Martial Saint!
Chapter 56: Practice is hard, success is honored!

Chapter 56: Practice is hard, success is honored!

May 14th.

Fangshan was forever shrouded in clouds and mist, with intermittent light rain falling, and the symphony of tiger roars from the zoo and the faint sound of dragon chants from the mountain peaks formed a majestic and deep chorus.

Of course, there were no dragons in this world.

Lu Chenzhou, who was watching the tigers in front of the Tiger Garden, knew that it was Master Wang breathing, and that the dragon chanting might be related to the cultivation technique he was practicing, but the specifics remained a mystery.

As for the clouds and mist covering the mountain top, it must also have something to do with the grandmaster. Shi Ruyu had said that the Innate Breath rises from all 84,000 pores of the body, forming clouds and steaming mists. For a grandmaster of his stature, covering this small mountain peak was nothing, as if it were the trace of an immortal.

After their daily roaring, the black tigers would start to nap.

Lu Chenzhou had already observed Tiger Brother, and after consuming Bone Strengthening Granules here, he practiced the Black Tiger Fist and the Mountain Crossing Body for an hour but, unfortunately, did not experience any inspiration.

It had been half a month since the last time he felt that state.

This kind of luck-based progress was truly unstable.

He looked towards the Martial Arts Tree.

[Martial Art]

...

[Black Tiger Fist: Great Success (12%)]

[Mountain Crossing Body: Mastery (30%)]

[Swallow Return Fist: Proficient (91%)]

[Sea-sweeping Body: Mastery (66%)]

[Cultivation Technique]

[Dragon and Tiger Heavenly Pile: Sixth Rank (43%)]

After reaching Great Success, the percentage of progress for the "Black Tiger Fist" had slowed down. It wasn’t that Lu Chenzhou’s cultivation was slow, but rather that the proficiency required to increase by 1% at this stage was too much, and this was still with the "slight comprehension" boost from the Divine Seed of No Regrets.

Under his current regular state, he could only increase by 1% a day.

In other words, he could reach Perfection around August. To raise a third-class Martial Art to the Perfect Realm in less than a year was the pinnacle for someone with intermediate root bone.

"Mountain Crossing Body" had made rapid progress, with the pairing of the Great Success Level "Black Tiger Fist" during training, the effects were superb. The last "Swallow Return Fist" and "Sea-sweeping Body" were standard; after all, his primary focus was on the Tiger Form Fist Technique.

"Dragon and Tiger Heavenly Pile" was still progressing at about 3% a day, and Lu Chenzhou continued to increase the time and intensity of his Heavenly Pile Cultivation to ensure that he opened a Rank each month.

Today was a day of rest.

He had arranged to have a private lesson with Hong Fu, planning to learn a new Martial Art.

...

Hong Fu’s private Martial Arts Room.

"Not bad, you’ve reached the Fourth Rank, huh?"

Hong Fu looked full of admiration.

"No need for idle chatter, just keep training hard and aim to enter the genius class directly in college! As for second-class Martial Arts, are you sure you want to mainly focus on the Tiger Form next?"

Hong Fu’s gaze was serious.

Lu Chenzhou replied earnestly,

"I’ve been practicing ’Black Tiger Fist’ for a year, and I find the ferocity and agility of the Tiger Form to be the most harmonious, capable of both attack and defense, a perfect fit for me. So I’m sure that I want to focus on the Tiger Form!"

Hong Fu said,

"The way of the Elephant Form is vast and profound, and unquestionably the most powerful is the Dragon Form, a creature of legend that can summon the wind and rain, and travel through clouds and mist, omnipotent!

But after the Dragon Form, which one is second?

Since ancient times, there have been many opinions among the hundred schools of thought.

Some say that the Bear Form has unparalleled strength, some say the Leopard Form is ever-changing, some say the Crane Forms extend life, some say the Snake Form kills with its coils, some say the Ape Form fits the human shape... But in my view, after the Dragon Form, it’s the Tiger Form that is the second form!

The tiger is the king of all beasts, and there has always been talk of ’Dragons and Tigers contending, Dragon’s ascent and Tiger’s leap’, and many other sayings. The tiger is the only creature among the ordinary beasts that stands shoulder to shoulder with the dragon and phoenix.

"Lu Chenzhou, you have quite the eye!"

Hong Fu’s words, of course, carried a certain self-promoting tone, as if a peddler were praising his own melons. But it wasn’t entirely without basis. Overall, among the Forms, each has its strengths and weaknesses. Still, the number of cultivators of the Tiger Form is absolutely the greatest, so choosing the one with the most followers is never wrong.

Hong Fu then said, with all seriousness,

"What I, Cha Chihu, may lack in other areas, I confidently claim that, in the realm of Tiger Form Mastery, in the Fangshan Region, aside from Master Wang, I am second to none!"

Lu Chenzhou couldn’t help but interject,

"Teacher, you got that backward..."

Hong Fu coughed and continued,

"From my youth, I loved tigers and would often engage in forum debates about whether lions or tigers were stronger. Whenever I was out-argued by others, I secretly vowed to make Tiger Form the number one in the world! I wanted to prove that the tiger is indeed the king of all beasts!

