Chapter 23: Stance Perfected! Martial Arts Genius!

Early the next morning, Qin Shuo rose as usual to practice his stance.

After nearly a month of diligent training, his White Ape Stance finally reached the moment of imminent completion.

He held the training blade, twisting and leaping like a spirit ape on the wooden stakes, his long blade chopping, emitting a sound that split the air.

Hum!

The blade split the vast sky.

The air emitted a humming unable to bear the weight.

The fierce blade light seemed about to cleave the void, bearing an unstoppable sharpness.

Qin Shuo practiced his stance while executing the Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Forms.

He realized the two were inherently one; stance practice is the root, blade technique the leaf.

No matter how he changed his moves, as long as his footwork stayed orderly and his power flowed naturally, everything fell into place.

"No wonder learning blade technique requires stance practice first; once stance perfection is achieved, its aid to blade training is immense."

Qin Shuo muttered to himself, genuinely feeling the benefit that perfected stance practice brought to his blade cultivation.

He was completely immersed in stance practice and blade swinging, unaware that an hour had passed.

Boom!

Suddenly, Qin Shuo, body and soul immersed in training, shuddered.

Figures streamed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

They varied in height and build, fat or thin, yet all practiced the same set of stance exercises.

That was the White Ape Stance.

They were the mental imprints left by countless senior brothers on the plum blossom stakes since the founding of the Liuhe Martial Hall.

As those figures faded one by one, the illusory plum blossom stance within the Taotie Cauldron exploded.

【Ingredient: White Ape Stance】

【Current Refinement Progress: 100%】

【Refinement Effect: White Ape Stance perfected, form like an ape, spirit and form both complete】

Almost as the subtitle prompt appeared, a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

Qin Shuo, who had originally stopped swinging his blade, began practicing again on the plum blossom stakes.

"It's different, completely different."

After the White Ape Stance was truly refined, Qin Shuo felt a sudden realization—the essence of this White Ape Stance skill.

He used stance practice to drive his blade technique, as if he had transformed into a true white ape.

In his leaps and steps, everything became natural, with no hesitation whatsoever.

As if he were born this way, every movement bore the spirit of the white ape.

"Spirit and form both complete—this is what spirit and form both complete means!"

Qin Shuo's spirits lifted, he truly grasped the profundity of the White Ape Heavenly Gang Blade.

"Take the spirit of the spirit ape, not be bound by form, only then can one attain its spirit and bear; every movement becomes the white ape."

After grasping the essence of the White Ape Stance, Qin Shuo's blade technique became more agile.

He no longer clung to the precision of each move; instead, the blade followed his will, as if the arm directed the fingers.

Where the mind points, the blade reaches; in every gesture, lies the true intent of the white ape.

"So that's how it is! It ought to be this way!"

Qin Shuo immersed himself in the comprehension of the white ape's true intent.

He completely failed to notice that within the Taotie Cauldron, the refinement progress bar for the training blade was jumping rapidly.

【Ingredient: Training Blade】

【Current Refinement Progress: 6%】

【30%】

【50%】

【100%】

【Refined!】

【Refinement Effect: Heavenly Gang Blade Method perfected, White Ape True Intent initiated!】

Boom!

Almost at the moment the training blade was refined.

The scene of Hall Master Wei Yuan practicing stance and blade in his youth flashed through Qin Shuo's mind like a fleeting glimpse.

Finally, all the images exploded together.

They turned into streams of light that merged into Qin Shuo's mind.

Double blessings arrive at the door!?

Qin Shuo's mind withdrew from the Taotie Cauldron, his aura surging, his whole person plunged into great delight.

According to the normal refinement pace, Qin Shuo would still need at least twenty-odd days to refine the training blade.

But after grasping the essence of the White Ape Stance's spirit and form both complete, his understanding of blade technique leapt forward dramatically.

What originally required three thousand repetitions of the blade technique now needed only a thousand to be satisfied.

One could even say that the perfection of the Heavenly Gang Blade Method was not obtained from refining the training blade.

Rather, after his stance practice reached perfection, a sudden enlightenment opened his mind; in that instant of epiphany, he raised his blade technique to perfection through his own realization.

"As it turns out, the conditions for refining ingredients are not fixed; they change with my understanding and perception of the ingredients."

After this, Qin Shuo gained another layer of understanding of the Taotie Cauldron's refinement rules.

"Stake Training is complete, Blade Technique is complete; next, we can consider accumulating blood to charge the pass."

Qin Shuo began to replan his upcoming cultivation.

"Charging the pass requires three small baths and one large bath, adding up to about two hundred taels of silver."

"That much money? Where am I supposed to earn it?"

"Right, also need to daily consume blood-nourishing soup and exotic beast meat, otherwise there may be a situation of insufficient blood accumulation and failure to charge the pass."

"Money, it's all about money."

Qin Shuo is somewhat balding.

All these miscellaneous expenses added up, he estimated, at least four or five hundred taels.

