Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
For those seven days, Lin Yan stayed home and practiced the Rock Stance every day.
Although he didn't think the Patrol Bureau would investigate such a minor matter, he stayed home for seven days just to be safe.
After successfully cultivating the foundation with the Rock Stance, he could still increase his qi and blood by continuing to practice.
Now that seven days had passed without anyone from the Patrol Bureau showing up or anyone coming to find him, the matter should be behind him. It was time to seek out a Skin Polishing technique.
Master Zheng had mentioned how to obtain one: apprentice at a martial arts hall, join a gang, sell yourself to the powerful, or buy one.
Master Zheng had also explained the pros and cons of each option in detail.
With the money Zhang Dahai and the others had given him, joining a martial arts hall was the best choice for Lin Yan.
There were over a dozen martial arts halls in the city, large and small, and their fees varied. Lingyun Martial Hall charged the most, with an apprenticeship fee of two hundred taels, while the cheapest charged twenty.
There had to be a reason for the difference in price.
"I can ask Master Zheng for advice again."
Given his family's means, he had only one chance to sign up at a martial arts hall. He had to learn all he could before making his choice.
Although Guard Zhou from Cai Mansion was more formidable than Master Zheng, given his attitude, he might not take the trouble to teach Lin Yan properly.
"Yan'er, dinner's ready."
Just as Lin Yan finished thinking it over, his aunt Liu called out to him.
"Auntie, I've successfully cultivated my foundation."
"Successfully cultivated your foundation?"
Liu had learned a little about the realms of martial arts from Lin Yan. When she saw her nephew lift the stone lock in one go, delight spread across her face. "So soon?"
Though she hadn't told anyone that Lin Yan was practicing martial arts, Liu had made a point of asking around. The eldest son of the Xu Family on their street was also training at a martial arts hall. From what she'd heard from his family, Xu Ping had practiced at home for a year before he was qualified to join.
It had taken Little Yan only a few months. Wasn't his talent even greater than Xu Ping's?
"May the ancestors of the Lin Family bless us. May your parents bless you."
Liu was so excited that she clasped her hands and kept bowing. "Yan'er, go wash your hands and pay your respects to the ancestors. Thank them for their blessings."
"Mm."
Though he didn't think his success had anything to do with his ancestors, it was the simple worldview of the common folk in this world: whatever good came their way was all thanks to their ancestors' blessings.
After paying his respects to his ancestors and parents, Lin Yan went inside to eat.
"Yan'er, I'm going out for a bit. If you leave, remember to lock the door."
"All right."
Liu took her basket and left. As she turned away, a thread of worry crept into her smile.
May your parents bless you. Yan'er has a talent for martial arts, but joining a martial arts hall will cost a fortune. The family has only a dozen or so taels left. Add the twenty taels from Cai Mansion, and that's just enough for the apprenticeship fee. She'd also asked around: once you joined a martial arts hall, training cost even more. A few taels of silver a month could disappear in no time.
Might-Vast Escort Agency.
This time, Lin Yan asked Zhang Wei to arrange a meeting with Master Zheng, but instead of waiting at a teahouse, he went straight to the agency's entrance.
"Rock, come with me."
Zhang Wei appeared at the door and beckoned to Lin Yan with excitement. "I just told Master Zheng about you, and Escort Chief Chen happened to overhear. He said to bring you straight in."
"Escort Chief Chen?"
"He's a Skin Polishing expert at our agency, and he trained at a martial arts hall. He must know more about them than Master Zheng."
Then Zhang Wei lowered his voice. "Rock, did you really succeed in cultivating your foundation?"
If it had only been Master Zheng, it wouldn't have mattered much if Rock had exaggerated his progress. But with Escort Chief Chen there, he couldn't fake it.
"Let's go."
Lin Yan patted Zhang Wei on the shoulder, reassuring him that he had nothing to worry about.
The two entered the agency and passed through several corridors. Lin Yan could tell that Might-Vast Escort Agency was at least several times larger than Cai Mansion. At last, they reached a courtyard.
On the way, Lin Yan had learned a little about how the agency was organized.
Might-Vast Escort Agency was divided into teams. Each team had two or three escort chiefs, with five or six escorts trained in martial arts, like Master Zheng, serving under them. When Zhang Wei went to find Master Zheng, Escort Chief Chen happened to be with the team. After hearing that Lin Yan had cultivated enough qi and blood in just a few months, he became curious and told Zhang Wei to bring him in.
"Master Zheng."
When Lin Yan entered the courtyard, he saw Zheng Guang and a middle-aged man seated in a grand chair, sipping tea.
"Lin Yan, have you really succeeded in cultivating your foundation?"
Though only a short while had passed since Zhang Wei told him the news, Zheng Guang still found it hard to believe. It had taken him two whole years to succeed, while Lin Yan had been at it for just over three months.
Lin Yan glanced at the stone locks in the corner of the courtyard. "Master Zheng, words alone aren't proof. I'll use a stone lock to show you."
There were several stone locks in the courtyard, and the hundred-pound one was the smallest.
Grasping its handle, Lin Yan lifted it in one breath and held it before his chest. He was about to keep holding it for a while, but the middle-aged man in the grand chair spoke up. "Your breathing is steady. You've clearly reached the required strength. You can put it down."
Hearing Escort Chen speak behind him, Zheng Guang quickly added, "Lin Yan, let me introduce you. This is Escort Chief Chen from our agency."
"This junior pays his respects to Master Chen."
"I'm hardly a master. Just call me Escort Chief."
Escort Chief Chen laughed heartily. In Guangping County, only those who had reached the second stage of Skin Polishing could truly be called masters. He was still some distance from that.
"You want to train at a martial arts hall, and you came to ask Master Zheng which one is reliable?"
