Lv Yang, Zhou Lin, and Zhang Kehan left.
As they left, they acted as if it was a great pity for Yang Jing. It was as if his inability to join them in fawning over Senior Sister Qi that night was his great loss.
Yang Jing watched them leave the courtyard with a smile, only shaking his head slightly after they were gone.
Wherever there are people, there is a society.
It was the same in this world as it was in his past life. Back then, some people spent all day sucking up to a powerful "big brother." Here, people were fawning over a powerful "big sister." It was all for the same reason—to gain some benefits or protection.
But what these people failed to understand was that one's own strength is the only thing that truly matters.
Without strength of your own, even if you spend all day sucking up to others, they'll never give you a second glance.
His body's previous owner was a prime example. He had given so much, yet that Senior Sister Qi of theirs couldn't even be bothered to spare him a glance.
'Damn it. You're the one who racked up the debt, but I'm the one stuck paying it off,' Yang Jing cursed internally.
After that, Yang Jing began to practice the Mountain-Shattering Fist.
The earlier qi and blood tempering was just a warm-up to get his body into the right state for training. The Mountain-Shattering Fist was the core of his practice.
Sun Yong, the Hall Master of Sun's Martial Arts Hall, had built his considerable reputation throughout Yuhe County on the back of this very Mountain-Shattering Fist.
Before he began practicing, a thought flickered through Yang Jing's mind, and a line of small text that only he could see appeared before his eyes.
[Mountain-Shattering Fist: Initiate (31/200)]
This was the progress bar for his Mountain-Shattering Fist training.
When Yang Jing first transmigrated, the body's previous owner had been at Sun's Martial Arts Hall for over two months, yet his Mountain-Shattering Fist progress was a mere 22/200. It was only after Yang Jing nursed the body back to health and began training diligently that the progress reached its current level.
The previous owner's aptitude for martial arts may have been poor, but he had also been incredibly lazy.
Yang Jing walked up to a hanging sandbag. He closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them. With that simple action, he adjusted his mental and physical state to its peak.
He spread his feet shoulder-width apart, bent his knees slightly, and settled into a firm horse stance. He took a deep breath, his chest swelling, then exhaled sharply as he sent his right fist hurtling forward like a cannonball. The muscles in his forearm tensed, and veins bulged on his arm as if he were focusing every ounce of his strength into the tip of his fist.
As the first punch landed, Yang Jing followed the momentum, arching his body as his left fist smashed into the sandbag right after.
THUD.
The sandbag flew backward from the impact.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Yang Jing punched again and again, each swing of his arm whistling through the air. Sweat-soaked strands of hair clung to his forehead.
From noon until nightfall.
Aside from a few brief rests, Yang Jing spent the entire time tempering his qi and blood and practicing the Mountain-Shattering Fist. Even when he felt he had reached the very limit of his exhaustion, he gritted his teeth and pushed through.
Seeing the once-lazy Yang Jing suddenly working so hard surprised many of the other disciples. They found it quite novel.
"What's gotten into him?"
"Is Junior Brother Yang all fired up or something?"
"Who knows? He probably won't last long. I bet he gives up by tomorrow."
A few disciples murmured amongst themselves.
However, in the days that followed, Yang Jing's performance far exceeded everyone's expectations.
From morning till night, aside from eating and taking short breaks, Yang Jing spent every waking moment tempering his qi and blood and practicing the Mountain-Shattering Fist.
Tempering his qi and blood served two purposes. First, it was a warm-up for the Mountain-Shattering Fist. Second, practicing while his qi and blood were active was far more effective, allowing him to increase his training speed.
One day, two days, three days...
Before he knew it, half a month had passed.
The small stir Yang Jing had caused in the Martial Arts Hall eventually faded with time.
The other disciples had gone from being surprised by Yang Jing's frenzied training to accepting it. They had grown accustomed to the change in him.
During this period, Senior Brother Lv and his two companions invited Yang Jing out a few more times, but he politely declined on every occasion.
After being rejected multiple times, Senior Brother Lv and the others finally picked up on the distance Yang Jing was creating between them.
After that, Senior Brother Lv and his friends stopped seeking out Yang Jing, and their gazes toward him grew noticeably colder.
Many disciples, including Senior Brother Lv, were disdainful of this change in Yang Jing.
If hard work was all it took to develop internal energy, they would have started training to the death long ago. Why would they waste their energy fawning over disciples who had already achieved it?
In their eyes, Yang Jing was still too young and naive. They believed that once he realized no amount of effort could help him break through the bottleneck to develop internal energy, he would understand it was all futile. By then, however, their little circle would no longer have a place for him.
...
「One morning.」
In the front courtyard of Sun's Martial Arts Hall, Chengping Square.
Yang Jing was practicing the Mountain-Shattering Fist in an open area.
After half a month of arduous training, the muscles on Yang Jing's body were clearly defined. The veins on his forearms bulged with explosive power each time he punched, and his core was as solid as an iron plate, with no hint of looseness.
With a thought, Yang Jing called up the panel before his eyes—
[Mountain-Shattering Fist: Initiate (76/200)]
Half a month of hard work had boosted his Mountain-Shattering Fist progress significantly—more than doubling his previous score.
'At this rate,' Yang Jing thought, 'I should be able to break through to the Minor Accomplishment stage of the Mountain-Shattering Fist in just over a month and step into the realm of Bright Force.'
There are three major realms in martial arts: Bright Force, Dark Force, and Transforming Force.
The ability to develop internal energy was the dividing line between an ordinary person and a true Martial Artist.
Without developing internal energy, no matter how hard one trained, one would only be slightly stronger than an average person. The difference was negligible.
But once a person developed internal energy, they had truly stepped through the gates of the Martial Dao. They could even be called an "expert."
If Yang Jing could develop internal energy and reach the realm of Bright Force, then forget about a mere Feng Lei—even his backers, the powerful Ning Family of Wazi Town, wouldn't dare to pressure him so easily.
"Alright, stop! The Master is coming out. Everyone line up properly."
Just then, a voice rang out across the courtyard.
The twenty-some disciples in the courtyard who were tempering their qi and blood or practicing their forms immediately stopped and headed toward the empty space in the center.
Yang Jing stopped his practice and followed the others, taking his place at the back of the group.
The twenty-six or twenty-seven people formed a ragged square. At the very front stood Hall Master Sun Yong's formal disciples: First Senior Brother Xu Hong, Second Senior Sister Qi Yun, Third Senior Brother Zhao Wenzheng, and Fourth Senior Brother Liu Maolin.
Not long after everyone had assembled,
a black-robed elder emerged from the inner courtyard, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Greetings, Master."
"Greetings, Hall Master."
As the black-robed elder approached, all the disciples bowed in greeting.
According to the rules of Sun's Martial Arts Hall, only those who broke through to the Bright Force realm could become Sun Yong's formal disciples. Only formal disciples were allowed to call him "Master" and could remain at the Martial Arts Hall indefinitely.
As for those disciples who failed to develop internal energy within half a year, they had to leave on their own. They were forbidden from claiming to be Sun Yong's disciples and could, at most, say they had once studied at Sun's Martial Arts Hall.
The black-robed elder was none other than the founder of Sun's Martial Arts Hall—Hall Master Sun Yong.
Although he was past sixty, his spirit was vigorous. His expression was solemn and his back was ramrod straight. Aside from his salt-and-pepper hair and beard, he showed few signs of his age. Just by standing there, he exuded an aura of fierce martial prowess.