Li Yun paused in his tracks, and in the next second, he bolted and dashed back into the house.

It was only a distance of a dozen or so meters.

Yet it left Li Yun's entire face flushed red, his breath coming in heavy gasps.

"A System! Holy crap..."

Li Yun had not expected that the Golden Finger System, an essential staple of legendary Transmigrators, would arrive so easily.

With the System in hand, what was there left to fear?

Climbing to the Peak of the martial path and becoming a supreme Expert—weren't these just standard routines?

At this thought,

Li Yun did not waste a single moment and hurried to inspect the System.

With just a single thought,

a concise System Panel appeared before his eyes.

【Host: Li Yun】

【Age: 16】

【Aptitude: Grade Five】

【Identity: Heavenly Martial Sect, Outer Sect Disciple of Courtyard 95 of the Ren Branch】

【Realm: Acquired, Body Tempering First Layer】

【Martial Arts: Basic Stance Training (Entry +)】

【Martial Cognition Points: 31】

Immediately afterward, a surge of information surfaced in his mind.

Dazed and in a trance, a few minutes slipped by.

Li Yun suddenly understood the function of this System.

Strength stems from cognition. The System's function was to allow Li Yun to gain cognition points through observation and cultivation, which could then be used to easily upgrade his Martial Arts.

Currently, he had mastered only one Martial Art: 【Basic Stance Training】, taught uniformly by the Heavenly Martial Sect when he entered the sect in September.

This technique possessed no offensive power; it could only temper the physique and improve physical strength and constitution.

And Body Tempering was the first of the three Acquired Realms, truly the foundation of all foundations.

【Basic Stance Training】 consisted of twelve stances in total.

Li Yun had been an Outer Sect Disciple of the Heavenly Martial Sect for only about a month. Relying on the instruction of the Outer Sect's Martial Arts Deacon and his own private pondering, he had only trained up to the fourth stance, the Crouching Tiger Stance.

Hence, it could only be considered Entry.

Above Entry was Initial Mastery, followed by Proficient, Minor Achievement, Proficient, Great Mastery, and Perfection.

To reach the Realm of Initial Mastery, one had to learn all twelve stances and be able to execute them smoothly and accurately.

This was no easy feat.

According to Li Baoshan, the Martial Arts Deacon of Courtyard 95 of the Ren Branch, the fastest an Outer Sect Disciple in the history of the Heavenly Martial Sect had achieved Initial Mastery in 【Basic Stance Training】 was three months.

The person who achieved that record possessed Grade One Aptitude, and was considered top-tier even among Grade One Aptitudes.

With Li Yun's Grade Five Aptitude, reaching Initial Mastery would likely take eight months or more, and there was no guarantee that his Basic Stance Training at Initial Mastery could compare to that of the record holder.

But now, he had the System.

With the existing 31 cognition points, he could directly upgrade 【Basic Stance Training】.

Thus, there was no need for hesitation.

Li Yun aimed his gaze at the plus sign behind 【Basic Stance Training】 on the System Panel and clicked it decisively.

Instantly, as if an invisible electric current surged through his entire body, a slight tingling sensation washed over him.

Out of thin air, a burst of radiance bloomed in his mind.

It seemed to turn into a silent pocket of spacetime, where a figure identical to him began practicing 【Basic Stance Training】.

Starting from the first stance,

to the second stance, the third stance, and even the fourth stance...

It was extraordinarily Proficient and completely natural, possessing a very distinct and profound charm.

Watching it, Li Yun was mesmerized instantly.

After about half a quarter of an hour, when the figure in his mind executed 【Basic Stance Training】 halfway through the seventh stance, it suddenly trembled and vanished completely.

Only then did Li Yun snap awake as if emerging from a deep dream.

He found that the 31 Martial Cognition Points originally on the System Panel had been cleared to zero.

"It's gone just like that?"

"That was too fast!"

Li Yun still craved more, but he quickly closed his eyes to savor everything he had just witnessed.

Soon, his eyes snapped open.

He realized there was no need to reminisce at all; a clear and profound memory had already taken root in his mind, encompassing the subtle mysteries of 【Basic Stance Training】 from the first stance through the seventh.

It was as though he had painstakingly cultivated it for three months himself.

He could hardly believe it.

If it were this simple, wouldn't cultivating be too easy?

He quickly rose to his feet.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was in the room, he began to practice for real.

In the beginning, it was still a bit unpracticed, but after just a few seconds, the memories in his mind surged forth on their own, and everything became smooth.

Like water flowing into a channel, he seamlessly cultivated 【Basic Stance Training】 all the way to the seventh stance in one breath.

"Smooth, so smooth, it's practically silky..."

"Now this is real Stance Training!"

"In contrast, although my predecessor managed to practice up to the fourth stance, it was forced cultivation—having form without spirit and riddled with errors. If he kept cultivating like that, let alone Body Tempering, he would have ruined his own body sooner or later..."

"A Grade Five Aptitude is mediocre to begin with; if the body was ruined on top of that, how could one ever hope to reverse into the Innate Realm?"

"Tsk..."

"The System is truly awesome!"

By this point, Li Yun had gotten a taste for it.

He wished that the enlightenment just now had been even more intense, allowing him to push 【Basic Stance Training】 directly to Perfection.

After all, the Heavenly Martial Sect treated its Outer Sect Disciples quite well.

For disciples with outstanding cultivation, there were even resource incentives.

If one could truly cultivation 【Basic Stance Training】 to Perfection within one year, and have it verified and reported by the Martial Arts Deacon, one would directly receive an award of up to thirty Qi and Blood Pills.

For a Martial Artist in the Body Refining Realm, a Qi and Blood Pill was a supreme treasure medicine with miraculous effects on Body Tempering; a single pill was worth at least half a month of painstaking cultivation for others.

Hence, it was of immense value.

A single pill cost one hundred taels of silver, so thirty pills amounted to three thousand taels.

For ordinary commoners, a family of four only spent about fifteen taels per month for regular living expenses; three thousand taels was enough to live on for over a decade.

Li Yun came from an ordinary background. Although his parents ran a small business, their savings were at most a few hundred taels of silver. Expecting them to shell out three thousand taels of silver to buy him Qi and Blood Pills was simply unrealistic.

But now, things were different.

With the help of this System, it seemed he could actually look forward to that reward of thirty Qi and Blood Pills.

However, the prerequisite for all of this was that he had to possess enough Martial Cognition Points.

At this thought,

Li Yun could not sit still for even half a second longer. Wiping away his sweat, he headed out once again.

This time,

he strolled directly into the large courtyard outside the house. On the surface, he was just idling about, but his eyes were constantly darting around.

Wherever someone was practicing Martial Arts in a corner, he would approach and steal a glance or two.

【Observed others practicing Martial Arts, Cognition Points +1】

【Observed others practicing Martial Arts, Cognition Points +1】

【...】

As he walked around, the System indeed responded.

Although the points did not tick up very quickly—increasing by about one point a minute—it still kept steadily rising.

In just half an hour,

his Martial Cognition Points had restored to 30 once again.

What did this mean?

It meant that he could soon experience another wave of that previous enlightenment!

Just thinking about it was exhilarating.

A smile involuntarily curled at the corners of his lips.

But right at that moment, an annoyed voice suddenly rang out.

"Li Yun, what are you doing?"

"Instead of cultivating yourself, why do you keep hovering around me? Are you trying to steal my Stance Training?"