This day!
Lin Chen trained until deep into the night, then got up again before dawn to cultivate.
Clear Wind Palm: Not Yet Initiated +1
Clear Wind Palm: Not Yet Initiated +1
He stopped again only when dawn broke.
Clear Wind Palm: Not Yet Initiated (16/100)
Ten of those points had been gained between nightfall and dawn, while six had been gained during the day.
This was the effect of the Comprehension boost brought by the Black to the End title.
"Mother, I'm going to the Martial Hall."
After breakfast, Lin Chen did not continue practicing martial arts. He greeted his mother before heading to the Martial Hall in town.
The Martial Hall had become so deserted that not a single figure could be seen. Even the servants and laborers had left. Lin Chen went straight to Instructor Yu's courtyard.
The courtyard gate stood open. When Lin Chen entered, Yu Yongnian was packing his luggage. Seeing Lin Chen come in, he set down the item in his hand, scanned Lin Chen from head to toe, and nodded. "Not bad. You've entered the Aperture Opening Realm. Your qi and blood have already begun to turn inward."
The current Lin Chen gave off a vigorous, youthful air, but he no longer had the flushed, radiant appearance he once possessed.
After opening his apertures, his qi and blood had turned inward instead of floating on the surface of his body.
As Lin Chen looked at his instructor, he also noticed that Instructor Yu seemed somewhat different from before. The instructor had once been overly composed, but today Lin Chen saw vitality in him.
A thirty-year-old man's entire spirit and appearance could change drastically for only two reasons: promotion and wealth, or a second spring.
In this world, that meant an improvement in Martial Arts Realm and a second spring.
In such a short time, Instructor Yu's realm probably had not improved. That meant he had blossomed into a second spring.
So Instructor Yu and Inspector Shu...
A spark of gossip flared in Lin Chen's heart. He asked curiously, "Instructor, are you going back?"
"After the New Year, I won't be teaching at the Martial Hall anymore. I've already resigned from my position as an instructor with the Martial Arts Administration."
Yu Yongnian did not hide this news from Lin Chen. He had decided yesterday that he would no longer continue teaching.
Back then, he had come to teach at the Martial Hall only because he had lost the desire to advance in martial arts. He had merely wanted to find a quiet place to spend the rest of his life.
His parents had passed away five years ago. Although he had a younger sister, his parents had married her off early to raise money for his martial arts studies.
Because of this, his sister was not close to him. When he visited his brother-in-law's family a few times, his sister and brother-in-law treated him more with awe and respect than with familial affection. Eventually, he simply stopped going and sent her some silver through the courier station every year.
Now, he was giving up his position as a Martial Hall instructor because of Senior Sister Shu.
On the trip to bring Lin Chen into the city, Senior Sister Shu had gotten him drunk. The two of them had laid everything bare, and the last layer between them had been pierced through.
All these years, it was not that he had felt nothing for his senior sister's affection. It was just that, thinking of the gap between their family backgrounds, he had felt inferior and pretended not to know.
Now that he had confessed his feelings to his senior sister, he would set foot on the path of martial arts once more and strive to participate in the Martial Examination two years from now.
When Lin Chen heard that Instructor Yu would no longer serve at the Martial Hall, his first reaction was that the instructor had finally seen the light.
Instructor Yu had seen the light. How could hard rice compare with soft rice?
Following Inspector Shu, he no longer cared for the salary of an instructor.
"Congratulations, Instructor." Lin Chen blinked and offered his congratulations.
Yu Yongnian did not understand Lin Chen's words. What was there to congratulate him for?
"Tell me about your experiences at Clearwind Martial Arts Hall and Still Water Martial Arts Academy."
Feeling that Lin Chen's gaze was somewhat strange, Yu Yongnian found himself uncharacteristically awkward. He rather stiffly changed the subject.
"Your disciple first went to Clearwind Martial Arts Hall and received the Clear Wind Palm manual. Afterward, I went to Still Water Martial Arts Academy..."
