Probing

Time flows like water, day after day, and in the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.

Lin Yin sweated on the staking ground, his martial arts progress advancing with each passing day. Shi Zhong and the others had gradually grasped the complete set of the Cloud Settling Stake Technique, their sights set firmly on the threshold of entry.

This day...

Lin Yin briefly pointed out a few mistakes in Wan Qing's Breathing Rhythm, then went off to a corner by himself and began training again.

His movements alternated between slow and fast, transitioning seamlessly between the Cloud Settling Stake Technique and the Vajra Stake Technique.

Whenever someone came to ask for advice... Lin Yin would automatically switch to the stance of the Cloud Settling Stake Technique. As soon as they left, he would resume practicing the Vajra Stake Technique.

Over time, Lin Yin's skill at switching between these techniques grew increasingly polished. Even Shi Zhong, standing not far away, remained completely unaware that the youth beside him had been secretly practicing a different stake technique all along.

"Heh—"

With a soft shout, Shi Zhong's burly frame, steaming with sweat, suddenly sprang up like a coiled spring, and he kicked the wooden stake in front of him with full force.

This sequence of moves was flawless, its momentum considerable, instantly drawing the attention of several nearby disciples.

"Senior Brother Shi... what strength."

Someone couldn't help but praise aloud.

A hint of pride crept onto Shi Zhong's face. Over these days of practicing the stake technique, he could feel his own tremendous progress.

If before his body was like a stubborn rock, heavy but inert, now it was like a vigorous pine shooting upward, brimming with vitality.

Those seemingly rigid muscles had come alive, as if awakened. With every punch and kick, he could instantly mobilize strength he had never been able to summon before!

That kick just now was the final form of the Cloud Settling Stake Technique—mobilizing Qi and Blood to the tip of the foot, fully activating the Qi and Blood throughout his entire body.

And he had unleashed that power.

That was what created such a spectacle!

"Next is to circulate the Qi and Blood. When I can mobilize the Qi and Blood of my whole body, that will be the moment I enter the Cloud Settling Stake Technique."

Shi Zhong's heart burned with anticipation. He felt this time wouldn't be long. Once he succeeded in entering the gate, the door of the Martial Artist would officially open for him.

Thinking this, his gaze inadvertently drifted to the figure in the corner.

That figure remained unhurried, as if completely unaffected by the kick he had just delivered.

"When that time comes... you'll have to call me Senior Brother."

Because the martial arts school followed the principle that mastery comes first, these days Shi Zhong, Wan Qing, and the others all had to respectfully address Lin Yin as Senior Brother for acting as their interim instructor.

Though it was so on the surface, Shi Zhong had always harbored some resentment in his heart.

In his view, Lin Yin's punches might look sharp, but they were actually soft and powerless, clearly indicating poor Qi and Blood Mobilization.

In this regard, he was far inferior to himself.

Withdrawing his gaze, Shi Zhong began practicing move by move again.

Since he wanted to surpass others, he naturally had to work harder than them.

On the other side, sensing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, Lin Yin narrowed his eyes.

Everyone around him was improving, so he certainly couldn't fall behind.

Day after day, he rose earlier than others and slept no later than them. Under the destiny of Heaven rewards diligence, he was improving every second and every minute.

His seemingly slow fist suddenly turned fierce. The Qi and Blood of his entire body nearly condensed into one mass as he threw a punch at the wooden stake in front of him.

"Woom—"

A finger's width separated his fist from the wooden stake. A faint whistling sound of breaking wind flashed and vanished. Golden light flickered in Lin Yin's eyes.

Code
[Heaven rewards diligence, Will achieve something]
[Vajra Stake Technique Minor Accomplishment (2/100)]
[Cloud Settling Stake Technique Entry (40/100)]

The body wrapped in Coarse Cloth and Linen Clothes was like a drawn bowstring. Thick Qi and Blood surged within him, and a peculiar force shot straight from the large tendons of his lower limbs into the wind of his fist.

If he went back a week, Lin Yin was confident that he wouldn't even need a bow and arrow—just one punch would be enough to kill the burly, tiger-backed Li Sihhu on the spot!

This... was Bright Strength!

And that wasn't all. A faint, barely noticeable luster flickered across Lin Yin's overly pale, bloodless skin, like the sheen of sunlight striking bronze.

Code
[Heaven rewards diligence, Will achieve something]
[Golden Bell Shield Entry (15/100)]

Three days ago, he had already begun formally cultivating the Golden Bell Shield. Unlike the Inner Strength method of activating Qi, the Golden Bell Shield mobilized the Qi and Blood of the entire body to consolidate the foundation and nourish the origin!

The most direct manifestation was Lin Yin's endurance.

If before, training both stake techniques for long periods still left Lin Yin feeling strained, then after cultivating the Golden Bell Shield, that sense of strain grew increasingly faint.

And it wasn't just endurance. As a Hardening Technique, the Golden Bell Shield's most direct expression was in the Flesh and Blood themselves.

A special kind of Qi and Blood Circulation condensed Qi into the Flesh and Blood, using Qi to temper them. This caused Lin Yin's own resilience to skyrocket in an extraordinary way.

He lifted the Long Cloth at his wrist. On his fair, warm-toned wrist was a shallow scratch.

That was Lin Yin's attempt on his own flesh using his mother's scissors.

The force was not heavy, but the sharp blades still failed to cut his skin.

This showed the improvement brought by the Golden Bell Shield.

Once the Golden Bell Shield reached Minor Accomplishment, Lin Yin would be a true Ming Jin Martial Artist.

"Now I have some confidence. Maybe I should go up the mountain early."

Lin Yin thought to himself.

During this period, in order to temper his Qi and Blood as quickly as possible, he had spent most of the silver he got from Li Sihhu on meat.

Unlike his previous poverty, without so-called Great Medicine, Lin Yin relied entirely on meat to temper his Qi and Blood, so the consumption was enormous.

This also meant that in just a short time, the thirty taels of silver had instantly dwindled by nearly half.

This made Lin Yin, who was already somewhat strapped for cash, feel increasingly pressed.

Whenever he thought about the recent consecutive price hikes for meat, Lin Yin's heart bled.

Now, buying one tael of meat cost twice as much as before!

"It seems Tiger Head Mountain is a must."

Now that he had cultivated Qi, Lin Yin had some means of self-preservation. But even so, he did not let his guard down in the slightest, often recalling the scenes he had seen on Tiger Head Mountain.

Lin Yin kept warning himself in his heart to be cautious.

At dusk.

After eating five large steamed buns and one stuffed bun at the Fist Manor's Dining Hall, Lin Yin changed his clothes and headed outside the manor.

The setting sun was sinking westward.

Wearing Coarse Cloth and Linen Clothes, Lin Yin passed by his home.

Looking at his mother inside the house, still hunched over weaving cloth, he quietly set down the meat he had brought from the Market and silently left.

Night...

At the foot of Tiger Head Mountain.

In the dense jungle, a figure darted through the woods like a ghost, rustling sounds coming and going like birds flapping their wings as they scurried among the trees. Then the figure suddenly stopped.

Slowly lowering the hunting bow in his hand, Lin Yin furrowed his brows slightly and abruptly turned his head.

His bright eyes swept across the dead silent mountain forest. Pitch black—he saw nothing.

Even so, Lin Yin did not relax in the slightest. Instead, his mind grew more tense.

The next moment, he gritted his teeth, abandoned the prey ahead, and plunged deep into the forest.

Lin Yin did not even take the forest paths when climbing Tiger Head Mountain. This habitual behavior instead made his tracks hard to follow.