Chapter 20 Xingyi and Piercing Kick

Wu Li lay on his bed, unable to sleep.

He pulled up the system exchange list, intending to exchange for Martial Arts Skills.

His opponent had been confirmed and was already here, it was time to strengthen himself.

The first Martial Arts Skill Wu Li chose to exchange was Xingyi Fist. He wanted to see how the system would charge him based on his existing knowledge of Xingyi Fist.

"Exchange Martial Arts Skill: Xingyi Fist, requires 500 Fan Value."

"Detected that the host has already mastered part of the Martial Arts Skills of Xingyi Fist, this exchange will only require 200 Fan Value."

"Exchanging..."

Moments later, Wu Li's mind was filled with various contents, Xingyi Five Elements Fist, Twelve Forms, various training methods, fighting techniques.

He closed his eyes and sorted it out for about an hour, and Wu Li opened his eyes with joy.

The Xingyi Twelve Forms divided into Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Horse, Alligator, Chicken, Yan, Hawk, Snake, Bird Platform, Eagle, and Bear; each had its own characteristics, and moreover, these twelve forms could be combined in different ways to create a multitude of variations.

When Xingyi Fist spread, different schools combined the Twelve Forms in their unique way to form signature joint attacks, such as Bear-Hawk Joint Attack, Eagle-Yan Joint Attack, Dragon-Snake Joint Attack, etc.; these joint attacks often embodied a school's core understanding of Xingyi Fist, making them closely-guarded killing moves.

Wu Li had learned Xingyi Fist from his grandfather, and aside from the basic Five Elements Fist, he mainly practiced the Tiger Form within the Twelve Forms. As for the joint attack techniques, his grandfather told him that their lineage's Xingyi Joint Attack had long been lost, which was a great regret for Wu Li.

Now, having exchanged for the complete Xingyi Fist from the system, Wu Li gained many joint attacks and several fighting techniques and killing moves he had never heard of before. Just possessing these memories advanced his understanding of Xingyi Fist, giving him the sense that he was on the verge of breaking through a bottleneck.

"200 Fan Value was truly well spent!" Wu Li exclaimed, also proving that the Martial Arts Skills in the system exchange list encompassed the essence of various schools, and exchanging one was like having several masters from different schools.

Suppressing his excitement, Wu Li searched the exchange list for another Martial Arts Skill to exchange.

"Exchange Martial Arts Skill: Piercing Kick, requires 500 Fan Value."

"Exchanging..."

Similar to before, a flood of information flowed into his mind, but this time, Wu Li suddenly grunted and clutched his head in pain, his forehead veins bulging, taking quite a while to recover.

"Damn..."

It was just a moment, but Wu Li was sweating profusely with pain; for an instant, his brain felt like it was going to explode.

Wu Li guessed that the pain was caused by his brain receiving too much information in a short period.

"When I exchanged for Xingyi Fist previously, since I had practiced it for so many years and had some understanding of it, even with new content added, it could be quickly integrated into the existing framework without causing any problems for my brain; however, the Piercing Kick I've just exchanged for was completely foreign to me, causing my brain to 'overload'?"

After some self-reflection and a wry smile, Wu Li decided it was best to have a good understanding of a Martial Arts Skill before exchanging for it, to be safer. He originally intended to exchange for hundreds of Martial Arts Skills all at once, to become a 'Martial Arts encyclopedia', even if not for immediate use, but it now seemed wiser to proceed more cautiously.

Lying in bed and taking a moment to recover, Wu Li began 'browsing' through the content about Piercing Kick in his mind.

Piercing Kick is a Northern-style Martial Arts focused on leg techniques, believed to have originated during the Song Dynasty, known as the "Excellence of Northern Legs"; Wu Song's drunken fight with Jiang Men Shen involved the use of Piercing Kick's Jade Ring Step and Mandarin Duck Kick.

There's a saying in the Martial Arts world, "Hands are two doors; all rely on legs to fight."

Piercing Kick's fighting style is agile and robust, extending to strike at a distance, with emphasis on strength; it stresses the use of both hands and legs, requiring a straight and flexible movement technique in body method and is highly practical in real combat—modern Sandboxing incorporates many techniques of Piercing Kick.

Wu Li chose to exchange for this Martial Arts Skill to compensate for his lack of leg techniques. His Xingyi Fist mainly focused on hand techniques, and some claw or reverse joint moves couldn't be used in the ring, so he needed to use leg techniques to make up for it.

In Free Fighting competitions, leg techniques are extensively used, and Ren Donglai's fighting style is also primarily based on leg techniques. By exchanging for Piercing Kick, Wu Li aimed to target Ren Donglai and also to reinforce his weakness in the ring.

"Upgrade Piercing Kick." Wu Li issued the command.

"Piercing Kick upgraded to Entry Level, requires 3000 Fan Value."

"Upgrade successful."

"Piercing Kick upgraded to Skilled Level, requires 20000 Fan Value."

"Upgrade successful."

Wu Li upgraded Piercing Kick two levels in one go, directly to Skilled Level. Upgrading from Skilled Level to Master Level would require 300,000 Fan Value, which was beyond his reach for now.

As Piercing Kick's level increased, a familiar warm current flowed through Wu Li's body, lasting for about 10 seconds before disappearing.

Wu Li stood up and casually kicked in the room. He could clearly feel that the Martial Arts movements imprinted in his mind just 10 seconds ago had now become muscle memory, movements he could perform without even thinking—this is what Skilled Level meant.

Besides, Wu Li also unexpectedly discovered that the explosive strength and power in his legs had improved, and even his flexibility seemed better than before.

"I knew it. If it were an ordinary person who'd never trained in Martial Arts, to perform these Martial Arts movements proficiently, certain muscle strength and flexibility would definitely be required. Otherwise, even doing a split could lead to painful mishaps. It seems the system's skill upgrades also include a boost in physical fitness!"

Wu Li wondered whether, when his Martial Arts Skills were upgraded to Master Level, Grandmaster, or even Legendary, his physical fitness would exceed the human limits? Imagining the possibilities, he became even more expectant of his Martial Arts System.

His personal information was now as follows:

"Name: Wu Li

Fan Value: 88913

Money: 106,757 yuan

Skills owned: Xingyi Fist (Master Level), Piercing Kick (Skilled Level)

Items owned: Master Level Experience Card X1"

"Once I finish the fight with Ren Donglai, and my popularity increases further, and I stream another seven or eight matches, could I possibly bring in a Master Level Martial Arts Skill?" Wu Li thought contentedly.

This time, it was truly a long night with no desire to sleep.

(On a business trip, spent a day in the car, the next chapter will be a bit late, please vote for recommendations.)