Chapter 65

Martial Academy.

In the courtyard where he stayed yesterday.

After the battle with Guo Xuesong, Lin Chen did not continue the arena competition but returned to the courtyard.

At this moment, his thoughts were somewhat complex, and for the first time, he didn't start practicing immediately.

Standing in the courtyard, the evening breeze blew through his hair, but it couldn't blow away his current state of mind.

Although the battle with that man ended with the opponent conceding, those scenes flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

The fatigue that was hard to hide even when his moves were sharp at the end of the battle, the hands that trembled slightly due to the decline of Qi and blood and the inability to keep up with his heart, and the unwillingness and loneliness in his eyes when he finally conceded.

Yu Yu Jiaoxi once said that he could kill an eighty-year-old ranked martial artist with one punch.

This gave him a vague concept of the decline of a martial artist's Qi and blood, but it wasn't until he personally sparred with such a martial artist that he understood the cruelty of it.

Who in the world does not turn gray!

He was in his prime now, but if he waited until his own Qi and blood declined, watching his strength slip away like sand through his fingers, could he accept this helplessness?

Time seemed to freeze, and Lin Chen just stood there quietly.

Ten breaths later.

Lin Chen suddenly burst into laughter and slapped an ginkgo tree beside him.

"I'm losing my mind!"

I'm young and in my prime, why the hell am I thinking about the twilight years!

Right now is the age to be ambitious; as for the decline of Qi and blood, it's still a long way off.

If I don't want my Qi and blood to decline, I must constantly become stronger, stronger and stronger.

If not ranked, one can only last until forty; if Ninth Rank, one can last until fifty; then aim for Eighth Rank, Seventh Rank, Sixth Rank...

Then keep climbing upward!

As long as my strength improves fast enough, the decline of Qi and blood won't be able to catch up.

With the destiny panel in hand!

As long as I strive for martial arts resources, I won't have the problem of Qi and blood decline.

Dispelling these decadent thoughts, Lin Chen closed his eyes and began to review the battles of the day in his heart, especially the final battle with Guo Xuesong, and the way the opponent performed the Breeze Palm.

Every detail, every bit of the brutality of the palm wind, was infinitely magnified in his mind.

The strong wind knows the sturdy grass.

Sturdy grass breeds vitality.

The Breeze Palm seems gentle, like a spring breeze, but it actually contains vigorous vitality, breaking through hardness and sharpness invisibly.

A few breaths later, Lin Chen practiced his palm technique under the moon once again.

Time after time.

The palm wind changed from whistling to a tearing sound, sharp, tearing, and chilling to hear.

Bang!

He slapped a large tree beside him. The tree no longer trembled; this time, at the point of contact, a fracture appeared directly on the trunk, as smooth as if cut by a knife.

The palm wind is like a knife, sounding like a storm.

This is the sign of the Major Mastery stage of the Breeze Palm.

Tonight, the youth takes the moon as his companion, charging toward the essence of that palm technique.

……

……

Early the next morning.

"Panel!"

【Host: Lin Chen】

【Stage: Open-Acupuncture Stage (4/24): (50/100)】

【Breeze Palm: Major Mastery (0/1)】

【Water Cloud Palm: Mastery (2/10)】

Seeing the data on the panel, Lin Chen fell into deep thought.

The stage progress had actually increased by 15 points in one night, 5 points more than before.

Is this the bonus brought by the Major Mastery of the Breeze Palm?

Originally, when his Breeze Palm was at Minor Mastery, his daily stage progress increased by 10 points. Last night it increased by 15 points, and the only change in these two days was that the Breeze Palm reached Major Mastery yesterday.

Technique proficiency affects the speed of stage growth.

Lin Chen had realized this long ago, but he didn't expect the impact to be so great.

If it follows the current progress, he might have a chance to reach six acupoints before the martial arts competition.

