This martial saint is too cautious.

into the night.

Lin Yan changed into a black outfit, covered his face, and quietly climbed over the courtyard wall.

He had already found out the location of the Pingshan Gang's stronghold that afternoon; it was in a secluded alley in the north of the city.

Lin Yan had never liked gang members, let alone those who had verbally insulted his aunt.

He moved with lightning speed, darting through the night like a ghost.

With the second level of skin smoothing fully activated, it took less than fifteen minutes for him to reach the vicinity of the Pingshan Gang's stronghold.

It was a three-courtyard house with two lanterns hanging at the entrance, and the sounds of drinking games could be faintly heard coming from inside.

Just as Lin Yan was about to climb over the wall and sneak in, he suddenly stopped.

There was a muffled thud in the yard; something heavy had fallen to the ground.

No, that's the sound of fighting.

Is someone targeting the Ping Shan Gang?

Why am I so lucky to have encountered a gang war, or is someone seeking revenge?

Lin Yan frowned, pushed off with his feet, and lightly landed on the main house, lying on the roof tiles to look into the courtyard.

There were four or five corpses lying in the courtyard; judging from their clothing, they were all members of the Pingshan Gang.

At the entrance of the main house, a figure dressed in black walked out of the house, stepped out from under the eaves, and came to the open space in the courtyard, carrying a bulging bundle in his hand, clearly having finished looting.

The man seemed to sense something, and suddenly looked up, his gaze shooting like lightning towards the top of the main house.

Eyes facing each other.

The next instant, the man pushed off with his feet and rushed towards Lin Yan like an arrow!

Such keen perception.

Lin Yan was slightly surprised, but he did not back down. He jumped off the roof and threw a punch!

The force of his fists was as solid as a mountain!

A hint of surprise flashed in the black-clad man's eyes, and he also threw a punch to meet the attack.

The two fists collided with a dull thud.

Lin Yan remained motionless, while the man in black staggered back several steps, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Mountain-Splitting Fist?

Lin Yan looked surprised. Although the man in black had changed his punches, he had already mastered the Mountain Splitting Fist and was extremely familiar with it. He could tell at a glance that the core of the man's fist technique was still the Mountain Splitting Fist.

Could it be one of the martial arts school's junior disciples?

Lin Yan's pupils contracted slightly.

The Mountain-Splitting Fist, the second level of skin-grinding strength, and the fact that it was aimed at the Pingshan Gang—he vaguely guessed the other party's identity.

On the other side, after regaining his footing, the man in black threw the bundle in his hand at Lin Yan without any hesitation, while retreating, turning around and leaping onto the wall, disappearing into the night.

Lin Yan stood still and did not give chase.

He looked down at the bundle on the ground, which had now fallen open, revealing some silver ingots.

"It must be Junior Brother Zhuang without a doubt." Lin Yan murmured softly, looking in the direction where the man in black had disappeared.

He's only at the second level of skin refining, and judging from his fist strength, he's only recently entered that level. It just so happens that Junior Brother Zhuang encountered him during the day. If Junior Brother Zhuang were to inquire, he would find out what happened in front of the Liu family's gate.

Perhaps Junior Brother Zhuang really did attack the Pingshan Gang to avenge himself.

As for the money in this bundle, it was probably just something to do as the situation dictated.

"It's just that Junior Brother Zhuang's technique is a bit rough."

Looking at the fist marks on the corpse on the ground, Lin Yan shook his head. Ever since his master told him that he had been found out by the coroner after committing murder, he had been careful to destroy the body after killing someone.

As for this money, consider it payment for helping Junior Brother Zhuang clean up the mess.

After finishing up in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Lin Yan picked up his bundle and left the courtyard.

-

Meanwhile, in another courtyard.

The man in black removed his mask, revealing a young face—it was Zhuang Zheng.

His face was pale, and blood kept seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Who is this person? Could he be a level 3 skin-sharpening expert? Or perhaps a top-tier level 2 skin-sharpening martial artist?"

Zhuang Zheng looked down at his fist. He was both familiar with and unfamiliar with the punch he had just received, but the only thing he was certain of was that his opponent was very strong, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to withstand the opponent's second punch.

"The strongest members of the Ping Shan Gang are only three Skin-Scraping Warriors. How dare they offend such a powerful figure?"

