Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art

"Chen Xun, sorry, I can't help you."

"Let's leave it at that. We can catch up another time."

Chen Xun had eagerly sought out Sun An, only to be flatly refused the moment he opened his mouth.

Then, seemingly afraid Chen Xun would keep pestering him, Sun An turned and left.

Chen Xun stood there in a daze for quite a while before coming back to his senses.

"I didn't expect Sun An to change so quickly."

The Sun An of the past had not been like this. Even if he could not help, he would at least listen until Chen Xun had finished speaking.

Unlike the Sun An now, whose face was full of impatience. Chen Xun had barely said two sentences before Sun An cut him off and rejected him without the slightest mercy.

Watching Sun An's departing back, Chen Xun shook his head.

"The Sun An route is blocked. I wonder if there are any other paths."

Over the next few days, Chen Xun continued cultivating while deliberately gathering news about the inner courtyard.

Heaven did not disappoint those who put in the effort; he really did uncover a useful piece of information.

"The Li Family's Seventh Young Master has been cultivating a powerful palm technique and needs human punching bags to assist his training."

"Anyone who can last a full day will receive five taels of silver."

"If they are injured in the process, the manor's famous physicians will treat them, and they will be rewarded with at least one tael of silver."

Zhang Shitou drank the cooled boiled water Chen Xun had poured for him as he recounted the information he had gathered.

"Oh? Then wouldn't a great many people be rushing to sign up?"

"That was indeed the case at first."

Zhang Shitou nodded and continued, "But as more and more injured people appeared, fewer and fewer dared to sign up. By now, there are almost none."

"I heard that Seventh Young Master's palm technique is extremely strange. Those struck by it either feel freezing cold all over or burning hot from head to toe. Some cannot stop coughing, while others even burst into tears or laughter."

"Their physical injuries are not particularly serious, but the trauma to their minds is severe. It's simply too tormenting."

At that point, Zhang Shitou looked Chen Xun up and down and could not help asking, "You seem pretty interested in this. What, are you thinking of signing up?"

"I do have that thought. You know I cultivate the Iron Garment Art, and my progress has been quite good. I could give it a try."

"Five taels of silver is about two months of my monthly pay."

Chen Xun did not conceal anything and stated his intentions directly.

"No, you're really going?"

Zhang Shitou stared at Chen Xun in surprise.

Chen Xun said no more. After asking Zhang Shitou where to register, he bid him farewell.

At the registration desk, an inner-courtyard servant sat there, bored out of his mind.

When he saw Chen Xun approach, he could not help straightening up.

"You're here to register?"

"That's right. Is it to be Seventh Young Master's human punching bag?"

"Yes."

"Five taels of silver for lasting one day?"

"Yes."

"Where is it?"

"Of course at the Inner-Courtyard Training Ground. It's spacious there, and there are private training rooms as well."

"Alright, I understand."

A smile appeared on Chen Xun's face.

It was settled.

Very soon, Chen Xun completed the registration. He was to wait here early tomorrow morning, and someone would take him into the inner courtyard then.

In the blink of an eye, the day passed.

Early the next morning, Chen Xun arrived there ahead of time.

An unfamiliar inner-courtyard servant came before Chen Xun, looked him up and down, and said rather arrogantly, "You're Chen Xun?"

"That's right. I'm Chen Xun."

"Follow me."

With that, he left nothing but his back for Chen Xun to look at.

Chen Xun could not help rubbing his nose before following.

With the man leading him, Chen Xun entered the inner courtyard without incident and headed all the way toward the Inner-Courtyard Training Ground.

"Don't look around. Don't speak. Break the rules, and you'll be in for a hard time."

Walking over the bluestone paving, the inner-courtyard servant in front warned Chen Xun in a low voice.

Chen Xun hurriedly nodded to show that he understood.

Along the way, the two encountered several groups of people.

There were servants, maids, and several collateral members of the Li Family.

Compared with the direct line, the collateral branches of the Li Family held much lower status, but Li Family servants still had to bow and greet them when they saw them.

Although Chen Xun had become a Martial Artist, he was still a Li Family servant.

He could only follow along and bow in greeting.

The other party ignored him outright and walked straight past.

At last, they reached the Inner-Courtyard Training Ground.

Compared to the outer-courtyard training ground, even the gates of this inner-courtyard one were extravagantly decorated.

Not only were they huge, they were carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, radiating grandeur.

Two Martial Artists stood guard at the entrance, barring idle outsiders from entering.

"Who goes there?"

"It's me, gentlemen. This is the person here to be Seventh Young Master's human punching bag."

Hearing that someone still dared to be a human punching bag, the two looked Chen Xun over curiously, then waved them through.

Thus, Chen Xun finally entered the Inner-Courtyard Training Ground without issue.

Since it was still early, there were not many people on the training ground, making it seem especially empty.

After entering, Chen Xun looked around at everything in the training ground, then his eyes widened.

"Purple."

That was right. At a glance, he spotted that piece of purple equipment.

It was a golden cauldron. Its golden body reflected dazzling golden light beneath the morning sun.

"What are you looking at?"

Seeing Chen Xun staring fixedly in one direction after entering, the inner-courtyard servant frowned.

"Nothing, nothing."

Chen Xun quickly withdrew his gaze.

"You're looking at that golden cauldron, aren't you?"

The man exposed him directly.

"That's right. That golden cauldron is too eye-catching. Is it really made of gold?"

Chen Xun deliberately asked.

Sure enough, the man sneered. "What a country bumpkin. If there were such a huge lump of gold, how could it possibly be left here?"

"It's made of bronze, though I hear some precious metals were added to make it extremely sturdy and resistant to corrosion."

"I heard this golden cauldron had already been here when the Li Family first rose to prominence. It was left behind by our Li Family ancestor. But there's nothing magical about it—it's just heavy."

"The entire cauldron weighs more than a thousand jin. Every young master of the Li Family takes lifting it as a goal."

The man spoke with some emotion.

"Ha, why am I telling you all this?"

"At this hour, Seventh Young Master still hasn't gotten up. Come with me and wait in the private training room where Seventh Young Master usually cultivates."

A ring of stone rooms surrounded the training ground. These stone rooms were private training rooms.

The man opened one of them with a key and led Chen Xun inside.

The stone room was large and empty.

Aside from a weapon rack in the corner holding all eighteen kinds of weapons, there was only a painting hanging directly ahead.

The painting was highly abstract, filled with all sorts of lines. Vaguely, it seemed to depict a fierce tiger.

Chen Xun became utterly absorbed in looking at it.

"You can understand it?"

"I can't."

Chen Xun honestly shook his head.

"Then why are you looking so engrossed?"

The man gave a snort of derision.

Chen Xun did not get angry. Instead, he smiled along with him.

He truly could not understand it. The only reason he was so absorbed was because it was a green item.

Other than that, there were no other items in the room.

"Wait here patiently."

"Remember, don't touch anything here. If you're discovered, you definitely won't get any good fruit to eat."

After a round of warnings, the man left, shutting and locking the door behind him.

Chen Xun was actually more than happy with this arrangement.

"Perfect. Let's see what kind of item this is."

Chen Xun completely ignored the man's warning and reached out to touch the painting on the wall.

At once, a stream of information surged into Chen Xun's mind.

[Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art · Painting (Green)]

[Attribute: Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art Cultivation Bonus (Green)]

[Attribute: Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art · Minor Accomplishment (Green)]

[This painting was painstakingly created by a Martial Artist who cultivated the Mountain Lord Acupoint-Finding Secret Art to the realm of Major Accomplishment. Viewing it over a long period will aid in cultivating this secret art.]