"I can hunt exotic beast meat myself by going into the mountains; as for the blood-nourishing soup and medicinal bath, I don't know if I can get the Hall Master to sponsor them."

Qin Shuo realizes that relying on himself to earn that much money in the short term is completely unrealistic.

So the best way is to display his talent and ability to gain the Martial Hall's support.

Having made up his mind, Qin Shuo once again began practicing the White Ape Heavenly Gang Blade in the courtyard.

With both Stake Training and Blade Technique perfected, his every movement contains the White Ape True Intent.

Gradually, Qin Shuo even felt as if his long blade had become an arm, merging completely with himself.

That truly meant striking exactly where pointed, without bias, not missing by a hair.

Such absolute control over his own strength is precisely the mark of the White Ape Heavenly Gang Blade reaching perfection.

The sky grew bright.

Martial Hall disciples arrived one after another.

When everyone saw Qin Shuo practicing the White Ape Heavenly Gang Blade on the Plum Blossom Stakes, they all froze.

"Is that... Junior Brother Qin?"

"Has his Stake Training been perfected?"

"Not only is his Stake Training perfected, I think his Blade Technique is perfected too."

A group of people stared, dumbstruck.

Watching Qin Shuo leap and soar like a spiritual ape on the wooden stakes, as if strolling leisurely in a courtyard, they were momentarily speechless.

After a good while, someone finally came to, dry-mouthed, saying: "Junior Brother Qin... he's only been here a month, right?"

"Twenty-eight days!"

Another person gave an even more heart-wrenching number.

"Holy cow! Twenty-eight days, both Stake Training and Blade Technique perfected—this Junior Brother Qin's foundation and comprehension are seriously heaven-defying!"

The entire outer courtyard exploded in an uproar.

Many disciples had their resolve shattered.

Especially those few veteran students who had renewed their membership several times, now felt as if the sky had collapsed.

Has the gap between people already grown to this extent?

They have painstakingly trained for half a year, yet still cannot catch up to someone else's one month?

Is there still heavenly justice?

"What are you all standing around stupidly for? Hurry up and practice!"

Just then, Lin Feng, dressed in a white martial arts outfit, walked out from the inner courtyard of the Martial Hall.

When he saw a group of disciples gathered together, not doing morning practice, he instinctively scolded them.

But the next second, he too stood there stunned, just like those disciples.

"Junior Brother Qin?"

He looked at Qin Shuo on the Plum Blossom Stakes, whose every flashing and leaping movement bore the White Ape's divine rhythm, and he opened his mouth wide, unable to utter a second word for a long time.

Qin Shuo knew that his demonstration was about to wrap up.

So he sheathed his blade, descended from the stakes, in one fluid motion.

"Senior Brother Lin, all senior brothers, what is this..."

Seeing everyone staring at him, Qin Shuo feigned ignorance, looking at the crowd with a blank expression.

"My goodness! It's over, over—I now see him walking like a monkey."

A somewhat goofy senior brother shouted.

"Every movement bears the White Ape's divine rhythm... Good heavens! He has comprehended the White Ape True Intent!"

There are many senior brothers in the courtyard, and they have sharp eyes.

Someone immediately recognized Qin Shuo's current state and exclaimed in surprise.

White Ape True Intent!

This is the essence of martial arts that can only be comprehended after cultivating Stake Training to the point of uniting form and spirit.

Many disciples in the outer courtyard have already perfected Blade Technique and Stake Training; what they lack is the final step of uniting form and spirit.

As long as they cross this hurdle, they can prepare to accumulate blood and charge the pass, breaking through internal strength.

"A monster!" someone wailed.

Feeling that their martial aspirations had suffered a severe blow.

"Junior Brother Qin, have you truly comprehended the White Ape True Intent?"

Lin Feng could hardly believe his own eyes.

In less than a month, to have perfected both Stake Training and Blade Technique—this might still be explained by extraordinary comprehension.

But to have comprehended the White Ape True Intent—that's a bit heaven-defying.

Back then, he himself had perfected Stake Training and Blade Technique, then painstakingly trained for three more months before grasping the essence of Stake Training and comprehending the White Ape True Intent.

This Qin junior brother, from entering the door to achieving perfection, and then to realizing the White Ape's true intent, used only twenty‑eight days.

Could this be the legendary martial arts prodigy?

"Today, while stance‑training, I had a sudden insight and happened to grasp the true intent." Qin Shuo answered truthfully.

Five hundred taels of silver is not a small sum.

To have the martial hall invest heavily in his training, he must demonstrate potential and talent matching that investment.

"Good, good, good!"

Lin Feng's hands trembled with excitement; after saying "good" three times, he firmly patted Qin Shuo's shoulder and said:

"Come on, I'll take you to see the master; once he knows, he will surely nurture you well."

Saying that, he grabbed Qin Shuo's wrist and headed toward the inner depths of the martial hall.

Only a crowd of envious or jealous outer‑court disciples remained, their eyes vacant, their Dao hearts shattered.