Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall.
In Qi He’s courtyard, besides Chen Chunfeng, there was also Zhao Ce.
Qi He is the Vice Hall Master of Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall, handling the daily affairs of the hall. Zhao Ce is responsible for recruiting new students, and Chen Chunfeng is the instructor for the new batch of students.
The three are gathered here at this moment to discuss the matter of Lin Chen.
"Senior Brother Qi, Lin Chen shows great comprehension in the Clear Wind Palm. With his talent, he might achieve Small Success in half a year and Perfection in three years."
Chen Chunfeng, looking at the silent Vice Hall Master Qi, shared his estimation of Lin Chen’s progress in the martial path.
"Senior Brother Chen, you were the one who initially revoked Lin Chen’s first-grade student treatment, and now you want to give it to him again. Your flip-flopping..." Zhao Ce voiced some dissatisfaction.
"Junior Brother Zhao, we didn’t know Lin Chen’s talent in the Clear Wind Palm back then; now that we do, a reevaluation is naturally required." Chen Chunfeng responded with a frown.
"Then what about Lv Shuyu? The hall has already promised him the spot, and now you’re saying the spot is gone. How do you expect him to feel?"
Faced with Zhao Ce’s question, Chen Chunfeng found himself at a loss and smiled wryly, "It’s precisely because it’s such a difficult decision that I came to ask Senior Brother Qi to make the call."
Lv Shuyu has already opened Three Acupoints. Although slightly inferior to the students who have opened Five and Four Acupoints, it’s not that Lv Shuyu can’t open Four, but more for long-term consideration while learning martial arts at the hall.
The martial path is not achieved overnight; those students who have opened Five and Four Acupoints come from very wealthy families that can continue to support their cultivation even after opening Ten Acupoints.
Lv Shuyu’s family is slightly less well-off. In the early stages, he dares not spend lavishly, but if given the first-grade student treatment, it could compensate for this disparity.
Savings of twenty-five taels of silver monthly amount to over two hundred taels a year. Adding the hall’s later expenses, a first-grade student treatment allows savings of nearly one thousand taels of silver over three years at the hall.
Qi He, fingers caressing the teacup in his hand, did not speak.
"Senior Brother Qi, perhaps we can give first-grade student treatment to both Lin Chen and Lv Shuyu." Chen Chunfeng suggested.
"Senior Brother Chen, are you perhaps suggesting cutting one of Shao Hong’s group’s slots?"
"Of course not." Chen Chunfeng shook his head, "What I mean is, regardless of whether the first-grade slot goes to Lin Chen or Lv Shuyu, we privately give the same treatment to the other."
"That won’t do, it’s a Military Affairs Department ban, Junior Brother Chen, don’t be confused."
Qi He’s expression became solemn and extremely serious, "One of the strictest rules the Military Affairs Department imposes on our hall is the prohibition of privately rewarding students in various forms. The Eight Halls’ Chaos twenty years ago must not be repeated."
Chen Chunfeng showed a helpless expression. During the chaotic times of the Eight Halls twenty years ago, he happened to be a student at the martial arts hall and knew all too well the terrible impact it had.
Twenty years ago, the Military Affairs Department’s restrictions on martial arts hall recruitments were not so stringent. Apart from the fixed number of Opening Acupoints Pill slots, the rest were decided internally by the halls for recruiting students.
At that time, the Cloud Conceal Martial Arts Hall consistently ranked last in annual competitions. To shake off this poor standing, the newly appointed Hall Master of Cloud Conceal privately promised various martial arts resources to students from very wealthy families.
The results were evident — that year, the wealthiest students were all recruited by the Cloud Conceal Martial Arts Hall. The allure of martial arts resources worth over a thousand taels was too much for even the city’s noble children to resist.
In that year’s competition, Cloud Conceal took the top three places, basking in infinite glory.
The following year, in a new round of recruitment, other halls picked up this tactic and even offered to cover all costs in the hall for three years to attract potential students.
