Reaching minor mastery in Iron Cloth Shirt meant Lin Fan was now qualified to become a human training dummy.
Human training dummies were official members of the martial arts school. Though they belonged to its outer ranks, their treatment was different: besides free room and board, they received two taels of silver each month.
It did not sound like much, but previously, Lin Fan would have needed to work two hundred days without eating or drinking to earn that.
I can't grow complacent. Only by reaching major mastery can I truly cross the threshold and qualify to become a martial artist, Lin Fan told himself.
He suppressed the smile rising to his lips, then continued climbing to the top of the slope before rolling down again.
This time, it felt noticeably different. Lin Fan barely felt any pain; it was much like rolling across the ground with clothes on.
Lin Fan frowned slightly, a little worried that training like this would have no effect.
He looked at the Fate Panel and finally relaxed when he saw the progress continuing to increase by +1. By the time he rolled to the bottom, the progress on the panel had reached 10.
Iron Cloth Shirt major mastery (10/900)
At my current pace, it'll take less than three days to reach major mastery in Iron Cloth Shirt. Excitement stirred within Lin Fan.
Major mastery in Iron Cloth Shirt would increase his strength by another 300 jin, and ordinary people would struggle to hurt him with sabers or spears. In the world of ordinary people, he would already count as superhuman, with some ability to protect himself.
To avoid showing anything unusual, Lin Fan always kept pace with Li Feng and pretended to be in terrible pain, looking as though he was staking his life on competing with Li Feng.
Li Feng walked past Lin Fan and tossed out, "You don't know your own limits." Then he continued climbing.
Lin Fan laughed inwardly. He looked forward to seeing just how spectacular Li Feng's expression would be when he revealed his full strength.
Just then, an excited shout drew everyone's attention.
"I've reached the beginner stage in Iron Cloth Shirt!"
Lin Fan recognized Wang Wu's voice and looked over. Wang Wu's face was flushed red, and he could barely contain himself.
Lin Fan and his roommates smiled, genuinely happy for Wang Wu. They were already grasshoppers tied to the same rope.
Li Feng glanced at Wang Wu and softly spat out one word: "Trash!"
His roommates, however, looked on with envy, jealousy, and resentment. At the thought that they had no idea when they would reach the beginner stage-or whether they would ever have the chance-they looked as though they were mourning their parents, as miserable as if their fathers had died.
Their gazes inadvertently swept over Li Feng, whose back was turned to them, and a trace of hatred flashed through their eyes.
Intense regret welled up in Jiang Tong's heart. His aptitude was only slightly worse than Wang Wu's, and under normal circumstances, he reckoned he would soon have reached the beginner stage. Now, however, he could not be certain he still had a chance.
"If I'd chosen to stand with Lin Fan that night, perhaps everything would have been different..." he muttered, on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
The instructor gave no response, not even bothering with a word of encouragement. He only paid attention to Li Feng, who would be his future colleague, perhaps even his backer.
Lin Fan and his three roommates gathered around Wang Wu to congratulate him, but before they could offer their well wishes, the instructor's scolding reached them.
"It's only the beginner stage! What's there to celebrate? Get your asses up there and train!"
Lin Fan and the others were angry but dared not speak. Just yesterday, when Li Feng reached the beginner stage in Iron Cloth Shirt, his roommates had celebrated extravagantly for him, and the instructor had not interfered. Now that it was their turn, it was forbidden. The preferential treatment could not have been clearer.
Zhao Tao and the others gloated at the sight, openly mocking Lin Fan's group.
"Trash gets a little achievement and starts patting itself on the back."
"Think you're Brother Li?"
"What a joke. Trash that doesn't even know it's trash."
They had forgotten that they themselves had yet to reach the beginner stage, acting as though Li Feng's achievements were their own.
Late that afternoon, as evening approached, Meng Lin brought more good news: he, too, had reached the beginner stage in Iron Cloth Shirt.
Lin Fan and his fellow roommates were delighted, but mindful of the instructor, they did not gather around him, each offering a word of congratulations instead.
Li Feng still only said, "Trash." Apart from Lin Fan, no one here was worthy of his notice.
As for his roommates, their eyes were red with jealousy. Yet another person they looked down on had climbed above their heads.
Jiang Tong was now even more grief-stricken. His aptitude was a little better than Meng Lin's, yet Meng Lin had already reached the beginner stage while he was still struggling bitterly, not knowing whether he had any hope of getting there.
The root cause of all this was the choice each of them had made that night. Meng Lin had chosen to stand beside Lin Fan, while he now lay in bed.
That night, two people rolled down from the top of the slope one after the other: Lin Fan and Li Feng.
Once the medicinal effects were exhausted, Lin Fan left first, a smile curling his lips. His Iron Cloth Shirt was advancing steadily toward major mastery.
Iron Cloth Shirt major mastery (260/900)
Li Feng stared coldly at Lin Fan's retreating back. Feeling his strength steadily increasing, he was confident he would reach minor mastery in Iron Cloth Shirt tomorrow.
Lin Fan, I'll definitely cripple you tomorrow night! Li Feng vowed viciously to himself. With the instructor's favoritism, he felt emboldened to do whatever he pleased.
Once he dealt with Lin Fan, Wang Wu and the others would be nothing but ants he could casually crush.
The next morning, an interesting scene unfolded in the dining hall.
After Li Feng finished four bowls of medicinal food, Zhao Tao forcibly swallowed his resentment and pushed his own bowl in front of Li Feng.
"Brother Li, please enjoy." His face was full of flattery.
Li Feng frowned, however. As a rule, the other four would push their medicinal food in front of him, but this time, none of them moved.
He gave Zhao Tao a look. Zhao Tao understood and swept a cold gaze over the other four.
"Why haven't you offered your medicinal food to Brother Li yet? Are you waiting for me to snatch it over, bowl by bowl?" His voice was icy and laden with threats.
Fear and resentment flashed in the four men's eyes, but remembering their agreement last night, their gazes grew resolute.
If they handed over their medicinal food again, never mind catching up to Wang Wu and Meng Lin-they would have no hope of reaching the beginner stage at all and could only be thrown out.
"Well, Brother Li, look, morning training time is limited, and four bowls of medicinal food are enough for you. Could you leave these bowls for us?" one of them ventured first.
The medicinal food was clearly theirs, yet now they had to bow and scrape to keep it.
The other three chimed in as well.
"Yes, Brother Li. If we don't start eating medicinal food, we'll have no hope of reaching the beginner stage. If the school throws us out, we won't be able to serve you anymore."
"Brother Li, we'll definitely give you our medicinal food tonight. We really do need it during the day."
"Brother Li, please have mercy."
How could Li Feng fail to understand? His four roommates had already agreed to defy him together today.
His gaze turned even colder. No one was allowed to defy him. "So you're blaming me for being selfish?" Neither anger nor pleasure could be heard in his voice.
"We wouldn't dare, Brother Li!"
"Nothing of the sort. You're the most selfless person."
"We're the selfish ones."
The four hurriedly defended themselves, terrified that Li Feng would lose his temper.
Bang! Zhao Tao slammed the table in anger, pointed at his four roommates, and launched straight into a tirade. "Since you wouldn't dare, why aren't you obediently handing your medicinal food to Brother Li? Having Brother Li eat your medicinal food is a blessing you pieces of trash cultivated over three lifetimes! And you still dare make excuses?"