From breaking the limits of the White Ape Fist to becoming a martial arts saint.

Chapter 25 Cultivation, Minor Success

After calming Su Hong down, Su Yu and her aunt went to the outer room.

A heavy silence filled the air.

Looking at his aunt's red and swollen eyes, Su Yu asked softly, "Aunt, how is my brother's injury... usually manageable?"

At this point, Auntie's tears welled up instantly, and she covered her mouth, sobbing, "How could he bear it! Every night he was in so much pain that he would bite the corner of the blanket to shreds, but he wouldn't utter a sound, just so as not to disturb me."

Su Yu sighed helplessly, "Have you seen a doctor? Could you perhaps apply some pain medication?"

The aunt shook her head. "He...he won't allow it. He says his leg is already useless, and spending money on it would be a waste..."

After hearing this, Su Yu took out six taels of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into his aunt's hand.

"Xiaoyu, this won't do, this won't do, there's too much..."

"Aunt, this is what I owe my eldest brother. I'm giving him medicine to treat him so that he can feel more comfortable."

……

After leaving Su Hong's house, Su Yu went home for a while, gave Ya'er a few instructions, and then went straight back to the martial arts school in the city.

His current priority is to break through and increase his strength as soon as possible!

A martial artist must become a martial artist!

After paying ten taels for the martial arts school's tuition and four taels for medicine, Su Yu was left with only five taels of silver for emergencies.

[Proficiency +2]

[Proficiency +2]

……

Time flies, and a month has passed quickly.

During this month, Su Yu focused solely on practicing the White Ape Six Transformations, neglecting to participate in the Qian family's fishing team's outings and setting aside his fishbone kung fu training.

Occasionally, when I'm too tired to walk on the stakes, I practice throwing coins.

With such focused and diligent practice, his progress in the Six Transformations of the White Ape has finally reached more than halfway.

[Martial Arts]: White Ape Six Transformations (Proficiency 589/1200)

"Within a month, I'll have a chance to break through to the minor mastery level. Based on experience, the minor mastery level corresponds to the second stage of breakthrough!"

After checking the proficiency level of the White Ape Six Transformations, Su Yu then checked the Money Toss skill.

[Martial Arts]: Money Throw (Minor Success 12/500)

"Ah, things turned out unexpectedly well. I practiced the Money Throwing skill occasionally to relieve stress, and I didn't expect to reach the minor mastery level ahead of everyone else. Although my proficiency in this martial art is much lower than that of the White Ape Six Transformations, the time investment is also much less."

Su Yu took out a pebble-sized stone from his pocket, flicked his wrist, and casually threw it toward the ironwood stake in the distance.

"Whoosh—Pfft!"

The stone flashed through the air and accurately struck the wooden stake more than ten feet away, making a muffled thud.

"This power and accuracy are already good enough for actual combat!" Su Yu pondered how to transform the money toss into strength to improve himself.

"Hunting birds and small animals in the mountains and forests is no problem at all, and I can earn a lot of money to improve my living standards. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time. Just like with my net-casting skills, if I spend too much time earning money now, it will interfere with my martial arts training."

"Practicing martial arts is too expensive. I only get three doses of this herbal soup a week, while I heard that the senior brothers in the inner courtyard get one dose a day. Some martial arts schools even use more expensive herbal soups, not this bone-strengthening soup!"

"I need to find a stable way to make money, or continue to improve my earning capacity, so I won't be struggling to make ends meet like this!"

A few days later, the monthly assessment arrived as scheduled.

The atmosphere on the training ground was solemn.

This time, neither Master Qin nor Senior Brother Qi Linfeng showed up; only inner court disciples such as Lin Wanzhu and Qin Yu were in charge.

It seems that Senior Brother Qi Linfeng's injuries have not yet healed, so his absence is not surprising.

However, it is unusual that Master Qin did not appear.

Normally, Master Qin ignores the apprentices of the outer academy, only appearing once a month for the monthly assessment. Now, he doesn't even appear for the assessment anymore. Many people will probably only see Master Qin once or twice from the time they become his apprentices until they are eliminated.

"Today is the routine monthly assessment. Those whose names are called, please step forward for the assessment."

"Sun Jia, Zhao Heng..."

Senior Sister Lin read out the names of seven people in a row. These people had all come shortly after Su Yu became his disciple, and now they were all in their three-month assessment period.

Upon hearing their names called, the men turned ashen-faced, stood with their heads bowed, and hesitated to make a move.

"Are you deaf? Why aren't you moving!"

