Treatment of an A-Grade Student

The backyard of Still Water Martial Arts Academy.

Zeng Qingyao ran her fingers over the horizontal saber in her hand, silent.

"Senior Sister Disciple, at least say something, can this work?"

Kong Yinglei looked at her Senior Sister Disciple, who wasn't speaking, and couldn't help but press. She wanted Lin Chen to join the academy, and after leaving the training ground, she had come to find her Senior Sister Disciple and stated her intentions.

"If Senior Sister Disciple doesn't step forward, then I'll go find Clearwind Martial Arts Hall."

"How do you plan to tell Clearwind Martial Arts Hall?" Zeng Qingyao shifted her gaze from the horizontal saber in her hand and asked.

"Just say that Lin Chen chose to join our Still Water Martial Arts Academy, how else would I say it?" Kong Yinglei was confused. Clearwind Martial Arts Hall didn't care about Lin Chen at all, maybe they even wished for it.

"That guy Qi He, his Martial Path strength isn't much, but he's extremely shrewd. Believe it or not, if you go tell him that, Qi He will directly refuse you. He might even tell you that Clearwind Martial Arts Hall thinks highly of Lin Chen, otherwise they wouldn't have taken Lin Chen into the academy even without an open slot."

Kong Yinglei was stunned, somewhat disbelieving, "Senior Sister, that can't be right?"

"Why not?" Zeng Qingyao snorted softly, "Qi He's nature is just that suspicious. He won't think you're appreciating talent; he'll only think there's another reason."

"Then I'll explain the situation clearly to Qi He."

Kong Yinglei was a bit unwilling. If Lin Chen stayed at Clearwind Martial Arts Hall, he definitely wouldn't be valued. Let alone Lin Chen practicing Clear Wind Palm to proficiency, it would be the same even if he reached mastery.

Martial arts academies place more importance on advancing in realms.

Opening the twenty-four Apertures in the Aperture Opening Realm, the first ten can be achieved by spending thirty to forty taels a month. But after opening ten, the difficulty increases, requiring extremely high financial resources from the students.

Clearwind Martial Arts Hall wouldn't give Lin Chen special treatment, but she, as the Deputy Hall Master of Still Water Martial Arts Academy, could give Lin Chen some help within her authority as long as he joined Still Water Martial Arts Academy.

Zeng Qingyao tapped her finger lightly on the blade, and the saber body emitted a clear "clang" sound.

"Junior Sister, have you ever considered one thing? Can relying solely on diligent practice truly bring Clear Wind Palm to the proficient stage in less than a month?"

Facing her Senior Sister Disciple's question, Kong Yinglei was stunned. She really hadn't thought deeply about this point.

"Jiang Qing was able to cultivate Water Cloud Palm to the proficient stage in such a short time because Jiang Qing is compatible with Water Cloud Palm. Otherwise, Jiang Qing wouldn't have joined our Still Water Martial Arts Academy in the end. Working backwards from this, is Lin Chen also compatible with Clear Wind Palm?"

Seeing her Junior Sister Disciple stunned, Zeng Qingyao knew that her Junior Sister had also understood the crucial point.

In just a month, can one truly cross from beginner to proficient by relying solely on diligent practice?

"Senior Sister, your meaning is that Lin Chen has a high compatibility with Clear Wind Palm, so Lin Chen is more suited to stay at Clearwind Martial Arts Hall."

"It's not my meaning, but is that the reality of the situation?"

Kong Yinglei pouted. From her Senior Sister's analysis, she had to admit that the reality should be like this.

There's a saying about comprehension in the Martial Path, but this thing is too illusory. It's rare for such a genius to appear even in decades. She didn't think Lin Chen would be the so-called Martial Path comprehension genius.

Those students who could progress faster in cultivation techniques than others were more often due to having higher compatibility with that technique.

If Lin Chen were to cultivate Water Cloud Palm, even if he practiced eight hours a day, he wouldn't be able to reach the proficient stage.

"Let's put Lin Chen's matter aside for now. Junior Sister, since you appreciate talent, giving him the Class A student treatment is already acceptable. However, this money still has to be paid by Clearwind Martial Arts Hall. After all, our Still Water Martial Arts Academy can't cultivate disciples for Clearwind Martial Arts Hall for free."

"That's for sure. Clearwind Martial Arts Hall doesn't contribute anything; where in the world is there such a good thing?" Kong Yinglei said fiercely.

Martial Arts Pavilion.

"Each Class A student, in the academy, excluding Nourishing Aperture Pills, has the privilege of a fifty percent discount when purchasing other resources, but not exceeding fifty taels per month."

Hearing about the benefits of Class A students from Instructor Li before him, Lin Chen was also shocked.

The benefit for Class A students was a fifty percent discount when purchasing academy resources!

Purchasing fifty taels worth of Martial Path resources at the academy would only cost twenty-five taels in the end.

This benefit was very generous.

Unfortunately, he couldn't even scrape together fifty taels from his entire body.

The benefit was good, but he couldn't use it.

His money was saved for buying Nourishing Aperture Pills, which were not within the scope of the discount.

"Excuse me, Instructor Li, are there any regulations in the academy regarding the use of these fifty taels?"

After confirming that he couldn't spend these fifty taels of silver, the idea of helping others make purchases also surfaced in Lin Chen's mind, but he had to first confirm the academy's rules to see if students were allowed to do this.

Instructor Li was a bit confused; she didn't understand what Lin Chen meant.

It would be more accurate to say she hadn't reacted because the students who received Class A treatment in the past had never asked such a question.

Students with Class A treatment couldn't even spend their monthly allowance of fifty taels of silver themselves, so naturally, they wouldn't make purchases on behalf of other students.

