Talent and Principles of Action

The young men and women all settled into horse stances, raised their guards, and began practicing their palms.

Smack! Smack!

Palm strikes tore through the air.

Feng Cong's gaze swept across the crowd.

His eyes were sharp.

Almost everyone's palm techniques had only the shape, without grasping the essence of the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm.

Yet even without mastering its essence, there were still differences in talent.

The disciples from wealthy families generally had better foundations. Most had practiced martial arts before and held greater advantages in cultivation.

The few who performed best were all scions of Flying Spirit County's great clans.

Among the three from commoner families, Feng Cong was most satisfied with Chen Fan's performance!

Of course, even if Chen Fan's innate talent was poor, he had already fully mastered seven strength-training manuals. His physique was powerful, and his blood and vitality were vigorous.

With such a strong natural foundation, along with so much experience, he far surpassed ordinary people!

In the end, Feng Cong withdrew his gaze and fixed it firmly upon a black-haired girl in the front row, sharp light flickering in his eyes.

The girl was only eleven or twelve, yet her bearing was fierce. White steam rose from her head as her fists shot out with repeated smacks.

She was also the disciple practicing with the most convincing form!

She was visibly different from the others and had faintly grasped a trace of the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm's subtle wonders.

Once the medicinal effects faded and the young students finished their drills,

Feng Cong swept his gaze over them and nodded slightly. "Su Qingyang, Lin Mo, Wang Mian... and Chen Fan. You four have all practiced martial arts before, haven't you? You have solid foundations. You all have a chance of mastering this palm technique!"

Having trained in strength-training manuals before would naturally help when learning other martial arts, though only in the early stages.

Chen Fan's heart stirred. As expected, the man had seen that he had practiced martial arts before.

Feng Cong was, after all, an instructor at the White Cloud Martial Academy. He ought to be an accomplished martial artist himself. It would have been strange if he lacked such discernment!

Still, he did not ask why Chen Fan, a commoner's son, had practiced martial arts, sparing Chen Fan some trouble.

The students whispered among themselves and looked toward the four people who had been singled out for praise.

Those beside Chen Fan all looked at him in surprise.

"You've been hiding your skills well, kid."

The wealthy children were one thing, but Chen Fan, a mere commoner, also having martial arts training was truly surprising!

Still, they were merely surprised.

Having prior training was not particularly rare at the White Cloud Martial Academy.

Whether they could master the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm in the future was another matter entirely!

Then Instructor Feng Cong walked smilingly before the black-haired girl. "You are He Hongshan of the He Clan, correct? I had long heard that you possessed the finest martial talent among Flying Spirit County's younger generation. It seems the rumors were true. Your fist technique is the best! You are far stronger than even Lin Mo and the others!"

The girl had been singled out alone, clearly marking her as extraordinary.

The girl nodded proudly. "Thank you for your praise, Instructor."

Feng Cong nodded with a smile, satisfaction showing on his face. He silently committed the girl to memory and had already regarded her as one of the martial academy's seed disciples!

One step ahead, every step ahead.

People with such fine talent and strong family backgrounds naturally possessed greater advantages than others.

The White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm was exceedingly difficult to cultivate. Although the Black Cloud Class had many disciples from great clans and was far superior to ordinary classes, there might not be more than a few who could master this martial art in the future.

Feng Cong smiled and swept his gaze over the crowd. "Good, very good. It seems that within a few years, our class will produce quite a number of formal disciples. And if someone can master the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm, they can go a step further..."

Feng Cong did not continue.

So-called formal disciples were those who had completely mastered a strength-training manual, passed the assessment, and truly become part of the martial academy's core!

Formal disciples were the core of the White Cloud Martial Academy. Their numbers were few; they were either exceptionally gifted or outstandingly powerful, all true martial artists!

Yet those who mastered the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm seemed to receive some other opportunity, their status even higher than that of formal disciples.

Elsewhere, Chen Fan watched the girl before Feng Cong with a strange feeling in his heart.

A wealthy disciple surnamed He?

There could not possibly be a second He Clan in Flying Spirit County, could there?

