Further Insight into Wind-Thunder Palm

Clang!

A huge bronze gong was struck.

It announced the official start of the competition.

"Fifth ring, first match: Ou Daming of Cold Plum Pavilion versus Yong Shiyu of White Cloud Martial Academy!"

Chen Fan watched as two boys in differently colored martial uniforms stepped onto the ring.

Cold Plum Pavilion was not really any different from other martial academies. It was simply that its master was a woman with refined tastes, so she had chosen a distinctive name.

The two soon began fighting.

Yong Shiyu was a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy. Chen Fan vaguely remembered seeing him before; he was also an older outer disciple.

Chen Fan widened his eyes and watched their fight with utmost seriousness!

This was also the first battle he had watched.

Their strengths were roughly equal, and they traded blows back and forth. Their movements were fierce and swift, making for quite an intense fight!

Yet after watching for a while, Chen Fan began to feel drowsy. He found it rather boring.

In his eyes, both of them were full of openings, and their skill was truly mediocre!

Strength-training manuals were originally more effective for body tempering than actual combat. Chen Fan had practiced so many of them that his strength far surpassed that of ordinary people. He could see the flaws and gaps in both fighters' techniques at a glance, so naturally, he found it uninteresting!

After quite some time, however, the battle finally began to gradually tilt in favor of the boy named Ou Daming...

At that moment, Chen Fan heard an unabashed yawn from nearby.

He could not help turning around.

Beside him sat a burly boy in a black martial robe, his face full of disdain.

"Weak. Far too weak. What a bore. I thought the disciples of White Cloud Martial Academy would be outstanding, but seeing them today, their level is really nothing special..."

Chen Fan recognized the boy's martial robe. He belonged to the Flying Tiger Sect. Yet judging by his age, he was only fourteen or fifteen, so he was likely an outer disciple as well!

The moment he said that, several White Cloud Martial Academy disciples glared at him furiously.

"What did you say?!"

He was not merely commenting on Yong Shiyu. He had even dragged White Cloud Martial Academy into it, practically mocking them all.

Feng Yuancheng narrowed his eyes and sized up the boy. Seeing his youthful face and confirming that he was not among the people worth noting, he did not take him seriously.

Since martial training could also harm the body, most youths generally began genuinely practicing strength-training arts at twelve or thirteen. Before then, they only underwent basic foundational training.

Su Qingyang, however, narrowed his eyes and looked at the boy indignantly.

"Hmph, even if the disciples of White Cloud Martial Academy are useless, beating your Flying Tiger Sect would still be easy. Just pray you do not run into any of us later!"

The Flying Tiger Sect boy gave a snort of laughter, then shook his head without saying anything.

Yet his expression was thoroughly infuriating.

"You!"

The several White Cloud Martial Academy disciples could not help feeling angry at the sight.

Feng Yuancheng merely swept his gaze over the boy without saying a word, clearly not taking the provocation to heart.

Meanwhile...

Chen Fan frowned slightly. The boy's actions were clearly deliberate!

Was he intentionally trying to anger the White Cloud Martial Academy disciples?

White Cloud Martial Academy was Flying Spirit County's number one martial academy, and it was also a branch opened by an outside martial academy. It was perfectly normal for it and the local martial academies to dislike each other, and martial academies encouraged their disciples to compete against one another as well.

There were nearly five hundred people in this exchange meet, and the five rings would determine the top thirty.

In other words, each ring had around eighty participants, and only six would ultimately advance!

As countless thoughts flashed through Chen Fan's mind, the match on the ring had already ended.

Yong Shiyu had lost. He walked off the ring like a wilted eggplant, his face flushed red. Coming to Feng Yuancheng's side, he said, "Senior Brother Feng, I... I lost."

Feng Yuancheng shook his head. "Victory and defeat are common in battle. Your strength is no worse than his. You were simply a little unlucky this time. Keep working hard in the future."

