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

On August 15, 2012, as summer vacation was drawing to a close and most students were still struggling with their summer homework, Gu Chuanhen was training in combat tactics with strange beasts.

He had already abandoned the fear he initially felt towards the old ape's enormous size during actual combat. It was just a battle where no one could be killed, so there was nothing to be afraid of. This was much easier than the other martial artists' rough training of him.

During his time in Shennongjia, he witnessed firsthand what true hellish, grueling basic skills training looks like.

Basically, it can be described as "training to the point of exhaustion as long as you don't die from it."

This includes, but is not limited to, acrobatic maneuvers on plum blossom stakes smeared with cooking oil while standing upside down, with Zhuge Jing and Lu Wu standing on either side of each other, and Ling Feixing perched on their shoulders. It's practically like an Indian military parade.

Next, they did basic strength training with Xiang Bofu, including but not limited to playing with large stones they found as stone locks, or dribbling a polished stone ball without letting go of it. When their muscles couldn't take it anymore, Xiang Bofu would stimulate them with his bioelectricity.

According to Xiang Bofu, "There are three types of muscles in the human body: red muscle, white muscle, and pink muscle. Red muscle has strong endurance, white muscle has strong strength, and pink muscle has both endurance and strength, but is relatively mediocre. My training method is to make your whole body muscles into an enhanced version of pink muscle, which has both strength, endurance, and explosive power."

While I couldn't afford special equipment due to limited funds, I researched extensively and consulted with Master Li Zhenfan, which led me to create an "electric stimulation method." This electrotherapy can help you achieve pinkish skin more quickly.

Don't worry, scientific research has shown that, under safe and controllable conditions, stimulating muscles with weak electrical currents within the range that the human body can tolerate can greatly enhance muscle explosive power. Of course, after the electrical stimulation, any existing injuries will need to be treated, but with the four of us watching over you, you'll be fine. Don't worry, I'll try my best to make your muscles completely new during this time."

During the part where Gu Chuanhen gets electrocuted, he basically says things like, "I'm not telling you anything, ahhhhh!", "You damn Thunder King! You're going to get electrocuted sooner or later!", and "It's too late, Da Ben, quickly use your Thunder Sword to combine with our Seven Swords!"—all sorts of incoherent things from being electrocuted. Luckily, he didn't lose control of his bladder or bowels from the shock, which means his sphincter and gluteus maximus muscles benefited a lot.

In short, I went back to sparring with Master Monkey after regaining my senses, and I still do so today.

Gu Chuanhen, shirtless and bare-chested, wore only loose-fitting sweatpants. His sculpted muscles, refined by a master, were not bulky but rather showed explosive strength in the details.

If we were to use a famous person as a comparison, we could roughly describe him as Mr. Law Mang, who played Master Hua in the movie "Ip Man," in his youth.

"To have sculpted his muscles to this extent in just over a month, he really can withstand the specialized training we designed for him." Zhuge Jing looked at Gu Chuanhen's physique and gave Ling Feixing a thumbs up. "Just looking at him, I can already imagine how much basic training you had him do before."

"Looking good isn't enough; you have to be able to fight first." Ling Feixing gestured for Zhuge Jing to continue watching.

The group fell silent and simply stood at a distance, observing.

Legend has it that the old ape, with its giant hands the size of a basin, struck him from head to toe with the force of smashing a monument.

He walks with a 46 stance, treating his joints like whip joints, and uses the true training methods of flexible arms, wrists and backs to shake up his muscles and skin, so that the power can be transmitted and his hands can be launched into the air.

The arms, wrists and hands appear loose and relaxed, but in reality they are like two leather whips. The hook hand, which forms a splitting motion, moves from bottom to top, as if supporting the sky, to hold the white ape's wrist. Then, it uses a lifting, pulling and pushing motion to deflect the white ape's double palm strikes.

Using the force of the recoil, lower both hands downwards, and while lowering them, rotate both palms so that the palms face forward.

The four-six step pattern, with the palms shifting and moving, closes in and catches up, pressing the old ape directly in front of its chest and abdomen, then claps and pushes it away.

The old ape held back, deliberately lowering his skill level to a level slightly higher than Gu Chuanhen's. So the old ape intentionally took a few steps back, mimicking the action of being slapped and pushed away twice.

Gu Chuanhen, unwilling to give up, took four or six steady steps forward. Seeing the white ape stabilize itself and strike its abdomen with its palm, he suddenly raised his leg and thrust his knee into the white ape's giant palm, blocking the attack.

