Chapter 124: Simplifying the Secret Form

Reno was shirtless, his eyes half-closed, muscles rippling in waves. After six months of practicing the secret Bull-Cow Form, the exaggerated bulky muscles he once had had vanished, replaced by sleek, flowing lines of muscle. Yet his physical attributes remained fully intact, and the efficiency of his strength output had greatly improved. In battle, he could not only unleash greater power but also conserve energy more effectively. This, in essence, was a true increase in combat capability. After all, no matter how large the muscles, if one cannot exert full strength, it is all in vain.

Strictly speaking, the alchemical militia were not combat units of the Naryell Empire. They were primarily alchemical creatures designed to gather precious resources in complex environments. Originally, these alchemical militiamen were no match for apprentice knights. It was only because Victor had embedded the secret form into them that they gained combat power comparable to, or even surpassing, that of apprentice knights.

Reno withdrew from the Bull-Cow Form practice stance; his undulating muscles settled down. Clasping his hands into fists, he raised them above his head and stretched upward, his bones crackling sharply—signaling the end of today’s training.

Reno’s posture in practicing the secret form was precise and his movements fluid, flawless to the last detail. Victor knew that mastering a secret form was no simple feat; posture, movement, and mindset had to be seamlessly aligned—any error could cause bodily harm.

If it weren’t for X-3 assisting Victor in correcting his movements and blocking pain, he would never have been able to directly train the advanced Bull-Cow Form; he would likely still be practicing the basics. Thanks to the skill-loading cheat tools, practicing the secret form was instinctive for the alchemical militia. For ordinary people attempting advanced secret form training, the result would be catastrophic.

Victor glanced at Nelson beside him, a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Nelson was also bare-chested, his muscles not bulging in twisted knots but solid and steely. At this moment, his taut body rippled with veins like dark snakes slithering beneath his skin. Blue veins bulged from his forehead, his eyes wide with fury, sweat streaming down his face—he looked terrifying.

Victor grew concerned and was about to call Nelson to stop when Nelson suddenly collapsed straight down, his body still frozen in the Bull-Cow Form stance, as if he had turned to stone.

Victor shook his head helplessly. This had happened to Nelson countless times. The first time, Victor had been seriously alarmed. Improper practice of the Bull-Cow Form caused not just muscle strains but could lead to internal bleeding. Fortunately, Nelson always recovered quickly, soon jumping up lively again. After several occurrences, Victor had grown accustomed to it. Sure enough, Nelson’s stiff body gradually relaxed; after gasping for breath on the ground for a moment, he rolled over and stood up again.

“It’s unbearable—just standing there applying force like that, I almost strangled myself. My bones ache and itch all over. I really don’t know how Reno manages to endure it,” Nelson complained.

Victor sneered, “How many times have I told you, this isn’t the time to train advanced Bull-Cow Form. You need to start with basic exercises and learn synchronized breathing. Oh, and visualization! Only by mastering visualization can you overcome the physical pain; otherwise, you won’t last through the training. If ordinary people recklessly train like you, they’d be dead long ago!”

Nelson scratched his head awkwardly. “Basic exercises don’t seem to work for me at all. Breathing is manageable, but visualization is just too difficult!”

Victor was speechless. He had once advised Nelson to train the relatively safer Spirit Monkey Form, but Nelson was uninterested and insisted on the Bull-Cow Form, which enhanced strength. With firm conviction, Nelson said, “A warrior should meet force with force!”

Victor had practiced secret forms for some time and believed the Bull-Cow Form served two main purposes: first, to help the practitioner rapidly reach their physical limits; second, to fully unleash their potential. Of course, the Bull-Cow Form could not break physical limits. If the human body were likened to a water bottle, the Bull-Cow Form could fill the bottle to the brim or widen a narrow mouth, but it could never make the bottle larger.

Victor had already pushed his physique to its limit, and the alchemical militia’s physical limits were preset. Since Nelson insisted, Victor was eager to see how much effect the Bull-Cow Form could have on him. Even if Nelson’s physique reached its limit, the form could effectively unlock his potential. This would greatly benefit Nelson. Compared to savage warriors, knights held the advantage of maximizing their combat power.

However, Nelson’s enthusiasm for training exceeded Victor’s expectations. He skipped the lower-level basics and dove straight into advanced practice. Though he suffered a lot, Nelson was delighted because he clearly felt his strength “come alive.”

Watching Nelson recklessly train, relying on his extraordinary physique, Victor was struck by inspiration and began attempting to modify the Bull-Cow Form anew.

The Bull-Cow Form was incredibly difficult for ordinary people. Following the proper sequence, it would take at least ten years to achieve even modest results. Victor wanted to create a simplified version to help ordinary soldiers improve their strength.

“Nelson, try this new method I just improved. It will definitely be more effective than the previous two,” Victor said with a smile.

Nelson replied helplessly, “Sir, your revised method just makes me hot all over and drenched in sweat. It doesn’t feel as effective as the Bull-Cow Form!”