Though Feng Yuancheng was not old, he carried himself with great poise and had the bearing of a senior instructor. He truly was extraordinary.

Yong Shiyu's face reddened further. He clenched his fists tightly and nodded.

Chen Fan secretly nodded as well.

This was the meaning behind holding martial competitions.

Even after losing,

one had to recognize one's shortcomings and feel the unwillingness in one's heart in order to strive harder.

Around ten members of White Cloud Martial Academy had been assigned to the fifth ring!

After Yong Shiyu's defeat and two more matches, it was once again White Cloud Martial Academy's turn to send someone up.

It was Meng Qi.

"Good luck, Senior Brother Meng Qi!" Chen Fan cheered politely.

Meng Qi grinned and nodded, then turned to cup his fists toward Feng Yuancheng. "Senior Brother, I'm going!"

Meng Qi was actually seventeen as well, and the two had even joined White Cloud Martial Academy in the same year. However, since his strength was inferior, he naturally had to address Feng Yuancheng as Senior Brother!

There was no designated leader for the fifth ring, but everyone, including the two inner disciples, naturally regarded Feng Yuancheng as their leader because he was the strongest!

Meng Qi's opponent was a disciple from a boxing school called Open Mountain School in one of Flying Spirit County's towns. He was a martial artist who had already begun cultivating true arts, though he was only at the first level. His inner breath had just transformed into true essence, and he had yet to begin tempering his body!

Meng Qi's cultivation was a notch weaker, yet he maintained the upper hand throughout.

The sight made the people around the ring sigh repeatedly. White Cloud Martial Academy's foundation was simply too formidable!

Meng Qi also practiced Wind-Thunder Palm. As expected of someone who had been training for more than three years, his proficiency was extremely high. He was only a hair's breadth away from comprehending inner breath!

Chen Fan had now fully mastered the first move of Wind-Thunder Palm, while the second move was still progressing and would take nearly a month to reach completion.

Although Meng Qi could not compare to a freak like Feng Yuancheng, he was still a genius. He possessed excellent mental fortitude, had been trained since childhood, and fought steadily without falling behind in the slightest. He even honed his palm technique through actual combat, unleashing all five moves of Wind-Thunder Palm one after another!

Every bit of it fell into Chen Fan's eyes.

Chen Fan possessed quite a few manuals and had an excellent eye for martial arts. He felt neither fighter was particularly impressive. He imagined how he himself would make his moves and fight his opponent, and his hands itched to get onto the ring for a match.

As he watched, Meng Fan had already gone through the five moves of Wind-Thunder Palm once before driving his enemy back with a punch and ultimately winning the spar!

His opponent was clearly at the first level of martial cultivation, yet he had lost to someone who had not even cultivated inner breath. He looked as though his parents had died, his face ashen!

This was the enormous difference brought by one's foundation!

Chen Fan yawned, feeling that it was nothing special. Then suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he froze.

[You observed a higher-level demonstration of *Wind-Thunder Palm* and gained insight.]

Chen Fan's eyes immediately widened.

He rubbed his eyes and, only after confirming that he had not misread it, revealed an ecstatic expression.

That worked too!

So he could gain insight simply by watching others!

This improvement was not to any particular move. Instead, the second, third, fourth, and fifth moves had each improved by 20%.

His cultivation efficiency had increased by roughly twenty percent!

Although it was not an "epiphany" and could not compare to seeing the true Wind-Thunder manifestation before, it was still a decent improvement!

Furthermore, unlike an epiphany, which required him to practice the palm technique before his progress could improve, this directly increased his progress!

Chen Fan's second move of Wind-Thunder Palm was therefore immediately completed!

So long as I observe someone at a higher level demonstrating martial arts, I can trigger the hidden condition. Huh, no... When I practiced White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm, I remember Master Feng Cong demonstrating it as well. Why did my progress not improve then?

Chen Fan frowned in thought.

He compared the differences between the two in his heart.