The stability of the four-six stance is evident here. The six-tenths strength of the rear leg makes Gu Chuanhen's hasty leg lift and block without his body swaying or becoming unstable, while the four-tenths strength of the front leg makes the leg lift force real rather than weak.

Laymen watch the spectacle, while experts see the intricacies.

"Not bad, you've incorporated the elbow strike into your knee. It looks like a knee strike, but it's actually an enhanced version of the elbow strike. Your Bajiquan stance is truly ingrained in your bones."

"That was a bit reckless. Even though the leg strength is three times that of the arm without specific training, the knee structure is still inferior to the elbow. The kneecap is oval-shaped, while the elbow structure is a stable triangle formed by the two bones of the forearm and the olecranon. Furthermore, the elbow is less sensitive to pain than the knee."

Without proper training, a knee strike is less effective than an elbow strike, and since he hasn't specialized in Muay Thai, his knees might not be able to withstand the recoil from a knee strike. Fighting like that could easily injure his knees.

Xiang Bofu added from the side.

Ling Feixing shook his head: "Junior Brother Bofu, don't be careless just because you underestimate my disciple. Take a closer look at what his purpose is in raising his leg and thrusting his knee."

"Haha, of course it's a feint. It would be great if it hit, but it doesn't matter if it misses. With his stamina, he can handle a lot of feints to get the ball across."

As Zhuge Jing said, this was indeed a feint; the leg raise was to demonstrate the basic fighting techniques of the Great Sage's Splitting Palm.

The old ape, with his keen eye, could naturally see through this feint. In order to nip the subsequent real move in the bud, he deliberately used his strength to bully Gu Chuanhen's short stature, changing his palm into a claw.

Gu Chuanhen had sharp eyes; he had already seen the bending and straightening of the five fingers and felt the palm force through his knees.

With a flick of the left fingertip, this kick forms the basic technique of the Great Sage's Splitting Kick: Lifting Leg and Punching Fist.

There's only one person in the world. If you're facing two enemies, a kick can stop one, and a punch can stop the other. As for more than that, you'll have to deal with them one by one.

However, his punch was executed in the style of monkey boxing. He first struck the middle finger joint of the white ape with his fingertip, then rubbed his fingertip against the base of the finger, and the joint formed a single point before advancing. Then he bent it again and struck with his fist. Finally, he swung his wrist down and struck with his wrist bone.

Before the monkey's claws could even grab the knees and legs, they were struck backward by a punch that sent it flying four times.

"Being strong is not a disadvantage. Master Monkey is even taller than me. If someone who is smaller wants to defeat someone who is larger, they can only rely on technique to attack the joints. Xiao Gu's idea is good." Xiang Bofu praised without reservation.

Lu Wu shook his head: "But Master Monkey and Little Gu both have one hand free and are useless."

"If Master Monkey doesn't want to play anymore, the next move will be to use that empty hand above him to decide the outcome."

As soon as Ling Feixing finished speaking, the three of them revealed wicked smiles. Although Lu Wu didn't smile, it seemed she was laughing inside.

Gu Chuanhen was unaware that the four martial artists were waiting to see him suffer a humiliation; his mind was completely absorbed by the sound of rain around him.

The pattering of rain on banana leaves sounded just like the cracking of knuckles making popping beans.

And the sound of rain pattering on banana leaves all came from Master Monkey.

"Tongbei Sanshou 108 Secret Fist - Tiankui Star - Timely Rain." The four whispered the name.

Suddenly, his entire arm trembled violently, and with a powerful and heavy swing, his palm struck like a stone tablet being split open. The back of his palm landed precisely three inches away from Gu Chuanhen's hair and then stopped falling.

The tiny sonic boom that burst through the body sounded like rain, like a whip cracking, or like rain falling on a calm lake. The dense force blew the hair this way and that, and the scalp throbbed.

Then, a monkey paw the size of a washbasin reached towards the mouth of the big head, licked its palm, and then landed on Gu Chuanhen's hair, stroking it backward to smooth it out.

With his hair slicked back in the strong wind, Gu Chuanhen pinched his philtrum as if giving himself first aid.

"That's terrifying! Master Monkey, you can't be a sore loser!" Gu Chuanhen muttered.

Several warriors nearby came over.

Xiang Bofu half-squatted on the ground and used his thumb to pry open Gu Chuanhen's eyelids: "You're conscious and fine."

Lu Wu then checked Gu Chuanhen's pulse: "His pulse is steady, he's fine."

