One Skin Molting, Martial Dao Without Bottleneck

The next day.

Lin Yan arrived at the martial arts arena and discovered that his master was actually there as well.

Ever since he had been accepted as a disciple, he hadn't seen his master for over a month.

Could it be that word of yesterday's sparring match had reached his master's ears, and he had come specifically for him?

But soon, Lin Yan realized he was just being narcissistic.

The moment he stepped into the arena, two figures appeared at the courtyard gate, the two youths entering almost one after the other.

Seeing the two youths walk in, many disciples in the courtyard erupted in excitement.

"It's actually Junior Brother Zhao."

"Junior Brother Zhao has already succeeded in Foundation Building? It's only been a few days."

"Five days. I was in the front courtyard when Junior Brother Zhao entered, and counting it up, it's only been five days."

"If I remember correctly, Junior Brother Zhao is only sixteen this year. That's terrifying!"

Listening to the chatter of the disciples around him, Lin Yan understood what was happening.

These were genius disciples from the front courtyard entering the middle courtyard. Having succeeded in Foundation Building in just five days, it was no wonder it had caught his master's attention.

The two youths walked up to Yang Qingfeng. The youth in front was high-spirited and full of confidence, while the youth a few steps behind had a very calm expression, even keeping his head lowered as if unaccustomed to being the focus of everyone's attention, even if it was just the peripheral gaze of the many disciples.

"Disciple Zhao Linyuan pays respects to Master."

"Disciple Zhuang Zheng pays respects to Master."

The two youths spoke one after the other. Lin Yan narrowed his eyes slightly; Zhao Linyuan was a fine name, but he felt he had heard or seen the name Zhuang Zheng somewhere before.

Soon, Lin Yan remembered where he had seen the name "Zhuang Zheng."

In Zhang Dahai's ledger, it was written: "Zhuang Zheng borrowed fifty taels."

Same name, different person?

Lin Yan couldn't be sure. Those who could start their cultivation directly from the martial arts hall's front courtyard were, logically speaking, not lacking money at home and wouldn't need to borrow fifty taels from a shark like Zhang Dahai.

"Five days. Not bad."

Yang Qingfeng looked at Zhao Linyuan with great satisfaction. Having enough blood-qi in five days was even faster than he had imagined.

He had set a ten-day limit for Zhao Linyuan.

Even with money to buy secret medicines, one's body still had to be able to absorb them.

As for those precious medicines that could ignore physical limitations, no family in all of Guangping County could afford them.

Yang Qingfeng did not hide his satisfaction with Zhao Linyuan. While he wasn't quite as pleased with Zhuang Zheng, he still smiled and encouraged him: "Reaching the blood-qi standard in a month and a half is also quite good. If you are diligent in your martial arts cultivation in the future, you will achieve something."

"This disciple will take Master's teachings to heart and will certainly not slacken in the slightest," Zhuang Zheng replied respectfully, still keeping his head lowered.

Just as he had done when teaching Lin Yan, Yang Qingfeng didn't say anything else and immediately began to teach the Mountain Splitting Fist.

Many disciples watched from the sidelines. Several who hadn't fully mastered the Mountain Splitting Fist took the opportunity to observe it a few more times. Lin Yan also stood to the side, but unlike the other disciples, he wanted to see if there were any differences between his master's Mountain Splitting Fist and his own.

After watching it once, a thoughtful look appeared on Lin Yan's face.

His master's Mountain Splitting Fist had a bit more momentum than his own, and he keenly noticed that his master was still holding back his power.

When his master began to teach Zhao Linyuan and the other youth move by move, Lin Yan stopped watching and walked to the side to continue practicing his own Mountain Splitting Fist.

The leaf in his mind was nearly complete; it was just missing that final push.

"For this move, the body..."

Pa!

Pa-pa-pa!

A crisp sound echoed through the martial arts arena. Yang Qingfeng's eyes narrowed, and he looked toward Lin Yan's direction immediately.

At this moment, Lin Yan's entire body was flushed red. Beneath his skin, surges of blood-qi stretched the skin out before it receded again.

As his skin was repeatedly stretched in this manner, it began to slacken, but then, sounds like drumbeats erupted from within Lin Yan's body, and the skin began to contract continuously, with fine lines appearing all over it.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the surging blood-qi and the phenomenon of the skin repeatedly swelling and contracting gradually ceased.

Lin Yan opened his eyes and let out a low, "Open!" as the final bit of turbid air was expelled from his body.

The skin that had appeared slack and covered in irregular fine lines due to the blood-qi flushing was now being slowly smoothed and compressed by an invisible hand.

The delicate, smooth skin of a youth now took on a rough, solid, and coarse texture.

As he moved, the muscles beneath his Rough Skin rippled slightly, carrying a sense of elastic resistance that could easily deflect ordinary scratches and strikes.

This was the most significant characteristic of the first stage of skin refinement, "Rough Skin." Once reaching this step, ordinary wooden staves could no longer cause him harm.

Lin Yan slowly withdrew his stance, stood still, and gently moved his arms. Feeling the tightness and the faint friction sound coming from his skin, which was vastly different from before, he grinned.

He was happy not just because he had stepped into the first stage of skin refinement, but because another piece of information had appeared on the Martial Dao Tree in his mind.

The Martial Dao is like a tree; there are no bottlenecks.

The reason why the four stages of skin refinement are also called the four barriers is that many martial artists fail to break through. But with the Martial Dao Tree, he didn't need to worry about failure; once his realm was reached, he would break through naturally.

This news excited him far more than completing a single round of Skin Tempering.

The gazes of the other disciples on the martial arts field were now all fixed on Lin Yan, their eyes filled with envy.

