It Was Him!

Liang Hangzhou suddenly lost his appetite for the persimmon cake in his hand.

One had to know, there were very few things in the Martial Hall that could make him stop eating his persimmon cake.

The last time it happened was when he discovered Qin Feng had superior bone structure!

Liang Hangzhou hurried forward and gave Li Chuan a heavy pat on the shoulder.

"Kid, when did you break through to the Dark Force?"

Li Chuan was startled; Liang Hangzhou had reached his back without him noticing at all.

However, he did not show any signs of panic, simply turning around calmly.

"In reply to Master, I broke through to the Dark Force yesterday and was just preparing to report it to you."

Liang Hangzhou looked at his steady expression and felt very satisfied.

"You only broke through to the Dark Force yesterday, yet you waited until tonight to tell me. Your ability to cultivate your temperament is quite profound."

"Did you succeed on your first attempt at the Gate-Knocking?"

Li Chuan cupped his fists.

"It took this disciple six months, and I was fortunate enough to break through to the Dark Force."

Liang Hangzhou looked him up and down, his right hand suddenly reaching out to trace along his Spinal Dragon.

"Strange, truly strange. You clearly have inferior bone structure, yet you managed to succeed at the Gate-Knocking on your first try."

"And this speed of yours is considered fast even among the Inner Courtyard disciples."

Liang Hangzhou furrowed his brows and suddenly muttered to himself.

"It seems your comprehension is quite high. In fact, what determines a person's martial prospects is not just bone structure. While bone structure is the most important factor, comprehension and resources also play a significant role."

The more he thought about it, the more Liang Hangzhou felt it was a pity.

The fact that Li Chuan could break through to the Dark Force on his first Gate-Knocking attempt meant his comprehension must be extremely high.

It might even be higher than Qin Feng's.

If someone with this level of comprehension possessed medium bone structure, he would have the confidence to cultivate him into a second Transforming Force master!

What a pity, what a pity!

Liang Hangzhou sighed inwardly.

Inferior bone structure almost completely locked Li Chuan's potential; the Dark Force was his limit.

No matter how high his comprehension was, even if he could master multiple fighting techniques, he would merely be a powerful Dark Force practitioner who could not influence the big picture.

Still, it was not bad; he could become a major pillar of support for Qin Feng in the future.

He was worth cultivating.

But he had already allocated all his resources to Qin Feng...

Forget it.

He would use some of his own private savings.

Liang Hangzhou paused.

"Tomorrow, go to the butcher shop in the east of the city and pick up ten catties of tiger meat. Just give them my name."

Li Chuan cupped his fists.

"Thank you, Master."

Although he knew the resources Liang Hangzhou gave Qin Feng were ten or a hundred times his own, he felt no dissatisfaction.

After all, one was an inner-chamber disciple, and the other was a closing-door disciple.

It was only natural for their treatment to differ.

Giving was a favor; not giving was his duty.

Li Chuan was very clear about this.

Seeing his demeanor, Liang Hangzhou was even more satisfied.

He had seen plenty of people who would resent you for not giving them enough after you had already helped them, so a temperament like Li Chuan's was truly rare.

For a moment, his attitude toward Li Chuan improved significantly.

"In the future, if you have any questions while practicing your punches or stances, you can come find me."

"I am going to call your senior brothers and sisters over; you go wait in my room for now."

An inner-chamber disciple—the term "inner-chamber" meant one was permitted to enter the master's private quarters.

This represented a form of trust and a status.

"Master loves to keep us in suspense. He only told us someone had broken through to the Dark Force, but refused to say who it was," the eldest senior brother, Tang Xiang, said with some helplessness.

Jiang Ting, dressed in a purple robe, pondered for a moment.

"It might be Qiu Ming, whom you brought to the small gathering earlier. He seems to have gained quite a lot after sparring with others."

Qin Feng nodded upon hearing this.

He suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Luo Zheng with a smile.

"I didn't expect the gathering to be so effective. Your Junior Brother Li is probably regretting it to the point of turning his guts green."

Luo Zheng curled his lip and ignored him.

