The corner gives the wooden martial arts master, whose martial arts are equivalent to a harem.

In 1985, the senior masters of the National Wushu Association unanimously believed that the path of martial arts had come to an end. In order to open up a new path for martial arts, the "Talent Cultivation Program" was born. Simply put, it is to take out all the martial arts and concentrate them on one person to teach that person to open up a new path.

However, the heavy responsibility of paving the way forward cannot be accomplished by one person alone. Therefore, the selection of promising talents has already begun. Before 2000, the selection was only conducted among children of the appropriate age, but after 2000, it began to be conducted among teenagers. It must be said that you have caught the east wind.

But I have to say something that might discourage you.

From the first competition in 1985 until the fifth competition in 1990, a universally acknowledged prodigy emerged: Chu Ci. He was only six years old that year (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), and by the age of twenty, he had already defeated all the geniuses of his cohort, even putting some established martial artists to shame. Now, at twenty-six, he is considered a promising candidate to pave the way for future success.

A young woman dressed in a white tracksuit, white running shoes, and with a neat ponytail recounted the background.

Although she had a graceful appearance, as if she came from the water towns of Jiangnan, the heroic spirit in her eyes was like a sword dancing with a rainbow. Her eyes were bright and powerful, staring intently at the boy who was lying on the ground in a "big" shape.

The boy was of average height but slightly short, and looked like he hadn't fully grown taller yet. His dirty white tracksuit looked like it had been washed and soaked, and he was breathing in fresh air like a dead fish.

His voice was weak and barely audible: "Teacher Ling, I can't take it anymore, I really can't hold on any longer, please let me rest for a while? Sister Feixing, you are my sister forever, please let me rest for a while, I'm begging you."

It's clear the apprentice wasn't worried about being discouraged, because he had absolutely no confidence. He couldn't hit the target if he didn't select it.

"Gu Chuanhen, you are one of the 100 candidates in the 2012 cohort. I don't expect you to be a genius, nor do I expect you to be recognized as a pioneer like Chu Ci. But you have proven that you are qualified and have the potential to pioneer a new path by being among the top 100 in this cohort."

I've reviewed your information. Your cardiopulmonary function far surpasses that of the average martial artist. If an average martial artist is a grasshopper, then you are a giant leafhopper. At the same time, your muscle fiber density is 1.5 times that of an average person. Because your muscle mass is greater than average, your bones have also become denser to support your weight.

What's even more astonishing is that your neural recruitment ability is also higher than that of ordinary people. Generally, only trained people can call up about 90% of their muscle fibers, but you are born with the ability to call up that 90%.

Your biggest advantage is that your body produces less lactic acid during exercise than the average person. Although you will get tired, you won't get tired so easily. Your physique is already considered to be quite good.

With a physique like yours, you could work as a construction worker and carry three people's worth of steel bars every day without getting tired.

But you should at least have some perseverance, right? You can't even keep up with the basics of Bajiquan's small frame? Yes, I admit I had some external training before starting the small frame, but that's no excuse for being exhausted. At this rate, how are you going to learn the secret techniques of the Bajiquan lineage?

The spirited air about the 26-year-old young woman was now clouded by a layer of indignant discontent.

The sixteen-year-old high school student was on the verge of tears, his once gentle face now as dry as a rotten orange.

He couldn't bear to recall his daily martial arts practice routine since the start of summer vacation a week ago.

The so-called external training refers to getting up at four in the morning and experiencing the city at four in the morning, just like Kobe Bryant.

After washing up, he went out, tying a thick hemp rope around his waist. The end of the rope was connected to two spare tires of a Dayun heavy truck stacked together. On the tires sat a young woman who looked to weigh 65 kilograms but actually weighed 85 kilograms.

She held a bamboo whip in her hand, and would lash it a few times whenever she slowed down, just like a farmer, whipping her students all the way to the vegetable market to buy groceries. At this time, all kinds of ingredients in the vegetable market were fresher. After buying the groceries, she would continue running until six o'clock, eat breakfast, and then digest for fifteen minutes. But during these fifteen minutes, she would still practice her finger strength. The specific application was to crush walnuts with her thumb and forefinger. The crushed walnut kernels could nourish the brain.

After finishing half a day's worth of food, there's a simple push-up, but you have to use your fists to support your weight. Using your fists to support your weight is one of the basic skills of Bajiquan. Practicing this will give your forearm muscles a good workout and allow your fists to "harden" to a certain extent. This means you need to trim your nails frequently, which not only exercises your forearms but also ensures personal hygiene, since long nails can harbor dirt and are unsightly.

