Physical immortality begins with Bajiquan

By the time Qin Heng returned home, it was completely dark, and only the Black Wave Gang members patrolled the streets.

He gently knocked on his front door, and after a moment, the door was opened from the inside.

"Xiao Heng, why are you back so late? Come inside!"

Before Qin Heng could speak, his sister hurriedly pulled him into the house and slammed the shop door shut behind her.

Qin Heng looked at his sister's worried face and scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly:

"Sister, I forgot the time while practicing my skills."

Qin Ting breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but did not blame her younger brother. She raised her hand and gently tapped Qin Heng's forehead with her fingertips.

"What's your master like? Have you gotten to know any new fellow disciples?"

As she spoke, Qin Ting grabbed Qin Heng's wrist and pulled him to sit down in the room.

"Is Master alright? He taught me stance training today. I only met one fellow disciple, someone I met before I left."

After Qin Heng finished speaking, he glanced at the food and a pair of chopsticks on the table and asked in surprise:

"Sister, what is this...?"

Qin Ting didn't answer, but just stuffed the chopsticks into Qin Heng's hand, "Eat quickly, starting today, we'll have an extra meal every night."

"..."

Qin Heng had just stood up to get a pair of chopsticks for his sister when Qin Ting gently stopped him. She looked at her brother and spoke softly:

"Xiao Heng, our father passed away early. He often said that if you're going to do something, you should either not do it at all, or you should do it to the end. Now that you've started learning martial arts, you must give it your all. As for meat, your sister will do her best to provide for you."

Qin Heng opened his mouth but didn't speak, his gaze falling on Qin Ting's empty left wrist.

She was wearing a jade bracelet that had been passed down from Qin's mother.

"Okay, sis."

Without insisting any longer, he picked up his chopsticks, lowered his head, and ate the meat with all his might.

......

The next day.

After insisting on helping his sister set up her stall, Qin Heng hurriedly went to Songxuan Martial Arts Hall.

He began to warm up under the wooden stakes, stretching his still sore body.

At this time, the outer courtyard of the martial arts school was still deserted.

After he had stretched out enough, he stepped onto the wooden stake and assumed the Bajiquan stance.

"hiss--"

As soon as he started practicing the stance, Qin Heng felt waves of soreness and numbness surging from all parts of his body, and every muscle and tendon was trembling and screaming in agony.

It's a bit like the intense, tingling feeling you get the day after or even a week later after doing frog jumps for half a day while learning Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) in a past life.

If I could only describe how I felt in two words, it would be "suffering".

He gritted his teeth, took a few moments to relax, and then continued practicing.

[Destiny: Diligence is rewarded by Heaven; success is inevitable]

Bajiquan (Bajiquan Stance Exercise - Beginner Level 7/300)

Soon, the other disciples also arrived one after another.

When Guo Man, who arrived second, saw that Qin Heng had arrived earlier than him, he was initially surprised. Then, remembering that Qin Heng had also practiced until the very end the night before leaving, he understood.

"Good morning, junior brother. I left in a hurry yesterday and didn't have time to ask your name."

Guo Man walked to the stake, lowered his waist and braced himself, spread his arms slightly to stabilize his center of gravity, and then suddenly pushed off the ground, lifting his body up before landing heavily on the wooden stake. The stake swayed a few times before he was able to steady it.

"Senior brother, what skill you have!" Qin Heng couldn't help but praise upon seeing this.

"Not at all, I'm far inferior to my fellow disciples," Guo Man said with a smile after he stopped.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Heng packed up the stakes and chatted with Guo Man for a few minutes.

Only then did I realize that the other party had already entered the Ming Jin realm, but their physical constitution was just like mine, neither of which was considered good.

"Hey, that new kid's here pretty early."

"That's quite early. Congratulations to Guo Man, he's gained another subordinate. Their Lili faction has added another great general."

The disciples who arrived later focused their attention on the two of them and began to whisper among themselves.

"Is that kid also of below-average talent?"

"Exactly, otherwise why would he be hanging out with Guo Man? Those guys, they're lucky if they can even come close to Guo Man's level of Ming Jin. Their innate talent is lacking, yet they think they can break through through hard work—it's just wishful thinking!"

For them, only those with good natural talent have a chance to make their efforts worthwhile.

Heaven rewards diligence, but it also rewards people differently, such as those like them.

In their eyes, people like Qin Heng are simply not worth their time.

If one lacks natural talent and comes from a poor family, even if one works harder than the average person, practicing martial arts will only lead to the premature burning out of one's life, ultimately resulting in nothing.

Guo Man was considered lucky; he managed to reach the level of Ming Jin with a bit of luck, and after leaving the martial arts school, he was considered a skilled fighter.

Soon, they stopped discussing Qin Heng and began practicing on the stakes.

In the morning, it was Fifth Senior Brother Li Yiping who was leading the group.

During his brief rest, Qin Heng glanced at the other person and discovered that he was actually half-drunk.

Guo Man shook his head with a wry smile when he saw this, saying that his fifth senior brother was always like this, and that Master no longer cared about him.

Withdrawing his gaze, Qin Heng stretched his body and continued practicing on the stance.

