Rise in the Martial Chaos: Starting From a Martial Arts School

Chapter 52: Chapter 37: Hidden Strength (2)

As he neared the inner courtyard, other disciples finally started to notice him.

”What’s Senior Brother Yang doing, heading to the inner courtyard?”

”Did the Master summon him?”

The murmurs were filled with surprise. Even Xu Hong was momentarily stunned.

Lin Yue and Qi Yun frowned slightly.

Ordinarily, Registered Disciples were not qualified to enter the inner courtyard. Although Mingjin Disciples had the right to enter, they rarely did so and would almost never go in unless summoned by the Master.

Only Core Disciples who had reached Dark Strength and were highly regarded by the Master would frequent the inner courtyard.

However, Zhao Wenzheng, Lin Yue, and the others didn’t consider the possibility that Yang Jing had broken through to Dark Strength. They simply assumed he had some business with the Master.

Yang Jing ignored the surrounding stares, his steps steady as he passed through the Moon Gate. His figure disappeared into the shade of the trees within the courtyard, as if the clamor of the front yard was sealed off by an invisible barrier.

...

The inner courtyard was quiet and secluded. A few old osmanthus trees blotted out the sun, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on the ground.

Yang Jing had only taken a few steps when he saw Sun Ningxiang walking along the covered corridor, carrying a bowl of medicine. Her plain dress swayed gently in the shadows of the trees.

”Junior Brother Yang?” Sun Ningxiang stopped, a hint of surprise in her voice. ”What are you doing here? Is something the matter?”

”Senior Sister, I wish to see the Master. I have an urgent matter to report,” Yang Jing said, cupping his fists in a salute.

Sun Ningxiang pondered for a moment before nodding. ”Wait here. I’ll go ask.”

With that, she turned and entered the main house.

A moment later, she pushed aside the door curtain and came out. ”Junior Brother Yang, Father says you may go in.”

Yang Jing expressed his thanks and stepped into the house.

Sun Yong was seated in a Grandmaster’s Chair, rubbing a string of Purple Sandalwood Buddhist Beads in his hand. When he saw Yang Jing enter, he lifted his eyelids slightly. ”What is it?”

Yang Jing bowed deeply, his voice calm yet clear. ”Master, I attempted a breakthrough last night and was fortunate enough to reach Dark Strength.”

”Hm? What did you say?” Sun Yong’s hand abruptly froze, and the Buddhist Beads CLACKED together.

He looked up at Yang Jing, his eyes filled with doubt and astonishment. For a moment, he thought he must have misheard. ”Say that again.”

”I was fortunate enough to break through to Dark Strength last night,” Yang Jing repeated, his voice respectful but not servile.

This time, Sun Yong heard him clearly. He shot to his feet, the legs of his chair screeching across the floor.

He strode over to Yang Jing, his gaze as sharp as a torch, and looked him up and down. Then, he pointed to a sandbag on one side of the room and said in a deep voice, ”Show me a Mountain-Shattering Fist. Use Dark Strength.”

Yang Jing did as he was told, taking his stance. He focused his mind and gathered his energy, then slowly executed the ”Stone-Splitting” form.

The punch didn’t seem fast or ferocious at first. But as his fist traveled midway, a restrained force silently permeated from his body, cutting through the air with a dull thrum before landing on the sandbag.

There was no earth-shattering impact. The surface of the sandbag barely even swayed, but with a soft PUFF, the cotton stuffing inside collapsed inward, leaving a fist-print about an inch deep.

This was the telltale sign of Dark Strength—penetrating through the surface to strike the interior. It was far beyond what the brute force of Mingjin could achieve.

”It really is Dark Strength!” Sun Yong’s pupils contracted. He sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, staring intently at Yang Jing, truly sizing him up for the first time.

His mind was in turmoil, like a sea churned by a tempest.

He knew Yang Jing’s Root Bone. It was merely a Lower-Grade, and a mediocre one at that.

Sun Yong’s impression of Yang Jing was that he was level-headed and willing to work hard. It was already a considerable feat for him to have broken through to Mingjin. He had never imagined Yang Jing could reach Dark Strength.

The bottleneck after reaching the Peak of Mingjin was not something that could be overcome by sheer hard work alone.

With a poor Root Bone, crossing that bottleneck was as hard as climbing to the heavens. Forcibly attempting a breakthrough would only injure oneself again and again. Do it too many times, and one’s vital energy would be severely damaged, destroying one’s foundation and even costing one’s life.

How many disciples with Middle-Grade Root Bones had the Martial Arts Hall seen over the years? As far as Sun Yong knew, most of them had been stuck at the Peak of Mingjin for several years, even decades, unable to even glimpse the gateway to Dark Strength. And yet this Yang Jing... had succeeded without a sound?

”You... How many attempts did it take for you to succeed?” Sun Yong took a deep breath and looked at Yang Jing. He had seen too many disciples stuck at this bottleneck and knew just how difficult the breakthrough was.

