Becoming a martial arts saint starting with Black Tiger Fist

Facing the intense gazes of his disciples, Chen Yuan remained calm and nodded readily.

"Yes, I managed to get through last night by sheer luck."

A seemingly casual remark, yet it struck like a thunderclap in everyone's ears.

"It really forged my bones?!"

"Has Senior Brother Chen successfully completed his second attempt at the trial?"

"My goodness, it's only been three months since the skin smoothing process was implemented!"

……

The courtyard was immediately thrown into an uproar.

The way everyone looked at Chen Yuan completely changed. What might have been a hint of disdain before was now replaced by shock and envy, and even a touch of awe.

Especially those outer court disciples with mediocre talent and inferior aptitude.

They looked at Chen Yuan, their fellow disciple who had once been in a more difficult situation than them, who had now actually stepped into the Bone Forging Realm that they had always dreamed of!

An indescribable surge of heat rushed into the hearts of these disciples.

"Senior Brother Chen, he's just like us, with inferior aptitude!"

A thin outer disciple said excitedly, his eyes shining with an unprecedented light.

"He's always the first to arrive and the last to leave, practicing his boxing and stances without fail. I used to think he was wasting his time," another person chimed in, their face slightly flushed. "But now it seems that all that hard work paid off; it truly is a case of 'heaven rewards diligence'!"

"That's right, if Senior Brother Chen can succeed, then we might still have a chance!"

More disciples echoed in hushed tones, exchanging glances and seeing in each other's eyes a renewed fighting spirit and confidence.

Jiang Wan, who was practicing her martial arts nearby, was also surprised when she heard this.

The first time you try to break through a barrier, you can still explain it as luck, but the second time is definitely not as simple as luck.

She had always looked down on poor disciples who had neither connections nor family background, believing that their efforts were all self-indulgent and would not be of any use. She never expected that this time an unexpected incident would occur.

"Does hard work really work?" Jiang Wan murmured, beginning to doubt her past beliefs.

Once upon a time, Chen Yuan, who silently trained hard in the corner of the training ground all day long, was seen by everyone as the same as Li Husheng, as someone who was wasting his efforts and struggling in vain.

But at this moment, everything suddenly turned around, and his past hard work has now become the best example of perseverance and hard work paying off.

Chen Yuan's breakthrough was like a powerful and inspiring medicine, injecting these disciples who were on the verge of giving up.

They stopped whispering and instead silently clenched their fists, re-assuming their fighting stances, their eyes hardening.

The atmosphere of diligent practice within the courtyard suddenly intensified several times over.

……

After noon, a large group of people walked into Jiangyuan.

He was the same person who had accompanied the county magistrate a few days earlier to suppress the disciples of the Cizun Sect who had returned.

Li Hao, who was walking at the front, was dressed in a black outfit. His body was torn and stained with blood, and there was a mixture of blood and sweat smells, as if he had just crawled out of a pile of dead bodies.

But his eyes shone, and his entire demeanor was completely different.

The disciples following behind him, though disheveled, all wore expressions of excitement.

"Senior Brother Li and the others are back!"

"I heard that the campaign to eradicate the Cizun Cult was a great success, and their hideout in Yunwu Mountain was completely wiped out!"

"Brother Sha, how was your harvest this time? Did you earn any bounty?"

The disciples in the courtyard all crowded around, asking questions all at once.

The young disciple surnamed Sha who was accompanying them couldn't wait to speak, his voice full of pride:

"You didn't see it, Senior Brother Li really did something extraordinary this time!"

"In the battle on the riverbank, Senior Brother Li fought three deacons of the Compassionate Venerable Sect single-handedly. One of them had already forged his bones, while the other two were experts in skin tempering. Together, they were incredibly fierce, and dozens of county soldiers fell at their hands. But Senior Brother Li's sword moved like a dragon, and he killed all three of them within twenty moves!"

The surrounding disciples immediately gasped in shock.

How could they kill one Bone Forging expert and two Skin Polishing experts working together in just twenty moves?

Just how strong is Senior Brother Li?

The disciple, getting carried away, continued, "That's not all! Later, during the attack on the branch altar of the Compassionate Venerable Sect, we encountered a Blood Refinement Realm deacon. That fiendish man had strange methods; he could control poisonous insects, and several Blood Refinement Realm experts fell victim to his tricks!"

"It was Senior Brother Li who seized the opportunity while the two Blood Refining seniors were attacking that person, and stabbed him in the right shoulder from behind with his sword, giving the two seniors the chance to kill him!"

"Regarding this matter, the county magistrate personally praised Senior Brother Li, saying he was a young prodigy with extraordinary courage and martial prowess!"

"And that deacon from the Four Symbols Sect!"

Another disciple chimed in, his face beaming with excitement, "That person, after seeing Senior Brother Li's performance, personally praised him as a promising young man with considerable talent. If Senior Brother Li passes the martial arts examination this year and obtains the title of Martial Scholar, he will recommend him to join the Four Symbols Sect without needing to undergo the entrance examination!"

