This Martial Saint is Too Cautious
Chapter 32 - 25: Choosing a Spouse

Chapter 32: Chapter 25: Choosing a Spouse

Yang Family Martial Arts Hall.

Yang Qingfeng sat in the main hall, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest as his gaze drifted out the window.

’Second-Time Skin Smoothing, Mountain-Splitting Fist, and at least ten years of practice.’

The only ones in the Martial Arts Hall who met both conditions were indeed Wang Qing and Fang Lie.

Wang Qing went to the Prefecture City last month and wouldn’t be back before the new year. As for Fang Lie... knowing him, if he were to kill that Zhao Kui, he wouldn’t have waited until the middle of the night.

’If it wasn’t either of them, then who could it be?’

The faces of his disciples appeared one by one in Yang Qingfeng’s mind, and he dismissed them all. When the final, youthful face appeared, Yang Qingfeng couldn’t help but laugh.

’How could it possibly be Lin Yan?’

The only reason he had even thought of Lin Yan was that the address written on his late-submitted disciple application was on Willow Lane, which was territory controlled by the Three Heroes Gang, making a grudge possible.

But Lin Yan came from a common background. To have achieved Single-Time Skin Smoothing in just two months clearly meant he was proficient in the Mountain-Splitting Fist, allowing his Qi Blood to grow faster during practice. However, there was no way he could have reached the level of ten years’ worth of training.

"Disciple Lin Yan requests an audience with Master."

Just as Yang Qingfeng was lost in thought, a voice came from outside the door. He froze for a moment. ’Speak of the devil.’

"Come in."

The moment Lin Yan’s figure appeared in the doorway, a sharp glint flashed in Yang Qingfeng’s eyes.

"You’ve reached Second-Time Skin Smoothing?"

"Disciple was fortunate enough to break through to the Second-Time Skin Smoothing while practicing in Qingtian Town yesterday."

Lin Yan bowed respectfully. He wasn’t the least bit surprised that his master could see he had reached the Second-Time Skin Smoothing. Even Captain Ji had been able to tell, let alone his master.

After bowing, he continued, "I came today not only to share this good news with you, Master, but also to confess something."

"What is it?"

"Last night, I killed a Vice Gang Leader of the Three Heroes Gang."

Confessing this to his master was a decision Lin Yan had made after careful consideration upon returning home after the killing yesterday.

The Three Heroes Gang was powerful to ordinary people, but it was nothing to his master and the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall. Several of his senior brothers at the Second-Time Skin Smoothing level could easily crush the Three Heroes Gang.

He had killed a gang’s Martial Artist, and for good reason. There was no need to hide it from his master.

"I killed that Zhao Kui because the man was utterly inhuman. He was about to harm a pregnant woman, and it just so happened that the daughter-in-law of a teacher who once taught me to read is with child..."

After explaining everything from start to finish, Lin Yan stood quietly in place, awaiting his master’s response.

"Perform a set of the Mountain-Splitting Fist for me. Don’t hold back."

After waiting for a long moment, Lin Yan hadn’t expected this command from his master. He didn’t hesitate, though, and immediately began to assume a stance and execute the fist technique right there in the hall.

Yang Qingfeng’s expression, initially calm, was filled with emotion by the end.

"That’s enough."

Lin Yan had only thrown three punches before Yang Qingfeng stopped him. The proficiency Lin Yan displayed was indeed at the level of nearly ten years of mastery.

"No wonder you reached the Second-Time Skin Smoothing so quickly. To have achieved such mastery in the Mountain-Splitting Fist in so short a time... you’re nearly catching up to me."

A smile appeared on Yang Qingfeng’s face. He was far more concerned about his Martial Arts Hall producing such an outstanding disciple than he was about the insignificant Zhao Kui.

"I am still far from reaching your level, Master," Lin Yan said humbly.

"There’s no need for false modesty. I would only be happy if you could surpass me. Tell me, how did you cultivate the Mountain-Splitting Fist?"

"I... just practiced it normally, day and night."

Lin Yan scratched his head, a little embarrassed. The secret of the Martial Arts Tree could not be revealed, of course.

In fact, the reason he had deliberated for so long last night was the fear of exposing the fact that he possessed a rare treasure.

He had asked Zheng Xun about reaching the Second-Time Skin Smoothing within a year. Across the county seat, it was considered only upper-middle level; many from the great families in the county could achieve it.

The difficult parts were the subsequent Third-Time and Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing...

Some people reach the Second-Time of Skin Smoothing in a year, but then get stuck at the Third-Time for several years, or even more than a decade.

The only thing that was hard to explain was his level of mastery in the Mountain-Splitting Fist.

But Lin Yan had come to terms with it. ’Can’t I just be a genius?’

Yang Qingfeng wasn’t surprised by Lin Yan’s answer. Given Lin Yan’s background, he wouldn’t have had access to many martial arts. It was likely that his temperament was simply a perfect match for the Mountain-Splitting Fist, allowing him to train it to such a degree in so short a time.

"Since you have such a talent for the Mountain-Splitting Fist, continue to practice it diligently. While it might not allow your Realm to advance by leaps and bounds, if you one day develop its ’Momentum,’ a Martial Artist of the same Realm won’t even be able to take a single punch from you."

After saying this, Yang Qingfeng chuckled at himself. It was too early to be talking about such things.

He had just been so shocked by how proficiently Lin Yan had mastered the Mountain-Splitting Fist in such a short time. Developing the Fist Momentum for the Mountain-Splitting Fist was incredibly difficult. He himself had a talent for it, and it had still taken him ten years to develop.

The further one progressed, the harder it was to advance in a Fist Technique.

’Fist Momentum?’

A gleam appeared in Lin Yan’s eyes as he looked at the silver leaf with golden threads in his mind. He thought to himself, ’When this leaf turns completely gold, that must be what Master meant by developing Fist Momentum.’

As for the growth rate of his Qi Blood, he had noticed recently that the appearance of those golden threads hadn’t caused his Qi Blood to grow any faster.

The Qi Blood bonus from his proficiency in the Mountain-Splitting Fist seemed to have reached its limit after the leaf turned silver.

"Master, are there different ranks of proficiency for a Fist Technique?"

"There’s Minor Achievement and Great Success. Minor Achievement doesn’t have any distinct characteristics; you could be considered at that level now. When you develop Fist Momentum, that’s considered Great Success. That’s also the peak of the technique."