8 Figure under the moonlight! [RM]

"This is the 32nd form of the Nine Direction Flowing stance! If you change your step just a little bit to the left, and twist your body to the right, you can immediately counter any attacks from the front and back like this!" Meng Yue continued to demonstrate the feasibility of stances combination.

Duan Li, who have followed the lesson for about three hours by now, were getting the hang of it.

"With this one, I should have already memorized exactly 89 stances now..." Duan Li noted inwardly, his face flushed, feeling somewhat exhausted.

"Mother... I know that you are excited to impart all your martial arts to me, but I am hungry now and tired..." Duan Li wanted to cry for this was the first time that he had to put so much effort into something in his life.

Except for the one time where he has to hide his 'treasures' of course.

In the end, after another few rounds of practice and some short breaks in between, with the help of the memorization ability, Duan Li had finally learned a total of 14 attack stances, 44 defensive stances and 31 supportive stances.

Not to mention, with a total of 416 possible stances combination!

While attack and defensive stances were mostly straightforward, Duan Li could not help but to be impressed with the supportive stances. After all, it made the transition for countering attacks and dodging them quite effortless!

What he failed to realize however; this was only possible because it was his mother that was guiding him. As a top expert, she had tirelessly made improvements on her martial arts to the point where there was little to no wasted movements at all!

"Fuew!" Duan Li exhaled and cupped his chin as he reviewed the stances in his head to make sense for some of them.

Meanwhile, Meng Yue at the side was feeling strangely rather conflicted as she observed Duan Li. She was happy that her son was no longer a complete fool, but at the same time was also stifled that the transformation happened rather quickly in an uneventful way!

Even as a self-proclaimed top genius, she still had to practice for a year to reach adept mastery in all the stances that she had imparted. She recalled the blood, sweat and tears she had to put up with at that time.

But now, her son had just become an adept martial artist within the span of just 10 hours!

If they were to continue with real combat practice, which is the criteria needed to advance mastery to the master and pinnacle level, would her son be a pinnacle level martial artist by tomorrow?

This thought made her shudder a little.

Hais!

His luck with encountering such a profound ability was simply too unbelievable!

"I have to admit that it is impressive for you to be able to master half of my martial arts to the adept level in less than a day." She sighed.

Hearing this, Duan Li couldn't help but to show a smug face, making her tempted to beat him up.

Martial arts were made up of stances, sort of like pages in a book. The more they are combined together, the stronger one's martial arts will be.

Normally, Duan Li would have to start from the basic manuals and progress himself by procuring different move sets over time, which could only be described as a tiring process. After all, even if he were to find the most capable teacher to guide him, none of them would be so free as to impart him their techniques all day, assuming he was a normal student.

There were countless students they would have to pay attention to while also having to attend to their own cultivation and practice. Therefore, they would only impart the students some techniques and impose certain expectations that the students would have to reach by themselves before they could guide them any further.

This was the point where many failed and their foundation stunted, or were forced to become a bookworm in the academy's library and try things out by themselves. This process alone could take years or forever depending on one's talents and luck.

Truth be told, she didn't expect too much on her son originally and only planned to teach him a thing or two since there are limits to how much one could absorb.

But who knew that her son was also a talented genius like her? She can't help but to feel impressed and proud on herself!

As I expected, my bloodline is indeed too powerful!

"It is only fortunate that I only have one child. Otherwise, others will not have a chance to be in the spotlight in this world anymore! Truly fortunate!" Meng Yue stared at the night sky with a solemn expression as she nodded repeatedly, her hands clasped behind her back, convinced that her existence should be forbidden under the heavens for being able to produce such a monster!

Hais!

"…" Duan Li picked his nose while staring at his mother strangely and could somehow tell what she was thinking.

Ahem!

Letting out a dry cough, she then said seriously, "Listen son," To which Duan Li knew that he needed to pay full attention to what his mother was about to say.

"It is unfortunate that time does not side with us, so this will be as far as what I could teach you. When you are in the academy, try to reach the pinnacle level as soon as you can. The stronger you are, the less likely would people want to mess with you."

She then continued, "Once you become a cultivator, you will realize what true power is. At that point, pursue whatever you believe in. However, do not let power consume your mind. Don't ever forget this."

Duan Li nodded firmly and asked, "Mother, I am a little confused. Do I have to reach the pinnacle mastery in martial arts to become a cultivator?"

Meng Yue shook her head and replied, "No, that would be silly! You will learn more about this in the academy in much greater detail next time. However, I can only say that even if you are a complete fool, you can still become a cultivator if you have talent and luck."

Duan Li somehow could feel a hint of sarcasm in his mother's tone when she answered him. But he could roughly paint the overall picture about cultivators and martial artists in his mind now.

"Now, you won't be bullied by your peers even if you are a fresh junior in the academy with your current martial arts skills. Though you should be careful since what you have learned are all purely theoretical and zero combat experience. But I am not too worried since you have a cheat anyway." Meng Yue gave her final piece before they went inside their house to call it a day.

Duan Li acknowledged and nodded to this as he too was able to feel the awkwardness in his movements despite its perfection when he practiced his martial arts before.

He recalled in the previous book about human anatomy and muscles that this was called as 'muscle memory'. He reckoned that as he continued to practice, the feeling of awkwardness should disappear eventually.

After washing up, Duan Li went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Meng Yue drank some liquor which she hasn't touched for years. Her lonely figure under the guise of moonlight that entered the kitchen window could make out a mother that silently cried and forced to drown the feelings only she knew.

"I hope you will miss me…"

…