Academy training ground.
A short-haired girl with an ordinary face, her fair skin with a faint pink hue. She wore a gray robe of a style typical of chore disciples. However, if you looked closely, the robe's fabric was not cut from coarse cloth but tailored from fine satin, glimmering subtly in the sunlight.
At this moment, she spoke in a slightly resentful tone to the long-haired girl beside her, "Shanshan, Jun got injured. He was attacked. Can you help me vent my anger and teach that person a lesson?"
The long-haired girl was none other than Zhu Lingshan, who Lin Yuan had defeated in the selection arena.
Zhu Lingshan finished practicing a martial art technique, calmed her breath, and shook her head, "Yan Rong, have you thought through the consequences of your actions?"
"Sigh." Yan Rong sighed, "If only I were as strong as you, I would go directly to him and knock his teeth out. So he dares not trouble Jun again."
"How am I strong? Back then, during the selection, I was full of confidence, thinking I could easily win the first match, not expecting someone to appear and leave me powerless to retaliate."
Zhu Lingshan's face showed an expression of reminiscence.
The match left too deep an impression on her, and even now, she couldn't help but sigh when she recalled it.
Yan Rong frowned, a bit helpless, "I know, I know. You've mentioned this several times. The handsome guy on the first match's stage, you were easily defeated by him, and now you're captivated by his overwhelming strength."
However, she quickly remembered the injury of the person in her heart and showed a worn expression again, "Oh, Jun's injury pains me. What should I do, I'm so worried!"
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"Interesting." Ji Rucheng sneered coldly.
He glanced at Lin Yuan with a subtle expression, took the paper package Lin Yuan handed over, and put it in his pocket without checking it.
"Very well, next month remember to understand the rules. Maybe when Senior Brother Huang is in a good mood, he might spare some time to teach you some techniques." Ji Rucheng stood up, glanced at the two present, and spoke plainly.
Then he headed towards the door, leaving behind an angry You Xiaozhong.
Bam!
You Xiaozhong suddenly punched the wooden table beside him, trying to vent his anger, "When I become an elite disciple, the first thing I'll do is deal with that bastard Ji Rucheng. Damn him for bullying others with his power!"
"Back to training." An enraged You Xiaozhong didn't even have the mood to count today's Silver Coin, so he told Lin Yuan and went straight back to his room to practice martial arts.
Unlike You Xiaozhong, Lin Yuan looked calm, watching Ji Rucheng leave. He heard You Xiaozhong's words and bowed to him.
After You Xiaozhong left, Lin Yuan also returned to his room.
Forget it!
Lin Yuan comforted himself.
Currently, he was just an ordinary chore disciple. Without sufficient martial cultivation, how could he challenge the authority of elite disciples?
Helping others is helping oneself, so why bother arguing with Ji Rucheng, when in the end, it would only be his own loss.
He was a kind person. If he argued fiercely with Ji Rucheng, wouldn't it disrupt the harmony of the academy?
In the peaceful life that passed, he just needed to steadily drink the decoction and continue improving. One day, he would be able to wear a black robe with embroidered azure and white cloud patterns.
At this moment, Lin Yuan stood in his room, where the iron pot had finished boiling the decoction, leaving only the dim red glow of the charcoal. He opened the paper package containing about two taels of Qi-Blood powder, opened it, and drank it with the decoction.
After drinking the decoction, he slowly put down the porcelain bowl.
He gazed at the starry sky, as if nothing had happened just now.
He silently recited in his heart, "Endure a storm to find calm, retreat a step to enjoy vastness."
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The sky had completely darkened by this time.
Ji Rucheng was on his way back to the academy's supervision hall.
He was particularly pleased today. It's safe to say that these few days each month were when he was especially happy. Because he could collect a vast amount of Qi-Blood powder from these chore disciples.
The hand that cuts the meat inevitably gets greasy, even though most of it had to be handed over to the black-robed elite disciples, he could still take a share.
Today's collection of Qi-Blood powder was not without its challenges. A couple of disciples indeed didn't know the rules, so he had the opportunity to teach the new disciples what rules were in front of the old chores.
Thinking about those chore disciples, Lin Yuan's calm face appeared in front of him.
He rarely encountered such an interesting new disciple. Not only did Lin Yuan obediently hand over one tael by the rules, but after being pressured, he handed over another tael, and even gave a third tael after leaving.
