The next day, the first light of dawn!
In the courtyard, Lin Chen began his practice.
He practiced for a full half an hour before stopping, and at this moment the sky was just starting to lighten.
For Lin Chen, sleeping three hours a day was enough to keep him energetic the next day.
As for why not practice during the day and rest at night, it's because the human body requires a balance of yin and yang, needing to see the sun. Short periods are fine, but over time it will inevitably affect Qi blood.
Taking off his training clothes, he threw them into a bucket, gave them a simple scrub, and hung them on the bamboo pole in the courtyard. Lin Chen walked out of the dormitory.
Today, the academy students had to gather at the Martial Arts Arena.
The Chulu Martial Arts Arena is for new students.
There are a total of three Martial Arts Arenas in the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, named Chulu, Diewu, and Fengming.
The Chulu Martial Arts Arena is for new students, Diewu is for older students, and Fengming is the largest, used for whole academy competitions and large events.
The names of the arenas are very artistic!
This is what sets Jingshui Martial Arts Hall apart from other academies. Lin Chen learned from Lu Yongfeng and Zhao Jingchuan that other schools name their arenas very casually.
They either call them by numbers, like A, B, C, or by location, like east zone, west zone...
According to the academy students, who needs fancy names for a Martial Arts Arena? Only the women at Jingshui Martial Arts Hall would come up with such flowery names.
...
...
When Lin Chen arrived at the Chulu Martial Arts Arena, there were already quite a few female students there, about thirty of them. Judging by the peach blossom redness on most of their faces, they hadn't yet opened their acupoints.
Scanning the crowd, his attention was drawn to the few female students at the front. It wasn't that these female students were particularly pretty, but their faces weren't flushed, indicating that their Qi blood was contained, reaching the Opening Acupoints Realm.
After some thought, Lin Chen also stood at the front.
He didn't want to stand out, but it was inevitable. Even if he stood at the back, he'd still be the most noticeable, being the only male student there.
Lin Chen standing at the front also aroused the curiosity of the three female students beside him, who all turned to look.
"Junior Brother Lin Chen, greetings to three Senior Sisters." Lin Chen took the initiative to speak, showing his sincerest smile.
"So you're the legendary male student of our academy." Among the three, the tallest one sized up Lin Chen without reservation: "Not bad, much more handsome than those rough guys at Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall."
"Junior Brother Lin may be a bit tanned, but it's okay. Senior Sister here has rouge, top-grade Golden Swallow Powder from the Golden Swallow Shop. I can lend it to you; it guarantees you'll be fair-skinned."
Lin Chen: ...
Are all female students this familiar?
Isn't it normal for guys to be a bit rougher?
And how did I become the legendary male student?
The word 'legendary' is usually for the subject of gossip, and I don't seem to have any gossip.
"Thank you, Senior Sister, but I feel fine as is, no need to change." Lin Chen politely declined.
"Don't joke with Junior Brother Lin. Junior Brother Lin, I'm Li Xue, currently at Three Acupoints, this is Junior Sister Fang, also Three Acupoints, and Junior Sister Xiao, although at Two Acupoints, will surely reach Three Acupoints this month. What realm are you at, Junior Brother Lin?"
In the academy, strength determines ranking. Clearly, Li Xue is the strongest among the three, and when she spoke, the other two didn't tease Lin Chen anymore.
"I luckily broke through to Two Acupoints just yesterday, not comparable to the Senior Sisters."
Lin Chen felt a bit helpless. He suddenly realized something: the new batch of female disciples at Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, especially those in the Opening Acupoints Realm, might overall be of higher quality than other academies.
He just figured out the reason!
No matter how liberal this world is, from his year-long interaction with villagers, Lin Chen knew that gender discrimination still existed.
If it's like this in villages, it's unlikely to be much different in the county town.
Under such circumstances, families that could afford to let their daughters learn martial arts had to be extraordinary.
Because before training daughters, they would have definitely trained the family's sons and still have money left over...
Take his own family for example. If he hadn't turned against his grandfather, apart from supporting Lin Ming's martial arts training, his grandfather would definitely prefer to support him in learning martial arts over his cousin Xixi. The only way Xixi could also learn martial arts would be if the family had enough money to support all grandchildren and still had plenty.
These aren't just Senior Sisters; they're rich and beautiful women!
Of course, it could also be that parents genuinely pamper daughters, or there really are no sons, but Lin Chen thinks these situations are more likely behind the younger sisters who haven't opened their acupoints.
Upon hearing that Lin Chen had just opened his Two Acupoints, the three Li Xue sisters were surprised. Opening Two Acupoints was normal, but having done so just yesterday was unexpected.
They initially thought the academy made an exception for Junior Brother Lin because he had great potential, but now it seemed there might be another story.
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit quiet.
Lin Chen didn't feel awkward; his family background and realm couldn't be hidden. Anyone interested could find out, especially in a place like Jingshui Martial Arts Hall where female students were everywhere.
While they were silent, a few figures appeared at the entrance of the arena, five female students were coming in, heading straight to the front row of the arena.
"The one at the front should be Senior Sister Jiang Qing, right? She opened Five Acupoints on the day she entered the Martial Hall, the highest realm on the day of admission in the past twenty years."
