Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Li Yuan arrived in the back courtyard.
He found that his master, Yang Chong, was already there, slowly practicing the Five Animals Fist.
Li Yuan was a little surprised. Since joining the hall, he had rarely seen Yang Chong practice the fist himself. Most of the time, he sat in a chair supervising and instructing the disciples.
He didn't disturb him, but silently walked to one side and began his own training, while also paying close attention to Yang Chong's movements.
Yang Chong's moves seemed slow, yet each one carried a unique rhythm, as if he had truly transformed into a tiger, deer, bear, ape, and crane.
His breathing was long and steady, his gaze focused, and his entire presence seemed to merge faintly with the surroundings.
After nearly half an hour, Yang Chong slowly came to a stop. He was lightly sweating, and let out a long breath of stale air.
With Li Yuan now having reached minor mastery in two kinds of fist techniques, and his comprehension having improved, watching Yang Chong practice the fist again gave him a profound new understanding.
He turned and saw Li Yuan waiting nearby. He nodded, his expression calm.
"Come with me," Yang Chong said, his voice slightly hoarse.
Li Yuan answered and followed Yang Chong into his room.
The room was sparsely furnished: a bed, a wardrobe, a table, and a few chairs.
Yang Chong motioned for Li Yuan to sit, then took a small cloth pouch and an oil-paper packet from the wooden chest at the head of the bed.
"Here's your pay for this month: twenty taels of silver." Yang Chong pushed the pouch toward Li Yuan, then pointed to the oil-paper packet. "This is Blood Nourishing Powder, an essential medicine for training in the Stone Skin Realm at our hall.
"Training your body wears down your qi and blood. Food alone isn't nearly enough to replenish them. This Blood Nourishing Powder can speed up the recovery of your qi and blood and nourish your skin, making your training twice as effective with half the effort.
"Remember, after each training session, take an amount about the size of your fingernail with warm water. Don't take more than that."
To put it plainly, all this silver was earned from the apprentices and then invested in direct disciples like them.
As the direct disciples grew stronger, they brought renown to the martial arts school, attracting more people to sign up.
Only by keeping this cycle going could the school endure.
"Thank you, Master." Li Yuan took the silver and the medicine and thanked him.
Entering the Stone Skin Realm truly opened up a whole new world, and his benefits had risen another level.
Feeling these tangible rewards, Li Yuan's motivation to train grew even stronger.
Twenty taels of silver was already a considerable fortune to him, not to mention the precious Blood Nourishing Powder.
Yang Chong looked at Li Yuan, his expression turning serious. "Now that you've broken through to Stone Skin, your previous training methods won't do much for you anymore. The key to refining the skin in the Stone Skin Realm is vibration and penetration."
He explained in detail. "First, channel your qi and blood into your palms until they feel slightly hot and swollen. Then strike your whole body in a rhythm of three light blows to one heavy blow.
"Coordinate the strikes with the Five Animals method. Gather strength as you inhale, and exert it as you exhale.
"The force must penetrate the skin and shake the fascia beneath it, but don't strike too hard or you'll injure yourself.
"This process will be more painful than in the Ox Skin Realm, but it will also bring out more of your potential, making your skin tougher and denser."
Li Yuan carefully memorized every point.
Next, Yang Chong took a yellowed booklet from the bottom of the chest. Written on its cover were the words True Meaning of the Five Animals.
"This is one of the foundations of my Five Animals Fist." Yang Chong gently stroked the booklet. "The fist techniques I taught you before are the forms, the framework. This True Meaning Diagram is the spirit, the artistic conception.
"Whether you're refining your skin or practicing the fist, you're strengthening your body and qi and blood. The purpose of this diagram, however, is to cultivate the spirit."
"Cultivate the spirit?" Li Yuan asked, puzzled.
"That's right." Yang Chong nodded. "The human body is a whole, and the spirit and the body influence each other.
"A powerful spirit lets you control your body better and sense the flow of qi and blood. If fortune favors you, you may even enter a deeper state while training and improve your efficiency.
