Martial Meet

At the entrance to White Cloud Martial Academy,

countless disciples crowded around a notice.

Chen Fan stopped.

"Flying Spirit Young Talents Martial Meet?"

His eyes lit up.

It turned out that, in order to encourage disciples to strive forward, the martial academies throughout Flying Spirit County had jointly organized an exchange meet.

Only disciples under eighteen were allowed to participate.

The registration fee was one tael of silver.

It covered the entire county.

The top thirty in the exchange meet would receive twenty taels of silver, while the top fifteen would receive thirty taels.

The top three would not only receive forty taels of silver, but also additional prizes.

First place would receive ten Deer Placenta Pills.

Second place would receive thirty bowls of White Cloud Secret Decoction.

Third place would receive an additional twenty taels of silver.

Chen Fan did not know about the other prizes, but White Cloud Secret Decoction cost one tael of silver per bowl. Thirty bowls only ranked second, so the Deer Placenta Pills awarded for first place had to be worth even more.

"This is heaven-sent!"

The money Chen Fan had left would not even cover a few months of expenses. He decisively spent one tael of silver to register.

He was already short on money, and he also wanted to display his "talent" and earn the martial academy's support.

Discovering such an opportunity so early truly killed two birds with one stone!

Never mind the Deer Placenta Pills, whose effects he did not know—even the silver alone made this exchange meet worth entering...

Making it into the top thirty meant twenty taels of silver, which was already quite a substantial sum!

After all, Chen Fan already had martial arts training, and the academy's higher-ups knew it. Revealing some of his strength was nothing unusual.

At present, aside from the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm, Chen Fan's strongest martial art was the Tiger Fist, which he had somehow broken through to the sixth form.

Chen Fan had also learned that the Tiger Fist was not a secret art exclusive to the Flying Tiger Sect, so there was nothing to hide.

The exchange meet was restricted to those under eighteen.

That meant there would basically be no martial artists with outrageously high strength!

This exchange meet was not merely an opportunity for Chen Fan to earn money. It was also a chance for him to further test his strength and show what he could do.

Although his battle with Pi Liu had been a life-and-death fight, Chen Fan had launched a sneak attack first, making it different from an ordinary spar.

The Black Cloud Class often held practice bouts as well, but there had never been formal combat. Chen Fan had no chance for enlightenment, and his practical combat experience was fairly lacking.

Chen Fan still remembered that his Tiger Fist had broken through during his fight with Pi Liu. Clearly, using a fist technique in real combat could also fulfill its hidden conditions!

He also had another thought. If he displayed sufficient talent and strength, he could receive more thorough training from White Cloud Martial Academy!

His cultivation was unusual, but showing an appropriate amount of talent might not be a bad thing. So long as he firmly kept hidden the fact that he could cultivate three martial arts at once, and did not reveal that he had already mastered more than ten strength-training manuals, it would be fine.

Three days later.

Early morning.

Chen Fan arrived at the entrance of White Cloud Martial Academy early in the day.

There, he saw numerous carriages parked outside!

Today was the day the martial meet began.

The disciples of White Cloud Martial Academy would act together under the leadership of an instructor surnamed Zhu.

More than fifty students from White Cloud Martial Academy had registered for the exchange meet. Some were disciples confident in their own strength, while others were newer disciples who simply wanted to broaden their horizons!

When Chen Fan boarded a carriage, he unexpectedly saw Lin Mo and Su Qingyang from his class.

Both had prior martial arts training, according to Feng Cong. They were also two of the few people Feng Cong valued most, second only to He Hongshan.

Su Qingyang was even the young master of the Great Passage Trading Company, so Chen Fan had known him for quite some time.

The two sat together in the carriage, whispering to each other.

He Hongshan had not come.

Chen Fan gave them a slight nod. "You two are participating in the exchange meet too?"

They had seen Chen Fan as well. Lin Mo merely nodded coldly, while Su Qingyang glanced at Chen Fan and did not even respond.

Though they were classmates, they had never been particularly close.

