Chapter 17: Open and Aboveboard

A moment later, Lu Yuan withdrew his fists and stood still, the sound of his explosive force dissipating completely.

At the same time, he looked toward Li Junxian:

"Master, can this be considered as having achieved Martial Arts?"

Li Junxian's expression was extremely complex:

"It counts, of course it counts. I truly never expected that you could develop force after only learning the Divine Intent Stake for a month."

He was already clear on Lu Yuan's background, including the fact that he had prior experience in learning martial arts.

But such speed was truly too astonishing.

The key point.

Based on his experience, he could see that it wasn't that Lu Yuan had high comprehension or natural talent, but simply that his physique and strength were extraordinarily robust, causing the water to overflow when the vessel was full; he had developed force without needing to practice particularly hard.

This was unheard of in his decades of experience in the pugilistic world.

Moreover, he had observed carefully that Lu Yuan's daily food intake was comparable to that of five or six people, and every two or three days his strength would grow significantly, as if everything he ate was transformed into nutrients and absorbed; it was simply inhuman.

Having received confirmation, Lu Yuan gave a chuckle: "It is still because you taught me well, Master, and because I eat my fill here; otherwise, I certainly wouldn't have been able to achieve it."

His achievement of Martial Arts was indeed because he had been frantically nourishing himself with the Ingestion Technique over this past month, causing his physique and strength to skyrocket; he had merely followed the steps of practicing the Divine Intent Stake, and the result was that the force developed naturally.

In truth, he did not want to reveal his full hand, but Li Junxian was an old veteran of the pugilistic world with a sharp eye; deliberately hiding things under the other's nose would only be counterproductive, so he had no choice but to reveal it proactively.

"You brat, you even know you eat a lot."

Li Junxian gave a helpless smile, pondered for a moment, and then turned to look at Xu Erhu:

"Erhu, go and lock arms with your junior brother and compare your strength."

"Yes."

Xu Erhu did not say a word and came before Lu Yuan, eager to try:

"Come, Junior Brother, let's test it."

Lu Yuan did not refuse; he immediately stepped forward and set his stance, one hand behind his back, the tips of his feet touching, and the other hand passing through the crook of the opponent's arm.

"One, two, three!"

Following that, the two of them, in a posture of hooked arms and fists, had their veins bulge and exerted force in unison, each pulling the other toward their own side with all their might.

However, Li Junxian and Xu Dahu were slightly startled to discover that Xu Erhu, who was already at the second level of Changing Tendons, had failed to pull Lu Yuan over despite exerting force, and instead fell into a brief stalemate.

"What great strength, Junior Brother, watch out!"

Of course, Xu Erhu had not used his full strength at the start, but upon realizing that the strength of Lu Yuan opposite him was immense and nearly approaching his own, he was astonished and immediately became serious, increasing his power.

One could see that although his hand was behind his back, the large tendons on his entire arm were clearly taut, as if a vast power were surging within.

And under such great force, although Lu Yuan was also exerting his strength and performing to the best of his ability, his entire body was still slowly pulled forward.

With his body leaning forward past the line and his other foot involuntarily stepping forward, Lu Yuan immediately let go of his force and conceded:

"As expected of the Second Senior Brother, I have lost."

Li Junxian, standing to the side, spoke with gleaming eyes:

"Erhu, how much strength did you use?"

Xu Erhu looked at Lu Yuan with a strange expression, saying in disbelief:

"I already used nearly seventy or eighty percent of my strength. Junior Brother has only just achieved Martial Arts, yet his strength is already catching up to mine. If he were to reach Changing Tendons, wouldn't that be something?"

In the Seven Realms of Martial Arts, there is a significant difference in power between the first realm of Martial Arts and the second realm of Changing Tendons.

Martial Arts is merely the concentration of power, causing the fist to explode with sound, at most amounting to several hundred catties of force; but once a martial artist reaches the realm of Changing Tendons, the large tendons throughout the body are tempered, and the power of contraction is agile and formidable, allowing strength to easily exceed a thousand catties.

Xu Erhu's martial arts progress was slightly inferior to Xu Dahu's, but he was still a genuine expert of Changing Tendons; having to spend seventy or eighty percent of his strength against Lu Yuan, who had just achieved Martial Arts, already counted as a loss.

"Good, good, good."

