White Crane Painting

Bao Tianyou's talent was not particularly outstanding, only about on par with Meng Qi's. He had already tried to recruit Chen Fan before, and this time, he directly invited Chen Fan to become a retainer of the Bao Clan!

Normally, invitations to become a retainer only came after one had truly begun cultivating internal arts and attained a certain level of strength.

Bao Tianyou invited him ahead of time because he valued Chen Fan's comprehension and talent!

After all, Chen Fan was not even fourteen yet, yet he had managed to break into the top thirty of the martial tournament.

Moreover, he practiced formidable martial arts such as Wind-Thunder Palm and White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm.

For someone Chen Fan's age to possess such strength, he had to be naturally endowed with powerful qi and blood. Even if his innate physique was ordinary and he could not master White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm in the future, he would still have a greater advantage than ordinary people in cultivating internal arts. It would not be difficult for him to become one of the most outstanding beginner disciples of White Cloud Martial Academy!

Bao Tianyou promised Chen Fan a monthly salary of around five taels of silver, to be increased according to Chen Fan's future strength.

He even directly arranged a standalone house near White Cloud Martial Academy for Chen Fan's family to live in!

In truth, five taels of silver was not an especially high salary. To a wealthy young master like him, it was nothing.

But gifting them an entire house was a grand gesture!

These days, buying a standalone house in the county town was far more expensive than a small courtyard on the outskirts. Even a cheap one would cost dozens, perhaps even over a hundred taels of silver!

Not to mention that both the security and environment in the county town were vastly better than in the suburbs!

Sophora Street, where Chen Fan lived, was territory "ruled" by the Black Tiger Gang, and public order was chaotic.

If they moved into the county town, Chen Fan would no longer have to leave early and return late every day.

Besides, little Chen Xi was nearing the age to begin her schooling. It would naturally be more convenient for her to attend an academy in the county town. Chen Fan placed great importance on education and had already been worrying about the little girl's schooling in the future.

Furthermore, the obligations Chen Fan needed to fulfill after becoming a retainer were not particularly numerous.

At this stage, his priority was naturally still martial cultivation.

Five taels of silver was no small sum.

Bao Tianyou, as a descendant of a prominent clan, had long shown goodwill toward Chen Fan. Now that he was being so sincere, Chen Fan naturally had nothing more to say!

Chen Fan had a favorable impression of Bao Tianyou and agreed at once!

In any case, the future compensation was not fixed. If Bao Tianyou wished to keep Chen Fan around, he would have to gradually raise it!

Bao Tianyou was overjoyed as well. He paid Chen Fan only three months' salary in advance, then sent people that very day to take Chen Fan and his family to view the house.

His sister-in-law was still uneasy and restrained.

Yet she was clearly delighted with the new house!

A farmhouse courtyard was indeed somewhat larger, but how could its comfort compare to the county-town house provided by the Bao Clan?

After returning home, Chen Fan immediately put up a notice to sell the small suburban courtyard. The location was poor, though, so it likely would not fetch much.

At the same time, Bao Tianyou also sent people to help them move!

People climbed higher when given the chance. His relationship with the neighboring residents had never been so close that he could not bear to leave.

Night fell.

After returning home,

Chen Fan held a painting in his hands, studying it from every angle with excitement written all over his face!

It was the White Crane Painting Bao Tianyou had given him.

It was not that Chen Fan truly liked paintings. Rather, the White Crane Painting that Bao Tianyou claimed contained "divine charm" had actually allowed him to gain some insight!

A possibility imagined in his mind and something truly realized were entirely different concepts.

Chen Fan unfurled the White Crane Painting and, facing the scroll, performed a complete palm technique in sequence.

When he finished the routine, heat surged through his palms and characters flickered before his eyes.

White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm had finally broken through. The progress of the move he was currently cultivating had increased by 20%, and its efficiency had risen by roughly twenty percent!

That was already an extremely terrifying level of efficiency!

Chen Fan was ecstatic.

The increase in efficiency might seem small, but the time it saved far exceeded that of his other martial arts!

Of course, Chen Fan had broken through and gained insights several times over the past few days. The rate at which his qi and blood nourished his body had fallen far behind the rate at which his moves improved, so he had yet to fully consolidate his strength.

The next day, Chen Fan once again headed to the tournament grounds.

The venue had been completely rearranged.

Other than the top thirty contestants, the remaining disciples and spectators had all been assigned chairs around the central arena.

This round of matches would be held only on Arena One!

