Lin Fan returned to the dormitory. The bundle Lu Hao had left there was gone, and Lu Hao himself was nowhere to be seen. He had probably moved into another dormitory.
Lin Fan paid no mind to this trivial matter, because he would soon be leaving this place.
Li Feng had already reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt. It was time for him to reveal that he had done the same, enter the inner court, and become Head Steward Yue Shan's disciple.
His Body Tempering Art would reach perfection tonight. Staying here any longer would be a waste of time. He had to enter the inner court to learn a Bone Forging cultivation art.
Of course, all of this would have to wait until Yue Shan returned from Green Mountain. Yue Shan and many of the martial arts hall's experts had gone there to settle accounts with the Green Snake Bandits.
Lin Fan sat cross-legged on the floor. His blood Qi surged once more, and his progress in the Body Tempering Art continued to climb rapidly.
Body Tempering Art (perfection 8200/9000)...8300...8400...8600...8800...8999...
"Aooo..."
"Roar..."
At a certain moment, two roars rang out in the silent dormitory, one like a dragon's cry, the other like a tiger's howl.
Lin Fan opened his eyes, and two gleams flashed and vanished. He stood up. First, crackling sounds came from his body, followed by rumbling like leopards, tigers, and thunder, and finally a dragon's roar and a tiger's howl.
"Finally... perfection," Lin Fan murmured.
Though only about ten short days had passed since he entered the martial arts hall, and he had cultivated from an ordinary person to Body Tempering Perfection in that time, Lin Fan felt as though a long time had passed.
In that brief span, he had experienced so much: mockery, suppression, humiliation, mortal danger...
And now, all of it had earned him a result he was satisfied with.
Body Tempering Perfection-Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl, a strength of a hundred thousand jin, enough to blast a massive boulder apart with a single punch.
Once Yue Shan returns, I'll enter the inner court and become his disciple, then learn a Bone Forging cultivation art as soon as possible. I can't stop moving forward, Lin Fan thought to himself.
With hopeful anticipation for the future, Lin Fan drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Lin Fan saw Yang Kuan again in the dining hall. He was both surprised and delighted.
"Senior Brother Yang, weren't you going to deal with the Green Mountain Bandits? Why are you back so soon?" he asked in puzzlement.
"Ah..." Yang Kuan sighed. "The Green Snake Bandits' lair was already deserted. We came up empty-handed and returned last night."
"This again..." Lin Fan could barely muster a complaint.
Yang Kuan understood why Lin Fan had said "again." There had been a mole at the manor last time, and there was a mole this time too.
The Green Snake Bandits-or rather, all the mountain bandits-had infiltrated Qingshan County to a degree that grew more terrifying the more one thought about it.
"Then has our master returned?" Lin Fan's eyes lit up.
Yang Kuan chuckled. "You certainly call him master easily enough." Then his expression turned serious. "But saying it in front of me is one thing. Don't say it in front of anyone else. The martial arts hall places particular importance on its rules, and Master values them most of all," he cautioned.
Lin Fan smiled. "Senior Brother Yang, what if I've already reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt?"
"Even if you've reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt..." Yang Kuan's voice stopped. Then he snapped back to his senses. "What! You've reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt?" His voice nearly lifted the roof off, drawing everyone's attention.
The outer court disciples all stared at Lin Fan in disbelief.
"What? Lin Fan's Iron Cloth Shirt has reached major accomplishment?"
"That has to be fake, right? Has he even practiced Iron Cloth Shirt since coming to the outer court?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Don't tell me he's a martial arts genius, a combat prodigy, and a cultivation genius too?"
The entire dining hall erupted into a stir. No one dared believe Lin Fan had reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt.
Lin Fan rolled up his sleeve, revealing his dusky arm. Having spent little time in the sun lately, he was no longer as dark as before.
He raised his eyebrows at Yang Kuan. "Senior Brother Yang, why not test it and find out?"
Yang Kuan could not believe it, but seeing how serious Lin Fan looked, he could only believe him.
"Wait here."
