"Senior Sister Jiang!"
At the martial arts academy cafeteria, Lin Chen did not return to his dormitory after finishing his meal for the first time. Instead, he waited for a while. When he saw Jiang Qing walk out of the cafeteria, he smiled and went up to her.
"Junior Brother Lin... is something the matter?"
When Jiang Qing saw Lin Chen, she was not the cold and aloof type, nor did she hide the surprise on her face.
"Senior Sister Jiang, I haven't used the Grade A Student benefits quota the academy gave me yet. I wonder if you'd be interested. If you are, Junior Brother can buy resources on your behalf."
Lin Chen did not beat around the bush and stated his purpose directly. If Senior Sister Jiang did not want them, he would find another senior sister. If that failed, he could always sell them to one of the junior sisters.
Her lovely eyes blinked a few times, but Jiang Qing did not reply.
"If Senior Sister Jiang doesn't need them, then forget it. Sorry for the trouble."
Seeing that she remained unmoved, Lin Chen did not waste time and prepared to find his next target.
"Sure."
Just as Lin Chen was about to turn around, Jiang Qing's crisp voice rang out. Lin Chen looked back, his face full of astonishment.
"Then please help me order ten pounds of Gray-Winged Gull meat from the cafeteria."
Gray-Winged Gull?
Lin Chen recalled the book written by that wealthy senior sister he had seen in the Martial Arts Pavilion. It had mentioned Gray-Winged Gull, a relatively precious poultry meat that cost five taels per pound at the academy.
However, according to that senior sister, Gray-Winged Gull offered worse value for money than Abdomen Brocade Chicken. Before reaching the Ten-Aperture stage, eating Abdomen Brocade Chicken was far more worthwhile than eating Gray-Winged Gull.
"Senior Sister, aren't you buying Abdomen Brocade Chicken? It seems that would be more cost-effective." Lin Chen kindly reminded her.
"After eating Abdomen Brocade Chicken, horizontal flesh grows around the abdomen. I don't like that."
Jiang Qing answered very crisply. The corner of Lin Chen's mouth twitched. That reason was simply too powerful—so powerful that he could not refute it.
Senior Sister Jiang was a woman, after all. Having horizontal flesh around her abdomen really would not look good.
A wealthy woman indeed. She doesn't care about spending a little extra money at all.
"Junior Brother understands. Please wait a moment, Senior Sister Jiang."
Lin Chen turned and entered the cafeteria. He showed his martial arts academy identity plaque. In the upper-left corner of a Grade A student's identity plaque was the character for "A" carved into it.
After paying twenty Silver Notes and five taels of silver, he obtained the meat ticket for ten pounds of Gray-Winged Gull.
"Senior Sister Jiang, this is the Gray-Winged Gull meat ticket."
Lin Chen handed over the meat ticket, and another Silver Note appeared in Jiang Qing's hand.
A fifty-tael Silver Note.
With its green face, this was the first time Lin Chen had seen a Silver Note with such a large denomination.
"Senior Sister Jiang?"
After seeing the denomination clearly, Lin Chen did not reach out to take it. Instead, he looked puzzled. Jiang Qing had given him a fifty-tael Silver Note—didn't that mean she had not saved any money at all?
He had originally thought that Jiang Qing giving him twenty taels would be enough. She would save five taels, while he would earn twenty.
"A few taels of silver mean nothing to me."
Jiang Qing seemed to see through Lin Chen's confusion and explained very directly.
Lin Chen understood. Senior Sister Jiang was not flaunting her wealth, much less looking down on him. She was merely stating a fact.
He was not so delicate that his pride would be hurt. Since Senior Sister Jiang was so wealthy, there was no need to be overly polite with a wealthy woman.
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
Lin Chen accepted the Silver Note and thanked her.
"Mm. You can come find me again next month."
After tossing out that sentence, Jiang Qing left in a particularly carefree manner.
"Senior Sister Jiang is a good person. May good people live in peace all their lives. Junior Brother wishes Senior Sister Jiang smooth sailing on the martial path."
Watching Jiang Qing's departing figure, Lin Chen silently offered his blessings.
With Senior Sister Jiang's words, he would effectively have twenty-five taels of silver coming in every month. A bottle of Nourishing Aperture Pill cost thirty taels. As long as he found a way to earn five taels each month, he could maintain his martial progress.
Although he was at the very bottom, at least he would not be left completely behind.
After putting away the Silver Note, Lin Chen did not return to his dormitory this time. Instead, he walked toward the academy's gate.
During the first month of the year, he and Zhao Jingchuan had arranged to meet once a month after the four of them entered their respective academies.
Yesterday, Zhao Jingchuan had sent word through the gatekeeper. Everyone had agreed to meet today.
Cloud Concealment Martial Arts Hall!
Before Lin Chen reached the academy gate, a voice came from his front-left: "Senior Brother Lin, over here!"
Following the voice, he saw Zhao Jingchuan and the other two sitting in a teahouse near the corner in front of Cloud Concealment Martial Arts Hall.
"Sorry, I'm a little late."
"Senior Brother Lin, you're too polite. I only just arrived myself." Cheng Ying cheerfully joined in. The Seven Stars Martial Arts Academy he had joined was the farthest from Cloud Concealment Martial Arts Hall, nearly spanning most of the city district.
"Since Senior Brother Lin is here, let's change locations before we continue. I know a good place for martial artists in the county town."
"Could Junior Brother Zhao be talking about Martial Garden?" Lu Yongfeng guessed.
"That's right. Martial Garden."
Zhao Jingchuan nodded. Lin Chen was somewhat puzzled, but when he saw the excitement in Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying's eyes, he became curious about Martial Garden as well.
"We're here. This is Martial Garden."