He still remembered how Li Linliu of the White Cloud Martial Academy had publicly taught the He Clan's disciples a lesson in the street.

In his view, even if the White Cloud Martial Academy did not fear a behemoth like the He Clan, the two sides ought to have become estranged over that matter. Yet the He Clan had unexpectedly sent one of their own disciples here!

"The White Cloud Martial Academy truly isn't an ordinary martial academy. I wonder whether Li Linliu is a formal disciple?"

He grew curious about the White Cloud Martial Academy—and even more curious about the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm!

However, looking at the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm progress bar before him, Chen Fan felt rather helpless. At present, he could only auto-train three martial arts. He could not possibly master it anytime soon and would need another ten or so days before he had an opening!

After explaining the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm's essentials once more, Feng Cong allowed the students to cultivate freely.

He answered questions whenever they arose.

Whether they could master the palm technique would ultimately depend on each person's talent and effort!

Chen Fan, however, felt rather awkward.

His situation was special. Rather than cultivating bitterly, it was more suitable for him to seek opportunities for "sudden enlightenment," fulfill the hidden conditions of auto-training, and increase its efficiency!

But under the present circumstances, he could hardly say he was leaving just like that. He could only honestly practice his fists!

"My talent is unusual. Coming to the martial academy has actually restricted me, but if I hadn't entered it, I would have had no path to continue cultivating..."

Chen Fan knew full well that he had no choice at all!

With countless thoughts running through his mind, Chen Fan's fist practice looked reasonably convincing, but he was ultimately far from diligent...

It was a matter of mentality.

Meanwhile, Feng Cong, who was quietly watching the many students practice, could not help frowning.

He had been observing his disciples all along, paying particular attention to those with prior training!

He had also noticed Chen Fan's absent-mindedness while practicing.

How could he know of Chen Fan's special circumstances? Naturally, he felt disappointed!

Yet he did not step forward to reprimand Chen Fan directly.

As a teacher, he understood that preaching alone was useless. Only by personally experiencing the helplessness of progressing more slowly than others could one find greater determination to strive forward!

Thus, he shook his head, shifted his gaze, and looked toward the girl named He Hongshan, an unconscious smile appearing on his face.

Chen Fan had no idea that his instructor had already noticed him. He continued absent-mindedly rehearsing his fist technique, while his mind dwelled on the special conditions needed to improve the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm's training efficiency.

The imagery of white clouds, pines, and cranes was naturally easy enough to understand, but actually seeing them would not be easy.

He had never heard of any cranes in Flying Spirit County. Did Yan Capital City have any?

Besides.

He also remembered that when he had killed Pi Liu, using Tiger Fist had allowed him to comprehend Tiger Fist's profound meaning. Did that mean that as long as he sparred with others, he could fulfill certain special conditions and gain sudden enlightenment?

Time passed amid Chen Fan's daily bitter cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

During this time, he had sparred with his fellow disciples and used the martial arts he was currently auto-training, but he had gained nothing like he had with Tiger Fist!

"Could it be that only real combat works?" Chen Fan thought of how he had secretly killed Pi Liu. In the end, he shook his head and decided not to deliberately do the same thing again at this stage.

Real combat might bring improvement, but it also meant danger.

Even without taking risks, he could still maintain rapid progress. There was simply no need for him to gamble!

At the same time, over these past half-months, Chen Fan discovered that his White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm, which he had not yet begun auto-training, had reached 2% progress!

This was the result of half a month of hard training through his own efforts alone.

"My body truly has no talent for martial arts. Without auto-training, I don't know whether it would take ten or twenty years to master the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm..."

Yet Chen Fan was not particularly disappointed.

On the contrary, he became even firmer in his principles for future action...

Bitter cultivation merely wasted his capacity for action!

Achieve twice the result with half the effort!

Auto-training on one side while finding opportunities for "sudden enlightenment" to increase its efficiency and progress—that was the proper path!

And on this day, one of the three martial arts Chen Fan was auto-training, a third-grade strength-training manual, finally reached full progress. He could at last begin auto-training the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm!

Once he began auto-training this martial art, its progress rose by nearly 4% in a single day!

It was unknown how many times better than practicing it himself!

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