Potential exhausted?

The night was cool as water, and the biting spring wind carried the lingering chill of winter.

Datong Ward, Yuhe County.

Yang Jing sat on a chair in his room, with horse meat stewing in an earthenware pot in the corner.

He took out a letter, spread it flat on the table, and read it by the light of the oil lamp.

His family had entrusted the letter to Yang Lao San, the village peddler, who had delivered it to the martial arts hall. Only now, after returning to his rented room, did Yang Jing have time to read it.

Yang Jing soon finished the letter, a faint look of surprise crossing his face.

"The Ning Family sent someone to our house?"

The letter said that the Ning Family had sent their steward to the house that morning. He had even brought a plow ox as a gift and had been exceedingly polite.

It also said that the steward from the Ning Mansion had mentioned Yang Jing several times.

His family had therefore written to ask whether he knew what had happened to cause such a drastic change in the Ning Family's attitude.

"News certainly travels fast in the Ning Family."

Yang Jing had already guessed why the Ning Family's attitude had changed so much.

Naturally, it was because he had broken through to bright strength and become a martial artist who had achieved entering strength.

Across Yuhe County as a whole, even a martial artist who had achieved entering strength did not amount to much. But in the countryside, to those local moneybags who could only throw their weight around the villages, such a martial artist carried far more weight.

Given the Ning Family's influence, they would not fear a bright strength martial artist like Yang Jing, who had only just broken through, but they would certainly be somewhat wary of him. With Master Ning's disposition, he would naturally abide by the rule of avoiding enmity whenever possible.

Yang Jing had long considered the possibility of a clash with the Ning Family, so he had investigated them as thoroughly as possible and learned quite a bit about their patriarch, Ning Xuezhi.

Ning Xuezhi seemed overbearing in his dealings, but a closer look revealed that he was quite cautious and careful.

Those who came into conflict with the Ning Family were almost all ordinary farmers without strength, backing, or potential. Ning Xuezhi did his best to befriend anyone with genuine ability or influence.

Yang Jing had gone after Feng Lei two months earlier rather than trying to kill Ning Xuezhi not merely because the wealthy, well-established Ning Family was harder to deal with than Feng Lei, who stood alone. He had also analyzed Ning Xuezhi's character.

Once Feng Lei was dead, Ning Xuezhi would not necessarily be willing to go to great lengths to avenge him.

Moreover, once Yang Jing broke through to the bright strength realm, Ning Xuezhi's way of handling matters meant that he would certainly no longer dare to keep pressuring Yang Jing's family.

Still, Yang Jing had not expected Ning Xuezhi to be so lavish, giving the Yang Family a plow ox outright to ease their strained relations.

After pondering for a moment, Yang Jing took out paper and a brush and began writing a reply.

His grandfather and grandmother were both honest, straightforward people, and their letter had carried considerable unease.

In his reply, Yang Jing plainly told them about his breakthrough to bright strength, giving his family something to celebrate while also setting their minds at ease.

Although he was still far from strong enough to distinguish himself in the Martial Arts Examination, for ordinary people, a farming household producing a martial artist who had achieved entering strength was already a major event capable of changing their lineage's fate.

A little later, Yang Jing set down his brush, folded the letter, and slipped it into an envelope, ready to ask Uncle San from his village to take it back the next day.

Only after finishing all this did Yang Jing rise and walk over to the earthenware pot in the corner to scoop out the cooked horse meat.

As he ate the horse meat, Yang Jing thought about bear meat.

Bear meat was fierce beast meat, and its nourishing effects far surpassed those of the horse meat he was eating now. Its price, however, was also far beyond that of horse meat, and Yang Jing did not currently have enough money to buy fierce beast meat.

If I could eat fierce beast meat every day, my progress in martial arts would improve by another huge leap, and I could greatly shorten the time needed to break through to hidden strength, Yang Jing thought. So the most important thing right now is still money.

In these troubled times, without money, there were no resources. For an ordinary martial artist like him, pursuing the Martial Path without resources meant struggling to take even a single step.

"Now that I've broken through to bright strength, I'm qualified for an Honorary Appointment. It's just..."

Yang Jing sighed softly.

In the two days since his breakthrough to bright strength, several households had already come to invite him to take an Honorary Appointment.

But the terms they offered were not particularly generous, mostly seven or eight taels of silver a month.

For an ordinary person, seven or eight taels of silver a month was an enormous sum. In the countryside, even in previous years when land prices had been high, that amount would have been more than enough to buy a mu of grade-A farmland.

Before Yang Jing broke through to bright strength, his family had practically smashed their cooking pots and sold the iron to support his martial training, yet his monthly living allowance had been only a little over two taels.

If he told his family that someone was offering him seven or eight taels a month, and that he would only occasionally have to exert himself, they would probably find it inconceivable.

But that was how ordinary people saw things. Having successfully achieved entering strength, Yang Jing had already stepped beyond the ranks of ordinary people and truly become a martial artist.

From what Yang Jing had learned, an ordinary bright strength martial artist should receive around ten taels a month for an Honorary Appointment. Those with better root bone were another matter.

Yang Jing had not set his sights too high for this payment, either. Reaching the usual standard would be enough.

Yet so far, not a single household had offered him ten taels.

Yang Jing sighed helplessly.

In other people's eyes, his potential had probably truly run dry. He was worth less than an ordinary bright strength martial artist, so they had set his monthly stipend a little lower as well.

"Tsk, tsk. They undervalue me for Honorary Appointments, and as for sponsorship, no one's paid me any attention yet. It's already been two days. Looks like there's no hope."

Yang Jing shook his head, but he was not discouraged. He had expected this.

After breaking through to bright strength, besides taking an Honorary Appointment, one also had a chance of receiving sponsorship from a major family or a large business.

The Sun Clan Martial Arts School was one example.

When a disciple broke through to bright strength, if they showed some potential, they might win the favor of a major family and receive sponsorship. The family would forge a favorable bond, and if the disciple later achieved success in martial arts, they would repay their sponsor with support.

The greater the potential they displayed, the more likely those major families were to value and sponsor them.

For example, Lin Yue, the genius disciple currently enjoying the greatest renown at the Sun Clan Martial Arts School, had already received sponsorship from the Zhao Family and the Qi Family before breaking through to bright strength.

Second Senior Brother Zhao Wenzheng and Third Senior Sister Qi Yun were members of the Zhao Family and the Qi Family, respectively.

Generally speaking, because they were close at hand and could act quickly, when a talented disciple emerged or made a breakthrough at a martial arts hall, the disciples from major families in that same hall would be the first to arrange sponsorship, leaving outsiders no chance.

Under normal circumstances, a disciple would generally have only one family sponsoring them. After all, these major families had intricate relationships with one another, and even rifts.

But Lin Yue had displayed such immense potential that two major families had sponsored him.

Although no one is willing to sponsor me, I never held out much hope from the start. Without hope, there naturally won't be disappointment, Yang Jing mused as he took large bites of horse meat.

Other people did not know he had the System Panel. They merely thought his potential had run dry and that his breakthrough to bright strength had been entirely down to luck.