Martial Arts Garden.
A secluded courtyard.
Song Yu looked at the other five and clasped his hands, saying, "I am very grateful that all of you, my junior brothers, have accepted my invitation."
This gathering was initiated by Song Yu, and the five people in front of him were currently the top talents among the new batch of students from each Martial Arts Hall.
Fei Hong from the Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall, Gu Shan from the Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall, Zhang Qing from the Gale Martial Arts Hall, Qi Fei from the Cloud Conceal Martial Arts Hall, Zhao Kang from the Mantis Martial Arts Hall, and Shao Hong from the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall.
"It’s a pity that Senior Sister Jiang has left the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall."
Song Yu sighed. He had sent an invitation to the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, but the response was that Jiang Qing was not there recently.
"Senior Sister Jiang has left Poyang County, but Senior Brother Lin is still around, right?"
Zhao Kang glanced towards Gu Shan: "Isn’t it said that Senior Brother Lin has been staying at the Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall lately?"
Gu Shan nodded and said, "Yes, Senior Brother Lin is cultivating the Iron Bone Skill at our Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall today and has been inside the hall all along."
"Senior Brother Song, why didn’t you invite Senior Brother Lin?"
Zhao Kang was puzzled. The invitation from Song Yu was to discuss matters related to the county competition at the Martial Arts Garden. Given that Senior Brother Lin was the first in the March competition, Song Yu had no reason not to invite him.
Not only Zhao Kang, but the others were also looking at Song Yu with confusion, waiting for his explanation.
Song Yu glanced at Shao Hong, who looked slightly embarrassed. He hadn’t invited Lin Chen for two reasons, one of which was to avoid making Shao Hong uncomfortable.
Shao Hong had been defeated by Lin Chen, and considering Lin Chen had a grudge with the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall, Shao Hong was probably still brooding over it.
The Song and Shao families are both prestigious families in Poyang County and have been allies for generations. He and Shao Hong had a good relationship, so if Lin Chen was invited, Shao Hong would certainly not attend.
As for the other reason, Song Yu didn’t hide it and said directly, "Senior Brother Lin is cultivating the Iron Bone Skill. The details within are unknown to other students, but you all should be aware."
The Martial Arts Extreme Cultivation Method was unfamiliar to students in Poyang County. Even Song Yu and the others didn’t know about it until they learned that Lin Chen had gone to the Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall to cultivate the Iron Bone Skill. Their elders had explained the details to them.
"Senior Brother Song, what do you mean by this?" Gu Shan asked with a frown.
"The path of extreme cultivation is not so easily walked. Lin Chen placed first in one competition, does he really think he is an unparalleled genius?"
Before Song Yu could answer, Shao Hong wore a mocking expression: "After he wastes several months, the gap between him and us will only widen. The advantage he has with the Perfection of the Clear Wind Palm will be lost. On what basis can he compete with us in the Martial Arts Realm, with just those two Acupoint Opening Pills?"
Having lost to Lin Chen, Shao Hong was still unconvinced. He admitted that Lin Chen had perfected the Clear Wind Palm and that he was not his match, but that was because the time had been too short, and his own advantages hadn’t been fully realized.
The Opening Acupoints Realm comprises twenty-four acupoints. Given Lin Chen’s family background, once the aid provided by the Perfection of the Clear Wind Palm is exhausted, how could he compete with me?
It was merely luck that he caught the attention of Lord Su, resulting in the March competition and numerous rewards. Otherwise, after reaching eight acupoints, he would likely be no different from an ordinary student at the Martial Arts Hall, having to exhaust himself to earn silver coins for further training instead of focusing on cultivation.
In his view, if Lin Chen had continued staying at the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, relying on the substantial rewards from the Martial Affairs Office and the Martial Arts Hall, he might barely keep up with the training regimen and not fall behind.
But Lin Chen made such an absurd decision to walk the path of extreme cultivation. In his eyes, given Lin Chen’s background and conditions, choosing this path was undoubtedly self-destructive.
Song Yu had privately exchanged views with Shao Hong, and they both shared the same perspective. However, he was not as blunt as Shao Hong and instead explained, "Now that Senior Brother Lin has begun cultivating the Iron Bone Skill, his breakthroughs in the Martial Arts Realm will certainly slow. Even with the Perfection of the Clear Wind Palm, his advantage in the competition three months from now is not what it used to be."
In three months, with their talents, they could reach Small Success in their cultivation techniques at the very least. Although this didn’t match the power of a perfected technique, the gap in technique would narrow while the advantage in the realm would widen.
With this decrease and increase, Song Yu did not think Lin Chen would fare well in the county competition three months later.
"I beg to differ with Senior Brother Song’s opinion."
Zhao Kang shook his head, not agreeing with Song Yu and Shao Hong. Shao Hong was biased, having a grudge against Senior Brother Lin and naturally saying nothing good. But Zhao Kang hadn’t expected Song Yu to also underestimate Senior Brother Lin.
He was the Senior Brother among the new students of the Mantis Martial Arts Hall, but his family background was slightly worse than these five. When the Martial Affairs Office released the document a few days ago, his heart was full of admiration upon reading about Senior Brother Lin’s achievements.
He didn’t believe that Senior Brother Lin would become arrogant and make unwise choices after overcoming numerous hardships to reach his current position.
There had to be a reason for Senior Brother Lin taking such actions.
