Gou Zai Wu Dao Chao Shi Xing Nian Da Gong

The next day, in a corner of the training ground at Hammer Cloud Martial Arts School.

Zhou Sheng was very serious as he practiced the first six forms of the Hammer Cloud Stance he had learned yesterday.

Liu Cheng strolled over slowly, and after glancing at Zhou Sheng's cultivation for a few moments, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"what?"

He immediately took a few quick steps to Zhou Sheng's side.

"Senior Brother Liu!" Zhou Sheng stopped his cultivation and greeted him.

Liu Cheng looked at him in surprise and asked, "Junior Brother Zhou, your improvement is remarkable! It's only been one night, and you've already reached this level! Your comprehension is truly excellent."

"I practiced meditation at home until midnight after I got back yesterday."

Zhou Sheng, without changing his expression, delivered the prepared statement. He remained tight-lipped about the matter his grandfather had instructed him on.

Liu Cheng gave a thumbs up and praised, "Good, hardworking and insightful, you have a good chance of breaking through the skin barrier."

"Originally, I planned to let you familiarize yourself with the first six stances before teaching you the last six. Now it seems that I can teach you the last six today. Learning the complete stances as soon as possible will help you temper your body and break through the barriers sooner."

"Thank you, senior brother!"

Zhou Sheng was overjoyed. He was just thinking about how to ask his senior brother Liu to teach him the next six stances, but he didn't expect his senior brother to teach him directly.

Then, his eyes darted around, and he asked, "Senior Brother Liu, what do you mean by 'breaking through the barrier'?"

Before he came this morning, his grandfather told him to ask around about martial arts knowledge he didn't understand. Isn't this what it is?

Liu Cheng explained, "The Hammer Cloud Stance Technique is a foundational martial arts technique for tempering the body, corresponding to the tempering realm of a martial artist."

"The Body Tempering Realm has three major stages: the Skin Membrane Stage, the Tendon and Bone Stage, and the Internal Organ Stage."

"When you reach a certain level in practicing the stance training method to temper your body, you will encounter your first cultivation limit, which is the skin barrier. If you cannot break through this barrier at this point, no matter how hard you practice, you will not make any progress."

"But if you can successfully break through the barrier, you will receive a huge boost. Your skin will become as tough as old cowhide, making you difficult to hurt by weapons, and you will possess the strength of hundreds of kilograms. Only then can you be considered a true martial artist."

"If you fail to break through the barrier, it will cause great damage to your body. Not only will you need to recuperate properly, but the success rate of trying again will also be greatly reduced. If you fail three times in a row, it will be impossible to break through the barrier again."

"The same applies to the musculoskeletal and visceral barriers that follow, and they are even more difficult to overcome."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Sheng asked again, "Senior brother, you said that attempting the breakthrough might fail. What are the chances of success?"

Liu Cheng glanced at him and replied, "The success rate of breaking through the barrier depends on many factors. Generally speaking, for someone with inferior aptitude like you, the chance of success is only one or two out of ten."

"What? It's that low?"

Zhou Sheng's heart sank upon hearing this. If that were the case, wouldn't his chances of failure be very high?

Liu Cheng comforted him, "That's not absolute. The success rate of breaking through depends on the depth of body tempering. And the depth of body tempering is related to one's physical constitution and the tonics taken. The better one's physical constitution, the deeper the body tempering, and the higher the success rate of breaking through."

However, if one's innate constitution is weak, sufficient tonics are needed to compensate, which can also deepen the body tempering process, thereby increasing the success rate of breaking through the barrier, even to 30% or 40%.

Zhou Sheng's eyes lit up, and he asked expectantly, "Oh! Does the martial arts school have any tonics?"

Liu Cheng replied, "The martial arts school has a special herbal soup called 'Hammering Skin Soup' specifically for the skin and tendons. One dose costs one tael of silver. To achieve the best results, it needs to be taken once every three days."

"..."

Zhou Sheng fell silent the moment he heard the price.

He needed to take the medicine every three days, which would cost ten taels of silver a month. However, the twenty taels of silver he had spent on martial arts training had already emptied his family's coffers, leaving them with no money to buy the tonic.

Seeing his predicament, Liu Cheng said, "Junior Brother Zhou, it's too early to talk about these things now."

However, I must remind you that each disciple has a six-month period. If you cannot break through the skin barrier within six months, you will lose the qualification to continue learning martial arts at the martial arts school. And with your aptitude, without medication, you might not even meet the requirements to break through the barrier within six months.”

"Alright, enough of that. Now I'll teach you the last six forms of the Hammering Cloud Stance Technique."

"Thank you for your guidance, senior brother!"

Zhou Sheng composed himself and began to study seriously.

......

In the evening, Zhou Sheng returned home, where Zhou Fugan was already waiting at the shop entrance.

"Sheng'er, how's your learning going?"

Zhou Sheng replied in a low voice, "I've learned it very well; I've mastered the last six moves."

"What happened?"

Zhou Fugan noticed that Zhou Sheng was in low spirits, so he asked him what was wrong.

"Grandpa, it's like this."

Zhou Sheng did not hide anything and told Liu Cheng what he had said directly.

After listening, Zhou Fugan felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun had shone through.

The common knowledge of martial arts cultivation, such as the Body Tempering Realm and the Three Stages of Body Tempering, is precisely what he currently lacks. Knowing this knowledge will be of considerable importance in guiding his future path of martial arts cultivation. It will prevent him from being completely clueless and unable to understand when encountering problems.

As for the tonics needed for cultivation, he couldn't get the money for the time being. However, with his cheat-like abilities, he would soon have considerable strength, and obtaining money in the future wouldn't be too difficult.

Zhou Fugan smiled and comforted Zhou Sheng, saying, "So you're worried about money. Good boy, don't worry. It's just money, Grandpa will figure something out."

"Grandpa, but..." Zhou Sheng looked worried and wanted to say more, but Zhou Fugan waved his hand to stop him.

He patted Zhou Sheng on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Sheng'er, just focus on practicing your martial arts and don't let other things distract you. Don't forget that our family's hopes are pinned on you."

Zhou Sheng's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but a fierce fighting spirit ignited in his eyes. He nodded vigorously, "Grandpa, I will!"

Zhou Fugan smiled expectantly. "That's right. Now, let's see you practice the last six forms of the Hammer Cloud Stance."

"good!"

Zhou Sheng then focused on practicing the stances he had just learned, and also repeated Liu Cheng's explanation.

Because Zhou Fugan had undergone a complete transformation and had experience with the first six stances, he quickly learned the last six stances. At this point, he had finally mastered the entire Hammer Cloud Stance.

Zhou Fugan was very much looking forward to seeing what level he could be elevated to by mastering the complete Hammer Cloud Stance Technique.

He then suppressed his eagerness and patiently pointed out several problems in Zhou Sheng's cultivation, which greatly benefited Zhou Sheng.

"Grandpa, brother, dinner's ready."

Just then, Zhou He's voice came from the back door, and then the curtain was pulled open, and a small head poked in.

Zhou Sheng, who was practicing his martial arts, quickly stopped his moves, looking somewhat flustered.

Zhou He looked at the two of them curiously and asked, "Grandpa, what are you doing?"

"It's nothing. Let's go eat."

Zhou Fugan casually brushed it off without showing any emotion, then took his two grandsons to eat.

"My home is too small, and it's easy to be exposed. It seems I need to find a secluded place to cultivate."

Zhou Fugan was making plans in his mind.