Entering the Sect

Outer courtyard, communal dormitory.

Zhou Yun kicked open the wooden door, settled Zhang Hu onto the kang, and pressed several acupuncture points to regulate his breath and meridians.

The youth, who had nearly pushed himself to the point of mastering the Black Ape Movement Technique, finally regained consciousness.

"Brother Yun, I still haven't reached Bright Force..."

Zhang Hu grabbed Zhou Yun's hand, biting his lower lip so hard that a trickle of blood seeped out.

In this era, without entering the realm of Bright Force, one was ultimately nothing more than a common mortal.

Zhou Yun said nothing, merely fetching a bowl of cool water and placing it on the kang.

"Speak less, and get some rest."

Zhou Yun offered a few words of advice, his tone earnest: "Don't push yourself so hard next time. Your mother wouldn't want to see you like this."

With that, he patted Zhang Hu on the shoulder and headed toward the Martial Arts Arena.

Zhang Hu gazed at Zhou Yun's retreating back, his eyes complex and his fists clenched tight, as if he had made a firm resolution.

By now, Zhou Yun had returned to the Martial Arts Arena. The inner courtyard disciples were long gone, leaving only the outer courtyard disciples still practicing.

He joined them.

Master Liang's Black Ape Fist had provided Zhou Yun with many insights, and since he had planned to throw one thousand punches and stand in the horse stance for four hours today, he could not afford to slack off.

As the sky grew darker, Zhou Yun kept a close watch on the time this time, careful not to push his body beyond its limits for fear of triggering another transmigration.

After eating some coarse grain, he returned to the outer courtyard quarters, only to find the bowl of cool water empty and Zhang Hu nowhere to be seen.

The other outer courtyard disciples who shared the room returned one by one. Seeing an empty bed, they thought nothing of it; it was common for disciples to go out to earn extra money and stay away from the martial arts hall for days.

Exhausted from a day of training, Zhou Yun closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Waking up the next day, the moment Zhou Yun opened his eyes, the daily settlement initiated.

[Daily Settlement: 1000 punches thrown, 4 hours of horse stance training, observed a grandmaster demonstrate a new martial art, achieved a moment of enlightenment, rating: D-Mid.]

[Obtained: A wisp of blood energy, Black Ape Movement Technique entry-level comprehension; body can become like a black ape, agile and versatile.]

"As expected, not only did my rating improve, but I actually learned the Black Ape Movement Technique?"

Zhou Yun was quite delighted. He hadn't expected that merely observing Master Liang's demonstration would allow him to master a movement technique that should have required the Bright Force realm to learn!

Although the system panel indicated that such an effect usually only occurred when a Transformation Force grandmaster performed a martial art, this was more than enough.

At the entry level, once he deployed the Black Ape Movement Technique against a Bright Force martial artist, even if he couldn't escape entirely, he would at least have the ability to maneuver for a while.

Ordinary inner courtyard disciples who hadn't reached Bright Force would likely find it difficult to gain any advantage over him.

"Now I have some capital."

In high spirits, Zhou Yun hurried to the Martial Arts Arena while most of the other disciples were still asleep.

The sky was just beginning to brighten, and Zhou Yun was the only one in the arena.

He exhaled a breath of stale air, the image of Master Liang performing the Black Ape Movement Technique surfacing in his mind, and his body began to move.

His limbs suddenly felt light, his stance became incredibly steady, and his arms surged with greater power. With a sudden punch, his reach seemed to extend beyond the natural length of his arm.

Only a martial artist would know how dangerous this move was; a strike that suddenly exceeded the limits of the human body could change the tide of a battle instantly if it landed on a vital point.

"What a fine technique!"

Zhou Yun couldn't help but marvel. Although he hadn't reached Bright Force, being able to execute this technique gave him a hidden trump card.

Even among the inner courtyard disciples, few had managed to master this Black Ape Movement Technique.

Carried by this momentum, Zhou Yun began his training for the day, though he returned to practicing his fist techniques rather than continuing to delve into the movement technique.

After training all morning, combined with the wisp of blood energy from today, Zhou Yun's cultivation reached the Four Apertures of the Martial Pass.

Suddenly, an outer courtyard disciple ran over, waving his hand and calling out, "Zhou Yun, your cousin is looking for you."

"My cousin is looking for me?"

Zhou Yun was drenched in sweat, but he wiped his face with his towel and hurried toward the entrance of the martial arts hall.

Before he even reached the gate, he saw a mature and gentle woman dressed in floral cloth, holding a bamboo basket and waving with a smile.

"Yun'er, I've come to bring you your tuition fees."

