Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist

"You're not arrogant or impatient, and you got the hang of it so quickly. Looks like you have both talent and a good temperament. You didn't let Zhou Yang and the others sway you."

Lin Cheng looked at the boy before him, approval in his eyes.

As the hall master, he naturally knew what had happened in the Outer Courtyard. But there was no way he could interfere in such matters. Anyone who could be swayed by a few words and had no judgment of his own was unlikely to achieve much.

"This disciple just treated them like they were spouting nonsense!" Xu Yang shook his head.

Lin Cheng gave him a meaningful look. "They weren't spouting nonsense. Everything they said was true. You've only just gotten started with the Turtle-Snake Great Stance, and you haven't yet grasped how important money is.

"In a few days, you'll find that you don't even dare practice the Turtle-Snake Great Stance too much, because the food you eat won't be enough to sustain your training. Without sufficient nourishment, you'll end up hurting yourself."

Xu Yang had already noticed it. After getting started with the Turtle-Snake Great Stance, he found himself getting hungry sooner than before.

"If your family can manage it, spend a little more on food. If they can't, cut back on practicing the Turtle-Snake Great Stance. Remember, don't hurt yourself."

Xu Yang cupped his hands. "Thank you for your guidance, Master."

Lin Cheng nodded and said no more.

He had run a martial arts school for many years and had seen countless disciples like Xu Yang. How many of them could he help?

Besides, in Lin Cheng's eyes, Xu Yang's talent was nothing special. He had barely paid any attention to Lu Ren, let alone Xu Yang.

All he could do was treat everyone equally and teach them what they needed to learn. The rest was up to fate. A one-in-ten chance was still a chance.

"Come with me!"

Lin Cheng rose from his chair and headed outside, with Xu Yang following behind.

"The Turtle-Snake Great Stance is a form of stillness training. Its main purpose is to build up your qi and blood and temper your body. Fist techniques are active training. They're a way to kill enemies and preserve your life, as well as a method for circulating force, gathering qi, and cleansing the marrow. Only by practicing both can you glimpse the mysteries of the martial path.

"Watch closely. The fist technique of our school is the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, known for its sheer, overwhelming force."

Lin Cheng suddenly sprang forward and launched into a fierce, powerful fist technique. His joints roared, and a gale whipped up around him.

The immense pressure weighed on Xu Yang's chest like a massive boulder. He couldn't help retreating again and again.

"So this is what a martial artist is like. He's so strong!"

"No, ordinary martial artists aren't nearly as fierce as Master!"

Xu Yang secretly shook his head. Lin Cheng was surely no ordinary martial artist. He had to be among the very best in Qingyuan County.

"Watch with all your heart. Feel the intent behind your master's fist technique."

When he finished, Lin Cheng didn't ask how much Xu Yang had remembered. Instead, he tossed him a manual.

"Study it for half an hour, then hand it to your senior brother Sun Tao. From now on, you can come to the back courtyard once every seven days to ask me for guidance. If you have questions at other times, you can also ask your senior brother Sun Tao."

Xu Yang bowed. "Thank you for teaching me the technique, Master!"

Lin Cheng smiled and nodded. "The Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist is all about killing and real combat. Once you've gotten the hang of it, spar often with your senior brothers in the Outer Courtyard. In your spare time, practice on the Plum Blossom Stakes and steady your stance. That way, you'll have the strength to kill."

With that, he left without another word.

"Take care, Master!"

After watching Lin Cheng leave, Xu Yang found a shady spot and sat down, slowly opening the fist manual in his hands.

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Half an hour later, Xu Yang stood up and glanced at the Status Panel.

"Fist techniques really are much harder to master than stance training. No wonder the people in the Outer Courtyard practice fist techniques almost all the time, but rarely work on their stances."

He returned to the pavilion from earlier, handed the manual to Sun Tao, then went back to the Outer Courtyard.

When Zhang Yong and the others saw him return empty-handed, their expressions darkened.

