A Thousand Gold Couldn't Buy That One Crack

That afternoon, Li Beichen rubbed on the Giant Elephant Meat-Refining Ointment and finished eating the dried Strange Pig meat.

He began training again.

This time, however, compared with the other Outer Courtyard disciples, his movements made a startling racket.

Faint rumbling cracks echoed from his body.

It was a sign that the strength throughout his body was about to unite as one.

"Brother Li, you're about to enter the ranks..."

He Keji stared in shock.

He knew Li Beichen was highly talented, but he hadn't realized just how talented.

In only two short months, he was already about to reach Slight Mastery in the Giant Elephant Fist.

The other disciples were even more stunned.

Some of them had been here for nearly a year, and now they understood just how astonishing this was.

For someone who hadn't practiced martial arts, entering the ranks in two months would sound like a frog at the bottom of a well gazing at the moon in the sky.

But to those who had seen it firsthand, it was like an ant looking up at the heavens.

On the stage, Yuan Dazong's face darkened. At that moment, it felt as if ants were gnawing at his heart.

Back then, it had taken him a full eight months of unceasing training, day and night, before he'd managed to make a single crack.

His foot shifted slightly. He wanted to take a step forward and interrupt Li Beichen's training.

But he suddenly realized a shadow had fallen over him.

It was as if a giant elephant stood behind him.

Yuan Dazong slowly turned around and saw that Meng Juxiang had somehow come out of the Inner Courtyard.

He was watching Li Beichen train with a satisfied expression.

"Master..."

"Shh."

Meng Juxiang merely motioned for him to be quiet.

Not far away, fear welled up in Zhang Yuan's heart.

"How is this possible? Li Beichen's about to enter the ranks?!"

He bitterly regretted that momentary lapse in judgment that had led him to provoke Li Beichen—and let Li Beichen find out about it.

Zhang Yuan panicked, completely at a loss.

He was only a concubine-born son. If he offended a martial arts prodigy who had entered the ranks in two months, his family wouldn't protect him.

All Zhang Yuan wanted was to run.

"Hey, Zhang Yuan, where are you going?"

"Li Beichen's about to enter the ranks. You don't see a sight like this every day!"

"I... have something to take care of at home. I need to head back first."

In the courtyard, Li Beichen didn't care about any of that.

He was completely immersed in his training.

The twelfth form of the Giant Elephant Fist.

Elephant Charge Strike.

As Li Beichen unleashed the final form of the Giant Elephant Fist, several lines of small text immediately appeared before his eyes.

[Technique: Giant Elephant Fist—Incomplete (Slight Mastery)]

[Progress: (0/1000)]

[Traits: Bright Force]

[Bright Force: Body and strength united; a punch packs over a thousand jin of force]

"Crack!"

A thunderous report rang clearly in everyone's ears.

A thousand gold couldn't buy that one crack!

That single thunderclap was the sign that someone had entered the ranks.

Li Beichen felt the strength in his whole body gather as one. With every movement, he could easily bring his full strength to bear, and under the influence of a mysterious surge of heat, his muscles grew stronger once more.

But his muscles didn't grow larger. Instead, they became more powerful.

They could now easily withstand the transmission of a thousand jin of force.

His build looked lean and powerful, his muscles clearly defined yet still pleasing to the eye.

He didn't look like some hulking muscle giant.

His understanding of the Giant Elephant Fist had advanced another level.

Though the forms were still the same, they were beginning to take on his own distinctive style.

"Good, good, good!"

Meng Juxiang's voice rang out.

Li Beichen cupped his hands in salute.

"Hall Master!"

"Come with me!"

Amid the envy of the others, Li Beichen followed Meng Juxiang into the Inner Courtyard.

Behind them, two voices murmured with a hint of awe.

"Once he comes back out... we'll have to call him Senior Brother Li, won't we?"

"Once you enter the ranks, you're one of the elite..."

Inside the Inner Courtyard, Zhang Meng, Fang Meiqin, and the others were training as well.

Seeing Li Beichen accompanying Meng Juxiang, they hadn't witnessed him entering the ranks with their own eyes in the Outer Courtyard, but they could already guess what had happened.

