A Setback, A Step Forward (Bonus Chapter)

In a single night, the leaves withered several times over!

For the camphor tree in the courtyard, though it was warm spring, it was actually a bitter winter.

Early the next morning, Lin Chen rose and went into the courtyard. Looking at the fallen leaves covering the ground and the camphor tree, whose branches had already begun to show patches of bareness, the corner of his mouth twitched.

The camphor tree had originally been lush and flourishing, looking like a canopy from a distance.

But the camphor tree in his courtyard now looked as though a person's scalp had developed several bald patches. It really was not very attractive.

"Please forgive me, Brother Tree. You're only slightly balding right now, not completely bald."

He glanced at the System Panel.

Clear Wind Palm: Proficient (3/10)

This Brother Tree had certainly contributed greatly.

After comforting the camphor tree, Lin Chen continued cultivating.

However, he was not cultivating Clear Wind Palm now. Instead, he chose to cultivate Water Cloud Palm.

Clear Wind Palm had reached its current stage, and diligent practice alone was no longer useful. He needed to gain deeper insights every time he cultivated.

At night, he had the bonus from Black to the End, making it more suitable for cultivating and comprehending Clear Wind Palm.

The progress bar from Proficient to Minor Accomplishment was only ten points. That alone explained everything.

He calmed his mind and began cultivating.

Water Cloud Palm: Not Initiated (1/100)

Water Cloud Palm: Not Initiated (2/100)

Water Cloud Palm: Not Initiated (3/100)

After one morning passed, Lin Chen discovered that his proficiency in Water Cloud Palm had shot up by thirty points.

In other words, if he wished, he only needed three days to bring Water Cloud Palm to the entry level.

"It should be because once one method is mastered, all methods become accessible. Since I cultivated Clear Wind Palm to proficiency, cultivating Water Cloud Palm afterward isn't as difficult as cultivating Clear Wind Palm was."

Lin Chen pondered for a while before reaching a conclusion.

Water Cloud Palm and Clear Wind Palm were both palm techniques. Before reaching proficiency, the difference between them was actually only in their moves, so cultivating one after the other naturally produced twice the result with half the effort.

In the afternoon.

Lin Chen changed out of his martial arts academy uniform, picked up his mask, and headed to Martial Park.

Martial Park was even livelier than yesterday!

The closer it got to the end of the month, the more martial artists came.

When Lin Chen stepped onto the first arena again, the martial artists who had been present yesterday recognized him. Quite a few revealed looks of surprise.

"Why is this person going up to the arena again? Yesterday, he lost to Qiao Yi in two moves. He has no hope of becoming this month's arena champion."

"Perhaps he wants to spar with others and improve his practical combat ability."

"Impossible!"

One of the watching martial artists denied the previous man's guess and snorted. "Judging by the fact that this man's Clear Wind Palm has reached proficiency, yet his realm is still at the Second Aperture, he is clearly another person who focuses on martial arts technique proficiency while giving up on improving his Martial Arts Realm. And you're telling me he wants to improve his practical combat ability?"

Disdain showed on the man's face. There were quite a few such martial artists in Martial Park. Especially between the first and second arenas, those arena champions had long since abandoned their pursuit of martial arts and focused solely on martial arts techniques, all for the monthly arena champion prize.

"You make a good point. Then can you explain why this person has gone up to the arena?"

"That I don't know. People have a hundred different minds. Perhaps he simply had a whim."

On the arena, Lin Chen also heard the spectators' discussion, and he secretly laughed. He really had come to improve his practical combat ability. The reason these people could not guess it was that they had never considered him a new disciple of a martial arts academy.

It made sense when one thought about it. Any new disciple of a martial arts academy who could cultivate a technique to proficiency would surely have refined Essence Energy and opened an aperture long ago, gaining access to martial arts techniques months in advance. It was impossible for them to still be at the Second Aperture.

Soon, an opponent stepped onto the arena.

The man was large and heavily bearded, and every step he took was extremely steady.

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. This man did not merely cultivate a leg technique; he likely also practiced some Hard Qigong.

A disciple of Quaking Mountain Martial Arts Academy?

"Martial arts academy disciples—I hate you people the most. You only know some fancy tricks and have no practical combat ability at all."

The man grinned. As his body stretched, the folds of flesh on him undulated visibly, unable to be concealed even by his clothes.

The plump fear the fist!

Lin Chen had heard this saying from Lu Yongfeng. Anyone who practiced Hard Qigong, such as the disciples of Quaking Mountain Martial Arts Academy, was covered in fat. At first, Lin Chen had found it difficult to understand. Shouldn't practitioners of Hard Qigong have bodies covered in muscle?

Later, he figured it out.

Muscle was far less durable than fat.

A body covered in muscle could not disperse force and could only rely on physical toughness. But with a body covered in fat, when struck by external force, the trembling of the fat could disperse a considerable amount of the power.

The disciples of Quaking Mountain Martial Arts Academy were all broad and burly, with bodies covered in fat. The more advanced their cultivation became, the more this was true. They were known as walking mountains of flesh.

A saying circulated throughout Poyang County's martial arts circle: whether a disciple from Quaking Mountain Martial Arts Academy was strong or not depended on whether he was imposing and how much fat he had on his body.

But the man before him should not have come from Quaking Mountain Martial Arts Academy. Otherwise, he would not have said that he hated martial arts academy disciples.

