The outer sect rivalry

"Su Yan, from Yunqian Village. I had some matters to attend to recently, so I wasn't training in the front courtyard."

Su Yan gave a brief reply, and the other boy suddenly looked disappointed. "Oh, so you're from the mountains. I thought you were from White Reed Lake."

The boy could not hide his feelings, and Su Yan caught them plain as day.

"Is there a difference between mountain folk and lake folk?"

Su Yan's question left the boys in the room looking rather awkward.

After a long silence, Hu Qing, the slightly older boy on the opposite bed, finally said, "Not really. The Martial Arts Hall treats everyone equally, but we form our own groups."

Wherever there were people, there would be a world of rivalries, all the more so when everyone had come from different places to learn at the Golden Ape Martial Arts Hall.

Su Yan lifted his gaze slightly. "Mountain folk and lake folk?"

"More than that. There are mountain folk, lake folk, poor households from the city, and the young masters from city families with a bit of money."

Four groups, four classes. They really did stick together.

"Has the Martial Arts Hall's outer sect already reached the point where people need to huddle together for warmth?"

Su Yan's question made Hu Qing and the others awkward again.

"Well... not really. It's just that if we don't stick together, they look down on us. Mountain folk and lake folk get along fine—we live off the mountains, they live off the water, so there isn't much to fight over. But even those penniless city folk dare look down on us and call us country bumpkins. And the rich ones keep their noses in the air and won't even look at us."

Zhou Yong grumbled on, giving a rough picture of the outer sect disciples' situation.

Their different origins gave them reasons to dislike one another, and those who were pushed out formed circles of their own.

Apparently because Su Yan was not from White Reed Lake, the boys merely exchanged a few introductions with him and said little more.

Early the next morning, Su Yan rose and went out. Before he even reached the courtyard, he saw someone practicing the Golden Ape Stance Art.

Breath turning to mist, body poised like an ape. Such a well-practiced stance.

The young man was dark-skinned and powerfully built, wearing only a short training shirt. Though he noticed Su Yan passing, he said nothing.

Su Yan found a corner, drew out the Darkwater Centipede's insect essence with a thought, and settled into the Golden Ape Stance Art, breathing out like an ape.

As that strand of Insect Essence entered his body, it felt very different from the scorching heat of the medicinal decoction.

Absorbed through the stance art, it first became a warm current, then divided into streams, turning gentle as warm jade. With each rise and fall of the stance, it merged into strands of qi and blood.

The qi and blood flowed along his meridians, reaching his skin and muscles with precision, continually tempering and strengthening them.

With every breath and every tremor of his muscles, Su Yan could feel himself improving.

An endless supply of energy seemed to replenish his body. Only half an hour later, after exhaling a mouthful of white mist, did he release the stance.

Five days passed in a flash. When the second batch of medicinal decoction was distributed, he drank it and practiced his stance with the Insect Essence.

Surging qi and blood poured through his body, taking the tempering of his skin and flesh to a new level.

It was as though a barrier within his body had opened, his tempered skin growing tight and tough as oxhide.

Su Yan exhaled a swordlike breath, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

"The Golden Ape Stance Art has reached minor mastery."

[Body Tempering Realm: Skin Tempering 80/100 (beginner)]

[Golden Ape Stance Art: 1/200 (minor mastery)]

[Monkey Fist: 50/100 (beginner)]

Over the past few days, training from early morning until night, he had become the most diligent cultivator in the outer sect.

He alternated between stance practice and fist training.

He paid no mind to the matter of banding together that Hu Qing and the others had mentioned that day. Even when the mountain folk approached him, he merely made their acquaintance.

This business of banding together was only self-deception. To forge iron, one had to be strong oneself; getting tangled up in a muddle of people only squandered time better spent cultivating.

Su Yan did not look down on those who banded together. He knew some of them had no hope of advancing, and that was why they huddled together for warmth.

But he was different.

Among the outer sect disciples, only three or four in ten had begun skin tempering, and among that thirty or forty percent, those who reached minor or major mastery were rarer still.

"Senior Brother Gao Zheng has moved to another post. The Inner Gate senior brother giving instruction this ten-day period, Zhou Hui, is the son of a city tavern owner. His family is only modestly wealthy, yet he looks down even more on the lowly folk outside the city and barely gives us any guidance. I might as well practice on my own."

His considerable progress in Stance Training came from his own hard work, of course, but Gao Zheng's guidance also deserved credit.

With someone pointing out his shortcomings, he could adjust them and quickly accumulate proficiency.

But as his movements grew increasingly precise, the proficiency gained from that feedback gradually diminished.

Now that Zhou Hui rarely instructed outer sect disciples from the mountains or the lake, and Su Yan had spent much of his silver, he might as well return home to train alone and visit the Martial Arts Hall when the decoctions were distributed.

This was, in fact, how most children from poor families learned martial arts, cutting their expenses as much as possible.

After telling an attendant he was moving out and settling the cost of his food and lodging over the past few days, Su Yan packed his belongings and was about to leave the Middle Courtyard.

