Entry!

"Lin Yin? I know that guy... Senior Brother Wan said he got in through the back door!"

"Through the back door? I knew it. How could someone with a build like that be chosen for the Living Stake Quota?"

"Senior Brother Xu must have had his own reasons for putting him down. It's infuriating that he got a quota others begged and pleaded for."

As they watched Lin Yin "climb" the stakes, the voices that had been full of doubt gradually took on a different tone, tinged with scorn and contempt.

Xu Chang couldn't help feeling a little awkward.

He didn't know the full story. He'd only thought Lin Yin had an unusual knack for understanding martial arts techniques. He hadn't expected that recommending him might have done the man a disservice.

Seeing the comments grow more and more vicious, Xu Chang's expression turned cold. He let out a snort.

"Your Stance Skill hasn't even reached Minor Accomplishment. How can you be so ambitious as to look down on others?"

"..."

When they saw Xu Chang reprimand them, some disciples looked sheepish, realizing they'd misunderstood. They promptly shut their mouths, while others remained unfazed.

Li Qianjiang cupped his hands toward Xu Chang, looking puzzled.

"Senior Brother, if you asked us to choose this fellow, I'm sure our fellow brothers would all feel resentment.

"The martial path allows no standing still: advance, or fall behind. Even a Living Stake is hugely important to us. I'm not being harsh, Senior Brother."

"Since I recommended him, I naturally had my reasons. Why would I lead you astray?"

Xu Chang's brow furrowed, and his voice grew a little deeper.

The man before him was undoubtedly slapping him in the face in front of everyone. Xu Chang couldn't help growing angry, but the man had a special standing, and he didn't want to get into a prolonged dispute with him. He explained in a grave voice.

"This man has a unique understanding of Stance Skill. I had him teach the other disciples, which is why things have turned out this way. I only brought it up because you were all confused!"

"A unique understanding? Heh, I see. Senior Brother meant well, but you've forgotten that every one of us disciples has a unique understanding of Stance Skill. Otherwise, how could we have entered the school directly?"

Li Qianjiang smiled faintly. His words sounded agreeable, but his edge was plain to see.

Seeing this, Xu Chang's brow knitted tightly. He gave the man who was "relentlessly pressing" him a meaningful look.

At that moment, how could he not see that the man before him had an ulterior motive?

Perhaps Li Qianjiang wasn't targeting Lin Yin at all. Perhaps his real target was Xu Chang.

What nerve!

Xu Chang's expression darkened, but he didn't rebut him directly. Instead, he looked toward the figure that had already climbed onto the top of a stake.

Receiving no reply, Li Qianjiang smiled and turned to cup his hands toward the fellow brothers behind him.

"Senior Brother Xu went out of his way to praise this man's understanding of the techniques. I'm sure he really does have something we can all learn from.

"Fellow brothers, take a good look. Perhaps we really have misunderstood Senior Brother."

"Senior Brother Li is right."

"Then let's see what he can do."

"..."

At the front of the crowd, Xu Chang's face had turned ashen.

If he answered directly, he'd lose face. If he stayed silent, the other man would cling to him like a strip of dog-skin plaster.

At that moment, even though he had some faith in Lin Yin, he didn't hold out much hope.

Just as Li Qianjiang had said, when it came to understanding and insight into martial arts techniques, how could someone like Lin Yin, who needed a Living Stake Quota to enter Fist Manor, compare to disciples whose excellent bone structure had been carefully chosen by their masters and martial uncles?

From the very start, once he'd fallen into the trap, he'd been at a disadvantage.

"Second Senior Brother is going too far..."

Xu Chang was furious at Li Qianjiang's relentless push, but also helpless. He knew what lay beneath the surface.

He knew exactly who stood behind Li Qianjiang.

He just hadn't expected them to be so brazen.

It seemed Second Senior Brother would be drawing quite a few of these newly enrolled disciples to his side...

Thinking of the current situation Inside the School and the recent developments in Langshi Town, Xu Chang felt a storm was brewing.

"Smack..."

A sudden sound pulled him back to the present. The Falling Cloud Treading Goose technique wheeled through the air, and the sight of a foot leaving the stake made his bewildered eyes fly wide open.

Wait! This... this was...

Beside the stakes, Shi Zhong, who had been standing on one, had already quietly climbed down.

They stood at the edge of the Staking Ground, watching the figure darting and wheeling across the stakes with solemn expressions.

Every punch and palm struck like thunder, while his feet darted and turned across the wooden stakes like a swimming dragon!

Compared with their rigid, highly standardized movements, the person on the stakes moved in an entirely different way. His motions were gentle, yet extraordinarily fluid—so fluid, in fact, that it hardly looked like he was practicing boxing.

"Senior Brother Shi Zhong... do you think Senior Brother Lin is doing well or poorly?"

In the crowd, Wan Qing stared, dumbstruck, at the figure moving across the stakes as if he were walking on level ground.

Just darting from stake to stake was no simple feat for him.

One careless move, and forget keeping his form—he'd fall right off.

But if you asked whether Lin Yin was doing well, his every movement, every punch and kick, lacked the weight of surging qi and blood.

Shi Zhong didn't answer Wan Qing's question directly. His expression was complicated. He pursed his lips, signaling for Wan Qing and the others to look toward Xu Chang.

"You can tell from the senior brothers' reactions."

His low voice carried a hint of mixed emotion.

"Why aren't the senior brothers saying anything?"

Wan Qing whispered.

Not a sound...

Some looked astonished, some stood gaping, and others held their breath, their expressions solemn as their eyes followed the figure "dancing" across the stakes!

"That technique, those movements... this junior brother seems to have more than just an ordinary grasp of it..."

At last, someone in the crowd couldn't hold back from speaking.

But no one answered him. At the front of the crowd, Xu Chang's eyes remained fixed on the figure darting across the stakes.

Even Li Qianjiang, who had been at odds with him moments before, had lost the smug smile on his face. It was now frozen stiff.

"His body follows his shadow, his breath like an orchid just beginning to bloom. He turns and spreads his sleeves, his momentum like a sudden swell of raging waves!

"His qi and blood move as one. This... this seems to have already reached the Entry level..."

A disciple couldn't help whispering. His voice was small, but his words struck like thunder!

Not far away, Shi Zhong and the others erupted in an uproar. They had thought Lin Yin might have reached a new level, but they'd never imagined he'd already entered the technique.

Reaching Entry level was like knocking at the gate—it meant opening the broad road that led to the martial path!

"Judging by his qi, he didn't just reach Entry level in the past few days. He must have been at it for at least two days. His qi and blood resonate, and his body follows his intent. He's feeling out Condensing Strength!"

Xu Chang, who had been in a foul mood, suddenly let out a long sigh, as if in admiration, or perhaps to make a point.

The gloom had cleared from his face, and his smile was radiant.

At his words, the disciples who had still been hesitant all looked startled.

One disciple even stepped forward and asked, "Senior Brother Xu, may I ask when this junior brother first began learning the Cloud Settling Stake Technique?"

At this, Li Qianjiang's expression shifted, and the disciples beside him perked up their ears.

Each breakthrough in Stance Skill was like knocking at a gate. The journey from zero to one could fully reveal a person's talent and bone structure.

If they remembered correctly, the Living Stake selection this time had taken place less than a month ago.

Less than a month, and he'd reached Entry level in Stance Skill...

As they considered what that implied, the young disciples' expressions all changed.

Their faces no longer carried that air of superiority and self-satisfaction.

Many of them had been at the school for a month... and still hadn't reached Entry level!