Compensation

"Master Chen, besides the tempering liquid, this is the additional compensation I prepared. Please inspect it."

The brocade box was pushed before Chen Xu. Perhaps it had been deliberately sprayed with perfume or something similar beforehand, for a faint fragrance wafted from it.

There was nothing particularly special in the first brocade box—a check for fifty thousand Abyss Coins, redeemable at all official banks throughout Great Abyss.

Just as he was about to open the second gift box, a burst of commotion came from outside the door, with Wen Fan at its head.

Cheng Bin gave Chen Xu an apologetic smile, then opened the door and stepped into the corridor.

"What are you all making such a racket outside for?"

Seeing the hall master's stern expression, the disciples instinctively shrank back. Only Wen Fan remained where he stood, utterly unmoving.

"He's just some kid who came to challenge our hall. Why are you treating him with such respect, Master?"

Wen Fan simply could not swallow this insult. A man who had injured two of their disciples and blasted their door to pieces clearly had not come with friendly intentions. Since when had his master become so easygoing?

When had Iron Stele Martial Hall ever been treated like this, only to shamelessly go and fawn over the other party?

Most importantly, his master was such an upright man, yet he had been accused of being a thief. It was utterly ridiculous.

"It's a misunderstanding, all of it." Cheng Bin forced out an explanation. He truly was not good at lying to his own disciples.

When Wen Fan saw Chen Xu still leaning casually against the desk, anger surged through him. "You, come out here!"

"Wen Fan!" Cheng Bin's voice immediately rose. "How dare you speak to my guest like that!"

"I'll first see whether you're qualified to be that guest!"

Wen Fan shot out from the front of the crowd in an instant, his palms carrying gusts of fierce wind.

"Great Stone-Stele Smash—Stele-Splitting Form!"

"How could this be?!" Cheng Bin froze slightly. Had Wen Fan unknowingly cultivated the Great Stone-Stele Smash to such a level already?

Even he had no time to stop him.

"Master Chen, watch out!" Cheng Bin shouted. When he had first arrived in Jinning Commandery in his youth, Chen Zhenwu had looked after him several times. Otherwise, he would not have felt guilty to this extent.

Even with the old hall master's tacit approval, he still felt that he owed quite a lot to the sole heir of Chen Martial Arts Academy.

His original intention had been to wait until Wen Fan caught the attention of the Martial Pavilion's upper ranks during the Martial Hall Exchange Tournament, then confess these matters to Chen Xu. He would use that pretext to support Chen Xu and cultivate him into a qualified martial hall master.

He had simply not expected Chen Xu to suddenly come knocking today, catching him completely off guard.

Having immersed himself in the Great Stone-Stele Smash for decades, he could tell that Wen Fan had gone all out with this strike, showing no mercy whatsoever.

"Scared stiff?" Seeing Chen Xu remain motionless, Wen Fan shifted the target of his palms away from Chen Xu's head to other parts of his body. Teaching him a lesson would be enough; he had no intention of beating the youth to death over something like this.

"Strong enough, but far too rigid."

Before the words had even faded, Chen Xu raised his fist and struck later, yet arrived first.

Wen Fan let out a muffled grunt, smashed through a wooden partition, and tumbled into the neighboring room.

"Xiao Fan!" In his panic, Cheng Bin rushed into the next room. After a brief inspection, he found that Wen Fan was barely injured at all, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Carry your senior brother downstairs and apply some medicinal herbs to his wounds." Cheng Bin rose to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back, and addressed the martial hall disciples.

After the disciples had left, Cheng Bin shook his head with a laugh. "So Master Chen already possesses such strength. If you are willing to join the Martial Pavilion during this year's Martial Hall Exchange Tournament, perhaps in the future, I will have to address you as a Martial Artist."

Chen Xu was even stronger than he was. After some time passed, it was hard to say who would be supporting whom.

"Oh? Does Master Cheng mean that the Martial Hall Exchange Tournament has another purpose?" Chen Xu looked toward Cheng Bin. He wanted to start with martial arts and establish a foothold for himself.

But because the original owner of this body had merely been an ordinary youth from a martial hall, he knew very little about matters in the martial arts world.

"Old Master Chen never told you?" Cheng Bin sounded surprised. If it had been him, with such strength at only his age, he would have wanted to pour every resource he could obtain into him. He certainly would not have concealed news like this.

Old Master Chen had already passed away, so Cheng Bin could hardly go down and ask him. He decided to tell Chen Xu in the old man's stead. "Master Chen, have you heard of Great Abyss National University?"

Chen Xu nodded lightly. So long as one was from Great Abyss, one had heard of Great Abyss National University. More than half of its students could be said to become the future pillars of Great Abyss.

Most famous of all was its principle that imperial princes and commoners were equal within its walls. As long as they remained at the university, they were only classmates, unrelated to any status they held in the outside world.

"One can learn any knowledge that exists in Great Abyss there, including martial arts." Cheng Bin filled both their cups with tea, his gaze seeming to pierce the heavens as he looked toward Abyss Capital, Great Abyss's foremost city, where Great Abyss National University was located.

"Martial Pavilion branches at the county level and above receive quotas to send students to Great Abyss National University every year."

At this point, Chen Xu understood. The Martial Hall Exchange Tournament was a platform for the Martial Pavilion to notice a martial hall's geniuses. If one's talent was good enough and one joined the Martial Pavilion, one would have a chance to study stronger martial arts there.

"Master Chen, if I'm not mistaken, you are not yet eighteen this year, correct? You must not miss this opportunity.

The treatment received by those at the Martial Warrior Stage before eighteen and those at the Martial Warrior Stage after eighteen is completely different.

The Martial Artist level is something one can only hope to encounter. In all of Jinning Commandery, perhaps only that elusive pavilion master has entered the [Martial Form] level."

Chen Xu's eyes lit up. "So there's plenty of tempering liquid there?"

"Tempering liquid? What we can use is merely the scraps left over from real tempering liquid. How could true core resources possibly be handed out as rewards to civilian martial halls?"

Cheng Bin set down his teacup. He seemed to have completely taken Chen Xu as one of his juniors, continuously imparting his experience and martial arts philosophy.

Things like not attacking those who did not practice martial arts, respecting every martial arts inheritance, and most importantly, not being as reckless as he had been today. If he encountered someone truly difficult, getting away unscathed would not be easy.

For the sake of the five brocade boxes and the future tempering liquid, Chen Xu endured listening for over half an hour. Realizing that Cheng Bin was still talking endlessly and looked likely to continue all night, he quickly found an excuse to leave Iron Stele Martial Hall.

They had given him gifts, made promises, and even helped him learn quite a bit of common knowledge about the martial arts world. Chen Xu truly had no reason to make a move against them.

His original purpose in learning martial arts was to secure a place for himself in this new world, at the very least ensuring that no one could bully him as they pleased. Attacking others without cause did not suit his character.

After all, before transmigrating, he had only been one ordinary person among countless others.

Night fell, and scattered lights lit up throughout Iron Stele Martial Hall as neon flickered across its signboard.

Chen Xu planned to return to his own martial hall first and inspect the remaining four brocade boxes.

With the premise of gaining a firm foothold in this new world, he set his first small martial arts goal for himself: advance to [Martial Form] and become a Martial Artist in name and truth.

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