A deep, narrow courtyard.
A figure seemingly bathed in blood hurled himself fiercely at the wooden stake before him.
Strangely, when his body collided with the stake, it made no clear, sharp sound. Instead, a muffled "thump, thump" rang out, like someone pounding a great oxhide drum.
His qi and blood surged. Lin Yin's eyes blazed as he used the impact against the stone stake to stir the qi and blood throughout his body, occasionally slapping various acupoints with both palms.
This was the special training method for the Golden Bell Shield.
As a rare Hardening Technique, it was naturally trained differently from moves like Cloud Palm, which focused on offense. Instead, it placed greater emphasis on the body's ability to withstand blows.
Internally, one used a special breathing method and Qi and Blood Circulation to open up the body's qi, blood, and bone structure. Externally, the body also needed a certain amount of stimulation.
As one of Lin Yin's trump cards, this skill couldn't be revealed to outsiders. So he had specifically brought home a wooden stake and practiced by himself.
With his own qi and blood circulation, the stimulation of Beast Blood, and the breakthrough of his Vajra Stake Technique to Minor Accomplishment, which had allowed him to condense Qi, his progress in the Golden Bell Shield was astonishingly fast.
Again and again, even though he was panting like an ox, Lin Yin still practiced tirelessly.
[Heaven rewards diligence; will achieve something]
[Golden Bell Shield: Initiate (73/100)]
"Almost there. At this rate, in less than a week, my Golden Bell Shield should reach Minor Accomplishment. Then I'll be a true Ming Jin Martial Artist—and one who reached that level through a Hardening Technique!"
Lin Yin lowered his hands and stood still. Strangely, the Beast Blood clinging to his body burst into vapor like rising mist, forming a faint layer of bloody haze across his skin.
This was the sign of his own Qi bursting forth.
"No wonder the Golden Bell Shield requires at least Minor Accomplishment in a Stance Skill. Without Qi, how could you freely circulate your qi and blood to temper your sinews and bones?"
As his Martial Arts Realm grew increasingly refined, Lin Yin gained a deeper understanding of what he had learned.
He picked up the towel he had prepared and wiped the sweat and blood from his body.
Just then, the door opened, and his mother, Wang He, called out anxiously for him to hurry inside.
Lin Yin had been spending longer and longer training in martial arts.
"Yin'er, when your father was still here, he used to talk about balancing work with rest and never overdoing it. You've been training for most of the day. Won't you hurt yourself?"
Sitting at the dinner table and watching Lin Yin wolf down his food, Wang He looked worried.
Martial arts were popular, and even ordinary people knew some of the taboos surrounding training. There were even frightening rumors of people practicing until they suffered Qi Deviation.
Wang He could clearly feel that Lin Yin had been training more intensely by the day. He even stayed up until the dead of night!
It worried her more and more.
"Mother... don't worry. Your Child knows his limits."
Lin Yin set down his bowl and chopsticks, took his mother Wang He's hand, and reassured her.
Overtraining? With the Heaven Rewards Diligence Destiny in hand, even if Lin Yin trained himself to death, he'd still be making progress in the final second before he died!
Qi Deviation wasn't going to happen. Neither would anything go wrong with his training. So what else was there to say? As long as he didn't train himself to death, he'd train as if he were trying to die!
Lin Yin's gaze was resolute.
He had his reasons for training this hard.
It had been three days since the Bailiff died, but even now, the horrific sight of his death remained vivid in Lin Yin's mind, leaving him constantly on edge.
He didn't know who had dared to slaughter a Bailiff, or even whether they had done it near the Fist Manor.
Only by growing stronger could he face anything that came his way.
That was why Lin Yin had suddenly gone "mad" these past few days. And there was more to it than that. He remembered the man he'd run into that day.
He'd recognize that guy even if he were reduced to ashes: Li Sihhu's closest lackey, the one Li Qinhu had slapped so hard that he lost a tooth.
That man's gaze had lodged in Lin Yin's throat like a bone.
He hadn't forgotten the pressure Li Qinhu had exerted on him that day.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lin Yin had already changed into his clothes by the time the bright morning sun shone through the curtains. He said a brief goodbye to his mother, then hurried off to the Fist Manor.
When he arrived, only a few people were practicing moves on the wooden stakes.
Lin Yin made his way to a stake and continued practicing the Cloud Settling Stake Technique and Cloud Palm.
He settled into the basic stance and moved with flowing grace, striking the stake again and again with THUD! THUD! THUD!
The noise wasn't loud, but it still drew a few glances.
"That guy seems to show up early every day."
"Must be nice to get in through the back door and still have the nerve to work so hard!"
"If hard work were enough, what would we need Bone structure for? He's mediocre at best, not even good enough to meet the martial hall's standards. He's just a lucky nobody who got in through the Fist Manor."
"Got in through the Fist Manor, huh? Tsk, tsk..."
The people in the distance made no effort to lower their voices. Lin Yin recognized them. On his first day, those guys had worn the brightest smiles, but now they spoke with nothing but mockery.
So the rumor that his Bone structure was mediocre had spread everywhere...
Lin Yin's gaze flickered, but he simply kept practicing the Cloud Settling Stake Technique, following each movement precisely.
His movements grew faster and faster. As he shifted his feet, he seemed to take on an elusive air, quite unlike the style of the Vajra Stake Technique.
But that was only what showed on the surface. Within Lin Yin, his qi and blood surged, streaming from a brook into a river without end. The qi and blood within his seemingly frail frame far exceeded that of others at the same level.
As the Cloud Settling Stake Technique neared Minor Accomplishment, Lin Yin could feel more and more clearly how much both Stance Skills had improved him.
After entering the Inner Court, he had asked Xu Chang whether anyone had ever practiced two Stance Skills at once. The answer he received had been emphatic.
Xu Chang had sighed. "Even practicing one Stance Skill takes a tremendous amount of effort. To transcend the ordinary and shed the mortal form, you must pass through three thresholds, each harder than the last. And you want to practice two?
"Even with one Stance Skill as your foundation, breaking through that bottleneck is no easy feat.
"What's more, every attempt to break through carries enormous risks. Who would add three more thresholds to their path for no reason?
"If something goes wrong with your technique, your realm might regress instead of advancing. You could even suffer Qi Deviation or drop dead on the spot."
In short, unless someone was insane, nobody would practice two techniques at once!
At least, in Langshi Town, Xu Chang had never seen or even heard of anyone doing it.
With Heaven rewards diligence destiny on my side, hard work is sure to bring progress. Practicing Dual Techniques will be my greatest trump card.
Lin Yin's eyes flickered. He cast aside every distraction and focused on practicing the Cloud Settling Stake Technique and Cloud Palm.
[Heaven rewards diligence; will achieve something]
[Cloud Settling Stake Technique: Initiate (74/100)]
[Cloud Palm: Initiate (50/100)]
Lin Yin had a feeling that when the Cloud Settling Stake Technique and Cloud Palm both reached Minor Accomplishment, his strength would increase to a terrifying degree.
By then, with speed and strength advancing together, the qi and blood refined by his two Stance Skills resonating, and the force of Cloud Palm bursting forth, Lin Yin believed he might even surpass Xu Chang, who had trained his palm technique to Major Accomplishment.
He struck the stake with one palm, combining the heavy force cultivated through the Vajra Stake Technique. Wood chips flew from the stake before him, and the palm print sank three inches into the wood.
The mark looked rough, not nearly as refined as Xu Chang's, but the force that punched through the wood was already no weaker than Xu Chang's palm strike at Major Accomplishment!
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