Martial Arts Training

"At last, all my painstaking effort paid off. I've successfully refined the Body Tempering Pill!"

Looking at the wild rabbit in the cage, now brimming with life again, Lin Yiqing didn't hesitate any longer. He picked up a pill and swallowed it.

He knew the ingredients in the Body Tempering Pill very well. Now that he'd confirmed its effects, he could naturally use it to aid his cultivation. As for the dosage, he only needed to test it a few more times.

As the pill slid down his throat, a warm medicinal force began spreading through his limbs and bones. Wherever it passed, the old injuries and accumulated damage from his past cultivation began to heal, and his physique grew a little stronger.

"Not bad at all. With plenty of these pills to support me in the Body Tempering Realm, I'll surely get twice the result with half the effort!"

Feeling the changes in his body, Lin Yiqing couldn't help feeling pleased. With this pill to help him, he'd finally gained a powerful boost in his cultivation.

And as he continued developing all kinds of pills, they would surely bring him even greater returns.

After clearing away every trace, Lin Yiqing finally left the courtyard. A man's crime lay not in possessing a jade, but in others' coveting it. Until he had enough strength, it was better to keep the Body Tempering Pills hidden and use them discreetly.

"Fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm. I can finally start practicing a martial art."

At that thought, Lin Yiqing set off for the Lin Family Martial Arts Pavilion. Although he'd reached the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm, he still knew far too little about the martial arts of this world.

Until now, he'd been busy gathering resources. In his daily training, he'd relied on the fist techniques he'd learned in the past to temper his body. Though he could hold his own in a fight, those techniques still fell short of martial arts that could greatly boost his combat power.

But now that he'd solved his short-term resource problems, he could set aside more time to expand his repertoire.

The Lin Family Martial Arts Pavilion stood in the rear courtyard of the Lin Family. It was one of the Qingyang Lin Clan's important strongholds, and people could enter only with permission.

For collateral-branch clan members who had rendered meritorious service, the Lin Family issued tokens granting access to the pavilion. Depending on the degree of their contributions, they could choose and exchange for martial arts of the corresponding rank.

Lin Yiqing's parents had left him two martial arts tokens. According to the Lin Family's rules, he could exchange them for two First-Grade Martial Arts.

His purpose in coming here was to find a martial art that could increase his combat power and expand his options in battle.

The world's martial arts were divided into nine grades and three tiers. Grades one through three were the lower tier, the next three belonged to the middle tier, and grades seven through nine were the upper tier. As for the martial arts above those, they were rarer still—many people had never even heard of them.

Martial arts were ranked by grade, but the most important factor was the practitioner. In the hands of a true expert, even an ordinary First-Grade Martial Art could unleash astonishing killing power. The stronger the practitioner, the more powerful the martial art they used.

The Lin Family Martial Arts Pavilion housed hundreds of lower-tier martial arts. Most were First-Grade, with fewer Second-Grade techniques and only ten Third-Grade ones.

Those ten Third-Grade Martial Arts, however, were beyond the reach of ordinary clan members.

As he walked, he saw more and more people. Lin Yiqing silently sized them up. Most were young members of the Lin Family, and their cultivation levels were generally low.

This showed that the Lin Family's foundations were relatively shallow. After all, they were newcomers to Qingyang Town, and still lacked some of the heritage held by the other major factions.

Guards stood watch at the entrance to the pavilion. After presenting his Lin Family identification token, Lin Yiqing was allowed inside.

"Two lives, decades of painstaking effort, and all they got in return were two First-Grade Martial Arts."

Lin Yiqing's face turned bitter, and he couldn't help mocking himself. In the end, it was because his branch had fallen into decline. Otherwise, how could things have come to this?

In this world, where martial strength reigned supreme, death was an ever-present reality. People's hearts had long since grown numb to it.

Whether someone died for the clan's interests or their own, once they were dead, everything they had would eventually be seized and claimed by someone else.

The living enjoyed wealth and glory; the dead sank forever into the Nine Hells. It was a gamble with life as the stake. Unless you could rise above it, you would sink forever in the sea of suffering.

He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. When he opened them again, every trace of unnecessary emotion had vanished from Lin Yiqing's gaze.

He would ascend to the azure clouds; the bright moon would bear witness to his heart.

As he stepped inside, the fragrance of books, mellowed by the passage of time, wafted toward him. Lin Yiqing glanced around and saw that the pavilion was quite spacious, with rows of neatly arranged bookshelves lined with all kinds of martial arts scrolls.

The sheer number of martial arts texts surprised Lin Yiqing. He hadn't expected the Lin Family to have such a collection.

First-Grade Martial Art, Rolling Stone Fist.

First-Grade Martial Art, Maple Leaf Palm.

Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, fists, palms, claws, fingers—there was no shortage of different martial arts. Clearly, the Lin Family had poured a great deal of effort into collecting them to build such a vast collection.

Lin Yiqing walked to the very back of the hall. There, he saw a small doorway, just wide enough for one person to pass through. It was clearly the entrance to the next chamber.

Beside the entrance, a middle-aged man of around thirty or forty sat at a desk, engrossed in the book in his hands. It was clearly a rather advanced martial arts manual.

Seeing this, Lin Yiqing turned back. The martial arts farther inside were clearly of a higher grade, but they were beyond his reach.

