High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices Chapter 60: The First Form: Furnace Initial Burning

Xu Wuyi withdrew his consciousness from the Battle Network Space and returned to the quiet of his ho.

Without a mont’s rest, Xu Wuyi got to his feet and cleared an open space in his cramped bedroom.

He took a deep breath, recalling the contents of the Beginner section of the Hundred Refinents lting Furnace.

The Beginner and Entry Level stages consisted of twenty-nine Pile Skills movents in total.

These weren’t simple, static stances. They were complex, dynamic postures involving nurous twists, stretches, and vibrations. The goal was to guide and stimulate the Qi and Blood throughout his body in a specific manner, igniting the formless "lting Furnace" within.

Compared to the Basic Body Refining Technique, the difficulty was exponentially greater.

Xu Wuyi felt imnse pressure just from the key points of the very first movent, "Furnace Initial Burning."

The movent required him to stand in an almost contorted posture. His spine had to be slightly curved like a bow, and his arms wrapped as if embracing a great cauldron. At the sa ti, his toes had to grip the floor, his calf muscles tense as iron, all while coordinating with a unique, intermittent breathing technique.

"Let’s begin."

Xu Wuyi’s gaze hardened as he assud the stance from mory.

The mont he tried, an intense soreness and a tearing sensation shot through his muscles. He struggled to regulate his breathing, attempting to guide his Qi and Blood along the pathways prescribed by the Cultivation Technique.

But it was too difficult.

The mont his concentration wavered, the flow of his Qi and Blood stagnated, and his posture warped along with it.

Within a few breaths, his whole body felt out of sorts. His Qi and Blood surged through several unfamiliar ridian pathways, causing a faint, stinging pain. It was nowhere near "standard."

’No wonder the information on the Battle Network said that only those with imnse willpower can cultivate this... The difficulty is truly terrifying.’

Just as the thought flashed through his mind, the dormant Bronze Ancient Volu deep within his sea of consciousness began to glow faintly once more.

Posture severely non-standard. Qi and Blood circulation path incorrect. Practice interrupted.

A familiar line of dark red text appeared, cold and precise.

Instead of being shocked, Xu Wuyi was delighted.

’Here it cos!’

The Martial Arts Diligence Record’s harsh judgnt had co through for him again.

It didn’t just judge the external form of his movents; it even monitored whether the internal circulation of his Qi and Blood was "standard"!

It was like having a top-tier ntor constantly correcting every one of his internal and external deviations, forcing him onto the one true path.

He tried again.

This ti, he slowed his movents severalfold, adjusting his posture bit by bit as if in slow motion.

At the sa ti, he cautiously used his concentration to guide the Qi and Blood within him, attempting to probe those unfamiliar circulation pathways.

Posture non-standard. Practice interrupted.

The notification popped up again. This ti, however, there was no error with his Qi and Blood circulation, which gave Xu Wuyi a clear direction to work in.

He cald himself and carefully recalled the previous sensation, comparing it to the description in the inherited knowledge and making corrections bit by bit.

Once, twice, three tis...

Ti slipped by, marked only by silent sweat and total concentration.

Xu Wuyi beca completely imrsed in a cycle of "disassemble, test, correct," forgetting his exhaustion, forgetting the passage of ti.

He repeatedly broke down the seemingly simple Starting Form, "Furnace Initial Burning," into dozens of tiny components, each one undergoing hundreds, even thousands, of micro-adjustnts.

How should the muscles exert force?

How should the bones and sinews provide support?

At which juncture should the Qi and Blood accelerate?

At which acupoint should it slightly gather?

The Martial Arts Diligence Record wouldn’t provide direct answers to these questions.

But its relentless "interrupted" notifications were like the most precise GPS, forcing Xu Wuyi to think, feel, and fumble his way toward the one and only "standard" path.

And sure enough, as he made adjustnts, the stagnation and stinging pain noticeably subsided.

Although the posture was still difficult and the circulation of his Qi and Blood was far from smooth, at least he was no longer just fumbling in the dark.

However, this was only the beginning.

For the next three days, Xu Wuyi poured nearly all his ti into practicing this first movent.

Ti and again he assud the stance, and ti and again he was forced to stop by the unbearable muscle soreness and the stinging pain of his Qi and Blood going awry.

Sweat soaked through his workout clothes, leaving dark stains on the floor.

The Martial Arts Diligence Record was like the strictest of teachers, constantly pointing out every minute error in his practice.

It covered everything, from the macro-level form of his posture to the micro-level flow of his Qi and Blood.

Gritting his teeth, Xu Wuyi relied on his ever-strengthening willpower to bear it all.

...

「On the evening of the third day.」

Xu Wuyi stood firm in the center of the room once more.

After thousands upon thousands of failures and adjustnts over the past two days, his body had grown accustod to the extrely awkward posture. It had even beco instinctual, sothing he could assu automatically.

He closed his eyes, cleared his mind of distractions, and slowly began the movent.

Spine slightly curved, arms wrapped, toes gripping the floor... Every detail surfaced clearly in his mind.

His Qi and Blood followed suit, no longer rampaging wildly but flowing with increasing proficiency.

Soreness, swelling, numbness, pain... All sorts of discomfort still lingered, but this ti, they seed to have been unified by a deeper power.

Just as his posture and Qi and Blood circulation reached a delicate equilibrium—

BUZZ!

It was as if an incredibly faint vibration humd from deep within Xu Wuyi’s body.

A faint warmth quietly blood from his dantian and, following the intermittent circulation of his Qi and Blood, slowly spread throughout his limbs and body!

This sensation was completely different from the feeling of Qi and Blood nourishing the body when he practiced the Basic Body Refining Technique.

It felt more like a spark landing on dry kindling; though faint, it carried the distinct sense of "burning."

This was—

Furnace Initial Burning!

’I did it!’

Almost at the exact mont he felt that trace of warmth, the long-awaited notification finally appeared in his sea of consciousness:

Standard Practice Completed Today: 1

Imdiately after, beneath the entries for the Basic Body Refining Technique and the Wind-Settling Spear, a new line of text glowing with a faint, reddish-bronze luster slowly took form:

[Martial Arts Diligence Record]

Martial Art: Hundred Refinents lting Furnace

Current Realm: Beginner (0.1%)

Martial Arts Traits: Not yet unlocked

Evaluation: Furnace Initial Burning. Foundation reforged.

Cultivation Effect: Body becos a lting Furnace, its kindling ignited. Increases the efficiency of all-around physical developnt.

Staring at the words that had finally appeared on the panel, Xu Wuyi collapsed to the floor. His chest heaved violently, but an irrepressible smile spread across his face.

’I’ve finally taken this difficult first step!’

He could feel it. Just from completing that single effective practice session, his Qi and Blood seed to have been tempered by so unknown force, growing more condensed. Even his Spirit had grown slightly from the intense concentration.

The effects were faint, but undeniably real.

"As expected of a B-Level Body Refining Technique," Xu Wuyi muttered to himself.

Unlike the Basic Body Refining Technique, which required completing a full set of nine movents to count as a single effective practice, the Hundred Refinents lting Furnace showed results after just the very first movent.

’And this is just the first movent of the Beginner and Entry Level stages. There are still twenty-eight more to go, not to ntion the Minor Achievent and Great Success realms...’

The road ahead was long and arduous.

But the light in Xu Wuyi’s eyes only grew brighter.

He wasn’t afraid of difficulty; he was only afraid of having no path forward.