As soon as the name Li Jichang was spoken, the smile on Li Ji'an's face deepened.
The name he registered today was his given name, Li Ji'an, and the other seven instructors had just seen his roster.
But not a single person reacted.
Wu Cheng, however, immediately thought of his past self.
"Li Jichang? Who is that? It sounds a bit familiar." One instructor was prompted to recall something by Wu Cheng's words.
"I don't have any impression."
"Little Wu, could it be the junior of your old friend?"
...
Wu Cheng glanced at his colleagues and, seeing that they truly seemed to have no impression, said faintly, "It's the Old Crooked Li you all talk about!"
In his previous life, during ten years at the Martial Academy, apart from Old Man Huang at the gate, and Instructor Wu, as well as the little guy who relentlessly mocked him, almost everyone called him Old Crooked Li.
This was because in his previous life, he had been mutilated by those beasts, which resulted in one of his arms being deformed and crooked.
"What?"
"Old Crooked Li's junior?"
"This..."
"Hiss~ he does seem a bit like him in the eyebrows."
"Could he be Old Crooked Li's son?"
"By the way, Old Crooked Li has been missing for five years, hasn't he?"
...
In any case, in his previous life, Li Ji'an was quite a celebrity in the Martial Academy.
Immediately, it sparked heated discussion.
"That old fellow actually cultivated a Genius?" Instructor Wan also momentarily lost himself in thought.
He remembered once, on an occasional basis, asking Old Crooked Li: "You're already like this, what's the point of Cultivating martial arts?"
Old Crooked Li, however, was nonchalant: "There is, of course! My Comprehension Ability is like this, I'm certainly not destined for great achievements, but perhaps through Cultivating martial arts, I can improve the Bloodline for my descendants. Generation after generation, who knows, one generation might possess superior Comprehension Ability."
"How could Old Crooked Li give birth to such a handsome son?" Soon, some apprentices from the Martial Academy were attracted.
They surrounded Li Ji'an, meticulously examining him.
"Are you really Old Crooked Li's son?"
"Why didn't Old Crooked Li come to the Martial Academy later? Did he give up?"
...
Facing everyone's questions, Li Ji'an merely smiled without a word.
"Alright, it doesn't matter whether there's a connection or not. Come with me." Wu Cheng realized that his unintentional words seemed to have caused trouble for Li Ji'an, so he stopped questioning Li Ji'an and quickly led him away.
Li Ji'an nodded, following closely behind.
"Haha, Old Crooked Li practiced for most of his life but only touched the surface of the Martial Dao. Now he's sent his son too?"
"Tsk tsk, he's just like his old man, unwanted, and can only apprentice under Instructor Wu."
"My father said long ago, a heroic father makes a heroic son, but if the father sells onions, the son sells garlic. Old Crooked Li was no good, so how good could his son be?"
A group of apprentices behind them whispered.
After bringing Li Ji'an to his instructor's area, Wu Cheng looked at Li Ji'an, forcing out a somewhat unnatural smile: "Don't listen to their nonsense. Old Li was very formidable back then, completely exceeding my expectations. Before him, who would have dared to imagine that someone who started Cultivating martial arts in their thirties could reach Skin Grinding Perfection?"
"So, in the path of the Martial Dao, it's never too late to start."
"Moreover, Comprehension Ability only determines your upper limit, but it cannot determine your lower limit. Even if there's no hope of winning the Martial Examination, Cultivating martial arts can still strengthen the body and keep you healthy.
Furthermore, when it comes to Cultivating martial arts, don't compare yourself to others. Just do your best."
Li Ji'an bowed respectfully: "I will strictly follow Instructor's teachings!"
The Martial Dao of this world involves external martial arts and Internal Skill, with external practice focusing on Moves and clever techniques, which are skills for fighting and killing.
Internal practice involves refining Qi and Blood, tempering Qi and Blood, performing Skin Grinding, Bone Hardening, Bone Forging, Blood Changing, Marrow Cleansing, and Organ Refining, thereby achieving a complete transformation, with Qi and Blood like a Dragon.
However, external martial arts require Internal Skill as a foundation; otherwise, they are difficult to execute, or even if executed, the power is insufficient, the speed is slow, and they are no different from mere fancy footwork.