In the main room, Meng Juxiang regarded Li Beichen with satisfaction.

"Li Beichen, are you willing to join the Inner Courtyard of the Like-Elephant Martial Hall and take me as your master?"

"This disciple is willing!"

"Good. Train in the Inner Courtyard with me for now. In three days, we'll formally hold the ceremony for you to become my disciple!"

Li Beichen readily agreed.

Though he was used to relying on himself, having a Sixth Grade martial artist as his master—and being valued by him—gave him a very different standing in Ram City from an ordinary Ninth Grade martial artist.

"Over the next three days, I'll teach you the Giant Elephant Breathing Method. The Giant Elephant Fist taught in the Outer Courtyard can temper most of your muscles, but to hone every inch of them, you need to coordinate it with the Breathing Method."

"Only by combining the Breathing Method with the External Martial Arts forms can you practice the complete Giant Elephant Fist."

"Train diligently. Once you reach Mastery and Integration, you'll be able to unleash ten cracks in a row. That'll mark the peak of Flesh Tempering. After that, you'll use subtle force to penetrate your whole body's tendons, and you can begin training at the Eighth Grade Muscle Refining stage."

With just a few words, Meng Juxiang pointed out the path of Li Beichen's early training.

"Li Beichen, go close the door. I'll teach you the Breathing Method now!"

"All right."

Li Beichen turned and shut the nanmu door behind him, then began learning the Breathing Method from Meng Juxiang.

Earlier, Li Beichen had seen his senior brother Zhang Meng practicing the Breathing Method.

His every inhale and exhale was long and unhurried, like that of a giant elephant.

But with Meng Juxiang, the word "like" could be dropped.

As Meng Juxiang breathed in and out, his breath flowed without end, its duration almost beyond belief.

"The Giant Elephant Breathing Method: draw up the breath with each inhale, let each breath return to the navel; raise it with each exhale, and let water and fire meet."

"These are the sixteen words of the essential formula."

"Come, I'll guide you through it."

A quarter of an hour later, several lines of small text appeared before Li Beichen's eyes.

[Technique: Giant Elephant Fist (First Glimpse of the Way)]

[Progress: (134/200)]

[Traits: Bright Force, Long-Lasting Breath, Increased Endurance]

[Bright Force: Body and strength united; a punch packs over a thousand jin of force]

The word "Incomplete" had disappeared, and his proficiency had fallen from Slight Mastery to First Glimpse of the Way.

But he had gained two more traits: Long-Lasting Breath and Increased Endurance.

Clearly, these traits had come from completing the technique with the Breathing Method.

The instant the panel appeared, Li Beichen had also gained a rudimentary grasp of the Breathing Method Meng Juxiang had taught him.

"A quarter of an hour. Not bad!"

Meng Juxiang rubbed the scar that ran down his face to his jaw, quite pleased.

Li Beichen had gone from knowing nothing to gaining a rudimentary grasp of the Giant Elephant Breathing Method right in front of him.

There was no faking a performance like that.

His talent was even greater than it had been when he entered the ranks in the Giant Elephant Fist after only two months.

"Let your breath flow steadily, settling into the navel!"

He continued guiding Li Beichen, while the progress on Li Beichen's panel rose rapidly.

They spent the entire afternoon like that.

Outside the room, Fourth Senior Brother Yang Ling spoke to Han Fengqi beside him with a hint of envy.

"Sixth Brother, Master only shut the door and taught you for two hours, didn't he?"

"It was two hours and fifteen minutes."

"Tsk, tsk. That's something..."

"Enough. Master's coming out!"

Zhang Meng cut off their conversation.

As soon as he finished speaking, the nanmu door swung open, and Li Beichen followed Meng Juxiang out of the inner room.

Meng Juxiang looked at everyone in the Inner Courtyard, pointed to Li Beichen, and spoke in a low voice.

"Li Beichen is my seventh disciple. We'll hold the ceremony in three days. Zhang Meng, make the arrangements!"

"Yes, Master!"