"Yes. This junior came to seek Master Zheng's advice."
Lin Yan didn't know why Escort Chief Chen had wanted to meet him, so he didn't commit himself.
Might-Vast Escort Agency also had Skin Polishing techniques. What if Escort Chief Chen wanted him to join the agency?
If he didn't have to sell himself to them, Might-Vast Escort Agency would be a good choice too.
"How much silver have you prepared?"
"With my family's savings and some loans from relatives, I should be able to raise about fifty taels."
"Rock, your family's that rich?"
Zhang Wei was stunned to hear that Lin Yan could scrape together fifty taels.
He knew Lin Yan's circumstances. His parents were both dead, and the only one bringing in money was his aunt, who earned a little by sewing and mending for people. They were living off the savings his family had set aside long ago.
"Fifty taels is more than a typical family saves in over a decade, yet for martial arts training, it's barely enough to cover the early expenses."
Chen Lang pondered for a moment. "There are many martial arts halls in the city, but only six truly teach real skills. Of those, Lingyun Martial Hall is the strongest. Its disciples are all at least in the second stage of Skin Polishing when they graduate."
Lin Yan wasn't excited by this. He knew Lingyun Martial Hall's apprenticeship fee: two hundred taels.
"Do you know why Lingyun Martial Hall's disciples are all at least in the second stage of Skin Polishing when they graduate?"
It was obviously because of the apprenticeship fee.
Lin Yan grumbled inwardly. Anyone who could afford a two-hundred-tael fee had to come from a well-off family.
In other words, with enough silver to pay for Skin Polishing, they could reach the second stage eventually, given enough time.
But aloud, Lin Yan said, "This junior doesn't know."
Chen Lang tapped the armrest with his knuckles, his tone measured. "The first reason, naturally, is that the fee weeds people out. Those who can afford two hundred taels to become disciples are all from well-off families. They can keep up with the medicinal supplements and nourishing food that martial arts training requires. As long as they aren't stupid, reaching the second stage of Skin Polishing is only a matter of time."
"But Lingyun Martial Hall wouldn't dare charge such a steep fee without something special to offer. Its Skin Polishing technique, combined with its specially prepared medicinal liquor, lets you train faster than at other martial arts halls."
"With fifty taels, you can forget about the expensive ones like Lingyun and Juying. There are also several martial arts halls whose owners learned by trial and error. Their techniques are a hodgepodge: rubbing yourself down with coarse cloth and trudging through sand pits. Plenty of their disciples get stuck halfway through Skin Polishing. And the halls love to demand offerings from their disciples. If you don't have silver to grease their palms, they won't even bother correcting your Stance Technique."
Lin Yan understood perfectly. Escort Chief Chen had hit the crux of the matter.
For those at the bottom trying to learn martial arts, the hardest things to find weren't the will to work hard, but a good teacher and the resources to train. But both came down to money, and his fifty taels wouldn't even get him through Lingyun Martial Hall's door.
"Please recommend a suitable martial arts hall for this junior, Escort Chief Chen."
Chen Lang pondered for a while. "There really is one that suits you: Yang Family Martial Arts Hall, in the south of the city."
"The master of Yang Family Martial Arts Hall reached the fourth stage of Skin Polishing many years ago, but that's not the most important thing. What matters most is that Master Yang doesn't make things hard for his disciples. He doesn't expect offerings from them during festivals. Even at Lingyun Martial Hall, aside from a few exceptionally talented disciples, most have to give their masters offerings after succeeding at Skin Polishing if they want to learn the techniques that come afterward."
"The apprenticeship fee is sixty taels. It's a little over your budget, but it's definitely a better choice than those halls that charge only twenty or thirty."
After speaking, Chen Lang lifted his teacup and took a sip. Zheng Guang added, "Those martial arts halls with low fees have plenty of other ways to make you spend money once you're in. You have to buy their exclusive medicinal soup, which they sell for several times the price elsewhere. Plenty of people who don't know better join, train for less than a few months, and then have to leave because they've run out of money."
Lin Yan nodded quickly. His greatest fear had been choosing the wrong martial arts hall, which was why he'd come all this way to ask Master Zheng. He'd made the right choice.
"Thank you for your advice, Escort Chief Chen. Thank you, Master Zheng." Lin Yan cupped his hands, his tone sincere.
Chen Lang waved a hand. "It's hardly advice. I saw that you could cultivate your foundation in just a few months and realized you had the makings of a martial artist. I couldn't bear to see you take the wrong path."
He himself had taken a few wrong turns when choosing a martial arts hall.
Lin Yan could roughly guess that Escort Chief Chen's experience training at a martial arts hall hadn't been very good. Otherwise, since he'd trained at one himself, he surely would have recommended his own hall to Lin Yan.
Even if he thought Lin Yan couldn't afford the fees at his old hall, he would have explained why. He wouldn't have avoided mentioning it altogether.
After a short while, Lin Yan said goodbye to Escort Chen and Master Zheng, then left the agency with Zhang Wei.
"Rock, if you don't have enough money, I can get some from my father."
"If I need it, I'll definitely ask you."
Hearing Zhang Wei offer, Lin Yan patted him on the shoulder and didn't refuse.
With the Martial Dao Tree, he was certain he could make something of himself. But it was also true that he was short on money at the start. Once he made something of himself, he could pay Zhang Wei back several times over.
When you're poor, you should incur every debt of gratitude you can.
Lin Yan thought that attitude was incredibly foolish.
When you're poor, when you're at the bottom, you should seize every chance to turn your life around.
There was nothing shameful about borrowing money or owing someone a favor.
What was shameful was borrowing money or owing someone a favor only to squander it instead of using it to strive for a better life.