White Cloud Secret Decoction

White Cloud Martial Academy had a total of thirty-three strength-training manuals. As long as one enrolled as an outer disciple and completed the standard basic training, one could freely choose which strength-training manual to cultivate.

Among these thirty-three strength-training manuals,

Chen Fan even spotted the Tiger Fist he had already mastered. It was listed among the nine second-rate manuals—yet ranked at the very bottom!

However, Chen Fan's Tiger Fist had been cultivated to the sixth form, and its quality had improved considerably, allowing it to climb quite a few places in the rankings.

Besides that,

there were also several manuals Chen Fan had practiced, such as the Great Hand Seal and Duck-Walking Fist, but they were only ranked third-rate!

"These manuals are all common manuals, nothing rare. No wonder that man dared to spread them around so casually..."

While this relieved Chen Fan, it also left him astonished and tongue-tied.

Tiger Fist could only be considered middle-tier among these thirty-three manuals. There were nine manuals better than it in total!

"No wonder the manuals I cultivated afterward had worse and worse effects on improving my body. Their grades were too low..."

Even though Tiger Fist was merely at the bottom of the second-rate tier, it was still far better than third-rate manuals. Cultivating three or four of those might only equal the effect of this one!

And among the thirty-three manuals,

there was only one at the highest level: the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm!

When it came time to choose a martial art, nearly all twenty-plus members of the Black Cloud Class chose to cultivate the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm!

"Just as I expected."

Feng Cong smiled at the students before him. Those who had spent dozens of taels of silver to enroll in the martial academy naturally harbored ambitions of advancing.

Everyone wanted to learn the best manual!

Even if they could not master it, they still wanted to give it a try!

"I must remind all of you that although strength-training manuals are foundational martial arts, they still have thresholds... Generally speaking, the better the quality of a manual, the greater its effects—but the harder it is to cultivate. The higher the grade of the manual, the better its strength-training effect, and the more powerful its moves."

"However, the gap in strength and one's future path will also grow wider. If you cultivate internal breath through a second-rate manual, you will definitely be stronger than a martial artist at the first or even second realm who built their foundation with a third-rate manual."

Since they were all beginners, Feng Cong did not explain the concepts of the first and second martial realms in detail. He continued,

"Half a month and three months after confirming your chosen manual, I will assess your cultivation progress twice. If your progress is too poor and you remain unable to even get started, I will advise you to switch to another manual! I must also remind you that based on the usual success rate among ordinary-class disciples, an entire class may not even have one person capable of mastering this art!"

The White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm was White Cloud Martial Academy's exclusive manual.

Even with the manual in hand, it was difficult to get started. One needed to supplement it with White Cloud Martial Academy's special decoction to have any chance of mastering it. Thus, even descendants of great families who could obtain the fist manual still had to come to White Cloud Martial Academy to study.

Although White Cloud Martial Academy charged the highest tuition fees, disciples still came in an endless stream every year to enroll.

Of course, White Cloud Martial Academy did not allow one to cultivate at the academy without limit merely because they had paid the tuition.

The academy also imposed requirements and restrictions on these outer disciples.

Those who could not get started with even a single manual within a year could not remain in the academy!

Feng Cong smiled at the students. "Does anyone else have any questions?"

Chen Fan raised his hand and asked, "Can I choose to cultivate two manuals?"

Feng Cong smiled faintly. Seeing the coarse linen clothes beneath Chen Fan's vest, he knew that Chen Fan was a commoner disciple, so he patiently explained,

"Outer disciples may freely borrow strength-training manuals. Such manuals can strengthen one's vital blood and lay the foundation for martial arts, so it is indeed possible to cultivate several at once. But a person's energy is limited, and strength training is only a martial artist's entry point. If you waste too much time at this stage, the losses will outweigh the gains."

"Therefore, the martial world generally has an unwritten rule: eighteen is the dividing line. Before eighteen, it is naturally a good thing if you can master one or two more strength-training manuals and build a more solid foundation. If you cannot, then it is better to give them up!"

"Not to mention that the human body has limits. Once one's vital blood expands to a certain point, even if you cultivate multiple strength-training manuals, their effects will grow worse and worse!"

Chen Fan nodded in understanding.

After Chen Fan followed Feng Cong's instructions and demonstrated its form once, the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm was unlocked.

If he had not still had three martial arts that he had yet to finish cultivating, he would have immediately started raising its progress.

Though he could not set it to auto-cultivate for now, it had already been unlocked, so he could see its auto-cultivation efficiency.

Its rate naturally could not compare to Tiger Fist and the like.

It was only close to 4% per day.

That was two or three times slower than Tiger Fist had been at the beginning!

This left Chen Fan clicking his tongue in amazement.

The White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm was divided into six forms, not many more than the others, yet its progress was so slow. By his estimate, it would take Chen Fan five or six months to fully master this art.

"As expected, it's extraordinary."

Chen Fan clicked his tongue in wonder. The third-rate strength-training manuals he was currently cultivating would take him less than a month to fully master.

Even Tiger Fist at the start, before its cultivation efficiency had been accelerated, could be mastered in two months!

Yet this one would take nearly half a year!

And that was on the foundation that he had already mastered seven strength-training manuals and his body had become many times stronger!

He looked forward to it even more. In roughly ten days, he would be able to free up a slot. Once that happened, what effect would cultivating the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm have?

The next day,

to accompany his cultivation of the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm, Chen Fan received his first bowl of White Cloud Secret Decoction.

For the first half year after enrolling, every White Cloud Martial Academy student could receive one bowl of special decoction each month to assist their cultivation!

This decoction had miraculous effects on cultivating strength-training arts.

The White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm even required the decoction for there to be any possibility of mastery.

Of course, the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm was exceedingly difficult. Even after drinking the decoction, most people still could not enter its gates!

However, those with money at home could pay extra to buy more.

One tael of silver per bowl.

There had to be an interval of at least a week between each dose.

This astonished Chen Fan greatly.

His previous monthly wages had only been around three taels of silver, which was already quite a lot among commoners.

In terms of purchasing power in his previous life, one tael of silver was roughly equivalent to a thousand yuan!

One tael of silver could only buy a bowl of soup. What kind of soup was this?

Looking at the steaming medicinal brew, its bitter scent of Chinese herbs wafting through the air, Chen Fan clicked his tongue in amazement before pouring it down his throat in one gulp.

The moment Chen Fan drank the decoction, he felt a wave of heat radiating continuously from his abdomen.

At the same time, Chen Fan, who normally had an enormous appetite, somehow felt uncomfortably bloated.

When he turned his head, he saw that every classmate who had drunk the decoction had flushed red in the face.

Feng Cong smiled at everyone. "Start practicing your fist techniques. Practice the form I taught you today!"

The purpose of this decoction was for its effects to be absorbed into one's limbs and bones through constant fist practice.