Wei Yuan Hall

After the Huang Family finished testing their bones, more than a hundred—nearly two hundred—young men had been examined. In the end, exactly ten were chosen.

The one with the best Bone Root was the young man with Grade B Superior Bone Structure. He was also the only one with a Grade B Bone Root. Second place went to the young man with Grade C Superior Bone Structure, who was likewise the only one of his grade.

Xu Yang's Grade C Inferior Bone Structure ranked third, though he wasn't the only one. Three young men had Grade C Inferior Bone Structure, while the remaining five all had Grade D Superior Bone Structure.

The old master who had tested their bones left at once. Then another important figure from the Huang Family appeared: Second Master Huang, the younger brother of the head of the family—Huang Ping.

"Congratulations to all the talented young men who stood out..."

Huang Ping wore a kindly expression and began by congratulating everyone who had been selected.

Next, he explained how the Huang Family would train them, with the amount of support determined by their Bone Root grades.

The most generously supported was the young man with Grade B Superior Bone Structure, Lu Ren. His monthly training allowance would be eight taels.

Of course, they wouldn't give him the money directly. It would come in the form of apprenticeship fees, food, medicinal soup, and the like.

A Grade C Superior Bone Root would receive four taels a month. Xu Yang's Grade C Inferior Bone Root would receive three taels in monthly support.

After the apprenticeship fee paid to the martial arts school, his meal plan there would cost one tael of silver per month. He could have meat with all three meals, and he'd get three bowls of Body-Strengthening Soup each month, which would cost exactly one tael of silver.

In other words, the Huang Family was sending them to the martial arts school to train, and their apprenticeship fee would be one tael of silver less than if they enrolled on their own.

As for those with Grade D Superior Bone Structure, they'd receive only two taels of silver in support. One tael would go toward the apprenticeship fee, and the remaining tael would cover their meals. They wouldn't get any medicinal soup.

Huang Ping spoke at length. He told them that after becoming martial artists, they would have to serve as Attendants of the Huang Family. He also warned that if they ever went back on their word, the Huang Family would take revenge.

He talked for a full quarter of an hour, until his mouth was dry and his throat parched. Not one person withdrew. They all accepted the Huang Family's support and agreed to serve as its Attendants in the future.

After Huang Ping left, the middle-aged man who had appeared with Zhou Shunchang earlier returned. He was about to take everyone to the martial arts school to begin their training.

"Fifth Master, please wait a moment. I'd like to speak with my nephew," Zhou Shunchang said, pointing at Xu Yang.

Only then did everyone realize that the middle-aged man was also a member of the Huang Family.

"This boy with Grade C Inferior Bone Structure is your nephew?" Huang Jin asked, looking surprised.

Zhou Shunchang lifted his chin. "My own sister's son!"

Huang Jin smiled. "So he's one of our own. That's wonderful."

Because of his connection to Zhou Shunchang, he showed Xu Yang some goodwill.

Zhou Shunchang hurried over to Xu Yang. He didn't have much to say, really. He simply pressed one tael of silver into Xu Yang's hand and urged him to train hard, not to waste this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.

The ten of them soon followed Huang Jin out of the Huang Family Estate and arrived in front of a large compound. Bursts of shouting came from within.

"It's Wei Yuan Hall!"

Looking at the three gilded characters above the gate, Xu Yang couldn't help feeling enlightened.

In his original plan, once he had scraped together enough money, he'd come to Wei Yuan Hall to apprentice himself and learn martial arts. Of the dozen or so martial arts schools in Qingyuan County, this one charged the least. He hadn't expected the Huang Family to choose Wei Yuan Hall too.

The Huang Family had probably chosen Wei Yuan Hall because it was cheap.

After they followed Huang Jin inside, the first thing that came into view was a vast Martial Arts Arena, equipped with all kinds of training gear: stone locks, swords, Plum Blossom Stakes, and everything else they could need.

A dozen or so sturdy young men practiced their punches. Their bronze-colored skin glistened as though it had been oiled, and sweat poured down their bodies.

