Chapter 16 – The [Serpentine stance] of the [Eight Divine Stances]

Translator: Aran

Ye Qingyu was shocked

He did not know what to say.

He was confused about not being able to enter the list. But, in reality, he really did not care about entering the list of ten. To receive more, you had to give out more. He did not want too many fetters tying him down to White Deer Academy.

Ye Qingyu had unshakeable confidence in his own talent.

This type of confidence was as if he was born with it. He firmly believed even if he did not join the list of ten, his accomplishments in the future would greatly exceed all ten.

On some level, he had never treated Qin Wushuang, Yan Xiantian as his opponents.

He has never thought about wasting four years staying in White Deer Academy practicing basic martial cultivation.

Ye Qingyu would use one year of his time to finish walking the road that others took four years.

He would only compete with time and not with people.

“In reality, from the start, the number one person who I picked to be on my list is you. The reason for this, apart from the evaluation from great teacher Hon, I have actually observed you in the selection process. I’ve heard numerous compliments and praises from different supervisors. To be honest, if I was to pick only one person instead of ten people, that person would be you, Ye Qingyu,” Wang Yan said, sighing.

A small smile appeared on Ye Qingyu’s face, respectfully nodding his head. “Thank you.”

For a certain person who was extremely vain, this way of explaining things to him was extremely effective.

“However, at the time of my announcement of the list, the Dean suddenly sent an acoustic message to me. Because of a certain reason, you are not allowed to enter the list of ten.” After every word she said, she would carefully observe Ye Qingyu’s expression.

She discovered that Ye Qingyu’s facial expression did not change at all because of her words, with no expressions of anger or excitement. It was as calm as a still pond under the sunlight. She knew, at that moment, she had still underestimated this teenager.

“For compensation, I can give you some special privileges,” Wang Yan said with a smile and when she saw Ye Qingyu starting to shake his head, she held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t reject it first, it is a nameplate that can allow you to enter the second year and third year areas. You can rely on this nameplate to enter the upperclassman’s libraries and borrow the martial manuals inside.”

Ye Qingyu hesitated.

If it was really this, then there was no need to reject.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Because these special privileges were exactly what he needed right now.

“Thank you head teacher Wang.” He respectfully bowed to her, receiving the nameplate.

A smile appeared on Wang Yan’s face and when she turned around to leave she said, “Do you know why I expect great things from you?”

Ye Qingyu quickly shook his head.

“You will know in the future.”

Wang Yan smiled at him teasingly causing Ye Qingyu to feel extremely speechless, black lines appearing on his forehead*. Without any signs, her figure suddenly disappeared like a bubble popping in the air.

The solidified light from all around became normal again.

The leaf floating in midair, finally drifted to the ground.

“As head teacher, she would tease her students? Ahem… is this power from the Xiantian stage? Her energy can freeze an area of over a hundred meters?” Ye Qingyu did not know whether to laugh or cry.**

After experiencing Wang Yan’s power, his desire to pursue the martial way was strengthened, but also his urgency.

Only by possessing power, could he solve the mysteries around him

Only by possessing power, could he control his own fate. Only then, could fairness and justice that has been gathering dust for many years, be shown.

…… ……

Afternoon.

Seventh sparring grounds.

“The first skin layer stage is to first make your skin so tough that when you are hit with a sword, it will be as if it was hitting leather. This part of training, is done solely by relying on external martial arts with no shortcuts, only through hard training can you achieve this…”

In the martial cultivation lesson, a tall and muscular instructor was currently passing on the techniques to cultivate in the Ordinary Martial stage.

The efficiency of White Deer Academy was extremely high.

In the morning, the head teacher Wang Yan said they would split the class into groups according to their foundations. In the afternoon martial cultivation class, they had already been split up.

Ye Qingyu, along with eighty other students, began receiving the most basic martial teachings.

Those without any foundations in the martial way were practically all the commoners hoping to change their destiny.

Of course, geniuses like Yan Xingtian who already had a deep foundation, would not appear in this type of lesson.

The burly coach began to teach.

His every word was expressed in the form of a shout, vibrating the grounds like thunder.

“In the Ordinary Martial stage, there are six small stages. Skin, muscles and bone does not have any sequencing to it, you can train it in any order you wish.”

“But after that in the blood, marrow and organs stage, then you have to be careful about the particular order. Because after, as you go deeper into the martial way, blood, marrow and organs already touches upon internal martial arts*. And these internal martial arts are what decide whether you are Ordinary Martial stage or Xiantian, if you train in a wrong fashion, it could very well threaten your life!”

“Right now I will pass on the method to train your skin, muscles and bones. Right now you don’t need to understand, only recite it. And when you’ve memorized it, then you can slowly understand it. If there is any areas that you don’t understand after three to five days, you can ask me for assistance, do you understand?” the burly teacher yelled.

