"Neither arrogant nor rash. To reach the Entry Level this quickly shows that your talent and temperament are both excellent. You haven't been swayed by Zhou Yang and his ilk."
Lin Cheng looked at the young man before him, his expression filled with approval.
As the head of the Martial Arts Hall, he was well aware of what was happening in the Outer Courtyard. But he couldn't possibly involve himself in such matters. Anyone so easily swayed by a few words, lacking their own judgment, would struggle to ever achieve greatness.
"I just think they're full of hot air!" Xu Yang said, shaking his head.
Lin Cheng's expression turned profound. "They aren't just full of hot air. Everything they said is true. Your Turtle and Snake Grand Posture has only just reached the Entry Level; you haven't yet truly realized the importance of money."
"In a few days, you'll find that you don't dare practice the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture too often. The food you eat simply won't be enough to sustain your training. If your nutrition can't keep up, you'll end up harming your body instead."
Xu Yang had actually already noticed this. After reaching the Entry Level with the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture, he felt hungry far more quickly than ever before.
"If your family can afford it, invest more in what you eat. If not, then reduce your training of the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture. Remember, do not harm your own body."
Xu Yang cupped his fist. "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Lin Cheng nodded, saying no more.
He had run the Martial Arts Hall for many years and had seen far too many disciples like Xu Yang. 'How many of them can I truly help?'
Besides, in his view, Xu Yang's talent was nothing special. He didn't even pay much mind to Lu Ren, let alone Xu Yang.
The only thing he could do was treat everyone equally, teach them what he was supposed to, and leave the rest to their own fate. A ten percent success rate wasn't the same as no chance at all.
"Come with me!"
Lin Cheng rose from his seat and walked outside, with Xu Yang following close behind.
"The Turtle and Snake Grand Posture is a Static Skill, primarily for cultivating qi and blood and tempering the Physique. A Fist Technique is an Active Skill, a method for killing enemies and protecting your life. It is also the method for circulating Force, for Qi Gathering, and for Marrow Cleansing. Only by training in both can you glimpse the mysteries of the Martial Dao."
"Watch closely. Our school's Fist Technique is the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, the epitome of raw, unyielding power."
Lin Cheng suddenly leaped forward, unleashing a fierce and brutal Fist Technique. The joints of his entire body thundered, and a violent wind kicked up around him.
The immense pressure felt like a boulder crushing Xu Yang's chest, forcing him to fall back again and again.
'So this is a Martial Artist… so strong!'
'No, an ordinary Martial Artist isn't as powerful as Master!'
Xu Yang shook his head to himself. Lin Cheng was certainly no ordinary Martial Artist. In Qingyuan County, he had to be one of the absolute best.
"Watch carefully. Feel the intent of my Fist Technique."
After finishing one demonstration, Lin Cheng didn't ask how much Xu Yang had memorized. Instead, he tossed him a Fist Manual.
"Study it for an hour, then hand it to your Senior Brother Sun Tao. From now on, you may come to the rear courtyard to consult with me once every seven days. For everyday questions, you can also seek answers from your Senior Brother Sun Tao."
Xu Yang bowed deeply. "Thank you, Master, for imparting this technique!"
Lin Cheng smiled and nodded. "The Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist emphasizes lethal, real-world combat. Once your training reaches the Entry Level, spar more with the senior brothers in the Outer Courtyard. In your free time, practice on the Meihua Posts. Stabilize your foundation, so you have the power to kill."
With that, he departed.
"Farewell, Master!"
After seeing Lin Cheng off, Xu Yang found a shady spot, sat down, and slowly opened the Fist Manual.
[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Uninitiated (0/10)]
An hour later, Xu Yang got to his feet and glanced at his panel.
'Fist Techniques are indeed much harder to practice than Pile Skills,' Xu Yang thought. 'No wonder that crowd in the Outer Courtyard is almost always practicing their Fist Techniques, while I rarely see them working on their Pile Skills.'
He walked to the pavilion, handed the Fist Manual to Sun Tao, and then returned to the Outer Courtyard.
Seeing him return empty-handed, Zhang Yong and the others looked displeased.
"See? The senior brothers and sisters in the Inner Courtyard think the same way I do."
