15: Chapter 15 Hope and Despair

At the same time, it contains traces of the Wuji Stance, such as the imaginary upward force of the crown, where one imagines oneself floating up from the bottom of the water, drifting into the sky, rising straight to the highest heavens.

What he is currently experiencing is the 'relax and follow' aspect of Standing Stake.

This 'relax and follow' cannot be forced; the emphasis is entirely on the word 'follow'.

One must possess the free and easy Concept where the heart is like white clouds, always at ease, and the intent is like flowing water, drifting wherever it pleases.

At the same time, let your thoughts soar through space; this nourishes the spirit and Qi, and in time, you will naturally attain internal Qi.

This is the true essence of internal Stance Training.

Of course, the internal Qi in Taiji does not refer to that stuff from Wuxia novels, but rather a martial arts Concept.

It is often said that those who practice martial arts train internal Qi within, and the tendons, bones, and skin without.

Martial arts distinguish between external Qi and internal Qi. Internal Qi refers to a sensation like an electric current passing through or mercury being poured in, eventually reaching the four extremities, producing numbness, swelling, and heat, accompanied by a slight stinging sensation akin to needles pricking or ants crawling.

If you have developed this sensation, it means you have achieved 'Qi sensation'.

Perhaps that still sounds rather mysterious.

A more obvious way to identify it is that, among all parts of the body, the hands are the most sensitive. Therefore, this 'Qi sensation' first appears in the hands; they will look red and appear larger than usual. Next are the feet. If it appears throughout the entire body, then the Qi has permeated the whole frame.

Taiji Stake Training is the easiest method to generate 'Qi sensation', but it still requires diligent practice.

(The author practiced Taiji for two months in the past; uh... honestly, I didn't develop this, perhaps because I hadn't reached the required level, but I did develop a sensation from practicing other things.)

This single session lasted a full twenty-plus minutes. Li Changsheng practiced slowly and with great difficulty; by the end, he could no longer maintain that sense of ease.

Fortunately, he finally finished. Breathing a sigh of relief, Li Changsheng hurriedly pulled up his panel.

[Lifespan: 162]

"It only increased by one day?"

"It seems that although Stance Training has health-preserving effects, it is still a bit inferior to the Eight Brocades."

Li Changsheng understood this; after all, the essence of Taiji Stake Training is to build a Foundation for martial arts.

However, looking at the other attributes surprised Li Changsheng.

[Stamina: 4.02]

[Energy: 6]

He remembered that this Stamina column was initially 4. Cultivating the Eight Brocades had only increased it by 0.01 up until today, yet a single session of Taiji Stake Training had increased it by 0.01.

"So, even though Taiji Stake Training is an internal stance, it still has an effect on physical fitness—at the very least, it is much stronger than the Eight Brocades, which is a health-preserving art."

Li Changsheng remembered that the Stamina column referred to the average value of strength, endurance, and agility.

So, it was definitely his physical fitness that had increased.

Having figured this out, Li Changsheng attached considerable importance to Taiji Stake Training.

After all, the value for an ordinary person is 5, and he couldn't even be considered an ordinary person right now.

If he encountered danger, he would be done for at close range, but at medium to long range, he could still rely on his Plucking Flowers and Flying Leaves.

"The reward for the current stage is this, so will the next stage be real martial arts?"

Just as Li Changsheng was thinking this, the System prompt sounded in his mind again.

[The third stage of the mission to promote Traditional Martial Arts is now being issued: reach 10,000 viewers in the live stream.]

As expected, another mission like this; Li Changsheng was already used to it.

"However, reaching 10,000 viewers will be quite difficult."

Before, he could rely on treasure chests to drive traffic, but because his live stream really lacked appeal, he couldn't retain anyone.

And he couldn't reach 10,000 viewers with treasure chests; after all, the rocket treasure chests in this world could only provide a single category channel recommendation.

To have a large influx of viewers at once, he would need a full-platform recommendation.

"Then I can only rely on solid skill, but I really don't have anything I can perform right now."

Li Changsheng thought about it and gave up on the idea.

"Forget it, that's not important. At this stage, these few arts are enough for me to practice for a long time; let the popularity rise slowly."

Thinking of this, his mind suddenly cleared.

Li Changsheng started practicing the Stance Training again. He practiced it a total of ten times, but he discovered that after the eleventh time, the Stance Training would no longer bring any attribute gains.

"Although my body isn't tired, the daily limit for tempering the body with Stance Training is ten times; any more won't have much of an improvement effect."

After finishing the Stance Training, Li Changsheng immediately set his sights on the Marrow Cleansing Classic, but after reviewing his memories, he decided to put it aside for now.

How should he put it? The Marrow Cleansing Classic was even less necessary to live stream.

It was too lacking in entertainment value, so after thinking about it, he decided to practice it before going to sleep at night.

"From now on, in the live stream, I will only practice the Eight Brocades, Stance Training, and Plucking Flowers and Flying Leaves; I'll practice the Marrow Cleansing Classic in private."

He planned it this way because he didn't want the popularity to drop too severely; furthermore, the difficulty of cultivating the Marrow Cleansing Classic was too high—without specialized guidance, others wouldn't be able to learn it anyway.

Since that was the case, he might as well not demonstrate it to the viewers.

Thus, Li Changsheng went back to practicing Plucking Flowers and Flying Leaves over and over again.

After all, the Eight Brocades and Stance Training had limited daily sessions, but Plucking Flowers and Flying Leaves had no such restriction. As long as his hands were not sore or painful, he could keep practicing.

Several more days passed.

Every day was spent diligently practicing these four arts. Apart from going out for his morning run and occasionally buying ingredients, he barely left his home.

However, a week later, Li Changsheng had to stop his practice.

"How could it be like this?"

Li Changsheng's face was particularly grim; it was a paper-like pallor. He looked at the medical report in his hand, then at his attribute panel.

[Lifespan: 100]

That's right. In just one short week, no matter how Li Changsheng cultivated—even though it clearly looked like his Lifespan had increased by a few days after training—it would immediately decrease by several days after he slept.

This anxiety persisted until this morning, when he couldn't hold back and went for a check-up.

And the report showed that the cancer cells had spread.

So much so that he didn't even start his live stream today.

"System!"

"System!"

However, after calling out several times, the System still gave no response.

"How could this happen? This shouldn't be; it shouldn't be!"

Li Changsheng felt somewhat desperate; this feeling was like the last straw having snapped.

Sitting quietly on the chair, dazed for a long time, Li Changsheng finally gave a bitter smile.

"Is surgery the only way? But in my current state, is there even any point to surgery?"

Li Changsheng really didn't know where the way out was.

In a daze, Li Changsheng fell asleep, and when he woke up again, it was already morning.

The mental and physical exhaustion made him not want to get up, but his established habit still made him slowly get dressed and head downstairs for his morning run.

Arriving at the park as usual, Li Changsheng was running, but calling him a walking corpse wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Passing by the lake again, today that old man Zhang seemed to have finished his training and was walking this way.

Li Changsheng had wanted to say hello, but after thinking about it, it seemed there was no need, so he turned to leave.

"Wait!"