The Four Symbols School!

These three words exploded like a bombshell in the courtyard.

With Li Hao's talent and strength, it's almost a certainty that he will pass the high school martial arts exam. Doesn't that mean he already has one foot in the Four Symbols Sect?

All the disciples looked at Li Hao with envy and jealousy in their eyes.

Li Hao stood in the center of the crowd, enjoying everyone's attention, his smile growing even brighter.

He glanced at the crowd and said loudly, "This annihilation of the cult was entirely due to the magistrate's strategic planning and the courageous efforts of all the senior blood cultivators. I have only done my part."

Although he spoke modestly, anyone could hear the pride in his tone.

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Cheng quickly came out from the backyard. Upon seeing Li Hao, he smiled and said, "You're back? Well done."

"Master!" Li Hao quickly stepped forward and bowed.

"Hmm." Jiang Cheng had overheard the disciples' discussion in the backyard.

He smiled and looked at Li Hao with admiration. He could feel that Li Hao's aura had become even stronger. He had obviously benefited a lot from this bloody battle.

"Come to my room and tell me what you've seen and heard."

"Yes." Li Hao followed Jiang Cheng into the backyard.

As Li Hao and his master left, the other disciples' eyes all fell on the disciples who had returned with him earlier.

A proud smile flashed across the disciple's face as he said, "You didn't see how powerful that master from the Four Symbols Sect was. He killed a Blood Realm expert from the Compassionate Venerable Sect with just one punch. Tsk tsk tsk, that scene was truly..."

Listening to his enthusiastic description, many disciples were filled with regret, hating themselves for hesitating to sign up and missing the opportunity to witness such a high-level battle.

Although Chen Yuan was quietly practicing his boxing, the chatter of the other disciples inevitably reached his ears, and he too felt his heart surge with excitement and his eyes filled with longing.

"I wonder what kind of power that being atop the Blood Barrier would possess when unleashing their full strength..."

The excitement of Li Hao and his entourage's triumphant return was like a pebble thrown into a deep pool; after stirring in Jiang Courtyard for half a day, it eventually subsided.

The next morning, after finishing his morning lessons, Chen Yuan asked his master for leave and left the inner city alone, heading towards the riverbank.

From the riverbank to the Cloud Mist Mountain upstream, the past few days have been chaotic due to the imperial court's campaign to suppress the Cizun Sect, with almost no one going out to fish. The fish in the river should be more abundant than usual, and he plans to spend the whole day trying his luck to see if he can encounter any treasure fish.

The early spring air was still chilly, and the wind felt biting on my face.

The closer you get to the riverbank, the more dilapidated and dirty the streets become.

However, the riverbank at this moment was even more desolate than I remembered.

Although we were poor in the past, there was always some vitality in the world.

But now many shacks and fishing boats are silent, their doors tightly shut, and broken fishing nets and rotten wooden basins are scattered everywhere, unattended.

The air was filled with a strong smell of fish and burnt food.

Chen Yuan frowned, slowed his pace, and turned his gaze to observe carefully.

He saw several shacks with fires burning in front of them, and women with numb faces were burning something. Acrid smoke was billowing from the fires, and through the thick smoke, he could vaguely make out some old clothes and straw mats wrapped in them.

Their eyes were vacant, their movements were slow, and they showed no reaction to passersby.

Not far away, outside the familiar shack of an old fisherman, two or three neighbors with equally sorrowful expressions had gathered.

As Chen Yuan approached, he heard suppressed sobs coming from inside.

"Old Liang and his wife suddenly passed away the night before last. They were only in their early fifties, but their bodies looked like those of emaciated old people in their eighties or nineties."

"Liang Tiezhu is the same. He's just turned thirty, but his face is full of wrinkles and even his hair is white."

Chen Yuan overheard the whispers of the group.

"It's all that damned Compassionate Sect's fault!"

Beside her, an elderly woman with gray hair wiped away tears, her voice barely audible, "The cult is gone, but the people are gone too. What a tragedy!"

Chen Yuan's heart sank, and he immediately understood the situation.

It is likely that the Cizun Sect sensed the crisis on the eve of its demise and resorted to some kind of evil magic to prematurely harvest the "human pills" that had been taking the longevity pills for a long time!

The elderly and frail die young, while even the younger ones suffer a severe loss of vitality, shortening their lifespan considerably.

The government's notices, roughly pasted on several conspicuous earthen walls, announced that the imperial court had successfully eradicated the Cizun Sect.

Chen Yuan looked around,

There were no medical officers to treat these victims, nor were there soup kitchens to provide relief to these families who had lost their ability to work.

The riverbank is still the same riverbank, but half the people are gone.

The dead die without a trace, and the living merely continue to struggle amidst these wrecked ships and tattered nets.