Just as Lin Wanzhu was about to speak, Qin Yu, standing to the side, raised her eyebrows and scolded him.

The group immediately shuddered. The scene of Qin Yu injuring Ma Fei during last month's assessment was still vivid in their minds. How could they dare to disobey this arrogant senior sister?

Reluctantly, I gritted my teeth and started practicing the obstacle course.

Halfway there, Qin Yu snorted coldly again, "Useless trash! Three months and you haven't even broken through a single barrier! Get out of here!"

Upon hearing this, the group was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

They knew that once they left, their lives would be over. They had spent more than a decade's worth of savings and hadn't even managed to get past the first hurdle. It was like a failed gamble.

Once you leave the martial arts school, without the secret medicinal soup, there's no chance of breaking through.

Someone's legs went weak, and they knelt down, pleading, "Senior sister, please give me another chance! My family sold land to scrape together the money..."

"Shut up!" Qin Yu's eyes were full of disgust. "If you don't have talent, don't dream of becoming a martial artist! Martial arts schools aren't charity organizations; we don't support idlers! If you keep babbling, I won't hesitate to send you on your way!"

Now that her senior brother was still recovering from the injuries inflicted by those bastards from the Broken Bone Martial Arts School, she was already quite annoyed. And since the martial arts school was full of useless people, she didn't mind giving them a good beating.

"No, no..."

Faced with Qin Yu's oppressive aura, the group dared not utter another word, completely deflated, and retreated.

"The next batch will be those who have broken through the barrier two or three times." Senior Sister Lin turned the pages of her book and shook her head. "That's all. There are still three people in the outer academy who have broken through the barrier once and haven't reached the assessment deadline yet. Wang Hu from the inner academy has already broken through the barrier twice and doesn't need to be assessed anymore. Then there's Junior Brother Chen; he broke through the barrier three times a few days ago. Does he still need to be assessed?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan smiled and stepped forward, saying, "Senior Sister, shall I demonstrate?"

"Haha, Junior Brother Chen, don't joke around. You shouldn't come out and discourage these people."

"Exactly, exactly. Your speed of mastering martial arts, reaching the third level in just three months, is truly enviable. Back then, I took more than six months to master it, even with one dose of herbal medicine a day."

Qin Yu nodded approvingly, "Chen Fan, you are your father's personal disciple, so don't try to compare yourself to these people. Aren't you ashamed? You should focus on preparing to break through the bottleneck of martial arts, and don't get distracted."

Chen Fan immediately smiled and bowed, saying, "Senior Sister is right. I've also been feeling uneasy lately, as I'm experiencing some issues with my blood and qi accumulation. I'd like to ask Senior Sister for advice."

Come find me in the backyard later.

Below, a group of apprentices were also shocked to hear that Chen Fan had passed the test three times in three months.

Some people couldn't help but gasp in shock, unable to believe that the difference was so great.

"Does innate talent really have that much of an impact? Why am I only considered to have below-average talent? God is so unfair!"

"I can never compare to Senior Brother Chen in this lifetime, even though I trained like crazy. Even though he also came from a poor family..."

Chen Fan listened to their hushed conversation and a slight smile appeared on his face. Now, most of the people who were in his batch had been eliminated.

Things have changed, and people are no longer the same.

Oh, wait, there's still Su Yu left. He's a lucky kid; he didn't get stuck on the first try.

However, given his talent, it's highly unlikely he'll pass the test a second time.

After the assessment, Senior Sister Lin and the other senior brothers from the inner courtyard chatted and laughed as they passed through the moon gate and headed towards the inner courtyard.

On the way, the group chatted idly.

"There have been more and more strange occurrences outside the city lately, you all know that, right? Sigh, there have been several incidents in the waters where my family cultivates precious plants." Jiang Liuchuan closed his feather fan and shook his head helplessly.

"Escort services have been plagued with incidents lately, especially those on the water. Three merchant ships have already gone missing at the Heihe Ferry Terminal," Xu Feng added.

The Xu family runs a security escort business and is well aware of the recent strange events.

Lin Wanzhu straightened her back, feeling the heaviness in her chest, and said wearily, "The trade route has also encountered trouble. The caravan from my family that went to Huai'an County just returned, and many people died. They say they also encountered something strange."

"Sigh, things have gotten increasingly unsettled lately. Aside from the strange occurrences, those gangs are engaged in a fierce battle outside the city, never letting up. It's making life unbearable for the people outside the city; who has the money to come into the city to become an apprentice?"

"It's alright. Now that it's affecting business in the city, the three major families in the inner city will make their move soon."