[Introductory Mountain-Shattering Fist (195/200)]
A line of data, visible only to him, appeared before Yang Jing's eyes.
'I'm about to max out the Introductory Mountain-Shattering Fist.'
Yang Jing couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
After this period of relentless effort, he was finally about to max out his progress on the Introductory Mountain-Shattering Fist.
'According to the panel's description, as long as I practice a martial art to its limit, I'll be able to break through naturally, without facing the difficult and dangerous bottlenecks everyone else does.'
At this thought, Yang Jing felt a renewed sense of deep anticipation.
Without taking a break, Yang Jing wiped the sweat from his brow and resumed his practice.
Although he possessed an aptitude for the martial arts, it was a very poor one.
Even though he was one of the most diligent disciples in the entire Martial Arts Hall, his rate of progress remained in the lower-middle ranks.
Some disciples who had joined the Martial Arts Hall around the same time as him had already attempted a breakthrough.
But even though Yang Jing was much slower, he wasn't worried.
'A temporary burst of speed means nothing. The most important thing is to break through the bottleneck and succeed.'
And this was precisely what Yang Jing was most looking forward to.
'If the panel's effects are proven true, then my future on the Martial Dao, while perhaps a bit slow, will surely allow me to climb, step by step, to the highest heights I can envision.'
「An hour later.」
Several figures emerged from the inner courtyard, walking at a leisurely pace. They instantly drew the eyes of many disciples in the yard.
Yang Jing, who was taking a short break, stood with Liu Maolin and also turned to look at the handsome men and beautiful women emerging from the inner courtyard.
'Have to admit, they're quite a sight.'
Leading the group was Third Senior Brother, Zhao Wenzheng. He was dressed in moon-white martial attire with a silver-threaded sash tied at his waist. His gait was steady, and he carried himself with a gravity that belied his age.
Beside him was Second Senior Sister, Qi Yun, clad in an elegant, dark robe, her long hair pinned up with a single silver hairpin.
On his other side was Sun Ningxiang, the daughter of Hall Master Sun Yong. She wore a goose-yellow dress, its hem swaying gently with each step. With a radiant smile, she was turning her head to say something to the young man beside her.
The young man was about fifteen or sixteen, with a face as handsome as carved jade and an arrogant gaze. His ink-black martial attire accentuated his tall, straight posture. He was none other than Lin Yue, the genius disciple who had joined Sun's Martial Arts Hall two months prior.
A month ago, in just one month's time, Lin Yue had successfully cultivated Mountain-Shattering Fist to the Minor Accomplishment stage and stepped into the Mingjin Realm.
It was said that in the last month, Lin Yue's cultivation of Mountain-Shattering Fist had progressed by leaps and bounds. He wasn't far from the peak of the Minor Accomplishment stage and would likely be attempting another breakthrough soon.
Lin Yue's astonishing rate of progress had earned him Hall Master Sun Yong's special favor. The Hall Master had long since waived all his fees and even provided him with high-grade meat and precious herbs to support his cultivation.
The four of them chatted and laughed, their tones gentle, yet they projected an invisible aura that set them apart from everyone else, forming an exclusive little circle of their own.
When Lin Yue occasionally glanced over at the disciples who were sweating buckets, his eyes held a subtle, almost imperceptible disdain.
The gazes of many disciples fell upon Sun Ningxiang.
While Qi Yun was also beautiful, she was severe with the ordinary disciples. In the past, when Yang Jing had followed Lv Yang and the others, waiting on her hand and foot, he had never earned so much as a second glance from her. The slightest disrespect was met with a harsh scolding, her words dripping with scorn.
Compared to Qi Yun, Sun Ningxiang had a completely different temperament.
Her eyes would curve when she smiled, as if they held starlight. To Yang Jing, she looked a little like Mao Xiaotong, an actress he had seen on television in his past life.
She never put on airs as the Hall Master's daughter and was always polite and kind to everyone.
If a disciple got stuck on a fist technique, she would patiently offer a few words of guidance.
She would even secretly inform the Hall Master if a disciple's family fell on hard times, asking him to provide some relief for them.
In time, she became the unattainable ideal in the hearts of the Martial Arts Hall's disciples.
As Yang Jing watched her, he recalled how he had sprained his ankle during practice a while back. Senior Sister Sun had brought him medicine for the injury and even gave him specific instructions on how to recover properly.
He averted his gaze, only to accidentally catch sight of Lv Yang and his two friends. They had tried to crowd around Senior Sister Qi, but she completely ignored them. The three of them rubbed their hands together awkwardly before walking over to a corner, forcing smiles and conversation.
'If I were still my predecessor, I'd probably be over there with them right now.'
But he was Yang Jing now.
Lv Yang and his friends fawned over Qi Yun for one simple reason: they wanted to ride her coattails. This was largely because they knew it would be incredibly difficult for them to break through to the Mingjin Realm on their own.
Yang Jing, however, was different. He had his panel.
'For me, there are no bottlenecks in any cultivation technique or martial art.'
'I just have to methodically practice them to their limits, and I can break through naturally, without any of the risks.'
'No matter the time or the person you're facing, your own strength is the foundation of everything.'
Lin Yue was a perfect example.
He came from a humble background, similar to Zhang Kehan's and far worse than that of Lv Yang or Zhou Lin.
But his aptitude for martial arts was rated as "superior" by the Hall Master, marking him for a limitless future. Qi Yun had taken him under her wing the moment he joined the Martial Arts Hall.
As for Lv Yang and the others, no matter how much they bootlicked and groveled, in Qi Yun's eyes they were nothing more than disposable workhorses to be summoned and dismissed at will.
Lv Yang, Zhou Lin, and Zhang Kehan were probably aware of this. But they were helpless. They likely couldn't truly master inner force even if they poured a lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears into their training.
Even Yang Jing himself, without his panel, would have struggled to generate that force and step into the Mingjin Realm in this lifetime.
Yang Jing shook his head, focusing his mind. He stopped letting his energy be diverted elsewhere and concentrated once more on his practice.
Practicing martial arts is like rowing a boat upstream; not to advance is to fall behind.
To walk a long path on the Martial Dao, one must make practice an indispensable daily habit, as essential as eating or drinking—and one that demands far more focus and energy.
Right now, his most urgent task was to generate that inner force and become a true master of it.
Yang Jing was well aware that while the Yang Family's crisis seemed to have passed with Feng Lei's death, the danger had not actually been resolved. It was ever-present.
Feng Lei was just a thug. The Ning Family backing him was the real enemy.
For some reason, the Ning Family hadn't continued to pressure the Yang Family, but from what Yang Jing knew, the family head, Ning Xuezhi, was notoriously stingy and miserly.
Sooner or later, once Ning Xuezhi's hands were free, he would make a move against the Yang Family.
Yang Jing had been able to ambush and kill Feng Lei, but killing Ning Xuezhi, who was protected within the Ning Family's grand residence, would be far more difficult.
In Yang Jing's eyes, the best—perhaps the only—way to break the stalemate was to achieve his own breakthrough and become a Mingjin Realm master who had developed inner force.
Once he reached that level, Ning Xuezhi would never dare to provoke him so easily.
'Break through to the Mingjin Realm!'
Yang Jing clenched his fists.
He had nearly maxed out his progress on the introductory stage of the Mountain-Shattering Fist.
'It'll just be a few more days.'
Yang Jing's eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of intense excitement in their depths.
He had been waiting for this day for a very long time.
...