Five days later!
Daytime!
On a small hill in Linhu Village, among the pine trees, a figure swiftly darted like a swallow.
Where the figure passed, the surrounding pine trees trembled, causing leaves to fall continuously.
This figure was Lin Chen.
At this moment, he was practicing the second move of the "Flying Swallow Technique": Forest Shadow Piercing.
While practicing the Flying Swallow Technique, he was also integrating it with the Clear Wind Palm, making his movements in the pine forest as elusive as a swallow.
It looked effortless!
But to achieve this, he had crashed into the pine trees hundreds of times in a row.
Either he couldn't control the speed well, or he couldn't control the strength, always leaping up and crashing into the tree trunk.
It took him two days to be able to move freely among the pine trees as he does now.
"Unfortunately, the Flying Swallow Technique doesn't show up on the panel, so I can't see my progress."
At first, since the Flying Swallow Technique didn't appear on the panel, Lin Chen thought he hadn't mastered it. But now, even though he was familiar with the first two moves, the Flying Swallow Technique still didn't show up on the panel, due to the panel's limitations.
Lin Chen came to a conclusion: only Grade-Entering Techniques would appear on the panel.
A round of training in the forest ended.
Lin Chen found a slightly open area, took out a pill bottle of Nourishing Acupoints Pill from his pocket, thought for a moment, and finally poured out two pills, swallowing them both.
In the past few days, when practicing the Clear Wind Palm, the burning and itchy sensation at the acupoints in his left arm became stronger and stronger. He had a premonition that today he could breakthrough to the Three Acupoints.
After taking the pill, Lin Chen continued to strike out with his palm.
The palm wind roared through the forest, and from a distance, it sounded like gusty mountain winds, causing pine branches to sway.
Bang!
When he struck with the Clear Wind Palm for the sixth time, Qi Blood surged through Lin Chen's entire body and into his left shoulder, making the muscle skin of the whole left shoulder tremble rapidly.
This phenomenon was like thousands of torrents converging into one, rushing toward a dike.
After a breath, the dike collapsed, and the flood raged through.
In an instant, the skin of Lin Chen's left arm turned crimson, and the pulsating blood inside became vaguely visible, just like a piece of iron being forged to its limit until red-hot in a furnace.
Snap!
His left palm struck a pine tree, and the five-zhang high pine broke at the waist in that instant. The breakpoint was incomparably smooth, and the entire upper half flew sideways a foot away before it started to topple.
The power of the Three Acupoints, combined with Small Success Clear Wind Palm!
The strength was so great that it left Lin Chen speechless.
This is the power of a martial artist, and he was only at Three Acupoints. If it were Ten Acupoints, Twenty Acupoints, or even Refining the Viscera Realm, how powerful would it be?
After a moment of awe, Lin Chen composed himself and began to practice the Water Cloud Palm.
He wanted to first train the Water Cloud Palm to a proficient level.
The training progress of the Water Cloud Palm was much faster than that of the Clear Wind Palm. At this rate, reaching proficiency in the Water Cloud Palm before returning to the martial arts hall was achievable.
"Brother Lin, are you there?"
While Lin Chen was focusing on practicing the Water Cloud Palm, a young voice came from outside the forest.
"Li Tong, what's the matter?"
With a few leaps, Lin Chen exited the forest and saw the anxious village boy Li Tong, and asked.
"Liu Village is bullying our village, Uncle Xu asked me to call you."
"Liu Village?"
Liu Village is next to Linhu Village, also on the lakefront, named for the many willows planted by the lakeside.
"Today is the day to determine each village's fishing region, but Liu Village cheated by sending a martial artist into the water."
Hearing Li Tong's words, Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Poyang Lake is vast, but all the lake's areas have been occupied by city nobles, and they even have guard teams. Ordinary fishermen dare to fish there only to get beaten up, and their boats would get damaged.
Linhu Village and several surrounding villages, all adjacent to Poyang Lake, have to fish in their respective village waters and can't go deep into Poyang Lake.
Linhu Village and Liu Village, two villages located along the lakeside, have overlapping waters.
Over the years, the two villages formed a habit.
Each village owns fifteen li of lakeside border as their fishing area, but the additional five li water area beyond that is decided by who catches more fish.
Each year after the lake opens, both villages choose a section of water, enclosing it with nets, then each village selects ten skilled fishermen to dive in and catch fish.
The village that catches more fish gets to claim that section of the water.
Lin Chen knew today was the day of the villages' competition, but in such contests, martial artists are not allowed to participate. If martial artists get involved, it changes the nature of the competition and can easily create enmity between the villages, so he didn't join in the fun.
So Liu Village broke the rules?
"I'll go take a look."
Lin Chen left with these words and darted toward the riverbank like a swallow, but halfway there, he encountered his mother.
"Chen, where are you going?" Mrs. Lin asked anxiously, looking at her son.
"Mom, Li Tong just told me that Liu Village cheated in the fishing contest, I was going to the lake..."
"Don't go."
Mrs. Lin's words made Lin Chen show a puzzled expression, what did his mother's words mean?
"The village chief just secretly told me to come find you, don't get involved in this matter, pack your things, and leave the village now."
"Leave the village?"
Lin Chen was even more confused, in this situation, why would the village chief want him to leave?
"The martial artist from Liu Village has already opened Four Acupoints. The village chief said you're not his opponent and told you to hold back for now, return to the martial arts hall to learn martial arts well, and at worst, we can take it back next year."
Mrs. Lin repeated the village chief's secret instructions, making Lin Chen finally understand the situation.
After a martial artist from Liu Village got involved, the villagers of Linhu were extremely resentful, and many thought of him. Just as Li Tong said, Uncle Xu let him call Lin Chen.
In the villagers' eyes, the only one in the village who could rival the martial artist from Liu Village was Lin Chen.
"The village chief said you've only been in the martial arts hall for two months, you're no match for the martial artist from Liu Village, so we're holding back for now. Today, you pack your things and leave the village, and then say you left early in the morning. The village chief will explain to the villagers."
Lin Chen admitted that the village chief's arrangement was the most sensible and prudent approach.
If he truly were just an ordinary attendee at the martial arts hall for two months, it would indeed be best not to show up in the current situation.
"Mom, what's the situation with the martial artist from Liu Village?"
"The martial artist from Liu Village is the village chief's grandson. He joined the martial arts hall two years ago." Mrs. Lin advised, "Chen, listen to the chief, let's swallow this pride first."
Four Acupoints opened, two years...
This level of strength is considered very mediocre at the martial arts hall.
Lin Chen contemplated for a moment and helplessly said, "Mom, when I joined the martial arts hall, our village raised thirty taels for me. If the village faces trouble now and I just leave, wouldn't I be criticized by the villagers?"
"No, you won't!" Mrs. Lin shook her head quickly, "The village chief said he'll explain on your behalf; the villagers won't blame you."
"Mom, I'm going to at least take a look at the lake. If I feel I'm not a match for the martial artist from Liu Village, I won't interfere, and the villagers will understand me."
In a few days, at the martial arts hall, there will be competition for good treatment spots among those with Four Acupoints open. If the martial artist from Liu Village hasn't mastered his technique, I might use him to practice.
"Mom, did the village chief say which martial arts hall the one from Liu Village trained at?"
"Mantis Martial Arts Hall."
Hearing it was Mantis Martial Arts Hall, Lin Chen felt more confident. Among the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls, the Mantis Fist from Mantis Martial Arts Hall was the weakest in power.