He didn't know what had gotten into Qin Feng; ever since he learned that Luo Zheng was on good terms with Li Chuan, he had been nitpicking him at every turn.

Jiang Ting covered her mouth and chuckled, chiming in.

"I said it back then: opportunities only come once, and regret is useless."

"But given his aptitude, even if he had gone, it wouldn't have meant much. It's better to give it to Junior Brother Qiu to create another Dark Force practitioner for our martial hall."

Luo Zheng couldn't help but retort.

"How do you know it would be useless?"

Tang Xiang frowned.

"Junior Brother Luo, I know you are close with Li Chuan, but you cannot ignore the facts. Even Yu Sinian, who is superior to him in every way, failed. What hope could he possibly have?"

Hearing the name Yu Sinian, Luo Zheng fell silent.

The group continued walking forward, but the atmosphere grew heavy.

Just before reaching the bedroom, Liang Hangzhou finally smiled.

"It wasn't Qiu Ming. You all guessed wrong."

Jiang Ting acted coquettishly.

"Master, you're teasing us again. You watched us argue the whole way without saying a word, and only now do you tell us we were wrong."

"If it wasn't Qiu Ming, then who could it be? He was the one with the most hope of successfully Gate-Knocking."

The bedroom door opened, and standing inside was a figure no one had expected.

"How is it you?!" Jiang Ting was dumbfounded.

Tang Xiang's pupils constricted; he had never expected it to be Li Chuan.

Qin Feng's expression appeared normal, but his body trembled slightly, showing that his heart was not at peace.

Only Luo Zheng laughed heartily and came over to hug Li Chuan.

"You rascal, A-Chuan, you broke through to Dark Force and didn't even tell me!"

"You've caused me to be mocked by Senior Brother Tang and the others the whole way, saying I was 'blind' and couldn't judge character!"

Luo Zheng cast a seemingly casual glance at Tang Xiang.

Tang Xiang gritted his teeth.

"Don't push your luck!"

Liang Hangzhou said helplessly.

"This is a joyous day; what kind of behavior is all this bickering?"

After Liang Hangzhou spoke, everyone finally quieted down completely.

Liang Hangzhou patted Li Chuan on the shoulder.

"Heaven rewards the diligent. You have all seen how hard Li Chuan works on a daily basis. Through steady accumulation and sudden breakthrough, he succeeded in Gate-Knocking on his first attempt—he is even better than you lot with your so-called 'average' bone structure!"

"I often tell you to learn from the strengths of others. If you could learn even seventy percent of Li Chuan's diligence, our Pine Wind Martial Hall wouldn't be without a single Martial Scholar!"

Qin Feng said indifferently.

"There will be one soon enough."

Liang Hangzhou frowned.

"A-Feng, I have told you many times to remain humble and cautious. Do you not understand the principle that being too rigid leads to breaking?"

Qin Feng fell silent. The moment he lowered his head, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

Just because of a Li Chuan, Master was actually reprimanding him.

Fine. Very fine.

The atmosphere became subtle once again, filled with the scent of gunpowder.

Liang Hangzhou paused and suddenly said.

"Jiang Ting, I heard from your father that he is looking for a marriage match for you recently. Is this true?"

Jiang Ting was confused.

"That is indeed the case. Why do you ask, Master?"

Liang Hangzhou picked up a dried persimmon and smiled.

"Li Chuan is a man of talent and diligence; I see him as a fine match. Would you like to consider it?"

"What?" Jiang Ting's voice suddenly climbed an octave.

Who was Li Chuan? Just over half a year ago, he was still her little lackey!

He was someone she wouldn't have even spared a glance in the past.

So what if he had reached the Dark Force now?

Who wasn't at the Dark Force level these days?

Furthermore, this Li Chuan was practically Luo Zheng's lackey.

Wouldn't this move put her on the same level as Luo Zheng's lackey?

Master must be getting senile!

Jiang Ting gritted her teeth, ready to reject the idea outright.

Li Chuan, however, spoke up first:

"Master, there is no need."

Jiang Ting whipped her head around, staring at Li Chuan in disbelief.