Zhuge Jing calculated with her fingers: "The divination is auspicious, nothing to worry about."

Ling Feixing nodded slightly: "Okay, halftime break."

This gave Xiao Gu a chance to catch his breath.

He sparred with his monkey master from 5 a.m. onwards, starting with breakfast and exercise until 9:30 a.m., until now at 10:30 a.m.

This is also his daily routine these past few days after he completed the beginner level of "Fan Tian Tong Bei".

Although I really wanted to start working on the strategy for the Heaven-Turning Back Fist immediately, even if it meant getting some bonuses first, there's an old saying that three women make a drama. Bajiquan and Dasheng Pigua are already enough to make me suffer, and adding another one would probably be too much for me to handle. So, I wisely decided to postpone it for now.

However, it must be said that the internal strengthening effect of the Fantian Tongbei boxing style is immediately apparent.

In just a few days, his appetite increased dramatically, and he also grew eight centimeters taller.

He's no longer that shorty of 1.6 meters; he's now a full 1.68 meters tall! Congratulations!

Xiang Bofu held a bunch of wild fruits and placed them in front of Master Monkey and Gu Chuanhen.

Master Monkey only picked a few of the larger ones, leaving the rest for Gu Chuanhen. The old monkey ate and laughed, affectionately nudging Gu Chuanhen with his arm.

Gu Chuanhen also pretended to use his Iron Mountain Lean to bump into the old monkey's long arm.

This human and monkey are like high school students playfully teasing each other. Oh, and Gu Chuanhen is indeed a high school student.

Xiao Gu picked up a raspberry, threw it into his mouth, and chewed it vigorously along with the schisandra berries. Only after swallowing did he ask a question.

"That move Master Monkey just used wasn't like the usual Tongbei style, what was it then?"

"That one? It's the Tongbei Sanshou 108 Secret Fist. The punch just now was 'Timely Rain'," Ling Feixing replied to Gu Chuanhen's question, swallowing a schisandra fruit.

Gu Chuanhen recalled his earlier outburst: "But it looked quite ordinary."

"It just looks ordinary. The real secret lies inside. Do you know how many bones the human body has?" Zhuge Jing was eating a three-leaf akebia fruit.

"206 pieces," Gu Chuanhen replied immediately. This was basic knowledge taught in biology class.

Xiang Bofu explained in detail: "For adults, there are 206 bones, but a newborn baby has 305 bones. As they develop, some bones gradually fuse together. For example, a child's sacrum has 5 bones, which fuse into 1 bone in adulthood. In childhood, there are 217 to 218 bones, and when they develop to adulthood, there are a normal number of 206 bones."

However, some adults don't have 206 bones. This is because some bones didn't fuse properly during development, but this lack of fusion is harmless.

"The Secret Fist of Tongbei: The Monkey of Tongbei is an internal martial art that repairs bones and restores one's original state. After mastering the Secret Fist of Tongbei, one can separate the fused bones and return to the original number of 305. This separation is achieved by connecting newly created, stronger and optimized bone joints. The secret to the timely rain lies in the temporary fusion of the joints of the 305 bones. The 'rain sounds' you hear are the sounds of the joints fused and collided."

When the joints come together as a whole and then come apart, they become part of the sound you hear.

This cycle of expansion and contraction introduces additional and repeated forces into the original force; the same principle applies to internal strength (劲).

The detailed explanation of the ancient legend of Ling Feixing.

"I understand, it's a basic attack followed by a combo." Gu Chuanhen explained the principle in simple terms.

"That makes sense." Lu Wu thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, before continuing the conversation.

"There are 108 kinds of secret fist techniques. Not everyone can master them all. Because there are too many, most people only choose to practice a few of them. In our year, there were only two people who mastered all of them: Chu Ci and Zhou Tong with the Golden Arm."

"However, Brother Ci only used these 108 Secret Fist techniques as basic skills to train his body and strength, and didn't use them much in combat. Zhou Tong, on the other hand, used them a lot," Zhuge Jing recalled.

"Since you've learned it, why not use it?" Gu Chuanhen asked curiously.

"When someone has mastered almost all the martial arts and secret techniques, of course they will still choose the one that is most comfortable for them to use." Xiang Bofu touched his large pectoral muscles. Although they had healed, he still felt a slight pain in the place where Chu Ci had hit him. "It's a matter of preference."

Ling Feixing was beaten into a state of depression, and Xiang Bofu was beaten to the point of developing PTSD. These two were also fellow sufferers.

