Chapter 2: Hunyuan Stance

After Zhao Mu handed his weapon to Duan Rong, he stretched, then paced over to the weapon rack and grabbed a random discarded saber.

Zhao Mu stood before the crowd, performed a saber flourish with his right hand, and said, "I will demonstrate this move, Antelope Offering Food, two more times for you all. Watch closely!"

Zhao Mu performed it quickly the first time; his legs leaped and the saber turned, his movements flowing like clouds and water, seemingly carrying a certain familiar rhythm, which made the group of Miscellaneous Disciples instantly envious and eager.

"Watch carefully!"

Zhao Mu shouted again, then performed it slowly, explaining the key points of the movements as he went.

"Step forward with your right foot, landing in front of your left foot, then lift your left foot and kick forward!"

"At the same time, the saber in your right hand arcs from the front toward the lower right, sweeping and lifting, then thrusts forward, blade facing up, tip pointing forward!"

"..."

After finishing his demonstration and explanation, Zhao Mu turned his head to look at the blank-faced group of Miscellaneous Disciples, cleared his throat with a cough, and said, "Come, everyone perform it twice, let me see."

Once Zhao Mu finished speaking, the group of Miscellaneous Disciples began to crowd around the weapon rack, clattering as they drew their sabers.

Zhao Mu turned to look toward the courtyard gate and saw Duan Rong sitting there in a daze. Zhao Mu walked a few steps closer and called out, "Kid, is the saber wiped clean?"

Duan Rong was startled for a moment, then looked up, his eyes seemingly out of focus as he stared blankly at Zhao Mu.

Zhao Mu felt a flash of anger; he thought Duan Rong was feigning this dull expression to mock him because he was dissatisfied with being made to wipe the saber.

However, at this moment, Duan Rong seemed to snap out of it. Although his gaze was still somewhat dull, he stood up, inserted the saber into its scabbard, held it with both hands, and offered it to Zhao Mu.

Seeing Duan Rong act this way, the anger rising in Zhao Mu's heart subsided by more than half. He took the saber, placed the discarded saber he had been holding into Duan Rong's hands, and said with slight annoyance, "Return to the ranks!"

Duan Rong looked up at the discarded saber held in both his hands, as if it took him a good while to react, then took the discarded saber and stood back among the crowd of Miscellaneous Disciples.

Zhao Mu looked at Duan Rong's lost and bewildered appearance and muttered, "Don't tell me he burned his brain stupid from that fever a few days ago?"

Duan Rong stood at the back of the line, just standing there blankly, not having started to raise his saber and practice like the other Miscellaneous Disciples.

Today was already the second day Zhao Mu had taught this move, Antelope Offering Food.

These Miscellaneous Disciples were not stupid; they could all mimic the routine, but only three people could truly perform it with any substance: Kong Bin, Li Chong, and Zhang Zheng.

Since he began teaching these Miscellaneous Disciples, over the past few days, Zhao Mu had noticed these three. Among them, Kong Bin had the best natural aptitude and performed the routine with the most form, while Li Chong and Zhang Zheng were second, neck and neck.

Zhao Mu only focused on guiding these three, correcting the subtle points of their movements, while he only gave the others a cursory glance.

When everyone finished practicing, Zhao Mu said in a deep voice, "Alright. Go practice carefully; practice makes perfect!"

"Now, everyone, get into your Hunyuan Stance! Since ancient times, one must practice the stance before practicing the fist!"

"If the stance is not solid, the hands and feet will not generate power! Without power in the hands, no matter how good the routine is, it is just a flashy display, useless!"

The group of Miscellaneous Disciples all placed their sabers by their feet and began to stand in the stance.

The Stance Training Zhao Mu taught these Miscellaneous Disciples was an ancient form of stance training called the Hunyuan Stance!

Feet in a bow stance, hands held loosely in front of the chest, five fingers slightly spread!

Standing in the stance requires the body to be prepared with five bows: the body bow, the left and right arm bows, and the left and right leg bows.

The five bows are centered on the body bow, with the arm and leg bows as supplements. With the whole body prepared with the five, the five bows unite to form a coordinated and unified whole-body power.

