Chen Clan Martial Hall

Did he have to go to the Guo Household again, bowing and scraping to beg for help like last time?

He had a cheat, so why was he still living so wretchedly?

Cheng Yang abruptly halted. It was as if something had struck him, and a sudden understanding dawned on him.

"Come on, Xiaoyang. Why did you stop?" Lin Xia turned back and urged him.

"Mom," Cheng Yang took a breath, "there's actually no need to go through all that trouble. I have a dozen taels of silver."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Where would you get that much money?" Lin Xia lowered her voice, her expression tense.

"Mom, I'm serious." Cheng Yang's tone was resolute.

"Silly child, you..." Lin Xia stared into her son's unusually determined eyes. For a moment, she was at a loss. Her lips moved twice, yet she did not know what to say.

"Our family will live a good life from now on. Believe me. Mom, you just need to give me a few days." Cheng Yang vowed solemnly.

"Son... you're not joking with Mom, are you? How about we go to the clinic and have a physician look at you?" The more Lin Xia thought about it, the more something felt wrong. Could his failed breakthrough have damaged his brain?

If words could not persuade her, then facts would speak for themselves.

Cheng Yang directly took out five taels of loose silver from his pouch and spread them across his palm.

Lin Xia froze, her eyes widening into perfect circles.

He really had it?

So her son had not been joking with her?

"Put it away! Put it away!" Lin Xia glanced around before hurriedly lowering her voice. "Mom understands!"

Cheng Yang swiftly tucked the silver back into his pouch.

"This money... there isn't any risk involved, right?" Lin Xia's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. She feared that her son had done something shameful behind her back.

Cheng Yang shook his head. "This money is mine. What risk could there be?"

He spoke with complete certainty.

The Golden Tiger Gang had not only lost Liu Yuan, but also a Skin-Tempering Martial Master, Dong Hao.

Yet in the eyes of outsiders, Cheng Yang was merely a discarded disciple from a martial hall who had not even stepped into the Skin Tempering Realm.

Could someone like that kill a Skin-Tempering Martial Master? No one would believe it even if they heard it.

His failed breakthrough was currently his best protective umbrella.

Even so, he still had to remain cautious. The Golden Tiger Gang was a criminal gang, after all. They would not reason with him; they could make a move at any moment.

It was a thunderbolt that could explode at any time.

Fortunately, he had finally persuaded his mother to return home.

The moment they entered, Lin Xia immediately shut the door and, with a grave expression and lowered voice, pressed him about where the money had come from.

Cheng Yang did not beat around the bush. "Mom, I'm already a Skin-Tempering Martial Master."

"A Skin-Tempering Martial Master?" Lin Xia's eyes were full of confusion. "But didn't you fail your breakthrough?"

"A blessing in disguise, I suppose." Cheng Yang made up a half-true explanation. "During those two days I was unconscious, I suddenly gained a deeper understanding of martial arts. After I woke up, the breakthrough came as naturally as water flowing into a channel."

"So that's how it is..." Lin Xia nodded. Just as she was about to relax, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

Her son had become a Skin-Tempering Martial Master, a large sum of money had suddenly appeared in his hands, and their creditor Liu Yuan had happened to die at this very time...

Her heart began to pound, but she did not question him further. If her son did not want to say something, then she would not ask.

Besides, her son was now a Skin-Tempering Martial Master. Their family finally had at least a little foundation to stand on in this world.

When his mother did not pursue the matter, Cheng Yang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had muddled through this matter for now, but the Golden Tiger Gang's threat still remained. He could not afford to let down his guard.

That afternoon.

After buying provisions, Cheng Yang headed to the riverbank once more to train. With the support of Liu Yuan and those other "angel investors," he could finally let loose and fully display the power of his Peerless Bearing.

There was temporarily nothing more to gain from stance training, so he switched to practicing his fist technique.

He first glanced at the proficiency panel.

[Spirit Crane Fist Initiate (62/100)]

More than halfway there. Next, he just had to grind hard.

Cheng Yang exhaled, clenched both fists, and began practicing.

[Spirit Crane Fist Initiate (63/100)]

[Spirit Crane Fist Initiate (65/100)]

[Spirit Crane Fist Initiate (70/100)]

[Spirit Crane Fist Minor Accomplishment (0/500)]

After an afternoon of crazed grinding, the Spirit Crane Fist successfully broke through into Minor Accomplishment, and his strength rose another notch.

But with it came another thorny problem—just like the Spirit Crane Stance, the fist technique had no further instruction beyond this point.

