Chapter 5: Genius
After the teacher left, the class monitor Lin Xue stepped onto the podium.
She pressed something on the lectern, and the large screen behind her slowly split open at the middle, revealing a pristine stone carving of a white lotus behind it. The lotus occupied almost half of the wall, and the patterns on its petals were clearly visible, emitting a strange, faint glow.
Looking at everyone below, Lin Xue calmly said, "True martial arts is too powerful; it is not a cultivation method that ordinary people can practice, so it requires Foundation Building. This requires meeting two conditions simultaneously: a spiritual force that is sufficiently active and a surging flow of blood throughout the entire body.
"The stone carving on the wall behind me is the Lotus Platform Meditation Art. It’s imbued with the will of a powerful practitioner, and it will help everyone get a quick initiation and concentrate during meditation.
"Once your spiritual force can clearly outline the Lotus Platform, you meet the spiritual force criteria.
"The standard for the surge and smooth circulation of vitalityi requires completing ten repetitions of the Body Refining Art within half an hour. Only when both criteria are met can a foundation be built."
During Lin Xue's explanation, most students in the class remained calm, evidently already familiar with this information. Only a few students, like Chen Chu, were learning about this for the first time. Their faces showed a thoughtful expression, and they listened attentively.
"Remember, our ability to reach Foundation Building and cultivate true martial arts is the greatest favor the country gives us ordinary people. Not everyone can awaken innate abilities. Alright, everyone find a place to sit down and begin the first meditation practice," Lin Xue said, then turned and descended from the podium. She found an open space, sat down, and crossed her legs. The others followed suit.
Chen Chu sat at the edge of the crowd, following Lin Xue's instructions. He concentrated on the stone carving, and suddenly, the lotus flower began to enlarge in his vision.
Spiritual force, for ordinary individuals who had not undergone cultivation, was elusive, beyond perception, and untouchable. But when that lotus flower occupied all of Chen Chu's sight, he instinctively closed his eyes. He clearly sensed the presence of spiritual force for the very first time.
In the endless darkness of his consciousness, a transparent lotus flower with only faint outlines slowly rotated.
"Is this what they mean by a quick initiation? Amazing!" Chen Chu exclaimed in awe.
Even though it was his first time practicing, he understood how challenging it was for ordinary people to go from nothing to perceiving their own spiritual force through meditation alone… and that was assuming they even had the ability to sit still.
Under normal circumstances, ordinary people might close their eyes and start daydreaming, unable to even focus on something, let alone concentrate on spiritual meditation. It was easy to imagine how much time this image saved them.
However, when Chen Chu tried to vividly visualize the tangible form of the lotus flower, he found the process extremely slow and mentally taxing. After only half an hour, he began seeing stars. He was mentally exhausted, and had no choice but to withdraw from meditation.
"I didn’t expect it to be this exhausting." Chen Chu rubbed his forehead.
After taking a short rest and feeling somewhat refreshed, he turned his head to survey his surroundings. He then noticed that most of his classmates had also withdrawn from the meditative state. Some people sat there in a daze, while others stared intently at the stone carving. Like Chen Chu, these individuals appeared fatigued, displaying signs of significant mental exhaustion.
But there were others still continuing their meditation. In the front row, Lin Xue, Yi Rui, and another four boys and three girls—nine people in total—were still in meditation, with Xia Youhui among them.
After a while, Xia Youhui and five other individuals gradually withdrew from the meditative state. In the end, only Lin Xue, Yi Rui, and another male student remained. Even without any reminders, everyone remained silent to avoid disturbing anyone who was still meditating.
"Meditation class is over, and we are about to begin the Body Refining class." Hearing the announcement from the speaker on the wall, Lin Xue and the other two slowly opened their eyes.
At this moment, Xia Youhui, who had appeared beside Chen Chu without him noticing, sat down and whispered, "The duration of the first meditation is actually an expression of one's innate talent."
