A rift

"Martial cultivation really was something else!"

Xu Yang had now experienced the wonders of the Turtle-Snake Great Stance for himself.

When mining underground, he could work for an hour or two without stopping to catch his breath. Yet after practicing the Turtle-Snake Great Stance for just two or three minutes, he felt as though his entire body would fall apart. His muscles ached fiercely, and his lungs burned unbearably.

Sun Tao took turns instructing the ten of them. Within an hour, he corrected Xu Yang twice.

Xu Yang lost track of how many times he practiced the Turtle-Snake Great Stance. Whenever he could no longer hold out, he stopped to rest, then resumed once he recovered.

He had practiced at least a dozen times, yet the progress for the Turtle-Snake Great Stance on his panel remained at "0."

By then, he was so exhausted he felt ready to fall apart, even more tired than after a full day of mining. He was also ravenous.

"Everyone, stop. It's time to eat," Sun Tao said.

After having their skeletal aptitude assessed at the Huang Family estate and spending quite some time training here, they had finally reached noon.

At the mention of food, everyone perked up and followed Sun Tao toward the dining hall.

Along the way, Sun Tao began introducing the various areas of the Mighty Far Hall.

"This is the Medicine Hall. Those of you with an allocation of Body-Strengthening Soup should come here after lunch to register your information. From now on, someone will notify you when it's time to take it.

"Of course, the Huang Family pays for those portions. If you have spare money, you can buy more yourself. Ask here for the details..."

Sun Tao deliberately took a slight detour. By the time they reached the dining hall, Xu Yang and the others had more or less familiarized themselves with the Mighty Far Hall and learned about some of its services.

Soon, Xu Yang discovered what his one-tael meal plan looked like.

A bowl of beef, a bowl of bone broth, and a bowl of greens and tofu, with unlimited rice and steamed buns. They could eat as much as they liked.

Everyone except Lu Ren received the same food, all on the one-tael plan.

Lu Ren's meals were actually not all that different from theirs.

They could eat unlimited rice but had limited portions of the other dishes. Lu Ren, however, could eat unlimited meat, even nothing but meat if he wished.

He also had a wide variety to choose from: chicken, duck, fish, beef, and pork, along with a bowl of medicinal ox blood that was excellent for replenishing his qi and blood.

"He's got a better Bone Root and even gets better food than us. Where's the justice in that?"

Many of them eyed Lu Ren's food enviously. With meals this good, he would surely pull ahead of everyone in no time.

Someone asked about Lu Ren's meal plan out of curiosity. It actually cost three taels of silver a month.

Xu Yang collected his food, picked a table at random, sat down, and immediately dug in.

After a few mouthfuls, he noticed something different. He could distinctly feel his belly rapidly soaking up the nutrients in the food like earth parched by a long drought. He had never experienced this before.

So eating really is essential. No wonder Master Lin said that.

People gradually joined him at his table, all of them sponsored by the Huang Family. No one spoke; they all wolfed down their food like starving ghosts.

As he ate, Xu Yang observed the dining hall. The Mighty Far Hall had quite a few people, probably more than forty.

The outer courtyard had the most, nearly thirty, while the inner courtyard seemed to have a dozen or so.

The meal was soon over, and everyone had stuffed themselves. Remembering Lin Cheng's advice, Xu Yang had also eaten to his heart's content. He only stopped when his stomach could hold no more and he felt sick enough to vomit.

If only I could eat nothing but meat!

Although he felt nauseous, he believed he could still eat if there were more meat. His body instinctively rejected rice.

After resting in the dining hall for over ten minutes, the painful bloating eased somewhat. The ten of them got up together and went to register at the Medicine Hall, where they were told they could return for their Body-Strengthening Soup after dinner that afternoon.

After careful consideration, Xu Yang took out one tael of silver to spend on extra Body-Strengthening Soup.

He had originally possessed two taels and five mace of silver. Zhou Shunchang had given him another five mace last night and one tael today, bringing his total to four taels. He could afford to spend one tael on Body-Strengthening Soup.

That would let him drink six bowls of Body-Strengthening Soup this month, the same as Zhang Yong.

"My parents didn't know I'd been selected, so they didn't give me any money. I'll bring some tomorrow to buy extra Body-Strengthening Soup too."

Luo Dehu spoke up. He simply hadn't brought any money with him. Everyone knew that Xu Yang's tael of silver had come from his uncle.

Xu Yang glanced at the little bastard without saying anything.

The ten of them left the Medicine Hall and returned to the outer courtyard, finding a shady spot to sit and rest.

