Junior Brother Zhuang is Too Rough

Night fell.

Lin Yan changed into black clothes, masked his face, and quietly vaulted over the courtyard wall.

He had already inquired about the Flat Mountain Gang's stronghold that afternoon; it was located in a secluded alley in the north of the city.

Lin Yan had never held any fondness for gang members, especially those who had insulted his aunt with their words.

His footsteps were incredibly light, weaving through the night like a ghost.

With his strength at the second stage of skin tempering fully unleashed, he reached the vicinity of the Flat Mountain Gang's stronghold in less than a quarter of an hour.

It was a three-section courtyard with two lanterns hanging at the entrance, and the sound of people playing finger-guessing games could be faintly heard from within.

Lin Yan was just about to scale the wall to sneak in when his figure suddenly stalled.

There were muffled thuds in the courtyard, the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground.

No, it was the sound of a fight.

Was someone already making a move on the Flat Mountain Gang?

Was he really so lucky to stumble upon a gang war, or was someone seeking revenge?

Lin Yan frowned, pushed off the ground, and landed lightly on the main roof, crouching on the tiles to look into the courtyard.

Four or five corpses lay in the yard; judging by their attire, they were all members of the Flat Mountain Gang.

At the entrance of the main room, a black-clad figure was walking out, stepping from the eaves into the open space of the courtyard, holding a bulging bundle in hand—clearly, they had finished looting.

The person seemed to sense something, suddenly looking up, their gaze shooting toward the top of the main roof like lightning.

Their eyes met.

The next instant, the person kicked off the ground, their figure pouncing toward Lin Yan like an arrow!

What sharp perception.

Lin Yan was slightly surprised, but he did not retreat; he leaped down from the tiles and threw a punch!

The momentum of the punch was like a mountain!

A flash of astonishment crossed the black-clad figure's eyes, and they met the strike with a punch of their own.

The two fists collided with a muffled bang.

Lin Yan remained rooted to the spot, while the black-clad figure retreated several steps, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Mountain Splitting Fist?

A look of surprise appeared in Lin Yan's eyes. Although the black-clad figure had altered the moves while punching, Lin Yan had already cultivated the momentum of the Mountain Splitting Fist and was so intimately familiar with it that he could tell at a glance the core of the opponent's technique was still the Mountain Splitting Fist.

Could it be one of the junior brothers from the martial arts school?

Lin Yan's pupils constricted slightly.

Mountain Splitting Fist, second-stage skin tempering strength, and attacking the Flat Mountain Gang—he vaguely guessed the other person's identity.

On the other side, after steadying their footing, the black-clad figure did not hesitate, hurling the bundle in their hand toward Lin Yan while retreating, turning to vault over the wall and vanish into the night.

Lin Yan stood where he was, not giving chase.

He looked down at the bundle on the ground, which had burst open upon landing, revealing several silver ingots.

"It must be Junior Brother Zhuang." Lin Yan murmured softly, looking in the direction where the black-clad figure had disappeared.

Second-stage skin tempering, and judging by the force of the punch, they had only just stepped into the second stage. Since Junior Brother Zhuang had met him during the day, as long as he had the heart to inquire, he would have learned about what happened in front of the Liu Family.

Perhaps Junior Brother Zhuang had really attacked the Flat Mountain Gang to vent his anger on his behalf.

As for the silver in the bundle, it was likely just an opportunistic act.

"It's just that Junior Brother Zhuang's methods are a bit crude."

Looking at the fist marks on the corpses, Lin Yan shook his head. Ever since his master told him that the coroner had detected his previous killing, he had been careful; one must destroy the bodies after killing.

As for the money, he would consider it payment for cleaning up after Junior Brother Zhuang.

After spending a cup of tea's time finishing the cleanup, Lin Yan picked up the bundle and left the courtyard as well.

Meanwhile, in another courtyard.

The black-clad figure removed their mask, revealing a young face—it was indeed Zhuang Zheng.

His face was pale, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth from time to time.

"Who was that? Could it be a third-stage skin tempering expert? Or perhaps a top-tier talent among second-stage skin tempering martial artists?"

Zhuang Zheng looked down at his fist. The punch he had just received felt both familiar and strange, but the only thing he could be certain of was that the opponent was very strong; he feared he wouldn't be able to take a second punch from them.

"The strongest of the Flat Mountain Gang are only at the first stage of skin tempering; how would they dare to offend such an expert?"

