Inner Courtyard

Xu Yang... he had mastered the Turtle-Snake Great Stance. He was only a day or so behind Lu Ren, a genius who had taken a full day or two longer than he himself had expected to reach this stage.

For a moment, Zhang Yong found it hard to accept.

His goal had been to surpass Lu Ren, yet he couldn't even keep pace with Xu Yang. His grueling efforts over the past few days suddenly felt like a joke.

"Congratulations!"

He said it sourly, his words lacking any sincerity.

"He really mastered it!"

Hearing Zhang Yong's words, Zhang Hong, Qian Jiaxing, Luo Dehu, and the others rushed over in shock. They stared, dumbfounded, at the crimson skin covering Xu Yang's body.

"Congratulations!"

Zhang Yong forced himself to stand up from the ground, his smile stiff. Of everyone here, he was the one who felt the most bitter about Xu Yang mastering the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

He had trained so hard, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion every single time—why wasn't he the one to break through first?

"Congratulations. Your path in martial arts is now wide open."

Luo Dehu, Zhang Hong, and the others offered their own congratulations, hiding the jealousy burning in their eyes.

"A wide-open path? Mastering the Turtle-Snake Great Stance is barely the beginning; he's still a hundred thousand miles away from true martial arts," Zhou Yang's voice rang out.

He and a group of senior disciples had been drawn by the commotion, stopping their own training to walk over.

His gaze swept over the handsome youth, and he felt a secret shock at the boy's talent. It had taken him eight days to master the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

Xu Yang had been training for just over six days in total.

"Senior Brother Zhou Yang, Xu Yang only mastered it a day later than I did. His talent shouldn't be lacking, so why would you say such a thing?"

Lu Ren had walked over with Zhou Yang and the others, and he couldn't help but frown at the remark.

In these few days, he had matured significantly. He understood what kind of person Luo Dehu was, and he knew that if he were to rise in the future, he would need people like Luo Dehu to handle his affairs.

But he also needed followers with potential who could become martial artists. While these people like Zhou Yang associated with him, they came from decent backgrounds and would never truly follow him.

Xu Yang and Zhang Yong, who had struggled in the mud alongside him, were undoubtedly his best options.

If he could win over Xu Yang, who had mastered the stance only a day after him, he might have a capable person by his side for the long road ahead.

Yet, Zhou Yang's attitude toward Xu Yang remained unchanged; he still didn't believe Xu Yang could become a martial artist.

"Exactly. Xu Yang is only a day behind Lu Ren. Do you still insist he can't become a martial artist?"

Zhang Yong suppressed his jealousy toward Xu Yang and spoke up for him. He felt that people like Zhou Yang were rotten to the core, spouting such blatant lies just to buy their resources at a low price.

"Mastering the Turtle-Snake Great Stance a few days earlier or later means nothing. There's no real difference. His chance of becoming a martial artist is still only one in ten. If you don't believe me, go ask Master Lin."

"Why would that be?" Lu Ren stared at Zhou Yang.

Since Zhou Yang dared to invoke Master Lin, he was likely not lying.

"Because he's poor. I'll say it again: the most important thing in martial arts is money, money! The reason everyone thinks you can become a martial artist isn't just because of your natural aptitude, but primarily because the Huang Family is willing to spend ten taels of silver on you every month."

At these words, even Lu Ren fell silent.

"Is money really that important? Are talent and hard work useless...?"

Xu Yang had mastered the stance only a day after Lu Ren, yet these people still believed he couldn't become a martial artist. Zhang Yong and the others couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.

If this was the case for Xu Yang, their own prospects were even bleaker.

"They aren't useless, just not very effective. You have to attempt the breakthrough in three months at most. Whether you succeed depends on your martial foundation; the firmer the foundation, the higher the chance of success."

"While others are eating meat and fish every day, alternating between Body-Strengthening Soup and Health-Nurturing Soup to nourish their blood and qi, you're eating plain white rice. How much blood and qi can you possibly cultivate?"

"Furthermore, when it comes to tempering the body, your three days of standing in a stance can't even compare to one medicinal bath for someone else. And while they're taking those baths, they're still practicing their stances. Over three months, the gap between you becomes unimaginable."

Zhou Yuan shook his head.