Xu Yang leaned against a wall and closed his eyes, recovering his energy as he digested his food.

"I really want a nap!" someone said.

After a whole morning of cultivation, a midday nap would have been ideal. The Mighty Far Hall did have beds specifically for disciples to rest in, but they weren't free, and the Huang Family hadn't paid that expense.

"How's everyone's Turtle-Snake Great Stance coming along? Has anyone memorized the whole thing yet?" Luo Dehu brought up their training.

"There are still parts I haven't memorized!"

A boy named Qian Jiaxing spoke quietly. Several others immediately admitted that they hadn't memorized the entire Turtle-Snake Great Stance either.

"I've memorized it all, but I still can't link it together smoothly when I practice. I keep making mistakes."

The speaker was Zhang Hong, the last of the three with a C-Grade Lower Bone Root.

At his words, those who hadn't even memorized the complete Turtle-Snake Great Stance all looked at him in surprise. People's comprehension really did differ.

They had all received the same instruction, yet their results were completely different.

"I've memorized it all too."

Zhang Yong spoke calmly. As the one with the second-best Bone Root, he naturally didn't want Zhang Hong to outshine him. He was still a boy, after all. Who didn't want a chance to show off in front of others?

"Me too. I've already mastered part of it," Lu Ren said.

His face glowed with vitality, as though he had found a second spring, without the slightest sign of fatigue.

This was precisely why the Huang Family valued his Bone Root!

After the same intensity of training, everyone else was half-dead with exhaustion. Not only did he feel no fatigue, he was becoming more and more energetic.

The gap between them had already begun to show.

"What about you, Xu Yang?" Luo Dehu gave Xu Yang, who was resting against the wall with his eyes closed, a shove.

Xu Yang was displeased at being disturbed.

Previously, he had merely regarded Luo Dehu as a clown to watch. Now, he was beginning to dislike him.

He opened his eyes, glanced at Luo Dehu's overly familiar face, and said flatly, "I've memorized it all."

He made no attempt to hide anything. Something this trivial neither warranted nor required it. He simply disliked people with no manners.

No one was surprised. After all, his Bone Root placed him in the third tier.

"I suggest those who've

"memorized the whole thing help those who haven't. Like I said before, we're all brothers, and we should help each other." Luo Dehu looked at Zhang Yong and the others.

In truth, he hadn't memorized the entire Turtle-Snake Great Stance either. His suggestion was entirely for his own benefit.

But he kept that to himself. First, admitting it would disgrace his third-tier Bone Root. Second, everyone would realize he had selfish motives. Third, he wanted to win over those who hadn't memorized the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

Sure enough, the moment he spoke, those people all looked at him gratefully.

"Sure!" Lu Ren was the first to agree.

At that, an almost imperceptible smile tugged at Luo Dehu's lips. He had put Lu Ren on a pedestal that morning, and now it was paying off.

"Boss Lu Ren, you're generous!" He gave him a thumbs-up, bringing a smile to Lu Ren's face.

"If you want to teach them, Luo Dehu, do it yourself. Don't count me in. I don't have time to teach anyone else."

Zhang Yong refused to play along with Luo Dehu, even though Lu Ren had already agreed.

"Same here. If you want me to teach you, pay me ten copper coins."

Zhang Hong spoke with a smile, sounding as though he were joking.

But he wasn't joking at all. He was serious.

For one thing, he didn't want to openly offend Luo Dehu and Lu Ren. For another, he wanted to earn money, because he already understood its importance.

Luo Dehu has put Lu Ren on a pedestal. Lu Ren wants to be everyone's boss, but he lacks experience. Zhang Yong is rather cold and very rational. Zhang Hong is smooth, while Luo Dehu is a snob with a few schemes up his sleeve.

Listening to their exchange, Xu Yang formed a rough assessment of their personalities.

"If you won't teach, then don't. Why say so much? With Boss Lu Ren here, we don't need you anyway. Besides, Senior Brother Sun Tao will continue teaching us the Turtle-Snake Great Stance this afternoon. I only wanted to bring us brothers closer together."

After being contradicted by Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong in succession, Luo Dehu was getting irritated too. This time, he didn't ask Xu Yang.

Xu Yang shook his head inwardly. All this talk of brotherhood, yet rifts were already forming before even a single day had passed.

Luo Dehu really was quite a talent. Without that little bastard leaping about and stirring things up, problems would never have developed between the ten of them so quickly. Given time to get along, they might truly have become friends and advanced hand in hand. Now, however, that seemed unlikely.