Chapter 27: The First Trial

  The season is full of spring, with a hundred flowers in bloom and green trees shading.

  Early morning.

  Facing the cool breeze, Zhang Yi wore sportswear and walked out of the room after washing up.

  He wasn't woken up by natural wakefulness, but was startled awake by the "heng ha" sound of martial arts practice coming from the backyard. Although it's still not bright outside, after he stepped out of his room, he saw Li Dajiang and Liu Xinzong, already practicing martial arts in the yard with one move after another.

  The flowing and ever-changing martial arts moves were like floating clouds and flowing water, causing Zhang Yi's eyes to light up.

  Scheming!

  A form of martial arts exercise, referring to a set of pre-determined techniques that are performed in a specific order.

  "Ah, Zhang the big young master has finally gotten out of bed? I've already run around Shibatown twice, you lazy pig... wasted a whole body of strength, not even material for practicing martial arts."

  Yao Tiantian, wearing a white sportswear, walked in from outside with sweat dripping down her face. Upon seeing Zhang Yi, she immediately gave him a big white eye and couldn't help but say sarcastically.

  Two laps?

  Zhang Yi's expression was taken aback, and then a few awkward expressions floated on his handsome face, bitterly smiling: "Sorry, I didn't expect to get up so early. In the future, I guarantee that I will get up early and train with you."

  Yao Tianxiao's figure appeared at the entrance of the courtyard, his eyes gleaming with a hint of unusual color as he said slowly: "You don't need to follow them for training, they have a foundation in martial arts, but you don't, so I will give you special training. Come with me!"

  Zhang Yi nodded slightly and followed Yao Tianxiao out of the tavern.

  Yao Tiantian picked up the pink towel from her neck and wiped away the fragrant sweat on her forehead, with a hint of curiosity in her eyes, she followed behind.

  Walking through streets and alleys.

  Among the hawkers' shouting and the crowd's noise, the three of them arrived at a sparse forest on the northernmost side of Shibatou Town.

  Green glazed tiles and red walls of a large courtyard house, with two vivid stone lions at the entrance.

  Yao Tian Tian looked at Yao Tian Xiao with a puzzled expression and asked, "Grandpa, what is this place? I've never seen you come here before?"

  Yao Tian Xiao glanced at his granddaughter and smiled faintly: "You haven't been with me to many places."

  With a cane in hand, he arrived at the vermilion iron gate and produced a key to unlock it. After opening the gate, he stepped inside.

  In a very large courtyard, on the left side is a wooden frame full of sandbags, and on the right side are nearly two-meter-high wooden stakes.

  Outside the main house door, there were two rush mats.

  What caught the attention of Zhang Yi and Yao Tiantian were the neatly arranged weapon racks on both sides of the couch, and on the racks, there were all sorts of cold weapons.

  The sun rises early.

  The morning sun shines on the earth, sprinkling on the cold weapons that emit a chill, dazzling light reflects, making people dare not look directly.

  Yao Tianxiao stopped in front of the weapon rack, turned around and said: "Zhang Yi, what I'm going to teach you is not ordinary martial arts practice, but the true ancient martial arts cultivation method. However, before that, I need to test your physical flexibility, reaction speed, and willpower."

  "How to test?"

  Zhang Yi asked subconsciously.

  Yao Tianxiao said: "First, I'll do a few moves, then you try them out and show me."

  The cane in his hand slipped out in an instant, and his stooping body straightened up in a flash. His feet moved at a strange frequency, and his body performed various high-difficulty movements.

  Twist, turn, flip, jump...

  The bizarre change in shape left Zhang Yi speechless and extremely shocked.

  "Zhang Yi, you come and try it for me to see." Yao Tianxiao stopped his movements. When his body returned to its hunchbacked shape and the crutch flew back into his hand, he said in a deep voice.

  Zhang Yi hesitated for a moment, then walked up to Yao Tianxiao.

  Her eyes slowly closed, and the scene of Yao Tianxiao performing high-difficulty moves just now appeared in her mind. It was as if it were a historical replay, every move, whether it was the movement of his feet, the twisting of his waist, or the changes in his limbs, was clear and distinct.

  At this moment.

  Even he himself did not realize that his memory would be so good.

  The heart is free to move as it wishes.

  His whole body had fallen into a state of emptiness, his torso twisting with the shadows in his mind, his open arms, with his knees facing forward unchanged, his upper body had already twisted to the back, when his waist was bent, the side flip was instantly revealed.

  "Alright! Alright! Alright!"

  Yao Tianxiao quietly watched Zhang Yi perform a series of high-difficulty moves, and couldn't help but secretly cheer him on.

  He knew that Zhang Yi's physical strength was very strong, but he didn't expect his body's flexibility to be so terrifyingly high, even compared to him, it wasn't much different.

  "Very good physical flexibility, overall coordination is not bad." Yao Tianxiao nodded in satisfaction as Zhang Yi finished his move.

  He slowly raised his arm, pointing to the place where the sandbags were hanging, and said: "Go in there, I'll control the movement of the sandbags outside. If you can hold on for half a minute without getting hit, it's considered qualified."

  Zhang Yi smiled and said, "Let's try it now."

