"Junior Brother Chen, what happened here?"
As soon as Chen Yuan returned to the Martial Arts Hall, a senior brother walked over with a smile. Chen Yuan took a closer look and recognized Senior Brother Zhang Shi, who had joined a few months before him. He was a hardworking and honest man. Chen Yuan immediately smiled back.
"Just a minor injury from a spar. It’s nothing to worry about."
Zhang Shi nodded, then stated his purpose. "Junior Brother Chen, do you have a sparring partner? How about we train together from now on?"
He had clearly heard about Chen Yuan’s situation and wanted to build a good rapport.
Chen Yuan gladly agreed. "That sounds great. Thank you, Senior Brother."
Time slipped away silently amidst the flying fists.
Sun Chengjie had also entered a state of complete focus. His goal wasn’t to surpass Xue Anping and win the competition, but simply to keep his qualification to continue practicing martial arts. Liu Jin’s fate was still fresh in his mind, and he still had two bitter rivals in this courtyard.
As he trained, the SWISH of approaching footsteps drew near, followed by a deeply mocking voice.
"Oh, isn’t this Sun Chengjie, the guy who took nine days to get initiated? I heard you were almost kicked out by the Gu Family. Talk about dumb luck." It was Zhou Qian.
Zhou Mo picked up where he left off, a fierce glint in his eyes. "I just wonder if you’ll have that kind of dumb luck next month. Didn’t you mock us for not having meat to eat? I’ll be waiting for the day you get kicked out!"
The threat in their words was glaringly obvious. Presently, Sun Chengjie was still sponsored by the Gu Family and a disciple of the Huo Courtyard. Making a move against him would carry some risk, but if he ended up like Liu Jin, they could trample all over him as they pleased.
Sun Chengjie clenched his fists and scoffed. "Trash who haven’t even touched the threshold of the Skin Pass after training for four or five months have no right to judge me."
Zhou Qian sneered, "I haven’t touched the threshold of the Skin Pass, but what about you? With your food allowance of one tael of silver a month, you’ll barely maintain your vitality in the later stages, let alone achieve a breakthrough. You’re not much better off than us. Do you really think the Gu Family will keep feeding a piece of trash like you forever?"
They looked down on Sun Chengjie entirely because they believed that a mere one tael of silver’s worth of meat nourishment offered absolutely zero hope of breaking through. Chen Yuan, on the other hand, made them quite wary. With a sponsorship of five taels of silver a month, he already had a thirty to forty percent chance of successfully breaking through.
"Being stronger than you two is enough," Sun Chengjie retorted with a cold smile. "When the time comes, Uncle Sun will have more than enough strength to beat you down."
"Heh, just you wait."
The two brothers were momentarily rendered speechless. Suppressing their anger, they turned and left. The words "Uncle Sun" acted like a thorn lodged in their throats, stinging deeply and causing a vicious light to flash in their eyes.
At dusk, Chen Yuan experienced a brand new standard of dining in the Dining Hall. First of all, the portions of beef and broth were doubled outright. If he couldn’t finish it all, he could take the leftovers home for a midnight snack. Secondly, he was now allocated twenty bowls of Body-Strengthening Soup a month. If he supplemented it with one tael of silver out of his own pocket, he could afford to drink a bowl every single day.
He had hardly spent the two taels of silver his aunt had given him earlier. The early stages of training didn’t require much money, so he kept it saved for emergencies. He no longer had to worry about night training depleting his vitality. His progress in accumulating strength would undoubtedly reach a whole new level!
This was the benefit of revealing his potential.
In a good mood, Chen Yuan decided to skip his night training and go home early to share the good news with his aunt. Thus, he only ate one bowl of beef and two bowls of broth, packing the remaining bowl of beef to take home. Although this was bought with the Gu Family’s sponsorship money and technically shouldn’t be shared with family, such a minor action was harmless. No one would care.
"Brother Chen, going back so early today? Let me walk with you," Sun Chengjie’s voice called out.
Chen Yuan nodded. "Since the Gu Family values me now, I want to make my aunt happy too."
Sun Chengjie glanced at the beef in Chen Yuan’s hand and sighed emotionally. "That’s true. Now that you’ve secured a sponsorship of five taels a month, you probably won’t have to worry about silver anymore. Meanwhile, I’m rushing back in hopes of squeezing a bit of silver out of my old man. Sigh."
Was the gap between people really this huge? They were both clearly evaluated with High-Delta potential...
Chen Yuan hummed in agreement. "It’s good to give it your all."
