"Previously, I taught you one move at a time. Now, I will demonstrate these six moves in sequence for you."
Zhao Mu looked at the group, began the routine, and shouted while executing it, "This is Wild Deer Watching the Moon."
"Fierce Tiger Jumping Over the Stream."
"White Tiger Watching the River."
"Fierce Tiger Pouncing on Sheep."
"Antelope Offering Food."
"The final move, Leopard Drilling Forest."
Zhao Mu thrust the knife forward swiftly, withdrew it, stood sideways, and looked at the crowd, saying, "These six moves form a small system. When executing the routine, you must display overall coherence."
"How much you can observe and learn depends on your individual intuition."
"Experiment by yourself, practice, and show me."
Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Duan Rong stood apart and began practicing their moves.
Zhao Mu stayed in front of Kong Bin for several moments, watching him practice carefully, but when he reached Zhang Zheng, he moved on after barely a pause.
As Zhao Mu moved on, Zhang Zheng's face visibly showed a hint of disappointment, though he quickly suppressed it.
As Zhao Mu passed Zhang Zheng, he suddenly noticed Duan Rong, and was momentarily stunned, experiencing a fleeting lapse of focus.
"Is this... the sense of breath?" Zhao Mu was slightly astonished.
The sense of breath during a routine means that the pauses between moves are rhythmic, aligning with the principles of emitting force.
The power throughout the body opens and closes like breathing, thus called the sense of breath.
The sense of breath is an important threshold in martial arts. It doesn't directly enhance strength but is a hallmark of martial arts talent.
Only by thoroughly understanding the moves and their transitions, ensuring that expansion and contraction adhere to the principles of emitting force, can one achieve the sense of breath.
It's a profound understanding of martial arts routines' cohesiveness. Some martial artists spend their whole lives unable to surpass this threshold.
Zhao Mu himself selected an apprentice and suddenly understood it after three months, but he didn't expect Duan Rong, merely a servant disciple, to exhibit the sense of breath.
"Nearly overlooked... this kid... is a martial arts prodigy!"
When teaching the Leopard Drilling Forest move, Zhao Mu noticed Duan Rong's extraordinary sensitivity to the understanding of moves. Today's demonstration of the routine's cohesiveness further confirmed this.
An in-depth comprehension of the routine is a more important talent than physical aptitude.
Martial arts fundamentally rely on intellect.
A simple mind and developed limbs absolutely can't achieve mastery!
Zhao Mu smiled faintly at Duan Rong, with a hint of joy in his heart.
He initially thought Kong Bin was promising, but now it seems Duan Rong is even more formidable than Kong Bin.
It's known that whenever a servant disciple is chosen as an apprentice, the escort master teaching them receives two taels of silver as a reward.
If both Duan Rong and Kong Bin were chosen, that's four taels of silver.
These days, who doesn't lack money?
"Kong Bin, come over here and see how Duan Rong is executing the moves!" Zhao Mu suddenly turned to Kong Bin and said.
Kong Bin was slightly startled, stopped his practice, and walked over expressionlessly.
"Do you see? You need to dare to pause. Your problem is the pauses between moves are too short, focusing only on surface fluidity without the expansion and contraction of power."
"Pause when necessary, speed up when necessary! Got it?"
Kong Bin remained silent, secretly clenching his fist.
Zhao Mu gave Kong Bin a glare and said, "Alright, for the next few days, you'll practice on your own. On the eighth of April, gather here by 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Anyone absent or late will be deemed to have forfeited their assessment eligibility."
After speaking, Zhao Mu turned to Li Chong and said, "Knife, is it polished?"
Blood continuously flowed into Li Chong's mouth from his bitten lip, but he felt no salty taste, simply stood up blankly and returned the knife to Zhao Mu, saying, "Polished."
Zhao Mu coldly snorted, pulled out the knife to check its surface, found only one side coated with castor oil. He didn't pursue the matter but merely sheathed the knife and walked out of the courtyard.
As soon as Zhao Mu left, Duan Rong immediately stopped practicing the routine.
He had no interest in performing for others; his focus was not on the routine but on standing stance for practicing power.
Duan Rong didn't waste any time and resumed the full-circle stance.
Kong Bin was slightly puzzled, thinking that Duan Rong feared he would notice something, hence stopped practicing the routine and started stance training as soon as Zhao Mu left.
Kong Bin didn't say anything, turned and went to practice on his own.
Kong Bin practiced while pondering what Zhao Mu meant by daring to pause.
Meanwhile, Li Chong suddenly jumped over with a crazy expression, his lips faintly stained with blood, knife in hand pointed at Duan Rong, saying, "Duan Rong, if you're gutsy, exchange a few moves with me. Let's see if you've really practiced better than I have?"
Duan Rong was practicing the stance nicely when Li Chong disrupted him, feeling somewhat annoyed.
I just want to peacefully train for the exam, why are there so many idiots causing trouble for me?
Duan Rong glanced at Kong Bin, knowing among the three of them, Kong Bin's words were the most credible.
But Kong Bin merely stood there expressionlessly, with no intention to mediate.
Clearly, Kong Bin might want to see his capabilities more than Li Chong does.
Duan Rong sighed inwardly, it's always been like this, King Yama is easier to deal with than little devils. Unless you show some strength, these flies won't go away.
Duan Rong picked up a scrap knife with a fractured edge at his feet and looked at Li Chong, saying, "Little boy, with your skills, you still dare to come to me, making a fool of yourself!"
"What did you say?" Li Chong was almost choked with anger by Duan Rong's words, his eyes turned red like a rabbit.
Furious, Li Chong leaped forward on his left leg, shifted his body's center of gravity forward, raised his right leg, using his left leg as an axis to spin, sweeping the knife horizontally with his right arm, aiming a waist-high cut at Duan Rong.
This strike was powerful and intense, with Li Chong exerting his full strength right from the start.
Li Chong dared to challenge Duan Rong because he believed he had nurtured his power better than Duan Rong.
After all, each time they practiced the stance, Zhao Mu would correct their posture, and he would grit his teeth to persist until ending the session with Kong Bin.
Over two months like this, his power had matured to a preliminary level.
Duan Rong merely executed the routine well, and Zhao Mu only noticed him in recent days, plus his stance practice was never guided by Zhao Mu.
Therefore, Li Chong believed he could definitely surpass Duan Rong in terms of power.
Consequently, he began with Fierce Tiger Jumping Over the Stream to maximize the advantage of his power.
Once this move was initiated, Duan Rong surely couldn't withstand it and would have to retreat.
If Duan Rong retreated, his body technique would be disrupted, allowing Li Chong to swiftly unleash his killer move—Leopard Drilling Forest. At this moment, with a ruthless mindset, Li Chong was willing to injure Duan Rong if necessary.
"I'll show you not to look down on me!" Li Chong's reddened eyes revealed a hint of madness.
Indeed, Li Chong had some martial arts talent, being capable of combining Fierce Tiger Jumping Over the Stream and Leopard Drilling Forest into a combo shows that he fully understood these two moves.
This understanding is why Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng were willing to associate with him, as Li Chong's insights into routine moves sometimes greatly inspired them.