"There aren't any regulations, but it will start from next month. You can't enjoy this benefit this month," Instructor Li thought for a moment and replied.

Today was already the seventeenth of the first lunar month, and the academy's rules had always been calculated from the following month.

"Thank you, Instructor, this disciple understands."

It seemed that the path of making purchases on behalf of others was permissible. Lin Chen had made up his mind.

Seeing Lin Chen about to leave, Instructor Li spoke, "You don't want the 'Water Cloud Palm' secret manual?"

Li Shan knew a bit about Lin Chen's situation. As the first male student at the martial arts academy, Senior Sister Kong had already told her junior sisters about what happened at the Martial Arts Administration.

If Lin Chen were just a nominal student, she naturally wouldn't have mentioned the Water Cloud Palm manual. But since Senior Sister Kong had Lin Chen obtain a student ID, she likely intended for him to become a formal student of the academy.

If that was the case, then Lin Chen could cultivate the Water Cloud Palm.

"A formal student can cultivate the Water Cloud Palm?" Lin Chen was a bit incredulous.

"Take it. Just return it within three months," Li Shan smiled sweetly. She took a manual from the cabinet below. Lin Chen glanced at it; the cabinet held a thick stack, likely all Water Cloud Palm manuals.

After getting the Water Cloud Palm manual, Lin Chen didn't rush to use his 50 silver taels quota. It would be best to use this quota near the end of the month.

Currently, those senior sisters with Grade A treatment probably hadn't used their 50 taels yet. Even if he were willing to buy things on their behalf, they would likely try to lower the price.

Only at the end of the month, when these senior sisters had spent all 50 taels, would buying on their behalf allow him to earn more profit.

After having lunch at the martial arts academy, Lin Chen returned to his dormitory.

The morning had been delayed; the remaining time couldn't be wasted.

Lin Chen picked up the Water Cloud Palm manual and curiously flipped through it.

The Water Cloud Palm had few moves, only seven in total, but each move contained thirty-two variations.

"First Move: Rising Clouds and Soaring Dragon Stance. Concentrate the mind and calm the Qi, like clouds first rising. Footwork is light, like a dragon soaring through the air. The palm strikes are continuous, soft with hidden strength. When the enemy is strong and I am weak, attack with the flow..."

Second Move: Flowing Water Winding Around Stone. The body moves fluidly, like water winding around a stone. The palm and fingers are slightly bent, power penetrating the palm. Avoid the solid and strike the void, flexible and ever-changing, like water's unpredictability, undetectable by the enemy.

The annotations next to the illustrations shocked Lin Chen.

Is this a Martial Path cultivation method?

He remembered that on the Clear Wind Palm manual, all the words combined were only as many as the annotation for the first move of the Water Cloud Palm.

No wonder the Water Cloud Palm was known as the most flamboyant and also the most difficult to cultivate to perfection among the eight great martial arts academies. Just the wording alone looked flamboyant and full of profound mystery.

However, Lin Chen didn't rush to cultivate the Water Cloud Palm. All his energy was currently focused on the Clear Wind Palm. He wanted to reach proficiency in the Clear Wind Palm in the shortest possible time.

Instructor Yu's cultivation experience booklet mentioned that cultivating any technique to the proficiency stage also helped with realm advancement.

Reaching proficiency in Clear Wind Palm would increase the speed of his Qi and Blood circulation. For the same cost, his Aperture opening speed would be faster.

Other students didn't take this path because cultivating a technique to proficiency wasn't easier than breaking through a realm. It was better to focus on how to break through realms and let technique proficiency come naturally.

"System Panel."

[Name: Lin Chen]

[Profession: Martial Artist]

[Realm: Aperture Opening Realm (2/24)]

[Cultivation Technique: Clear Wind Palm (Proficient: 4/100)]

[Destiny: [When the Water Flows, the Channel is Formed]: Martial Arts First Realm, swimming against the current, progressing step by step, breaking through like bamboo, cutting through thorns.]

[Title: Black to the End]

After glancing at the System Panel, Lin Chen entered "grinding mode."

Practice during the day, practice at night.

Intense practice day and night!

Ten days later.

Lin Chen noticed many students gathered around the notice board outside the cafeteria. As he got closer, he saw a new announcement posted on the board.

[Jiang Qing: Six Apertures]

[Fu Jingya: Five Apertures]

[Gu Qingqing: Five Apertures]

...

Martial Arts Academy Honor Roll!

The list showed the latest breakthroughs in Martial Path realms for the new students.

"Senior Sister Jiang is amazing! She was only at five apertures when she joined the academy, and she's already opened another one in such a short time."

"Senior Sister Fu and the others also opened another aperture. They're all very impressive."

"I've been cultivating Essence Energy for three full months and still haven't opened an aperture. I don't know when I'll be able to."

"Sigh, these senior sisters have different goals than us."

Listening to the junior sisters' sighs, Lin Chen withdrew his gaze from the notice board and silently walked back to his dormitory.

There was nothing to envy. His good fortune would come in the latter half!

Today, add half an hour of extra practice.

Twenty-seven days later!

[Technique: Clear Wind Palm (Proficiency: 90/100)]

When Lin Chen struck with his palm, wisps of wind were already stirring in the courtyard.

Retracting his palm!

Standing in the courtyard, a look of satisfaction appeared on Lin Chen's face.

"There's still one Nourishing Aperture Pill left. I'll sell the fifty-tael quota first, then gather enough money for next month's Nourishing Aperture Pills."

Lin Chen had already considered who to sell the fifty-tael quota to. The most suitable person was definitely Senior Sister Jiang.

Being able to open five Apertures upon entering the Martial Arts Hall, Senior Sister Jiang must be someone with considerable wealth. Her own fifty-tael quota would definitely not be enough.

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