"Hold on, Junior Brother Su. Why are you leaving after only a few days? Surely you're not in a hurry to go burrowing back into the mountains?"

A tall, thin man blocked his path, his flippant voice carrying a mocking edge.

The man had barely an ounce of fat on his face, with a slightly pale complexion and sly eyes. Dressed in pale blue with a black cloth belt around his waist, he stood in the courtyard like a guardian at the gate.

"Need something?"

Su Yan merely raised his eyes, a sharp light gathering in them. He did not know the man's name, but he seemed to belong to the group from poor city households.

"Heh, heh. I've seen you training morning and night, Junior Brother. You're the most diligent martial artist in this courtyard, and I feel ashamed by comparison. I'd like to exchange a few moves with you and see where I fall short."

Wei Kang sounded well-intentioned, but anyone with eyes could see his purpose. He had come to establish his dominance.

Since Su Yan did not huddle with a group, he was an easy target. Moreover, his relentless training was plain for everyone to see, making him conspicuous indeed.

"Wei Kang, what's this supposed to mean? Looking for another fight?"

A voice boomed like a drum as a tall, burly young man strode between them and faced Wei Kang.

"Dian Jing, he never intended to run with you mountain folk."

Wei Kang stepped back half a pace, but his words remained mocking.

Naturally, he feared Dian Jing. Born into a mountain hunting family, Dian Jing had excellent natural aptitude. Though he had entered the outer sect only three or four months earlier, he had already reached major mastery in skin tempering. He led the mountain faction and was also among those most likely to catch Master Bai's eye at the assessment at the end of the month.

"What's it to you?"

Dian Jing glared at him. Several boys had gathered behind Wei Kang, all members of his faction.

Someone called out, "The Martial Arts Hall doesn't forbid sparring. Since when can you decide for him?"

Zhou Hui had noticed the commotion long ago, but he stood in the corridor between the Inner Courtyard and Middle Courtyard as though watching a show, with no intention of moving.

The Martial Arts Hall did not forbid sparring. As long as nothing serious happened, he would not be punished.

Had Gao Zheng been there, he would probably already have stepped forward to reprimand them, but Zhou Hui was different.

It was only a few petty tricks from some penniless wretches. What did it have to do with him?

Dian Jing was riding a tiger and could not get off. Su Yan reached out and patted his shoulder. "Let me."

Dian Jing was a decent fellow, but he was not good with words. A boy raised in the mountains could not match the slick tongues of those who had grown up in the city.

Wei Kang's eyes flickered, his expression suggesting that his scheme had succeeded.

"Make your move."

As Su Yan's words fell, Wei Kang offered a show of courtesy by cupping his fist, then rushed forward with a monkey-leaping step, closing the distance by a full body length.

At the same time, he clenched his fist and struck straight at Su Yan's heart with Golden Monkey Plucks the Heart, a thoroughly treacherous attack.

Yet even against this sudden assault, Su Yan was far more agile than he was.

He stepped left to evade Wei Kang's heart-piercing lunge, raised his hand and gathered his strength, then abruptly clenched his fist and hammered it down.

Old Ape Strikes the Crown.

The heavy punch landed on the back of Wei Kang's neck with a dull thud. His eyes rolled back, his body buckled, and he began to fall.

Su Yan sneered. He would not let him off so easily. Had they not been in the Martial Arts Hall, even breaking his bones would have been no more than a small punishment to teach a stern lesson.

Just as Wei Kang was about to collapse, Su Yan thrust out a variation of White Ape Offers the Peach, pushing sideways and striking him squarely in the body.

That tall, thin body went flying two or three meters before hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

He was already unconscious. Even after waking, he would be bedridden for at least two or three days.

"Fists and feet have no eyes. My apologies, everyone."

The exchange had lasted only two or three moves. Everyone had expected Su Yan to take a beating, never imagining Wei Kang would end up in such a sorry state.

The crowd fell silent as a roost of crows struck dumb. Only Wei Kang's friends hurried forward to help him.

The doorway cleared, and no one moved to block it again.

Su Yan strode out, paying no attention to how those behind him reacted.

After a long while, Zhou Yong murmured from the crowd, "He's only been here five or six days. How could he beat Wei Kang? Has he reached minor mastery?"

Quite a few outer sect disciples had reached minor mastery, but reaching such a level in only a few days required an extraordinary foundation. Even Dian Jing and the others could not have done so when they first arrived.

This is trouble. If he's still progressing like this at the end of the month...

In a corner of the crowd, another young man watched Su Yan leave, gloom shadowing his brow.

Ma Xiaodong turned plans over in his mind. He had joined the outer sect nearly a year ago and had been waiting for Master Bai to take disciples so he could enter the Inner Gate.

If someone ruins this for me, he can't blame me for what happens.

The young masters from the city's modestly wealthy families shared such thoughts. Many among them had reached minor or major mastery in skin tempering, and all had their eyes on this opportunity.