When Feng Cong demonstrated the technique, he had not performed the entire White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm at once. He had demonstrated it separately, and he had done so for instruction. Meng Fan, however, had used it during an actual spar!

He did not know whether his guess was correct, but he could slowly compare them later. He only needed to try more often.

Sure enough, I did not come to this martial meet for nothing!

Obtaining such important information was even more valuable than the prize money for reaching the top thirty.

Meng Qi walked down from the ring with a smile and returned to Chen Fan's side.

"Senior Brother, you were amazing!"

Chen Fan beamed with delight and raised a thumbs-up in congratulations.

Meng Qi felt a little embarrassed by this. Junior Brother Chen Fan is really polite.

He had no idea how excited Chen Fan truly was.

Originally, Chen Fan had obediently waited by the fifth ring and watched the matches.

But after learning that observing others' manuals could help raise his own progress, he began running between the different rings to watch the battles.

He searched for people using one of the three martial arts he was currently practicing during their matches!

However, how could things be such a coincidence? Even if someone practiced one of Chen Fan's current martial arts, their progress might not exceed his. Even if it did, they might not use that technique during combat.

After all, Flying Spirit County had more than ten martial academies, with dozens of strength-training manuals between them.

Chen Fan had long since bought and learned most of the simple, common strength-training manuals from that scruffy man from the Flying Tiger Sect. He had not practiced some of the specialized and unique ones.

Chen Fan made several rounds without gaining anything. Only after quite a while did he return to his own ring, drawing a few extra glances from Feng Yuancheng and the inner disciples.

Chen Fan silently returned to his seat and thought to himself:

It will not be easy to fulfill the condition again. Next time, I can specifically spar with senior brothers and junior brothers who have mastered the manuals I have set to idle cultivation, and have them directly use the moves...

At that moment, the referee's voice rang out. "Eleventh match: Yan Lincu of the Flying Tiger Sect versus Su Qingyang of White Cloud Martial Academy!"

It was Su Qingyang's turn to fight.

What Chen Fan had not expected was that Su Qingyang's opponent was precisely the Flying Tiger Sect boy who had tried to provoke them earlier!

So his name was Yan Lincu.

Su Qingyang also looked surprised, then snorted. "Watch me teach this guy a proper lesson!"

With that, he gracefully leaped onto the ring.

Chen Fan knew that their Black Cloud Class was an elite disciple class. Su Qingyang was a disciple whose talent was second only to He Hongshan's, and he had already possessed martial skills before practicing White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm. Even if he had not cultivated inner breath, his strength was probably not weak.

Among those his age, there should be few who could compare with him!

"I'll deal with you in three moves!"

The two were about the same age, and Su Qingyang was a genius disciple of White Cloud Martial Academy, so he was naturally more confident. Still harboring anger over the boy's earlier words, he raised both hands and struck out with a palm!

Smack!

Although Su Qingyang was also practicing White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm, the move he used was clearly not from that palm art.

Yan Lincu smiled faintly. With agile movements, he easily sidestepped the palm strike. Then, like lightning, he lunged forward with a fierce punch, perfectly seizing the opening after Su Qingyang's palm strike!

Thud.

Su Qingyang's outstretched palm went numb. He felt an overwhelming force surge through his arm!

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

He staggered back several steps, feeling even the arm that had been struck tremble.

Only then did he look at the boy opposite him in shock. "How can your strength be so great?"

A teasing glint flashed through Yan Lincu's eyes as he burst into laughter. "It is not that I am strong. Your strength is simply too weak."

With that, he stepped forward, bent his body, and threw another punch.

His blood and qi surged violently.

Su Qingyang hurriedly tried to block, but how could he withstand it? After two or three blows, he was knocked off the ring.

"Yan Lincu of the Flying Tiger Sect wins!"

This battle could be said to have been the fastest-ending match among all the fights on the fifth ring.

Su Qingyang's face flushed red. Thinking of his bold declaration before the match, he felt unbearably ashamed and furious!