Various attractive offers from the halls led to significant financial burdens, with some even failing to cover their costs.
Resources provided by the halls, like poultry and pills, come at a cost and are not a no-cost affair.
The income for halls comes from the students’ enrollment fees and a commission on their purchases of supplies at the hall.
This revenue must cover instructors’ salaries and also get slightly cheaper supplies from the Martial Affairs Office. Offering free costs or even subsidies to attract students nearly emptied the Cloud Conceal Martial Arts Hall’s finances.
In order to keep the hall running, the Hall Master of Cloud Conceal dared to raise the prices of Martial Hall supplies. Although still cheaper than outside, this caused discontent among students, leading several to directly file complaints with the Rao Mansion’s Military Affairs Department.
Enraged, the director of the Military Affairs Department thoroughly investigated, and the head of Poyang County’s Martial Affairs was demoted along with the Cloud Conceal Martial Arts Hall Master, exiled to the frontier. The other seven hall masters also lost their positions.
Since then, the Military Affairs Department established clear rules: Martial arts hall recruitments are limited to ten Opening Acupoints Pill slots and five first-grade student treatment slots, with no private resources to be given to students.
No extra subsidies are allowed for any student in any form.
For example, if an instructor privately provides monetary assistance under the pretext of favoring a student, when in fact it is covered by the martial arts hall, being discovered would mean a severe offense.
No martial arts hall dares to touch this red line!
Unless, one truly pays out of their own pocket; however, funding a first-grade slot over three years costs nearly a thousand taels of silver, not a sum everyone can afford.
As a Viscera-Refining Martial Artist, it’s possible to have owned a thousand taels, but the martial path is a money pit. Reaching this point, most of the silver and coins are spent, unless one abandons the martial path after reaching the Refining Viscera Realm, accumulating savings over several years, maybe enough to save a thousand taels.
"Let’s not mention other methods again. Now the two of you, speak frankly — to whom should the first-grade treatment slot go?"
Chen Chunfeng hesitated for a moment, "Whether it goes to Lin Chen or Lv Shuyu, I have no objections."
Qi He nodded, looking at Zhao Ce: "Junior Brother Zhao, who do you think it should be given to?"
"Lv Shuyu!"
Zhao Ce didn’t hesitate and gave his answer, explaining at the same time: "Senior Brother Qi, Senior Brother Chen, no matter how high Lin Chen’s talent in Clear Wind Palm is, what does it matter? What is more urgent now is the martial arts competition within the hall. These quarterly competitions emphasize the martial arts realm that the students achieve."
"Lin Chen mastered the Clear Wind Palm. Even if he can fight across one Acupoint and possibly win next month, what about in the sixth month’s competition? Can Lin Chen possibly cultivate the Clear Wind Palm to Small Success in such a short time? By then, other top students from major halls will have certainly reached Mastery in their martial arts techniques, nullifying the advantage of Lin Chen. Instead, the difference in realm will widen."
Chen Chunfeng furrowed his brow and asked: "Junior Brother Zhao, is it possible that you still hold a grudge because you initially rejected Lin Chen when he later joined our hall?"
"Senior Brother Chen, what do you mean by that? It wasn’t only I who rejected Lin Chen; Senior Brother Qi also agreed with the decision. I hold no grudge against Lin Chen. Choosing Lv Shuyu is because providing Lv Shuyu with the top disciple treatment yields the greatest benefit to the hall."
Zhao Ce spoke candidly, and Chen Chunfeng sighed without saying anything further.
"Since Junior Brother Chen has no objections, and Junior Brother Zhao supports Lv Shuyu, then this top treatment will be given to Lv Shuyu."
Qi He made the final decision. Although he was the Vice Hall Master, the Hall Master focused on breaking through to Entering the Grade, and many matters of the hall fell to him to decide.
Jingshui Martial Arts Hall.
"Has the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall revoked Lin Chen’s top treatment?"