"For martial artists who train through the Three Stages of Skin Refining, the ultimate goal is still to break through to Bone Tempering.
"To break through to Bone Tempering, you need not only strong skin as a foundation, but also abundant qi and blood and a spirit in perfect harmony to overcome the bottleneck.
"Only by combining the form and spirit of the Five Animals Fist can you truly reach a higher level and unleash the fist's true power."
Li Yuan opened the booklet. Inside were vivid illustrations of the five animals in various poses: pouncing, leaping, gazing, resting, and more. Each was accompanied by extensive notes.
"By the way, can you read?" Yang Chong asked, remembering Li Yuan's background as a hunter.
Almost none of the disciples he taught could read.
When Li Yuan nodded, Yang Chong finally relaxed. "If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me or Zhao Qin."
"After training your body each day, you'll need to quiet your mind and contemplate this True Meaning Diagram.
"When you've brought three of the fist techniques in it to great mastery and melded them into one, you'll have reached the Iron Skin Realm."
Li Yuan accepted the booklet and said solemnly, "This disciple understands. I'll train diligently and won't let you down, Master."
Yang Chong looked at Li Yuan as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only waved a hand. "Go on. Train hard.
"Remember, don't tell anyone about your breakthrough just yet."
"Yes."
Li Yuan bowed and left the room.
He knew his master was weighed down by what had happened to the eldest senior brother, and didn't want to say much.
While Li Yuan was receiving the martial arts hall's teachings and beginning a new stage of training, the other direct disciples were each facing troubles of their own.
Third Senior Brother Zhao Qin's family ran a silk shop that sold ready-made clothes, and their life had been fairly comfortable.
But when he returned home that day, he found the mood there was off.
His father, Zhao Shouren, and several longtime shop assistants were sitting in the main room, all frowning with worry.
Seeing them, Zhao Qin immediately asked, "Father, what's wrong?"
His father sighed and pushed a bill toward him. "Qin'er, take a look. This is the new price list the Inner City Trading House just sent over.
"The price of the silk and undyed cloth we buy has gone up by more than thirty percent.
"On top of that, they're requiring us to sell all the clothes we make through shops of their choosing, and their cut has gone up by another ten percent."
One of the older shop assistants fumed, "They're obviously making things difficult for us. Prices have gone up so much, and their cut is higher too. How can there be any profit left for us? We'll work ourselves to the bone just to end up working for them for nothing!"
Another assistant lamented, "Sigh, what are we supposed to do? Our little business can't withstand this kind of strain."
Zhao Qin picked up the bill and studied the figures, his brows furrowing.
His father didn't know what was going on, but Zhao Qin had a suspicion.
The eldest senior brother had offended a noble family and been badly injured. They weren't satisfied with that, so now they were dragging the rest of them into it as well.
The noble families were making their move.
Zhao Qin felt stifled with frustration, yet there was nothing he could do.
Facing a behemoth like the Zhao Family of the Inner City, they seemed to have no choice but to swallow their anger.
After discussing it back and forth, the family could only accept the terms for now and take things one step at a time, hoping to weather this difficult period.
Huang Ren's misfortune was even more direct. On his way home from the martial arts hall, he was passing through a narrow alley when several masked men suddenly blocked his path.
Without a word, they swung their fists and feet at him.
Although Huang Ren had reached the Stone Skin Realm, one man couldn't fight four. His attackers were clearly trained fighters, and they struck viciously.
Amid the chaos, he heard a sharp crack, then felt a piercing pain shoot through his left leg before he was knocked to the ground.
After beating him savagely, the men quickly scattered, leaving him lying in the alley.
In the end, it was passersby who found him and carried him home.
A doctor diagnosed a fracture in his left shin. Even if it healed, it might leave him disabled, and his future in martial arts was uncertain.
When the news reached the martial arts hall, panic began to spread.
That attack had been vicious. It was clearly a warning to the others—a reprisal aimed at them.
Huang Ren was one of the weaker direct disciples, with the shallowest connections, so he had been the first to bear the brunt.
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