The only path before him was to spend money and enter a martial hall to continue learning.

But entering a martial hall was the same as openly pasting the words "I have money" right on his forehead.

The Golden Tiger Gang would definitely come looking for him.

Before this, he had planned to lie low and wait out the storm before deciding what to do.

But after that moment of enlightenment in the morning, his way of thinking had completely changed.

Hide my abilities? Hide my ass!

I'm a peerless genius! I should stand beneath the spotlight and shine ten thousand feet bright!

Anyone who dared block my path would be beaten to death!

A tiny Golden Tiger Gang, and I was supposed to avoid their edge?

They should be the ones afraid!

Once that thought cleared, it was as though he had cast off a thousand-pound burden, and his whole body felt much lighter.

The next day.

Cheng Yang tucked his silver away and headed straight for a martial hall.

He did not return to Spirit Crane Martial Hall. Instead, he chose the Chen Clan Martial Hall, one of Qinglin County's five great martial halls.

In terms of scale, number of disciples, and foundation, Spirit Crane Martial Hall and Chen Clan Martial Hall were not even in the same league. Now that he had money, he naturally had to choose the best.

As for why he had specifically chosen Chen Clan Martial Hall? Perhaps it was simply because he and the hall master shared the same-sounding surname, making it roll off the tongue.

In any case, with talent like his, he would be a hot commodity fought over wherever he went. It made no difference where he chose.

As long as there were martial arts manuals for him to practice, that was enough.

At the entrance to Chen Clan Martial Hall, a sturdy man sat at the gatehouse.

After Cheng Yang explained his purpose, the man led him into the martial hall.

Shouts and cries came from the front courtyard, where a group of sixteen- and seventeen-year-old youths in uniform training clothes sweated profusely beneath the blazing sun.

They were two or three years younger than Cheng Yang, right at the golden age for martial training.

Cheng Yang had only begun at twenty. Under normal circumstances, he had long missed the best period.

But he had a cheat, so that was not a problem.

The two crossed the front courtyard and arrived at the middle courtyard. There were far fewer people here. Beneath an old pine tree sat a middle-aged man in a grandmaster's chair. He wore a faded brown short shirt, exposing two arms knotted with muscle, solid as the roots of an ancient tree twisting into the earth.

This man was Chen Feiyi, the hall master of Chen Clan Martial Hall.

"Master, someone has come to apprentice himself," the sturdy man said.

Chen Feiyi's gaze swept over Cheng Yang. With a casual glance, he said in a certain tone, "Skin Tempering?"

His eye was truly sharp. Of course, part of the reason was that Cheng Yang had not concealed his cultivation at all.

"Yes, Master Chen. This junior is Cheng Yang, twenty years old this year, and has come specifically to take you as my master and learn martial arts." Cheng Yang clasped his fists in salute.

"Was this martial skill of yours taught by your family, or did you learn it at another martial hall?"

"I learned it at a martial hall."

"Why didn't you stay there? Why did you come running to my Chen Clan Martial Hall?"

"That martial hall was third-rate. It had no future."

"Then why did you choose that third-rate martial hall in the first place?"

"...No money."

Chen Feiyi fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "You're quite an honest one, kid."

He rose to his feet. His tone was casual, yet it carried authority. "I don't care where you trained before. Since you've come to my Chen Clan Martial Hall, you must follow my Chen Clan Martial Hall's rules."

"Of course." Cheng Yang clasped his fists.

"You brought the tuition, right? Pay the silver first, then I'll explain the rules."

Cheng Yang took out twenty taels of silver from his pouch and offered it with both hands.

It was fully four times the tuition of Spirit Crane Martial Hall, but he did not feel the slightest heartache.

Twenty taels of silver in exchange for a Skin Tempering Realm martial art was worth it.

Chen Feiyi accepted it, weighed it in his hand, and tucked it into his clothes before beginning to explain the rules.

"Twenty taels of silver will let you study at the martial hall for two months. Food and lodging are included for the first month. After that, you may pay more silver to extend your stay, or handle it yourself."

After explaining a string of rules, they finally got to the main point.

"My Chen Clan Martial Hall has an advanced stance technique called the Rock-Still Stance. Watch carefully."

As Chen Feiyi spoke, he rose to his feet. His feet shifted, his body sank slightly, and he slowly assumed the stance.

After demonstrating the entire stance technique, Chen Feiyi asked, "How much did you remember?"

A line of text floated before Cheng Yang's eyes.

[Rock-Still Stance Initiate (2/100)]

His expression did not change as he answered, "Reporting to Master, this disciple remembered all of it."