Building up one’s strength and learning some martial arts was beneficial even if one just went home to farm. At the very least, they wouldn’t be bullied. When it came to irrigating the fields, having some martial skills could give them an edge against rowdy neighbors.
Sun Chengjie chuckled bitterly. "I just can’t afford to be eliminated by the Sun Family; otherwise, those two bastards from the Zhou Family will definitely kick me while I’m down. Sigh, if only I had your skills, Brother Chen. I bet they would have been terrified into obediently apologizing today. Is the strongest High-Delta really this terrifying?"
Chen Yuan didn’t know what to say for a moment. Although Sun Chengjie and the Zhou Brothers had some connection to him, he had no intention of interfering in their conflict, lest he entangle himself in their drama.
His top priority was to play it safe!
Once he broke through the Skin Pass and mastered Manifest Force in a little while, resolving their grudge would just be a matter of a single word. At the end of the day, martial prowess could solve the vast majority of problems. As for Sun Chengjie’s envy in the latter half of his rant, Chen Yuan couldn’t exactly tell him that there were huge gaps even among those with High-Delta potential. Moreover, he was no longer the "strongest High-Delta" but a top-tier Low-Charlie.
"Take it one step at a time," Chen Yuan said softly.
They were supposed to part ways at the alley entrance, but Sun Chengjie mentioned that Liu Jin used to walk him home in the past, so he invited Chen Yuan to accompany him. Chen Yuan figured his aunt should still be at the dyehouse at this hour, so he agreed.
Sun Chengjie’s home was rather remote. As tenant farmers, they naturally had to live close to the farmlands. Just after exiting the Outer City and walking onto a dirt road, the WHOOSH of a fierce gust of wind came from behind. Chen Yuan instantly sensed something was wrong.
He whipped his head around, only to see two masked men lunging out from behind some rocks, swinging wooden clubs down at them.
"Look out!" Chen Yuan shouted.
At the same time, his muscles tensed. He leapt backward to open up some distance, instantly dropping into the Santishi stance and entering a combat-ready state. Sun Chengjie, however, was a beat too slow. Although he dove forward the moment he heard the shout, the fierce wind still caught him. A club slammed into his back, causing him to stumble with a muffled groan.
Chen Yuan’s sharp eyes had already gauged the two attackers’ skill levels. They were just local thugs with some street-fighting experience. The wooden clubs in their hands, however, posed a significant threat.
"Who do you run with? Give me your names. Don’t you know this is the Black Dragon Gang’s territory?"
He used the Black Dragon Gang’s name as a deterrent, but the two masked men remained unfazed, continuing their assault with their wooden clubs.
Chen Yuan’s gaze turned icy. The only reason he had leapt back earlier was because he had been ambushed and lost the initiative. Now that he had enough time to react, the natural course of action was—to press the attack!
Using the Beng Fist technique, he explosively dashed forward. Facing the diagonally swinging club, he took a step forward with his right foot and dodged sideways in the opposite direction. His fully charged left leg suddenly shot up, delivering a ferocious knee strike squarely into the attacker’s abdomen, sending the man flying through the air.
Pressing his advantage without mercy, he took a quick step to close the distance. Drawing his right arm back to his waist, he converted his entire forward momentum into kinetic power. He pushed off his legs, twisted his waist, and channeled his energy into his leading hand. In an instant, his right fist exploded outward like a cannonball, smashing solidly into the second attacker’s face. Blood and shattered teeth splattered everywhere.
It was the Cannon Fist, the technique with the strongest explosive power.
After dispatching his opponents in the blink of an eye, Chen Yuan looked over at Sun Chengjie. The latter’s eyes were bloodshot. After tanking a hit from a club, Sun Chengjie stepped forward with a vicious groin strike. The successful blow brought his attacker down, and he immediately followed up with a storm of punches and kicks, venting his fury over taking two solid hits.
He beat the man until he howled and begged for mercy. "You little bastard, stop it! I’m with the Black Dragon Gang! Keep hitting me, and the gang won’t let you off!"
Only then did Sun Chengjie calm down a little. His voice was slightly hoarse as he spat, "Screw you! You think being in the Black Dragon Gang makes you so great? Did I mess with you? Or did I miss a protection fee payment? Hiding behind a mask like a coward—you know damn well your actions can’t see the light of day."
However, the man tore off his black cloth and actually produced a Black Dragon Gang token. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he said, "I was just paid to do a job. The targets were tougher than expected. You two are ruthless. I admit defeat today."
Hearing this, both Chen Yuan and Sun Chengjie were left to their own thoughts.