"Good. You deserve a large courtyard of your own. Later, I'll teach you how to strike the Stone Tablet."
After Lu Ming displayed Three Breaths Nine Breaks, Wei Jinlin spoke as he took out a brass key and handed it to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming accepted the key. "Thank you, Master Wei."
The little key felt unexpectedly weighty in his hand, and his spirits soared. At last, it was his turn!
After Wei Jinlin left, a crowd of disciples immediately surrounded him. Their eyes were filled with a respect he had never seen before, and one after another, they congratulated him:
"It's only been a little over a month, and Senior Brother Lu has already become a Skin Refining martial artist! Three Breaths Nine Breaks—what a display! I'm in awe."
"Brother Lu, my name is Guo Yuan. I'm with the Wei Yuan Escort Agency. I'd like to visit your residence this afternoon, if you don't mind."
"Brother Lu..."
Hearing everyone's flattery, calling him Senior Brother Lu or Brother Lu at every turn, Lu Ming felt secretly pleased.
Becoming a martial artist really did make all the difference.
With his current strength, he was at least a sure-fire martial man. If he received someone's support, he stood a very good chance of becoming a martial arts prospect.
Naturally, plenty of people would try to win him over.
He responded to each of them, politely returning their courtesies.
Not far away, Shen Jue and Chen Jinyang exchanged a glance. Shen Jue frowned.
"I didn't expect him to break through again in just half a month."
Behind them stood Wu San and Zhu Ming, the two men they were sponsoring.
Chen Jinyang glanced at Lu Ming, the corner of his mouth curling into a scornful sneer. "Zhu Ming can already shatter nine stone tablets. He was only a little over the time limit.
"As long as he trains for a few more days, he'll be able to break all nine stone tablets in a single breath and reach Major Completion in the Skin Refining Realm.
"Compared to Zhu Ming, Lu Ming is nothing."
Hearing that, Shen Jue nodded as well.
"He's certainly no match for Zhu Ming.
"We thought he had a talent for lightness skills, but now it seems he's probably quite ordinary after all.
"He definitely won't pass the Stone Tablet Nine Palace Stakes anytime soon. That means he won't even be able to leave the Military Service Bureau.
"Li Youning's investment in him this time has already failed.
"Things are already underway outside. Within five days, the Li Family Bank will be driven out of Red Cloud County and will never rise again."
After lunch, Lu Ming returned to his little courtyard to tidy up before leaving the courtyard district and heading to the higher-lying district of large courtyards.
He followed the number on the brass key, seventy-four, and arrived at the courtyard that belonged to him.
"Seventy-four... That means I'm the seventy-fourth disciple in this batch to become a Skin Refining martial artist!"
Lu Ming thought to himself. He was now among the top hundred of the four hundred disciples.
But that didn't mean he would still rank in the top hundred at the Grand Examination three months from now and earn the status of a martial arts prospect.
Cultivating the martial arts was a marathon. A lead today didn't guarantee a lead tomorrow.
He had managed to break through so quickly thanks to Qi-Nurturing Powder. But now, he had only one packet left.
If he couldn't get more Qi-Nurturing Powder, there was no way he could keep up with the other disciples' cultivation speed.
As Lu Ming pondered this, he pushed open the courtyard gate, and the view suddenly opened up before him.
The front courtyard alone was very spacious, with a Stone Tablet Nine Palace Stakes set in the middle.
Stone tablets hung beneath various parts of the Puppet Stake. Unlike wooden tablets, they didn't sway in the wind. They hung heavily, perfectly still, and looked incredibly weighty.
Six stone locks sat in a corner of the courtyard, ranging from five hundred to a thousand catties.
Inside, there was a hall, a bedroom, and even a kitchen.
A big house—just looking at it was a pleasure!
Looking at the courtyard he had earned through his own efforts, Lu Ming felt so happy he couldn't help humming a little tune.