The scene that had just unfolded with Lin Yan was the very thing they dreamed of and craved day and night.

Ge Hui's expression was incredibly ugly; Lin Yan's rapid completion of his first Skin Tempering had caught him off guard, meaning that from this day forward, Lin Yan stood at the same level as him.

Zhao Linyuan paused his Mountain Splitting Fist movements, a hint of surprise in his eyes as he looked at Lin Yan, though he felt no resentment at having his thunder stolen.

His goals lay far beyond this.

Yang Qingfeng stroked his beard and smiled, "Completing a Skin Tempering in two months is quite good. You may go to the Medicine Hall later to collect a twenty-year-old Blood Ginseng."

He still had an impression of this disciple, Lin Yan; he was the first student to ever make him thirsty from teaching.

"This disciple thanks Master."

Hearing his master's reward, Lin Yan quickly expressed his gratitude.

"All of you must also cultivate diligently and strive to complete your Skin Tempering as soon as possible."

Yang Qingfeng swept a glance over the envious disciples, offered a word of encouragement, and then turned his attention back to Zhao Linyuan and Zhuang Zheng.

"Do you two still have any questions?"

Zhao Linyuan shook his head, "This disciple has already memorized it."

"Master, this disciple... this disciple still doesn't quite understand." Zhuang Zheng glanced at Zhao Linyuan, feeling a bit embarrassed to speak up.

"Very well, then watch it one more time."

Yang Qingfeng guided Zhuang Zheng a few more times, and once Zhuang Zheng confirmed he had memorized it, he drifted away.

As Yang Qingfeng departed, the martial arts field became lively.

"Junior Brother Zhao, I knew you would reach the middle courtyard soon."

"Junior Brother Lin is impressive, completing a Skin Tempering in just two months."

The disciples in the field split up, some surrounding Zhao Linyuan while others walked toward Lin Yan. However, most who approached Lin Yan merely left a polite compliment before moving on, ultimately gravitating back to Zhao Linyuan.

For one, everyone had clearly seen the special treatment Master gave Zhao Linyuan; before leaving, Master had explicitly told Junior Brother Zhao to strive for a Skin Tempering within a month.

Master had said this to no one else, and by comparison, Lin Yan's nearly two-month achievement seemed less significant.

The second reason was, naturally, that Senior Brother Ge was still present. If they grew too close to Lin Yan, they risked being targeted by Ge Hui's suppression.

Lin Yan didn't care what others thought; he now needed to head to the back courtyard of the martial arts hall to begin the next stage of his martial cultivation.

"Junior Brother Lin, you've completed your first Skin Tempering?"

In the back courtyard, as Lin Yan stepped through the gate, Li An, who was practicing his punches, caught sight of him from the corner of his eye. He stopped immediately, a look of disbelief on his face, and walked quickly toward Lin Yan.

"A lucky breakthrough."

"Lucky my foot. You'd only call it luck if it took you over half a year. Let me calculate—completing a Skin Tempering in less than two months is pure strength."

Li An grabbed Lin Yan's arm and pressed it a few times, "This level of density; your foundation is incredibly solid."

"Junior Brother Li, we have a newcomer? Won't you introduce us?"

The others in the courtyard began walking over, and Lin Yan subtly pulled his arm away.

With a name like Senior Brother Li, paired with that bushy beard and intense enthusiasm, he couldn't help but let his mind wander.

"This is Junior Brother Lin Yan, he's been in our middle courtyard for less than two months," Li An said, introducing Lin Yan before turning to introduce the others.

"Senior Brother Zhang Liang, he has already completed his second Skin Tempering."

"Senior Brother Yang Feng, he is not far from his second Skin Tempering."

"Senior Brother Lv Qianfan, he is also nearing his second Skin Tempering."

Lin Yan greeted the eight senior brothers in the courtyard one by one; aside from Zhang Liang, the others were all at the first Skin Tempering stage.

"Junior Brother Lin managed a Skin Tempering in under two months; your martial talent is extraordinary. Are you from the South City Lin Family?"

Lv Qianfan asked with a friendly smile; among those surnamed Lin in the city, the South City Lin Family was the most powerful.

Lin Yan shook his head, "Senior Brother, you misunderstand. I have no relation to the South City Lin Family."

"Not the South City Lin Family? Then perhaps the Lin family that runs the dye house?" the brother named Yang Feng interjected.

"Not that one either," Lin Yan denied again, his tone calm.

"Don't bother guessing, brothers. His ancestors for three generations were nothing but peddlers and porters."

Ge Hui's voice drifted from the doorway. Upon hearing this, the smiles on the faces of Lv Qianfan and the others faded slightly.

If he came from a common background, then a two-month Skin Tempering wasn't all that impressive after all.

The four stages of martial Skin Tempering were also known as the Four Martial Barriers.

Each stage had its own bottleneck, and each was harder than the last.

There were many disciples in the hall who had long reached the peak of the first Skin Tempering, yet failed to break through even after several attempts.

As for the first Skin Tempering barrier, however, very few disciples in the hall ever failed it.

This Junior Brother Lin managed a skin-refining session in only two months; he must have poured his entire savings into that first attempt.

It's a pity, but the costs only escalate from here, so this Junior Brother Lin's potential has likely hit its ceiling.

It wasn't that they were being overly cynical; if they grew too close to Junior Brother Lin, they would inevitably be asked for loans later. Refusing would be awkward, so it was better to keep things at a polite distance.

Lin Yan could sense that the attitude of these senior brothers had cooled following Ge Hui's remark, but he understood that this was simply human nature.

As for this Ge Hui...

First, he used Zhang Bo to lure him into a trap, hoping to see him crippled, and now he was targeting him yet again.

The day of his second skin-refining would be the day of Ge Hui's funeral.