"The progress bar from Major Mastery to Perfection for the Breeze Palm is only 1 point. This means that once you reach the Major Mastery stage, relying on practice is useless; it's either a sudden epiphany or you'll be stuck here forever."

【Breeze Palm: Major Mastery (0/1)】

……

……

"Looking for Major Mastery opponents?"

Hearing Lin Chen change his challenge requirements, Yan He'an's mouth opened slightly. So Lin Chen had practiced the Breeze Palm to Major Mastery last night?

How many days had passed?

The Qing Feng Wu Tang was likely going to lose all face this time.

Yan He'an could imagine what the faces of the Qing Feng Wu Tang's Kong Kong Guanzhu and instructors would look like when Lin Chen displayed the Major Mastery Breeze Palm during the martial hall competition.

No, he must be present at this year's martial hall competition to see it.

"Major Mastery martial artists are probably not easy to find," Yan He'an retracted his thoughts and looked at Lin Chen, explaining: "Since Young Master Lin has reached Major Mastery, if you need to improve your actual combat skills, you might as well head to the arena."

After a technique reaches Major Mastery, sparring is already useless.

From Major Mastery to Perfection, this last step can only rely on enlightenment.

"Yes," Lin Chen nodded and cupped his fists at him: "Many thanks, Senior, for your care over these past few days."

Yan He'an watched Lin Chen leave with a smile and turned to head to the backyard.

"Elder, your subordinate has something to report."

Still in that same courtyard, the woman listened to Yan He'an's report, her beautiful eyes shifting as her delicate fingers stroked a jade pendant in her hand.

After a long while, the woman raised her eyes: "Add him to the observation list!"

Yan He'an's pupils contracted. It seemed Lin Chen had caught the Elder's eye. Being on the observation list meant he had gained a protective talisman.

……

……

Martial Academy arena!

Lin Chen watched for a while but had no intention of going on stage.

The second arena had now become a mask-only zone.

Almost everyone on the arena was wearing a mask, but none of their techniques had reached the Mastery stage; there was no need to challenge them.

Instead, the fourth arena attracted his attention.

On the fourth arena, a senior sister wearing a mask and using the Water Cloud Palm was currently fighting an eight-acupoint martial artist and was actually not at a disadvantage.

"Wearing a mask, seven acupoints... could it be Jiang Jiang Shijie?"

If it were a senior student, there would be no need to wear a mask, and among the new intake of Jing Shui Wu Tang students, Jiang Jiang Shijie was the only one who had reached seven acupoints.

The palm wind danced, and the sound of rippling water was continuous; this was the Minor Mastery stage of the Water Cloud Palm.

"Jiang Jiang Shijie really doesn't give others a chance."

Seven acupoints opened, Minor Mastery in the Water Cloud Palm—Lin Chen could imagine how many students would feel despair at the martial hall competition at the beginning of next month.

After thirty moves, the opponent was defeated.

Seeing Jiang Jiang Shijie step down from the arena to sit and rest, with no intention of challenging again, Lin Chen prepared to leave. Now that his Breeze Palm was at Major Mastery, the most important thing was to improve his stage; there was no need to come to the Martial Academy again.

……

……

Jing Shui Wu Tang.

"The Breeze Palm has reached Major Mastery?"

Kong Yinglei was already somewhat numb; she felt there was no need for her to be shocked.

"This disciple was lucky," Lin Chen said modestly.

"Luck?" Kong Yinglei curled her lips in disdain: "Don't learn that tone from Jiang Jiang Shijie... or the Kong Kong Guanzhu. There is no such thing as luck in the Martial Way, especially when it comes to techniques."

Lin Chen blinked and didn't answer.

"For breaking through to Major Mastery, the martial hall has a reward of fifty taels of silver. You can go to the Martial Arts Pavilion to collect it in a while."

"Fifty taels?"

Lin Chen was a bit surprised; he was now experiencing the joy of being a top student in his previous life.

Top students not only don't spend money on reading, but they can also bring money home. The money rewarded by the school is higher than the annual salary of ordinary office workers.