The two were clearly distant, and Chen Fan had no intention of forcing himself into their company. He walked straight to the other side of the carriage and sat down.

The carriages provided by White Cloud Martial Academy were quite large, able to seat more than ten people.

Lin Mo and Su Qingyang did not spare Chen Fan another glance.

Soon, someone boarded the carriage and headed directly toward Chen Fan. He was a member of Bao Tianyou's little group, a young man called Meng Qi who had been an outer disciple for more than two years.

He was also from a wealthy family.

This man seemed rather familiar and easygoing. Though he had only met Chen Fan a few times, he warmly sat beside him and threw an arm around his shoulders!

Compared to Lin Mo and Su Qingyang's indifference, Chen Fan could only shake his head helplessly.

Meng Qi asked, "Chen Fan, you're joining the exchange meet too? I've heard you have good talent, but you've only been at the martial academy for a few days. What's the rush?"

Chen Fan smiled. "I was born with a strong physique, and I practiced martial arts before joining the academy. I might even make it into the county's top thirty this time and win some prize money."

Across from him, Lin Mo and Su Qingyang watched Chen Fan chatting and laughing with Meng Qi. When they heard his words, their expressions became somewhat strange.

They shook their heads and exchanged looks, their eyes carrying a hint of mockery...

Yet neither said a word.

The two considered themselves stronger than Chen Fan. Even they did not dare claim they could place in the martial meet; winning two or three rounds would already be good enough. Chen Fan had immediately spoken of making the top thirty—how could that be so easy?

They had the talent to master first-rate manuals, making them among the most gifted in Flying Spirit County. Unfortunately, they were still young, with another five or six years before they turned eighteen.

Who knew how many young geniuses from across the county would participate in this martial meet? The top thirty might not all be martial artists who had cultivated true arts, but they would at least be geniuses who had developed inner breath and possessed vigorous qi and blood!

At thirteen or fourteen, they had simply trained for too short a time. Breaking into the top thirty would likely be extremely difficult.

Chen Fan did not know the full situation. The ignorant knew no fear, and he was naturally confident in his own strength, but he had no idea that his two classmates, Lin Mo and Su Qingyang, saw him as a country bumpkin who did not know his limits.

Meng Qi pursed his lips and shook his head with a laugh. "It'll be difficult. You need to know that while there are few entry disciples under eighteen who have cultivated true arts, they do exist. Those who cultivate true arts need resources and money even more, so quite a few of them should participate this time. But in this exchange meet, inner-breath martial artists are actually the ones who need to worry more..."

Chen Fan was startled. "Inner-breath martial artists? Wouldn't they only be outer disciples?"

Meng Qi shook his head. "If you compare outer disciples to all entry disciples, then of course there's no comparison at all. But this martial meet has one major restriction: participants must be under eighteen. Instructor Feng from your Black Cloud Class should have explained that the best time to train strength and lay one's foundation is during one's teens..."

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly. "He did mention that!"

Meng Fan continued, "Unless someone has an unusual physique, is a martial arts prodigy with extraordinarily powerful qi and blood, or is truly exceptionally gifted and has mastered a first-rate manual early on, even if they develop inner breath before eighteen, not many would really choose to immediately begin cultivating true arts—"

"A towering building rises from the ground; the importance of a foundation goes without saying. You should know that we are outer disciples because we have yet to cultivate inner breath, but some people remain outer disciples because they are aiming for greater goals..."

Chen Fan naturally understood.

Those with good talent might master one manual before turning eighteen, then wish to train another to further strengthen their foundation!

They were in no hurry to cultivate true arts!

Those with less talent, on the other hand, found it extremely difficult to even develop a sense of qi before eighteen. Even if they did, they would only have trained relatively poor strength-training manuals. Their speed in cultivating true arts would be far inferior to others, and their strength would not be particularly impressive either, so there was no need to worry about them.

Of course, there were exceptions. There were also people with decent foundations who had cultivated true arts. Such people were strong contenders for the championship of this martial meet.

There should not be many of them, though...

"So the people we need to watch out for are not just the small number of entry disciples, but also many outer disciples!"