Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist

"Not arrogant, not rash. To have reached the entry level so quickly, it seems your talent and temperament are both excellent; you haven't been influenced by Zhou Yang and the others."

Lin Cheng looked at the youth before him, a look of approval on his face.

As the master of the martial arts hall, he naturally knew what was happening in the Outer Courtyard, but he could not involve himself in such matters. If others could be swayed by a few words and lacked their own judgment, such people would rarely achieve anything.

"This disciple simply treats their words as flatulence!" Xu Yang shook his head.

Lin Cheng wore a meaningful expression: "They aren't just blowing hot air. Everything they said is true. You have only just entered the Turtle-Snake Great Stance; you haven't truly realized the importance of wealth yet.

In a few days, you will discover that you won't dare to practice the Turtle-Snake Great Stance too much, because the food you consume won't be enough to support your training. If your nutrition can't keep up, you will end up harming your body instead."

Xu Yang had actually already noticed this; after entering the Turtle-Snake Great Stance, he felt hungry much faster than before.

"If your family situation allows, invest more in your diet. If not, reduce your practice of the Turtle-Snake Great Stance. Remember, do not harm yourself."

Xu Yang cupped his hands: "Many thanks for your guidance, Master."

Lin Cheng nodded, saying nothing more.

Having run the martial arts hall for many years, he had seen too many disciples like Xu Yang. How many could he really help?

Moreover, in his view, Xu Yang's talent was merely average. He hadn't even paid much attention to Lu Ren, let alone Xu Yang.

The only thing he could do was treat everyone equally, teaching what ought to be taught; the rest depended on their own fortunes. A ten percent success rate did not mean there was no chance at all.

"Come with me!"

Lin Cheng stood up from his chair and walked outside, with Xu Yang following behind.

"The Turtle-Snake Great Stance is a static exercise, primarily for accumulating qi and blood and tempering the physique. Fist techniques are dynamic exercises, methods for killing enemies and preserving one's life. They are also methods for circulating force and gathering qi to cleanse the marrow. Only by practicing both can one glimpse the mysteries of the martial path.

Watch closely. Our school's fist technique is the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, the most rigid and fierce of them all."

Lin Cheng suddenly leaped out, immediately unleashing a fierce and sharp set of fist techniques. His joints roared like thunder, and a sudden gale rose all around him.

The powerful pressure made Xu Yang feel as if a giant boulder were pressing down on his heart, forcing him to retreat again and again.

Is this what a martial artist is? So strong!

No, that's not right. Ordinary martial artists aren't as fierce as Master!

Xu Yang shook his head inwardly. Lin Cheng was definitely no ordinary martial artist; he had to be among the very best in Qingyuan County.

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

Once finished, Lin Cheng didn't ask how much Xu Yang had remembered, but instead tossed him a manual.

"Study it for half an hour, then hand it over to your Senior Brother Sun Tao. From now on, you may come to the Inner Courtyard to ask me for guidance once every seven days. If you have any doubts in the meantime, you can also ask Senior Brother Sun Tao to resolve them."

Xu Yang bowed: "Many thanks, Master, for passing on the technique!"

Lin Cheng nodded with a smile: "The Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist emphasizes killing and actual combat. Once you have mastered the basics, spar more with the senior brothers in the Outer Courtyard. In your spare time, walk the Plum Blossom Stakes to steady your stance; only then will you have the strength to kill."

With that, he walked away.

"Safe travels, Master!"

Watching Lin Cheng leave, Xu Yang found a cool, shaded spot to sit and slowly opened the manual in his hands.

[Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist · Not Yet Entered (0/10)]

Half an hour later, Xu Yang stood up from the ground and glanced at his status panel.

"Fist techniques are indeed much harder to practice than stance work. No wonder that group in the Outer Courtyard is almost always practicing fist techniques, yet one rarely sees them practicing the stances."

He walked to the pavilion from earlier, handed the manual to Sun Tao, and returned to the Outer Courtyard.

Seeing him return empty-handed, Zhang Yong and the others couldn't help but look sour.

"Look, the senior brothers and sisters of the Inner Courtyard share my view."