However, Gu Chuanhen had two stone locks tied to his back, and he would be swept by a bamboo whip from time to time. At this time, he either had to dodge or get whipped.

When practicing lower body stance training, he would burn an incense stick under his crotch, hold a water-filled earthenware pot in each hand, and tie a leather belt with rivets around each of his arms.

The various external martial arts training exercises that followed can be exemplified by training scenes in classic Hong Kong kung fu movies, so they will not be elaborated upon further.

In short, from 4 a.m. to noon, Master Ling Feixing, known as the living encyclopedia of martial arts, would give Gu Chuanhen half an hour to rest, during which Master Ling would personally cook.

After lunch, during the digestive period, I continued practicing my finger strength, pinching out another half-day's worth of walnuts. Then, at 1 PM, I began practicing the Bajiquan small frame exercise, with 20-pound lead weights strapped to my wrists, ankles, knees, and shoulders.

Gu Chuanhen practiced from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., and as expected, he couldn't continue practicing.

Seeing Gu Chuanhen lying on the ground, Fei Xing relaxed a bit.

"You've reached your limit, so take a break. Xiao Gu, what do you want to eat tonight? I'll make it for you." The strict teacher's demeanor transformed into that of a kind older sister, her voice as gentle as a cotton candy.

"Anyway, fine." The young man was weak, speaking each word sparingly and deliberately.

"Okay, I'll stir-fry your favorite dishes: stir-fried dried tofu with chili peppers, braised pork with rice flour, and stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers. I'll also add some Jinhua ham and make a seaweed and egg drop soup. You'd better finish it all, kid. Get up when you're rested. Remember to wash your own clothes. I'm not your personal nanny." After giving these somewhat nagging instructions, the teacher turned and went back into the room.

Teacher Ling's residence is located in the mountains, specifically on a mountain far from Hongcun Town in the southern Anhui mountains. After obtaining government permission, he cut down trees to build houses, planted vegetables, and raised poultry, which has a strong sense of being a mountain king (just kidding), and a self-sufficient style of a mountain hermit.

The boy lying on the ground refused to get up, his eyes reflecting a galaxy of stars. The mountains and forests were, after all, far clearer than the industrially polluted cities.

He hummed to himself, "The stars in the sky don't speak, twinkling and bright, the heroes on earth miss their mothers, let's go!"

In fact, Gu Chuanhen did not genuinely want to learn martial arts. It was just that at his age, the government would provide a subsidy of 50,000 yuan a year for learning martial arts, and he could also be exempted from three years of high school tuition. In addition, there would be certain bonus points in the college entrance examination, and there was even a certain chance that he could be admitted to a better university without taking the college entrance examination.

These benefits are truly wonderful. Xiao Gu was extremely tempted. The benefits for the college entrance examination had already made his heart flutter, and the national subsidies made him even more eager to do so.

His family wasn't exactly poor, but they weren't rich either. He was just a teenager and could easily eat his father out of house and home, not to mention his extraordinary physique. Food expenses were a major part of the family's finances. To reduce the family's food expenses, he thought practicing martial arts wouldn't be a bad thing, since it would free up room and board. This way, his younger sister, who had just started junior high school, could eat more.

Eating more means you won't be hungry, which is a hundred times more important than academic performance.

Girls shouldn't blindly pursue being pale, young, and thin; a healthy figure is beautiful too. That's what Gu Chuanhen thought.

So, for the sake of his studies, his parents' wallets, and his younger sister's food, he became Teacher Ling's first and only student in his martial arts class without a second thought.

Speaking of which, the college entrance examination policy for martial arts is normally aimed at high school students who have completed twelve years of education. If someone drops out of elementary school, junior high school, or even high school in order to learn martial arts, they will not be able to enjoy this policy. But would anyone really not learn martial arts in order to learn martial arts? Xiao Gu thinks that is unlikely.

Martial arts isn't an essential path in life. If martial arts were the only path one had to take in life, it would be far too monotonous.

His mind was racing with thoughts as he slowly got up from the ground, his vision blurring for a moment. He suddenly stood up.

Immediately, as if ink with writing on it had been mixed up and then turned upside down, the blurry scene gradually returned to normal, and the unclear writing gradually became clear.

[Currently available target: Bajiquan.]

Gu Chuanhen rubbed his forehead and frowned slightly: How come this is so intense that I can still see the words?

