A long time passed.

As Jiang Ning turned to the very last page, he had completely finished reading the Five Animal Boxing manual.

Reading through the boxing manual this time increased his literacy experience points by a total of 10 points.

Seeing this prompt, Jiang Ning felt a little surprised in his heart. Such a brief reading session had netted him 10 experience points, an efficiency that far exceeded his expectations.

Shortly after, he pushed this matter to the back of his mind for the moment and closed his eyes slightly.

In his mind, everything recorded in the Five Animal Boxing manual he had just read instantly surfaced page by page.

At this moment, he also gained a general understanding of the Five Animal Boxing.

This was a ranked, low tier martial art, a boxing style created by observing five kinds of animals in nature: the tiger, bear, ape, deer, and crane.

Mastery of the Tiger Form brought extremely strong explosive power, mastery of the Bear Form greatly increased one’s physical strength, mastery of the Ape Form made one’s body agile and capable of shifting positions at will, and mastery of the Crane Form granted extreme speed and a lightweight body, allowing a person to leap a distance of over ten feet with a single breath of gathered air.

As for mastery of the Deer Form, it made one robust, light, and nimble, capable of leaping over high walls with a single bound, and it was a boxing style that strengthened one’s spirit and conditioned the state of the body.

The woman surnamed Li standing to the side just now was an example of this.

The manual contained records of both the breathing methods and the practice training methods.

Practicing the Five Animal Boxing long term had the effect of strengthening the vital energy within the body. Strengthening the vital energy until it flowed freely throughout the entire body and filled all the limbs and bones was the foundation required before a martial artist could reach an official rank.

If one used this manual to practice all five animal forms together, the martial arts foundation cast would be exceptionally solid and truly rare, making it an extremely suitable technique to use as a cornerstone for one’s martial arts journey.

Aside from being suitable for laying a foundation, the Tiger Form provided explosive power while the Ape Form provided movement techniques, so it was not lacking in the slightest even when facing enemies.

After thoroughly understanding the Five Animal Boxing, Jiang Ning held an even higher regard for this boxing style.

For him at this moment, this was indeed a boxing style that suited him perfectly.

At the same time, he quietly felt emotional that his previous two months of reading through the books at home had been incredibly important.

If he had not read so many books and already stored a great deal of knowledge about this world in his mind, how could he have managed to understand the boxing manual?

For ordinary people, even if they could understand the written words, giving them a boxing manual would leave them completely unable to learn or comprehend it. If they rashly tried to practice it, they would inevitably end up doing the movements incorrectly, which could very easily damage the body in the end.

This was exactly why learning martial arts required someone to guide you and teach you in person.

A single boxing manual was the refinement of countless insights and contained the crystallized wisdom of predecessors.

Name: Jiang Ning

Source Energy: 3.6

Skills:

Literacy (First Limit Break 57/2000) (Trait: Photographic Memory)

Five Animal Boxing (Not Initiated 0/10)

Looking at the panel, the appearance of the Five Animal Boxing on his status interface instantly caused the heart he had kept slightly suspended to settle down.

The literacy skill on his panel had also risen by a full 10 experience points in a short amount of time because of his earnest reading of the Five Animal Boxing manual.

Shortly after, Jiang Ning opened his eyes, the boxing manual in his hands having already been closed by him a while ago.

“Senior Sister, I am finished reading.”

“You remembered it?”

“Yes.” Jiang Ning nodded.

“You remembered all of it?!” The woman’s eyes widened slightly in an instant as she looked at Jiang Ning with utter disbelief.

“I remembered all of it,” Jiang Ning stated with certainty. “If Senior Sister does not believe me, you can test me.”

“Alright.” The woman nodded, fully agreeing with Jiang Ning’s suggestion.

Then she asked, “What is recorded on the eighth page?”

Hearing this question, Jiang Ning spoke up without the slightest hesitation, “The fierce tiger descends the mountain, spirit manifests in the eyes and paws to project power, strengthening the tendons and bones…”

Hearing Jiang Ning’s answer, the woman’s eyes widened even further, and then she asked again, “What about the third line of the tenth page?”

