Chapter 104 – Spirit Crane Body

Lin Zhiqin’s words left Lu Yuan completely stunned.

Someone had spent 20 million to buy him a candidate spot?

20 million?

For a spot?

Who?!

“The qualification for becoming a direct disciple can be bought with money?”

Lu Yuan found it somewhat unbelievable.

Lin Zhiqin remained expressionless, as if he hadn’t heard Lu Yuan’s question at all.

“Who spent the money to buy it for me?”

Unwilling to give up, Lu Yuan asked again.

This time, Lin Zhiqin answered.

“A person with the surname Xia.”

Lin Zhiqin looked at him and said indifferently, “You can try to recall it yourself.”

“Surname Xia?”

Lu Yuan frowned slightly, his brain starting to quickly search through his past memories for any related information.

There weren’t many people he knew with the surname Xia. From kindergarten to senior high school, he had only had about seven or eight classmates with that surname.

Five of them he had basically lost contact with, and two he had only a general relationship with.

As for relatives…

“Alright, you can think about that later. Now I will formally impart the martial arts technique to you.”

Lin Zhiqin interrupted Lu Yuan’s thoughts and stood up from the soft mat in the training room.

Lu Yuan hurriedly stood up as well.

“What’s your current boxing power?” Lin Zhiqin asked Lu Yuan.

“About 600 kilograms… maybe a bit more.”

In fact, Lu Yuan had never measured it; he was relying on the regularity of his strength points to calculate it.

He didn’t plan to hide his boxing power from Lin Zhiqin, considering they had sparred before, and it would be impossible to conceal it anyway.

“Hmm, roughly in the range of 650 to 700 kilograms…”

Lin Zhiqin suddenly grabbed one of Lu Yuan’s arms, pulling his palm up to his eyes, his fingers deeply embedding into Lu Yuan’s palm flesh, then moving upwards with increasing force.

Lu Yuan felt a slight pain but didn’t ask anything, letting Lin Zhiqin press his forearm inch by inch.

Suddenly, Lin Zhiqin let go and said:

“Martial arts is essentially a process of constantly breaking the human body’s limits. Some people find it very difficult to break through a limit even once, needing to put in a lot of effort. For others, it’s very easy, effortlessly achieving it… You belong to the latter, the kind of constitution that martial artists dream of having.”

Lin Zhiqin paused here, feeling a bit complex inside.

In fact, what initially attracted him to Lu Yuan was his focus and learning ability in martial arts.

But the more he interacted with Lu Yuan, the more he realized that Lu Yuan’s most terrifying aspect was his astonishing growth rate.

Without access to advanced body training techniques, in just a few months, Lu Yuan had grown from a level below that of an ordinary person to nearly 700 kilograms of boxing power!

He was practically a little monster.

In all his years at the martial arts gym, Lin Zhiqin had taught and seen many students.

But none could compare to Lu Yuan.

After collecting his thoughts a bit, Lin Zhiqin continued:

“…Your basic boxing power and physical fitness have already surpassed the amateur level and officially entered the professional level, but there is still a significant gap between you and true professional experts. This gap is not reflected in strength and speed, but rather… in further honing and exploring your body’s functions!”

“…From skin to muscle, to bones, and then to internal organs. From the outside in, from shallow to deep. Every martial artist cannot avoid this process of training.

The martial arts world also divides the professional level into stages Skin Training Level, Muscle Training Level, Bone Training Level, and Organ Training Level.

Don’t pay attention to those messy online rankings from first rank to ninth rank.

The real martial arts realm divisions are not that detailed, and the boundaries between each level are not as clear-cut as you might think.”

As Lu Yuan listened to Lin Zhiqin’s explanation, he took notes and pondered.

What Lin Zhiqin said wasn’t much different from what he had imagined.

After reaching the professional level, the focus of martial arts training shifts to the step-by-step refinement of the skin, muscles, bones, and internal organs.

This process is actually quite similar to forging iron.

Starting from the outermost layer, gradually increasing the force, and going deeper bit by bit until a piece of iron ore is completely refined into high-quality iron.

With the same volume, the latter’s hardness and toughness are many times stronger than the former.

This is also one of the reasons why, despite his high constitution points, his defense power was still inferior to that of a Fang Bear.

