Chapter 2: Breakthrough in Harmony Stance
Chapter 2: Breakthrough in Harmony Stance (Please Keep Reading)
Tianhai Second High School was one of the city's most prestigious institutions.
Home to countless martial arts prodigies, the sprawling campus featured red-and-white buildings encircled by towering metal walls that severed the inside world from the outside. Dozens of classrooms rose like sentinels across the grounds, where throngs of students in blue-and-white uniforms gathered at the entrance, queuing up to begin their day.
A row of burly guards stood at the gate, their sharp eyes scanning the crowd like vigilant bears.
"This is Second High School? Definitely full of genius scholars."
"Son, study hard—our family's counting on you!"
"...”
Freshmen entering their first year at high school stepped through the gates with curiosity, their voices blending into the morning bustle.
Lin Qi watched the energetic newcomers with a touch of nostalgia. Two years ago, he'd entered Second High School as an underdog himself, just as inexperienced as them. Lost in memories, he followed the flow of students onto campus.
After locking his bicycle, he effortlessly navigated to the playground, locating his class's position for the opening ceremony.
An hour later, the tedious ceremony concluded. Instead of returning to ordinary classrooms, everyone entered a vast training hall spanning thousands of square meters. Weapons like swords, spears, and halberds lined the walls, while towering training posts thicker than a man's waist stood on padded floors in the corners.
As Senior 3, Class 3 entered, students automatically changed into loose martial arts uniforms and began their routines. Some practiced stances in place, others performed fist techniques—tigers lunging, cranes spreading wings, monkeys striking empty air, or vipers coiling in fluid motion. Some attacked training posts with loud cracks, while others swung swords, spears, and halberds, their blades slicing the air.
The hall buzzed with casual chatter about summer vacations, the atmosphere relaxed and cheerful.
Lin Qi, however, retreated to a corner. He popped a Physical Energy Capsule into his mouth and began warming up, knowing proper preparation prevented injuries during training.
"Muscles feel sore and fatigued... This has been going on for days. Why won't it recover?" he muttered, twisting his torso to test his body's response.
"Look at you all—stiff muscles, weak punches. How long has it been since you trained?"
A thunderous voice suddenly cut through the noise, silencing everyone.
Lin Qi turned to see a middle-aged man nearly six feet tall, his muscular frame packed under a white tracksuit. A jagged scar split his otherwise ordinary face, and his steps left gusts of wind in their wake.
The moment he entered, the hall's atmosphere turned icy. This was Wu Kang, their martial arts instructor and a third-circle martial artist.
Wu Kang's gaze swept across the class like a blade. "Some of you haven't even mastered basic fist techniques, yet you dare practice with weapons? Haven't learned to walk yet, and you want to run? Think you look cool or something?"
Those holding weapons immediately lowered them, shamefaced. Only two or three defiant students stood firm, gripping their weapons tighter.
Wu Kang clasped his hands behind his back, his voice booming again. "Why do you train martial arts?"
"Because martial artists hold the brightest future in this world. They wield superhuman strength in an era of Disaster Beast invasions, where power equals safety, wealth, and status."
"According to the latest social survey, martial artists earn the highest average income globally—far surpassing any other profession."
"This is an age of mass cultivation. From birth, everyone strives to become a martial artist. A thousand ships race, ten thousand horses charge through a single log bridge. Only a select few will succeed."
"Now is your golden period—the time when you'll improve fastest. With your current attitude, how can you compete?"
Silence swallowed the hall. The carefree mood vanished, replaced by suffocating pressure.
"Class begins!" Wu Kang barked. "In 1999 of the Martial Dao Calendar, interdimensional rifts opened. Disaster Beasts invaded our world through these spatial fractures, but something else emerged too—Primordial Energy!"
"Scientists discovered that human bodies could absorb Primordial Energy, unlocking genetic shackles and triggering physical evolution. Suddenly, ordinary people could attain the superhuman strength once confined to comics and novels."
"Ancient martial arts resurged, igniting humanity's evolutionary revolution. Through global collaboration, nine gates of martial cultivation were identified—each breakthrough transforming a martial artist's power."
"Primordial Energy is fierce and untamed. Ordinary organs can't absorb it directly, so we rely on food absorption or slow accumulation over years."
"To refine Primordial Energy scientifically and efficiently, our Xia Kingdom combined ancient health practices and martial techniques to develop the Harmony Stance and Five Animal Forms."
"Today's first lesson: Harmony Stance. Warm up those slack bodies!"
With a roar, Wu Kang commanded fifty students to spread out and begin their stances.
Harmony Stance synthesizes countless ancient stance techniques, offering the broadest applicability and strongest results. The first gate of martial cultivation is Flesh Cultivation—strengthening major muscle groups to comprehensively elevate physical prowess. Harmony Stance activates your entire Vital Energy, conditioning every muscle without exception.
Lin Qi threw himself into the practice.
"Stance training unites form, intent, breath, and strength. Focus on upward neck tension, relaxed shoulders, sunken elbows, rounded chest, straight spine, grounded breath, tightened glutes, clawed toes, and energy sinking to the dantian..."
"It refines the physical body while stretching tendons and bones..."
As Wu Kang explained, Lin Qi entered his rhythm. Practicing stance training for over a decade had ingrained Harmony Stance into his instincts. His breath steadied, muscles relaxed, arms curved in a perfect circle, his entire being unified.
Soon, heat surged through his body. A tingling numbness spread as involuntary tremors shook him.
Plop!
Sweat rained onto the mats, his body awakening as Vital Energy ignited. His spine arched like a taut tendon—this was the legendary "dragon bone", a sign of mastering Harmony Stance's essence.
Suddenly, a heavy hand pressed against his back.
"Some of you still haven't grasped the basics after a decade of Stance Training. Unstable foundations!" Wu Kang's voice rang out again. "Observe Lin Qi's stance. His is the finest in this class."
The compliment drew attention. Students gathered, murmuring.
"A true master of the fundamentals. His Harmony Stance is textbook perfection."
"Every time I watch, it's like witnessing a flawless circle."
While some admired, others scoffed. "Strong basics mean nothing without resources like Physical Energy Capsules or Vital Energy Elixirs. Vital Energy Stat is what truly matters."
Meanwhile, Lin Qi remained immersed. Heat blazed through him as Vital Energy surged from his feet, sweeping every corner of his body. Localized power linked into a unified torrent, invisible energy coursing smoothly except for minor obstructions.
"Haa!"
His eyes snapped open, exhaling sharply as force erupted through his limbs. Steam-like heat billowed from his skin.
【Your Harmony Stance cultivation has broken through! Your Vital Energy Stat has increased! Vital Energy Stat +0.1!】
【Vital Energy Stat: 5.2→5.3】
Lin Qi's face lit with joy as he straightened.
"Haa!"
Fists clenched, waves of heat surged through his joints, muscles rippling like living things. Another breakthrough!
Greater mastery of Stance training led to more efficient physical refinement. As Lin Qi gazed at his status panel showing a Vital Energy Stat of 5.3, he felt like a blazing furnace. In this world, the Vital Energy Stat directly reflected one's martial cultivation progress—a quantifiable measure of physical refinement where each decimal place carried immense significance.
(End of Chapter)
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