“Pfft...” In the end, that little mouse really seemed to crawl out from deep within the lower abdomen, then stayed inside, continuously jumping around.

“How is it?” Old Man opened his eyes and asked.

William Carter said, “That little mouse came out, stayed in my belly, and keeps gently jumping.”

Old Man was once again astonished, shaking his head, “Comparing people just makes you angry!”

He didn’t tell William Carter that for others, even those with great talent, it would take at least a month of practicing this mantra before they could sense the little mouse, and at least half a year before they could draw it out and keep it in their lower abdomen.

“The process just now is called guiding qi—absorbing the vital energy of heaven and earth into your body, then gathering it from countless meridians into the dantian in your abdomen. The jumping little mouse you mentioned is your initial mysterious qi,” Old Man said.

“I have mysterious qi too?” William Carter said in surprise.

Chapter 5: First Steps in Martial Arts

“I have mysterious qi too?” William Carter said in surprise.

“Practice your punches for three hours,” Old Man said. “The important thing about practicing punches isn’t the correctness of the movements, but how to communicate with the mysterious qi in your abdomen, to integrate your boxing techniques with the mysterious qi, and learn how to control the mysterious qi in your belly. Not only must you gather the mysterious qi from your meridians into the dantian, but you must also learn to send the mysterious qi from the dantian out to all parts of your meridians. Only then can it be used in combat.”

“How do I communicate with it?” William Carter asked.

Old Man said, “Go feel it!”

After saying this, Old Man closed his eyes.

William Carter began practicing the first move of the Zhengyang Fist. At first, he kept his eyes open, following every step precisely, not daring to make a single mistake. As a result, the mysterious qi in his lower abdomen’s dantian had no reaction at all. After dozens of repetitions, there was still no response from the mysterious qi. So, William Carter simply closed his eyes to practice, not caring whether the moves were accurate or not, forcing himself to sense that mysterious qi. To his delight, the little mouse actually started to stir. But it was only just stirring, as if the attraction wasn’t enough to draw it into the meridians.

William Carter kept his eyes closed, practicing his punches, desperately trying to sense the little mouse, desperately wanting to get close to it and summon it. But the more you want to get close, the more reserved it becomes. At first, it was still a bit active, but then it simply ignored him, becoming lazy and unresponsive.

So, William Carter opened his eyes again, stopped paying attention to the mysterious qi mouse, and practiced strictly according to the correct form, repeating it dozens more times. Then, he closed his eyes again to practice, trying to sense the mysterious qi mouse.

Who would have thought that as soon as he closed his eyes to practice and focused on sensing the little mouse, the little mouse suddenly couldn’t wait any longer and jumped up fiercely, almost spreading throughout all his meridians.

William Carter was overjoyed. This mysterious qi mouse really seemed alive. It kept its distance when you chased it, but when you ignored it, it came to you.

William Carter hurriedly closed his eyes again to practice, wanting to feel this mysterious qi once more. The martial arts of this world were so wondrous that William Carter was completely captivated.

“That’s enough for today, don’t practice anymore,” Old Man suddenly said.

“But, the little mouse just jumped, I was about to succeed!” William Carter said.

“It won’t jump back into your meridians again today. That jump just now was already the biggest achievement for today,” Old Man said. “Don’t practice anymore, or you’ll actually regress.”

“Sigh! Comparing people just makes you angry,” Old Man sighed again, then slowly closed his eyes.

William Carter didn’t believe it and continued to practice in secret. Unexpectedly, it was just as Old Man said—not only did he not make any further progress, but he actually regressed a lot. The mouse became less and less excited, and in the end, it just lay there lazily, not moving at all.

The next day, William Carter continued to practice qi for an hour, feeling that the little mouse seemed to have grown a bit and become more active.

But during the following three hours of Zhengyang Fist, even though he managed to make the little mouse jump around desperately, he still couldn’t summon it out of the dantian. It was as if the dantian had an irresistible attraction for the little mouse, and it just couldn’t bear to leave.

The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day!

Finally, William Carter managed to draw the little mouse out of the dantian in his lower abdomen. Just like a real mouse, it ran all over his body, completely out of control. Wherever it ran, that place would heat up, feeling as if it was swelling. William Carter couldn’t help but exclaim again.

Old Man opened his eyes, saw William Carter running around, and shook his head with a sigh, “Comparing people just makes you angry.”

Others needed three months to draw the mysterious qi from the dantian into the meridians, but William Carter only needed five days.

“Sit down, close your eyes, and regulate your breath. The mysterious qi will automatically return to the dantian,” Old Man said. “The first move of the Zhengyang Fist is about guiding qi—gathering the mysterious qi from the meridians into the dantian, accumulating bit by bit to make it stronger. Then, you draw this mysterious qi from the dantian out into the meridians.”

“So, you’ve basically finished the first move,” Old Man said. “Next is the second move, which is to teach you how to guide and control this mysterious qi—when to gather it, when to release it, and where to send it.”