Gathering True Qi

Within the world of nature, animals had the most sensitive instincts. That was without a doubt.

Just before something dangerous was about to happen, they naturally reacted before it happened. That was especially so when they were being watched by an enemy from afar or from a place they couldn't see. They immediately went into a defensive mode.

The creepy body that Rong Kaixuan was controlling was just as careful as the timidest animal in the world when faced with impending danger.

There were no clues or signs, but he could sense it. There was a very terrifying thing deep in the dense forest in the distance, and this thing was definitely much more powerful than he was.

Perhaps it was because it saw that Rong Kaixuan had gone into a defensive position, but the animal hiding in the forest realized that it had lost its chance to make a sudden or surprise attack. As a result, it just swung its tail and sauntered out of the forest.

The body that Rong Kaixuan controlled had blurry features, but it still had a nose and two eyes. Thus, he was able to see what the huge thing in front of him looked like.

It was a very large and ferocious wild beast. Its fur was light yellow, and its large body was covered with black horizontal stripes. The stripes covered its underside. The huge beast had a round skull. Its face was covered with longer fur. Its ears were short and shaped like semi-circles. Its four limbs were muscular and strong. Its tail was thick and long with more stripes around it. The end of the tail was covered in a full black that made one tremble in fear.

"A tiger…"

Rong Kaixuan's entire body was very tense. If his real body was standing there, his back would have been covered in sweat.

He had never imagined that he would run into such a terrifying beast the first time he went into the deep mountains.

A tiger commanded the rest of the animals in the forest. There were many other ferocious and powerful beasts in the forest, but a tiger was definitely one of those at the top of the list.

This particular one was a really aggressive and savage tiger that could rise above all the other animals in this forest.

His father had taught and watched him very strictly, so Rong Kaixuan had never slacked off when he was practicing his boxing. As a result, his foundation was very firm. Regardless, all the hard work he had put in over the past decade had become useless when he was faced with this king of the mountain.

His heart was pounding wildly, and his limbs turned cold. He suddenly felt as if his entire body was going weak.

"A 10% chance of survival means that you're actually in a situation in which you're definitely going to die. If you don't make a breakthrough, then you will certainly die."

His father's words started ringing in his ears. It was only now that Rong Kaixuan truly understood what those words truly meant.

His normal, everyday boxing practice was extremely different from being on the verge of dying.

When he was faced with this savage tiger that could kill him, he couldn't use any of the boxing skills that he had practiced so hard at all, never mind surpassing his current level of technique or activating any of his potential.

As the king of the mountain, the tiger could sense the fear in the unknown thing in front of it.

Roar!

The ferocious tiger roared. The sound shook the earth.

This huge animal, which weighed at least 600 pounds, pounced forward fiercely and brought along a stench that made one feel like puking.

"Ah!"

Rong Kaixuan's eyes suddenly widened. Just before the tiger could pounce on him, he finally managed to get rid of the fear in his heart. His hands and legs were still a little weak, but he bravely ran forward.

At this point, he had completely forgotten that this body wasn't his. In his eyes and heart, he could only see this fierce and invincible huge tiger.

His fists smashed hard against the ferocious tiger. Even though the punch carried all the strength of his body, it was still unable to stop the ferocious tiger from pouncing forward.

The huge claws of the tiger landed equally hard on the body that Rong Kaixuan was controlling. The heavy impact sent him flying back.

Pak!

Rong Kaixuan landed heavily against a large tree. The severe impact made his head giddy, causing him to nearly blackout. He felt like he was going to faint at any moment.

He felt a terrible pain searing through his body. It was as if this slam into the tree had broken all the bones in his body into tiny pieces.

A blood-curdling roar resounded next to his ear. The tiger seemed to have been angered by his punch and was coming for him again.

Rong Kaixuan used all his strength to force his eyes to open. All he could see was the terrifying and threatening face of this king of the animals. The stench hit his face. It made him feel like he was going to die in a bloodbath.

Death was just a step away from him now.

Anyone would have clearly felt death's footsteps slowly but surely coming closer in a moment like this.

An indescribable terror instantly overwhelmed his heart.

Time seemed to suddenly slow down as his energy started to rise at an unusually high speed. This wasn't an illusion. It was that legendary sudden burst of energy that all living things had just before they met with their demise.

He now felt it. There was a strange strength that came out from the energy center in his lower abdomen.

This strength was powerful beyond compare. It was the strength that his decade of effort and potential had suddenly unleashed at the moment he faced death.

He raised his fist. The strength that was released from his energy center flowed into that fist. He threw a vicious punch forward.

Just as his fist was raised, the huge tiger opened its mouth and bit down hard on his neck. The tremendous pull of the tiger was about to tear his body into two.

