Chapter 37: Three Years for Entry?

"Then let's strengthen once first." Lu Yu made a decisive decision and tapped the plus sign behind the level.

In an instant, a familiar heat flow surged out from his heart, rapidly spreading throughout his entire body. Only after a few short breaths did the heat flow slowly subside.

"Hoo..." Lu Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead. Perhaps because he had just eaten, this strengthening made him unbearably hot, as if a raging fire were burning within his body, and his energy was exceptionally abundant.

Checking the attribute panel:

Level: 5

Constitution: 29.26

Strength: 20.36

Agility: 12.59

Spirit: 8.05

Potential Point: 20

Experience Value: 36

"Not bad. Now, using a bow with a hundred-jin draw weight will definitely be much easier." Lu Yu's mouth curled upward, but looking at the remaining 20 Potential Points, he began to mutter to himself.

He could still strengthen his body one more time. He was somewhat conflicted: should he use it when practicing Arrow Technique in the afternoon, or save it as an emergency measure for when his stamina was exhausted while hunting tomorrow?

After all, strengthening not only increased all body attributes by ten percent but was also equivalent to a full recovery of stamina.

"Better save it for tomorrow." After thinking it over, he chose the latter. Even with another strengthening, his strength would only be 22 points, and to draw a bow with a two-hundred-jin draw weight, he would need at least 40 points of strength; the gap was too large. Keeping the Potential Points could save his life at a critical moment.

Arriving at the Warehouse, most of the people had already arrived.

"You're here?" Wang Liang turned around, his gaze falling upon him.

"I'm here." Lu Yu nodded. "From here on, I'll have to trouble you, Uncle Wang."

Wang Liang waved his hand, signaling that there was no need for formalities. "Although you have already achieved Entry in the Taiji Style, this is merely the foundation for learning Taiji Fist. The training ahead will be very arduous; you must be mentally prepared."

"Understood." Lu Yu could not help but feel a bit nervous.

Yet, when he began to imitate Wang Liang's every move, he felt that his legs were not as strained as he had imagined, and he even had energy to spare.

It was just that as his movements rose and fell, they appeared very stiff, completely lacking the Agile and steady charm that Wang Liang possessed.

Once the set of Taiji Fist was finished, Lu Yu impatiently looked at the Skill bar.

【Wang Family Taiji Fist: First Glimpse of the Path】 Progress: 0.01%

"Ah?" He widened his eyes instantly, thinking he had misread it, and checked it repeatedly several times.

One ten-thousandth progress? Calculating by this, wouldn't he have to perform it ten thousand times? Counting 5 minutes per set, that would be 50,000 minutes, 833 hours, 34.7 days!

Did he have to practice for a month without eating or drinking to reach Entry? But it only took 7 days for the Taiji Style to reach Entry; this was too long, right?

"How does it feel?" Wang Liang turned around and asked.

His set of Taiji Fist had extremely high requirements for leg strength, needing one to constantly lower the center of gravity and then rise, which was completely different from the Taiji Fist practiced by the elderly in parks before the mutation.

Even for a young man, performing a set earnestly would leave him panting; if it were an old man, he would likely lose half his life. Yet Lu Yu had only broken a light sweat, which made him quite surprised.

Lu Yu hurriedly replied: "Uncle Wang, it feels alright, it's just that the movements are too unfamiliar."

"It's like that at the beginning; practice until you're proficient. Come, perform a set for me to see."

"Alright."

Thus, one focused on performing the fist technique, while the other observed carefully from the side, occasionally speaking up to offer guidance. Once the set was finished, Lu Yu felt exhaustion surge like a tide, his entire body soaked in sweat.

Wang Liang nodded slightly. This kid was worthy of being someone who could draw an eighty-jin Strong Bow; his Constitution was indeed outstanding.

"You rest for a while, then continue practicing."