“The posture of spreading wings to soar above the clouds allows the fusion of form and spirit into one, originating from…” Jiang Ning stated directly.

The woman’s eyes gradually widened into perfect circles as she stared at Jiang Ning.

After a long pause, Jiang Ning spoke up, “Does Senior Sister have anything else to ask?”

The woman shook her head and looked at Jiang Ning with a face full of admiration, her previous serious demeanor completely gone. “I have finally witnessed what a photographic memory truly means. With this kind of talent, you shouldn’t have come to learn martial arts, you should have gone to take the imperial examinations to achieve official rank.”

Jiang Ning smiled and did not take up the topic.

Right after, the woman spoke again, “Let’s go. Since you have already memorized all the essential meanings of the boxing manual, follow me to find Master Wang. Having Master Wang demonstrate the Five Animal Boxing for you to observe will make it easier to get initiated.”

“Thank you very much, Senior Sister.” Jiang Ning clasped his hands.

The two of them returned to the backyard of the martial arts academy.

“Why are you back already?” The elderly man lying on the rattan chair opened his eyes and looked at the two people stepping into the courtyard.

The woman spoke, “Master, Jiang Ning has already memorized all the essential meanings of the boxing manual.”

“Memorized all of it?” The elderly man’s eyes narrowed slightly, his sharp gaze fixing onto Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning clasped his hands and said, “Master, I was born with a photographic memory, so I can remember all the essential meanings of the boxing manual after reading it just once.”

“So that’s how it is.” The elderly man nodded, and he subsequently stood up. “Since that is the case, I will personally demonstrate the Five Animal Boxing once for you to watch. Watch closely, remember it well, and learn it well.”

“Yes, Master.” Jiang Ning responded.

“Li Qing, go call those people practicing in the front yard over here and let them watch it one more time,” the elderly man gave the instruction.

“Yes, Master.” The woman nodded.

As her figure darted, her speed was extremely fast, clearing the courtyard in just a few steps, completely filled with an air of lightness.

A few breaths later, a crowd of over a dozen men stood in a dense group, squeezing together at the entrance of the backyard.

“You all should also watch closely and learn well. Only by mastering the boxing forms can you change your lives and master your own destinies,” the elderly man spoke.

“What Master says is absolutely right.” A burly man instantly Chimed in to flatter him.

The next moment.

The elderly man assumed his starting stance.

Suddenly.

Roar.

A tiger’s roar erupted from his mouth.

In that instant, Jiang Ning felt as if he were looking at a fierce tiger descending a mountain and roaring, the aura of the king of beasts washing over the area as if it were physically present.

Jiang Ning’s gaze sharpened, and he focused his entire attention on every single move and stance of the elderly man, not daring to have any distractions whatsoever.

Standing to the side, the woman was likewise exceptionally serious as she watched every single move and stance demonstrated by the elderly man.

The completely perfected Five Animal Boxing was something that could generate new insights for her every single time she watched it.

Perfecting all five forms of the tiger, bear, ape, crane, and deer was something even she had not accomplished.

Under the elderly man’s demonstration, first came the Tiger Form Boxing, and then the Bear Form Boxing.

If the Tiger Form Boxing was filled with the explosive power of the king of all beasts, then the Bear Form Boxing gave off a sense of taking root in the ground, carrying a powerful feeling of immense strength.

By the time the Five Animal Boxing was completely demonstrated, the time it took to drink a cup of tea had already passed.

Once the elderly man finished his demonstration, Jiang Ning immediately closed his eyes.

At this moment, the scene from just now surfaced once more in his mind, just like a recorded movie scene playing back again.

With a wave of the elderly man’s hand, the dozen or so men behind him also silently withdrew from the backyard.

A full moment passed before Jiang Ning slowly opened his eyes.

“How much did you remember?” the elderly man asked.

“Replying to Master, I remembered all of it,” Jiang Ning spoke up and answered.

“You truly remembered all of it?” the elderly man pressed further once more.

Jiang Ning nodded with certainty, “I remembered all of it.”

“Good, then demonstrate it once for me to see,” the elderly man said.

“Yes.” Jiang Ning bowed respectfully.