Extraordinary Realm from Persuasion System

May 25th, Thursday. The weather was overcast.

Today was the last day of training at Shi University for Sophia Zhou and her group of sports students. Tomorrow, they would leave to adjust their condition and prepare for the provincial competition on May 29th.

It seemed like they were about to part ways, or perhaps the pressure was simply too great. The sports students' spirits appeared somewhat downcast, and their physical condition had visibly deteriorated. After an hour of training, it became clear they hadn't recovered.

The head coach, Kang Gu, also noticed the problem. Knowing that continuing to train them in this state would be counterproductive, he called a halt to the session and let them have free time to do as they pleased. It was as if the sports students had been granted an early vacation.

With no one to train, Zhang Beixing also found himself idle. But ever since awakening the System, Zhang Beixing had developed a habit of restlessness and wasn't one to sit still for long. So, he went off to the side and began training independently.

He hadn't been at it for long when someone called out to him. It was that kid, Li Chang. Behind Li Chang, apart from a shy Sophia Zhou who seemed to be hiding from him, stood the other sports students Zhang Beixing had sparred with. Clearly, calling him over had been a collective decision.

Realizing this, Zhang Beixing raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

As he spoke, Li Chang, standing at the front of the group, scratched his head and smiled. "Actually, it's nothing much. We just figured, since we're leaving tomorrow, and you've been training with us all this time, helping us improve a lot, we wanted to come and thank you."

"Oh, that. Don't mention it; I get paid for it!" Zhang Beixing waved his hand dismissively. Taking money to provide a service was his most basic principle as a sparring partner.

Seeing that Li Chang and the others still seemed to want to linger and say more, Zhang Beixing, unwilling to have his own training interrupted, spoke first. "If you really want to thank me, just come by more often when you're free. Rain or shine, Shi University will be waiting for you. Alright, anything else? If not, I'm going back to my training."

"Th-There's... nothing else!" Li Chang, taken aback by Zhang Beixing's words, shook his head and mumbled, the "Thanks, Coach," he'd been about to say dying on his lips.

Seeing his reaction, Zhang Beixing asked again if there was anything else. Upon receiving a "no" in reply, he resumed his independent training until his sparring partner duties were officially over for the day. Then, he bid farewell to Kang Gu and Sophia Zhou before heading alone into the small grove to practice his forms.

Watching Zhang Beixing's carefree and unconventional figure depart, Sophia Zhou's eyes filled with a complex emotion. She watched silently for a long time before finally sighing and returning to her own training.

Having mastered Hidden Force the previous day and painstakingly applied it to the first movement of the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade, 'Lifting the Sky to Regulate the San Jiao,' Zhang Beixing's earlier disdain for the style had completely vanished. He was now incredibly enthusiastic about it.

This change in attitude was partly because integrating Hidden Force into the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade had significantly reduced the awkwardness he'd previously felt. His movements became exceptionally smooth, and he could now incorporate ideas that hadn't seemed to fit before.

More importantly, the modified 'Lifting the Sky to Regulate the San Jiao' yielded incredibly powerful effects. Performing it just once had added a [Vigorously Vital Qi and Blood] status to his condition.

If I could integrate Hidden Force into the remaining seven movements and perform them all together... the effect... Zhang Beixing was almost afraid to imagine it.

"No wonder Elder Chen looks so lively at over ninety years old, even managing to spar with Teacher Liu."

"The terrifying effectiveness of this Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade... tsk tsk..."

"I bet if I taught my bedridden grandpa, he could jump three meters high and then carry his wheelchair to race in the F1 Grand Prix!" Zhang Beixing mused with a "tsk tsk."

Though he was exaggerating, considering the potent effects of the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade, a little hyperbole didn't seem entirely out of place.

Adjusting his internal breathing, Zhang Beixing first performed the newly improved Hidden Force version of 'Lifting the Sky to Regulate the San Jiao' to warm up. Seeing the [Vigorously Vital Qi and Blood] status appear in his notifications, he then began attempting to integrate Hidden Force into the other movements of the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade, furthering his research and development of the form.

This development continued until five o'clock in the afternoon. The sun was setting, and dusk began to settle.

As usual, Liu Yi and Chen Rourou arrived at the grove for their martial arts training. Chen Rourou, having only recently begun her training, had a shallow foundation and couldn't discern the subtle changes in Zhang Beixing.

Liu Yi, however, sensed that something about Zhang Beixing was different, not quite right. But due to his own lack of profound understanding of the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade, an Internal Boxing art, he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for this feeling. After much fruitless pondering, he could only attribute the change to a possible breakthrough on Zhang Beixing's part. Otherwise, there was simply no explaining such a transformation.

