A few rounds of leaves fell in the night!
For the camphor tree in the courtyard, although it is a warm spring, it is actually a cold winter.
Early the next morning, Lin Chen got up and came to the courtyard, looking at the fallen leaves all over the ground and the camphor tree, which already had a small part of its branches bare, he twitched the corners of his mouth.
The camphor tree was originally lush, looking like a canopy from afar.
But at this moment, the camphor tree in his courtyard was like a person with several bald spots on their head, certainly not very attractive.
"Forgive me, Brother Tree, you're only slightly bald now, not completely bald."
He glanced at the panel [Clear Wind Palm: Mastery (3/10)], and realized that this tree brother had contributed significantly.
After comforting the camphor tree, Lin Chen continued his training.
However, he did not practice the "Clear Wind Palm" this time; instead, he chose to practice the "Water Cloud Palm."
At this stage, Clear Wind Palm was no longer effective with diligent practice alone; a deeper understanding was needed with each training session.
At night, with the addition of [All the Way Black], it is more suitable for cultivating Enlightenment of Clear Wind Palm.
The progress bar from mastery to small success for Clear Wind Palm was only 10 points, which already said it all.
Calming the mind, he began his practice.
[Water Cloud Palm: Not Entered (1/100)]
[Water Cloud Palm: Not Entered (2/100)]
[Water Cloud Palm: Not Entered (3/100)]
The morning passed, and Lin Chen found that his proficiency in Water Cloud Palm had soared by 30 points.
This meant, if he wanted, it would only take three days to get Water Cloud Palm to entry.
"It should be the reason that once you understand one method, you understand ten thousand. Having mastered Clear Wind Palm, practicing Water Cloud Palm won't be as difficult as practicing Clear Wind Palm was."
Lin Chen pondered for a while and made a judgment in his heart.
Both Water Cloud Palm and Clear Wind Palm are palm techniques. Before mastery, the difference lies only in the moves, making training naturally more effective.
...
...
Afternoon.
Lin Chen changed out of his martial arts hall clothes, picked up the mask, and headed to the Martial Arts Garden.
The Martial Arts Garden was even livelier than yesterday!
The closer it got to the end of the month, the more martial artists came.
As Lin Chen stepped onto the first arena again, the martial artists present the previous day recognized him, many showing surprise on their faces.
"Why is this person still getting on the stage? He was defeated by Qiao Yi in two moves yesterday; there's no hope for him as this month's arena master."
"Perhaps this person wants to come up to spar with others to enhance his combat skills in martial arts techniques."
"Impossible!"
Some onlookers denied the previous person's guess, sneering: "Judging by his Clear Wind Palm, which he has mastered, but his realm is still in the Two Acupoints. Clearly, he's yet another one who focuses solely on martial arts technique proficiency, abandoning the Martial Path realm improvement. You tell me he wants to enhance his combat skills?"
The man wore a disdainful expression. There were quite a few such martial artists in the Martial Arts Garden, especially between the first and second arenas. Those arena masters had long given up on martial pursuits and focused solely on martial techniques, merely for the monthly arena master prize.
"Makes sense, then perhaps brother, could you explain this person's purpose of coming onto the arena?"
"That I am not clear about, people have diverse reasons; maybe this person is just acting on a whim, who knows?"
On the arena, Lin Chen also heard the discussions of the onlookers, smiling internally. Indeed, he was here to enhance combat capabilities, but these people couldn't guess that because they never considered he might be a new disciple of the martial arts hall.
It makes sense, thinking about it, a new disciple of the martial arts hall capable of mastering a technique must have long cultivated the Essence Qi and opened the acupoints, having access to techniques months in advance, and couldn't possibly still linger in the state of two acupoints.
Soon, an opponent ascended the arena.
A large, burly man with a full face of beard, stepping with extreme stability.
Lin Chen squinted slightly. This man not only practiced leg techniques but probably also had some Horizontal External Training.
A disciple from the Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall?
"Martial arts hall disciples, I detest you martial arts hall disciples, only capable of flashy techniques with no real combat strength," he said with a sneer, his body expanding, with the layers of flesh undulating visibly through his clothes.
Fear the fat fist!
Lin Chen had heard this from Lu Yongfeng—any practitioner of Horizontal External Training, like those disciples from the Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall, were all fat. Initially, Lin Chen couldn't quite understand; shouldn't practitioners of Horizontal External Training be all muscle?
Later, he figured it out; muscle was far less resistant to blows than fat.
A body full of muscle cannot dissipate force, relying purely on the strength of the physique. Yet if the body is full of fat, it can dissipate much force through the trembling of the fat under external attack.
The disciples of Zhenyue Martial Arts Hall are all brawny and stout with bodies full of fat. The more they train, the more this becomes evident, earning them the nickname of walking meat mountains.
In the martial arts circle of Poyang County, there's a saying: The strength of a disciple from Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall is gauged by their burly physique and the amount of fat on their body.
