「The next day.」
When Lin Yan arrived at the training grounds, he was surprised to find his master there as well.
It had been over a month since he’d last seen his master, not since the day he’d officially become his disciple.
’Could it be that word of yesterday’s fist exchange reached Master’s ears, and he came specifically for me?’
But Lin Yan soon realized he had been flattering himself.
Just as he stepped onto the training grounds, two figures appeared at the courtyard gate. The two youths entered one after the other.
The sight of the two newcomers sent a stir through the many disciples in the courtyard.
"It’s Junior Brother Zhao."
"Junior Brother Zhao succeeded in Nourishing Foundation too? How many days has it been?"
"Five days. I was in the outer courtyard when Junior Brother Zhao joined. At the absolute most, it’s only been five days."
"If I remember correctly, Junior Brother Zhao is only sixteen this year. That’s terrifying!"
Listening to the chatter of the other disciples, Lin Yan understood what was happening.
A genius disciple from the outer courtyard was entering the Central Courtyard. To succeed in Nourishing Foundation in just five days—no wonder it had drawn their master’s attention.
The two youths walked toward Yang Qingfeng. The one in the lead was high-spirited, his face brimming with confidence. The one a few steps behind him, however, had a very calm expression. He even kept his head lowered, seemingly uncomfortable with being the center of attention, even if it was just the collective peripheral gaze of the other disciples.
"Disciple Zhao Linyuan pays his respects to Master."
"Disciple Zhuang Zheng pays his respects to Master."
As the two youths spoke one after the other, Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’Zhao Linyuan is a fine name, but Zhuang Zheng... I feel like I’ve heard or seen that name somewhere before.’
Soon, Lin Yan remembered where he had seen the name "Zhuang Zheng."
In Zhang Dahai’s ledger, it was written: "Zhuang Zheng borrowed fifty taels."
’Is it just someone with the same name?’
Lin Yan wasn’t sure. Logically, anyone who could start their cultivation directly in the Martial Arts Hall’s outer courtyard shouldn’t be short on money. It was unlikely they would borrow fifty taels from a swindler like Zhang Dahai.
"Five days. Not bad."
Yang Qingfeng looked at Zhao Linyuan with great satisfaction. Amassing sufficient Qi Blood in five days was even faster than he had expected.
He had given Zhao Linyuan a timeframe of ten days.
Even with enough money to buy Secret Medicines, one’s body still had to be able to absorb them.
As for the kind of Treasure Medicines that could ignore the body’s physical limits, no family in all of Guangping County Town could afford them.
Yang Qingfeng did not hide his satisfaction with Zhao Linyuan. While not as pleased with Zhuang Zheng, he still offered an encouraging smile. "Reaching the standard for Qi Blood in a month and a half is also quite good. If you are diligent in your Martial Arts cultivation from now on, you too can achieve something."
"This disciple will remember Master’s teachings and dare not slack off in the slightest," Zhuang Zheng replied respectfully, his head still lowered.
Just as he had when teaching Lin Yan, Yang Qingfeng said no more and began to directly impart the Mountain-Splitting Fist.
Many disciples gathered to watch. Several of them had not yet fully mastered the Mountain-Splitting Fist and took this opportunity to observe it a few more times. Lin Yan also stood to the side, but unlike the others, he wanted to see if there was any difference between his master’s Mountain-Splitting Fist and his own.
After watching one run-through, Lin Yan had a thoughtful expression on his face.
’Master’s Mountain-Splitting Fist techniques have an imposing aura that mine lacks. And I can tell he’s holding back.’
When his master began teaching Zhao Linyuan and Zhuang Zheng technique by technique, Lin Yan stopped watching and moved to the side to continue practicing his own Mountain-Splitting Fist.
The leaf in his mind was nearly at Perfection; it just needed one final push.
"For this technique, the body..."
SNAP!
SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!
A crisp sound echoed across the training grounds. Yang Qingfeng’s eyes focused, and he immediately looked in Lin Yan’s direction.
