Chapter 30

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

When he returned to his room, Xiaozhi ran over. When she saw Lin Yan, tears welled up in her eyes. “Brother, what happened to your face!”

Lin Yan stroked Xiaozhi’s head. “I’m fine. I was sparring with someone. Don’t look at the punch on my face. I won.”

“Brother, you’re so awesome!”

Kids didn’t think too much, so she quickly became happy again. “Brother, I want to go to the Book House!”

“Okay, Xiaozhi has recovered. I’ll send you to the Book House tomorrow.”

There was a hint of worry in Lin Yan’s eyes. A few days ago, Xiaozhi’s illness was very sudden. He had gone to the medical center to take a look, but the doctor couldn’t explain it.

Now, she seemed to be unscathed. He did not know why, or if she would be ill again later.

After playing with Xiaozhi for a while, Lin Yan took out the new bottle of Emerald Wind Powder and took a sip.

In the room, he carefully practiced the Five Animal Hands Technique.

The room was narrow, so he had to be extremely careful in his movements. Fortunately, he had full control over the Five Animal Hands Technique. Every move was just right, so he could use it.

As he practiced the fusion of the five forms over and over again, an invisible force circulated throughout his body, causing the blood energy in his body to be exuberant.

The skin all over his body began to turn red and hot. His body greedily absorbed blood energy. It contracted and relaxed in a regular manner, as if it was breathing. After every breath, he was clearly strengthened.

Just like that, Lin Yan practiced the fusion of the five forms over and over again. Although his proficiency didn’t increase at all, the strength of his muscles and bones increased rapidly.

A day passed just like that.

The next day, Lin Yan sent Xiaozhi to Muqing Book House first before coming to the martial arts arena. However, he realized that Ma Ziming and Yuan Jing did not come. Only Xu Hongchang, Ji Biao, and Lou Xing came.

He first picked Ji Biao to go forward. Unexpectedly, Xu Hongchang suddenly took two steps forward and volunteered to practice with Lin Yan and Ji Biao.

“Junior Brother Xu, why aren’t you as resistant as yesterday?”

Xu Hongchang’s eyes flashed with passion. “Senior Brother Lin, I want to experience your attack power again!”

Ji Biao and Lou Xing’s eyes widened, their bodies trembling. The way they looked at Xu Hongchang greatly changed.

Was this kid addicted to being beaten up?

Lin Yan looked at him in surprise. Although he had concealed the other four forms, he openly displayed the true meaning of the deer form.

It seemed that Xu Hongchang had comprehended something from his actions.

He nodded and said, “Alright, let’s do it!”

The three of them were in a chaotic battle, causing the surrounding disciples to look at them and avoid them.

After practicing for an hour as if no one was around, Ji Biao lay on the ground and refused to get up no matter what. However, Xu Hongchang was excited and wanted more.

Lin Yan got Lou Xing to replace Ji Biao and started fighting again.

By the time it was time for lunch, Ji Biao had already fled, while Xu Hongchang and Lou Xing’s faces were bruised and swollen.

Especially Xu Hongchang, his entire body was limp and weak.

Lin Yan wasn’t any better. His face was hit a few times, and his chest, shoulders, and hands were hurting everywhere. However, his stamina was better, so he still had strength left.

Xu Hongchang looked like a lackey as he went to Lin Yan’s side and smiled ingratiatingly. “Senior Brother Lin, you must be hungry. I’ll get you some food!”

Lin Yan glanced at him and nodded in agreement.

“Alright, wait for me!”

Xu Hongchang limped towards the dining room.

Lou Xing also bid farewell to Lin Yan while trembling and chased after Xu Hongchang.

After walking for a while, Lou Xing secretly looked back. Seeing that he was far enough from Lin Yan, he hurriedly took a few steps forward and caught up to Xu Hongchang.

“Old Xu, what are you up to? Have you planned it out? Not bad!”

Xu Hongchang looked at Lou Xing in surprise. “You noticed it too?”

“What did you discover? I mean, did you deliberately curry favor with Lin Yan so that you could find a chance to get him food?”

“What?”

“Poison him! Get him food and poison him at the same time! If we let Lin Yan continue tormenting us, how will we have time to cultivate?”

They were not talented enough to begin with. They fawned over Bai Xin, Tang Shi, and Mi Tai to get more pointers from them so that they could increase their chances of passing the Monthly First Evaluation.

If they were delayed by Lin Yan like this and did not have time to practice martial arts, they would definitely not pass the monthly assessment!

“What!”

Xu Hongchang pushed Lou Xing away and said angrily, “How dare you poison Senior Brother Lin!”

“I’m not trying to poison him. It’s you. Didn’t you deliberately curry favor and get food for him to poison him?”

“Nonsense!” Xu Hongchang was furious. “I love Senior Brother Lin so much. Why would I poison him?!”

“Old Xu, don’t tell me you’re really addicted to being beaten!”

Xu Hongchang snorted coldly. “Hmph! You don’t know what’s good for you at all!”

With that, he flicked his sleeve and walked forward again.

Lou Xing was stunned. Was there something wrong with Xu Hongchang’s brain?

However, on second thought, Xu Hongchang came from a medium-sized sect in Changqiu District. This kind of sect disciple had grown up in the sect and should be the best at adapting to the situation.

