred and forty-four variations."

"Also, at the beginning, I can't just step on nine or one. I can also step on the other six numbers and then start walking in reverse or forward. Add to that the difference between using the left and right feet, and that makes sixteen variations." Fang Tian's thoughts flowed like a spring at this moment.

"These sixteen variations, combined with the previous one hundred and forty-four variations, have evolved into two thousand three hundred and four variations."

"It's more than enough. Unless the enemy has a photographic memory and is proficient in mental arithmetic, they simply can't figure out the specific changes in the footwork."

"Moreover, once you've mastered the practice, you can treat each step as if you're in the center of the nine-square grid, which means there are endless variations. Haha! I'm pretty clever, aren't I!" Fang Tian thought smugly.

"The footwork has been created! Since it was created based on the Nine Palaces Diagram, let's call it the Nine Palaces Footwork."

"The Nine Palaces Step evolved from three basic parts. Let's give these three basic parts names too. The one that follows the nine numbers is called Following the Nine Palaces, the one that goes against the nine numbers is called Going Against the Nine Palaces, and the one that steps towards the eight numbers is called Stepping in the Eight Directions." Fang Tian named them casually, mainly for simplicity and ease of remembering.

"The Nine Palaces Step is derived from three basic techniques. Once you master these three techniques, the actual application depends on your talent and performance on the spot."

"When the time comes, with the right swordsmanship, as long as I'm fast enough, the enemy won't be able to touch me at all."

"Let's practice first! Start with the Nine Palaces." Fang Tian stopped his wandering thoughts and began to practice seriously.

After half an hour of practice, Fang Tian was able to reduce the time to complete one round of the 36-step clockwise Nine Palaces to less than half a minute. So he started practicing the counterclockwise Nine Palaces, and within half an hour, he also reduced the time to complete one round of the counterclockwise Nine Palaces to less than half a minute.

Similarly, Step Eight Directions also reduced the time taken to less than half a minute within half an hour.

This is how the footwork technique was created.

"System, open your own panel."

……

Nine Palaces Steps (Beginner's Guide 1/1000)

……

Sure enough, once created, it will be displayed on the panel after you practice it to a certain level.

Moreover, the Nine Palaces Step is divided into three parts, and each part only takes half a minute to practice once. So you can practice the Nine Palaces Step at least thirty times every hour, and easily reach a proficiency level of 100 times a day.

"Haha, I can master the Nine Palaces Step technique to the peak of the advanced level in just two months," Fang Tian thought to himself with pride.

"Furthermore, can the basic sword techniques be broken down, and then, based on the characteristics of each move, suitable footwork be found to generate power, integrating the sword techniques into the footwork? This way, the speed of the sword techniques will be faster and more unpredictable." Fang Tian thought as if he were about to urinate.

It's like integrating footwork and swordsmanship into one. You can practice them together, saving time.

Fang Tian thought of the Eight Pieces of Brocade again. To be honest, ever since he gained the ability to see internally, Fang Tian always felt that the Eight Pieces of Brocade was a bit awkward. This was because sometimes when practicing the Eight Pieces of Brocade, it would interfere with the flow of Qi through the meridians.

Specifically, a certain movement in Baduanjin can suddenly cause the normal flow of Qi in the meridians to either speed up or slow down.

Fang Tian guessed that the Eight Pieces of Brocade was originally a practice that combined internal and external strength. The reason why he hadn't felt the internal energy circulation of the Eight Pieces of Brocade was mainly because he hadn't yet mastered it to the point of being proficient or even at a high level.

At that time, the internal energy cultivation method of Baduanjin will definitely emerge, and it may conflict with the Meridian Flow Theory. This is one of the reasons why Fang Tian felt awkward about Baduanjin.

(End of this chapter)