Chen Chu turned to look at him; this guy seemed to know a lot.
With a tone of envy, Xia Youhui elaborated, "Don't be fooled by appearances. Although my mental talent is a bit better than yours, I still fall a little short when facing those three guys. I’m sure they've manifested at least three petals. And judging by the fact that they show no signs of fatigue and their spiritual force seems very abundant, it probably won't take them more than two or three days to manifest the complete lotus flower."
"Three petals!" Chen Chu was stunned. He hadn't even completely visualized a single petal, and others had already reached three. Was the gap really that significant?
Xia Youhui patted Chen Chu on the shoulder., "Don't be surprised. This is the difference between geniuses and ordinary folks. We can’t even compare. And although they didn't practice in advance, they've already had ways to nurture their spiritual force. Their innate conditions are much better than ours.
"But don't be disheartened, Ah Chu. Quick meditation is just one step ahead. We still have the chance to surpass them."
As soon as he finished speaking, the large screen closed again and lit up, displaying a middle-aged man in white training clothes. He slightly lowered his stance and began to perform a set of movements.
"Everyone, pay attention."
In the front row, Lin Xue spoke slowly, "Next is the Body Refining Art, which consists of eighteen postures in a specific sequence. It can clear our meridians and strengthen our bodies. Later, the cultivation room's Vitality Crystal will activate automatically. Under its light, we can easily sense the vitality within our bodies, which will help us get a quick initiation.
"During cultivation, we need to use our spiritual force to drive the flow of vitality, guiding it to circulate. Completing one cycle of these postures is considered one repetition. Alright, let's begin."
On the large screen, the middle-aged person began to display the postures. The pace was slow, and each one was extremely precise, reminding Chen Chu of people practicing Tai Chi or ancient yoga.
The first five postures seemed straightforward enough, but from the sixth one, the difficulty suddenly surged. Many postures completely defied anatomy, and the last few postures made his scalp tingle. After a few minutes, when the middle-aged person completed one cycle and began the second one, some people started practicing along with him.
Meanwhile, on the ten-meter-high ceiling of the cultivation room, a red crystal the size of a human head lit up, emitting a crimson light that enveloped everyone. Under the red light, Chen Chu felt a warmth throughout his body, and his blood seemed to boil. Subconsciously, he started practicing along with the demonstration.
The first posture was relatively simple; the second had some difficulty, though he was still able to manage. But the third posture…
Hiss!
As he reached the third posture, he was crouching with the right leg extended, arms stretched forward and backward, bending down and then lowering to the ground. Suddenly, Chen Chu felt a sharp pain in his lower back.[1] The intense cramping was so severe that it immobilized him, and his face turned pale.
It wasn't until some time passed and the pain began to diminish that Chen Chu, now covered in sweat, dared to try the fourth posture. At the same time, he felt his entire bloodstream growing hotter, with a seemingly ethereal energy flowing throughout his body along with the blood.
Feeling this faint force, Chen Chu's expression suddenly changed. He hastily used the bit of spiritual force he had just cultivated to restrain it, allowing this faint vitality to circulate as he continued to practice...
At this moment, everyone was practicing, but many people were contorting their bodies into odd postures, and only about ten of them were doing relatively well. Lin Xue and a few other girls were following the video with decent accuracy. While their movements were slightly awkward, their flexible bodies still made them pleasing to the eye. Many male students couldn't help but be captivated, forgetting about their own practice.
However, the fastest to complete one cycle of practice was a male student. By the time he was finished, he was covered in sweat, and a faint white steam rose from his head. It took him only ten minutes.
Compared to that, Chen Chu couldn't help but notice that his physical talent seemed really inferior. He was still laboring through the motions, bending backward, bringing one leg in as he did the ninth posture...
1. Original says "the fascia of his lower back" but there is no way of knowing that your lumbodorsal fascia hurts as opposed to another fifty different things that could hurt there, so this looks really weird. ☜
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