Zhuang Zheng couldn't figure it out. If the Flat Mountain Gang had offended such an expert, they would have been wiped out long ago; why wait until tonight?

He had chosen to strike the Flat Mountain Gang tonight, partly to repay the favor he owed Senior Brother Lin.

If Senior Brother Lin hadn't appeared back then, he would have been dragged off to the Patrol Bureau. Once inside the Patrol Bureau, even as a martial arts academy disciple, it wouldn't have been easy to get out.

Secondly, he was short on money and had thought about wiping out the Flat Mountain Gang to scrape together a windfall.

That he was able to progress from the first stage of skin-toughening to the second in a mere nine months was certainly due to his own talent, but the more important reason was that he had the silver to support it.

And this silver came from the people he had killed.

The path of killing for wealth was something he had realized after murdering Ge Hui.

Ge Hui was the first martial artist he had killed since stepping onto the path of martial arts.

The reason he targeted Ge Hui wasn't because Ge Hui had flaunted his wealth; Zhuang Zheng wasn't yet the type of madman to turn on his own fellow disciples.

It was truly because Ge Hui had bullied him too much. In order to study martial arts, he had sold his family's ancestral home, burning his bridges behind him, yet Ge Hui still demanded he pay tribute.

He had learned from other senior brothers that Senior Brother Lin had never paid tribute to Ge Hui and had also faced his harassment, only Senior Brother Lin had confronted Ge Hui directly.

But in his view, Senior Brother Lin's actions were unwise. When facing someone stronger than oneself, feigning submission on the surface while striking in the shadows was the safest approach.

For one, it made the other party lower their guard, and for another, it prevented suspicion.

When facing Ge Hui, he had feigned submission and given him copper coins, then followed him for a period of time until he finally found an opportunity. Taking advantage of Ge Hui being dead drunk, he launched a sneak attack and finished him off.

As for searching Ge Hui for silver, it was simply out of a principle of not letting things go to waste; he hadn't expected Ge Hui to have so much money on him.

However, this unexpected windfall gave him a strategy for making money.

Kill and plunder!

There was no faster way to make money than this.

For this reason, he often lurked in the dead of night, targeting gang members. Relying on killing for wealth, he accumulated enough silver to finally break through to the second stage of skin-toughening in nine months.

Having succeeded so many times, he hadn't expected to fail this time, nearly losing his life in the process.

At least this mysterious powerhouse didn't pursue me. It seems I must be even more careful and cautious in the future.

Zhuang Zheng gave a bitter smile. The lucky part of this time was that he had successfully escaped; the unlucky part was that after taking that punch, he would need at least half a month to recover from his injuries.

At the Lin residence, Lin Yan was also in his room, taking stock of his gains.

Junior Brother Zhuang didn't even let go of items containing silver.

In the bundle, besides a few silver ingots, loose silver, and copper coins, there were also some small trinkets containing silver.

If these items were taken to a pawnshop, they could be exchanged for a few dozen to a hundred coins, but for Lin Yan now, it wasn't worth the risk of exposure to pawn them.

After clearing these items out, the silver and copper coins added up to one hundred and fifty taels. This was the benefit of wiping out a gang stronghold; it was practically a clean sweep.

It was a pity that the Flat Mountain Gang's strength was so mediocre.

I have a total of five hundred taels of silver on me now, which counts as a huge sum. However, if I use it to maintain my martial arts expenses, it will only last a year.

The more Lin Yan calculated, the more he clicked his tongue. It was true that martial artists held high status, but their expenses were equally high.

Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about failing a breakthrough; for those who did, the silver required was even more terrifying.

After his daily grumbling about the massive costs of practicing martial arts, Lin Yan began to deliberate on how to spend this money.

The Tang Family provided a bottle of Muscle-Generating Pill every month, but it only contained five pills. He took one every six days on average, but he had learned from Zheng Xun that a second-stage skin-toughening martial artist could take one Muscle-Generating Pill every day.

Besides that, perhaps he could buy some more venison.

Muscle-Generating Pills could help blood and qi scour the tendons and vessels, but they didn't have a significant effect on increasing blood and qi itself.

Consuming the meat of the Purple Fur Beast made Lin Yan understand that there was a reason why such rare meat was expensive.

He didn't dare think about tiger or bear meat; the asking price was too high. But at five taels per catty, he could barely afford venison.