"Is it an illusion? Can martial arts training produce such an illusion?" Gu Chuanhen's doubts were almost tangible.

[Please select your target – since there is only one target available, the default is to start pursuing Bajiquan.]

[Tip: As your affinity with Bajiquan increases, your Bajiquan skill level will also increase. You will also receive a 30% overall skill level bonus. Furthermore, as your affinity increases, you will gain various traits that align with the martial arts techniques described in the guide.]

[Strategy Guide - Let's Begin!]

Current target: Bajiquan (Eight Extremities Fist). Current affinity: 10/100 (Unfamiliar).

—The Kaleidoscope is activated—

"Hmm, that's it, I'm awake now. Today I'll see who my trainer is? Huh? Why is he such a skinny, ugly guy?"

Bajiquan saw the young martial artist practicing her techniques and felt disappointed and dejected. She couldn't help but speak in her dialect, praising him like a "handsome young man with extraordinary talent," much like Mrs. Qian, the "Hebei Ishihara Satomi."

I didn't have a clear impression of it at first, but the mention of the golden finger immediately reminded Gu Chuanhen of Madam Qian's sarcastic line in "My Own Swordsman": "What's the relationship between you three?"

This doesn't sound like a compliment at all! Don't take advantage of me because I don't understand dialects! Do you also want to be beaten by the leaders of the five major sects and sent flying through the air for half an hour before landing?! Gu Chuanhen shouted inwardly.

"Oh? But look closely, this rascal's eyes seem to hide a lion that could suddenly grow stronger and stronger at any moment. Hmph, definitely, it is."

Bajiquan seems to have encountered a rough gem waiting to be polished, or perhaps just a lump of mud found everywhere. But even mud, so what? Even a lump of mud, in the hands of a master, can be fired into exquisite porcelain.

No? If you want to speak Cangzhou dialect, then speak Cangzhou dialect; if you want to speak other regional Hebei dialects, then speak Hebei dialect; if you want to speak Cantonese, then speak Cantonese. Why mix Cangzhou dialect with Hebei dialect and Cantonese in a chaotic, mixed-language style? If you keep mixing them like this, the "Immortal's Rope" technique will really be lost.

Also, don't let Bajiquan become like this! Is this crazy, eccentric look really what Bajiquan should be like?!

Also, please don't describe me as a piece of trash, okay? With my physique, I could carry three loads of steel bars on a construction site from morning till night without getting tired, okay? I have a super strong body that can easily earn over ten thousand a month on a construction site, okay? And most importantly—don't go around telling everyone that they have a lion in their eyes, okay? My surname is Gu, not Lu! Am I the kind of cowardly simp who never grows up? Gu Chuanhen's voice was slightly distorted.

"Oh? I think I can hear the resentment and defiance in someone's heart. It seems you're not so clueless after all. Whew, I think I finally understand."

"I've seen the extent of your domineering thoughts, so let's see just how far they'll take you!"

Bajiquan sensed a surge of passion within you, for she felt she had witnessed the hidden domineering spirit within you, and she found you more agreeable. She would no longer call you a "street brat," and would provide you with exceptional correction as you practice and execute Bajiquan.

[Bajiquan's affinity towards you +30]

Current favorability rating: 40/100 (Friendly)

Huh? This already increases favorability? Seriously, how come you're so amazing with your crazy personality?

No! I don't want this crazy woman to help me!

Then, Gu Chuanhen noticed the changes in his body. It was due to the change in his breathing instinct, which had been subtly replaced. Two different breathing techniques existed between his breaths, one light and one heavy, which were vaguely like the sounds of humming and hawing. Although his breathing instinct had changed suddenly, the fatigue in his body receded more quickly.

Subsequently, the "attributes" related to physical strength and endurance also saw a noticeable increase.

This increase represents a roughly one-eighth of the original level.

"Wait a minute? I thought this was just an illusion from exhaustion, but it seems real? Could it be that I've really gained some kind of cheat code?" Gu Chuanhen was still pondering when another line of small words appeared in his vision, confirming the changes in his body.

[You have acquired the special characteristic of Bajiquan—the exhalation and circulation of Qi: the two breaths, one light and one heavy, "Hmph" and "Ha," will naturally become imprinted on your body. This instinctive exhalation will stabilize your lower body, increase your strength, strengthen your muscles and bones, and promote harmony among the six directions.]

[Current all-around bonus (current Bajiquan affinity × training level bonus): 12% (40 × 0.3 = 12)]

Although she's a crazy woman, on the other hand...