The end of the ninth month of martial training at the Martial Hall.
Early in the morning, the three instructors, Yu Yongnian among them, appeared simultaneously at the training ground.
All the trainees who had been practicing punches on the training ground stopped and turned their gazes toward the three instructors.
Aside from the very first month after they entered the Martial Hall—when all three instructors would appear together on the training ground—in the following months, the instructors' appearances had not been fixed. They came at different times.
Now that all three instructors had appeared at the same time again, was there something important to announce?
Instructor Liu, standing in the middle, swept his gaze across the trainees and said loudly, "The Martial Administration Office has issued a notice. In order to encourage everyone to practice martial arts, any trainee whose strength has reached four hundred jin, if they can increase their strength by fifty jin within the next month, will receive a reward of three taels of silver. If they can increase it by one hundred jin, the reward will be ten taels of silver."
Instructor Liu's words immediately stirred discussion among the trainees.
Not excitement, but complaints.
"Are you kidding me? Increasing strength by one hundred jin in a single month?"
"After I hit three hundred jin, I've been spending nearly two taels of silver every month, and my strength only increases by less than thirty jin. At four hundred jin, still maintaining a fifty-jin increase—how much silver would that take?"
"Fifty jin would at the very least require drinking nourishing medicinal soups every day, plus beef. Without ten taels of silver, it's impossible. As for increasing one hundred jin, that's not even something you'd dare to think about."
After more than nine months of martial training at the Martial Hall, these trainees had deeply understood the true weight behind the saying that the more you pursue rapid progress in martial arts, the higher the cost.
Before entering the Martial Hall, some trainees had also heard about this from village youths who had trained there before. But understanding was one thing—without experiencing it firsthand, there was always doubt.
Or, more accurately, there was a sense of luck, thinking that they themselves would be different.
Youth have confidence; they harbor lofty ambitions.
But nine months of life at the Martial Hall had given them a clear understanding of themselves, and they had already given up the notion of rapid advancement.
"This reward is probably prepared for people like Senior Brother Lu. Only they could possibly get it."
"They won't get it either. Senior Brother Lu and the others already crossed five hundred jin long ago. Maybe someone from the next batch will get it."
The trainees showed little appreciation, and the three instructors were not surprised. When they saw this official document, they had already been able to guess the trainees' reaction.
This wasn't really an incentive—at most, it was icing on the cake.
Trainees from average families couldn't make use of it, while people like Lu Yongfeng, who came from well-off families, didn't care about such a small reward.
...
...
"Which distinguished benefactor is this, so wise and mighty? Isn't this reward tailor-made just for me?"
In the crowd, Lin Chen's eyes shone brightly. Increasing fifty jin in one month for a reward of three taels of silver—this was basically handing him money.
His strength had reached four hundred jin just yesterday.
"Panel."
Lin Chen murmured softly in his heart, and the panel appeared.
[Name: Lin Chen]
[Profession: Martial Artist]
[Qi and Blood: 2003/3000]
[Fate: [Water Flows, Channel Forms]: In the first realm of martial arts, with perseverance and steady progress, advance like splitting bamboo, free from the troubles of bottlenecks.]
At his current rate of gaining 10 points of qi and blood per day, that was 300 points in a month—equivalent to 60 jin of strength. The three-tael silver reward was absolutely within reach.
Even the ten-tael reward wasn't something he couldn't try to aim for.
"Trainees whose strength has reached four hundred jin may come forward to test their strength and register it."
While Lin Chen was thinking, Instructor Liu spoke again.
Instructor Liu didn't care what the trainees thought. This was an official directive from the Martial Administration Office, and the Martial Hall naturally had to comply.
They first had to count how many trainees at the Martial Hall had reached four hundred jin, and then report it to the Martial Administration Office.
A few breaths later, a trainee stepped out from the ranks and walked to the 440-jin stone pedestal, lifting it relatively easily.
"Yang Lin, 440 jin."
Instructor Chen, who was responsible for recording, glanced at Yang Lin's condition and wrote the number down in the ledger.
Next, another trainee stepped forward and lifted the 420-jin stone pedestal.
"Li Dong, 420 jin."
"Chu Dong, 410 jin."
"Zheng Kai, 440 jin."
Lin Chen paid attention to the numbers Instructor Chen announced, and after seeing the state in which Yang Lin and the others lifted the stone pedestals, he immediately understood— the instructors were being lenient.
Take Yang Lin for example. When he lifted the 440-jin stone pedestal, he didn't look particularly strained. His strength was definitely more than 440 jin, closer to 450 jin. The instructor had simply rounded down the excess.
The instructors were truly good people.
Of course, their leniency had limits—they were only rounding off.
Earlier, Zheng Kai had clearly tried to hide his strength, going to lift the 420-jin stone pedestal and even pretending to struggle, almost fooling everyone.
However, Instructor Liu directly told Zheng Kai to switch to another stone pedestal and lift again. Only when Zheng Kai finally lifted the 440-jin stone pedestal did Lin Chen realize just how much Zheng Kai had been holding back.
So the three instructors would show leniency, but they wouldn't falsify results.
For the instructors, rounding off had a perfectly reasonable explanation. The stone pedestals at the Martial Hall were all measured in tens, so naturally they registered rounded numbers. The Martial Administration Office wouldn't care about such details.
"Yan Dexing, what are you coming up here for? Your strength has already broken five hundred jin. Go back down."
Instructor Liu glared at the approaching youth with displeasure.
Yan Dexing sheepishly turned back. Naturally, he hadn't come up to lift the stone pedestal for the reward—he just wanted to show off.
"And you too—Lu Yongfeng, Cheng Ying, Zhao Jingchuan, Xu Botao—you don't need to test either."
Hearing Instructor Liu say this, all the trainees present turned their eyes toward those five, their gazes filled with envy. All five of them had broken five hundred jin in strength.
"Are there any other trainees?"
Instructor Liu said this casually, following procedure. He didn't expect anyone else to step forward. Trainees whose strength reached four hundred jin were already second only to people like Lu Yongfeng at the Martial Hall. As an instructor, he already knew in his heart how many there were.
Lin Chen pondered for a moment, then stepped out from the ranks.
"Chen… Chenzi, what are you doing?"
Seeing Lin Chen walking forward, Gu Fei froze for a moment. By the time he reacted and reached out to pull him back, Lin Chen had already left the crowd.
When Lin Chen walked toward the stone pedestal, all eyes on the training ground turned to him.
"What's he trying to do?"
"Don't tell me his strength has reached four hundred jin?"
"If Lin Chen's strength is really four hundred jin, then I've already cultivated refined qi by now."
Among the trainees present, there was doubt, there was mockery—but not a single person believed that Lin Chen's strength had reached four hundred jin.
The few who had been stripped of the right to participate in the test—Lu Yongfeng and the others—had been chatting among themselves, not even sparing this side a glance. But now, hearing the discussion, they all turned their eyes over.
"What's Lin Chen trying to do? Claim that in three months, his strength increased by two hundred jin?" Cheng Ying asked, puzzled.
"He can't even afford beef, relying on working in the dining hall to waive his meal costs. If he could increase his strength by two hundred jin, then what would that make the rest of us?"
Yan Dexing curled his lips. From two hundred jin to four hundred jin, the five of them had all spent more than three months. Among everyone present, only Lu Yongfeng had managed a two-hundred-jin increase in strength within three months.
And each of them had spent nearly twenty taels of silver over those three months. As for Lu Yongfeng, he had definitely spent more than twenty taels.
If Lin Chen could catch up to them, wouldn't all that silver they spent have been for nothing?