On the Plum Blossom Stakes nearby, a man in white training clothes spotted the group and leaped down. He landed without making a sound.

"Greetings, Fifth Master Huang!" He hurried over and clasped his hands to Huang Jin.

"Wait here quietly. I'll go in and see Master Lin."

Huang Jin left the group with those words, going off with the man.

"I can finally learn martial arts!"

"I'm going to become a martial artist!"

With no one from the Huang Family watching over them, the selected young men could no longer hold back their excitement.

Some of them came from families that were doing all right, but they were hardly better off than Xu Yang, who scraped a living from the fields. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had to "sell themselves" to the Huang Family just to get the chance to learn martial arts.

Now they could train in martial arts, so of course they were excited.

"Gentlemen, whether we're at Wei Yuan Hall or with the Huang Family, from now on we'll all be brothers sharing the same pot. We should stand together and help one another," Luo Dehu said, full of pride.

"Exactly!"

"That goes without saying. Anyone with half a brain knows there's strength in unity."

As soon as he spoke, several people chimed in.

He had Grade C Inferior Bone Structure and ranked in the third tier, but his words still carried considerable weight.

Xu Yang watched coldly and said nothing.

He and Xu Laoer were father and son, yet they weren't of one mind. Never mind the ten people here, who had only met for the first time today. Sharing a pot of food didn't make them trustworthy, and neither did being fellow disciples.

A few others, like him, stayed silent. They clearly didn't think much of this alliance. They weren't going to share the same pot forever; in the future, they'd be competitors.

The Huang Family couldn't support their training forever. Some of them would eventually be eliminated, and their resources would be redirected to more talented people.

Huang Ping hadn't said this outright earlier, but he'd hinted at it.

"Brother Lu, you've got the best Bone Root. One day, you'll lead us in serving the Huang Family. Why don't you tell everyone whether we should stand together?"

Seeing that Xu Yang and the others hadn't responded, Luo Dehu didn't seem bothered. Instead, he looked toward Lu Ren, the young man with Grade B Superior Bone Structure.

Lu Ren was the one he was really after. He only wanted to bring Lu Ren into the fold.

Other people might not know what a Grade B Superior Bone Root meant, but he knew all too well.

With that kind of Bone Root, you could go through tens of thousands of people in Qingyuan County and not find a single one in a year. A true genius.

"Naturally... naturally, we should stand together."

Lu Ren's face reddened. He looked somewhat bashful and insecure. Judging from the clothes he'd worn earlier, patched all over, his family must have been very poor.

But that had already changed somewhat. After his Grade B Superior Bone Root was discovered, the Huang Family had given him a fine cotton-padded coat, making him look every bit the young genius.

"Haha... You all heard Brother Lu. Now let's go around and introduce ourselves, so we can get to know each other," Luo Dehu said with a hearty laugh.

The man had a natural knack for being a lackey. He was already starting to throw his weight around and issue orders.

"I'll go first. My name's Luo Dehu!"

He spoke up first, but before anyone else could say a word, a voice from nearby shouted an insult.

"If you want to bark like a dog, get outside! Don't disturb us while we're training!"

Luo Dehu had a loud voice and had been jumping around, chattering endlessly. At last, he'd irritated one of the people training nearby.

Xu Yang almost burst out laughing. The others were struggling to hold it in too.

Luo Dehu's face turned red, but he was too afraid to talk back.

He was the sort who sucked up to the powerful and knew how to worm his way into their favor. Of course he knew that the people training at Wei Yuan Hall were "young masters" whose families could afford to send them here.

Even if they weren't young masters, they'd started training earlier than he had. He couldn't afford to offend them, and he didn't dare try.

He looked to Lu Ren for help. Though Lu Ren had been dragged into his little group, he wasn't a fool.

Just then, Huang Jin returned with a burly, stern-faced middle-aged man, rescuing Luo Dehu from his awkward predicament.

This middle-aged man was none other than Lin Cheng, the master of Wei Yuan Hall!