Fist Momentum

The young masters hoping to court Ren Qingying went out of their way to curry favor with him as well, eager to butter up their prospective brother-in-law. "Piss off! This is someone my father took a fancy to—don't you dare poach him!" "Brother Lin, pay no mind to these two fellows." "There will be a banquet at the Xu residence in a short while. When the time comes, I would like to invite you over. I hope you can grace us with your presence." Xu Qinyi glared at Ren Qingfeng before extending his invitation to Lin Zheyu. "Certainly, certainly!" ... They chatted until evening before parting ways. Jia Yanyong and the others had already headed back, and Lin Zheyu returned to his own courtyard. *Xu Qinyi was probably sent by Gang Leader Xu specifically to win me over, wasn't he?* Lin Zheyu had come to realize the truth. How could there be so many coincidences in this world? He had gone to Hundred Pavilions, and Xu Qinyi had been there too, just in time to spot him. "Gang Leader Xu treats me very well, and helping him within my abilities is no problem, but getting married so early? No thanks," Lin Zheyu muttered under his breath. Unless he truly encountered a woman who made his heart race, he had no intention of marrying. Yet as the years went by, it had been over a decade since he had last felt his heart flutter like that. "Martial arts. Focus on martial arts. Why waste time thinking about all that?" "Cultivating with qi and blood truly yields astonishing results. Using qi and blood to temper my bones has made training Wild Bull Fist increasingly efficient, and progress is getting faster and faster." Lin Zheyu checked the data in his consciousness, murmuring silently to himself. Lately, he had poured all his time into improving Wild Bull Fist, and the progress was gratifying. Back in the yard, Lin Zheyu took off his coat and began practicing his boxing. The sound of fists striking a wooden stake echoed through the courtyard. As his strength grew, the wooden stakes in the yard had been replaced several times. The latest batch was made of dense, solid iron birch wood. The iron birch wooden stakes were as hard as iron; no matter how much force Lin Zheyu exerted, he could no longer shatter them. Such stakes were extraordinarily expensive, but since he was short on coin, Gang Leader Xu had sent them over. Lin Zheyu circled the stake, launching relentless strikes, executing Wild Bull Fist in tandem with Golden Goose Skill. The power of qi and blood poured into his arms; the muscles bulged and veins stood out. As his fists pounded into the wooden stake, the power of qi and blood reverberated alongside each impact, accelerating the tempering of the muscles, sinews, membranes, and bones of his arms. Returning to cultivate other martial arts from the height of the Qi and Blood Realm proved vastly more efficient, more than three to four times faster than before. Under the bright moonlight, Lin Zheyu was drenched in sweat. He stomped down hard, the muscles in both legs surging with force. With his waist serving as the pivot, the power from his legs surged into his arms. Then, his upper body tilted slightly as both fists drove forward with overwhelming force, thrusting out like a pair of bull horns. Wild Bull Charge! A savage, domineering, invincible aura rose from him. After throwing out both fists, Lin Zheyu did not stop, unleashing a continuous barrage of punches. The aura radiating from him grew stronger and stronger. An aura embodying wildness and reckless brashness faintly wound around his body, exceedingly subtle. If someone weak-willed were present, witness to such an aura, they would be terrified to the point where they couldn't even summon half their jin. This underlying nuance was precisely what Lin Zheyu had sensed before while practicing—the intent hidden within the technique. Through his bitter training and contemplation over the past few days, he had finally comprehended a faint sliver of fist momentum. This was something he had never felt in Golden Goose Skill. The creator of Wild Bull Fist had fused fist momentum directly into the art. Only someone with extraordinary comprehension could perceive and grasp it through practice. And only those who comprehended this fist momentum could cultivate Wild Bull Fist to perfection. This was why Liang Song had said Wild Bull Fist was easy to learn but hard to master. Most people simply had no way of grasping the fist momentum within it. After practicing his boxing for an hour, Lin Zheyu stopped. Practicing for an hour before bed every night had become second nature to him. At first, he would be too keyed up after training to fall asleep, getting up to practice for another hour until exhaustion finally knocked him out. Now, that was no longer an issue; he could fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. "Wild Bull Fist... wild, reckless, forging ahead without looking back..." Lin Zheyu sat by the stone table, gazing up at the sky, mulling over the faint trace of fist momentum he had just grasped. This was his first encounter with momentum. Master Liang had once mentioned that momentum was the embryonic form of intent, and intent was the root of a Transforming Jin martial artist's power. To break through Marrow Tempering and enter Transforming Jin, one had to comprehend an intent. If he could fully comprehend the fist momentum in Wild Bull Fist, ascending to Transforming Jin in the future would be much easier. Lin Zheyu pondered late into the night without gleaning anything further. Putting it out of his mind, he took a bath and went straight to sleep. Martial arts could not be rushed—especially the comprehension of fist momentum. ... Early the next morning, Lin Zheyu was awakened by the crackle of firecrackers. Pushing open the window, he looked out into the gloomy dawn and the chilling wind. Candlelight glowed in the surrounding houses, and the sound of firecrackers echoed from all directions as families burned incense to worship the gods. Children were up early as well, chasing and roughhousing in the streets. "Oh, today is the Little New Year!" "In the blink of an eye, I've been in this world for over four months. Time really flies." Lin Zheyu suddenly remembered that today was this world's Little New Year. On Little New Year in Songyi City, every household woke up early in the morning to slaughter pigs, chickens, and ducks, and offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. This year's Little New Year was a somber one. The adults wore sorrowful expressions; only the naive children could fool around and laugh so carefree. He wondered how Senior Martial Brother Han Mo was doing outside the city, and whether he could make it back in time for the New Year. Now that he was awake, Lin Zheyu didn't linger in bed. With his current strength, going days without sleep posed no issue at all. He got up, washed up, and stepped out into the courtyard to continue practicing his fists. Perseverance was everything in martial arts. ...