Zhou Ningyue smiled softly, pulled a linen cloth from her pocket, and wiped the sweat from Zhou Yun's forehead: "It must be hard living in the martial arts hall. Look at you, covered in sweat. Let me wipe that off."

"Sister Ningyue, isn't it too early for the tuition payment?"

Zhou Yun took the linen cloth and asked instinctively.

"Yun'er, this..."

Zhou Ningyue hesitated, then fell silent before saying, "Yun'er, the family no longer has enough for next month's tuition. This is all the savings we have left."

As she spoke, she lifted the lid of the basket, which contained only two strings of coins and several large pieces of salted fish.

"It's alright, Sister Ningyue, this is enough."

Zhou Yun took the basket, though he hadn't expected their family's situation to have deteriorated to such a point. He had only been practicing martial arts for a few months, yet the money pit that was the martial path was already impossible to fill.

While his family wasn't wealthy, they had always been able to make a living by fishing. The situation at his neighbor Zhang Hu's house was even worse; the entire family relied on being tenant farmers, and they were crushed under the weight of heavy taxes.

In this world, it seemed that even the final shred of hope for the poor to turn their lives around was being ruthlessly blocked.

"Yun'er, I can still scrape together more silver. The leader of the Sea Whale Gang has a fondness for me; if I go and beg him..."

Zhou Ningyue gritted her teeth, her fair neck flushing a deep red.

"No, Cousin. I have my own way to handle it next month."

Zhou Yun reassured her. What kind of man was the leader of the Sea Whale Gang?

He was notoriously lecherous. If he took his cousin as a concubine, she would be nothing more than a plaything to be tossed to his gang brothers once he grew tired of her.

Whenever he set his sights on a pretty girl, he would use the influence of the Sea Whale Gang to cause trouble at her home, either by fabricating unreasonable debts or forcing the family into a situation where they had no choice but to borrow money from his gang.

If Zhou Ningyue were to get involved with such a man, it would be the same as pushing her into a pit of fire with his own hands.

Now, however, Zhou Yun had his golden finger to rely on.

Within seven days, he would certainly break through to the Bright Force. Once he did, he could find some idle position to hold, and with the salary that came with it, the problem of the Sea Whale Gang's debt would be easily resolved.

"Alright... you must not force yourself. We can still scrape a little more together at home."

Zhou Ningyue agreed, though she offered one final word of caution. She didn't tell Zhou Yun that his parents' coffins had already been pawned off.

"Sister Ningyue, Uncle has looked after me since I was small. Since he went off to serve in the military and never returned, you are my own sister. You must be careful in everything and put your own well-being first."

Zhou Yun said earnestly.

"Alright, you take care of your health too... Oh, right, this is Zhang Hu's tuition. Please help me pass it to him as well."

As she spoke, Zhou Ningyue pulled a bundle from her bosom.

"What about Zhang Hu's mother? Why didn't she come?"

Zhou Yun frowned, but he took the bundle nonetheless.

"His mother passed away from illness yesterday. Before she died, she told me not to tell Hu until he reached the Bright Force."

Zhou Ningyue sighed and patted Zhou Yun's hand. "Sister is leaving now. If you need anything, tell the family; Sister will find a way."

"Alright."

After Zhou Yun spoke, he stared at his cousin's retreating back, falling into a deep silence.

A large part of the reason Zhang Hu worked so hard at martial arts was because his mother had been bedridden for years, relying on needlework to make ends meet.

Even his tuition for the martial arts hall had come from the compensation money sent back with his father's corpse after he was conscripted.

He had sold their old home and exhausted every last cent of his family's wealth to gamble on becoming a martial artist.

But now, the root of his martial path had been severed.

Zhou Yun didn't speak for the rest of the way, intending to return to the dormitory and give him the tuition personally.

Just as he returned to the dormitory, Zhou Yun still didn't see a shadow of Zhang Hu, and a sense of doubt couldn't help but rise in his heart.

Could it be that the kid had been hit too hard and ran off with the bundle?

As Zhou Yun was wondering, he noticed that the clothes he had been washing for Lu Meng were gone from the bedside.

Could they have been moved somewhere else? No, that's not it...

Those clothes were worth nearly half a guan of silver.

All the fellow disciples in the dormitory knew these were Lu Meng's clothes, so no one would dare steal them.

And Zhang Hu happened to be exactly half a guan short of being able to afford that Blood Coagulation Pill.

Coupled with his disappearance all day, a bad premonition welled up in his heart.

Zhou Yun looked down and, sure enough, found a note tucked into the bamboo mat at the bedside.

"Brother Yun, I'm sorry."

"This is bad!"

Zhou Yun was secretly shocked, not yet having time to process it.

At the doorway, Lu Meng's voice suddenly rang out.

"Zhou Yun, bring out this young master's clothes."