Breaking Through

"Junior Brother, let me introduce you. This is a new disciple who just joined the martial arts school. His name is..." Liu Lie was saying.

"Big Brother Lin Yi!" The youth suddenly cried out.

As the aura of fortune around the youth before him faded,

Lin Yi finally got a clear look at him.

He was thin, with delicate features.

"Xiao Dong." Lin Yi called the youth by name.

"Hm? You two know each other?" Liu Lie raised an eyebrow. "Well, that works out. No need for me to say anything more, then. You two can catch up. I have things to do, so I'll be off."

"Let's go inside and talk." Lin Yi glanced at Xiao Dong, then walked into the room.

Xiao Dong hurried after him.

Lin Yi looked at Xiao Dong, who sat on the bed, seeming rather awkward, and let his thoughts wander.

Xiao Dong lived on the same street as Lin Yi's family. They were practically neighbors.

He had heard that Xiao Dong lost his father when he was young and had been raised single-handedly by his mother.

Lin Yi's connection with him had begun three years ago.

Three years ago, following the divination text of [Know Heavenly Fate], Lin Yi had gone up the mountain in search of a treasure called 'Long Root Life'. Along the way, he came across Xiao Dong, who had fallen into the water and nearly drowned.

He had pulled him out almost casually.

Afterward, Xiao Dong's mother had brought him to Lin Yi's home to offer her thanks.

The two families had grown close, and that was how they came to know each other.

But—

Back then, Xiao Dong's aura of fortune had clearly been ordinary.

Why, then, was it so overwhelming when Lin Yi saw him today—and such a strange black color, too?

Lin Yi's gaze turned grave.

Anything concerning the Destiny ability of [Know Heavenly Fate] was something he took very seriously.

"Brother Lin Yi, Mother heard that you were learning martial arts at the school too, so she asked me to bring you some pastries to try."

Xiao Dong took some pastries out of his bundle and respectfully offered them to Lin Yi.

"Aunt Xiao, you're too kind." Lin Yi accepted them with a smile, then took some dried meat from his bundle and shared it with Xiao Dong.

Xiao Dong's eyes lit up. He swallowed, then took the dried meat, both excited and embarrassed.

His family was only moderately well-off, and he hadn't eaten meat in a long time.

"Have they tested your roots yet?" Lin Yi asked.

Xiao Dong scratched his head and replied sheepishly,

"Senior Brother Liu probably forgot to test them."

"Besides, I didn't bring enough tuition when I came, so I have to wait two days. I didn't feel comfortable asking Senior Brother Liu to test me."

"But the martial arts school's master will be back in three days, so Senior Brother Liu told me I could stay here for now."

Lin Yi nodded.

After that, Lin Yi chatted casually with him about everyday things, probing indirectly to see whether Xiao Dong had encountered anything strange lately. He wanted to learn more about the black aura of fortune surrounding him.

But he didn't learn much.

Lin Yi stopped probing.

Whatever he needed to know, he'd find out sooner or later.

As long as it didn't interfere with his martial training, Xiao Dong's black aura of fortune had little to do with him.

That afternoon, Lin Yi returned to the martial practice grounds.

It was much livelier now than it had been in the morning.

Crowds packed the place, shoulder to shoulder.

"Hey, brother, what's going on today? Why are there so many people at the practice grounds?"

"Senior Brother Wu is going to try breaking through!"

"Senior Brother Wu? You mean Senior Brother Wu Shi? I heard he has Grade B roots."

"Yeah. He's only been at the school for four months, and he's already going to attempt a breakthrough. Makes you jealous."

"Once he succeeds, he'll officially become a disciple of the martial arts school. After that, he can use the school's name when he goes around the county! He'll be a big shot at the Naked Tower!"

"I wonder if Senior Brother Wu can break through. Four people have already tried this month, and all of them failed. When a breakthrough fails, all your blood and energy disperse, and your chances the next time get even smaller."

"..."

Everyone chattered and shouted over one another.

Lin Yi watched Wu Shi from afar, standing at the center of the martial practice grounds, and silently cursed, "Idiot."

Breaking through in martial arts was a major event. Most people chose a secluded spot. Who would try it amid all this noise, with everyone watching?

The shouts of bystanders were bound to disrupt his concentration.

And if he ran into an enemy during the breakthrough and they sabotaged him, all his efforts would be wasted.

The only reason he'd chosen to do it this way

was the vanity of youth. He simply wanted to show off.

Betting his future on a moment's impulse was truly foolish.

It was just a shame about those Grade B roots...

Lin Yi had relied on the many treasures he'd gathered with [Know Heavenly Fate],

along with the experience he'd gained through Hu Ma's Empathic Corpse Dissection,

to break through the martial arts school's third level in less than a month, despite having only Grade B roots.

His own [Empathic Corpse Dissection] hadn't successfully manifested, and Lin Yi felt the road ahead would be much harder for him.

Lin Yi glanced down indifferently.

Then he left the martial arts school without another word.

There was no helping it. The fellow had suddenly taken up the space, and with the crowds pressing all around, Lin Yi couldn't practice.

There was a place to train in the school's inner courtyard, but only Martial Artists could use it. He couldn't get in at all.

"Forget it. I can't stay at the Martial Practice Platform now. I may as well head to my house in the suburbs and train there. I can use the Treasure Fish while I'm at it."

Lin Yi returned to the outskirts and went to the house he had bought.

He entered the hidden passage.

Inside the hidden passage,

the Three-Eyed River Goby swam back and forth in the fishing basin.

"It's time to break through," Lin Yi murmured.

[Long Rainbow Technique (Third Level)]

[Proficiency: 762/1000]

Long Rainbow Technique had now reached the third level.

After eating the Treasure Fish, he should be able to break through to the fourth level.

"Half a month!"

"Give me another half month, and I'll become a Martial Artist."

Lin Yi's eyes blazed. Without the slightest hesitation, he got to work.

He killed the fish, scaled it, scored it, and set it to simmer...

The Treasure Fish had to be cooked with certain medicinal herbs. Once it had simmered until its bones and flesh had completely dissolved, the whole pot was to be drunk in one go.

Lin Yi had prepared the herbs in advance.

Half an hour later, when the fish soup was ready,

Lin Yi didn't hesitate. He drank it all down at once.

In an instant, Lin Yi felt the abundant blood and energy in his body transform into wave after wave of immense force, surging through him. His blood and energy writhed like spirit snakes, coursing wildly through every limb and bone.

His meridians throbbed with pain. His muscles tore and knit themselves back together, again and again.

Lin Yi could clearly feel

his bones being battered and compressed by the grand tide of blood and energy, tiny fractures splitting through them.

The five Martial Passes were the Skin Pass, Flesh Pass, Blood Pass, Bone Pass, and Viscera Pass.

He was now in the process of breaking through the fourth pass.

Without hesitation, Lin Yi immediately began circulating the Long Rainbow Technique.

[Long Rainbow Technique proficiency +1]

[Long Rainbow Technique proficiency +1]

[...]

The Long Rainbow Technique's proficiency climbed at a visible, breakneck pace.

Time passed slowly.

As Lin Yi practiced faster and faster, gusts of fierce wind howled. The candle flame quietly went out in the gale stirred up by his training.

The hidden passage sank into darkness.

Only Lin Yi's eyes gleamed with a startling brightness.

Then, a sound that only Lin Yi could hear rang out inside him—the sound of a shackle snapping apart.

The fourth level of the Martial Pass, the Bone Pass, was complete.