Chapter 37

On the martial arts field!

As soon as Lin Chen's Breeze Palm came out, many students at the scene were left with blank expressions.

Not the Water Cloud Palm?

There were indeed some senior sisters who had sparred with disciples of the Breeze Martial Hall who recognized the Breeze Palm.

But new students like Fu Jingya had not sparred with disciples of the Breeze Martial Hall and did not recognize that what Lin Chen was executing was the Breeze Palm.

On the martial arts field, Zhai Xiaolu was also somewhat confused to see Lin Chen execute a set of palm techniques she was completely unfamiliar with.

However, she had been in the martial hall for a year and had practical combat experience; although surprised, she did not panic and immediately struck out with her palms to respond.

Lin Chen's palm technique was elegant, while Zhai Xiaolu's was smooth, like flowing clouds and water; the two fought back and forth.

Ten moves, twenty moves...

By the thirtieth move, Lin Chen flipped his palm, and at an extremely tricky angle, it appeared in front of Zhai Xiaolu's forehead, just a hair's breadth away from landing on it.

"Lin Lin Shidi is impressive; I am no match for you, Jiang Jiang Shijie."

Zhai Xiaolu conceded defeat very readily; her strength was already at the bottom of the martial hall, and she had come to the martial arts field to watch the fun, so she didn't feel ashamed to lose.

"I concede, Jiang Jiang Shijie Zhai!" Lin Chen smiled slightly.

Kong Yinglei looked deeply at Lin Chen; with her discernment, she could see that Lin Chen's Breeze Palm had also stepped into the proficient stage. As for this Zhai Xiaolu, although her Water Cloud Palm had also reached the proficient stage, she had very little practical combat experience; it seems that in her year at the martial hall, she had spent more time on breaking through her cultivation stage.

After twenty moves, Zhai Xiaolu's palm technique had already become somewhat chaotic; at that time, Lin Chen could have already defeated her, but he had deliberately dragged it out for ten moves.

He is a decent person, knowing how to save face for his senior sister.

"You all may step down."

Kong Yinglei instructed the older batch of students, and the old students left one after another; they knew that what followed would be the plot of the Vice Kong Kong Guanzhu reprimanding the new junior sisters.

Once the old students were gone, the smile on Kong Yinglei's face vanished instantly, and she snorted coldly: "Are you not convinced? Do you think that because these senior sisters have been in the martial hall for a year, if you were given a year, you would definitely be able to defeat them?"

The pretty faces of Fu Jingya and the other girls changed slightly; they had been hit right in their thoughts by Kong Yinglei.

"On the path of martial arts, there has never been a distinction of who came first; in the martial hall, you are the new batch of students, but once you go outside, you only have one title: disciples of the Still Jing Jing Shui Wuguan!"

"This year, you will face competition from the new disciples of the other seven martial halls, and next year is the year of the county examination; you will have to compete together with the students from the previous batch!"

"Or do you think the county examination will give you preferential treatment because you started a year late?"

Kong Yinglei's words made the faces of Fu Jingya and the other female students look ugly all of a sudden; next year's county examination, they would have been in the martial hall for two years at most, while the previous batch had three years, having a year more of cultivation time than them.

How could they compare?

"You can also give up, just stay in the martial hall for three years like this, and when you leave the martial hall, find someone to marry and raise children."

"Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, this disciple will not give up." Fu Jingya suddenly spoke up.

"Will not give up?" Kong Yinglei looked disdainful: "You say you won't give up with your mouths, but your actions are already giving up; to be honest, apart from Jiang Qing and Lin Chen, I am incredibly disappointed in the eight of you."

"Some of you already took the Aperture-Opening Pill three months ago and started cultivating the Water Cloud Palm, but even now you haven't stepped into the proficient stage... it's simply a disgrace!"

"Vice Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, in previous batches, students also took more than three months to cultivate the Water Cloud Palm to proficiency." Fu Jingya looked unconvinced; she felt that her cultivation was not slow, and if given a few more days, her Water Cloud Palm would also be proficient.

"You fool who only knows how to compare who is worse!"

Kong Yinglei sneered: "Jiang Qing came into contact with the Water Cloud Palm at the end of the year, and Lin Chen also came into contact with the Breeze Palm at the end of the year; why are the two of them able to cultivate their respective palm techniques to proficiency?"