Lin Chen recounted everything that had happened at the martial arts halls in painstaking detail, including how he had spent half an hour opening his apertures.
"Deputy Hall Master Kong told you not to spread it around?"
Now it was Yu Yongnian's turn to show a strange expression. He could vaguely guess what Deputy Hall Master Kong was thinking.
After Lin Chen had left that day, Senior Sister Shu had told him about it. He had been indignant on Lin Chen's behalf, feeling that the boy had suffered discrimination. But from the martial arts halls' perspective, their choice had not been wrong.
Because no one could prove that Lin Chen had truly used only twenty taels to condense his Essence Energy.
If they relied solely on the Martial Hall's records and the instructor's testimony, many students would exploit that loophole in the future. He had realized this afterward as well; at the time, he had simply been too furious and overlooked the point.
"Since Deputy Hall Master Kong said so, don't spread it around."
From the time Lin Chen had opened his apertures, that Deputy Hall Master Kong should have confirmed that Lin Chen had truly used only twenty taels to condense his Essence Energy. Her not letting Lin Chen tell others likely meant she had another motive.
Whatever Deputy Hall Master Kong's motive was, it was not a bad thing for Lin Chen.
"I'll listen to you, Instructor."
Lin Chen had not noticed the strange expression that had flashed across Yu Yongnian's face. He had simply been startled by the instructor's words, "Deputy Hall Master Kong."
That Instructor Kong was actually a deputy hall master? He had thought she was merely an ordinary instructor.
Since Deputy Hall Master Kong and Instructor Yu both did not want him to spread the matter, it seemed that word getting out really would affect him.
Yu Yongnian nodded slightly, then walked into the room and took out a booklet.
"This records some of my cultivation insights from the Aperture Opening Realm. You can take it home and read it."
"Thank you, Instructor."
Lin Chen accepted the booklet but did not rush to open it. He was filled with gratitude toward Instructor Yu.
He was merely an ordinary student at the Martial Hall, yet Instructor Yu had truly treated him with unparalleled kindness.
If not for the "always stabbing one's adoptive father" meme that had lingered in his mind from his previous life, he truly wanted to say to Instructor Yu: Once a teacher, a father for life.
"After entering the Aperture Opening Realm and coming into contact with true martial arts techniques, future matches won't simply be comparisons of realm anymore. The monthly disciple battles held by the various martial arts halls will focus on actual combat."
"The only shortcut to opening your apertures is spending money. You're at a disadvantage there, so during this early period, you need to devote more energy to cultivating techniques, using your proficiency in them to make up for the gap in realm."
Lin Chen listened attentively. He knew that Instructor Yu was about to plan a path of martial arts for him.
"In martial arts battles, realm is the main factor, but techniques are also extremely important. The eight great martial arts halls possess dozens of martial arts techniques, yet each hall is famous for only one. Do you know why?"
Lin Chen shook his head. When it came to information about martial arts, he was at the very bottom.
"Martial arts techniques are divided into ranked and unranked. Unranked techniques can only let you display all your innate strength, while ranked techniques can let you unleash several times the strength of your current realm. The signature techniques of the eight great martial arts halls are all ranked techniques."
As soon as he finished speaking!
Yu Yongnian brought his right hand together into a palm and lightly struck the stone table.
Smack!
The stone table shattered on impact, sending gravel flying.
"This is the Clear Wind Palm. When cultivated to perfection, the Clear Wind Palm can produce ten times your current strength."
Seeing the astonishment in Lin Chen's eyes, Yu Yongnian smiled. "If you cultivate the Clear Wind Palm to the Minor Achievement stage, you can accomplish this even in the early Aperture Opening Realm."
"Instructor, how many stages are there in a ranked technique?" Lin Chen asked solemnly.
"Proficient, Mastered, Minor Achievement, Major Achievement, and Perfection."
Lin Chen pondered for a moment. So his current Not Yet Initiated state did not even count as the first stage.
