Though He'd Entered the Blood-Tempering Realm, This Boy Was Ruined! Inner Courtyard Disciples, Core Martial Arts

"Senior Sister Li?"

Wei Shan's chest heaved violently, sweat covering his forehead.

His fierce gaze swept over Shi Wen, full of resentment. He badly wanted to save face by taking it out on the boy.

In the end, he gave a cold snort and withdrew his hand. "You're lucky, brat!"

He'd already figured out the boy's moves.

A few more strikes, and he could have killed him. What a pity Senior Sister Li had shown up!

Senior Sister Li ranked second among the Inner Courtyard's Ten Disciples and held a lofty position. Even Senior Brother Sun Mingting treated her with great respect. How would Wei Shan dare offend her?

"What a pity..."

Shi Wen's tense arm relaxed.

He'd wanted to break a few of Wei Shan's bones and teach him a small lesson, but Senior Sister Li had happened to come out.

"Everyone, disperse."

At Li Qianqian's words, the Outer Courtyard disciples who'd gathered to watch began leaving.

The Inner Courtyard disciples, meanwhile, took another look at this usually quiet, soft-spoken country bumpkin, who worked hard at his training.

Their eyes held a trace of surprise.

What was going on?

In just half a month, the boy had successfully tempered his blood too?

Could Master Li have misjudged him?

Zhao Shanming, who sat beneath a tree drinking tea, had watched Shi Wen for a long while.

He shook his head. "What a pity. He must have tempered a trace of blood qi only at the very last moment, when his body was already depleted."

"His bones may be poor, but his comprehension is excellent. He managed to cultivate the basic techniques until they resonated with his blood qi, then successfully entered this realm. That's quite impressive. The pity is that nurturing the body while tempering the blood requires nourishment. You need a solid foundation before you can attempt to condense blood qi."

"Otherwise, blood qi forcibly condensed is like a greedy wolf plundering what it can, draining your foundation!"

"That's why the quality of one's bones matters. Those with good bones aren't merely gifted at martial arts; they also have deep reserves to draw on."

"What a pity. Unless something unexpected happens, the farthest this boy will ever go is the Blood-Tempering Realm."

Zhao Shanming shook his head, then pointed out places where Shi Wen's flesh clung tightly to his bones. "This is what insufficient reserves look like. The moment his blood qi was born, it forcibly drew on his body, leaving his foundation depleted."

"He's finished."

His words made the Inner Courtyard disciples' expressions shift.

Some had been interested in befriending or recruiting Shi Wen, but after hearing Zhao Shanming's assessment, they lost interest.

Zhao Shanming ranked third in the Inner Courtyard. He was a seasoned martial artist in the Blood-Coagulation Realm, and besides Baji Fist, he'd learned plenty of other martial arts to protect himself.

He was a formidable fighter.

If Senior Brother Zhao said so, then it had to be true.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Shi! Come to Jiangcheng Tower tonight. Dinner's on me, and we'll celebrate properly!"

Yan Kai cheerfully went over and patted Shi Wen's arm. "You have to come."

"Senior Brother Yan, what's the point of recruiting him? Senior Brother Zhao says he'll never get past the Blood-Tempering Realm. You'd just be wasting your family's money on him!"

Wei Shan muttered under his breath, looking at Shi Wen with hostility.

The other Inner Courtyard disciples didn't say anything.

Yan Kai's family ran a sizable business, and he was their only son. Aside from building strength and health, he trained mainly to use his status to recruit martial artists to work for his family.

Yan Kai had recruited several talented Outer Courtyard disciples—those who were skilled at training or especially strong—to serve as guards for his family.

Quite a few Inner Courtyard disciples also held positions with the Yan Family Chamber of Commerce.

Sun Mingting and Wei Shan, for example.

They received a good deal of money each month.

"I knew Junior Brother Shi would make it into the Inner Courtyard from the start. Do you remember what I told you all when he first joined the Fist Academy?"

Yan Kai smiled as he spoke, then added, "Let's leave together after lessons. We'll have dinner tonight and celebrate."

"Senior Brother Yan, if you're still planning to celebrate with him, then don't bother celebrating with me."

Qin Huan suddenly spoke, leaving Yan Kai caught between two sides. But he'd already made his offer, so he said, "Your celebration dinner is tomorrow night. I've invited several Inner Courtyard senior brothers and some wealthy merchants from the city. That's the main event."

"I don't care, Senior Brother Yan. If you're going to invite that brat, I'm not coming."

Qin Huan's gaze was cold.

He couldn't stand the boy, who'd tempered his blood qi through his own efforts.

Qin Huan had become a martial artist only with the help of pills. The boy had tempered his blood on his own. Didn't that make Qin Huan look useless by comparison?

Wei Shan, standing nearby, smirked and silently gave Qin Huan a thumbs-up.

Qin Huan nodded in response. The approval of his little clique's members pleased him.

"This..."

Yan Kai was in a bind. Shi Wen, however, had no interest in going to dinner. He said calmly, "Thank you for the offer, Senior Brother Yan. Why don't we get together another day when we're free?"

"All right."

Yan Kai sighed helplessly, and the two exchanged a few brief words.

Their conversation ended there.

Having watched the scene, the Inner Courtyard disciples lost interest in Shi Wen. They looked away and went back to discussing the Flying Cloud Pavilion.

It was clear that quite a few Inner Courtyard disciples had been stirred by what happened today.

After all, between a martial artist who'd forcibly broken through by draining his foundation and a genius with eight-grade bones, they'd choose to befriend Qin Huan too, if they were Yan Kai.

Anyone with eyes could tell which one had better talent and a higher ceiling!

At the call, quite a few Inner Courtyard disciples had hurried back.

Li Qianqian said, "Junior Brother Shi, come with me to register your information."

