Chapter 144: A Chance Encounter in the Countryside (1)

It was another quiet morning. The sun was rising slowly from the east. A ray of sunlight came through the window and sprinkled on the light blue sheets, making the things in the room visible. At this moment, a young man in black sportswear was sitting cross-legged on the bed with his hands naturally resting on his knees. He had upright black hair and no expression on his sharp face. After a while, he seemed to feel the light, took a deep breath, and slowly opened his slightly closed eyes.

"It seems that there is still no growth?" Wang Li frowned and muttered to himself. Since the second day he arrived in Portugal, Wang Li found that he had encountered a bottleneck in his practice. According to Xu Zhuzi, it was the natural blockage of the twist points in the body. This is a problem that all Taoist internal skills will encounter. It is said to be a punishment from heaven, so there is a saying that "practice is against heaven's will."

The practice of internal martial arts emphasizes the unity of mind, spirit and body. The mind refers to the cultivation of the mind, which requires experience in the world and the growth of the mind through life; the spirit refers to the situation, which means obtaining spiritual light, a state of feeling that can only be encountered by chance. The martial artists in the past said that only in competitions can one break through the realm, which refers to the cultivation of the spirit; and the body refers to the cultivation of the body, which is the basic. As long as you practice hard, you will complete the accumulation of internal strength sooner or later.

The more advanced the martial arts, the higher the requirements for the heart and spirit. In other words, a simple-minded person will never be able to cultivate the internal skills to a high level. In the previous life, with the help of Master Xu Zhuzi, when Wang Li encountered a bottleneck, he used his power to forcibly break through his three twisting points, allowing him to reach the minor success level of Xiao Wuxiang Gong. However, in this world, it is impossible.

To break through the bottleneck of Taoist skills, one needs to have a strong mind, spirit, and body. What Wang Li lacks now is spirit, that is, he lacks a chance to break through. If it was in his previous life, even without Xu Zhuzi's help, he could find inspiration by fighting and competing with others, but think about it, who in this world can compete with him? The "World Free Fighting Competition" that Rooney often watched was almost like child's play in Wang Li's eyes. After all, no matter how powerful the external boxing and kicking were, they could not be compared with the internal skills.

Shaking his head, Wang Li knew that this kind of thing was hard to come by, so he sat up straight, put on his clothes, and prepared to do some exercise.

Running from the hotel to Guangming Stadium and then back again is Wang Li's exercise. The air is fresh in the morning, which makes him feel close to nature. Even if this kind of exercise is not very helpful to the body, it can improve his state of mind. So he insisted on running a lap every morning for the past two days.

After returning to the hotel, I took a cold shower and went downstairs for breakfast. Although Eriksson required the players to eat nutritious meals specially prepared by the team every day, in fact, almost all players now ignore this rule. For these big-name stars, that kind of nutritious meal is really hard to swallow. Of course, it also has an advantage, that is, it is convenient. The players' nutritionist can supply it at any time, but his business is not good.

Wang Li was the same. He would rather go to a small restaurant next to the hotel to eat some white bread and juice. Sitting by the window, he picked up a stack of newspapers on the table. The date on it was February 20, and it seemed that it was delivered this morning.

After England beat Switzerland, Wang Li and Rooney became the talk of the town in the Portuguese media. They argued about his performance and position almost every day. What puzzled Wang Li was that the Express and the News Agency were even engaged in a war of words over this. Wang Li casually searched and set his sights on a report titled "The Man with the Ghost Face".

"A ghost-faced man wearing a fancy mask and with a few colorful pictures on his face, 'righteously' said that others were clowns who were seeking to attract attention. In Portugal, a football country, this man was simultaneously said 'NO' by all the competing top league clubs. This is simply the most ridiculous thing of this century. I really don't know why he can still perform there and no one even stops him. I think the Animal Protection Association should introduce a policy to prohibit wild livestock from running around to prevent them from disturbing people's normal rest late at night." - Express

After reading this report, Wang Li was shocked. He realized that cursing without using profanity is not just a Chinese practice. This report in the Express was simply spitting at Kurilte Sandro, and was a powerful counterattack against the "clown theory" in the News Agency.

Wang Li was happy to see someone standing up for him, but he was also deeply confused. He didn't know anyone in the Express, so why were they so protective of him? Ever since Wang Li came to Portugal, almost every report about him published by the Express was full of praise, and it would even occasionally criticize those newspapers that had published comments unfavorable to him.

"Could the boss of this newspaper be a fan of mine?" Wang Li laughed when he thought of this possibility. A dozen days ago, Portuguese fans and media had never even heard of him. How could he have such a 'hardcore' fan?

Wang Li thought about it for a long time but had no clue, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Just like his own practice, he decided to just go with the flow.

"Miss, another 10 slices of white bread, and a jug of juice, thank you." Wang Li turned around and said to the pretty girl who was staring at him. Mondonier was stunned for a moment, her face slightly red, and then she reacted immediately, picked up the tray and walked towards the kitchen at the back.

"She's so pretty," she thought silently, then looked at the clean tray in her hand, "She just eats a little too much..."

…………

After defeating Switzerland the day before yesterday, England no longer had the pressure of the group stage, so Eriksson generously gave the players a day off today. Wang Li, Rooney, Bridge, Owen and Beckham made an appointment to visit the Portuguese countryside together in a few days. In order to take care of Wang Li and Bridge, who had just become a single, they agreed not to bring their girlfriends.

After breakfast, several people picked up their backpacks and set off. Their destination was the city of Sintra in the north of Lisbon.

Sintra is located in the suburbs of Lisbon. It is the summer residence of the Moorish nobility and the Portuguese royal family. It is located at the foot of the mountain with the same name as the city. It is a beautiful place. The mountains in this area are undulating, and the palaces, castles and villas are located in this green sky. The cultural landscape and natural scenery are softly combined, making this place a world-famous tourist destination.

Of course, another purpose of the men coming here is to satisfy their appetite, because in Sintra they can eat all kinds of seafood cooked with special seasonings, with a very strong local flavor, which cannot be tasted in its original flavor in other places.

After several hours of climbing over mountains and admiring the Portuguese-style royal palace and aristocratic buildings, Owen, who had the worst physical strength, could not walk anymore. So they could only find a restaurant nearby to rest and prepare to go back in the afternoon because the holiday was only one day and they still had to attend training tomorrow.

"After the European Cup, it would be nice to come here for a vacation, what do you think, Alan?" Beckham asked expectantly while sitting at the dining table. He was certainly not expecting Wang Li. Ever since Victoria heard that Wang Li's girlfriend was a little princess of the English royal family, she had been urging him to meet her. Of course, Beckham himself also had this idea. Even for such a big star, the royal family was still full of nobility and mystery.

"Maybe. I haven't decided yet. My father said he wants to go back to China. You know, that's his hometown. He hasn't been back for more than eight years."

"So…"

At this time, there was a noise downstairs, and it seemed that there was Bridget's voice. Beckham turned around and looked at the people next to him, then quickly put on his sunglasses and pulled Wang Li downstairs.

Coming down from the private room upstairs, Wang Li looked through the aisle of the small staircase and saw that Bridget seemed to have had an argument with a black-haired woman. There was also a waiter cleaning up the water stains on the floor. It seemed that Bridget might have accidentally spilled their drinks.

Wang Li was about to step forward to mediate, but after taking two steps he stopped. He could never have imagined that he actually knew the black-haired woman!

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