At the Training Ground!
The moment Lin Chen used Clear Wind Palm, many of the students present wore confused expressions.
Wasn't it Water Cloud Palm?
However, some of the Senior Sisters who had fought disciples from Clearwind Martial Arts Hall recognized Clear Wind Palm.
But new students like Fu Jingya had never fought disciples from Clearwind Martial Arts Hall, so they couldn't recognize that what Lin Chen was using was Clear Wind Palm.
In the Training Ground, Zhai Xiaolu was also a little dumbfounded when she saw Lin Chen perform a palm technique that was completely unfamiliar to her.
Still, she had spent a year at the martial arts hall and had some real combat experience. Though surprised, she didn't panic, and immediately struck out to respond.
Lin Chen's palm technique was graceful, while Qu Xiaolu's was smooth and fluid, like drifting clouds and flowing water. The two fought back and forth.
Ten moves, twenty moves...
On the thirtieth move, Lin Chen flipped his palm, and it appeared before Qu Xiaolu's forehead at an extremely tricky angle. With just a little more momentum, it would have landed on her forehead.
"Junior Brother Lin, you're impressive. Senior Sister isn't your match."
Qu Xiaolu admitted defeat readily. Her strength was at the bottom of the martial arts hall to begin with, and she had come to the Training Ground just to watch the excitement. She didn't feel embarrassed about losing.
"Senior Sister Qu, you were being gracious!" Lin Chen said with a faint smile.
Kong Yinglei gave Lin Chen a deep look. With her sharp eyes, she could tell that Lin Chen's Clear Wind Palm had also entered the proficient stage. As for Qu Xiaolu, although her Water Cloud Palm had reached the proficient stage as well, she had very little actual combat experience. Presumably, during her year at the martial arts hall, she had spent most of her time breaking through realms.
After twenty moves, Qu Xiaolu's palm technique had already become somewhat disordered. Lin Chen could have defeated her then, yet he had deliberately dragged it out for another ten moves.
He was a decent fellow after all. He even knew to save his Senior Sister's face.
"You may all withdraw."
Kong Yinglei instructed the old students, and they all left one after another. They knew that the next scene would be the Deputy Hall Master reprimanding the new Junior Sisters.
Once the old students had left, the smile vanished from Kong Yinglei's face. With a cold snort, she said, "Are you dissatisfied? Do you think that since these Senior Sisters have been at the martial arts hall for a year, if you were given a year, you would definitely be able to defeat them?"
Fu Jingya and the other girls' pretty faces changed slightly. Kong Yinglei had hit the nail on the head.
"The path of martial arts has never recognized seniority. In the martial arts hall, you are the new batch of students, but once you step outside, you will all have only one title: disciples of Still Water Martial Arts Academy!"
"This year, you will face competition from the new disciples of the other seven martial arts halls. Next year will be the county examination, and you will have to compete alongside the students from the previous batch!"
"Or do you think the county examination will give you special treatment just because you are a year behind?"
Kong Yinglei's words made Fu Jingya and the other female students' expressions turn ugly at once. Next year would be the county examination, and they would have been at the martial arts hall for only two years at most, while the previous batch had spent three years there—one more year of cultivation than them.
How were they supposed to compete?
"You can give up as well. Just stay at the martial arts hall for three years, then find someone to marry once you leave and devote yourselves to your husbands and children."
"Hall Master Kong, this disciple won't give up." Fu Jingya suddenly spoke.
"Won't give up?" Kong Yinglei looked disdainful. "You say you won't give up, but your actions have already shown that you have. To be honest, aside from Jiang Qing and Lin Chen, I am deeply disappointed in all eight of you."
"Some of you took the Aperture Opening Pill three months ago and began cultivating Water Cloud Palm, yet even now you still haven't entered the proficient stage... It's simply a disgrace!"
"Deputy Hall Master Kong, students in previous batches also took more than three months to cultivate Water Cloud Palm to the proficient stage." Fu Jingya looked unconvinced. She felt that she wasn't cultivating slowly at all. Given a few more days, her Water Cloud Palm would become proficient too.
"Fools who only know how to compare yourselves to the worst!"
Kong Yinglei gave a cold laugh. "Jiang Qing came into contact with Water Cloud Palm at the end of the year, while Lin Chen also came into contact with Clear Wind Palm at the end of the year. Why were the two of them able to cultivate their respective palm techniques to the proficient stage?"