"Instructor, how do I know which stage I've reached?"
This question had just occurred to Lin Chen. He had the System Panel, which could determine the stage of his technique proficiency. But other martial artists had no panel, so how did they know what stage they had reached?
"Ranked techniques manifest different signs at different stages. Take the Clear Wind Palm, for example. At the Mastered stage, the wind from your palm roars when you strike. At the Minor Achievement stage, the palm wind can blow sand and sweep up leaves. At the Major Achievement stage, the palm wind tears through the air like a storm, chilling the hearts of all who see it. As for the Perfection stage, it is returning to simplicity—returning to the ordinary, yet containing boundless power."
Yu Yongnian was exceedingly familiar with the Clear Wind Palm. "The techniques of the other seven halls also display different signs once they reach the Mastered stage. I've written all of this down in the booklet. You can read it when you have time."
"After reaching the Proficient stage, it will depend on your comprehension of the technique. Some students can master a technique in half a year, while others need a year or even longer. Back when you mentioned the word genius at the Martial Hall, there truly is such a thing as a genius in Martial Arts Comprehension."
Yu Yongnian recalled the scene of Lin Chen boasting that he was a genius and said with a smile, "If you can cultivate the Clear Wind Palm from Proficient to Mastered within half a year, you can indeed be called a martial arts genius."
"The reason I didn't tell you these things before was, first, that I was afraid you would aim too high and think too much. Second, the idea of comprehension is even more elusive."
"People choose techniques, and techniques choose people. Some people progress extremely quickly when learning the Clear Wind Palm, but when they learn Mantis Fist, their progress makes them indistinguishable from everyone else. Ultimately, this has much to do with the martial artist's own temperament."
"Unless someone can advance extremely quickly in every technique, I haven't seen such a genius in Poyang County."
Although those words were somewhat cruel, Yu Yongnian had to make this point clear. Students from ordinary families could not harbor any unrealistic fantasies or hopes of getting lucky.
"To cultivate the Clear Wind Palm from Initiation to Proficiency, all you need is diligent practice. You lack financial resources, so you'll need to make up for it through your technique. My requirement for you is that before entering a martial arts hall, the Clear Wind Palm must at the very least have reached Initiation."
Practice hard and practice more.
This was the path of martial arts that Yu Yongnian had planned for Lin Chen.
For the poor to learn martial arts, this was the only road available.
"I understand what you mean, Instructor. I'll practice the Clear Wind Palm diligently every day." Lin Chen nodded firmly. He understood the reasoning behind the instructor's words.
"Mm. The Martial Hall will close after today, so you should leave early as well."
Having finished all his instructions, Yu Yongnian did not delay any longer. He reached out to lift the bundle on the table, but Lin Chen stepped forward and picked it up first. "Instructor, I'll see you to the horse market."
Seeing Lin Chen's action, Yu Yongnian smiled and did not refuse his enthusiasm.
Horse Market.
Yu Yongnian took a chestnut-red horse. After mounting, he waved at Lin Chen. "Go back. If you run into any trouble, you can go to the Shu Residence and look for Inspector Shu."
"I'll remember that, Instructor."
Hearing this, Yu Yongnian smiled faintly and did not urge him further. He urged his horse onward, cracking the whip as he rode away in style.
Only after Instructor Yu's figure had vanished from sight did Lin Chen withdraw his gaze and look down at the booklet in his hand.
But when he flipped through it, he froze.
Clutched between the final pages of the booklet was a Silver Note.
A Silver Note worth twenty taels.
You are poor yet resolute, diligently practicing without rest. You are truly a Noble Son from a Humble Family, a Rare Treasure of the World.
Take this gold as your boat and oar, break through the waves, and press onward across the sea of martial arts. Seek the pearl within the dragon's maw and achieve something extraordinary.
Whether dust raised by the horse's hooves had gotten into his eyes or something else was the matter, Lin Chen only felt a stinging dryness in them.
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