"Okay."

Shi Wen followed Li Qianqian to the office.

Apart from when he'd come to pay, he'd hardly ever been here.

"Junior Brother, these are the Inner Courtyard uniform and your identity token. If you run into trouble in Black Cloud County, you can show them your Fist Academy identity. It may save you quite a bit of trouble."

"Besides that, once you officially become a Fist Academy disciple, your tuition is waived. Each month, you can claim ten jin of exotic beast meat and a dose of Bone-Strengthening Tiger Medicine. You'll also gain access to the core martial arts of the Six Harmonies Eight Desolations Baji Fist. These are the foundation on which our academy stands. They include a complete set of forms and methods for tempering the bones and sinews throughout your body. Only after learning this martial art can you truly call yourself a Baji Fist disciple!"

Li Qianqian handed him several sets of clothes and personally carved the character "Shi" into a wooden token.

Handing it to Shi Wen, she said, "As an Inner Courtyard disciple, you must never betray your school. If the school needs help, you must lend a hand. The academy will also take ten percent of your outside retainer fees."

"That fee covers your free tuition, the Bone-Strengthening medicine paired with Baji Fist, exotic beast meat, and the academy's core martial arts."

"Of course, if you don't have a suitable force to affiliate yourself with, the academy can help you get in touch with a suitable chamber of commerce or gang and arrange a contract. That'll give you a steady income to support your daily training. The academy's cut would be around thirty percent."

"You can refuse if you don't want to."

Li Qianqian explained everything to him.

Shi Wen didn't find any of it unreasonable.

Senior Sister Li had laid everything out clearly. Besides, he'd come to learn martial arts. If he wanted to study the core techniques, he naturally had to pay the corresponding price.

He'd originally thought he'd have to pay extra tuition to learn the true Baji Fist.

He hadn't expected that, besides free tuition, he'd also receive ten jin of exotic beast meat and a monthly dose of Bone-Strengthening Tiger Medicine. It was a pretty good deal.

Sure enough, only after joining the Inner Courtyard did they start treating you like a person.

"Master Li has been away from the academy these past few days. You'll have to wait until he returns to receive this month's ten jin of exotic beast meat, since he's the one in charge of the premium meat. You can take the Bone-Strengthening Tiger Medicine home after lessons."

Li Qianqian took out a pen and noted down a few things on a sheet of paper.

Then she asked, "Junior Brother Shi, do you have anyone you're affiliated with right now?"

"Not yet." Shi Wen shook his head.

Li Qianqian nodded and wrote something down before saying, "I'll make some inquiries over the next few days. Once I find a suitable prospect, I can arrange a contract for you. How does that sound?"

"I have no objections."

Shi Wen asked curiously, "I just don't know roughly how much the retainer fees are."

"An affiliation is simply an agreement to work with some organization. It could be a restaurant, a street, a chamber of commerce, or a small gang looking for someone to affiliate with them. For a martial artist like you, Junior Brother Shi, who's only just tempered his blood, it'd probably bring in anywhere from ten to a hundred strings of cash a month. It's just an affiliation; you only need to go help when they have something that needs doing. Sign up with enough places, and the monthly income can add up to quite a lot."

"Since you've only just tempered your blood, you don't have much of a reputation. You're getting the opportunity to take on retainers through the academy's reputation and connections."

Li Qianqian continued, "If you build up some fame, someone might invite you to become an attendant."

"Or someone might take an interest in you and invest in your future. Then you could probably earn five hundred to a thousand strings of cash a month in declared income. More than that would depend on the circumstances. Blood-Tempering Realm martial artists have only just crossed the threshold of the martial path. They can't really be considered experts."

"It's best if someone invests in you. Junior Brother Yan Kai has invested in quite a few senior brothers in the Inner Courtyard. Junior Brother Wei Shan, for instance, is an attendant of the Yan Family Chamber of Commerce."

"If the Yan Family Chamber of Commerce has something important to take care of, he has to go help. He can't refuse."

After Li Qianqian explained everything, Shi Wen understood a lot more.

"Thank you, Senior Sister. I understand."

"Good. I'll send your information to some wealthy families in the city and see if any of them are interested in investing in you."

Li Qianqian swiftly put pen to paper. "If no one chooses to back you, then we can look into arranging a retainer. You can build up some money by taking on several retainers, but it'll be too scattered. It's better to have one family supporting you."

Shi Wen replied casually, "All right. Thank you for taking the trouble, Senior Sister."

"Mm. Master Li is away, so I'll teach you the Six Harmonies Eight Desolations Baji Fist for now. If you feel I haven't taught it well, you can ask Master Li when he returns."

Li Qianqian handed Shi Wen all the tokens and other items that identified him as an Inner Courtyard disciple.

Then she led him to the open space in the Inner Courtyard.

She began teaching Shi Wen the Six Harmonies Eight Desolations Baji Fist.

Once Shi Wen understood the true Baji Fist, he couldn't help but marvel at it.

The forms in this Baji Fist were flawless and seamless. Compared with the basic techniques, it had many more fundamental killing moves, and many of the forms also tempered more parts of the body.

What surprised Shi Wen even more was this:

Like the Taibao Hard Qigong, this Baji Fist also had a method for circulating inner breath.

"Double Impact, Double Yang Peak, Dusting, Fist Salute, cupping the hands, Full Bow Stance, Follow-Step Lift, Supporting Punch..."

"Two Forms Stance, Overlord Lifts Tripod, Rib Elbow, Crotch Kick, Fence-Vaulting Punch..."

"Turning Palm Push, Hip Presentation, Hook-Stomp, Single Form Stance, Closing Stance!"

Li Qianqian gracefully performed a complete set of Baji Fist, then asked in a serious voice, "Junior Brother, can you see what's different about it?"