Zhou Yang couldn't help but look smug as he began to stir up trouble again.
...
「The Huang Family Estate.」
"Second Brother, we just received word. Xu Yang has also reached the Entry Level with his Turtle and Snake Grand Posture. By how much should we increase his training resources?"
The Huang Family's Fifth Master, Huang Jin, had sought out Second Master Huang Ping to report that Xu Yang had reached the Entry Level with the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture.
Huang Ping's expression held a trace of surprise. "So Zhou Shunchang's nephew has decent talent. If we increased his training, he'd have a good chance of becoming a Martial Artist."
Huang Jin nodded. "Reaching the Entry Level in six days is quite rare."
Huang Ping said, "It is indeed rare, but he is of no use to our Huang Family."
Huang Jin's expression changed slightly. "Second Brother, what do you mean by that?"
Huang Ping took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, "Our Huang Family may be short on Martial Artists, but we cannot afford to support so many. One Martial Artist Tributor requires a minimum monthly stipend of ten taels of silver. One more, and the Huang Family's annual expenses increase by one hundred and twenty taels."
"For the Huang Family, one Lu Ren is enough."
Training in martial arts burns through money, but supporting a Martial Artist burns through even more.
Ten taels of silver was the bare minimum. Some families paid their Martial Artist Tributors as much as fifteen taels a month.
The total monthly profit from the Huang Family's businesses was only two or three hundred taels, and they still had a large household to feed. Supporting even one more Martial Artist would put them under immense pressure.
"Xu Yang is Zhou Shunchang's nephew. He's practically one of us. If we develop his talents, we could trust him more than anyone else."
Huang Jin now understood Huang Ping's implication—they would not be increasing Xu Yang's support. He immediately emphasized Xu Yang's identity once more.
Compared to Lu Ren, Xu Yang's ties to the Huang Family were much closer.
"It's not worth developing him. He has a Lower C-class Root Bone. Even if we increase his resources and he gets lucky enough to break through the first gate of the Martial Dao, he'll never advance any further. Our Huang Family has no shortage of Qi Gathering Martial Artists."
"Lu Ren's talent is exceptional. He'll probably succeed at Qi Gathering in less than two months. In another seven or eight months at most, he'll be able to break through the second great gate of the Martial Dao and become a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Master."
"Do you know what the stipend for a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist is? The very lowest is forty taels a month. For a genius like Lu Ren, we would have to offer at least fifty taels. That's six hundred taels a year."
Once he heard the figures, Huang Jin also felt that Xu Yang was unnecessary. A single Bone Marrow Cleansing Master was enough for the Huang Family to rest easy; they really didn't need one more Qi Gathering Martial Artist.
"However, you have a point. Xu Yang is Zhou Shunchang's nephew, after all. And Zhou Shunchang has been with our Huang Family since before we became prominent. We can't just ignore his nephew's talent."
"So, do this: go to Weiyuan Hall, take one tael's worth of resources from Zhang Yong and give it to Xu Yang. Raise his share to four taels."
...
"If all ten of you became Martial Artists, the Huang Family's annual stipend costs would be one thousand two hundred taels. Where would the Huang Family get that kind of money to support you all?"
"In the beginning, they might have needed two or three Martial Artists, but after a genius like Lu Ren appeared, the Huang Family only needed him."
"If they weren't afraid of it damaging their reputation, the Huang Family would have kicked you all to the curb the moment Lu Ren showed up."
Zhou Yang spoke with casual confidence while Zhang Hong, Qian Jiaxing, and the others listened in despair. Only now did they understand: from the moment Lu Ren, the one with the Upper Grade B Root Bone, had appeared, all of them had been abandoned.
It was only to save face that the Huang Family had fulfilled its promise and sent them all to Weiyuan Hall.
Before long, Huang Jin appeared at Weiyuan Hall. He first spoke with Zhang Yong, who returned with a deathly pale face. Only then did he speak with Xu Yang.
Soon, everyone knew that one tael's worth of Zhang Yong's Strengthening Soup had been reallocated to Xu Yang.
Just as Zhou Yang had said, the Huang Family wasn't willing to spend a single extra tael of silver. They were merely reallocating resources among the existing disciples.