Cruel Elimination

Before dawn, Zhou You rose to cultivate.

He glanced at the empty room and let out a sigh.

Since Song Fugui and Liu Bing had left one after another, only he and Fang Guiqi remained in the room.

Later, new apprentices entered the outer court, but not a single one dared to become his roommate.

Zhou You's fearsome and ruthless reputation had already spread among the new students.

The day after Zhang Shu's leg was broken, his family dragged him away.

That day, he cried his heart out, begging for another chance to recover and break through to the Internal Force realm.

However, no one paid any attention to his struggles and pleas.

His leg bone was fractured, and even with the recovery of his vital energy and blood, there wasn't enough left to push for Internal Force.

Besides, he couldn't even stand steadily now, how could he practice boxing?

"Serves you right for not learning properly, for causing trouble, wasting so much of the family's silver, and delaying your elder brother's marriage."

Zhang Shu's father's face was ashen when he came to pick him up, looking like he wished his son had never been born.

Although his family wasn't poor, they weren't wealthy either, and the experience of having 60 taels of silver go down the drain was not pleasant.

Upon learning that his son's leg had been broken at the martial arts school for causing trouble, he rushed to take him back.

Accompanying him was Zhang Shu's elder brother, a middle-aged man with a simple and honest appearance.

If it weren't for Zhang Shu studying at the martial arts school, the 60 taels of silver for tuition should have been the betrothal gift for his own marriage.

The family had been counting on Zhang Shu becoming a formal apprentice and, under his protection, helping the family prosper.

Now, all of that had fallen through.

"Dad, don't be angry, just take him home."

Although Zhang Shu's elder brother was annoyed, he was wary of Jianxiong Martial Arts School's reputation and feared angering the important figures within.

His brother being expelled from the martial arts school brought a cascade of consequences.

He had already secured a well-paying job thanks to the martial arts school's wooden token, but that was now gone.

With this delay, he would become an old bachelor in his forties in a few more years.

The 60 taels of silver for tuition, including his wife's dowry and his father's burial money, were all gone now.

"Where's the carriage? If not a carriage, even a donkey cart will do. I have a leg injury and can't be jolted."

When Zhang Shu was carried to the entrance, he saw the empty scene and cried out.

When he first joined the martial arts school, his family had specially rented a carriage to send him.

However, when he left, it was incredibly desolate, with his father and brother arriving empty-handed.

The difference in treatment was like night and day.

"What carriage do you want? Don't you know renting a carriage costs money?"

"After all the trouble you've caused, how can we still have money? We can't even afford to eat!"

Zhang Shu's father replied irritably. He took out a rope and wooden stick from behind and assembled a simple... drag.

Generally, this was used for dragging goods, but it was extremely uncomfortable for a living person.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhang Shu struggled and cried, but his elder brother forcibly tied him onto the drag and pulled him away like a dead pig, disappearing at the end of the street.

Later, the apprentices at the martial arts school heard that Zhang Shu had a miserable time after returning home.

The 60 taels of silver for tuition had emptied their family's coffers, leaving them with no money to treat his leg injury.

It was said that a bone fracture takes a hundred days to heal, and Zhang Shu's broken leg should have required three months of bed rest.

However, his father and brother couldn't afford to care for him. A few days later, they forcibly sent him to the livestock market to learn horseshoe nailing and a trade to make a living.

His injury did not heal well, and coupled with the heavy manual labor, his broken leg became completely crippled.

Many years later, there was a master in the city's livestock market known as 'Crippled Zhang,' whose horseshoe nailing skills were proficient.

In the outer court, after this incident, no one dared to offend Zhou You again.

Everyone had seen Zhang Shu's fate. His attempts to spread rumors had backfired, resulting in him losing more than he gained.

Although his aptitude was mediocre, and he might not have been able to cultivate Internal Force and qualify for formal apprenticeship even after a hundred days, Zhou You had kicked him into a cripple without regard for his pleas. His actions were too ruthless.

A person with such a style was destined to be out of step with the crowd, solitary.

Zhou You didn't care about this; Zhang Shu's fate only strengthened his resolve.

Beneath the martial arts school's seemingly peaceful exterior lay a more treacherous elimination mechanism than the jungle.

If he couldn't cultivate Internal Force by the end of the hundred days, his fate wouldn't be any better than Zhang Shu's.

"The martial arts school's actions are a warning to others!"

Zhang Shu's tragic end finally spurred the other new apprentices.

They began to recall the immense price they paid to join the martial arts school, and the utter disappointment their families would face if they failed.

Some had even gained glory and the awe of their neighbors, things they couldn't have achieved in the first half of their lives, simply by holding their martial arts school wooden tokens.

Three months of protection had given them a false sense of security, making them believe their days at the martial arts school would continue indefinitely.

It wasn't until they saw Zhang Shu dragged away without any dignity that they were truly jolted awake.

If they were eliminated, they might not die, but their lives would be worse than death!

As apprentices, they had already witnessed the status of martial artists and could not accept returning to their former mediocre destinies and futures.

Many apprentices whose time was nearing its end pushed themselves even harder, practicing day and night without rest, their fists breaking out in bloody blisters.

However, with insufficient talent, no amount of effort could help. They could only watch as their peers galloped far ahead, leaving them behind.

Finally, one day, a new apprentice took a desperate gamble and ambushed his sparring partner.

"Luo Peng was driven mad. He had less than ten days left before he had to leave."

"His sparring partner, on the other hand, was progressing faster and had hope of cultivating Internal Force ahead of schedule. Jealousy, coupled with desperation, led him to commit a grave mistake."

This apprentice, named Luo Peng, with a "what the hell" attitude, launched a sneak attack during a sparring session and broke his partner's lower back. No one knew what he was thinking at the time.

Afterward, Senior Disciple Brother Lu Qiang flew into a rage, broke both of Luo Peng's legs on the spot, and expelled him from the martial arts school.

As for his sparring partner, his lower back was broken, leaving him paralyzed for the rest of his life.

A single thought had harmed both himself and others!

Some people discussed privately that if Zhou You hadn't dealt with Zhang Shu so brutally, Luo Peng's tragedy wouldn't have happened.

Perhaps Luo Peng saw Zhang Shu's fate and that's why he ambushed his sparring partner.

When Zhou You heard this rumor, he scoffed. Absurd?

Luo Peng was clearly incompetent and jealous of his sparring partner's superior progress, which led him to harbor malicious thoughts.

Even without Zhang Shu's incident, this guy was a scumbag at heart. What did he have to do with Zhou You?

Senior Disciple Brother Lu Qiang's punishment served as a deterrent to the restless new apprentices; after all, having one's legs broken was no pleasant experience.

Zhang Shu had only one leg broken, and he would spend the rest of his life wading through manure, limping as he served livestock.

One broken leg meant being half-crippled, while two broken legs meant complete incapacitation, leaving him to beg on the streets.

Even if they left the martial arts school, as long as they still had the ability to work, they could at least earn a living with their own hands. But if they were crippled, their only option was starvation, as no family could afford to support a useless person.

The new apprentices in the outer courtyard trembled, no longer daring to repeat such incidents.