One Month

At dusk, Lu Chen went to the Medicine Hall and collected a bowl of Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup.

The medicinal soup was dark brown, steaming as heat rose from it, and its pungent, heavy herbal scent rushed straight into his nostrils.

"Drink it while it's hot," the Medicine Hall steward casually reminded him. "This Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup replenishes qi and strengthens the bones. Once it cools, its medicinal potency will disperse with the steam."

Lu Chen held the bowl in both hands and tipped his head back to drink.

The moment the soup entered his mouth, an intense bitterness exploded across the root of his tongue.

It was bitter, fishy, and carried a trace of spiciness.

The taste was truly far from pleasant—harder to swallow even than the herbal concoctions brewed by the village's barefoot doctor.

But this bowl cost a tenth of a tael of silver, more expensive than three jin of prime meat!

Frowning, Lu Chen drained it in one gulp.

The medicinal soup slid down his throat into his stomach, quickly turning into a surge of warmth that rapidly spread through his entire body.

Standing where he was, Lu Chen could clearly feel the lingering soreness in his muscles and bones from his daytime training slowly ease, as though it had been soaked loose in hot water.

Lu Chen was shaken.

The effects of this Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup were actually this obvious.

Lu Chen did not linger at the Medicine Hall. After thanking the steward, he turned and headed straight for the Martial Practice Yard.

By then, the sky had already darkened.

Most of the outer courtyard youths had returned to their dormitories. The Martial Practice Yard, so noisy during the day, now lay empty, with only moonlight spread over the gray bricks in a layer of cold, pale radiance.

Lu Chen stood in the center of the Martial Practice Yard and slowly exhaled.

The Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup had not been in his stomach for long, and a ball of warmth was still churning in his lower abdomen.

Stance training could accelerate the circulation of qi and blood, allowing the body to absorb the medicinal potency of the Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup more fully.

Lu Chen spread his feet, planted his soles firmly against the ground, rounded and lowered his shoulders and back, then slowly sank his waist and hips.

As soon as he assumed the Coiling Dragon Stance, the warmth in his abdomen seemed to be stirred. Guided by his stance art, it spread through his limbs and bones.

It made Lu Chen feel brimming with strength.

After completing one round, sweat beaded on Lu Chen's forehead and his chest rose and fell, yet he did not feel the slightest bit drained. Instead, his entire body was pleasantly warm, leaving him indescribably invigorated.

"The effects of the Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup really are remarkable. No wonder a bowl costs a tenth of a tael of silver."

He could not help murmuring in admiration.

At that moment, Lu Chen truly understood why martial training could not do without medicinal supplements.

Without resting for long, he soon began his second round.

The moonlight was bright and clear, shining over the vast Martial Practice Yard and making it seem especially desolate.

Only Lu Chen's shadow rose and fell slowly with the Coiling Dragon Stance Art, like a young dragon submerged in the night, gradually awakening...

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

As usual, the youths practiced in the Martial Practice Yard.

After finishing a round of stance training, Lu Chen glanced at the translucent light screen appearing before him:

[Coiling Dragon Stance Art: Beginner]

[Progress: 268/300]

[Azure Dragon Through-the-Arms Fist: Not Yet Initiated]

[Progress: 95/100]

Over this month, Lu Chen had made tremendous progress.

After entering the Beginner stage of the Coiling Dragon Stance Art, his progress had increased by more than two hundred points. He was about to step into the next realm, the Minor Accomplishment realm. By then, the efficiency with which his stance art tempered his muscles and bones would rise again, bringing him one step closer to breaking through and becoming a martial artist.

The Azure Dragon Through-the-Arms Fist was more complex and difficult to train than the Coiling Dragon Stance Art, but Lu Chen sought guidance from Senior Brother Chen Chong every day, so his progress was not slow either. He was on the verge of completing the hundred refinements and initiating the fist art.

He had already transformed from an ordinary mountain village youth into a martial practitioner with a rudimentary grasp of fist and foot techniques.

At that moment, Shi Hao emerged from the inner courtyard.

After a month, he was completely different from when he had first entered the martial hall.

His coarse cloth clothes had been replaced by a more fitted, short-sleeved training outfit. A new cloth sash was tied around his waist, and he wore a pair of sturdy new boots. The faintly darkened face that had once carried the restraint of a village youth newly arrived in the county town now held a few more traces of confidence nurtured by being fawned over day after day.

He was also carrying a bundle.

The bundle was wrapped in blue cloth and tied tightly. Judging by its shape, it seemed to contain quite a few things.

Several youths from Stone Bridge Village were the first to react. They immediately stopped practicing and gathered around him.

"Brother Hao!"