PANT—PANT—

His breathing grew erratic, forcing him to stop his movements. Zhang Beixing gasped for air, sweat pouring down like rain. He had failed again.

He had lost count of how many times he had failed. All he knew was that from the moment he started until now, he hadn't succeeded even once. Each time, just as he was on the verge of integrating the Hidden Force, the "Qi" within his body would be disrupted, causing all his efforts to fall short.

This shouldn't be happening!

Leaning against a tree to regulate his breathing, Zhang Beixing mulled over his experiences of the past three hours. The more he thought, the more something felt distinctly off.

Logically speaking, the beginning is always the hardest part. After successfully completing the first movement of the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade, 'Lifting the Sky to Regulate the San Jiao,' the remaining seven movements, no matter how difficult, shouldn't have been *this* insurmountable. They should have been relatively easy to accomplish, simply by going with the flow. But the reality was the exact opposite.

Incorporating Hidden Force into the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade had started off deceptively easy. Afterward, the difficulty had multiplied exponentially. It was like those ridiculously tricky games on Douyin that had gone viral in his past life—blatantly designed to make things difficult.

The difference between the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade and those Douyin games was that, in his past life, once Zhang Beixing learned that those games were just designed to force users to watch ads, he could choose not to play. But he *had* to practice the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade. This was tied to his System quest: "Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound, Qi and Blood Everlasting!"

"Dammit, why is this happening?" he muttered, frowning in deep contemplation, trying to pinpoint what had gone wrong.

Everything had been going smoothly at first, but as soon as Hidden Force made contact with the "Qi" in his body, his internal "Qi" would go haywire. Completely out of control, it would rampage through his system. It was a good thing Zhang Beixing had such a strong Constitution; each point added to it brought comprehensive, flawless improvements, making his internal organs far more resilient than an ordinary person's. Otherwise, anyone else subjected to this kind of internal turmoil would, at best, end up with a severe stitch or, at worst, be rushed to the hospital.

Just as Zhang Beixing was pondering the situation, Liu Yi, noticing his disciple's unusually grave expression, stopped his forms and walked over. "Beixing, what's on your mind? You look so serious."

Even Liu Yi himself didn't realize that his tone was laced with a hint of expectation. It was no wonder he felt this way. Ever since formally taking Zhang Beixing as his disciple, Liu Yi hadn't taught him anything new apart from his self-created "Yue Shatters the Armies." It wasn't that Liu Yi was selfishly hoarding knowledge; it was simply that he had nothing left to teach!

The Yue Family boxing style, Liu Yi's most formidable skill, had been mastered by Zhang Beixing through his terrifying aptitude in a mere two months, to the point where he was on the verge of Great Accomplishment without any formal instruction. Then, considering that prolonged practice of the Yue Family style could be detrimental to the body, Liu Yi had taken him to secretly observe other masters, hoping he might pick up a move or two. And what happened? The kid went and figured out the entire Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade just by watching a video.

Now, to top it all off, Zhang Beixing was starting to teach *him*, the master, how to perform the Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade. This was undoubtedly a massive blow to Liu Yi's ego.

His only consolation now was that Zhang Beixing had virtually no actual combat experience and was completely ignorant of the intricacies and nuances of Great Xia's martial arts world—an utter newbie.

Otherwise, what's the point? We might as well drink that "graduation" wine now. After that, we'll officially be done with this master-disciple charade and just call each other brothers!

...

Unaware of Liu Yi's inner turmoil, Zhang Beixing was still frowning, reflecting on the problems he'd encountered. After a moment's thought, he said, "Actually, it's nothing too serious. It's just that when I'm trying to advance my Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade, as I practice, the Qi inside my body always goes out of control for no apparent reason. But I'm certain my approach is correct. So, I'm trying to figure out what could possibly cause my perfectly correct approach to lead to such a wrong outcome!"

"This..."

Honestly, Liu Yi was dumbfounded. Not only was Zhang Beixing's explanation somewhat convoluted, but more importantly, Liu Yi didn't understand Qi at all.

He had learned this Northern Sect's Eight Pieces of Brocade from Zhang Beixing, for crying out loud! And now *he* was supposed to give *Zhang Beixing* pointers? This was...

No, wait. Maybe I *can* actually offer some advice. I remember when I shamelessly pestered Elder Chen about Internal Boxing, he mentioned something about... resonance?

With that thought, Liu Yi looked at Zhang Beixing and suggested, "Zhang Beixing, why don't you try... resonance?"

Hearing this, Zhang Beixing paused. He was about to say he had already tried that method. But before the words could leave his mouth, a spark of inspiration flashed through Zhang Beixing's mind, making him freeze on the spot.