In the northern area of Poyang County, they passed through a quiet road lined with lush trees before Lin Chen and the other three arrived before a garden.
"This is Martial Garden?"
Looking at the entrance before him, Lin Chen was somewhat surprised. The gate of Martial Garden was even more imposing than the gates of the various martial arts academies.
In front of the gate, a pair of stone lions carved with dragons and phoenixes stood majestically, their eyes shining with spirit. Ordinary people would be intimidated at a glance.
Above the lintel hung a black plaque with a gold border. The two characters "Martial Garden" were engraved upon it in vigorous, powerful strokes, radiating an unmistakable dignity and solemnity.
On the way there, Lin Chen had already learned from Zhao Jingchuan what sort of place Martial Garden was.
It was where all the martial artists of Poyang County gathered and exchanged knowledge.
But not just any person who studied martial arts could enter Martial Garden. The minimum requirement for entry was the Aperture Opening Realm.
Within Martial Garden, martial artists could exchange insights into the martial path and conduct resource trades.
No one guarded the entrance to Martial Garden, because no fool would dare enter at will.
Zhao Jingchuan led the way, bringing Lin Chen and the other two into Martial Garden. After passing along a path paved with bluestone, they finally arrived at a small courtyard.
The courtyard was small, but it contained artificial mountains and flowing water, as well as a small Training Ground. Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks were all available.
"Young Master Zhao."
A young woman gracefully approached from within the courtyard. Before everyone, she curtsied deeply, her white gauze only half-concealing the fullness of her chest.
"Miss Wan'er, there's no need for anyone to attend to me here," Zhao Jingchuan said with a smile.
"Very well. I'll inform the servants that they are not to enter and disturb you without your summons." The woman spoke softly and gently. After retreating a few steps, she turned and left.
"Senior Brother Zhao, not bad! You even managed to get a courtyard in Martial Garden. I heard a senior brother at the academy say that only Organ Tempering experts are qualified to own a courtyard in Martial Garden."
After the woman disappeared from sight, Cheng Ying stared at Zhao Jingchuan in shock.
"How could I possibly get a courtyard? To be honest, it belongs to an elder in my family. After I registered at the academy, my father took me to visit him. That elder happened to meet me here at the time. He's leaving the county town for a while, so he allowed me to use this courtyard."
Zhao Jingchuan gave a simple explanation, and Lin Chen and the others did not ask who that elder was.
Everyone's family had at least one powerful relative.
Everyone had their own secrets and connections. That did not conflict with the four of them banding together to study martial arts.
"Just like before, the four of us should spar first."
Lu Yongfeng's gaze fell on Lin Chen, blazing with heat. To him, defeating Lin Chen had already become an important driving force on his martial path.
It was neither jealousy nor hatred, but purely a spirit of competition and refusal to admit defeat.
"Looks like Junior Brother Lu is very confident. Then come on."
Lin Chen smiled. All four of them were at the Second-Aperture stage, so there was not much difference in their strength.
To open one aperture in a month at a martial arts academy, one needed to spend at least two bottles of Nourishing Aperture Pills. Lu Yongfeng and the other two came from decent families in town, but spending more than seventy taels every month was still somewhat unrealistic.
One bottle of Nourishing Aperture Pills a month was the support their families could provide. If they wanted more resources, they could only seek them out themselves.
"Senior Brother Lin, be careful!"
Confidence filled Lu Yongfeng's eyes. After calling out a warning, he shifted his steps. With only one stride, he was already in front of Lin Chen.
The flexibility of Seven Stars Fist lay not only in its techniques, but also in the footwork accompanying them.
Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. Lu Yongfeng had improved quickly. His Seven Stars Fist should have reached the proficient stage. It seemed that Lu Yongfeng had been training bitterly every day over the past twenty-odd days.
Unfortunately, he had run into Lin Chen.
Lin Chen struck with his right hand. Using the speed of striking after the opponent had moved, he accurately slapped the back of Lu Yongfeng's fist.
Smack!
The crisp sound of the palm strike left Lu Yongfeng frozen in astonishment. His right hand drooped, and he did not attack again, standing there in a daze.
"What's wrong with Senior Brother Lu?"
Zhao Jingchuan and Cheng Ying were confused. Even if Lu Yongfeng had fallen behind in the first exchange, he should not have stopped just like that.
Only Lu Yongfeng knew clearly why he had stopped.
Lin Chen's palm had struck the back of his hand. Not only was the position incomparably precise, but the force in the palm surged into his fist like waves, forcing back the strength he had gathered around it.
His strength had been cut off. In a life-or-death battle, that meant he had lost the initiative and would already have been defeated.
"Senior Brother Lin, has your Clear Wind Palm reached the mastery stage?"
Three breaths later, Lu Yongfeng voiced the guess he scarcely dared believe.
Zhao Jingchuan and Cheng Ying, standing nearby, widened their eyes even further. What was going on?
What nonsense was Senior Brother Lu spouting?
Senior Brother Lin had trained his Clear Wind Palm to mastery?
They would sooner believe that Lin Chen had already opened four apertures than believe this.
"Not yet," Lin Chen replied indifferently.
"I concede."
Lu Yongfeng took a deep look at Lin Chen. He understood that although Senior Brother Lin said he had not reached mastery, he was probably not far away.
Brothers, today I can only ask for recommendations. The traffic hasn't come in, and competing for next week's Sanjiang Ranking is looking dangerous. If you have monthly tickets, could you please cast one for Jiudeng? Right now, we can only rely on the new-book ranking to fight for exposure and bring in more readers, increasing our follow-through readership.
If the gap is too large, Jiudeng won't bother anymore and will simply wait a little longer. But the editor said we're only one or two hundred paid readers short of the required follow-through readership. Let's make one last push—please!
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