The Seventh Personal Disciple

Chen Jing assumed the Fierce Tiger Stance, one fist drawn back at his waist. He took a deep breath, his gaze suddenly sharpening; then he twisted his waist and drove forward, blasting out a punch.

The two fists collided solidly in midair.

Chen Jing only felt a heavy, fierce force come through the face of his fist. His arm jolted, and his whole body retreated three steps in a row before he managed to stop himself.

Cheng Qingshi's stance had not budged in the slightest.

Even his expression had not changed.

He withdrew his fist and glanced at Chen Jing.

Without a word, he turned and returned to his original place.

Chen Jing said respectfully:

"Young Master Cheng's fist force is refined and profound. I am no match for you."

Chen Jing was not lying with those words.

Cheng Qingshi's foundation in stance work was deeper than his, and within the release of his fist force, there was faintly the sense of qi and blood trembling.

That feeling was similar to the mountain bandit from last night.

It should all be martial skill above Body Tempering.

It was just that Chen Jing had not used [Tiger Valiance]. If he raised his strength by 150%, he should be able to contend with the other party for a while.

But how could Chen Jing possibly slap the Cheng family's young master in the face inside the Cheng Family Martial Hall? He was not stupid to that degree.

Cheng Lianshan nodded slightly, the smile on his face not fading:

"There is no problem with your technique for issuing force. What you lack is only heat and timing."

"Wang lad, you have found me a good seedling."

Wang Chong heard that Cheng Lianshan had agreed to accept Chen Jing, and hurriedly urged him, "What are you standing there for? Hurry and thank the master and madam."

Chen Jing hastily bowed and gave thanks.

Cheng Lianshan laughed heartily and immediately had the steward prepare tea for the disciple-acceptance ceremony.

Taking a master required three bows and nine kowtows, offering tea, and changing one's form of address.

Cheng Lianshan and his wife, Su Ru, sat upright in the seats of honor.

Chen Jing knelt respectfully on the ground, performed the bows and kowtows, then offered tea to Cheng Lianshan and changed his address to Master.

Then he offered tea to Su Ru and changed his address to Master's Wife.

Cheng Lianshan accepted the tea bowl and drank it down in one gulp, laughing loudly:

"Good! Little Jing, quickly get up."

"From now on, you are my seventh personal disciple."

He then pointed to the young man and woman at his side. "This is your Second Senior Sister, Mei Qinghe. This is your Fourth Senior Brother, Cheng Qingshi, who is also my son. You should all get along well from now on."

Mei Qinghe smiled and nodded at Chen Jing. Cheng Qingshi also gave a faint nod, counting as a greeting.

Cheng Lianshan continued:

"As for the other disciples, your Eldest Senior Brother often manages the outer courtyard and teaches martial arts in my stead now. The other disciples each have their own livelihoods and are not in the hall at present. I will introduce you to them one by one later."

Seeing the matter was settled, Wang Chong cupped his fists and said with a smile:

"Congratulations, Head Cheng, on accepting another fine disciple."

He had just finished speaking when he suddenly began coughing violently. One hand covered his chest, and his face paled by several shades.

Seeing that Wang Chong's expression was off, Cheng Lianshan abruptly stood up:

"You're injured? Sit down, quickly. What exactly happened?"

Chen Jing immediately rose and helped Wang Chong sit, then briefly recounted what had happened on their way here, when they encountered Clear Wind Stronghold.

He began from when they ran into the mountain bandits blocking the road, then spoke of cutting through the wild woods to detour, and of spending the night in the mountain ditch only to run into Steward Bai being hunted down.

When everyone encounters advertisements like "Are you a real person?", there is no need to pay attention. Just close them. Do not scan the code or send text messages!

Then, when it came to the desperate battle with that tall, thin mountain bandit, Chen Jing described it very briefly, but Cheng Lianshan's brows knitted tighter and tighter as he listened.

After hearing it, Cheng Lianshan gave a cold snort and slapped the armrest with one palm, making even the tea bowl tremble along with it:

"What a fine Clear Wind Stronghold. After lying quiet for several years, they have come out to stir up trouble again."

"Qingshi, go at once and invite a physician over to examine your Uncle Wang."