"Stop touching your big pecs, it reminds me of the painful memories of being beaten up." Zhuge Jing couldn't bear to look at him, so she lowered her head and put her hands together, with the edges of her palms pressed against her eyebrows.

Well, even this person has a past.

Then Gu Chuanhen looked at Lu Wu with a sly grin. His eyes revealed a kind of innocence, like a Shiba Inu meme.

Lu Wu remained calm: "Don't look at me like that. I've been beaten up too. Even Master Monkey has been beaten up."

"Roar." Master Monkey nodded quite intelligently, proving that Lu Wu was right.

Everyone present, except for Gu Chuanhen, had been severely beaten. He instinctively knew that he would inevitably suffer the same fate in the future.

"Don't mention it. Xiao Gu, rest for another ten minutes. Next, you will spar with Junior Brother Bo Fu. I thought I would only be sparring with Master Monkey this time, but there is an even bigger surprise. You should witness the prowess of the three top five."

Although he appeared calm and composed, Gu Chuanhen always felt that Ling Feixing was just enjoying the show.

Xiang Bofu stopped touching his large pectoral muscles.

He exclaimed with elation, "Oh?! We've finally reached this stage?! I've been waiting for so long! Little Gu, you'll soon see how I fight with Xingyi Quan, haha! Have you ever seen a fist that's electrified?"

"Don't scare him. Look how pale Xiao Gu's face is. By the way, Xiao Gu, what was your birth date?" Zhuge Jing teased Xiang Bofu before asking Gu Chuanhen.

「1996年2月2日凌晨3点33分生，怎幺了？」古传恨记得很清楚，因为她妈老拿这事开他玩笑。

【"You child are so insensible. Why did you choose to come when people are sleeping? You were born at 3:33 AM. Are you going to divide the world into three kingdoms? (Are you going to practice the Three Kingdoms Qi? Are you going to fight the White Bone Demon three times?)" This is something that Ms. Li Motong, Gu Chuanhen's mother, often said.

After hearing Gu Chuanhen reveal his birthday, Zhuge Jing's gaze towards Gu Chuanhen became meaningful.

"Of course I'll give you a free fortune telling, but as you know, 'free' only means you get a portion of it. You'll have to pay to unlock the whole thing," Ling Feixing teased.

Zhuge Jing, with her exceptional intelligence, immediately spoke up after listening: "You have Wu Qu and Po Jun in your natal chart, huh? Hey, you and Senior Sister Ling are indeed destined for each other, except that Senior Sister Ling has Zi Wei and Po Jun in her natal chart."

Wuqu Pojun? Gu Chuanhen didn't know what it meant, but he had seen the movie.

In the movie, Officer Ma Jun says he has the destiny of "Po Jun sitting on his life, destined to be a thief," but after encountering Tan Lang and Qi Sha, who are also "thieves," he is thrown off a building. He didn't survive this ordeal, which is a real pity for such a good officer.

"If you weren't a martial artist, that would be fine, but you've already entered the world of martial artists, which means that you are destined to undergo the tempering of 'fire forging golden edge' in this life."

Gu Chuanhen wanted to say, "Really? I don't believe it."

But when I think about what other people do during their summer vacation and what I do during my summer vacation, I can't help but believe it to a large extent.

"Both of you could probably achieve great things in the world of martial arts," Zhuge Jing smiled, looking at Xiang Bofu and Ling Feixing with a slightly tipsy expression. "Junior Brother Bofu, Senior Sister Xing, could I spar with Xiao Gu first?"

Ling Feixing smiled.

"sure."

Gu Chuanhen was stunned for a moment.

"Then don't rest for these ten minutes, just try my 'Solitary Emptiness Method'."

···

Three minutes later.

Gu Chuanhen stared blankly at the lush tree canopy and the faint sunlight. The scenery in his eyes was like a lens that had lost focus, and he could hear vague and distorted sounds.

It felt like being submerged in water, completely overwhelmed and at a loss.

"Little Gu!!!!!!!!! I'm so sorry!!!!!!!!! Please don't die!!!!!! Waaaaah, I don't want to accidentally kill a sixteen-year-old boy who was shorter than me at the beginning!!!!!!!!! You've only grown eight centimeters taller!!!! You should at least wait until you're 183 centimeters before you die!!!!!!!!!" Zhuge Jing's howl was hilarious.

She was like someone who'd seen a squirrel struck dead by lightning and yelled, "Sir Squirrel!!!!" To be honest, that kind of yell wasn't something you could just utter easily.