Kong Yinglei listened to her senior sister’s words, shock written on her face. With Lin Chen’s talent in Clear Wind Palm, wasn’t he worthy of a top treatment slot?
"In previous years, the top slot would naturally have been given to Lin Chen, but this year is different. Qi He is too profit-driven, focusing on this year’s martial arts hall competition. From the perspective of hall competition, the speed at which students improve their realm is far more worth cultivating than their understanding of techniques."
Zeng Qingyao understood her junior sister’s confusion and directly pointed out Qi He’s mindset.
"Do you think Qi He is like you, Junior Sister, giving no top slots to anyone other than Jiang Qing?"
"Judging by Fu Jingya and others’ attitude towards martial arts, they shouldn’t receive top slots, although their performance this month isn’t bad, and I might consider giving them top slots next month."
Kong Yinglei snorted softly. Zeng Qingyao smiled without commenting, as this was a peculiarity of their Jingshui Martial Arts Hall. Since all were female disciples, even if they ranked at the bottom in competitions, it wouldn’t bring much disgrace.
"Senior Sister, can’t Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall be a bit flexible, compensating a certain student privately?"
"Junior Sister Kong!"
Zeng Qingyao’s face turned serious: "Have you forgotten the chaos of the Eight Halls twenty years ago and the iron rule of the Military Affairs Department?"
"Senior Sister, the chaos of the Eight Halls and the current situation cannot be equated. Lin Chen deserves a top treatment slot, and this isn’t a matter of making empty promises to recruit a student."
Kong Yinglei didn’t see the issue. Inspector Shu arranged for Lin Chen to be with their Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, and allocating an Opening Acupoint Pill slot was a good way to be flexible.
"The anger of the Military Affairs Department Director back then was more complex than you imagine. The issue involved the imperial court’s positioning of martial arts halls."
Zeng Qingyao, seeing her junior sister’s puzzled expression, felt the need to explain the pros and cons. Otherwise, when she entered seclusion, her junior sister might cross this red line.
"Genius disciples should be favored; this is natural. But how is a genius disciple defined? Is Jiang Qing, who reached Five Acupoints upon entering the hall, considered a genius disciple?"
"Of course, she is," Kong Yinglei nodded without hesitation.
"Jiang Qing is considered a genius. But if our Jingshui Martial Arts Hall gives substantial resources to Jiang Qing because she is a genius, what about the other students? Hall resources are ultimately limited. If other halls realize we are nurturing Jiang Qing, will they do the same for their talented students to compete?"
"In such a case, wouldn’t most of the hall resources be monopolized by one person?"
"Most critically, if noble families use this as an opportunity, spending plenty of silver to have their descendants meet the so-called genius qualifications of the hall?"
"If these aristocratic children then occupy numerous hall resources, won’t the martial arts halls become a resource drain to nurture the children of the nobility?"
Zeng Qingyao saw her junior sister’s stunned look, and said word by word: "Martial arts halls are to select martial talents for Liang, not to fall into the role of nursery for noble families."
"If they want martial arts resources and treatment, the Military Affairs Department has set a target: that is assessments. If they pass the assessment, they get a reward. This forces these noble families to spend lavishly since they face competitors with similar backgrounds."
"In the prosperous Liang, martial arts halls exist everywhere. If they relied only on resources from the Military Affairs Department, they couldn’t survive. They must conduct assessments, dragging those noble children in. The winners gain rewards, while the expenses of the losers replenish the halls’ coffers."
"Junior Sister, remember one thing: assessment results first, reward and resources later. This is a rule set down from the top by the Military Affairs Department, and no one can change it."
"Students first spend money to cultivate Essence Qi in the Martial Hall, then later receive the reward of Opening Acupoints Pill, which is the best example of ’assessment first, reward later.’
Listening to her senior sister’s elaborate explanations, Kong Yinglei understood the importance of this red line.
The Military Affairs Department, watching not students’ potential, but their achievements!

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