Zhuang Zheng couldn't understand why the Pingshan Gang would have been wiped out long ago if they had offended such a powerful figure. Why did it wait until tonight?

He chose to take action against the Pingshan Gang tonight, partly to repay his senior brother Lin's favor.

If it weren't for Senior Brother Lin's appearance, I would have been taken to the Patrol Office. Once inside the Patrol Office, even as a martial arts school disciple, it wouldn't be easy for me to get out.

Secondly, he was short of money and wanted to kill the Pingshan Gang to make a fortune.

His ability to go from one round of skin smoothing to two rounds in just nine months is certainly related to his talent, but the more important reason is that he has money to support him.

And this money came from the people he killed.

He learned the path of murder and robbery after killing Ge Hui.

Ge Hui was the first martial artist he killed after he embarked on the path of martial arts.

The reason for targeting Ge Hui was not because Ge Hui had exposed his wealth; Zhuang Zheng was not the kind of heartless person who would harm his own fellow disciples.

Ge Hui was really going too far. He had sold his ancestral home to learn martial arts, which was a desperate measure, but Ge Hui still wanted him to be filial to him.

He learned from his other senior brothers that when Senior Brother Lin didn't give Ge Hui any gifts, he also faced difficulties from Ge Hui, but Senior Brother Lin directly confronted Ge Hui.

But in his opinion, Senior Brother Lin's actions were unwise. When facing someone stronger than himself, it was safest to feign submission on the surface and strike secretly.

Firstly, it can lower the other party's guard, and secondly, it will not arouse suspicion.

He outwardly submitted to Ge Hui by giving him copper coins, and then followed Ge Hui for a while. Finally, he found an opportunity and, taking advantage of Ge Hui's drunkenness, ambushed and killed him.

As for finding money on Ge Hui, it was just out of consideration for not wasting it; they never expected Ge Hui to have so much money on him.

However, this unexpected windfall gave him a way to make money.

Murder and robbery!

There's no faster way to make money than this.

Therefore, he often lurked at night to target gang members, accumulating enough money through murder and robbery, and finally broke through to the second level of skin polishing in nine months.

Having succeeded so many times, I never expected to fail this time and almost lose my life.

"Fortunately, this mysterious expert did not catch up. It seems we need to be more careful in the future."

Zhuang Zheng smiled bitterly. He was lucky to have escaped with his life, but he was unlucky to have taken that punch. He would need to recover for at least half a month.

……

……

At the Lin family home, Lin Yan was also taking stock of the spoils in his room.

"Junior Brother Zhuang didn't even let go of some items containing silver."

Inside the bundle, besides a few silver ingots and broken silver and copper coins, there were some small items containing silver.

These items could fetch tens or hundreds of coins if taken to a pawnshop, but for Lin Yan now, it's not worth risking exposure by pawning them.

After clearing out these items, the total amount of silver and copper coins was 150 taels. This is the benefit of taking down a gang's stronghold; it's almost like wiping them out in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, the Pingshan Gang wasn't very strong.

"I currently have a total of five hundred taels of silver, which is a huge sum of money. However, if I use it to maintain my martial arts training expenses, it can only last for a year."

Lin Yan was increasingly astonished by the calculations. It was true that martial artists had a high status, but their expenses were also high.

Fortunately, I am not in a situation where I fail to break through; those who fail would require an even more terrifying amount of money.

After complaining about the enormous expenses of learning martial arts, Lin Yan began to consider how to spend the money.

The Tang family provides a bottle of Tendon Regeneration Pills every month, but there are only five pills in it. On average, one pill is taken every six days. He learned from Zheng Xun that a martial artist who has undergone two skin-refining processes can take one Tendon Regeneration Pill every day.

Alternatively, you could buy some more venison.

Shengjin Dan can help the blood and qi flow through the meridians, but its effect on increasing blood and qi is not significant.

Consuming the meat of the Purple Velvet Beast made Lin Yan understand that there was a reason why these rare meats were so expensive.

Lin Yan dared not even think about tiger meat or bear meat, as they were too expensive, but he could barely afford venison, which was 1.5 jin per pound.

……

The next day.

When Lin Yan arrived at the martial arts school, he first went to the medicine shed to tell them the required amount of secret medicine. While the medicine was being prepared at the medicine shed, he went to the backyard to prepare to pay his respects to his master.