Unfortunately, the Martial Way requires constant spending.

"Don't think it's too little. The martial hall never thought that a student could practice a technique to Major Mastery in such a short time. The set reward is twenty taels for reaching Minor Mastery within three months, and fifty taels for reaching Major Mastery within half a year."

Seeing Lin Chen's surprise, Kong Yinglei thought Lin Chen felt the reward was too little.

In terms of progress, Lin Chen reaching Major Mastery in such a short time was only thirty taels more than Minor Mastery, so the reward was indeed a bit low. But the problem was that the martial hall had never set a reward system for reaching Major Mastery in three months.

Rewards that no one can get are meaningless to formulate.

Reaching Major Mastery in a technique within half a year is something that happens once every few years.

For this year's Jiang Qing, she and her senior sister had predicted that there would be no problem reaching Major Mastery in the Water Cloud Palm within half a year, but the reason Jiang Qing came to the Jing Shui Wu Tang was to choose a technique that best suited her, pursuing the perfection of the technique within half a year.

Jiang Qing, like Lin Chen, had the same goal: walking the path of a genius.

This was what her senior sister told her privately after Lin Chen left last time.

"Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu, this disciple is very satisfied with the reward." Lin Chen knew Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu had misunderstood him, explained, and continued to ask: "Since I started practicing, I have had two doubts in my heart."

"Speak."

"After my Breeze Palm reached Mastery, it went to Minor Mastery, and now Major Mastery. I feel that as the proficiency of the technique increases, the speed of Qi and blood circulation in my body is also accelerating."

"Your feeling is not wrong."

Kong Yinglei nodded: "The proficiency of martial arts techniques does indeed help with stage breakthroughs, especially in the early stages, where it provides extremely significant help."

"Eight acupoints in the upper body, eight acupoints in the lower body; the higher the proficiency of the technique, the faster the breakthrough time for the same expenditure."

Seeing Lin Chen's confused expression, Kong Yinglei reacted; it seemed she hadn't explained much about the Open-Acupuncture Stage to Lin Chen.

This was her oversight!

In fact, as students who could practice Qi within a year, their family backgrounds were not bad, and there would be elders at the Open-Acupuncture Stage at home. Many situations regarding the Open-Acupuncture Stage were already understood before entering the martial hall.

She forgot that Lin Chen was just the son of an ordinary fisherman, and it seemed that Yu Yu Jiaoxi hadn't told Lin Chen much before he left.

"There are twenty-four acupoints in the human body, twelve in the upper body and twelve in the lower body. Those who practice palm and fist techniques first break through the eight acupoints in the upper body, while those who practice leg techniques like the Gale Wu Tang start with the eight acupoints in the lower body."

"When you practice the Breeze Palm or Water Cloud Palm, Qi and blood circulation will impact the eight acupoints in the upper body. The more proficient the technique, the faster the Qi and blood circulate, and the faster it impacts the acupoints."

Lin Chen nodded in understanding and then asked: "This disciple is a bit puzzled. Since this is the case, can't all students in the martial hall practice techniques first and then slowly improve their stage later? Wouldn't that save some money?"

"Not everyone is like you, able to hold back from eating beef for months in the Wu Tang."

Kong Yinglei had reviewed the martial arts overview of Lin Chen submitted by the Wu Tang to the Wuzheng Office, which mentioned that Lin Chen waited until three months later to start eating beef.

Lin Chen smiled sheepishly; he had been confused.

The students in the Wu Tang all knew that eating beef later could save money, but few could endure it, let alone these martial hall students with wealthy family backgrounds.

"Most students from ordinary family backgrounds have average aptitude for martial arts techniques."

A student like Lin Chen hadn't appeared in Poyang County for decades.

PS: Let's release two chapters together. I'll be "naked" next week, so I'll change to updating two chapters at midnight to make the follow-up reading look better, so you can finish reading them all at once.

(End of chapter)