  When he stood in the middle of the sandbag, Yao Tianxiao's figure suddenly disappeared on the spot, a residual shadow surrounded the frame and rotated continuously, a burst of "crackling" sounds rang out.

  The sound of a cane whipping a sandbag echoed out.

  Like a gust of wind blowing through wheat, over a hundred sandbags began to move, with the dozen or so surrounding Zhang Yi moving precisely towards him.

  Five seconds later.

  Bang...

  Zhang Yi's back was hit, and with his body stumbling, the other sandbags came one after another, constantly hitting him.

  A few seconds later, Zhang Yi was knocked to the ground.

  "Haha... only lasted for 5 or 6 seconds, how embarrassing." Yao Tiantian pointed at Zhang Yi's miserable figure on the ground, laughing so hard she was doubling over.

  As the sandbag stopped swinging, Zhang Yi stood up with a bitter smile and walked out. He looked at Yao Tianxiao and smiled bitterly: "Elder Yao, this is too difficult. The speed of the sandbag's attack is too fast, and there are too many of them. It's hard to dodge."

  Yao Tianxiao said: "Tiantian, you go in."

  Yao Tiantian gave Zhang Yi a playful glance and strode into the sandbag group.

  As Yao Tianxiao controlled the sandbags' rapid movement, Yao Tiantian remained calm and composed, her feet constantly dodging and weaving. Half a minute later, when all the sandbags stopped shaking, she walked out with a triumphant smile on her face, looking at Zhang Yi with a smug expression and saying: "See that? This girl's reaction speed is far superior to yours."

  Zhang Yi gave a thumbs up to Yao Tiantian and praised: "Very impressive."

  Yao Tianxiao said: "Zhang Yi, from now on, I will let you practice your reaction here every day. When you can move freely in and out of it for more than three minutes, that's when you'll be considered qualified."

  Zhang Yi quickly nodded and said: "Good, I'll listen to Senior Yao."

  Yao Tianxiao nodded slowly and brought Zhang Yi to the wooden stake, saying: "You choose four wooden stakes, lie on them, I will put a 50-kilogram sandbag on your back, you must hold on for two hours, this is the best way to test your willpower. At the same time, it can also exercise your arm strength and leg strength."

  Zhang Yi's expression changed slightly as he looked puzzled and asked: "Is there nothing supporting me from below my waist?"

  Yao Tian shook his head and said: "No."

  Zhang Yi nodded silently, then climbed up a wooden stake. As his body bent, his hands quickly pressed onto two other stakes about two meters away. With his feet apart, Zhang Yi placed one foot on another stake.

  "Sweetie, over there is a hundred-pound sandbag, put it on his waist."

  Yao Tianxiao said in a low voice.

  "Alright!"

  Yao Tiantian smiled slyly at Zhang Yi, who had turned his head to the side, and then moved over a 100-jin heavy sandbag and placed it on Zhang Yi's waist.

  Time is ticking away drop by drop.

  At first, Zhang Yi was full of energy and could still hold on easily.

  But after ten minutes, he felt his body's downward force getting stronger and stronger, and his arms had a faint sour taste.

  Half an hour later, he felt a numbness and soreness in both arms, and his legs had also started to ache with weakness.

  Sweat drops the size of soybeans fell from his nose bridge, and even his eyes had sweat flowing into them.

  "Should I use the vital energy liquid in my dantian? If I don't, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for much longer."

  "No... if we use the Revival Liquid, we'll lose the accuracy of the test."

  "I need to know the most real situation of my body, this is the most accurate test for my willpower..."

  "Hold on, I believe I can hold on for a little while longer."

  "Insist..."

  “……”

  Before I knew it, an hour and a half had passed.

  Zhang Yi, who was lying on the wooden stake, had his arms and legs slightly trembling, and his waist was pressed down to a position below the top of the wooden stake by a hundred-jin heavy sandbag.

  With a bitter struggle, Zhang Yi's face had turned deathly pale, his eyes were filled with bloodshot, and the tightly clenched teeth also oozed out a thread of blood.

  "Insist..."

  All that was left in his mind was this one sentence.

  Every second felt like it had been an eternity.

  Two hours later.

  "Bang......"

  Zhang Yi's body finally fell off the wooden stake with a soft arm, and the 100-pound sandbag hit him. His numb and sore body didn't feel anything.

  Yao Tianxiao walked up to Zhang Yi and shook his head, sighing: "With your physical strength and the power you possess, lasting two hours is not bad, but it still leaves me somewhat disappointed. Two hours is your limit, but if you can break through this limit, I'm afraid you might be able to last another ten minutes."

  Zhang Yi moved his lips slightly and nodded gloomily as he lay limp on the ground.

  Yao Tianxiao smiled faintly and said, "Don't be discouraged, this is just your first time. Who knows, maybe in the future you'll be able to withstand a thousand jin of pressure for three days and three nights. Alright, it's already noon, you don't have to go to Old Devil's clinic this afternoon. Go back, wash up, rest for a bit, and tonight I'll teach you some cultivation techniques."

  Cultivation method?

  Zhang Yi's heart moved slightly, he himself had cultivated the "Hui Chun Jue", if he cultivated two kinds of techniques at the same time, wouldn't they conflict with each other?