Entering Strength

Yang Jing's body shuddered, as though a thin barrier had suddenly shattered.

The Mountain Collapse Fist moves he knew by heart underwent subtle changes.

When he punched, brute force no longer drove the motion.

The blood and qi that had long accumulated in his dantian began circulating through his meridians on its own, flowing into his fists.

When he planted his feet, a clinging force seemed to grip his soles, anchoring them more firmly to the ground. Every step carried a solid foundation.

He abruptly stopped punching, and the sounds around him instantly became several times clearer.

The cries of peddlers outside the courtyard, the shouts of distant Martial Arts Hall disciples practicing their punches, even the faint rustling of insects crawling in the corner—all reached his ears.

The scene before him seemed washed clean as well. The patterns on the bluestone slabs and the cracks in the wooden posts stood out with exceptional clarity.

But what truly shook him was the newly born inner force within his body.

Unlike the scorching heat of blood and qi, it carried a concentrated power as it slowly traveled through his meridians.

Wherever it passed, his limbs and bones brimmed with an unprecedented sense of fullness.

Yang Jing could clearly sense that if he threw a punch now, this inner force would erupt through his fist. Breaking the bones and tearing the tendons of an ordinary strong man would likely be child's play.

"So this is bright strength?"

Yang Jing murmured to himself, his eyes blazing with incredulous joy.

At last, he understood. At last, he was certain.

The system panel had spoken the truth. His cultivation truly had no bottlenecks.

The breakthrough attempt others had to struggle through, even risking their meridians, was merely a natural breakthrough for him, as effortless as water flowing into a channel.

He tried throwing another punch. Before his Fist Wind reached the post, his bright strength had already shot out.

With a bang, it left a shallow fist imprint in the wooden post.

Yang Jing stood there gazing at his fist, the excitement in his chest threatening to overflow.

Half a year of bitter toil, countless drops of sweat, and his family's hopes had finally found an answer!

Not only had he secured his place at the Martial Arts Hall, but he had also stepped into the bright strength realm that so many disciples dreamed of reaching!

Yang Jing's breakthrough was like a pebble tossed into a tranquil lake, instantly disrupting the courtyard's rhythm.

Not far away, School Master Sun Yong, who had been guiding Lin Yue through his punches, stirred his brows slightly and fixed his gaze precisely on Yang Jing.

Having practiced martial arts for decades, he knew the presence of bright strength better than anyone.

The force that had just emerged from Yang Jing's fist was still somewhat unpracticed, but it was unquestionably bright strength!

A flicker of surprise crossed Sun Yong's eyes, and the hand stroking his beard paused.

This Yang Jing... He remembered him clearly. His root bone aptitude was thoroughly ordinary, mediocre even among those with low-grade root bone. Though he had worked hard during his half year at the school, he had remained stuck at the initiation stage.

By Sun Yong's estimation, even approaching a breakthrough attempt within half a year would have been a rare achievement. His chances of breaking through to bright strength had been exceedingly slim.

Yet now, this lad had succeeded without a sound?

And on his very first attempt?

"He does have a bit of luck."

Sun Yong considered it privately.

A breakthrough attempt on the martial path depended three parts on talent, six parts on arduous training, and the remaining one part on opportunity and luck.

Perhaps Yang Jing had stumbled upon that sliver of luck and successfully broken through to bright strength.

Once his surprise passed, a slight smile appeared on his face.

Whatever the case, having another bright strength disciple in the Martial Arts Hall was always a good thing.

Bright strength disciples formed a Martial Arts Hall's backbone and upheld its reputation. Their advancement benefited both the Martial Arts Hall and the individual.

"Yang Jing," Sun Yong called. His voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly to every corner of the courtyard.

Yang Jing looked up at the sound. Seeing the school master watching him, he quickly withdrew his stance and bowed respectfully. "Your disciple is here."

Sun Yong nodded, studied him for a moment, and said slowly, "Now that you have entered bright strength, you are a Formal Disciple of mine. From this day forward, all your benefits will follow the standard for Formal Disciples."

That announcement landed among the crowd like a massive boulder, instantly setting everyone into an uproar.

"What?"

"Yang Jing broke through?"

"He entered bright strength?"

"How is that possible! With his root bone..."

The moment Sun Yong finished speaking, murmurs surged through the courtyard like a tide. All thirty-odd disciples turned toward Yang Jing, disbelief written across their faces.

Had those words not come from the school master himself, they would never have believed them.

A young disciple who had only recently joined the Martial Arts Hall gaped, the wooden saber in his hand dropping to the ground with a clatter. "Senior Brother Yang really did it? I heard reaching bright strength is incredibly hard. Plenty of senior brothers have better root bone than he does, and none of them managed it!"

Someone beside him swallowed hard, his voice dripping with sour resentment. "Who knows what kind of dogshit luck he stumbled into! With his aptitude, even reaching the threshold in half a year would have been impressive. Yet he succeeded on his first try? Did some evil spirit possess him during his breakthrough attempt?"

"He actually entered strength..."

At the back of the crowd, a disciple who had joined the Martial Arts Hall around the same time as Yang Jing stood with reddened eyes. He had trained doggedly for over five months and believed his root bone was better than Yang Jing's. Last month, he had attempted a breakthrough, only to fail and damage his vital energy. He was still recuperating.

Zhou Lin and Zhang Kehan stood beside the courtyard wall, their faces stiff, as though someone had slapped them hard.

Zhou Lin clenched her fists, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

They had been waiting to laugh at Yang Jing when he was thrown out in half a month. Yet in the blink of an eye, he had broken through to bright strength? He had become someone whose level they might never even approach in their entire lives?

"That's impossible," Zhang Kehan muttered, his eyes vacant. "He was clearly... clearly worse than us."

Even Qi Yun, who had been watching with cold detachment all along, froze for a moment before her brows drew tighter.

As she looked at Yang Jing, a trace of something complicated joined the disdain in her eyes.

Had this fellow, whom she had always regarded as a fool, truly stumbled into such dogshit luck?

A few disciples who had received pointers from Yang Jing showed sincere envy.

A full-bearded man rubbed his hands and said quietly, "I haven't been at the Martial Arts Hall long, only two months. But honestly, we've all seen how hard he's worked these past two months and more. Perhaps it wasn't all luck."

But his words were soon drowned out by an even fiercer surge of doubt.

To most of them, Yang Jing's success could only have come from extraordinary luck. Otherwise, with his root bone, how could he have surpassed so many disciples with better aptitude and ascended to the heavens in a single step?

Yang Jing stood amid the crowd, listening to the astonished and envious remarks around him, yet his expression remained calm.

He knew that neither doubt nor jealousy could change the fact that he had entered bright strength.

He merely straightened his back and bowed to Sun Yong once more. "Your disciple will obey."

Sun Yong gave a mild hum of acknowledgment. "This afternoon, I will personally guide you in cultivating the minor achievement stage of the Mountain Collapse Fist."

Once a disciple of the Sun Clan Martial Arts School broke through to bright strength, they became a Formal Disciple of School Master Sun Yong and naturally received more guidance from him.

Having just broken through, Yang Jing was about to begin cultivating the minor achievement stage of the Mountain Collapse Fist. This was precisely when he needed guidance.

"Yes, Master!" Yang Jing replied solemnly.

Before breaking through to bright strength, he would have had to address him as School Master. Now, however, he could truly call himself Sun Yong's disciple.