CHAPTER 385: CHAPTER 169: THOUSANDS OF WARRIORS IN THE WORLD, ONLY I, ZHANG BEIXING, STAND ALONE!_6

Then, Zhang Beixing rose at three in the morning the next day to continue his fist practice!

There was still no set pattern, no routines, just a pure, heart-driven movement. His fists and feet moved freely; every posture was a scenic view, every move was natural.

This, naturally, caught the attention of the soldiers in the military district. Many saw this small figure tirelessly swinging his fists on the mountaintop.

"Holy shit, what’s going on? Am I seeing things, or what? Who gets up this early to go practice punching on a mountain?"

"What are you even talking about? How could anyone be bored enough to... holy crap, you’re right! Wow, who is that guy?"

"They say he’s a friend of Colonel Huo, a Martial Arts Grandmaster, here for secluded cultivation."

"Man, are all these martial artists this strange? Getting up so early to practice on a mountain."

"Who knows? Just let him be. Maybe he’s just doing it on a whim and will stop in a couple of days. Come on, let’s go, we need to get ready for field training."

"Good point! Let’s go, let’s go! I’m going to crush you in today’s training!"

The soldiers discussed Zhang Beixing briefly, then paid him no further mind. After all, it was just someone practicing Martial Arts early in the morning—nothing too extraordinary.

But a few days later, his presence had become a distinct fixture in the Shishi Military District. No matter where you were in the district, if you looked up, you could always see that persistent figure on the mountain near the training field. Sometimes, bathed in the morning sun, the figure resembled a Golden Body Arhat; at other times, veiled by the evening glow, he seemed to possess the ethereal bearing of an immortal. On occasional overcast and windy days, he appeared like an peerless expert.

He seemed to float, as if having transcended the world to stand alone, shedding his mortal coil to ascend as an immortal.

「However, a few days later, the soldiers noticed something truly odd!」

"No way, how come I see him practicing every morning when I get up to wash? How many days has it been? Why is he still up there practicing, and for the whole day too? Isn’t that a bit much?"

"He’s practicing when I go to sleep, and he’s still practicing when I wake up. Seriously, is this fist practice that addictive?"

"Addictive? I think he’s gone a bit mad! Remember that torrential downpour a while back? The wind was howling, Thunderbolts were rolling, and we were all forced to stop training. Out of curiosity, I looked up, and guess what? That guy was up there, braving the fierce storm, with lightning flashing right behind him, still practicing!"

"Incredible! That’s truly incredible! To practice, unswayed by thunder, undeterred by storms—no wonder he’s friends with Colonel Huo! Such courage and perseverance are simply extraordinary!"

The soldiers watched the figure on the mountaintop with admiration, deeply impressed by his perseverance. So much so that as time passed, glancing at the mountaintop while washing up after the morning reveille became a habit for many of them. Their perception of Zhang Beixing shifted from initial curiosity and bewilderment to gradual acceptance.

Now, they even felt that Zhang Beixing was *meant* to be there. His presence there felt utterly right! That spot on the mountaintop, it seemed, was always destined to have such a Martial Artist practicing day and night!

Zhang Beixing himself was completely unaware of this. Accompanied by the sun and moon, he simply bathed in the wind and rain, day after day, gazing at the mountain forest before him, observing the beasts and larks.

「Until one morning.」

The sun breached the horizon, peeking out from the east. A ray of golden light spilled forth, as if a gentle waft of morning’s Purple Qi from the East drifted towards him, to be absorbed into his abdomen.

Zhang Beixing took a deep breath. He felt the cool morning mountain air merge with the wisp of Vital Energy within him, circulating throughout his entire body!

Suddenly, his daily routine of fist practice movements came to a halt on that particular morning.

Over these past days, while practicing, he had also observed a great deal. He had watched sunrises and sunsets play hide-and-seek among the clouds, the morning vigor and evening glow never meeting. He had seen swallows beat their wings against wind and rain, soaring defiantly into the nine heavens. He had also witnessed rolling Thunderbolts descend from the sky, their might immeasurably greater than his own fist techniques.

This made him feel a change within his state of mind, as if he had merged with all things, becoming one with nature, and like the mountains and birds, a part of the universe. So much so that now, he saw all natural things as a form of Martial Arts! Mountains were Martial Arts! Birds were Martial Arts! Clouds and the morning sun were Martial Arts! Thunder and rainstorms were Martial Arts! Even every blade of grass and every tree was Martial Arts!

Why can’t all natural things be Martial Arts?

In a daze, Zhang Beixing felt he had reached the ancient state of ’seeing mountains not as mountains,’ where nature itself seemed to transform into a series of martial movements. A reclining mountain range was a stance; the wind sighing through the forest was a movement technique; the startled cry of a bird was a leg skill... Even the golden light of the morning sun had turned purple, as if ’Purple Qi from the East flows thirty thousand li, absorbed into the abdomen to condense Hidden Force.’

Under the influence of this state of mind, a myriad of thoughts instantly surged through Zhang Beixing’s head, as if the entire world had suddenly been packed into it. The sheer volume of insights made Zhang Beixing’s head spin; new ideas were dawning, but a myriad of thoughts were too tangled to unravel.

He just stood there, still, like a wooden post, his face blank, motionless for a long, long time.

「He remained like this, without food or sleep, for a full day and night.」

"Haaa—"

With a long exhale, Zhang Beixing abruptly snapped back to his senses. He let out a soft cry, then raised his arm and thrust a palm forward!

Just then, a gust of wind blew a leaf to fall nearby, less than a meter away. Zhang Beixing abruptly changed his palm to a fist and clenched it from a distance.

Then—SNAP! A crisp sound.

The verdant green leaf, originally swaying with the wind, seemed to be suddenly grasped by something. After pausing in mid-air for a second, it was crushed into a ball by an invisible force, then disintegrated into fragments that scattered with the wind.

At that moment, Zhang Beixing slowly regained his composure, his eyes bright as he declared excitedly,

"The myriad things of nature can be my technique; the Qi of Heaven and Earth resides within my heart!"

"This is the philosophy behind my Ultimate Skill!"