He was puzzled, but he did not feel embarrassed. He immediately caught up and kept asking Xu Hongchang.

At first, Xu Hongchang ignored him, but after being asked a lot of questions, he was finally annoyed by him. He said impatiently, “You’ll know when you observe Senior Brother Lin’s actions!”

“Huh?”

Not long after, Xu Hongchang brought two full lunch boxes to Lin Yan respectfully.

“Senior Brother Lin!”

Lin Yan took the lunch box. After opening it, he raised his eyebrows slightly. There were four pieces of greasy meat stacked high in the lunch box. He nodded. “Thank you.”

Xu Hongchang grinned happily and said, “Compared to what Senior Brother Lin taught me, this is nothing!”

Lou Xing was eating his lunch box alone at the side. When he saw the two of them being so polite, he felt jealous.

He had originally planned to escape and not come.

However, he could not help but be curious about what Xu Hongchang meant.

Hence, he decided to take a gamble.

It took time to digest the blood energy, but the three of them had only cultivated for two hours in the morning. They still had energy left.

After resting for a while, the three of them started practicing again.

This time, Lou Xing secretly paid attention. He realized that when Xu Hongchang was resisting, he kept staring at Lin Yan with a burning gaze. From time to time, a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

What was this guy looking at?

Hence, he followed suit and observed Lin Yan’s actions as he attacked and defended.

This was not easy. If he was distracted, he would be easily beaten up.

Fortunately, he and Xu Hongchang were fighting one enemy together, leaving him some room to observe.

At first glance, he did not find it strange.

However, as he continued to observe, he quickly realized that every move Lin Yan used against them was from the Five Animal Hands.

Lou Xing was slightly surprised. The Five Animal Hands Technique was a body-nourishing martial art. The movements were meant to nourish the body and could not be used in actual combat.

Lin Yan actually used the standard movements of the Five Animal Hands Technique?

The reason why martial arts techniques were secretly passed down was that every move had many details about the circulation of force and could not be changed randomly.

Wasn’t Lin Yan afraid of hurting himself by forcefully modifying his movements?

He then turned to look at Xu Hongchang.

Alright, this fellow was actually imitating Lin Yan’s actions!

Judging from his expression, he seemed to be immersed in it.

Lou Xing shook his head.

His father and uncle were both martial artists, so he had been taught a lot of martial arts knowledge since he was young.

Ever since he was young, he had listened to his father and uncle’s warnings. They said that one had to be careful in the cultivation of martial arts techniques and could not casually change the movements and order. They even gave him many terrifying examples of geniuses who ended up crippling themselves while practicing cultivation techniques randomly.

Lin Yan was so bold. He was probably courting death!

With this thought in mind, Lou Xing’s impression of Lin Yan and Xu Hongchang suddenly changed. He immediately established an advantage in his mind and continued to observe the two of them as he sparred.

As he watched, although he felt that Lin Yan was messing around, he couldn’t help but feel more and more surprised.

The deer blocked, the tiger pounced and moved, the bear swayed and defended, and the ape attacked…

Lin Yan’s movements were smooth and agile.

Especially the deer form. It seemed to be completely different from the deer form he had practiced.

However, when he performed it, there was a strange sense of harmony that made one’s mind captivated.

It was as if…

Lin Yan was practicing the authentic version, while he was practicing the pirated version!

After a sparring session, Lin Yan waved his hand. “Let’s continue tomorrow.”

Xu Hongchang’s eyes burned. “Yes! Thank you, Senior Brother Lin!”

Lou Xing stood at the side and panted. At the same time, he was still reminiscing about Lin Yan’s relaxed and agile movements.

Putting everything else aside, the Deer Form demonstration was really beautiful and comfortable.

He had been practicing the Five Animal Hands for more than a month. At this moment, he was delighted to see the novel demonstration. His hands and feet subconsciously began to imitate Lin Yan’s actions.

He was not injured. Instead, he was surprisingly relaxed.

Lou Xing couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “Could it be that these movements weren’t randomly altered?”

He looked at Xu Hongchang beside him. Like him, he was actually imitating Lin Yan’s actions.

Moreover, his actions were much more complete than his.

“Hey, Old Xu, did you notice it yesterday?”

Xu Hongchang snorted coldly and did not answer.

“Is it useful to imitate Lin Yan’s actions?”

Xu Hongchang frowned and glared at him. “Call him Senior Brother Lin!”

“Yes, yes, yes, Senior Brother Lin. Tell me, what did you learn from imitating his movements?”

Xu Hongchang did not say anything.

Lou Xing also knew Xu Hongchang’s temper, so he wasn’t in a hurry. He nagged beside his ear, wanting to hear what results he had achieved from imitating Lin Yan’s actions.

He was not talented enough and felt that he could not pass the Monthly First Evaluation. Whenever there was a chance, he wanted to grab it.

Xu Hongchang became irritated and couldn’t help but scold, “Why don’t you try it yourself?”

When Lou Xing heard this, he had an idea.

Xu Hongchang was a person who took advantage of the situation and judged people by their statuses. However, he was a good person and was different from Ma Ziming.

He immediately recalled Lin Yan’s actions just now before imitating them.