Supporting each other, the two returned to the manor gates. When the gatekeeper saw them, he hurried over to support Yang Kuan.
As for Lin Fan, he was naturally left to one side.
Lin Fan shook his head again. Even a gatekeeper looked down on outer courtyard disciples. They truly ranked below dogs.
He could not help looking forward even more to becoming Yang Kuan's true fellow disciple. Once he entered the inner courtyard, he would be a true disciple of the Mountain Suppression Martial Arts Hall and could act under its name. He would be respected wherever he went, unlike now.
Most importantly, with guidance from a renowned teacher, his martial skill cultivation could progress several times faster, greatly shortening the time he needed to become powerful. That was what he valued most.
Yang Kuan looked at Lin Fan. "Junior Brother Lin, there's a bottle of Broken Bone Salve inside my robes. Take it and use it," he said.
Lin Fan stood on no ceremony. He needed it right now. "Thank you, Senior Brother Yang." With his left hand, he took a bottle of salve from inside Yang Kuan's robes.
"Don't go anywhere tonight," Yang Kuan cautioned before having the gatekeeper help him into the manor. Lin Fan followed them inside.
After entering the manor, Lin Fan found the atmosphere inside deeply oppressive. Gloom shrouded the manor.
He saw neither inner nor outer courtyard disciples. They were probably all still at the medicinal fields. As for whether they were alive or dead, he would have to wait for news.
His intuition told him that the martial arts hall's disciples would suffer even heavier casualties tonight.
Lin Fan returned to his room and took off his clothes. His right shoulder was badly swollen and kept throbbing with sharp pain.
Forcing himself to endure the pain, Lin Fan applied the Broken Bone Salve to his shoulder and rubbed it in hard. The agony made him grit his teeth, his veins bulging.
Only when his shoulder grew burning hot did Lin Fan stop.
As he recalled the bandit's palm strike, that suffocating sensation of approaching death swept through his entire body again, driving away all his sleepiness.
With a cracked shoulder bone, he could not practice the Body Tempering Art, so he continued practicing Gale Leg instead.
Gale Leg (Perfection 1200/2000)...1300...1500...
His progress kept increasing. Suddenly, a grief-stricken cry startled the silent courtyard awake.
"Senior Brother Tan, Senior Brother Huang Jiang is dead!"
Lin Fan's movements paused. Senior Brother Huang Jiang had been an inner courtyard disciple, yet he was gone just like that. The bandits' bait had indeed worked.
And this was only the beginning. Over the time that followed, one shrill cry rang out after another.
"Senior Brother Tan, Senior Brother He Bin is dead."
"Senior Brother Tan, Senior Brother Li Tian has fallen."
"Senior Brother Tan, Senior Brother Zhou Yu has died in battle."
Lin Fan kept moving, but his heart grew heavier and heavier. Every one of these disciples had reached at least Lesser Body Tempering (Sinews and Bones Ringing in Unison). They were stronger than him, yet now they were corpses.
Previously, he had thought that becoming a martial artist would let him stand above others. Now he realized that he had taken far too much for granted.
Ninth-Grade Martial Artists were a hundred times stronger than ordinary people, but they stood at the very bottom among martial artists. They were merely slightly larger ants, still quick to die when swept into a storm.
"No, the ninth grade offers no sense of safety. I have to reach the eighth grade as soon as possible." Lin Fan's desire to grow stronger was incomparably urgent. He did not want someone announcing his death one day.
The courtyard remained noisy all night, but Lin Fan immersed himself in cultivation without taking a single step outside.
Gale Leg (Perfection 1500/2000)...1600...1800...2000.
Finally, in the predawn hours, just before sunrise, his Gale Leg reached perfection.
Lin Fan took a step forward. Fierce wind howled, blowing over a chair several meters away, while his body left a blurred afterimage as he darted through the training room. His speed had doubled outright.
Only after quite some time did Lin Fan stop. The sensation of racing along enthralled him.