"Junior Brother Zhao, Lin Chen is not here. Flattering him won’t do you any good; he won’t give you an Acupoint Opening Pill." Shao Hong said sarcastically.
"It doesn’t matter to me if I flatter him. It’s better than some people who become jealous after losing." Zhao Kang retorted without sparing any feelings.
"Zhao Kang!"
Shao Hong was enraged, while Zhao Kang smirked, "What? Getting angry out of shame? Do you want to have a match with me too?"
"Junior Brothers, please don’t get upset. The purpose of gathering everyone is to discuss how to deal with the martial artists from Yanshan County; don’t fight amongst yourselves."
Song Yu tried to mediate, and the others joined in to persuade them as well.
"Forget it, since my views differ from Senior Brother Song’s, I’ll take my leave from this gathering."
The relationship between the Song and Shao families wasn’t unknown to Zhao Kang, and the words of Shao Hong probably represented Song Yu’s views as well.
It’s just that one is straightforward, while the other is tactful.
"Junior Brother Zhao?"
"Ah..."
Zhao Kang turned and left decisively. Song Yu sighed, looked at the remaining few people, and said helplessly, "I didn’t expect Junior Brother Zhao to have such a fiery temper; it really doesn’t seem like someone practicing Mantis Fist. One would think he’s practicing Iron Collapse Fist instead."
"Zhao Kang has always been the weakest among us, so his departure doesn’t matter. There’s no need to mind." Shao Hong snorted dismissively.
Song Yu noticed the frowns on Gu Shan and the others’ faces, realizing Shao Hong’s words had displeased them, so he changed the subject, saying solemnly, "Fellow Junior Brothers, I’ve received news that Yanshan County already has seven students at the nine acupoints level, surpassing us in numbers."
"Senior Brother Song, matters like this should be left for the Hall Master and Lord Su to worry about. We can’t expect the junior brothers in the martial arts hall to quickly break through in their realms too."
Qi Fei shook his head helplessly. All they could do was continually break through themselves, but they couldn’t support others similarly or provide resources for those junior brothers.
"Indeed, this isn’t something we disciples should worry about. I have an idea to invite those fellows from Yanshan County to the martial arts garden for a sparring match, to see what their strength is like."
Poyang County has a martial arts garden, but Yanshan County does not, and neither does the entire Raozhou Prefecture.
"Does Senior Brother Song think those fellows will accept the invitation?" Gu Shan’s eyes lit up. If those from Yanshan County could come to Poyang County, a match in the ring would reveal their true strengths.
"Just as we’re keen to know their strength, they likely want to know ours too."
Song Yu’s words brought knowing smiles to everyone’s faces. Indeed, those from Yanshan County were also keen to understand their own strengths relative to others.
"I have an uncle in Yanshan County with some connections. He should be able to arrange this without issue."
"Let me know when those from Yanshan County arrive, Senior Brother Song. I’ll definitely be there."
"Me too."
Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall.
Lin Chen stood in the courtyard, his skin glowing red, but on closer inspection, one could see a layer of blood flowing beneath the surface of his red skin.
Strengthening the body’s outer layer!
This is the sign of Iron Bone Skill’s entry-level mastery.
In the bathtub, the water temperature was just right. Lin Chen stepped into the tub and then took the Purple Crystal Marrow Liquid from the bath rack, pouring a drop into the water.
The first bottle of Purple Crystal Marrow Liquid was already more than half used, and its effects had astounded Lin Chen.
After just a quarter-hour medicinal bath, his fatigue and soreness were completely relieved, restoring him to a perfect state.
Relying on the Purple Crystal Marrow Liquid, he could train himself relentlessly day and night, enabling him to achieve entry-level mastery in such a short time.
"Panel!"
Lin Chen murmured softly, and the panel appeared.
[Host: Lin Chen]
[Realm: Opening Acupoints Realm (8/24): (95/100)]
[Clear Wind Palm: Perfection]
[Water Cloud Palm: Great Success (0/1)]
[Iron Bone Skill: Entry-level (1/100)]
[Title: All the Way Black]
[Life Chart: [Natural Progress]: Martial Arts First Realm, Perseverance, Step-by-step Progress, Unstoppable, No Bottleneck Problem.]
Seeing Iron Bone Skill at entry-level, Lin Chen smiled in satisfaction.
Just as he was about to close the panel, the text on it started to ripple. The words danced like tadpoles, becoming increasingly blurred until the panel was entirely blank.
This sudden change made Lin Chen’s pupils contract sharply, but in the next moment, a line of text reappeared on the panel.
"Perceiving a change in the host’s Martial Path advancement, recalibrating the Martial Path advancement panel..."
Seeing this line, Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
He was truly worried something had happened to the panel; if it disappeared, he wouldn’t be able to track his training progress in real-time, and more crucially, his Life Chart and title bonuses would be gone.
"A change in the Martial Path advancement road?"
Pondering over the panel’s words, Lin Chen became contemplative.
The only change he had made was switching to Iron Bone Skill, embarking on the Extreme Martial Arts Path.
This suggests the panel’s original plan was for him to follow the mainstream Martial Path advancement route that most students take, but now that his path had changed, the panel had to adapt as well.
Lin Chen’s eyes were filled with anticipation. He wondered what surprises this modification would bring him.
The last change had granted him a title.

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