So, once I became a Martial Artist, I focused on learning various Tiger Form Fist Techniques. To this day, I’ve mastered 24 types of Tiger Form Fists, from Emei to Shaolin, from North China to Min Nan, heh heh heh, I’ve learned almost all common Martial Arts.

So, what do you want to learn?"

Hong Fu crossed his arms over his chest, inwardly pleased. Every time a student came to him to learn Tiger Form Fist, he would boast about this legendary experience.

Lu Chenzhou felt that Cha Chihu was quite a character.

Passionate about tigers, giving his all—how could such a person not excel at Tiger Form Fist? The "tiger purity" of the big black tiger in the zoo probably couldn’t even compare with his.

"Teacher, I don’t know which are considered Second Class Tiger Form Fists."

Hong Fu began to introduce them, talking at length.

"Here, I have ’Tiger Supreme Fist,’ ’Tiger and Crane Dual Form Fist,’ ’Tiger Fighting Skill,’ ’White Tiger Fist,’ ’Mei Mountain Tiger Fist,’ these five. However, ’Tiger and Crane Dual Form Fist’ is tough to practice without a foundation in Crane Forms Fist, so I wouldn’t recommend it.

’Tiger Supreme Fist’ originates from Shaolin, with rigidness overcoming rigidness, meeting force with force, breaking force with force and turning extreme rigidity into softness. It’s hard to cultivate and is highly regarded among those who succeed! Should you reach perfection, combined with your Heavenly Pile foundation, you should have hopes to Breakthrough Seven, and develop a Tiger Venerate Hua Realm strength that is both rigid and soft, belonging to the Second Class Martial Arts, but particularly difficult to practice.

’Tiger Fighting Skill’ comes from the snowy forests and plains of northeastern Guandong, the exclusive Martial Art of the olden times Guandong nobility. With lots of crafty tigers in the northeast, ’Tiger Fighting Skill’ was created from the long-term practical experience of local Martial Artists as an extremely practical combat Martial Art.

’White Tiger Fist’ is an Emei Martial Art, the foremost among the Five Tiger Fists of Emei, later adapted and optimized by the Martial Arts Association into 36 Killing Moves. The White Tiger is a heavenly constellation and among the Four Symbols, it represents killing. The Fist Technique is fierce and powerful, but it’s like killing a thousand enemies at the cost of losing eight hundred of your own.

’Mei Mountain Tiger Fist’ is rather old-fashioned, originating from hunters in the Mei Mountain Region. Its power is intermediate, and it shares similarities with ’Tiger Fighting Skill,’ which makes it pretty decent too.

If you want my recommendation, definitely ’Tiger Supreme Fist.’ Besides it, even if the other Second Class Tiger Form Martial Arts are perfected to the highest degree, they reach at most Sixth Rank, with no hope of breaking seven, let alone comprehending the Hua Realm. ’Tiger and Crane Dual Form Fist’ can too, but you lack the foundation in Crane Forms. Chen Yuan from the senior third-grade class has been cultivating this Fist Technique and has already reached perfection; he dual cultivates both Tiger and Crane Forms."

After some deliberation, Lu Chenzhou said,

"Teacher, I’ll choose ’Tiger Supreme Fist.’"

Hong Fu snapped his fingers.

"Then let’s begin cultivating ’Tiger Supreme Fist,’ but be emotionally prepared—as one of only two Martial Arts here capable of breaking through the Seventh Rank of the Second Class, the difficulty of ’Tiger Supreme Fist’ is at the very highest echelon, below only ’Black Tiger Fist’ in the First Class Martial Arts. If it turns out to be too hard to get started... we can switch to something simpler, no shame in that."

"Okay, I’ll give it a try."

Lu Chenzhou had a Martial Arts Tree.

No matter how difficult the Fist Technique, with hard work,

He could master it.

Hong Fu assumed his stance and jumped onto the wooden pile.

"’Tiger Supreme Fist’ has no accompanying movement technique, but ’Mountain Crossing Body,’ as the mainstream movement technique of Tiger Form, connects seamlessly with most Tiger Form Fists. You’re not a beginner anymore, so when learning Fists Techniques from now on, you should start with integrating movement techniques for practical combat."

Lu Chenzhou transformed into a Black Tiger and pounced onto the pile.

"Teacher, let’s start."

"Good! Watch closely!"

However, Hong Fu’s form was like that of a tiger; his expression was fierce, and from his mouth came a faint sound resembling a tiger’s roar, his demeanor was terrifying, such that even a demon would fear him by three parts!

"’Tiger Supreme Fist’ begins with an aggressive stance that suggests biting at the throat and baring teeth, with tiger jaws and qilin eyes, intimidating others with tiger prowess. When practicing this kind of Fist, you must let go, never minding the judgments of convention."

Then, Hong Fu began to yell and roar as he practiced the Fist Technique.

To an ordinary person, this would seem bizarre.

But Hong Fu felt extremely dashing, proudly saying,

"Remember, the steps should be three parts forward, seven parts back to form the horse stance, the steps should not be inflexible but follow the Yin Yang steps. The hand shapes should primarily be Tiger Claw, Tiger Palm, and Tiger Fist, ensuring the power of the punch reaches the very tips..."