"Please enlighten me." Lin Chen spoke indifferently.

The plump man spat, and in the next moment, his enormous body charged straight at him. Though his body was fat, his speed was not slow, and he came barreling forward like a mountain of flesh.

Lin Chen frowned, sidestepped to evade, and followed through by striking out with his right palm, hitting the man's arm with pinpoint accuracy.

Smack!

The crisp sound rang throughout the entire arena. Lin Chen could even feel the fat on the man's arm bouncing. It caved in like a spring, then quickly rebounded.

After taking the palm strike, the man's expression turned ferocious. He swung his body sideways and slammed straight into Lin Chen.

Bang!

Lin Chen was knocked back several staggered steps, and his blood and qi churned.

"Get off the arena!"

Before Lin Chen could steady himself, the man charged again, this time straight at him head-on. Lin Chen took a deep breath, suppressed his surging blood and qi, and refused to retreat. He struck out once more with Clear Wind Palm.

He refused to believe that this man's head had also been hardened through Hard Qigong to the point that it could withstand the power of his Clear Wind Palm.

However, just as Lin Chen's palm was about to land, the man suddenly raised his head, a playful smile appearing on his face. The next moment, his enormous head suddenly retracted like a turtle's. He spread his arms, and the fat on his shoulders swelled, forming a hollow just large enough for his head to withdraw into.

He had fallen for it!

Lin Chen immediately retreated, but it was already too late. Before his palm could land on the man's head, the man's body slammed into him. The terrifying impact sent him flying from the center of the arena to its edge.

His feet had yet to stabilize at the edge when he saw the man repeat the same trick. Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Chen jumped off the arena.

He admitted defeat!

He had come to participate in the arena matches to improve his practical combat ability, not to fight his opponent to the death.

Before he figured out how to counter the man's Hard Qigong, admitting defeat was nothing to be ashamed of.

After leaving the arena, Lin Chen walked to the side. With his mask covering his face, no one could see his expression, nor did they know that he was not frustrated by losing the match.

At that moment, he felt fortunate because of the battle he had just fought.

He was fortunate to have discovered another one of his combat flaws.

His opponent had outmaneuvered him.

From the very beginning, he had fallen into the opponent's calculations.

The man's first sentence after stepping onto the arena had been to belittle martial arts academy disciples. Lin Chen had instinctively felt indignant, which was why he had chosen to meet the man's direct charge head-on.

Those words had affected him!

In battles between martial artists, emotional fluctuations could also affect one's performance. If the opponent stirred one's emotions—especially subconscious emotions that even one had failed to notice—it was easy to fall into a trap the opponent had designed.

One learned from a setback. He had learned this trick.

After losing two matches in a row from yesterday to today, Lin Chen no longer went up to the arena. Martial Park had a rule: once a martial artist lost, they were not allowed to challenge anyone else in the arena that day.

If he could not challenge anyone, he could watch the matches instead.

Challenges were raging across the various arenas. The spectators' interest in Lin Chen's match lasted only ten breaths before they turned their attention to another arena.

That was simply how the world worked. No one would pay special attention to a battle between two Second Aperture martial artists. Many young martial artists, especially martial arts academy students, felt humiliated after losing a match and could not bear to remain at the scene. They were simply taking themselves too seriously.

At the second arena, which belonged to martial artists at the Third and Fourth Apertures, Lin Chen saw many masked martial artists like himself. These people were most likely the top students of the martial arts academies' newest class.

Seeing these people leave the moment they lost, Lin Chen sighed as well. Young people were still too thin-skinned and took themselves too seriously.

Iron Collapse Fist, Seven Stars Fist, Mantis Fist...

Over the course of an hour, Lin Chen witnessed the signature martial arts of the eight major martial arts academies. He had not recognized them at first, but the spectators around the arenas could not stop discussing them.

After more than twenty matches, the martial artist who left the deepest impression on Lin Chen was one who had come from Mantis Martial Arts Hall. While fighting his opponent, this person not only used Mantis Fist but also employed an extremely agile footwork technique.

According to the discussions among the watching martial artists below, this footwork technique was not a Ranked Martial Arts Technique. It was merely an ordinary martial arts technique.

"The martial arts academy instructors have the students focus on cultivating one technique because, for students, the realm is the most important thing. Besides, Ranked Martial Arts Techniques are difficult to cultivate in the first place. If they cultivate other techniques as well, they are liable to become distracted. In the end, their proficiency in the Ranked Martial Arts Technique will remain low, and they will have achieved nothing in the other techniques either."

"Rather than having every technique be half-baked, it is better to cultivate one technique to proficiency first. Besides, sparring and matches among martial arts academy disciples aren't as fierce as these arena battles. When everyone only learns one technique, there isn't much difference."

"This year is different from previous years. In the martial arts academies' grand competition three months from now, if your realm can't keep up with your opponents, then you can only improve your practical combat ability. Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm are both palm techniques. If you can further improve your leg techniques, you can catch your opponent off guard."

With that thought, Lin Chen stopped watching the arena matches and turned to leave Martial Park.

P.S. The bonus chapter is here! Please give me some double monthly votes. The editor hasn't replied, so it looks like it probably won't happen. We'll have to wait another week, which makes follow-up readership incredibly important. From now on, everyone, please don't shelve the book. I beg you!