"Self-righteous fools!"
Hiss!
As Lin Chen listened to Kong Yingley's merciless words, he instinctively looked toward Fu Jingya and the others.
Fu Jingya and the others looked like eggplants beaten by frost. Everyone had lost their spirit, and their faces had turned pale.
Hall Master Kong really knew how to curse!
She didn't show the slightest consideration for their feelings... Oh, Hall Master Kong was a woman too, so that explained it.
"You lot are still using the resources of the Aperture Opening Pill. Do you even deserve them? If you hadn't been lucky enough to be born into good families, you would be nothing."
Kong Yingley had no intention of stopping. Her barrage of words continued, and Lin Chen saw tears welling in the eyes of several Senior Sisters.
"Lin Chen, seeing the performance of these fools, do you think Heaven is especially unfair? Why should fools like these have such excellent family backgrounds?"
Lin Chen: ...
He hadn't expected Hall Master Kong to drag the flames of war onto him.
He hadn't thought that at all!
Facing Hall Master Kong's direct gaze, Lin Chen braced himself and said, "Disciple's circumstances are different from those of the Senior Sisters, so they can't be lumped together."
Kong Yingley was very dissatisfied with Lin Chen's answer. "Really?"
"Disciple's family background can't compare with that of the Senior Sisters, but I don't envy them. Precisely because my family is poor, I know the gap between myself and the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters. I know that if I don't want to be left behind on the path of martial arts, I can only train diligently. I developed this habit, and it is the most precious wealth on my martial path."
Lin Chen's answer was very tactful, but someone still took offense at his words.
"The path of martial arts lies in diligence. Who doesn't understand that principle? I practice martial arts for five shichen every day without fail." Fu Jingya lifted her head and said unconvincedly.
Lin Chen spread both hands helplessly. "This Junior Brother practices for eight and a half shichen every day."
Hiss!
Lin Chen's words changed the expressions of Fu Jingya and the others from dejection to shock.
Practicing martial arts for eight and a half shichen a day—didn't that mean he spent all his time training except when he was asleep?
Even including sleep, he could only sleep for three shichen at most each day. After all, eating, drinking, and answering nature's call also took time.
Jiang Qing, at the far left, also fixed her beautiful eyes on Lin Chen, a trace of contemplation flashing through their depths.
Fu Jingya was convinced.
She truly wasn't as diligent as Junior Brother Lin.
The others felt the same. In their eyes, practicing for five shichen a day was already diligent enough.
Seeing the convinced expressions on Fu Jingya and the others, Kong Yinglei no longer spoke harshly. Lin Chen's personal example was more effective than the admonishments she had prepared for later.
"Lin Chen stays. The rest of you disperse. Go back and think carefully about what your goal in coming to the martial arts hall is."
Before long, Lin Chen was the only student left in the Training Ground.
Lin Chen was puzzled. He didn't understand why Hall Master Kong wanted him to stay.
If she had kept him because he was a positive example, Senior Sister Jiang clearly was one as well. There was no reason to leave only him behind.
"Lin Chen, although you aren't a disciple of Still Water Martial Arts Academy, the academy will still grant you the treatment of a Grade A Student. Go to the Martial Dao Pavilion and collect a Grade A Disciple Identity Token. If Junior Sister Li asks, tell her that I made the decision."
Kong Yinglei spoke with a smile. Seeing Lin Chen freeze, she wasn't in a hurry. She had taken quite a liking to him.
The matter of refining Essence Energy with twenty taels of silver should be true, but that alone wasn't enough to move her. After hearing Lin Chen say today that he practiced martial arts for more than eight shichen every day, she had truly developed the desire to cherish a rare talent.
On the path of martial arts, money was indeed important, but having a steadfast heart for learning martial arts was even more important.
Being able to practice martial arts for eight shichen a day wasn't merely a matter of diligence. It precisely showed that Lin Chen possessed an extremely steadfast martial heart. Otherwise, he couldn't possibly have persevered.
This wasn't persistence for one day or two, but throughout the long journey of martial arts—a month, a year, or even ten years...
"Thank you, Hall Master Kong!"
Lin Chen was delighted. He didn't know what benefits came with being a Grade A Student, but it was definitely a good thing.
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