Trouble had come knocking again!
Watching Eldest Daughter Zhou yield and apologize, Fang Yuan could only feel utterly speechless.
When people bowed and scraped, they always wanted something in return. There was no way the Zhou siblings had come all this way and patiently endured his attitude just to apologize.
"Layman!"
Sure enough, after Zhou Wenwu, Zhou Wenxin spoke up. "Our father is gravely ill. Would you be willing to come and take a look, Layman? Even if you can't help, our entire Zhou Family will still be grateful for your great kindness!"
Old Master Zhou was already on the brink of death. Zhou Wenwu had come to Fang Yuan in desperation, grasping at straws.
"Oh? That's strange."
Fang Yuan looked surprised. "Given your family's relationship with Gui Ling Sect, didn't you ask the sect to help?"
"How could we not?"
Zhou Wenwu gave a bitter smile. "The sect's physicians examined him, too, but they couldn't even say what kind of illness he had. According to them, if Father's condition were as simple as it appeared on the surface, it shouldn't have reached this point, no matter what... Unfortunately, the Sect Leader has just taken on a promising new disciple and brought her out into the world to travel, visiting a Pill Master friend... Sigh... Such is fate..."
"I see!"
Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow, then spread his hands. "Unfortunately, my Medical Skill is shallow. Even if I went, I'd be of no use!"
He gave the siblings a deep look. "I'm powerless to help with your father's condition. I'm truly sorry. My valley is humble and poor, so I won't keep you two honored guests any longer!"
With that, he didn't even wait for the Zhou siblings to respond. He left them standing at the valley entrance and sauntered back.
"Second Brother... he..."
Only after Fang Yuan's figure had disappeared did Zhou Wenxin burst out, "That was... that was far too contemptuous!"
"Mm. He gives me a very strange feeling, too..."
Zhou Wenwu stared toward the valley, a spark of eagerness in his eyes. In the end, he forced himself to hold back. "This valley gives me a sense of danger... It feels even heavier than it did last time..."
"Could that man really be a Spirit Scholar?"
Zhou Wenxin shivered.
"No! It's different!"
Zhou Wenwu shook his head, a trace of dejection in his expression.
To be honest, even though his Zhou Family had a family head who served as an Outer Sect Steward of Gui Ling Sect, it still wasn't among the foremost families in the area.
Now that their pillar had fallen, the clansmen were in a constant state of panic. At this point, even the Lin Family, which had produced a favored disciple of the Sect Leader, seemed poised to overtake them.
"Is my Zhou Family... really going to keep declining until we fade into obscurity?"
The mountain wind swept past, making Zhou Wenwu shiver...
"Oh? They left?"
Not long afterward, Fang Yuan, who was practicing his palm strikes against a sandbag, received a report from the Flower Fox Ferret.
The Spiritual Beast had grown increasingly intelligent. It could understand most of what he said and even express itself through simple gestures.
Fang Yuan estimated that its intelligence was about on par with an ordinary child of ten or so.
"The Zhou Family's affairs are a muddy pool. If Old Master Lin wants to wade in, he can do it himself..."
Fang Yuan let the thought turn over in his mind, then set it aside and began preparing a meal.
Ever since he started practicing Martial Arts, he needed more and more food each day. Fortunately, the Hidden Valley had plenty of grain stored away, enough to meet his needs.
Pearl Jade Crystal Rice in particular was a top-grade food that replenished vitality, powerfully sustaining Fang Yuan through his exertions.
The night grew hazy, and the moon slowly climbed into the starry sky.
Inside the Hidden Valley, the sound of palm strikes continued without pause.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Fang Yuan's forehead, but he paid them no mind, practicing Black Sand Palm with meticulous focus.
Somewhere in his heart, he sensed that today he would break through this Martial Arts technique.
"The first gate of the Martial Path is the Opening Gate. Only after breaking through it can one truly become a martial artist!"
The smooth, mild taste of the Pearl Jade Crystal Rice still seemed to linger in Fang Yuan's mouth. A surge of heat rose in his abdomen and flowed into his limbs, gathering into a raging torrent.
"In... Out..."
"In... Out..."
With each long, deep breath, Fang Yuan felt strands of strength gathering inside him. The torrent surged wildly, about to break through some barrier.
"Black Sand Palm!"
Suddenly, he roared and thrust out his right palm.
Bang!
The sandbag exploded, sending black medicinal sand flying everywhere.
At that instant, Fang Yuan felt a long-standing barrier inside him shatter.
Crack!
After a sharp snap, waves of heat flooded his entire body, making him feel as if he had been cleansed from head to toe.
"The first gate of Golden Lock Heavy Tower—finally!"
Fang Yuan clenched his fists and roared at the sky.
The first three gates of Golden Lock Heavy Tower—Opening Gate, Rest Gate, and Life Gate—formed the first minor realm of the Martial Path. Even if an attempt to break through failed, it would never harm the practitioner, and success brought a boost in strength.
Basically, even an ordinary person who obtained the manual could reach the first three gates through diligent practice over time.
But Fang Yuan had broken through the first gate in just a few days. His aptitude was quite impressive.