When it came to martial arts, one had to be meticulous. Lin Yiqing nearly toured the entire hall before finally stopping in front of a bookshelf.

The bookshelf was old and sturdy, with ten yellowed scrolls arranged on it. Beneath each scroll stood a separate wooden plaque bearing a detailed description of the martial art.

"First-Grade Martial Art, Roaming Dragon Palm. The body moves like a roaming dragon; the palm follows the wind..."

"First-Grade Martial Art, Thousand Mountain Slash."

Lin Yiqing's gaze swept over the bookshelf. In the end, he chose a fist technique: the lower-tier First-Grade Martial Art, Penetrating Fist!

There was no helping it. Of the many martial arts recorded in the Lin Family Martial Arts Pavilion, only a handful stood out, and Penetrating Fist was among the strongest.

Penetrating Fist focused on sticking to the opponent and releasing force. It trained through the clothing, extending strikes over long distances. The technique had nine forms, also known as the Nine Resonances. Each time a level was unleashed, a crisp crack rang out, each one stronger than the last. Once all nine resonances were complete, its power rivaled a Second-Grade martial art.

Among First-Grade Martial Arts, Penetrating Fist was practically top-tier. His ability to learn it was thanks partly to his prior knowledge and insight, and partly to luck.

After all, it was the best he could get his hands on for now.

For his other martial art, Lin Yiqing eventually chose a movement technique: the First-Grade Martial Art, Roaming Body Steps.

After all, in fights at this level, good footwork was extremely important. It let him evade the opponent's many attacks, and at certain critical moments, it might be the key to victory.

After choosing his martial arts and registering with the guards, Lin Yiqing hurried toward the Lin Family Back Mountain. He could hardly wait to practice the martial arts he'd just acquired.

His body moved like a tiger's as he leaped and bounded, his arms swinging like a Penetrating Ape stretching its limbs. In an instant, a series of crisp smacking sounds rang out as his clothes snapped against his body.

At that moment, only the contents of the martial arts manual flowed through Lin Yiqing's mind. His focus gathered involuntarily, and he unconsciously tuned out everything around him. Only the fist technique continued unfolding in his mind.

"Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!"

Four crisp cracks rang out in succession before Lin Yiqing finally came back to his senses. He hadn't expected his aptitude for martial arts to be so outstanding. On his very first try, he'd managed to produce four crisp cracks.

After all, this was his first time practicing Penetrating Fist, and he hadn't relied on any external help. He'd simply been figuring it out on his own.

"I didn't expect to pick it up so quickly!"

At the thought, Lin Yiqing couldn't help getting excited. With aptitude like this, he might not be much inferior to the geniuses from those great factions of legend.

Good talent brought countless advantages.

For example, if it took someone else a month to master a martial art, he might need only a few days. The gap between them would quickly become obvious.

It was easy to imagine how much more smoothly his path in martial arts would go!

He wasn't especially surprised by this result. Back when he'd studied various fist techniques at a martial arts school, he'd also picked them up extremely quickly. His instructor had praised his aptitude for martial arts back then.

He took a Body Tempering Pill from his robes and swallowed it. Riding the warm medicinal force as it coursed through his body, Lin Yiqing continued practicing Penetrating Fist. The Body Tempering Realm was precisely when one laid the foundation; he couldn't afford to slack off for even a moment.

Just as he was preparing to throw himself into even more intensive training, a chubby youth ambled into the woods.

"Damn it, Lin Shan, you bastard! I already admitted defeat, and you still beat me! Ow!"

The chubby youth clutched his bruised, purplish right cheek and cursed as he went.

"Lin Changqiang?"

Lin Yiqing noticed him the moment he appeared. The youth was covered in mud, and both cheeks bore fist-sized bruises. He'd clearly just been beaten up.

"You're Lin Yiqing? Ah, sorry for interrupting your cultivation. I was just passing by. I'll leave right away."

Little Fatty was startled to see Lin Yiqing looking at him. His face instantly turned bright red, and he limped away as quickly as he could.

Seeing this, Lin Yiqing couldn't help laughing. Little Fatty was quite concerned about saving face. In the end, he was still just a child.

"Hey, catch!"

At the thought, he quickly called out to him, pulled an ointment from his robes, and tossed it over.

"What's this?"

Lin Changqiang looked at the little porcelain bottle in his hand, puzzled.

"Medicine for your injuries. Rub it on the bruises and they'll heal quickly."

Lin Yiqing had recreated the ointment from the medicine sold at the town clinic. It wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicion, so he'd dared to give it to him.

"Thanks, Cousin Yiqing!"

Little Fatty looked grateful and spoke in a low voice.

Though he was also Lin Zhentian's biological grandson, he was young and weak, and so his other cousins often bullied him.

Lin Yiqing waved it off. It had been nothing more than a casual gesture.

After the other youth left, he continued practicing Penetrating Fist. Given his current circumstances, he needed to keep a low profile until he had enough strength to protect himself.

If he attracted other people's attention, it would inevitably bring him trouble. The road ahead was long and arduous.

He remembered that Penetrating Fist could reach Ten Resonances, but that was the perfected version. He didn't expect to reach Ten Resonances; he only needed to make sure he could smoothly advance to the next stage.