”Master, it was my first attempt.”

”The first time?!” Sun Yong’s face twitched, his heart filled with shock and a complex mix of emotions.

In the entire Martial Arts Hall, only Lin Yue had ever succeeded on his first try. The other disciples who reached Dark Strength had all stumbled, taking two or even three attempts just to touch the threshold of Dark Strength. And Yang Jing, with his Lower-Grade Root Bone, had done it in one go?

After the shock, an irrepressible wave of joy surged through him.

He slapped Yang Jing hard on the shoulder, the force making Yang Jing stagger slightly. ”Good! Good lad! I completely misjudged you!”

Gaining another disciple at the Dark Strength level was already a joyous occasion for the school, but what’s more, Sun Yong now suspected that while Yang Jing’s Root Bone was poor, he might have other qualities to compensate, such as his comprehension.

While Root Bone was the most important factor, other things could also influence one’s martial talent, like comprehension.

Someone with high comprehension, even with a poor Root Bone, still possessed a certain degree of potential.

Sun Yong now guessed that while Yang Jing’s Root Bone might be poor, his comprehension and other factors were likely quite good.

When Yang Jing had broken through to Mingjin before, he had thought it was just a stroke of luck.

But now that Yang Jing had also broken through to Dark Strength, Sun Yong could no longer attribute it to mere luck.

It wasn’t that people with heaven-defying luck didn’t exist, but it was impossible for such luck to strike the same person twice in a row.

’This kid seems ordinary, but he’s actually hiding some real potential.’

The wrinkles on Sun Yong’s face smoothed out, his eyes filled with unconcealed admiration. This was no fluke; this was clearly a hidden gem he had almost overlooked!

Although his potential couldn’t yet compare to Lin Yue’s, Sun Yong was in a rare, excellent mood at the thought of his Martial Arts Hall producing a Dark Strength disciple with such promise.

He paced back and forth a few times, then said with a laugh, ”Since you’ve already broken through to Dark Strength, I will now pass on the rest of the Mountain-Shattering Fist to you!”

Sun Yong walked to a bookshelf and took down a thread-bound ancient tome from the top shelf. The cover bore the three archaic words: ”Mountain-Shattering Fist.”

He placed the fist manual on the table, his fingertips tapping lightly on the yellowed pages. His tone was no longer calm, but carried a new solemnity. ”Mingjin emphasizes ’hardness,’ while Dark Strength emphasizes ’restraint’ and ’penetration.’ The subsequent training for this Mountain-Shattering Fist focuses on hiding your Inner Strength within your bones and releasing it in a flash. It may look like a single punch, but the force actually splits into three paths: one strikes the surface, one penetrates the interior, and the last one...”

He suddenly raised his hand and threw a phantom punch toward a paperweight on the corner of the desk.

There was no gust of wind, yet a fine crack split the bluestone paperweight from the inside.

”This is ’entwinement.’ It allows your Inner Strength to circulate within the enemy’s body, delivering a continuous, unending aftershock.”

Yang Jing held his breath, his gaze locked on the diagrams and annotations in the fist manual, afraid of missing a single word.

Sun Yong’s explanation was incredibly detailed. From the methods of circulating energy to the subtle variations in stances, he even personally demonstrated several times how the spine should twist like a great dragon when exerting force.

”Now, look at this move, ’River-Severing.’ In Mingjin, it’s a horizontal sweeping punch, like a great axe cleaving water. But with Dark Strength, you must turn your wrist inward by half an inch, letting the energy travel along your forearm. Then, upon contact with the enemy, you snap your wrist over—the force striking like a viper leaving its hole...”

As Sun Yong spoke, he took Yang Jing’s arm to correct his angle of force. The pressure from his fingertips was just right, allowing Yang Jing to feel the flow of power without causing him pain.

This was a level of close, personal instruction that Yang Jing had never experienced before.

In the past, when Sun Yong offered him guidance, he would mostly stand to the side and mention a few key points. He rarely gave this kind of hands-on instruction.

Now, Sun Yong’s tone was filled with gentle encouragement. ”Though your Root Bone is Lower-Grade, your comprehension is excellent. You also train diligently, so your foundation is thick and solid. Your control over Inner Strength, in particular, is far more stable than that of an ordinary disciple just entering the Dark Strength realm. In that punch just now, your ’penetration’ technique already showed some promise. With time, you will surely master it.”

He patted Yang Jing’s shoulder lightly and said with a smile, ”My disciple, from now on, if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can come find me in the inner courtyard anytime. Don’t worry about the rules.”

”Thank you, Master!”

A warmth spread through Yang Jing’s heart. He could clearly feel the change in Sun Yong’s attitude. It was the genuine care and expectation of a master for his junior.

He grew even more focused, engraving Sun Yong’s every word into his heart. The characters on the fist manual seemed to come alive, gradually resonating with the Dark Strength flowing within his body.

...