Bajiquan (Bajiquan Stance Exercise - Beginner Level 9/300)

By noon, Qin Heng had practiced the stance training three times and was starving. He then stopped practicing and got up to find a place to eat.

His gaze swept across the outer courtyard and he saw Guo Man sitting together with the four fellow disciples from yesterday, chatting happily.

"Senior brother! You arrived yesterday, right? Why don't you come over and chat with me?"

Qin Heng turned around at the sound and saw the two newcomers who had arrived that morning sitting in the corner, one of whom was waving at him.

He nodded, then walked over and sat down with them.

Compared to veterans like Guo Man, newcomers are easier to get along with.

The man who greeted him, Chu Erniu, was sturdy and dark-skinned, with a simple and honest face.

The man standing next to him, Qin Tianbao, had sharp eyebrows and upturned eyes, and his face was angular, showing no trace of the awkwardness of a newcomer.

Upon hearing that Qin Heng also shared the surname Qin, he raised an eyebrow sharply: "You also share the surname Qin? There aren't many families with the surname Qin in Heyang County. Do you know who Qin Zongquan is?"

Qin Zongquan? Great-grandfather! Qin Heng was taken aback upon hearing this, and asked in return, "Do you know Qin Huai'an?"

"Of course I know!" Qin Tianbao said, patting Qin Heng on the shoulder.

After a conversation, Qin Heng learned that the two men's great-grandfathers were the same person, and Qin Tianbao was indeed his cousin, a close relative within five degrees of kinship.

After chatting for a few more minutes, the three finished their meals and began practicing their meditation.

......

It wasn't until the afternoon that the eldest brother hurriedly returned to the martial arts school.

Upon returning, he went straight to the inner courtyard. Before long, he and his fifth senior brother led a young man out, their faces beaming with excitement.

"Good! Good! Good! Fifth Brother, I never expected you to find such a promising talent with excellent potential!" the eldest brother laughed loudly.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the outer courtyard turned to look, and the entire courtyard fell silent for a moment.

Dozens of eyes were focused on the boy, filled with surprise, doubt, envy, and even jealousy.

"Brother Zhang, why are you so agitated? He's not your disciple." The fifth senior brother hiccuped and looked at the boy. "Oh, by the way, junior brother, what's your name again, Bao?"

"Jia Jinbao! Senior brother, my name is Jia Jinbao." The boy puffed out his chest and said excitedly.

"Hmm, it seems to be that name." The fifth senior brother rubbed his eyes, still sleepy.

The eldest brother glared at him with disdain, then looked at Jia Jinbao gently.

"Junior Brother Jinbao, according to the rules of our Songxuan Martial Arts School, any disciple with superior aptitude can directly enter the inner courtyard and become Master's personal disciple."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took eight sealed packets of blood-nourishing powder from the storeroom and personally handed them to Jia Jinbao.

"Here is half a jin of Blood-Nourishing Powder, junior brother. Apart from that, your master will personally teach you in the future, but since your master is not here these few days, I will teach you in his place." After saying that, the senior brother led Jia Jinbao to the training ground and began to teach him personally.

Seeing this, Chu Erniu, who had just come down from the stake to rest, couldn't help but angrily curse:

"Damn it! We all came together, why does he get so much fawning over him!"

"He has superior aptitude, while we have inferior aptitude!" Qin Tianbao jumped down from the stake, his sharp gaze fixed on Jia Jinbao, who was being fawned over by everyone.

"Top-notch physique! That's really awesome! If I were top-notch, I'd marry ten wives right away." Chu Erniu counted on his fingers, his face full of envy.

"Useless." Qin Tianbao shoved Chu Erniu aside, took a breath, flipped himself onto the stake, and sneered, "If I had superior talent, I'd train to join a gang and become a garrison commander!"

Chu Erniu stared at Jia Jinbao for a long time, then sighed and climbed up the stake.

"Sigh! Forget about top-tier, I'd even accept something average, but this is bottom-tier..."

"Give up already?" Qin Tianbao finished his routine, glanced at him sideways, and said, "With such inferior talent, I'd still dare to join a gang and become a police officer."

Upon hearing this, Chu Erniu became interested: "And what about medium-medium?"

"Medium-level? Even those with average skills can join gangs or become constables!"

"What? Why are you so eager to join a gang? Gangs aren't so easy to get into." Chu Erniu sneered.

"Who said I was going to join a gang?"

"Then you said you were going to do... um?" Chu Erniu suddenly realized something. The "do" he mentioned didn't seem to be the same as the one he was talking about.

Qin Heng watched the two silently from the stake, but did not say a word.

He did not lose his composure because of the sudden appearance of a disciple with superior physical attributes.

So what if someone has superior physical constitution?

He has his own path to follow.

As long as he keeps working hard, breaking through barriers and achieving breakthroughs is only a matter of time for him.

Withdrawing his gaze, he cleared his mind of all distractions and steadily continued practicing Bajiquan stance training.

"With the blue sky above, the yellow springs beneath, holding an infant in my arms, and mountains supporting my elbows..."

Bajiquan (Bajiquan Stance Exercise - Beginner Level 11/300)