The next day.

Lin Yan arrived at the martial arts academy and first went to the Medicine Hall to state the amount of secret medicine he needed. While the Medicine Hall was preparing the medicine, he headed to the backyard, intending to pay his respects to his master.

When he stepped into the backyard of the academy, he found it extremely quiet today, with only Junior Brother Zhao present.

"Junior Brother Zhao, is Master in his room?"

Before Zhao Linyuan could answer, Yang Qingfeng walked out from the room.

"Lin Yan is here."

"Disciple pays respects to Master."

Yang Qingfeng looked at Lin Yan, a smile appearing on his face. "Is there something you need?"

"Disciple has come to collect the external secret medicine."

Hearing that Lin Yan had come for the secret medicine, Yang Qingfeng deliberated for a long moment before saying, "You are currently holding a position at the Tang Family. You only need to pay seventy percent of the cost when purchasing medicinal herbs at the Tang Family pharmacy. In a moment, I will give you a prescription. You can go to the Tang Family pharmacy to fill it according to the prescription, and from now on, you will prepare the secret medicine yourself."

As soon as these words were spoken, both Zhao Linyuan and Lin Yan were stunned.

The external secret medicine used after the second stage of skin-toughening was the academy's closely guarded secret. Once leaked, it would have a massive impact on the academy.

Sensing the expressions of his two disciples, Yang Qingfeng smiled slightly. While the secret medicine formula was indeed precious, it was only effective for cultivating the Mountain Splitting Fist. The reason it had never been shared before was the fear that a disciple might master the technique and, armed with the secret medicine, set up their own shop to teach the Mountain Splitting Fist elsewhere.

However, based on his understanding of Lin Yan, he knew his disciple was a man of integrity and would likely not do such a thing.

But the more important reason stemmed from a sense of psychological indebtedness.

Lin Yan possessed great talent for the Mountain Splitting Fist. Had he not taken in Zhao Linyuan and made prior arrangements with the Zhao Family, he would have taken Lin Yan as his mantle-inheriting disciple and provided him with far more martial resources for his cultivation.

Yet now, all the silver and martial resources he had accumulated had been spent on Zhao Linyuan. Being unable to provide Lin Yan with more resources, allowing him to save money on the secret medicine was a form of compensation.

"The formula is yours, but you are forbidden from spreading it. Otherwise, as your master, I shall certainly not forgive you."

Yang Qingfeng added this warning. Lin Yan cupped his fists, his expression solemn: "Thank you for your great kindness, Master. This disciple swears he will never leak the formula."

"It will take some time to prepare the medicine at the Medicine Hall. Since you are both here, the two of you should spar."

Hearing his master order a spar with Zhao Linyuan, Lin Yan remained indifferent, but Zhao Linyuan's eyes filled with confusion. Several senior brothers who had entered the second stage of skin-toughening a year ago had already lost to him in spars; since Senior Brother Lin had only reached the second stage a few months ago, why would Master want them to spar?

"Lin Yan has attained a profound level of mastery in the Mountain Splitting Fist. You two brothers sparring will be a good way to verify each other's strength." Yang Qingfeng noticed Zhao Linyuan's confusion and offered a hint.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Linyuan looked at Lin Yan with surprise. For Master to describe someone's mastery as "profound," it was certainly no small matter.

"Senior Brother Lin, please enlighten me."

Zhao Linyuan set aside his arrogance and cupped his fists in a salute.

"Junior Brother Zhao, you are too kind."

Lin Yan did not return the salute, but instead reached out a hand toward Zhao Linyuan. Zhao Linyuan was stunned; he recalled some rumors in the martial arts hall regarding this Senior Brother Lin.

One of them was that when sparring, Senior Brother Lin disliked cupping his fists and preferred to shake hands instead.

Zhao Linyuan extended his hand. After they shook hands and let go, they each stepped back. Lin Yan's expression remained unchanged, but internally, he was astonished.

As expected of a genius valued so highly by Master, Junior Brother Zhao's Martial Dao Tree was actually an inch taller than his own, reaching a height of two feet and seven inches.

Junior Brother Zhao had started later than him, and he himself had even consumed precious medicine, yet he had still been surpassed.

Lin Yan admitted that he felt a bit sour inside.

No wonder geniuses were always so easy to envy.

Working hard for several years couldn't compare to someone else's few months of effort; anyone in his position would be cursing under their breath.