"See? The senior brothers and sisters in the Inner Courtyard agree with me."

Zhou Yang couldn't help gloating and began to stir things up again.

The Huang Family!

"Second Brother, word just came in. Xu Yang has also gotten started with the Turtle-Snake Great Stance. How much should we increase our investment in him?"

Fifth Master Huang, Huang Jin, found Second Master Huang, Huang Ping, and reported that Xu Yang had gotten started with the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

"Zhou Shunchang's nephew has decent talent. Increase our investment in him. He has a good chance of becoming a martial artist." A trace of surprise crossed Huang Ping's face.

Huang Jin nodded. "Getting started in just six days is quite impressive."

Huang Ping said, "It is impressive, but he can't be of use to the Huang Family."

Huang Jin's expression shifted. "What do you mean, Second Brother?"

Huang Ping took a sip of tea and spoke unhurriedly. "The Huang Family is short on martial artists, but we can't afford to support too many. A martial artist Attendant earns at least ten taels of silver a month. Every additional one costs the family another hundred and twenty taels a year.

"One Lu Ren is enough for the Huang Family."

Training in martial arts burned through money, and supporting martial artists burned through even more.

Ten taels of silver was the minimum. Some families paid their martial artist Attendants fifteen taels a month.

The Huang Family's businesses brought in only two or three hundred taels in profit each month, and they still had a whole family to support. Taking on another martial artist would put a lot more pressure on them.

"Xu Yang is Zhou Shunchang's nephew, practically one of our own. If we train him up, we'll be more comfortable relying on him."

Huang Jin had already understood what Huang Ping meant: they wouldn't increase their investment in Xu Yang. He emphasized Xu Yang's connection once more.

Compared to Lu Ren, Xu Yang had closer ties to the Huang Family.

"We can't train him up. He has Grade C Inferior Bone Structure. Even if we invested more and he was lucky enough to break through the First Martial Barrier, he still wouldn't advance any further. The Huang Family isn't short on Qi-Gathering martial artists.

"Lu Ren has outstanding talent. He'll probably succeed in gathering qi within two months, and in at most seven or eight more months, he'll break through the Second Martial Barrier and become a Marrow-Cleansing Martial Master.

"Do you know how much a Marrow-Cleansing martial artist earns as an Attendant? Even the lowest rate is forty taels a month. A genius like Lu Ren would need at least fifty taels. That's six hundred taels a year."

After doing the math, Huang Jin also felt Xu Yang was unnecessary. One Marrow-Cleansing expert was already enough to let the Huang Family sleep easy. They truly didn't need another Qi-Gathering martial artist.

"But you're right. Xu Yang is still Zhou Shunchang's nephew. Zhou Shunchang was with our Huang Family before we made a name for ourselves, so we can't ignore his nephew's talent.

"Fine. Go to Wei Yuan Hall and transfer one tael's worth of Zhang Yong's resources to Xu Yang. Raise his allowance to four taels."

"If all ten of you become martial artists, the Huang Family's annual payments will amount to twelve hundred taels. Where would they get that kind of money to support you?

"They might have needed two or three martial artists at first, but once a genius like Lu Ren appeared, they only needed him.

"If they weren't afraid of damaging their reputation, they would've already kicked you all out after Lu Ren showed up."

Zhou Yang spoke at length. Zhang Hong, Qian Jiaxing, and the others listened in despair, only then realizing that they had all been abandoned the moment Lu Ren, with his Grade B Superior Bone Structure, appeared.

The Huang Family had only sent them all to Wei Yuan Hall to save face and honor its promise.

Before long, Huang Jin showed up at Wei Yuan Hall. First, he spoke with Zhang Yong, who returned with a face like ashes. Then he spoke with Xu Yang.

Soon, everyone knew that the one tael of Body-Strengthening Soup allocated to Zhang Yong had been transferred to Xu Yang.

Just as Zhou Yang had said, the Huang Family wasn't willing to spend even one extra tael. They were merely reallocating resources among the few of them.