His own family situation wasn't great, which was why he had set his sights on the resources held by Xu Yang's group.

"Senior Brother Zhou Yang, you've forgotten that we are being cultivated by the Huang Family. Since Xu Yang mastered the stance so quickly, the Huang Family will surely increase their investment in him."

When Lu Ren said this, Zhang Yong and the others felt their spirits lift. They might be poor, but the Huang Family wasn't.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yang shook his head again: "The Huang Family might indeed increase their investment, but I guarantee it won't exceed two taels. What good is two taels?"

"Why are you so sure?" Lu Ren asked curiously.

"Because the Huang Family already has you!"

Zhou Yang's tone was absolute, for he understood the Huang Family well.

"Huh... where's Xu Yang?"

Suddenly, someone noticed that Xu Yang was gone. They looked up and saw that he had already left, his back disappearing into the Inner Courtyard; he hadn't stayed to listen to Zhou Yang's prattle at all.

Zhou Yang watched Xu Yang's retreating figure and said, "Just watch. If my judgment is wrong, he'll return shortly with gifts from the senior brothers and sisters of the Inner Courtyard. If he comes back empty-handed, then my judgment stands."

[Turtle-Snake Great Stance · Entry (1/100)]

Xu Yang looked at his status panel, feeling a sense of helplessness. He hadn't expected that after mastering the Turtle-Snake Great Stance, the proficiency required for the next stage would jump from "5" to "100"—a terrifyingly large leap.

He had no interest in listening to Zhou Yang's toxic, negative drivel, nor would he be influenced by it.

Stepping into the Inner Courtyard for the first time, the scene here was completely different from the Outer Courtyard; there were pavilions specifically for shade, unlike the Outer Courtyard where one could only hide in the corners of walls.

This place didn't look like a training ground at all, but rather a social gathering spot. A group of Inner Courtyard disciples were huddled in a pavilion, drinking tea and eating pastries, with some even playing the zither.

Sun Tao spotted Xu Yang and strode over from the pavilion.

Xu Yang cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, Senior Brother Sun!"

Sun Tao nodded and asked, "Junior Brother Xu, what brings you here?"

Xu Yang replied, "Reporting to Senior Brother, I have already mastered the entry-level Turtle-Snake Great Stance, so I have come to seek the Master to learn fist techniques."

Sun Tao looked somewhat surprised. "You've already mastered the entry-level?"

He had assumed the second person to master it would be Zhang Yong; he hadn't expected it to be Xu Yang.

"Come, I'll take you to the Master."

Sun Tao didn't say much more, quickly leading Xu Yang to a courtyard to find Lin Cheng before taking his leave to return to the pavilion.

"Junior Brother Sun, has someone else among those trained by the Huang Family mastered the Turtle-Snake Great Stance?"

As soon as Sun Tao sat down, someone asked.

Sun Tao nodded. "That's right. This batch sent by the Huang Family is actually quite decent. I didn't expect anyone other than Lu Ren to master the Turtle-Snake Great Stance so quickly."

"Six days to master the Turtle-Snake Great Stance is indeed not bad."

The group of Inner Courtyard disciples in the pavilion reacted with indifference.

Everyone here was a true martial artist who had successfully broken through their barriers.

While mastering the Turtle-Snake Great Stance in six days was rare, it wasn't an incredible achievement among this group; several of them had done it in five or six days themselves.

"Senior Sister Gu Fang, Senior Brother Jiang Ping, Xu Yang mastered the Turtle-Snake Great Stance in six days—surely he's worthy of your 'friendship'?"

Sun Tao looked curiously at the man and woman opposite him. This so-called friendship was, in reality, a gift.

Both came from prominent families and enjoyed befriending talented individuals. Whenever they encountered someone with genuine talent, they would pave the way with money to build connections. Just yesterday, they had both sent Lu Ren gifts of significant value.

"What is this Xu Yang's aptitude?" Jiang Ping asked.

"Grade C-minus!"

Jiang Ping shook his head. "With Grade C-minus aptitude, even if the Huang Family increases his training resources to the same level as Lu Ren's, his success rate is only thirty percent."

"Let him wait until he can enter the Inner Courtyard and stand before us before we talk about that," Gu Fang concluded.