"You self-righteous fool!"

Hiss!

Lin Chen listened to Kong Yinglei's merciless words and subconsciously looked at Fu Jingya and the others.

Fu Jingya and the others were like eggplants beaten by frost; everyone had lost their spirit, and their faces had turned pale.

Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, she really scolds harshly!

And she doesn't cherish the fair sex at all... oh, Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu is also a woman, so that's fine.

"You lot are still holding onto the resources of the Aperture-Opening Pill; you don't deserve it. If it weren't for the good luck of being born into a good family, you would be nothing."

Kong Yinglei didn't stop there; her words continued to pour out, and Lin Chen could even see tears swirling in the eyes of several senior sisters.

"Lin Chen, seeing the performance of these fools, do you think heaven is particularly unfair? Why is it that such fools can have such good family backgrounds?"

Lin Chen:...

He hadn't expected Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu to burn the flames of war onto himself.

He didn't have such thoughts at all.

Facing the gaze directed at him by Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, Lin Chen bit the bullet and said: "This disciple's situation is different from the senior sisters', so it cannot be generalized."

Kong Yinglei was very dissatisfied with Lin Chen's answer: "Really?"

"This disciple's family background cannot compare to the senior sisters', but this disciple is not jealous of them. It is precisely because my family background is poor that I know the gap between myself and the senior brothers and sisters, and I know that if I want not to be left behind on the path of martial arts, I must practice diligently. Having formed this habit, this is the most precious wealth on my martial arts path."

Lin Chen answered very tactfully, but when he said this, someone didn't appreciate it.

"The path of martial arts lies in diligence; who doesn't understand this principle? I practice martial arts for five hours every day and have never missed a day." Fu Jingya raised her head, unconvinced.

Lin Chen spread his hands and said helplessly: "Lin Lin Shidi here practices for eight and a half hours every day."

Hiss!

Lin Chen's words caused the expressions of Fu Jingya and the others to change from disappointment to shock.

Practicing for eight and a half hours a day—doesn't that mean that apart from sleeping, all other time is spent practicing?

Even when sleeping, one sleeps for at most three hours a day; after all, one still has to eat, drink, and attend to bodily functions, which also consumes some time.

Jiang Qing, on the far left, also cast her beautiful eyes on Lin Chen, a hint of thoughtfulness flashing in the depths of her eyes.

Fu Jingya was convinced.

She was indeed not as diligent as Lin Lin Shidi.

The others were the same; in their view, five hours a day was already considered diligent enough.

Seeing the convinced expressions of Fu Jingya and the others, Kong Yinglei did not say any more harsh words; Lin Chen's personal testimony was more effective than the lecture she had prepared.

"Lin Chen, stay behind; everyone else is dismissed. Go back and reflect carefully: what is your goal in coming to the martial hall?"

Soon, Lin Chen was the only student left on the martial arts field.

Lin Chen had doubts in his heart, not understanding why Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu had asked him to stay behind.

If it were to say he was a positive example, that Jiang Jiang Shijie Jiang was clearly one too, so she shouldn't have just kept him alone.

"Lin Chen, although you are not a disciple of my Still Jing Jing Shui Wuguan, the martial hall will still give you the treatment of a Grade-A student. Go to the Martial Arts Pavilion and collect the Grade-A disciple identity badge; if Jiang Jiang Shijie Li asks, just say it was my decision."

Kong Yinglei spoke with a smile; seeing Lin Chen stunned, she was not in a hurry, as she admired Lin Chen very much.

The matter of cultivating vital energy with twenty taels of silver should be true, but that was not enough to move her; today, hearing Lin Chen's account of practicing martial arts for more than eight hours every day, she was truly moved by a desire to cherish talent.

On the path of martial arts, money is indeed important, but having a firm heart for learning martial arts is even more important.

Being able to practice martial arts for eight hours a day is not just because of diligence; it precisely shows that Lin Chen has an extremely firm heart for the martial way, otherwise, it would be impossible to persist.

This is not persistence for a day or two, but for the entire long martial arts career—it is a month, a year, or even ten years...

"Thank you, Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu!"

Lin Chen was overjoyed; he didn't know what treatment a Grade-A student had, but it was definitely a good thing.

(End of chapter)