Chapter 99: Panel Iteration: The Path of Extreme Advancement

Wu Garden.

A quiet courtyard.

Song Yu looked at the other five and bowed: “Thank you all for coming at my invitation.”

This gathering was summoned by Song Yu, and the five before him were each their own martial school’s top-ranked new recruit.

Fei Hong of Ironblood Martial School, Gu Shan of Zhenyue Martial School, Zhang Qing of Crazy Wind Martial School, Qi Fei of Yunyin Martial School, Zhao Kang of Mantis Martial School, and Shao Hong of Qingfeng Martial School.

“Pity Jiang Sister left Jingshui Martial School.”

Song Yu sighed; he had sent an invitation to Jingshui Martial School, but their reply was that Jiang Qing was currently not at the school.

“Jiang Sister left Poyang County—what about Lin Brother?”

Zhao Kang glanced at Gu Shan: “I heard Lin Brother has been staying at Zhenyue Martial School lately?”

Gu Shan nodded: “Yes, Lin Brother is training Ironbone Art here at Zhenyue Martial School today—he hasn’t left the compound.”

“Song Brother, why didn’t you invite Lin Brother?”

Zhao Kang was puzzled: Song Yu’s invitations were to discuss the county tournament, and Lin Brother, as the top performer in the three-month contest, had every reason to be invited.

Not just Zhao Kang—everyone else also looked at Song Yu with questioning expressions, waiting for his explanation.

Song Yu glanced at Shao Hong, whose expression was slightly awkward. He had two reasons for not inviting Lin Chen: one was to avoid embarrassing Shao Hong.

Shao Hong had lost to Lin Chen, and given the existing feud between Lin Chen and Qingfeng Martial School, Shao Hong likely still harbored resentment over that match.

The Song and Shao families were both prominent clans in Poyang County and longstanding allies; he and Shao Hong were close. If he invited Lin Chen, Shao Hong would refuse to come.

As for the other reason, Song Yu didn’t hide it: “Lin Brother is now training Ironbone Art. The details behind it aren’t known to other recruits, but you all should know.”

The Extreme Training Method was unfamiliar to Poyang County recruits—even Song Yu and the others hadn’t known about it before. But once they learned Lin Chen had gone to Zhenyue Martial School to train Ironbone Art, their elders explained the truth.

“Song Brother, what do you mean by that?” Gu Shan frowned.

“The Extreme Training Path isn’t easy to walk! Lin Chen won one contest and has become arrogant—does he really think he’s a once-in-a-generation genius?”

Before Song Yu could answer, Shao Hong sneered: “Wait until he wastes months of effort—his gap with us will only widen. His advantage from Perfect Qingfeng Palm is already gone. What does he have to match us in cultivation base? Just those two Tongqiao Pills?”

Defeated by Lin Chen, Shao Hong had never accepted it. He admitted Lin Chen’s Perfect Qingfeng Palm made him unbeatable—but only because Lin Chen had trained less time; his own advantages hadn’t been fully realized.

The Opening Meridian Realm has twenty-four acupoints. With Lin Chen’s humble background, once the training boost from Perfect Qingfeng Palm fades, what will he use to compete with me?

He only got lucky—the Grand Administrator just happened to set the three-month contest, giving him plenty of rewards. Otherwise, after opening eight acupoints, he’d be scrambling for silver taels like ordinary recruits just to afford his cultivation expenses, let alone focus on training.

In his view, if Lin Chen had stayed at Jingshui Martial School, relying on the generous rewards from the Wuzheng Office and the school, he might have barely kept pace without falling behind.

But Lin Chen made this absurd decision—choosing the Extreme Training Path. In his eyes, given Lin Chen’s background and conditions, walking this path was nothing short of self-sabotage.

Song Yu had privately discussed this with Shao Hong; he agreed with him, but his words weren’t as blunt. He simply explained: “Lin Brother has just begun Ironbone Art—his breakthroughs in cultivation base will inevitably slow. Even with Perfect Qingfeng Palm, his advantage in the county contest three months from now won’t be what it was.”

In three months, with their talents, each of them could at least achieve Minor Mastery in their respective arts. Though not as powerful as a Perfect art, the gap in martial skill narrows, while their cultivation base advantage grows.

With this shift, Song Yu didn’t believe Lin Chen could achieve a high rank in the county contest three months from now.

“I can’t agree with you, Song Brother.”

Zhao Kang shook his head. He rejected Song Yu and Shao Hong’s views. Shao Hong, of course, had a grudge against Lin Brother and wouldn’t speak well of him—but he hadn’t expected Song Yu to look down on Lin Brother too.

He was the senior disciple of Mantis Martial School’s new class, but his family background was poorer than the others’. A few days ago, when he read the Wuzheng Office’s notice about Lin Brother’s deeds, he deeply admired him.

He didn’t believe Lin Brother, after enduring so much hardship to reach this point, would become arrogant after one contest win and make an unwise choice.

