Chapter 57: Returning Home Life

Dawn light first shone, and the wind blowing from Taihu dispersed the lingering summer heat of the night.

Wu Chengyu rose just as the sun peeked out at the Rabbit Hour and cultivated until the Dragon Hour.

Starting with Yan Qing Fist, he first practiced the Linked Step and various leg techniques, then deployed fist, palm, hook, claw, high lifts, low smashes, middle carries, far hands, near elbows, and body presses; in the small courtyard he turned sideways, flipped, circled, and hooked, moving like wind, striking like thunder, his waist like a bow-snake, his neck like a lone crane.

It had been over a month since returning to Wu Family Slope, and Wu Chengyu could finally cultivate martial arts without distraction.

Now Wu Chengyu no longer cultivated Bibo Palm Technique; its greatest feature was the clever application of inner force like Threefold Force when deploying palm techniques, but in terms of hands, eyes, body, and steps, Bibo Palm Technique was far less comprehensive than Yan Qing Fist.

During these years on Peach Blossom Island, besides the Internal Energy Heart Technique, Wu Chengyu had only learned Bibo Palm Technique, cultivating it for five full years and long having mastered the operation of inner force; now he preferred to combine Bibo Palm Technique's inner force application with Yan Qing Fist, and after one month he had barely entered the threshold, yet it added three parts of power to Yan Qing Fist.

After three or four rounds of Yan Qing Fist, Wu Chengyu took off his upper garment, revealing clearly visible ribs; a ten-year-old could not be called emaciated, but certainly could not be called strong.

What Wu Chengyu would cultivate next was the Ox-Horse Stance, and this was now his top priority.

The Ox-Horse Stance had four forms; each form had to be mastered before moving to the next, and in one month Wu Chengyu had just mastered the first form: Acting as Ox and Horse.

Do not take the name literally; it certainly did not mean letting Wu Chengyu serve people as an ox or horse—he had enough experience in that regard already.

The greatest function of this form was to temper Wu Chengyu's entire body's sinews and bones, making him like a sturdy ox or fine horse, with strong sinews and bones and vigorous strength.

Acting as Ox and Horse had nine movements, starting from the neck and moving downward bit by bit: shoulder blades, chest ribs, spine, arms, waist bones, hip bones, legs, ankles; each movement connected at the joints, and each joint was a hurdle for the next movement; breaking through the hurdles was equivalent to pulling tendons and resetting bones, by no means easy.

Only saw Wu Chengyu grit his teeth, appearing expressionless, but drenched in sweat all over; as the movements changed, several meat lumps the size of broad beans bulged on his body, moving constantly on the body surface, as if several small mice were burrowing under the skin,

After finishing the nine movements, a full half hour had passed; with the last movement ended, Wu Chengyu finally exhaled a breath, but his body emitted a series of creaking sounds like a bowstring suddenly loosening after being taut, just like marbles rolling on a roof late at night.

This sound was described as a string of whip cracks, representing true entry into the Ox-Horse Stance.

In one month, Wu Chengyu became increasingly proficient in this form; after finishing cultivation, he still had energy left, no longer going limp all over as when he first practiced.

But the cultivation effect was astonishing; now Wu Chengyu's aptitude improvement was not yet obvious, but his arms had directly gained fifty catties of strength, and most importantly, after each practice, his two calves at the Achilles tendons were slightly warm; according to the secret manual's description, long-term cultivation of the Ox-Horse Stance could stimulate Achilles tendon development.

Ordinary people's Achilles tendons are generally 15-20 centimeters long; in his previous life, those black people in the NBA who jumped like flying had astonishing Achilles tendon lengths, for example one called Giannis, whose Achilles tendon length reached a heaven-defying 34 centimeters.

People with long Achilles tendons have astonishing leg explosive power and jumping ability far above others; if cultivating Lightness Skill, it would surely achieve twice the result with half the effort, and when fighting others, the first step taken would be fast as lightning, leaving no one able to react.

But how long each person's Achilles tendon can develop is basically determined by genes and hard to change later; however, the Ox-Horse Stance can effectively stimulate Achilles tendon development; from this perspective, even as a basic Body Tempering Technique, the Ox-Horse Stance could be called a divine art.