Compared to the disbelief of his two disciples, Li Junxian took a deep breath:

"My lineage has never produced such a person before. Although you have achieved Martial Arts, you must not be arrogant or complacent; you must still diligently practice the Divine Intent Stake. Once your practice of force is completely proficient, I will teach you the Dragon Tiger Vajra Fist."

The Dragon Tiger Vajra Skill was the martial arts training method for Changing Tendons and Forging Bones, and it was also the true transmitted fist technique of the Shenquan Sect. Xu Dahu and Xu Erhu had only received this instruction three years after being taken in as disciples by Li Junxian, and they immediately revealed looks of envy and jealousy.

Lu Yuan immediately bowed respectfully: "Rest assured, Master, this disciple will keep it in mind."

A moment later, Lu Yuan, along with Xu Dahu and Xu Erhu, walked out of Li Junxian's private courtyard.

As soon as they came out, Xu Erhu shook his head and sighed:

"What a pity, Junior Brother, you achieved Martial Arts too quickly. The competition starts again tomorrow, and it seems you won't be able to participate in the Primary Ring to win the prize money."

Lu Yuan also felt a bit of regret: "Indeed, it really is bad timing."

Although as Li Junxian's disciples, whether or not they entered the ring was entirely voluntary, in the Boxiyuan, fighting in the ring was basically the only way to have extra income.

Originally, if he had participated in the ring normally this month, he would have had a high probability of winning the top spot and gaining another one hundred Silver Yuan, but once he achieved Martial Arts, he lost the qualification to enter the ring.

Because the characteristics of different martial arts levels were obvious, once a fight started, it was basically impossible to hide. If he were to disguise himself and force his way into the ring, he would inevitably be seen through by other factions off the stage, bringing trouble to the Boxiyuan.

At this time, Xu Dahu also sighed:

"Junior Brother, oh Junior Brother, do you know that we are truly jealous of you?"

"Calculating the time, Erhu and I have been following Master for eight years. First, we endured for two years before being officially accepted as disciples, and then we endured for another three years before being taught the Dragon Tiger Vajra Fist."

"You brat have only been here for a month or two, and you are already so valued by Master; it really makes us envious."

These words were half-joking and half-confession, but since they were spoken, it could be considered frank.

Lu Yuan smiled:

"The two senior brothers are Master's right-hand men, far more trusted by Master than I am. To put it bluntly, I just have more strength and learn martial arts a bit faster; in other aspects, I cannot compare to the two senior brothers."

Xu Dahu waved his hand:

"Don't worry, Junior Brother, if we truly resented you, we wouldn't be telling you this."

Xu Erhu also said with complete frankness:

"Master has already told us that with our natural talent and foundation, reaching the third realm of martial arts would be the limit, but you are different; he doesn't even dare to predict your future upper limit. In the future, we might even have to rely on you to help us along."

If Lu Yuan were merely of average martial arts talent but had received Li Junxian's favoritism, the two of them naturally would not be convinced.

However, to practice strength for one month and have that strength approach the second stage, the Tendon-Changing Realm, this level of talent already belongs to a monster that cannot be measured by common sense; the gap is so large that it instead leaves them unable to harbor any feelings of jealousy.

"The two senior brothers should stop flattering me to death; who can say what will happen in the future?"

Lu Yuan scratched his head to change the subject:

"Let's not talk about this for now. I actually have a favor to ask of you two senior brothers; could you lend me ten Silver Yuan? I accidentally spent all the money I had left."

Fifty Silver Yuan is basically enough for a family of three to cover their living expenses for a year.

Xu Dahu was stunned and said:

"That's fifty Silver Yuan. How can you, kid, be so extravagant with money? I see you going out to wander around from time to time; you haven't gotten involved with gambling or drugs, have you?"

"Other things are fine to say, but Master strictly forbids us from going near places like casinos or opium dens; if discovered, we'll have our legs broken!"

Lu Yuan laughed:

"Rest assured, Senior Brother. I spent all that money on food and supplements, which is why it went so fast; I didn't do anything else. With Master's teachings, I am certainly at odds with gambling and drugs."

"That's good then."

Upon hearing this, Xu Dahu felt relieved, dug into his pocket, counted out ten Silver Yuan, and handed them over:

"Take them."

(End of chapter)