He looked at the Fate Panel again. Gale Leg now had an entirely new progress entry.
Gale Leg (Intent 10/1000).
"According to Young Master Tang, Gale Leg is a martial skill that barely qualifies as ranked and can only condense one strand of Gang Qi. One strand alone requires 1,000 progress points. Wouldn't a martial art with a full ten-tenths of intent require 100,000 progress points? Hiss..." Lin Fan sucked in a breath of cold air.
After his shock passed, Lin Fan continued practicing Gale Leg. Today, he intended to cultivate this martial skill to the intent level. He was greatly looking forward to seeing how powerful he would be once he condensed Gang Qi.
The sun rose in the east, and Lin Fan stopped again.
Gale Leg (Intent 130/1000).
A satisfied smile curved Lin Fan's lips. If nothing unexpected happened, he would reach intent that afternoon.
Lin Fan went to the dining hall for breakfast. After eating, he had just been about to rest when an unexpected guest arrived.
"Senior Brother Yang, please come in." Lin Fan welcomed Yang Kuan inside.
Yang Kuan's brows were tightly furrowed, his face grave. He sat in a chair without saying a word.
Lin Fan silently offered him a cup of tea without pressing him. Since Yang Kuan had sought him out, he would speak eventually.
Yang Kuan took a sip of tea, then gave a bitter smile. "Junior Brother Lin, I may have to break my word. I won't be able to introduce you to my master."
Disappointment washed through Lin Fan's heart. He had thought he could find a backer, only for that hope to vanish in the blink of an eye.
He forced a smile and cupped his hands toward Yang Kuan. "I'm already very grateful that you had the thought, Senior Brother Yang."
Yang Kuan rubbed his brow. "Junior Brother Lin, it's not that I want to break my word. I just don't think I'll make it out of this town," he said helplessly.
"What?" Lin Fan was startled.
"Alas..." Yang Kuan sighed. "I never expected this mission to draw us into the Green Snake Bandits' young chief's trial."
"We've become the targets of the young chief's trial. Either we kill him, or he kills us. Only one side can survive." Yang Kuan's tone grew increasingly heavy.
"Is this young chief so strong that you have no confidence in dealing with him, Senior Brother Yang?" Lin Fan's heart was heavy too.
Yang Kuan shook his head. "No. If it were only the young chief, we wouldn't be so lacking in confidence. But the young chief usually has a powerful protector guarding him during his trial. Everyone in this manor has already been 'penned in' by that expert. Take one step outside this town, and we'll be killed. Even if we kill the young chief in the end, that expert will slaughter us too. We've already become lambs awaiting slaughter."
Lin Fan went completely numb. A single mission had landed him in a certain death trap. He hated Zhang Yu to death now.
The two fell silent, leaning quietly against their chair backs.
After quite a while, Lin Fan's low voice sounded again. "Senior Brother Yang, how strong is that protector?"
"At least Eighth-Rank Bone Forging Greater Completion, possibly even seventh rank." Yang Kuan's answer dimmed the last trace of hope in Lin Fan's eyes.
Whether at Greater Bone Forging or seventh rank, crushing him to death would be no harder than crushing an ant.
At Greater Bone Forging, the bones throughout one's body had already been refined into tiger bones, granting strength of hundreds of thousands of jin. A single punch could smash Lin Fan into meat paste.
As for seventh rank, a single breath could blow Lin Fan out of existence.
Yang Kuan stood and patted Lin Fan's shoulder. "Junior Brother Yang, we inner courtyard disciples are their main targets. Once the battle begins, flee immediately. Don't look back. If you make it back alive, take a message to my master-Yang Kuan can no longer fulfill his filial duty." With that, Yang Kuan left despondently.
Lin Fan's fingernails dug into his palms, his expression slowly turning resolute and cold. "Want to kill me? Even if I die, I'll shatter your teeth!"
His chilling words dissolved into the wind and scattered with it.