And it wasn't just his aptitude. It was also the solid foundation he had built over eighteen years!
After all, he hadn't eaten Pearl Jade Crystal Rice and other rare fruits and vegetables for nothing.
"So... this is what it feels like to be a martial artist?"
Fang Yuan stood still and looked down at his hands.
After breaking through the first gate, he immediately felt his abilities improve across the board, as if a shackle had been torn away.
"To get the exact figures, I'll have to check the Attribute System!"
Fang Yuan glanced aside, and the status panel appeared:
Name: Fang Yuan Essence: 1.1 Qi: 1.1 Spirit: 1.5 Age: 18 Cultivation: First Martial Arts Gate Skills: Black Sand Palm [Level One] Specialties: Medical Skill [Level One], Planting Skill [Level Three]
As soon as he focused on the skill, an explanation of Black Sand Palm flashed through his mind:
"Black Sand Palm [Level One]—An outer sect technique. Once mastered, the bare hands will be harder than steel, with enough power to shatter gold and break jade. It has five levels in total and can imbue attacks with poison. Current level: First Level!"
"Essence, Qi, and Spirit have all increased by 0.1?"
Fang Yuan pondered for a moment. "No... My Divine Essence may also be affected by the Heart-Questioning Tea..."
He had roughly figured it out. These attributes represented his Physical Quality, and the higher they rose, the harder it would become to improve them.
An increase of 0.1 from 1.0 was an entirely different matter from an increase of 0.1 from 1.4.
"After breaking through and becoming a martial artist, has my Physical Quality improved across the board?"
Even so, Fang Yuan was overjoyed.
"More importantly, Black Sand Palm has finally been fixed as a skill!"
Once the Attribute System acknowledged a technique, he could improve it mechanically through proficiency. The benefits were beyond words.
Otherwise, if advancing every Martial Arts technique required insight and breaking through bottlenecks, Fang Yuan knew he would still be far from the legendary martial arts prodigies who could break through whenever they wished.
"Too bad... I still can't see the proficiency level. If I could, it would be much clearer..."
Fang Yuan sighed.
But then, from the corner of his eye, he saw an empty progress bar appear beside Black Sand Palm.
It was rather blurry, and only appeared when he stared at it with complete concentration. The moment Fang Yuan let his attention wander, it vanished.
"Is this... an original feature? Or will this status panel continue to grow as I improve, unlocking more abilities?"
Fang Yuan knew very well that this progress bar was the so-called proficiency level.
Black Sand Palm had only just advanced, of course, so it was at a mere 0%. He checked his Medical Skill and Planting Skill as well. Without him realizing it, Medical Skill was already seventy or eighty percent full, so it shouldn't be long before it advanced again. Planting Skill was more than halfway there, too. It seemed that obtaining Spiritual Fertilizer and planting spirit seeds really did help improve Planting Skill.
"Excellent. With this proficiency tracker, it'll be much easier to see my progress from now on!"
After breaking through his restraints and entering the true Martial Path, Fang Yuan felt full of energy. His earlier exhaustion had vanished completely, and, seized by the urge to keep going, he began another round of training.
"Black Sand Palm!"
After practicing the entire sequence, Fang Yuan fetched a wooden plank and used it as a target to test his strength.
Unfortunately, when Black Sand Palm struck the plank, it left only a faint mark, almost too shallow to see—a sign that his skill in this area was still quite limited.
"Attribute panel!"
Meanwhile, the progress bar for Black Sand Palm had risen by a tiny bit. In numerical terms, the increase was less than one ten-thousandth.
"Does that mean I just have to practice ten thousand more times? I won't need any insight or breakthroughs to reach the second level?"
Fang Yuan's smile grew wider.
Of course, he knew that might be because Black Sand Palm was a relatively basic Martial Arts technique.
Later on, he would probably need to meet certain conditions before a progress bar could fill completely.
Just like when he had been stuck at Planting Skill Level Two: he had needed to obtain spirit seeds before he could advance to Level Three.
But compared to martial artists trapped at a bottleneck and making no progress for years or even decades, this was already a tremendous improvement.
"Whether it's the attributes or the progress bar, they're all things I can see and touch. As long as I work hard, I'll make even the slightest bit of progress!"
Fang Yuan sighed. "What have I done to deserve this? To receive such a gift from the dream world and enjoy such great fortune?"
Hard work brought rewards!
For many people, that alone was already beyond their reach.
And that wasn't even counting the Gold Finger of the Attribute System and all the experience he had gained from a lifetime in the dream world.
"One day, I'll unravel this mystery!"
Fang Yuan's eyes were deep and distant as he made up his mind.
Even with a fortuitous encounter, he couldn't assume fate was on his side and go through life without fear.
Since he had received such great fortune, he should be even more cautious, treading as if on thin ice.
He now had an urgent thirst for power and ability. He wanted to stand higher and see farther, so he could understand everything that had happened to him.
"The road ahead is long and arduous; I shall search high and low!"
Beneath the night sky, the youth gazed at the moon and recited the words, his expression resolute. Beside him, a Flower Fox Ferret watched in silence, understanding but half.
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