First was internal training, then external training, followed by eating and resting, and then martial training again.

Afterwards, James Carter returned to school. Just as dawn was breaking, Coach William Clark's training began as well.

William Clark's training was very simple. The first seven days were spent digging and turning over soil. The second seven days were spent carrying loads to the countryside.

This kind of training was very monotonous and had absolutely no fun to speak of. If James Carter hadn't gained some profound insights from Richard Grant, he would probably have thought it was pointless and, like Brian Reed, started to feel slack. But now, the more he trained, the more interesting it became.

At night, he continued to serve as Scott Miller's punching bag, occasionally fighting back with a couple of punches, but his fighting skills were still far inferior to Scott Miller.

James Carter didn't mind; as long as he was making progress, even if slowly, that was enough.

He kept a diary to record his daily changes.

"July 10th: Training as usual, nothing has changed. It's so tough, but fortunately Coach Richard Grant's breakfast is really delicious and nutritious, and I eat a lot. The breakfast is ordered from the Nie Family Private Kitchen in town, but it's said to be very expensive and not something ordinary people can get. According to Coach Richard Grant, there are many hidden masters in this city. He came here to visit some of them and learn traditional knowledge. There's a thousand-year-old ancient temple on the mountain, and many martial arts originated from that temple. Even the hoe-and-mattock move I learned was created by generations of warrior monks while doing farm work."

"July 11th: Today, in addition to the usual training, Coach Richard Grant taught me many unarmed combat techniques for the hoe-and-mattock move. Turns out, you can attack the enemy from all sorts of angles, and there are many techniques, like slapping the face, then grabbing and pulling, gouging eyes, and if you miss, immediately switching to an elbow strike to the chest, then changing your stance and kneeing the opponent in the groin. Truly vicious. It's so ruthless that it can't be used in competition. But to use these moves well, you need to go through a lot of real combat experience."

"July 12th: Today, Coach Richard Grant added a new exercise to the physical training called 'Crouching Tiger Skill,' which involves crawling on all fours on the ground, somewhat like a plank, and it's very strenuous. Coach William Clark still had us carry loads—nothing new. Coach Richard Grant's meals are getting better and better; he really wants to train me, and I will definitely repay him well in the future. Also, for a foreigner to be so devoted to pursuing Chinese culture, as a Chinese myself, I should work even harder. Also, today under Coach Richard Grant's body conditioning strikes, I seemed to feel a resonance between my whole body's muscles and my breathing. It wasn't as piercingly painful as the previous days; instead, it actually felt a bit comfortable. Is it just my imagination?"

"July 13th: I seem to have grasped some of the rhythm of body breathing. When sparring with Scott Miller, when he hits me, my muscles instinctively tense up sharply and then suddenly relax, and it really doesn't hurt. But this state comes and goes, so I still can't control the tension and relaxation of my muscles at will. I need to practice more. Coach Richard Grant says that in ancient Chinese boxing manuals, this is called 'qi not being able to flow through the whole body, with breaks in between.' Sometimes I look up some old boxing manuals online, but the language is so profound that I don't really understand them. Looks like I need to improve my classical Chinese. But at night, the 'corpse spread' sleeping method really works—I sleep soundly and never feel tired all day. It's just that I use so much medicated oil, basically a bottle a day."

"July 14th: I looked in the mirror and found that I actually grew some muscles, got a bit taller, and my skin seems much smoother. Coach Richard Grant says it's because I have a great mindset and perfectly balanced hormones, so all my bodily functions are full of vitality. Sometimes Coach William Clark looks at me with a puzzled expression. But he hasn't given me any special treatment; he still just has us carry loads, and the road to the countryside is getting harder and harder. Sometimes we even have to carry loads up mountain paths, which really made me feel the hardship of farmers. Also, Coach Richard Grant taught me a set of massage techniques to help me learn about the body's acupoints. I picked it up quickly and found it very interesting. This helps me understand how to train the body's structure."

"July 15th: Coach William Clark gave us a day off, so I could study with Coach Richard Grant all day. Scott Miller, that maniac, trains like crazy every day, and it's said he even sneaks off to some martial arts schools in town to spar with people. He also told me that there's a bar in town, and every night there are boxing matches there—if you win, you can make money. There are also many boxing gyms in the city, and all kinds of small competitions. As long as you can fight, it's easy to stand out. I feel like I've only been training for half a month, so I won't join the fun. Coach Richard Grant is leaving next month for Tibet and India to seek supernatural powers, so I have to make the most of my time to learn as much as I can from him. I still don't understand what supernatural powers really are. For someone as scientifically rigorous as Richard Grant to believe in supernatural things is surprising. Anyway, I don't believe that the end of science is philosophy, and the end of philosophy is theology. After all this training, martial arts is just the application of psychological and physical qualities. Psychological strength can enhance physical strength, and physical strength can also boost psychological strength. That's all there is to it."