Moreover, it is said that the Martial Dao here was bestowed by an Immortal Master. Before this, there was no extraordinary power whatsoever. Wielding spears and staffs was merely about pure exertion of force and mastery of routines, with no situation of one person fighting many.
However, the Immortal Master only bestowed the Internal Skill for tempering Qi and Blood and forging the body into something extraordinary, which is the Golden Stout Skill practiced by everyone, but no external martial arts were bestowed.
Cultivating Internal Skill can make the body strong and robust, give birth to extraordinary Qi and Blood power, lead to a complete transformation, result in golden muscles and jade marrow, and make one invulnerable to blades and spears.
As for external martial arts, there are only a few Cultivation Techniques for activating and utilizing the Qi and Blood within the body, which have been explored by some Martial Dao Grandmasters with extraordinary Comprehension Ability over the past century. Most of these are cherished by their owners and not passed on to outsiders.
The imperial court possesses the most.
Ordinary grassroots Martial Artists rarely have the opportunity to Cultivate them.
In his previous two lives, Li Ji'an had experience in Cultivating martial arts, and he only cultivated the Internal Skill, Golden Stout Skill.
As for external martial arts, in his first life, there was only a set of boxing techniques created by the martial arts hall master in that town, which couldn't even be considered a Cultivation Technique.
From Li Ji'an's perspective, with his Skin Grinding Perfection Internal Skill Realm in his second life, that set of boxing techniques made essentially no difference, being fundamentally just the power and speed brought about by the physical transformation from Skin Grinding and Bone Hardening.
A month later, Li Ji'an's Pile Exercise reached complete mastery, and he officially began Cultivating the Golden Stout Skill.
Internal Skill Cultivation Technique lies in tempering Qi and Blood, coordinating muscle and bone movements with breathing methods to temper muscles and forge bones. This cannot be done until the muscles and bones are fully developed, otherwise, it could cause muscle and bone injuries, leaving one crippled. Therefore, before the age of thirteen, Li Ji'an only familiarized himself with the movements and postures.
Before practicing the Golden Stout Skill, one also needs to establish a solid foundation through piling stance, which also requires the muscles and bones to be fully developed.
In his previous life, when he entered the Martial Academy at thirty, it took him half a year to barely achieve success in piling stance alone.
Li Ji'an reflected on the differences and finally determined that, apart from the experience of having achieved success in piling stance in his previous life, the most important factors were his strong bones and long muscles in this life, as well as the improvement in Comprehension Ability brought about by the increase in Mental Energy.
After all, piling stance is not static, nor is it merely about movements and postures; it needs to match one's specific muscles and bones. The subtle differences vary from person to person, and one can only comprehend them oneself.
If one comprehends correctly, the foundation of piling stance will be solidified faster; otherwise, one will be unable to achieve complete mastery for a long time and will not be able to truly Cultivate Internal Skill.
"His Comprehension Ability is so good?" Many people showed surprise upon learning that Li Ji'an had mastered piling stance so quickly.
Instructor Ma Yuan, looking at the "Genius" he had snatched, his eyelids twitched slightly.
Qingyun hasn't even completed all seventy-two piling stances in the past month.
And Qingyun's cleverness, which he used to fool his father since childhood, also made it difficult to tell whether he was truly not putting in effort or genuinely had poor Comprehension Ability.
"No matter, no matter. It doesn't matter if his Comprehension Ability is a bit lacking. The most important thing is his bone structure. As long as his bone structure is good, even if his Comprehension Ability is a bit lacking, he'll surely succeed in another month. Once he starts Cultivating Internal Skill then, he won't be comparable to those with poor bone structure." Instructor Ma Yuan comforted himself thus.
At the same time, he decisively extinguished his initial idea of providing Li Ji'an with the Martial Academy's exclusive medicinal bath supplies.
If the apprentice taught by Instructor Wu became more outstanding than the apprentice he taught, especially when the apprentice he chose had better Comprehension Ability, it would greatly affect his reputation as an instructor.
Moreover, it was clear that many people in the academy had already started comparing Li Ji'an and Qingyun, and many wanted to see him make a fool of himself.
"Am I going to let Old Crooked Li's son make me lose face?"
That night, Instructor Ma Yuan spared no expense, transferring Qingyun from the apprentice dormitory to the small courtyard next to his own, determined to teach Qingyun well.