There were also far more spectators. Interested disciples from the various martial academies had all come to watch.

Bao Tianyou and the others were among them.

That day, the masters of Flying Spirit County's martial academies, as well as the leaders of several gangs, personally came to the venue. Accompanied by the instructors, they sat on the viewing platform directly in front of the arena!

Afterward, the thirty disciples stepped onto the stage one after another. Once they had been presented, someone announced that the competition had officially begun!

Beneath the arena, Chen Fan spotted a handsome young man among the many academy masters and immediately recognized him as Li Linliu.

His heart was filled with emotion.

This was the first time he had seen Li Linliu since joining White Cloud Martial Academy, and he was extremely excited!

Unfortunately, Li Linliu chatted and laughed with the other academy masters, utterly unaware that among the thirty contestants was an old acquaintance.

The top thirty would be narrowed down to the top fifteen through one-on-one matches.

The winners advanced and entered the top fifteen.

The losers were eliminated directly.

Among the top thirty, disciples who had not cultivated internal arts actually made up the majority. Naturally, all of them had reached the Internal Breath Realm, and some even possessed the strength to defeat first-stage martial artists. The weakest among them were at least on Meng Qi's level.

The bronze gong rang out, and amid the shouts of countless spectators, the competition officially began!

Anyone who had reached the top thirty possessed a certain degree of strength.

There were also more and more geniuses among them.

Among those who made it into the top thirty, someone like Meng Qi—who had only cultivated a top-tier second-rate manual and had just formed internal breath—was already considered among the weakest!

There were indeed contestants in the top thirty who had gotten there through good luck, but there were very few of them. Most possessed genuine strength!

For example, during the preliminaries, Chen Fan had rarely encountered anyone who had mastered a first-rate strength-training manual.

Yet in the finals, genius disciples who cultivated first-rate manuals appeared in both of the first two matches!

Chen Fan's eyes burned. Only opponents like these could place pressure on him and allow him to advance further!

The third match, however, was Meng Qi's.

Although Meng Qi had entered the top thirty, his strength was limited. He faced a first-stage martial artist whose foundation was no worse than his own, and he was defeated not long after the match began!

The gap in raw strength was so great that Meng Qi had no chance to contend or drag things out.

"Victory and defeat are common in battle. I was already lucky to make it into the top thirty..."

After stepping down from the arena, Meng Qi spoke with a smile before Chen Fan could comfort him.

Still, a trace of disappointment inevitably colored his tone.

Among the general public, Meng Qi could be considered quite talented. But in a martial tournament filled with geniuses, he no longer seemed all that remarkable.

Chen Fan knew he was telling the truth. If all the contestants were ranked, Meng Qi would likely struggle to enter the top thirty. Reaching this point truly had been due to luck!

"Junior Brother Chen Fan, you need to do your best too. You're stronger than I am. If you draw an opponent who isn't too formidable, you might still have a chance to win another match!"

Meng Qi believed Chen Fan was stronger than him, but only by a limited margin. If he wanted to keep winning, he would still need to rely on luck!

"Then wish me a little better luck." Chen Fan smiled and nodded, turning his gaze toward the arena.

The current match was between Ge Yuantong, a disciple of White Cloud Martial Academy, and his opponent.

If Chen Fan had previously been able to deal with his opponents with relative ease, then now, the number of people capable of threatening him was steadily increasing.

At the same time, Chen Fan found something strange.

"Ge Yuantong was talented enough to master two second-rate manuals. Why did he start cultivating internal arts so early instead of continuing to build his foundation?"

The seeded contestants in this tournament, aside from Yan Lincu and Feng Yuancheng, were also several second-stage martial artists with solid foundations.

One exception was one thing. But two, three... that made Chen Fan feel rather puzzled.

If they could reach the second stage of martial cultivation before eighteen, could they not learn another martial art?

"When I meet an approachable opponent next time, I can ask about the reason..."

After waiting through another two matches, it was finally Chen Fan's turn.

His opponent was a female student from Cold Plum Pavilion named Li Wen, who was nearly eighteen.

Li Wen was already over seventeen. She had a pair of phoenix eyes, a toned figure, wheat-colored skin, and was quite a pretty girl!

Compared with the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old little girls in his class, who had yet to fully grow up, a girl like this who had already blossomed was undoubtedly more in line with Chen Fan's tastes.

She was also one of the few female contestants in the tournament!

However, after taking two long looks, Chen Fan withdrew his gaze.

He closed his eyes and adjusted his state of mind.

"Women will only distract me!"