Boom!

There was a great booming sound as the gigantic tiger, which weighed at least 600 pounds, was sent flying by his punch.

But this huge tiger was indeed the king of the animals. It had been struck by such a terrifying force, but it was still holding onto Rong Kaixuan in its mouth and refused to let go.

*******

"Ahh!"

Rong Kaixuan suddenly bolted up from his bed. He was covered in sweat. The skin on his face kept twitching uncontrollably.

Just as he had managed to punch the tiger, his neck had already been bitten and broken by that king of the mountain. In his memory, the last thing he saw was how the huge tiger was that had been sent flying by his punch. After that, his consciousness plunged into a sea of absolute darkness.

He now understood that his actual body hadn't died. It was just that the will that he applied to the strange body had come right back to his own body.

He looked at his own body. Rong Kaixuan quickly touched his neck and chest.

He was now certain that his neck wasn't broken. That feeling of having broken every bone in his body when he hit the large tree earlier was just a feeling. None of his bones were broken.

He blinked a few times. He didn't understand why all the things that had happened to the strange body didn't happen to his actual body, but he was glad it didn't. This was definitely a good thing.

He was still fearful when he thought about what happened earlier. His heart found it difficult to settle down.

The dense forest of the deep mountain was ridiculously dangerous. He had just casually come across a huge tiger like that, and that tiger was enough to send him to the nether world.

He was thoroughly convinced about what his father had told him.

What was all that talk about being able to breakthrough if one was faced with just a 10% chance of surviving? That was a lie that could cost someone's life. If everybody who practiced martial arts had to go through such dire circumstances before they could make a breakthrough, nobody would have ever survived.

After panting heavily for a long time, he finally felt a little better.

He rolled out of bed and changed out of his drenched clothes. He looked at the clothes that were drenched in sweat and shook his head as he laughed at himself.

His daily practice had proven to be as good as useless in that sort of situation. It was clear that training practice and an actual battle were completely different.

Perhaps it was because it was his first experience with something so dangerous, but he kept replaying the scene of how he fought with the tiger. The vivid images refused to fade.

Rong Kaixuan sat down on the floor and quietly thought about that moment. His thoughts went back to the last part where he could vividly remember that a strange force had come out from his energy center. The force was quite weak, and he hadn't produced much of it. But that little bit of force had been enough to send the huge tiger flying out.

If that little bit of force had been more powerful, or if he already had this bit of force before he met the tiger, the end of his battle with the huge tiger might have been completely different.

His heart slowly calmed back down. He tried his best to think about the feeling he had at the last moment.

It was as if a blessing had come upon his heart, yet it also felt like it was all supposed to happen. Just when he had completely calmed both his heart and body down, his lower abdomen suddenly started warming up.

It was that exact same feeling. A very small, faint, and barely detectable force was gathering within his energy center.

Rong Kaixuan's eyes suddenly widened and became very round. His face immediately filled with an indescribable look of ecstasy.

True Qi…

That was definitely true Qi.

He had started learning the art of boxing under the strict eye of his father when he was three years old.

For the last 10 or so years, he diligently trained every single day. These years of training had helped him build a very firm foundation, but he was never able to break through to that final stage. He had never been able to use the training he had in boxing to make his energy center gather a single bit of true Qi.

After that battle with the ferocious tiger in the mountains, Rong Kaixuan had finally succeeded.

As he felt the little bit of true Qi within his energy center, for some reason, tears started coming to his eyes.

True Qi wasn't just the goal he worked so hard to attain for more than 10 years. It was also his father's dream and hope.

He would never forget the loneliness and disappointment on Rong Yiyang's face when he first talked to Rong Kaixuan about giving up. That was an expression that would even make a man feel his heart break.

All of that unhappiness was suddenly gone. His heart was now filled with pride.

That space between life and death was terrifying. Once he got through the terrifying part, he received a huge reward.

He had to go through being attacked and nearly killed by a ferocious tiger, but all these sacrifices had been worth it.

Rong Kaixuan got up, opened the door, and ran out.

Even though it was very late at night and the stars were still twinkling in the sky, Rong Kaixuan was so excited that he couldn't wait to tell his father the good news.

The feeling was so strong that he could not hold it in at all.

He didn't have a lot of true Qi in his energy center, but once he had some, he felt like he had entered a whole new world.

He used the light from the stars to shine on the area around him. He looked at his surroundings. The paths he was familiar with suddenly seemed strange, but they also seemed clearer.

Everything around him seemed new and fresh. It was as if the entire world had been injected with a new life force and come alive.

Soon enough, he reached his parents' room.

After hesitating for a moment, Rong Kaixuan raised his hand and rapped against the door, creating an ear-piercing knocking sound in the middle of the night.