"Okay." Lu Yu responded, looking at the Skill bar again, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

【Wang Family Taiji Fist: First Glimpse of the Path】 Progress: 0.025%, 0.015% more than last time. This caused a trace of excitement to well up in his heart; it seemed the more standard the movements, the faster the proficiency increased, although this was an obvious fact.

But he also knew that as the movements became more standardized, the increase in proficiency would gradually approach a fixed value, such as two ten-thousandths or three ten-thousandths.

Even calculating at three ten-thousandths, to reach Entry in Taiji Fist, he would still have to practice hard for ten days without eating or drinking.

"The speed of improvement for the Fist Technique is too slow." He sighed to himself.

Like Basic Archery, as long as one switched to a stronger bow or increased the number of Rapid Shots, the proficiency would soar, and it increased even faster during actual combat.

But Taiji Fist seemed to only allow for slow practice. Although actual combat might increase it quickly, how could one engage in actual combat? Sparring with others?

Or using Taiji Fist with bare hands to deal with a Fierce Beast? Thinking about it, it wasn't very realistic, so, in the final analysis, he still had to rely on adding points.

Not long after, Wang Liang came over to continue guiding the Taiji Fist.

Facts proved that Lu Yu's guess was correct; after practicing a few more times, once a set of Taiji Fist was finished, the proficiency increase stabilized at two ten-thousandths.

Calculating by this, it would take half a month of hard practice without sleep or rest to reach Entry.

"Hmm, it's taking shape." Wang Liang nodded in praise. "Just keep practicing like this, and you'll reach Entry in three years."

"Pfft!" Not far away, Li Yang and the others heard this and nearly dropped their jaws, almost spitting blood.

Th-three years for Entry? Did it have to be so exaggerated? By comparison, Wuji Style taking a week and Taiji Style taking a month to reach Entry was simply too easy.

Wang Liang glanced at them and sneered: "Three years for Entry, and that's for those with decent talent; for those with poor talent, five years might not even be enough. If you feel you can't accept it, you can go learn something else; you can reach Entry in one year."

"Learn what?" The crowd immediately became interested.

Wang Liang was speechless for a moment. In his view, learning any fist technique was essentially to reach the stage of exerting force, or even to develop True Qi.

Those with slow Entry might be easier to improve later on; those with fast Entry might face heavy difficulties later.

But these principles could not be explained to these young people in a short time, and even if he said it, they might not necessarily listen or understand; after all, he was the same when he was young.

"Xingyi Fist."

"If you want to reach Entry faster, go learn Xingyi Fist. However, before learning it, you must practice the San Ti Stake for about three months."

"Xingyi Fist, Xingyi Fist!" Several people shouted excitedly. Was there even a need to choose? Definitely choose Xingyi Fist; at most, it would take a year and a half to reach Entry, whereas Taiji Fist might not even be successful in three years.

"Alright then, once your Taiji Stake reaches Entry, I will teach you the San Ti Stake." Wang Liang said blandly.

"Um, Uncle Wang, I also..."

"Hmm?" Wang Liang narrowed his eyes and looked at Lu Yu, his gaze as if to say: Are you joking?

"No, Wang Shu, you've misunderstood." Lu Yu felt a chill down his spine from being looked at like that. "I mean, after I reach Entry in Taiji Fist, I also want to learn Xingyi Fist from you."

Judging from the experience with Stance Training, although different Stance Trainings have similarities, the improvement effects can be stacked.

The same must be true for Fist Technique; the more one learns, the stronger one becomes!

"Oh?" Wang Liang's eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. "You want to learn a second Fist Technique just after reaching Entry in Taiji Fist? You have quite the ambition! Wait until you have practiced Taiji Fist to Great Success before you come to me to talk about learning a second Fist Technique, hehe." After saying this, he turned and walked away.

"Hehe?" Lu Yu felt he had been thoroughly teased. Great Success in Taiji Fist? Is that very difficult? Hmm?