“The previous three methods were just intermediate secret forms. Uh, this one is still intermediate, but it’s very close to advanced. I believe that after training with this new method for a while, you won’t struggle so much with the Bull-Cow Form anymore! Enough talk, come on—if you don’t, you won’t learn the next three stances and might end up injuring yourself!”

With Nelson as the perfect test subject and X-3’s corrections, Victor successfully derived seven simplified Bull-Cow Form stances. These stances ranged from simple to complex: four at the basic level and three intermediate, forming a progressive training system. Victor ambitiously planned to develop a total of twelve stances covering basic, intermediate, and advanced levels. The basic stances were the simplest, essentially foundational exercises for the Bull-Cow Form; the intermediate were simplified versions refined dozens of times by Victor. The advanced stances were yet to be devised.

Victor’s “Simplified Bull-Cow Form” was less effective than the original but enough to make a savage warrior like Nelson sweat profusely. Moreover, the simplified form was easy to learn, low risk, and perfectly suited for ordinary people. Victor had already ordered several Spirit Monkey alchemical militiamen to begin training with this new form to observe its effectiveness.

As dusk fell, Victor finally perfected the fourth stance.

A campfire crackled, roasting a whole skinned yellow goat that sizzled with enticing aromas.

“Nelson, once I organize these new secret forms, I’ll have the War Bear members train with them first. How about calling this the Nelson Training Method?” Victor joked, smiling at Nelson, who had suffered greatly to help develop the simplified form.

Nelson waved his hands frantically. “No way! No way! If the old gang finds out, I’d die of embarrassment! Sir, how about calling it the War Bear Form instead?”

Victor shook his head. “That’s just a joke. Actually, it can’t be called the Nelson Training Method or the War Bear Form. In the future, War Bear members will all become free citizens and form their own mercenary companies. Before the trading guild strengthens, we must keep our connections secret.”

“Sir, to be honest, my old comrades really miss the mercenary life. The problem was that the company was too weak, and people kept dying. Everyone was scared. Now, with warriors like Reno and Shak joining, it’s definitely going to work! I’ve dreamed of turning War Bear into the most powerful mercenary company, and now we finally have the chance!” Nelson said excitedly.

Victor said coolly, “Don’t get too excited. That’s not your role.”

“Ah!” Nelson exclaimed.

“Your reputation is too big; you’d be easily recognized. It’s better to stay by my side and work behind the scenes. Besides, I’m aiming to build a huge organization. Mercenary companies are just transitional; they will eventually be integrated into a massive armed force. Of course, you won’t be left idle. In a few years, other War Bear members will also withdraw to behind-the-scenes roles—recruitment, training, organization, and management. For example, we’ll establish numerous training bases to continuously cultivate warriors for the trading guild. Some of them will even be trained from childhood.”

After comforting a somewhat disappointed Nelson, Victor continued, “I plan to assign five warriors like Reno, thirty marksmen like Shak, and five Dust Falcons to each mercenary unit. What do you think?”

Nelson was startled by Victor’s grand vision and cautioned, “Sir, that’s unnecessary! If the mercenary company is too powerful, it will draw too much attention! Three warriors are enough, and no more than fifteen marksmen. The rest can be ordinary recruits. And Dust Falcons can’t be included—if every mercenary company has Dust Falcons, we’ll be exposed!”

Victor admitted Nelson had a point but was uneasy. “Will that strength be enough? Our mercenary companies might have conflicts with knights!”

“Sir, you’re underestimating Reno and Shak’s strength! I’ve sparred with Reno recently—he’s stronger than apprentice knights. Ordinary knights can’t easily take him down. Two warriors like Reno, plus five marksmen like Shak, will give knights pause. They won’t risk their lives fighting mercenaries—it’s not worth it,” Nelson explained.

Victor asked, “What if we encounter a knight like Bruce?”

“Sir, unless it’s on the battlefield, knights won’t slaughter mercenaries lightly! Even on the battlefield, silver knights dare not personally attack mercenary companies. Otherwise, we’d have been wiped out long ago! Once, a silver knight slaughtered three mercenary companies in a row but was later captured by the church. Actually, most of the knights we encounter escorting trade caravans are apprentices. Those caravans use us as a shield against knights. Our real enemies are werewolves and mountain bandits.”

Victor suddenly understood. Mercenary companies were free citizen organizations. For the church, free citizens and vassals were important sources of faith. The church would never allow high-ranking knights to slaughter free citizens, as that would shake the church’s foundation.

“As long as knights don’t intervene, allying with free citizens for commerce is the right move. Perhaps lords won’t trouble free citizen trading companies. Any lord with half a brain knows that their domain needs trade. When lords attack caravans, it’s aimed at hostile families. That makes things simpler—our real enemies are bandits and monsters,” Victor mused, though he sensed it wouldn’t be so simple.

Bathed in the campfire’s glow, Victor’s expression darkened and shifted. After a long silence, he said, “It’s time to go meet Bruce and the others.”

Victor stood and resolved silently, “No use overthinking. For an untraveled road, the only way to know is to walk it.”