"Why are you yelling so loudly? What the hell is this? If I die at 183cm, what if I only grow to 182cm? Wouldn't I be immortal like Fang Han?"

"Stop howling! You've given Xiao Gu a concussion. Senior Sister Lu Wu, please use your 'Divine Transformation' to treat his brain. Junior Brother Bo Fu, please find him some herbal remedies for bruises and sprains. I'll use my strength to treat his internal brain injury. And you, Junior Sister Jing, why are you getting serious while you're fighting? This isn't like you."

Feeling the warm, soft flesh supporting his cheeks and gently resting his legs, a gentle, soothing force, like the warm current of a hot spring, flowed through his brain.

Then a noble and graceful female immortal appeared before him. Although she still had a somewhat ferocious appearance, overall she resembled a magnificently dressed Queen Mother of the West. A deity had descended to earth.

He felt a little better, but he hadn't fully recovered.

"What happened to me? Oh, I got knocked flat on my back. I remember now, wow, are all Divine Warriors this strong? Even if they lower their level to just a little bit above mine, I still can't beat them."

"His basic skills are too profound. Even when I lowered my level to a level slightly higher than his, I still couldn't keep up and unconsciously started to get a little serious."

I didn't notice it when I wasn't sparring with him, but after experiencing it firsthand, I felt like I saw Bajiquan and Dasheng Piguazhang come alive in him. Although it was only partially alive in him, not completely, even that roughly 50% and 10% was enough to put some pressure on me. No wonder Master Monkey can't handle it.

Is this really a skill he mastered in just over a month?

"Huh? Why do I feel like eyes are growing out of the tree branches?" Gu Chuanhen muttered in a daze.

"The tide of spiritual energy suddenly surged dramatically. No, the tide is rising stronger and stronger. The trapped demons are reviving."

The Great Sage Splitting the Hanging Tree spoke in a serious tone.

"The situation is critical. I'm going to possess your body. Do you agree?"

The Great Sage's Cleaving Technique requests your possession.

Do you agree to let Da Sheng Pi Gua help you with your character's actions? Yes/No

The words "critical situation" were highlighted in red and bold, piercing the dazed eyes of Gu Chuanhen.

Ignoring his discomfort, he answered "yes" directly.

Then, unnoticed by him, a line of text was gradually fading away.

Bajiquan has sent you a request.

Do you agree to let Bajiquan fight for you? Yes/No

"Hey, I was here first. Why did you choose her instead of me?"

Bajiquan practitioners often wear a forced, insincere smile.

-

"Huh? Why do I feel like eyes are growing out of the tree branches?"

Gu Chuanhen's groggy voice reached Ling Feixing's ears, and she couldn't help but glare at Zhuge Jing.

Zhuge Jing turned her head away somewhat awkwardly.

Then Fei Xing found it somewhat amusing.

How can eyes grow on a tree?

Ling Feixing smiled and shook his head, then looked up.

Her smile froze.

The dense, enormous eyeballs have the texture of fruit, as if the branches are laden with fruit, crowding the branches and squeezing out irregular, dense, swollen swellings. The veins on each leaf twist and turn into magical and enchanting patterns.

The lush, leafy fruit's "eyes" had split open like vertical pupils, resembling the openings of betel nuts. Within those openings, curled up, were identical fruit pits.

The fruit pit takes the shape of a human, no, it should be said that it is a human shape holding the fruit pit, but it is not quite "holding" because the human-shaped body is stuck to the fruit pit. Like a foreskin that has not been pulled back.

The humanoid figure was a ghastly green, its body as thin as a matchstick, but its head was disproportionately large, with eyes that occupied two-thirds of its face tightly covered by eyelids.

Then, rounded, jagged wooden teeth grew from both ends of the pupils, grinding side by side and producing a reverberating, grating sound.

Hidden in the echoing sounds, the little fruit-seed figure opened its eyes. Its dark eyes resembled those of a lychee seed, with some milky-white flesh clinging to them, and veins like leaf veins forming dense rings of a thousand years.

Then all those little people grinned, revealing one after another large mouths and the heads nested inside them.

"Huh? Why do I feel like eyes are growing out of the tree branches?"

It, they, are imitating the ancient legends of hatred.

Then, the fruit ripened and fell.

"Scatter, all of you!" Ling Feixing shouted, and the princess, carrying Gu Chuanhen, retreated with several other martial artists, leaving the area of ​​the fall.