When he stepped into the backyard of the martial arts school, he found it extremely deserted today, with only Junior Brother Zhao there.

"Junior Brother Zhao, is Master inside?"

Before Zhao Linyuan could answer, Yang Qingfeng came out of the house.

"Lin Yan is here."

"Disciple greets Master."

Yang Qingfeng looked at Lin Yan with a smile: "Is there something you need?"

"This disciple has come to obtain the external application remedy."

Upon hearing that Lin Yan had come to collect the secret medicine, Yang Qingfeng pondered for a while before saying, "You are currently on a temporary assignment with the Tang family. You only need to pay 70% of the price when purchasing medicinal herbs at the Tang family's pharmacy. I will give you a prescription in a moment. Follow the prescription to get the medicine from the Tang family's pharmacy, and you can prepare the secret medicine yourself from now on."

Upon hearing this, both Zhao Linyuan and Lin Yan were stunned.

The topical medicine applied after the second skin resurfacing is a closely guarded secret of the martial arts school. If it were to be revealed, it would have a significant impact on the school.

Sensing the expressions of his two disciples, Yang Qingfeng smiled slightly. The secret medicine formula was indeed precious, but it was only effective for practicing the Mountain Splitting Fist. The reason it was not passed on in the past was because he was afraid that if a disciple mastered the Mountain Splitting Fist and had the secret medicine in hand, he would start his own teaching method.

But based on his understanding of Lin Yan, he believed that his disciple was an honest and upright person and would not do such a thing.

However, the more important reason is a sense of psychological guilt.

Lin Yan is very talented in the Mountain Splitting Fist. If Lin Yuan had not taken him under his wing and if the agreement with the Zhao family had not been made in advance, he would have taken Lin Yan under his wing and given him more martial arts resources to cultivate.

However, now, all the money and martial arts resources he had accumulated had been spent on Lin Yuan, so he couldn't give Lin Yan too many martial arts resources. Letting Lin Yan spend less money on secret medicines was a kind of compensation for Lin Yan.

"I've given you the prescription, but you are not allowed to share it with anyone else, or I will not forgive you."

Yang Qingfeng added, and Lin Yan clasped his hands in a fist salute, his face solemn: "Thank you for your kindness, Master. This disciple swears never to divulge the prescription."

"It will take some time for the medicine to be prepared at the medicine shed. Since you're here, why don't you and Lin Yuan have a friendly spar?"

When Lin Yan heard that his master wanted him to spar with Zhao Linyuan, he didn't seem to mind. On the contrary, Zhao Linyuan was puzzled. Several of his senior brothers who had been in the second stage of skin refining for a year had been defeated by him in the sparring. Lin Yan had only been in the second stage of skin refining for a few months. Why did his master still want him to spar with Lin Yan?

"Lin Yan is quite skilled in the Mountain-Splitting Fist. It would be a good opportunity for you brothers to spar with each other and verify your strength," Yang Qingfeng said, noticing Zhao Linyuan's doubt.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Linyuan looked at Lin Yan with some surprise. For his master to say that Lin Yan had profound attainments, he must be extraordinary.

"Senior Brother Lin, please give me your guidance."

Zhao Linyuan abandoned his underestimation and clasped his hands in a respectful greeting.

"Junior Brother Zhao, you're too kind."

Lin Yan did not bow, but instead extended his hand to Zhao Linyuan. Zhao Linyuan was taken aback, as he recalled some rumors about this senior brother Lin in the martial arts school.

One of them is that when Senior Brother Lin spars with others, he doesn't like to clasp his hands in a fist salute, but prefers to shake hands.

Zhao Linyuan extended his hand, and the two shook hands before letting go and stepping back. Lin Yan's expression remained unchanged, but he was surprised.

As expected of a genius valued so highly by his master, Junior Brother Zhao's martial arts tree is even a foot taller than his own, reaching a height of two feet seven inches.

Junior Brother Zhao started learning later than me, and I even took some precious medicine, yet he still surpassed me.

Lin Yan admitted that she also felt a little sour inside.

No wonder geniuses are always the object of envy.

After years of hard work and cultivation, it's not as effective as someone else's few months of effort. Anyone would curse inwardly in that situation.