“Understood!” the students responded in a similar fashion.

“Good, then listen carefully… External martial arts are only about one word, practice! How to practice, the most basic point is… Apart from this you have to practice until your shoulder and waist moves as one, your knees and arms moves as one, your hands and feet moves as one… your heart moves with your will, your will moves with your qi, your qi moves with your power…Yin and Yang flowing in a straight line, only then you can practice!”

The burly teacher shouted out the training mantras.

The students copied him, repeating the mantras after him.

Training in the martial way, the first step was to take note of the air around you. The air around you; that is qi. In the training process, you must make yourself be excited, loudly roaring so you can get your blood pumping, turning yourself into an animated state.

Ye Qingyu was within the crowd, similarly shouting.

Even though he had self-confidence in his natural talent, but he also understood the martial path was walked step by step. Even the best of natural talent needed to train hard, so at this time he could not be the slightest bit lazy but should rather put in a hundred times the effort than normal.

“What I passed to you right now, is the cultivation mantra. What I am going to pass on to you next, is [Serpentine stance] of the [Eight Divine Stances]. And this [Eight Divine Stances] is the culmination of countless experts of White Deer Academy. This is extremely suitable for training one’s body at the Ordinary Martial stage, and the [Serpentine stance] is known as the stance to train your skin, being extremely profound…”

The burly teacher, after finishing these words, loudly shouted and moved his body, demonstrating the [Serpentine stance].

“The first stance, the [Golden Snake Moves Across Land]!”

The burly teacher’s figure changed. His original muscular body suddenly seemed as if it was boneless, stepping forward. His palm was as if it was a snakes head, incomparably agile and his whole body was like a golden snake suddenly appearing on land.

There was faint sounds of ‘sss, sss’ in the air, as if there was a huge snake swallowing a bird, causing people to shiver.

Every student widened their eyes, carefully observing the burly teacher’s every move.

“The second stance, the [Teng Snake**** in the Fog]!”

Half the body of the burly teacher was already on the ground, twisting in a strange way. It was as if there really was a Teng snake slithering on the ground. It seemed slow, but in reality was extremely quick and mists seemed to appear.

This scene seemed really as if a Teng snake was slithering within the fog, mysterious and frightening.

Ye Qingyu was deep in thought.

The [Serpentine stance] was the most suitable for training one’s skin because the snake moved across the ground when it travelled. This would cause endless friction with ground, and to imitate a snake would mean to cause endless frictions using your skin. This would cause your skin to toughen and along with the [Serpentine stance], is definitely the best method to train the skin.

“The third stance, [Horned Snake Facing Its Tail]!”

The burly teacher changed his figure again, as if he really was like a snake, performing vividly.

“The fourth stance, [Mysterious Snake On A Rock]!”

“The fifth stance, [White Snake’s Tongue]!”

“The sixth stance, [Wind Snake On A Tree]!”

“The seventh stance, [A Viper’s Poison]!”

“The eight stance, [Divine Snake Moon]!”*****

The burly teacher constantly changed his forms.

Without knowing how long had passed, in Ye Qingyu’s eyes he could no longer see the burly teacher. Before him, it was as if there really was an ancient snake moving, sometimes hissing, sometimes striking explosively, sometimes still as a rock, sometimes spitting out poison…

A vicious aura of a snake came at him, making Ye Qingyu feel as if he was in a crowd of ancient snakes.

“Good, today I will pass on these eight forms to you. Don’t underestimate them, the forms are definitely not simple. Great things are made from simple things. Little kids, if you can successfully understand the essence of these eight stances within half a month, then you will definitely see the door to the first skin stage!”

The burly teacher finished demonstrating, loudly shouting.

His eyes swept across the students. He discovered that the majority of students were thinking furiously about something, with a few impatient fellows already beginning to imitate him.

He smiled and nodded his head.

They were geniuses selected from tens of thousands of people, and had managed to imitate to a level that was quite similar.

“Eh?”

His glance landed on Ye Qingyu, suddenly taken aback and letting out a gasp of shock.

He could see Ye Qingyu’s body as if it was really a snake, utilizing the [Serpentine stance].

Under the sunlight, Ye Qingyu stretched. The first stance [Golden Snake Moves Across Land] had already been exhibited by him, with every action and detail being done superbly. Clearly, he had already understood the insights of the first stance.

“This is a bit interesting, to have understood so quickly…”

The burly teacher nodded his head silently. Ye Qingyu was an important seedling, he naturally had noticed him before.

The first stance of the [Serpentine stance] seemed simple but major insights were not easy to obtain. Contained within were the pure, profound understandings of countless experts who formed this stance from countless trainings. And the version of the [Serpentine stance] in White Deer Academy was different from the shortened versions outside. It was more profound, and to complete every stance you had seen was extremely taxing.