But the person in front of him shouldn't be from Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall; otherwise, he wouldn't have said something so disdainful about the martial arts hall disciples.
"Please enlighten me," Lin Chen said calmly.
The fat man spat disdainfully, and the next moment, his massive body charged directly forward. Though fat, his speed was not slow, akin to a charging mountain of flesh.
Lin Chen frowned slightly and sidestepped, maneuvering his right hand to strike accurately on the opponent's arm.
Snap!
The crisp sound echoed throughout the ring. Lin Chen could even feel the fat on the opponent's arm quiver, like a spring, sinking and then bouncing back.
The fat man's expression twisted viciously as he twisted his body horizontally and charged again.
Bam!
Lin Chen was knocked back several steps, his Qi blood churning slightly.
"Get off my stage!"
Before Lin Chen could steady himself, the man charged straight on again. Lin Chen took a deep breath, suppressed the churning Qi blood, and did not retreat, striking out once more with the Clear Wind Palm.
He refused to believe the man had trained his head to withstand the power of his Clear Wind Palm.
Yet, just as Lin Chen's palm was about to fall, the man suddenly raised his head with a playful grin. In the next moment, his massive head retracted like a turtle, with his hands spreading wide and the fat on his shoulders swelling to form a hollow area, just enough for his head to tuck into.
Caught on!
Lin Chen instinctively retreated, but it was too late. Before his palm could strike the opponent's head, the opponent's body had crashed into him, launching him from the center of the ring to the edge.
Before his feet stabilized at the ring's edge, seeing the man repeating the same tactic, Lin Chen leaped off the ring without hesitation.
He conceded!
He came to the ring matches to enhance his actual combat skills, not to engage in lethal confrontations.
It is not disgraceful to admit defeat before finding a way to counter the opponent's horizontal training.
Stepping off the ring, Lin Chen moved to the side, and with a mask on his face, no one could discern his expression or know that he wasn't regretting the loss of the match.
At this moment, he felt fortunate because of the battle just now.
Fortunate for discovering another combat technique of his own.
He had been outsmarted by the opponent.
From the beginning, he fell into the opponent's scheme.
As soon as the opponent entered the stage, by belittling the martial arts hall disciples, Lin Chen subconsciously felt defiant, which led him to choose direct confrontation when the opponent charged at him.
This sentence had affected him!
In battles between martial artists, emotional fluctuations can impact performance. If drawn by the opponent's words, particularly emotions even one's subconscious fails to notice, one can easily fall into the opponent's trap.
Learning from failures, he gained a lesson from this experience.
From yesterday to today, having lost two consecutive matches, Lin Chen did not continue to step onto the ring. The Martial Arts Garden has a regulation that each martial artist who loses once on the same day is not allowed to challenge again.
If he couldn't challenge, he could watch.
The challenges on various rings were in full swing. The onlookers' interest in Lin Chen's fight only lasted for ten seconds before shifting to another ring.
Such is the world; no one specially cares about battles between two Two-Acupoint Martial Artists. Many young martial artists, especially martial arts hall students, feeling embarrassed after a loss, find it unbearable to stay on the scene, which entirely stems from taking themselves too seriously.
At the second ring, designated for martial artists who have opened three or four acupoints, Lin Chen saw many other masked martial artists similar to himself, likely the top students of the new batch from various martial arts halls.
Seeing these individuals leaving the scene after losing, Lin Chen sighed, noting that young people are still overly concerned with reputation, taking themselves too seriously.
Iron Collapse Fist, Seven Stars Fist, Mantis Fist...
Over the span of one two-hour period, Lin Chen witnessed the signature martial arts techniques of the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls. Although he was initially unfamiliar, he couldn't help but overhear the discussions among martial artists spectating around the ring.
After over twenty matches, what left the deepest impression on Lin Chen was a martial artist from Mantis Martial Arts Hall. When fighting an opponent, besides utilizing the Mantis Fist, this person also employed an extremely agile footwork technique.
Listening to the onlookers' discussion below, this footwork was not a Grade-Entering Martial Arts Technique, merely an ordinary martial arts technique.
"The martial arts hall instructor advises students to focus on cultivating one technique because, for students, the realm is the most pivotal. Additionally, Grade-Entering Techniques are inherently challenging to cultivate; pursuing other techniques simultaneously can lead to distraction, ultimately resulting in low proficiency in the Grade-Entering Technique and no significant progress in other techniques."
"Rather than dabbling with various techniques, it's better to master one before anything else. Moreover, the sparring among martial arts hall disciples isn't as intense as in the ring, and when everyone only learns one technique, there isn't much difference."
"This year, unlike previous years, with the three-month-long major competition among the major martial arts halls, if one's realm can't catch up to those opponents, the only option is to enhance combat skills. Both Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm are merely palm techniques. If I could enhance my leg technique, too, it could catch the opponents off guard."
With this thought, Lin Chen stopped watching the ring matches and turned to leave the Martial Arts Garden.