Li Xue whispered softly, her voice tinged with envy. Upon hearing this, Lin Chen also directed his gaze toward the person leading the front.
Dressed in a simple training outfit, her long black hair was casually tied at the back, with a few strands gently swaying in the wind, giving her a neat and lively appearance without losing a touch of pure playfulness.
Jiang Qing didn't pay much attention to the reaction of the Martial Arts Arena students. She was long used to it, her eyes sweeping over the crowd, but when her gaze landed on Lin Chen, it paused for a brief moment before she continued walking forward.
Lin Chen wasn't presumptuous, thinking that her gaze lingered on him for that moment was because she had any special feelings toward him; purely because he was male, which surprised this Senior Sister Jiang.
Not long after Jiang Qing and others arrived, from the aisle on the other side of the Martial Arts Arena, the figures of Kong Yinglei and another female instructor also appeared.
The students on site also quieted down, watching these two.
For students who have not yet opened their acupoints, they only recognized Instructor Shen, who was the one who assessed them when they signed up. As for Kong Yinglei, these female students didn't know her.
Kong Yinglei's gaze swept over the crowd. When she looked at Jiang Qing, a smile appeared on her face.
Opened Five Acupoints!
Jingshui Martial Arts Hall has found a gem, unaware of where the Senior Martial Sister dug one up from.
Originally, she thought the Senior Martial Sister went to the Prefecture City to seek breakthroughs for entering the Grade, but she returned with this big surprise.
Having a new student who opened five acupoints will join the Martial Hall.
Though this means the last Opening Acupoints Pill quota would be wasted, compared to a student who opened Five Acupoints, exchanging an Opening Acupoints Pill for those resources isn't worth anything.
As the Vice Hall Master, she was here for Jiang Qing and had already requested from the Senior Martial Sister to lead this new batch of students opening their acupoints.
"Jiang Qing Five Acupoints, Fu Jingya Four Acupoints, Kong Lingyun Four Acupoints, Gu Qingqing Four Acupoints, Li Xue Three Acupoints..."
Kong Yinglei's gaze swept over each of the students who had opened their acupoints, barely able to conceal her smile, until she reached the end...
"Lin Chen, how many acupoints have you opened now?" Kong Yinglei asked directly.
"Two Acupoints." Lin Chen replied calmly.
"Not bad, even faster than I imagined."
Hearing the conversation between Kong Yinglei and Lin Chen, Jiang Qing and the others turned to look at Lin Chen again.
Opening Two Acupoints, clearly the worst, yet why did Vice Hall Master Kong feel satisfied?
Kong Yinglei noticed Jiang Qing and the others' confusion but didn't explain. Having witnessed with her own eyes that it took Lin Chen only half an hour to open his acupoints, she was convinced Lin Chen only spent twenty taels of silver to cultivate Essence Qi.
His family background wasn't fake, nor his expenses.
With Lin Chen's family situation, being able to open the second acupoint by now was already quite good.
Fu Jingya and Gu Qingqing, who had opened Four Acupoints, started cultivating Essence Qi early and came to the Martial Hall early to consume the Opening Acupoints Pill. Many students who rushed in from the town in the last month were now mostly opening Two Acupoints.
Lin Chen keeping up had already surprised her.
After glancing over the ten including Lin Chen, Kong Yinglei withdrew her gaze.
The female disciples in the back row, seeing that Kong Yinglei's gaze never fell on them, had looks of disappointment on their faces.
Were they really so unimportant?
"On the Martial Path, strength is respected, and the Martial Hall is the same!"
At this moment, Kong Yinglei suddenly shouted, her eyes sweeping across the room, her sharp gaze making no one present dare to meet it.
"I know many think the Martial Hall underestimates those of you who have merely cultivated Essence Qi, but as Vice Hall Master, I tell you it's not just an assumption, it's a fact!"
Lin Chen slightly opened his mouth; he couldn't imagine how Vice Hall Master Kong, with her gentle oval face, could utter such cold words.
So heartbreaking!
"I'm not your parents; the Martial Hall isn't your home. To gain the support and resources of the Martial Hall, you need one thing: strength."
"I give you three months. If you can't open your acupoints in three months, you're done with the Martial Path. I advise you to give up, leave the Martial Hall early, find someone to marry, and devote yourself to family life."
Every word from Kong Yinglei fell like a heavy blow on these students who had only cultivated Essence Qi, and Lin Chen already saw several female students' faces turn pale.
"You ten, follow me." Kong Yinglei's gaze returned to the ten including Lin Chen, her smile reappearing.
The stark contrast in demeanor made Lin Chen sigh lightly. In the hearts of those Qi-cultivating students, Hall Master Kong was probably the great antagonist.
"Junior Sister Shen, these students are in your hands."
"Mm, Senior Sister, rest assured."
Hearing the conversation between Vice Hall Master Kong and the instructor, and looking at the distressed female students, Lin Chen suddenly understood.
This is a double act!
Vice Hall Master Kong plays the stern role, showing the harshness of the Martial Hall; Next, this Instructor Shen would surely offer encouragement and motivation to stir the competitive spirit in these students.
As for those truly disheartened by Vice Hall Master Kong's words, it only proved she was right, they truly weren't suited to continue on the Martial Path and returning home for family life was more appropriate.