Except for Duan Rong, who stood holding his saber and did not move at all, the other Miscellaneous Disciples all began their stance training.

Zhao Mu still only guided Kong Bin, Li Chong, and Zhang Zheng, patting their shoulders and elbows to adjust their stance postures.

This made the other Miscellaneous Disciples incredibly envious!

After Zhao Mu finished guiding the three in their stance training, he tucked the Ox-Tail Saber under his arm and walked away without looking back.

The time he spent each day guiding these Miscellaneous Disciples in their training was no more than half a stick of incense.

And from beginning to end, Zhao Mu did not look at Duan Rong again.

Duan Rong appeared to be standing there foolishly, but in reality, his mind was very clear—or rather, he could clearly perceive that his brain was becoming sluggish.

Inside his brain, it seemed as if a "thing" had been stuffed in, swelling to the point where it could not function, much like being too full to move.

The afterglow of the sunset spilled into this courtyard, reflecting on the faces of the Miscellaneous Disciples, who were drenched in sweat with veins bulging.

Some gritted their teeth tightly, their cheeks puffed out, just holding on with a single breath.

The reason stance training generates power lies in its extreme consumption.

When you perform a fist routine, or even fight with others, different muscles are engaged in turns.

By engaging in turns, they can take turns resting, but stance training forces all muscles of the body to exert force simultaneously, causing consumption to climb several times higher.

After only half a stick of incense, some could no longer hold on. Once their breath leaked, their muscles began to ache, and as soon as they straightened up, their bodies went limp, unable to continue the stance.

A few Miscellaneous Disciples who had lost their power looked at Kong Bin, Li Chong, and Zhang Zheng with envious eyes, shook their heads and sighed, and left the courtyard with dejected expressions.

In the fading red light, one could faintly see faint heat rising from the bodies of Kong Bin, Li Chong, and Zhang Zheng.

The more standard the posture, the greater the consumption. The stance postures of the three had been personally corrected by Zhao Mu, so their consumption was the greatest among all the Miscellaneous Disciples, but they were usually able to hold on until the end.

Seeing people leaving the courtyard one after another, Duan Rong, though sluggish, reacted and followed the crowd out.

These Miscellaneous Disciples were all in low spirits, with no desire to chat, each walking silently.

Tomorrow, at the time for martial arts practice, I fear a few more of these people will be absent.

These Miscellaneous Disciples walked to the kitchen of the servant quarters and began to collect their dinner.

Only when Duan Rong smelled the food did he suddenly feel a wave of hunger. He lined up in the queue and received a bowl of cabbage soup and two cornmeal buns.

Duan Rong finished the soup and buns completely before swaying toward the place where they usually slept.

At this time, the sky was just turning dark. There was no one on the large communal bed, so Duan Rong lay down directly and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

He felt the "thing" in his brain slowly melting like ice, merging into his Divine Soul.

In a secluded courtyard not far from the Yuanshun Escort Agency.

After Zhao Mu finished his dinner, he washed his body with the water from the courtyard well, then, with his upper body bare, he grabbed the Ox-Tail Saber.

It was Zhao Mu's routine to practice every night, performing a few sets of routines and doing an hour of Stance Training.

He was able to rise from a Miscellaneous Disciple to an Apprentice, and now to an Intern Escort; besides having some talent, diligence was an indispensable quality.

Zhao Mu had just performed a few moves with the Ox-Tail Saber when he suddenly stopped in suspicion, looking at the Ox-Tail Saber in his hand by the dim light shining from the doorway.

This blade, he had been using ever since he became an Apprentice, two or three years now, and he had long since grown quite attached to it.

For the past half year or more, he had even felt a faint sense of resonance between man and blade the moment he took hold of it.

But, tonight, this feeling suddenly vanished...

"That's right, it's my blade!" Zhao Mu looked at the blade edge gleaming coldly under the lamplight, his expression strange.

He weighed the blade in his hand, swung it twice, and muttered, "What is going on? It doesn't feel smooth at all... It's as if I'm gripping a brand-new blade..."

(End of chapter)