Lin Brother must have his reasons for doing this.

“Zhao Brother, Lin Chen isn’t even here—flattering him won’t help. He won’t give you a single Tongqiao Pill.” Shao Hong sneered.

“I don’t mind flattering him—it’s better than some people getting jealous after losing.” Zhao Kang shot back without mercy.

“Zhao Kang!”

Shao Hong flew into a rage. Zhao Kang laughed: “What? Angry because you’re exposed? Should we fight too?”

“Both of you, stop quarreling. We gathered to discuss how to handle the martial artists from Yanshan County—don’t waste energy on personal grudges.”

Song Yu intervened, and the others quickly joined in to calm them.

“Forget it. I disagree with Song Brother’s view—I won’t attend this meeting. I’m leaving.”

Zhao Kang knew well the relationship between Song and Shao families. Shao Hong’s words likely reflected Song Yu’s own thoughts.

One spoke plainly; the other spoke subtly.

“Zhao Brother?”

“Ah…”

Zhao Kang turned and walked away, decisively. Song Yu sighed, looked at the remaining few, and said helplessly: “Didn’t expect Zhao Brother to have such a fiery temper—he doesn’t seem like a Mantis Fist cultivator at all. One might think he trains Ironcrush Fist instead.”

“Zhao Kang is already the weakest among us. His leaving doesn’t matter—why care?” Shao Hong snorted dismissively.

Song Yu noticed Gu Shan and the others frowning—he realized Shao Hong’s words had upset them. He changed the subject, speaking gravely: “I’ve received word: Yanshan County already has seven recruits who’ve opened nine acupoints—far more than we have.”

“Song Brother, let the school masters and Grand Administrator worry about that. We can’t demand our junior recruits break through faster.”

Qi Fei shook his head helplessly. All they could do was push themselves to break through; they couldn’t control others or provide cultivation resources for their juniors.

“That’s true—it’s not our place as disciples to worry about. But I have an idea: let’s invite those Yanshan County recruits to the Wu Garden arena for a sparring match, to test their strength.”

Poyang County has Wu Garden, but Yanshan County doesn’t—even Raozhou Prefecture lacks one.

“Do you think those Yanshan recruits will come?” Gu Shan’s eyes lit up. If they came to Poyang County and fought on the arena, they’d know exactly how strong they were.

“We want to know their strength—surely they want to know ours too?”

At Song Yu’s words, everyone smiled knowingly. Yes, those Yanshan recruits were equally eager to gauge their strength.

“I have an uncle with good connections in Yanshan County. He can arrange this without issue.”

“Song Brother, when those Yanshan people arrive, notify me—I’ll come immediately.”

“Same here.”

…

…

Zhenyue Martial School.

Lin Chen stood in the courtyard, his entire skin glowing red—but upon closer inspection, blood flowed beneath that red surface.

Blood strengthens the skin!

This was the sign of Ironbone Art’s entry level.

The bathwater’s temperature was perfect. Lin Chen stepped in, then took the purple crystal marrow essence from the rack beside the tub and dropped one drop into the water.

The first bottle of purple crystal marrow essence was already half-used—its effect left Lin Chen awestruck.

Just fifteen minutes of medicinal bathing erased all his fatigue and soreness, restoring him to perfect condition.

Thanks to the purple crystal marrow essence, he could train day and night without rest—and achieved Ironbone Art’s entry level in such a short time.

“Panel!”

Lin Chen murmured, and the panel appeared.

【Host: Lin Chen】

【Realm: Opening Meridian (8/24): (95/100)】

【Qingfeng Palm: Perfect】

【Shuiyun Palm: Major Mastery (0/1)】

【Ironbone Art: Entry (1/100)】

【Title: Black to the End】

【Destiny: [Water Flows Naturally]: In any cultivation realm, persistence, gradual progress, and unstoppable momentum eliminate all bottlenecks.】

Seeing Ironbone Art had reached Entry, Lin Chen smiled in satisfaction.

Just as he prepared to dismiss the panel, the text began to shift—characters wriggled like tadpoles, growing increasingly blurred until the entire panel turned blank.

This sudden change made Lin Chen’s pupils contract sharply—but the next moment, a line of text appeared.

“Detected alteration in host’s cultivation path. Reconfiguring cultivation advancement panel…”

Seeing this, Lin Chen exhaled in relief.

He’d feared the panel had malfunctioned—if it vanished, he’d lose real-time tracking of his progress, and more critically, the bonuses from his destiny and title.

“Cultivation path altered?”

Pondering the panel’s words, Lin Chen fell into thought.

His only change was switching to Ironbone Art and walking the Extreme Cultivation Path.

So the original panel had planned a mainstream cultivation route for most recruits—but now that his path had changed, the panel had to adapt.

Lin Chen’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. What new surprises would this update bring?

Last time, the update granted him a title.

(End of Chapter)