Cheng Qingshi cupped his hands and assented, then turned and left.

"Qinghe, take Little Jing to settle in, and familiarize him with the hall's environment and all the relevant matters along the way."

Cheng Lianshan then said to Wang Chong, "Wang Chong, you should first recuperate here with me. We can catch up on old times as well."

Mei Qinghe led Chen Jing out of the main hall and walked along the rear courtyard's long corridor, pointing things out and introducing them as they went.

She spoke briskly, quickly but without disorder.

First, she pointed to several courtyards in the inner compound. That was the Cheng family's private residence, and even they, as inner-courtyard disciples, were not allowed to barge in casually unless there was an emergency.

After that, Mei Qinghe took him to see the kitchen, the bathhouse, the storeroom, and the privy one by one, and also told him the daily times for meals and training.

Finally, he led Chen Jing around into the front courtyard's martial training ground.

On the training ground, the resolute-looking young man from before was currently instructing disciples in their fist techniques.

Mei Qinghe led Chen Jing forward. "Little Jing, this is your eldest senior brother, Zhang Chengji. Eldest Senior Brother, this is the new personal disciple Master has accepted. His name is Chen Jing."

Zhang Chengji paused for a moment, clearly not having heard from their master that he would be taking in a new disciple today, but he reacted very quickly.

He looked Chen Jing up and down, then nodded, his tone steady. "Practice your martial arts well. Do not let our sect's reputation fall."

His words were polite, but Chen Jing read a trace of appraisal in his eyes—the natural measure a person who had managed affairs for years took of a newcomer. There was no malice in it, but it could not be called warmth either.

The disciples on the training ground had also heard Mei Qinghe's words, and all of them actually stopped what they were doing, putting their heads together and starting to discuss it.

Chen Jing had entered the inner courtyard and become a personal disciple.

Some people showed envy, but more of them were doubtful.

After all, according to common sense, aside from Cheng Qingshi, who had been accepted directly as a personal disciple because he was Cheng Lianshan's son, the rest of the five inner-courtyard personal disciples, such as Zhang Chengji and Mei Qinghe, had all first trained bitterly in the outer courtyard, stood out from among dozens or even hundreds of people, and only then been noticed by Cheng Lianshan and accepted into the inner courtyard.

Chen Jing, however, had skipped this entire process and directly become the hall master's personal disciple. This meant he had directly broken this fair rule, so naturally quite a few people felt resentful.

After Mei Qinghe left with Chen Jing, the martial training ground exploded into uproar. Someone gloated as he jerked his chin toward an ordinary-looking young man.

"Zhou Fan, your stance work should be close to great completion, right?"

"We all thought the next one to enter the inner courtyard would be you. Who would've thought a Chen Jing would suddenly pop up?"

"I reckon Master won't be accepting anyone else into the inner courtyard for a while."

Zhou Fan did not speak. He only watched Chen Jing's receding back and silently clenched his fists.

Mei Qinghe brought Chen Jing to a side courtyard. Two loquat trees were planted in the yard, and several side rooms were arranged along the wall, most of them empty.

"This was originally the residence for inner-courtyard disciples."

"However, the other senior and junior brothers each have their own homes in the city, so only Sixth Junior Brother lives here permanently. You may choose a room for yourself."

She pointed at one of the side rooms with its door tightly shut. "Sixth Junior Brother lives in that one. His name is Liang Youheng, Steward Liang's grandson. You'll have a chance to meet him later."

Chen Jing nodded and chose an empty room facing south.

When he pushed open the window, he could see the small garden in the rear courtyard and the outline of the city wall in the distance.

Mei Qinghe then said, "There are still a few matters I need to make clear to you first."

"You have been accepted into the inner courtyard by Master, so naturally your tuition, food, and lodging are waived. One medicinal bath every five days and one portion of Blood-Qi Powder every ten days—these will also be covered by Master."

"But if you want to advance quickly, these martial resources are far from enough, so everyone does not rely solely on Master's support."

"Apart from Eldest Senior Brother, who helps Master teach disciples and manage the martial hall, and Fourth Junior Brother, who is Master's own son, each receiving extra subsidies, the other senior and junior brothers all have their own livelihoods."