At that moment, Lin Yan’s skin was crimson. Beneath it, surges of Qi Blood stretched his skin taut before receding.
As his skin was repeatedly stretched, it began to grow lax. But then, a drum-like beat sounded from within Lin Yan’s body, and his skin began to contract, fine lines appearing all over it.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the surging of Qi Blood and the strange phenomenon of his skin repeatedly swelling and contracting gradually subsided.
Lin Yan’s eyes snapped open. A single, deep syllable burst from his lips as he expelled the last of the turbid air from his body.
His skin, which had become slack and covered in irregular fine lines from the scouring of his Qi Blood, now seemed to be slowly smoothed and compacted by an invisible hand.
The once fine, smooth skin of a youth now took on a coarse, solid, and rough texture.
With every move, the muscles beneath the rough skin rippled, imbued with a resilient quality that could easily deflect ordinary scrapes and blows.
This was the most prominent feature of the Single-Time Skin Smoothing’s "rough skin" stage. At this point, ordinary clubs could no longer harm him.
Lin Yan slowly relaxed his stance. He stood firm, gently moving his arms and feeling the new, distinct firmness of his skin and the faint sound of it rubbing. He broke into a wide grin.
He was happy not only because he had achieved Single-Time Skin Smoothing, but also because a new piece of information about the Martial Arts Tree had appeared in his mind.
’Martial Arts are like a tree; there are no bottlenecks.’
The Four-Times of Skin Smoothing were also known as the "Four Gates" because many Martial Artists failed to break through them. But with the Martial Arts Tree, he wouldn’t have to worry about failure. As long as he reached the required Realm, he would break through naturally.
This information was far more exciting to him than breaking through to Single-Time Skin Smoothing.
On the training grounds, the gazes of the other disciples now focused squarely on Lin Yan, every one of them filled with envy.
The scene that had just unfolded with Lin Yan was something they dreamed of day and night.
Ge Hui’s expression was incredibly foul. Lin Yan achieving Single-Time Skin Smoothing so quickly was beyond his expectations. It meant that from this day forward, Lin Yan was in the same Realm as him.
Zhao Linyuan stopped practicing the Mountain-Splitting Fist techniques. There was a trace of surprise in his eyes as he looked at Lin Yan, but he wasn’t displeased that Lin Yan had stolen his thunder.
’My goal is far beyond this.’
Yang Qingfeng stroked his beard and smiled. "Single-Time Skin Smoothing in two months. Very good. You may go to the medicine dispensary later to collect a twenty-year-old Blood Ginseng."
He still had an impression of this disciple, Lin Yan. He was the first one who had ever made him thirsty from teaching.
"Thank you, Master."
Hearing his master’s reward, Lin Yan hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
"The rest of you must also cultivate diligently and strive to achieve Skin Smoothing soon."
Yang Qingfeng glanced at the other envious disciples, offering a word of encouragement before his gaze returned to Zhao Linyuan and Zhuang Zheng.
"Do you two have any other questions?"
Zhao Linyuan shook his head. "This disciple has already memorized it."
"Master, this disciple... I still don’t quite understand some parts," Zhuang Zheng said, glancing at Zhao Linyuan, a little embarrassed to speak up.
"Hm. Then watch again."
Yang Qingfeng instructed Zhuang Zheng a few more times. After Zhuang Zheng confirmed he had memorized it, the master departed gracefully.
With Yang Qingfeng’s departure, the training grounds grew lively again.
"Junior Brother Zhao, I knew you’d be in the Central Courtyard soon!"
"Junior Brother Lin is amazing, Single-Time Skin Smoothing in just two months."
The disciples in the grounds split up; some surrounded Zhao Linyuan, while others approached Lin Yan. However, most who went to Lin Yan simply offered a compliment before leaving, ultimately gathering around Zhao Linyuan.
For one, everyone had clearly seen their master’s special treatment of Zhao Linyuan. Before leaving, the master had told Junior Brother Zhao to strive for Single-Time Skin Smoothing within a month.