Zhou Yang couldn't help but feel smug, beginning to sow discord once again.

The Huang family!

"Second Brother, news just came in. Xu Yang has also entered the Turtle-Snake Great Stance. To what extent should we increase our investment in him?"

Fifth Master Huang, Huang Jin, found Second Master Huang Ping to report that Xu Yang had entered the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

"This nephew of Zhou Shunchang has decent talent. Increase the investment; there is a high chance he could become a martial artist." Huang Ping looked slightly surprised.

Huang Jin nodded: "Entering in six days is quite rare."

Huang Ping said: "Indeed rare, but he cannot be used by our Huang family."

Huang Jin's expression shifted slightly: "What does Second Brother mean by that?"

Huang Ping sipped his tea and said unhurriedly: "Our Huang family lacks martial artists, but we cannot afford to support so many. A martial artist retainer requires a minimum monthly salary of ten taels of silver. For every additional one, the Huang family must spend an extra one hundred and twenty taels annually.

For the Huang family, having Lu Ren is enough."

Practicing martial arts burns money, and supporting a martial artist burns even more.

Ten taels of silver was still the bare minimum; some martial artists retained by families were paid fifteen taels a month.

The total monthly profit from the Huang family's businesses was only two or three hundred taels, and there was a whole family to feed. Supporting another martial artist would significantly increase the pressure.

"Xu Yang is Zhou Shunchang's nephew, so he counts as one of our own. If we cultivate him, we can use him with more peace of mind."

Huang Jin already understood the implication behind Huang Ping's words—that they would not be increasing the investment in Xu Yang—and immediately reiterated Xu Yang's status.

Compared to Lu Ren, Xu Yang had a closer relationship with the Huang Family.

"He can't be cultivated. With his Grade C Inferior Bone Structure, even if we increased our efforts and he luckily managed to break through the First Martial Barrier, he would never advance further. Our Huang Family is not short on Qi-Gathering Martial Artists.

Lu Ren has remarkable talent; I estimate he will succeed in gathering Qi within two months. At most, in another seven or eight months, he will be able to break through the Second Martial Barrier and become a Marrow-Cleansing Martial Master.

Do you know how much the retainer fee for a Marrow-Cleansing Martial Master is? Even the lowest is forty taels a month. A genius like Lu Ren would require at least fifty taels, which is six hundred taels a year."

Once the math was done, Huang Jin also felt that Xu Yang was unnecessary. A single Marrow-Cleansing expert was enough for the Huang Family to rest easy; they truly did not need another Qi-Gathering Martial Artist.

"However, you are right. Xu Yang is, after all, Zhou Shunchang's nephew. Zhou Shunchang has been with the Huang Family since before we rose to power, so we cannot show nothing for his nephew's talent.

In that case, go to Wei Yuan Hall and reallocate one tael of Zhang Yong's resources to Xu Yang, raising his allowance to four taels."

"If all ten of you became martial artists, the Huang Family's annual retainer fees would be twelve hundred taels. Where would the Huang Family find that much money to support you all?

Perhaps they initially needed two or three martial artists, but after a genius like Lu Ren appeared, the Huang Family only needed him.

If it weren't for the fear of damaging their reputation, the Huang Family would have kicked you all to the curb the moment Lu Ren appeared."

Zhou Yang spoke eloquently, while Zhang Hong, Qian Jiaxing, and the others listened with expressions of despair. Only then did they realize that from the moment Lu Ren, with his Grade B Superior Bone Structure, appeared, everyone else had already been abandoned.

It was only out of concern for their reputation that the Huang Family fulfilled their promise and sent them all to Wei Yuan Hall.

Not long after, Huang Jin appeared at Wei Yuan Hall. He spoke with Zhang Yong first, who returned with a face ashen with despair, before finally speaking with Xu Yang.

Soon, everyone knew that the one tael of silver for Zhang Yong's Body-Strengthening Soup had been reallocated to Xu Yang.

Just as Zhou Yang had said, the Huang Family was unwilling to spend even a single extra tael of silver; they were merely redistributing resources among the few of them.