Ji Rucheng knew well how valuable Qi-Blood powder was to chore disciples. Lin Yuan couldn't have willingly parted with it. Remembering Lin Yuan's expression, his cheerful mood turned somewhat sluggish.
"Hehe. Overthinking!"
Ji Rucheng laughed at himself.
As a newcomer not even two months in, how capable could Lin Yuan be? Today, without the three taels of Qi-Blood powder he collected from him, even if he took it all, so what?
Moreover, he figured Lin Yuan, as a new chore, couldn't possibly have any deep background. In that godforsaken place, how could a disciple with connections end up there?
Having thought this, Ji Rucheng stopped pondering about Lin Yuan. Instead, he shifted to today's harvest, a full five taels of Qi-Blood powder, packed in bottles within his cloth bag.
And to ensure the new disciples fully learned the rules, he had them with their one unbroken hand, tear open the paper packages of Qi-Blood powder one by one and pour them into the porcelain bottles.
Otherwise, if he tore the paper packages one by one, wouldn't it be a waste of time?
"Not bad, not bad."
With five taels of Qi-Blood powder, he usually kept about one tael. By selling it adulterated outside, it became a significant income again.
Ji Rucheng calculated in his heart, feeling content.
Suddenly, a shadow jumped out from the bushes beside him. This person moved extremely fast, and in Ji Rucheng's vision, the shadow's right fist rapidly magnified, seemingly about to punch his face. He quickly retreated, trying to dodge.
Unexpectedly, the person's punch suddenly changed course, where the punch to the face was a feint, and another punch shot out, striking his chest.
Ji Rucheng was caught off guard by the sneak attack. As the punch's force erupted in his chest, like violent rolling stones, he couldn't withstand it.
Immediately, his chest felt blocked, unable to breathe. He even involuntarily stepped back.
But before he could catch his breath, a black cloth was thrown over, ensnaring his head. With the black cloth over his head, he instinctively opened his eyes, trying to see what it was. Unexpectedly, white powder mixed within the cloth bag.
"Ah!"
Ji Rucheng screamed miserably, his eyes hurt by the quicklime, nearly halting his thoughts.
The shadow was merciless, striking with powerful fists.
In an instant, countless punches landed on him, leaving Ji Rucheng unable to strike back.
"Who? Who are you? Ah, ah, ah!" Ji Rucheng roared furiously.
"Me! Dark Night Hungry Wolf!" a hoarse voice replied.
Finally, the shadow threw a fierce punch, smashing Ji Rucheng's head, covered in the black cloth.
Ji Rucheng, already heavily injured, couldn't withstand such an attack, and he fainted when the punch's force exploded.
The shadow ensured Ji Rucheng was unconscious, cautiously moved closer, and fiercely exploded again, punching Ji Rucheng twice.
"He should indeed be unconscious."
Ji Rucheng's body shook again, then stopped responding.
The shadow glanced around, seeing nothing unusual, quickly searched Ji Rucheng.
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The next day.
Supervision hall's training ground.
Fewer people were training this morning than usual.
Lin Yuan and Xin Wanxin practiced fist techniques and then headed towards the giant statue of Dao Zun enshrined in the academy's main hall.
The Dao Zun statue was located near the center of the many courtyards of the academy's supervision hall, always bustling with incense offerings. Besides the chore disciples and elite disciples from the academy offering incense and praying, high-ranking officials and nobility from outside the academy frequently came to pray to Dao Zun, seeking blessings and children.
"May Dao Zun bless, may the Martial Emperor bear witness, may the disciple walk and find Qi-Blood powder, even practice in dreams. Become an elite in three months, enter the inner gate in May." Lin Yuan held three lit incense sticks, praying earnestly.
After three bows, Lin Yuan inserted the long incense sticks into the censer.
"Walk and find Qi-Blood powder?"
"Become an elite in three months, enter the inner gate in May?" Someone beside him looked at Lin Yuan with an odd expression.
Is this how you pray to Dao Zun?
Is Dao Zun your father?
"Look, I'm so pious like this, wouldn't Dao Zun grant such a small request?" Lin Yuan looked back at him with a strange expression.
Lin Yuan then ignored the person beside him and walked straight out the door, heading to the drying yard.
Today he needed to hurry and make dogskin ointments for sale.
According to Xie Wanxin, yesterday many disciples were taught the rules. It's a perfect time to sell dogskin ointments.