The master had never said that to anyone else. In comparison, Lin Yan’s achievement of Single-Time Skin Smoothing in nearly two months didn’t seem like much.
The second reason, naturally, was that Senior Brother Ge was still there. If they got too close to Lin Yan and were targeted by Senior Brother Ge, they feared they would face his suppression.
Lin Yan paid no mind to what the others thought. He now had to head to the Martial Arts Hall’s rear courtyard to begin the next stage of his Martial Arts cultivation.
"Junior Brother Lin, you’ve achieved Single-Time Skin Smoothing?"
In the Martial Arts Hall’s rear courtyard, as Lin Yan stepped through the gate, Li An, who was practicing his fists, caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye. He stopped at once and hurried over, a look of disbelief on his face.
"A lucky breakthrough."
"Lucky, my ass! It’d be lucky if it took you more than half a year. Let me see... achieving Single-Time Skin Smoothing in less than two months? That’s pure skill."
Li An grabbed Lin Yan’s arm and pressed it a few times. "This firmness... your foundation is incredibly solid."
"Junior Brother Li, a newcomer? Introduce us?"
The other men in the courtyard started walking over as well. Lin Yan discreetly pulled his arm away.
’Senior Brother Li... that name, combined with his bushy beard and over-the-top enthusiasm... I can’t help but get the wrong idea.’
"This is Junior Brother Lin Yan. He joined our Martial Arts Hall’s Central Courtyard less than two months ago," Li An introduced Lin Yan first, then began introducing the senior brothers to him.
"This is Senior Brother Zhang Liang. He’s already at Second-Time Skin Smoothing."
"Senior Brother Yang Feng, not far from Second-Time Skin Smoothing."
"And Senior Brother Lü Qianfan, also not far from Second-Time Skin Smoothing."
Lin Yan greeted each of the eight senior brothers in the courtyard. Apart from that Senior Brother Zhang Liang, all the others were at Single-Time Skin Smoothing.
"For Junior Brother Lin to achieve Single-Time Skin Smoothing in less than two months, his Martial Arts talent must be extraordinary. Is Junior Brother Lin from the South City Lin Family?"
Lü Qianfan asked with a chuckle. Among the families with the surname Lin in the city, the strongest was the South City Lin Family.
Lin Yan shook his head. "Senior Brother misunderstands. I have no connection to the South City Lin Family."
"Not the South City Lin Family? Then are you from the Lin Family that runs the dye mill?" the senior brother named Yang Feng interjected.
"No," Lin Yan denied again, his tone calm.
"Senior Brothers, stop guessing. This guy’s family for the past three generations have been nothing but peddlers and porters."
Ge Hui’s voice came from the entrance. Hearing his words, the smiles on the faces of Lü Qianfan and the others faded slightly.
’If he’s from a common family, then achieving Skin Smoothing in two months is nothing special.’
The Four-Times of Skin Smoothing in Martial Arts were also known as the Four Gates of Martial Arts.
Each gate was a checkpoint, and they grew progressively harder.
There were many disciples in the Martial Arts Hall who had reached the peak of Single-Time Skin Smoothing early on, only to fail their breakthrough attempts several times in a row.
As for the Single-Time Skin Smoothing checkpoint, very few disciples in the Martial Arts Hall ever failed it.
’This Junior Brother Lin probably spent his entire family fortune just to achieve Single-Time Skin Smoothing in two months.’
’Unfortunately, the further you go, the more money it costs. This Junior Brother Lin’s potential probably ends here.’
’It wasn’t that they were being too pragmatic. But if they got close to Junior Brother Lin and he asked to borrow money later, refusing would be awkward. It was better to just keep their relationship cordial but distant.’
Lin Yan could feel the senior brothers’ attitudes cool after Ge Hui’s remark. It was only human nature, so he understood.
’But this Ge Hui...’
’First, he got Zheng Bo to try and lure me into getting crippled, and now he’s targeting me again.’
’The day I achieve Second-Time Skin Smoothing will be the day Ge Hui dies.’

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