"Brother Hao, you're back!"

"What did the Hall Master teach you today?"

"What are you holding?"

They clustered around Shi Hao, their voices eager and their faces full of flattery and envy.

During this time, Shi Hao had entered the inner courtyard every day, where Hall Master Qin Wuhe personally guided his training. The Han Family supplied him with prime meat for his meals, the martial hall provided Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup as medicinal supplementation, and he occasionally received pointers from the senior brothers and sisters of the inner courtyard.

His status in the martial hall had plainly surpassed everyone else's by a wide margin.

Shi Shaojie reached out to take the bundle from Shi Hao's hand, smiling as he said, "Brother Hao, let me carry it for you."

But Shi Hao raised his wrist and avoided his hand.

"No need."

Shi Shaojie's movement stiffened, and the smile on his face faltered slightly.

"Today, I initiated the Azure Dragon Through-the-Arms Fist."

"These are initiation gifts from several senior brothers and sisters in the inner courtyard."

Shi Hao gave the weighty bundle in his hand a shake, speaking with unconcealed pride.

The moment those words came out, the surrounding youths erupted in an uproar.

"You initiated the Azure Dragon Through-the-Arms Fist too?"

"How long has it even been?"

"Brother Shi Hao is incredible!"

Someone could not help clapping. "Brother Hao, you've really brought honor to Stone Bridge Village!"

"You learned the fist art so quickly too. I've only gone through the first lesson with Senior Brother Chen Chong, and it's much harder than the stance art!"

"Brother Hao, now that you've begun practicing the fist art, you must grasp its secret."

"Could you teach us?"

One youth looked at Shi Hao eagerly and asked with fervent anticipation.

At those words, the other youths from Stone Bridge Village also looked at him expectantly.

Yet Shi Hao merely frowned.

"Teach you?"

His tone carried a trace of impatience. "You haven't even gotten your stance training right yet, and your fist forms are a complete mess. Even if I explained it, would you understand?"

Those words were like a basin of cold water splashed across the faces of the Stone Bridge Village youths.

They had approached him with eager faces, but now their expressions became somewhat awkward.

Shi Shaojie's face flushed red, yet he still forced a smile. "Brother Hao, we just want to improve alongside you."

"You're going to become a true disciple in the future. We people from Stone Bridge Village can't possibly drag you down."

When Shi Hao heard the words "true disciple," the impatience on his face eased somewhat, though he still kept a stern expression. "That's exactly why you should work even harder and strive to keep up with me!"

"My time needs to be spent practicing fist techniques. I don't have time to waste on you."

"I'm going to take the martial scholar examination and bring honor to Master."

Just then, Chen Chong walked over with a cold expression.

His gaze swept across the scene. Seeing the group of youths still gathered around Shi Hao, he immediately barked in a deep voice, "Why aren't you training? What are you all crowding around here for?"

His shout exploded like a clap of thunder.

The other youths from Stone Bridge Village immediately shrank their necks and hurriedly scattered.

With his hands behind his back, Chen Chong stood in the center of the Martial Practice Yard, his gaze passing over every face in the crowd.

He snorted coldly. "I'm telling you now: there will be an end-of-month assessment this afternoon."

"Anyone who fails will be eliminated!"

The moment those words fell, the crowd instantly burst into commotion.

"What?"

"Eliminated?!"

"Senior Brother Chen, didn't you say we had three months?"

"It's only been one month. Why are we being eliminated already?"

When they had come from the mountain villages, many of them had not truly understood what practicing martial arts meant.

At first, they had only thought that entering a martial hall in the county town and being able to eat white rice and meat soup was already a blessing beyond measure.

But after this month, they had witnessed Shi Hao's changes with their own eyes.

He had initiated his stance art in three days and gained the Hall Master's favor.

The Han Family had come bearing gifts, prime meat was supplied without limit, and he received two taels of silver each month.

The senior brothers and sisters of the inner courtyard gave him gifts.

All of it made them understand one thing.

Practicing martial arts really could change one's fate.

And precisely because they had seen it, they were even more afraid of losing it.

If they were eliminated now, it would mean being beaten back into their original shape and returning to those poor mountain gullies, living lives where they could not even get enough to eat.

Chen Chong looked at the increasingly nervous crowd without the slightest trace of sympathy on his face.

"Now you know fear?"

"What were you doing before?"

His voice was cold and hard. "The martial hall is not a charity hall."

"Giving you an opportunity was not so you could eat and live here for free for three months."

"Over this past month, who has trained diligently and who has merely coasted along for food will be clear by this afternoon."

"Hidden Dragon Martial Hall does not keep useless people!"

Those words made the faces of quite a few youths turn even uglier.