Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

Everyone's breathing became lighter.

"Fang Hao threw twenty punches, each one with full force, enough to knock anyone down. Fang Yuan took the hits from beginning to end without begging for mercy, without backing down, and without even panicking."

Fang Yuanshan's gaze swept over the main family's disciples, lingering on a few faces.

"What you see is him standing after taking twenty punches, but what I see is something else."

"He's not just putting up with it."

"During the beating, he adjusted his defensive angle seven times, corrected his blocking timing four times, and accurately found three weaknesses in Fang Hao's punches."

Fang Yuanshan held up three fingers.

"His final three counterattacks landed squarely on the openings, not a single punch missing. I only managed to spot two of those three openings after watching eight days of sparring, but he discovered all three while he was being hit."

The training ground was completely silent.

Fang Yuanshan withdrew his fingers, his voice turning somber.

"This kind of mentality, this ability to remain calm in dire straits and to continue learning through pain, I have only seen in him in the ten years I have been teaching martial arts."

He turned and glanced at Fang Yuan, finally unable to suppress the smile on his lips.

"A person who accumulates knowledge and experience gradually achieves remarkable success is exactly like this. Today's victory is not a fluke, but an inevitable outcome."

When the last four words came out of Fang Yuanshan's mouth, they carried even more weight than Fang Shouzhen's "imperfect".

Because Fang Shouzheng evaluates the foundation, while Fang Yuanshan evaluates the person.

On the viewing platform, the Third Elder, Fang Shoude, stroked his chin. He had mostly recovered from the shock he had just experienced, and his eyes were now filled with a complex scrutiny.

The First Elder, Fang Shouye, looked at the family head but remained silent.

Fang Zhengkun slowly stood up from his seat.

This action instantly drew everyone's attention. The head of the Fang family rarely stood up; his standing meant that what he was about to say carried significant weight.

Fang Zhengkun didn't look at anyone else; his gaze passed through the heads of dozens of people in the training ground and landed squarely on Fang Yuan.

Then he raised his hands.

Applause erupted from the viewing platform.

Slowly, steadily, one beat after another, each beat crystal clear.

The head of the family applauded.

Third Elder Fang Shoude paused for a moment, then followed suit. First Elder Fang Shouye also stood up, and applause spread from the viewing platform, resounding throughout the entire training ground.

Fang Yuanshan took the lead, and the martial arts instructors clapped the loudest.

The collateral relatives followed suit and took photos. The main family members hesitated for a few moments, but they also joined in one after another. Some of them took photos reluctantly, but no one dared not to.

The head of the family clapped, so who would dare not follow suit?

Applause echoed back and forth on the four stone walls of the training ground, creating a thunderous roar.

Fang Yuan stood on the stage, listening to the applause, his face expressionless.

He knew applause was for the winner. But applause is also the cheapest thing; it's over and gone, leaving nothing behind.

He doesn't want applause.

What he wanted was what lay behind the applause—resources, status, and the power to speak. Only these things could allow him and his family to gain a foothold in the Fang family and earn enough money to unlock the system's second-level enhancement.

offstage.

Fang Cheng and Fang Yong lifted Fang Hao out of the pile of rubble.

Fang Hao's face was ashen, his left cheek was swollen, and a bloodstain next to his jawline stretched from the corner of his mouth to his ear, looking particularly gruesome in the sunlight. His arms hung limply at his sides, the front of his training clothes soaked in blood. Two henchmen supported his arms, half-dragging and half-lifting him out of the training ground.

Halfway there, Fang Hao's eyelids twitched.

He woke up.

The first thing he heard when he regained consciousness was applause.

A deafening round of applause.

Then came Fang Yuanshan's voice, coming from the center of the training ground. The last syllable of his voice had not yet completely dissipated, leaving a long echo in the air.

"...After years of hard work and accumulation, we have achieved remarkable success... Today's victory is not a fluke, but an inevitable result."

Fang Hao's pupils suddenly contracted.

He tried to break free from Fang Cheng and Fang Yong's support, to stand up, and to walk back to the training ground to see what had happened. But his body wouldn't obey him; his limbs felt as heavy as lead, and he couldn't lift even a finger.

Then he heard a second sound.

It came from the direction of the viewing platform; it was faint, but he heard it clearly.

The voice of the head of the household.

"Fang Yuan."

Fang Zhengkun's voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet after the applause subsided, every word was clearly audible.

A metallic taste rose in Fang Hao's throat.