After practicing the Ox-Horse Stance, one must take a medicinal bath immediately; the medicinal bath formula was also provided by the bamboo slips and could greatly restore the body's depletion from practicing the Ox-Horse Stance; otherwise, long-term accumulation of dark injuries would end in total body paralysis.

This cheat called bamboo slips, although far from omnipotent like other cheat systems, was extremely low-key, but Wu Chengyu was extremely satisfied with it.

When Wu Chengyu cultivated, the bamboo slips monitored from the side; after cultivation, they would immediately point out omissions in Wu Chengyu's cultivation process and give the correct method.

This was the strongest function of the bamboo slips in Wu Chengyu's heart—equivalent to having an extremely experienced and never-wrong teacher, constantly pointing out his cultivation problems; practicing martial arts this way, closed-door training was completely impossible, and Wu Chengyu did not want to take a master in this life, so the bamboo slips were his greatest guarantee.

"Big Brother, the medicine water is ready, come quickly."

The speaker was A Ku; since returning to Wu Family Slope, she had practically fallen into a honey pot; the little one was very gluttonous, and past experiences made her think everything was delicious; in just one month she had grown a rounder, no longer like a stalk of reed; saying she had baby fat was conservative—she had simply become a little chubby girl.

A Ku got up when Wu Chengyu had cultivated for half the time every day, first ran to the bathroom to make a fire, then put the matched medicine into the bathtub; after the water boiled, she lowered the fire and quietly waited for Wu Chengyu to perform cooking himself.

Her little head did not quite understand why Wu Chengyu did this, so every time she saw Wu Chengyu struggling painfully in the bathtub, she couldn't help but shed tears.

Wu Chengyu watched the medicine water about to boil; actually, he was also nervous inside; every time he gritted his teeth and steeled himself to sit in; the whole process was comparable to torture—not only enduring high temperature, but also the stinging pain of medicine seeping into the body; every joint felt like being dislocated and reassembled, every bone as if ants were gnawing.

The whole process took another half hour; until the medicine water became completely colorless and the medicinal effects were fully absorbed, the full-body coolness and smoothness let him know he had returned to the human world again.

"Big Brother, the medicine for the medicinal bath is used up; if we don't buy some back today, you can't cook yourself tomorrow."

A Ku wore a topknot braid, speaking with great seriousness.

After hearing this, Wu Chengyu frowned; actually, since returning to Wu Family Slope, things were generally good—for example, the small courtyard where his parents once lived was well preserved, every plant and tree was as it was in Wu Chengyu's youth; just this alone showed the family cared.

But some things were not entirely as wished.

Just then, a knocking sound came to Wu Chengyu's ear; the door was not locked, and the visitor knocked twice then entered on their own.

"Chengyu, Xiao Ershiyi, come out." The visitor was precisely the clansman Wu Zhenghui whom Wu Chengyu had met just after returning home.

Wu Chengyu hurried out to pay respects; Wu Zhenghui waved his hand and said: "If you usually see the Family Head and other clan elders, it's always good to observe proper etiquette; these old people like obedient, courteous children the most; but when facing me, where is the need for so many common formalities? Come, this is your family's next season's grain and silver; keep it well."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Zhenghui waved his hand, and a servant naturally carried in a box; inside were 10 taels of silver, rice, flour, salt, oil, and some meat; just for Wu Chengyu and A Ku two people, three months of 10 taels of silver, and the grain was also sufficient; such a life was already comfortable enough.

Wu Zhenghui continued: "Zheng Liang's Fourth Brother has returned; hearing about your matter, he asked me to take you to see him."

Yesterday received a station short message; actually there is a chance to be recommended in the third round; must thank everyone for support.

As for the plot about Bai Xian'er, I didn't expect everyone's reaction to be so big; I don't understand but accept it; I want to change it, but can't think of a direction; surely I can't delete so many chapters; what's already published isn't easy to delete; does everyone have any suggestions?

As for the plot involving Bai Xian'er, I didn't expect everyone's reaction to be so big; I don't understand it but accept it. I wanted to make changes, but couldn't think of a direction. I certainly can't delete so many chapters, and what's already been published isn't easy to remove. Does anyone have any suggestions?

(Chapter End)

Chapter End