He paced it out. The hall alone was around thirty-two square meters. Not bad! He nodded to himself.
There was space between the courtyards in this district, too. The sounds of other people training reached him only faintly, making it much quieter here.
That pleased Lu Ming even more. At night, he wouldn't be woken up by people who were so afraid of missing a training session that they'd train themselves to death.
Some people had said they would visit after lunch, so he didn't start training right away. After tidying up the courtyard a little, he went over to the corner and picked up a five-hundred-catties stone lock, curious to see how it felt.
It was cold and heavy in his hands. Lu Ming heaved with all his might, his skin tightening and his blood surging, before he managed to lift it.
After setting it down, he tried to pick up the six-hundred-catties stone lock. He could barely raise it a little before it wouldn't budge any farther.
"Whew..." Lu Ming put down the stone lock, his face faintly flushed. Looks like the strength of someone in the Skin Refining Realm is around five hundred catties.
Next, he went into the hall and waited, but nobody came.
Just as he was starting to wonder, he heard a knock at the gate. He quickly got up to open it, then froze when he saw who was standing outside.
"Li Hu?" he blurted out. The man at the gate was Li Hu, whom he had once saved in the woods and who had repaid him with the Bone-Unraveling Technique.
Half a month had passed since then. Whenever Lu Ming saw Li Hu at the Martial Arts Arena, he would greet him.
But whether Li Hu hadn't taken his advice to heart or Lu Ming's suggestion to treat the Nine Palaces Stakes like a maze hadn't worked, Li Hu was still wearing a gray training outfit and hadn't reached the Integrated Force stage of Three Breaths Nine Echoes.
When Li Hu saw him, he hurriedly said:
"Senior Brother Lu, I hadn't planned on bothering you.
"But I heard that Senior Brother Lu received support from Senior Sister Li. When Guo Yuan and the others from the Wei Yuan Escort Agency heard about it, they turned back halfway and decided not to visit you.
"I was worried you might not know, so I came to warn you."
Hearing this, Lu Ming understood at once. No wonder nobody had shown up. They had decided not to visit him because he had received support from Li Youning.
This must be Shen Jue and the others stirring things up. It looks like the Li Family Bank really is about to face a calamity. Everyone else is trying to keep their distance.
He shook his head. If that was the case, so be it. People like that weren't worth making friends with.
"Wait." Seeing Li Hu turn to leave after giving him the news, Lu Ming immediately called out to him.
Li Hu stopped and turned around. "What's wrong, Senior Brother Lu?"
Lu Ming frowned at his legs. He had noticed that Li Hu was limping a little. "Are you injured?"
Li Hu gave an awkward smile. "I tripped while training."
"Do you have any medicine for it?" Lu Ming asked.
Li Hu shook his head.
Lu Ming immediately took out a bottle of wound medicine and pressed it into his hand.
He had a little over five bottles of wound medicine left, and he needed some for his own training. So he could only spare Li Hu one bottle, as thanks for making the trip.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Lu." Unable to refuse, Li Hu accepted it with some embarrassment.
After Li Hu left, Lu Ming shut the gate and went over to the Stone Tablet Nine Palace Stakes. He thought it over, then walked around them.
Wei Jinlin had said he would come teach him how to strike the stone tablets. Lu Ming would train with them then. For now, he could practice Grass Gliding.
[Leg Dao Divine Ability evolving (83/100)...] [Leg Dao Divine Ability evolving (84/100)...] [Leg Dao Divine Ability evolving...]
As he trained, his Leg Dao experience crept upward, gradually nearing 100. The more he practiced, the more fired up he became.
The feeling of gaining something from every training session grew addictive. Even when he was exhausted from head to toe, he still couldn't stop.
As for the Li Family Bank, to be honest, the feuds between great lineages weren't something he could get involved in right now.
Once he finished training, he would go and ask around. If there was nothing he could do to help, then he would simply be powerless to assist.
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