Leaving those words behind, he hurried into the kitchen and emerged with a cleaver. Then he came up to Lin Fan and chopped down at his arm.
A powerful resistance traveled back into Yang Kuan's hand. No blood blossomed, only a faint white mark.
At this sight, no matter how much Yang Kuan and the other fellow disciples disbelieved it, they had to accept that Lin Fan had reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt.
Yang Kuan's shock gave way to delight. He grabbed Lin Fan. "Junior Brother Lin, let's go! We'll go pay respects to Master right now and become true fellow disciples." As he spoke, he pulled Lin Fan away, leaving behind a roomful of shocked and astonished gazes.
"Heavens, Lin Fan really has reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt!"
"He stays in his dormitory every day and only comes out in the afternoon to serve as Young Master Tang's Human Stake. He reached major accomplishment just like that?"
"Serving as Young Master Tang's Human Stake? That makes sense. With the strength of Young Master Tang's punches, if he kept pounding Lin Fan, it really could happen. Serving as a Human Stake is one way to train Iron Cloth Shirt, after all," said a senior brother who had reached perfection in Iron Cloth Shirt.
"So that's it. Then couldn't I do the same by becoming Young Master Tang's Human Stake?" A junior brother's face filled with longing.
As soon as he finished speaking, many of the senior brothers looked at him as though he were an idiot.
"Fool. If you went, Young Master Tang would just break your arms and legs."
"Has Young Master Tang broken too few Human Stakes' arms and legs already?"
That junior brother came to his senses as well. Not everyone could withstand Young Master Tang's punches with only minor accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt. The fact that Lin Fan had held on was itself proof of his powerful physical talent.
Yang Kuan pulled Lin Fan into the inner court, the heart of the Mountain Suppression Martial Arts Hall.
The inner court was spacious, with buildings scattered throughout and several courtyard residences. Only the martial arts hall's experts of seventh rank or above could have such residences.
Yang Kuan brought Lin Fan to the entrance of one of these residences. The gate was open, and Yang Kuan pulled him inside, where they entered a spacious courtyard.
At that moment, a dignified middle-aged man was slowly practicing a fist routine in the courtyard.
The routine bore traces of the Gang-Breaking Fist, but compared to the Gang-Breaking Fist's openly displayed sharpness, this fist art felt heavy and substantial. In Lin Fan's eyes, the middle-aged man's fists were not fists, but two mountains.
The middle-aged man noticed them, but he did not stop moving, instead finishing the entire routine.
What a pity.
Lin Fan silently regretted it. He had not seen the complete fist routine, and the middle-aged man had not recited the corresponding mnemonic, so the Fate Panel had not recorded this fist art.
Yang Kuan cupped his hands and bowed to the middle-aged man. "Greetings, Master."
The middle-aged man nodded, his gaze falling on Lin Fan. "This must be the Lin Fan you've praised to the skies. Why have you brought him here? Do you have any regard for the martial arts hall's rules? Don't forget that you're a member of the hall's Law Enforcement Court!" As he spoke, his face stiffened, his expression becoming even more imposing.
As the head steward in charge of the law enforcement team, he valued rules above all else and repeatedly stressed that his disciples must follow them.
An ordinary person would not even have the courage to raise their head under Yue Shan's imposing gaze, but Lin Fan remained calm. He cupped his hands and bowed to Yue Shan. "Greetings, Head Steward. This disciple has reached major accomplishment in Iron Cloth Shirt. That is why Senior Brother Yang brought me here."
"Oh?"
Slightly surprised, Yue Shan flicked a finger. A streak of force tore through the air and struck Lin Fan's arm, ripping an opening in his robe and revealing a faint white mark beneath.
"You have indeed reached major accomplishment. Mm, good. From this day onward, you are my disciple. In the days to come, do not grow arrogant or complacent. Cultivate diligently and abide by the martial arts hall's rules." Yue Shan's stern face softened somewhat, but he remained serious.
"I will faithfully follow your teachings, Master." Lin Fan was secretly delighted. He could make rapid progress again.