He is Fang Hao. A direct descendant of the main family, the most promising young generation in the Fang family's martial arts hall, a name that the elders have been talking about since childhood. First place in the assessment is a sure thing for him, and a private audience with the family head is a treatment he takes for granted.

Now, all of this has been taken away by a peasant from a side branch.

He lay in the arms of his two henchmen, covered in blood, like a dead fish dragged from the water. Meanwhile, the other branch of the family stood on the training platform, receiving the applause, praise, and gazes that should have been his.

"puff--"

A mouthful of blood spurted from Fang Hao's mouth, even more violently than the one on stage, splattering blood all over Fang Cheng's face. Fang Cheng was horrified and screamed repeatedly. Fang Hao's head lolled to the side, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted again.

This time I fainted even more completely than the time I did on stage.

Fang Cheng and Fang Yong hurriedly carried him out. When they reached the exit of the training ground, Fang Cheng subconsciously turned around and glanced at Fang Yuan.

The figure on the stage, covered in bruises, didn't even glance in their direction.

Fang Cheng's lips trembled slightly. He lowered his head and quickened his pace.

On the viewing platform.

Fang Zhengkun remained standing and did not sit back down.

His gaze remained fixed on Fang Yuan, and the scrutinizing intent intensified.

"The reward for first place in this assessment," Fang Zhengkun announced.

Everyone in the room simultaneously took a breather.

The reward for the top performer varies each year, but it never disappoints. No matter how strict the Fang family is with their children, they are never stingy with resources for incentives—this is the foundation of a great family's continuity.

Fang Zhengkun extended his right hand, and the attendant behind him immediately handed him a piece of gold-embossed silk.

Fang Zhengkun unfolded the silk scroll, glanced at its contents, then looked up and read it aloud to the entire audience.

"First, one Bone Refining Pill."

A collective gasp rippled through the audience.

Bone Refining Pill. That's a precious pill used to temper bones in the Body Tempering Realm. One pill is worth at least three hundred taels of silver in the pharmacies of Liangshui City, and it's priceless. For disciples still in the Flesh Refining Realm, this pill means at least a 30% increase in their chances of breaking through to the Bone Refining Realm.

"Secondly, the right to borrow the martial arts pavilion in the Fang family's inner courtyard for three days."

Another commotion erupted. The Martial Arts Pavilion in the inner courtyard houses the superior martial arts techniques and cultivation methods accumulated by the Fang family over generations. Normally, only the core members of the main family are qualified to enter. Off-line members don't even know which way the door faces, let alone borrow them.

"Third, the monthly quota for Qi and Blood Soup will be increased from one bowl to three bowls, and will continue for one year."

This is the most practical one: a bowl of Qi and Blood Soup costs ten taels of silver, three bowls would cost thirty taels, and a year would add up to three hundred and sixty taels. Anyone can do the math.

The eyes of the collateral relatives below the stage nearly popped out of their sockets, and Fang Shi's mouth was agape enough to fit a whole steamed bun. The faces of the main family's children were even more unpleasant; most of them only had a monthly ration of two bowls, while Fang Yuan, a member of a collateral branch, was taking three bowls.

Fang Ping squatted on the stone steps, and upon hearing these rewards, his fingers, which had been clenched on his knees, slowly loosened.

Worth it.

All the adventures, all the triumphs, were worth it today.

Fang Yuan stood on the stage, his expression unchanged, but the mental ledger was flipping through rapidly.

The Bone Refining Pill, valued at three hundred taels of silver, would, if sold,, along with the fifty-two taels in the wooden box, more than cover the one hundred taels needed to unlock the second-level enhancement, and might even have some left over. However, the pill's value to his own cultivation far exceeded three hundred taels of silver, making selling it a poor choice.

The right to borrow martial arts techniques for three days is priceless, but it might be more important to him than bone-refining pills. With double the innate talent, his physical attributes far surpass those of others at the same level; what he lacks is a superior martial art to match his physique.

The monthly quota of three bowls of Qi and Blood Soup amounted to 360 taels a year, which directly solved his mid-term resource problem.

Fang Zhengkun put away the silk and his gaze fell on Fang Yuan again.

The entire audience waited for his next words.

Fang Zhengkun didn't keep them waiting too long.

"Fang Yuan."

Fang Yuan looked up and met the gaze of the family head on the viewing platform.

Fang Zhengkun's voice remained calm, but everyone could hear it clearly.

"Come to the main hall after the assessment is over."