Chen Yuan felt a tightness in his chest, making him feel suffocated.

He suddenly remembered Xu Qing's family.

His family was originally in a pretty good situation, but I wonder what their situation is now?

He quickened his pace and headed toward Xu Qing's house, the one he remembered.

Chen Yuan walked to the door and knocked on the open door: "Aqing?"

A weak cough and rustling sounds came from inside.

After a while, a hunched figure moved to the doorway.

When Chen Yuan saw the person who had arrived, his breath hitched.

The person in front of him was wearing the brown shorts that Xu Qing often wore. His figure was vaguely the same as that of his childhood friend with thick eyebrows and big eyes, but his face was sallow, his eye sockets were sunken, his eyes were covered with fine wrinkles, and his temples even had glaring white hair!

His once bright and piercing eyes were now cloudy and dull, making him look like a poor man in his forties who had been through many hardships.

"Aqing?" Chen Yuan's voice was a little hoarse.

Xu Qing looked up and saw Chen Yuan, and a faint light appeared in his dim eyes.

"Ah Yuan," his voice was hoarse, "come in and sit down."

The room was darker and colder than the outside.

The two figures lying on the bed were Xu Qing's parents.

The two looked twenty years older than their actual ages. Xu's mother was still coughing softly, while Xu's father had his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling slightly, and his breathing weak.

In one corner of the room, separated by an old cloth curtain, was the bed that used to be Xu Qingzu's parents', but it was now empty.

"Your grandparents?" Chen Yuan asked in a low voice.

"He's gone. A few nights ago, like many other neighbors, he just fell asleep and died."

"Did you also take that Longevity Pill?" Chen Yuan asked, though he already knew the answer in his heart.

Xu Qing smiled bitterly: "How could I not eat it? I didn't want to eat it before, but then Aunt Liu's family had an accident, and Deacon Wu and the others went door to door along the riverbank to persuade us. My father was scared, and my mother was scared too, so we ended up eating it all."

Chen Yuan's throat tightened, unsure of what words of comfort to say.

Words seem pale and powerless at this moment.

He silently took out a few taels of silver from his pocket and stuffed them into Xu Qing's hand.

Xu Qing tried to pull his hand away as if he had been burned, but Chen Yuan pressed him down forcefully.

"Take this." Chen Yuan's voice was firm. "Get some medicine for Uncle and Aunt, even if it's just to help them breathe. You take care of yourself too. Since there's an evil technique that drains life force, there must also be a way to restore it. As long as you're alive, there's always hope."

Xu Qing looked at the silver in his hand, then looked up at Chen Yuan, his lips trembling, and finally just nodded slightly.

When we left Xu Qing's house, the sky was even more gloomy.

Chen Yuan walked heavily on his way back to the city.

The pent-up frustration in my chest didn't dissipate; instead, it seemed to solidify into a block of ice, weighing heavily on my heart.

The Cizun Sect has been destroyed, but the wounds it left behind have to be borne by these people at the bottom of society with their lives.

Once the government has eliminated the source of the chaos, it can consider its mission accomplished and withdrawn.

Who cares about the lives of these fishermen on the riverbank? Who cares about the families whose lives have been taken away by evil magic and whose lives have been destroyed?

The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is vividly demonstrated in this world.

Without power, even living peacefully is a luxury; one can only drift with the tide and be manipulated by others, or even become sustenance for demonic cultivation.

Chen Yuan clenched his fist, his nails digging deep into his palm.

If one day he can truly stand in a high enough position and possess enough power.

He will personally uproot every single one of those evil heretics who treat human life like dirt!

……

The next morning, the thin frost had not yet melted.

Chen Yuan was practicing his boxing alone in a corner of the inner courtyard. He did not practice the complete boxing technique, but repeatedly did a few of the most basic straight punches. He deliberately slowed down each punch, carefully feeling the transmission of force between his muscles and bones, and exploring the techniques for generating internal force.

Footsteps sounded, and Jiang Cheng walked out from the backyard, carrying an object that Chen Yuan had never seen before.

It was a spherical object, about the size of a human head, made of tightly woven resilient vines. Its surface was rough and it looked quite sturdy.

"Master." Chen Yuan finished his posture and bowed.

Jiang Cheng nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over Chen Yuan as usual, lingering briefly on his calm and solid aura, before walking to the left eaves and hanging the rattan ball on the crossbeam with a hemp rope.

"Use your current strength to punch it with all your might," Jiang Cheng instructed.

Although Chen Yuan didn't understand why, he did as instructed.

He stepped back two paces, adjusted his breathing, and with his waist and stance in perfect harmony, delivered a standard Black Tiger Claw straight to the center of the sepak takraw.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, the rattan ball swung backward instantly, the vines visibly dented where it was hit, but quickly bounced back to their original shape.

"How are you feeling?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"The force has been neutralized; this rattan ball is very resilient and difficult to apply pressure to," Chen Yuan replied truthfully.