Because the Fang Bear was already undergoing the process of being tempered and refined.

…

Lu Yuan finally understood.

Although it wasn’t as groundbreaking as when he first encountered extraordinary power—like a door opening to a new world—it was still like a small door opening, giving him a deeper understanding of martial arts and a clear idea of what to do next.

“Coach, how should I train next?” Lu Yuan couldn’t help but ask.

Lin Zhiqin glanced at him and said, “I’ll teach you now.”

With that, Lin Zhiqin suddenly grabbed Lu Yuan’s right hand and pulled it sharply towards himself.

Caught off guard, Lu Yuan instinctively wanted to react.

But he quickly relaxed his body, letting Lin Zhiqin manipulate him.

Perhaps this was Lin Zhiqin’s teaching method.

Lin Zhiqin kept pulling Lu Yuan in different directions.

Lu Yuan felt as if his body was being pulled by countless incredibly tough strings, moving him around.

It also felt like he was sitting in a small boat floating on stormy waves, bobbing up and down unpredictably.

Suddenly, Lin Zhiqin gave his arm a hard yank.

The skin and muscles of Lu Yuan’s entire arm followed the pull.

Then it was the bones, producing crisp collision sounds one after another.

At that moment, Lu Yuan felt like a rag.

Being held by a corner and shaken hard by Lin Zhiqin.

His whole body trembled uncontrollably, feeling like he had been electrocuted.

“Damn!”

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth, but his mind was filled with overwhelming shock.

He had seen the grey aura emanating from the Rat Monster in the Cavern and the black death energy of the Divine Servants of the Crow Deity sect, and their extraordinary power had left him in awe.

But now he realized…

The wonders of martial arts were equally breathtaking!

…

Lu Yuan’s entire body was enveloped in a sensation of tingling and pain.

Lin Zhiqin held him with one hand, dragging and pulling him in various directions, while his other hand continuously corrected the movements of different parts of Lu Yuan’s body.

Lu Yuan had become a complete puppet, manipulated at will.

Until at a certain moment… the force of one of Lin Zhiqin’s pulls suddenly became extraordinarily strong.

In an instant, Lu Yuan’s skin, muscles, and bones were all pulled, making him feel like he was about to fall apart in the next second.

The invisible strings controlling him suddenly disappeared.

Lu Yuan collapsed to the ground involuntarily.

“Huff, huff—”

He panted heavily, his whole body drenched in sweat.

In just a few seconds, his clothes were completely soaked, and even the floor beneath him had a noticeable puddle of sweat.

After a few seconds of catching his breath, just as Lu Yuan was about to say something, he heard Lin Zhiqin’s voice in his ear.

“I’ll demonstrate it again. Pay attention to every detail of each movement.”

With that, Lin Zhiqin began his demonstration.

Lu Yuan quickly activated [Absolute Concentration] lv3, focusing intensely on Lin Zhiqin’s demonstration.

He watched while recalling the sensations he felt during the pulling, verifying each detail in his mind.

But soon, Lu Yuan realized that the movements Lin Zhiqin was now demonstrating were much more complex than he had expected.

What Lin Zhiqin had just taught him hand-in-hand was probably not even one-fifth of all the movements.

By the time Lin Zhiqin finished the demonstration, Lu Yuan had already come out of his [Absolute Concentration] state.

Silently, he recalled and counted a total of one hundred twenty-six movements.

That’s seven times the number of the crane stance!

“The true body training techniques of my Sky Water Stream Crane Style, you only need to remember the first eighteen for now…”

Lin Zhiqin, having finished his demonstration, spoke slowly: “When you practice on your own, you can also practice them along with the crane stance. Combined with the Crane Style’s secret ointment and massage techniques…”

Pausing for a moment, Lin Zhiqin looked at Lu Yuan and said in a low voice, “I hope this will allow you to preliminarily complete the first stage of the Skin Training before the formal start of the personal assessment.”

Lu Yuan was taken aback and instinctively asked, “Coach, when does the personal assessment start?”

“In a month.”

Lin Zhiqin responded calmly, then continued, “You’ve been training for too short a time to close the gap with the other candidates. Honestly, the chances of you passing the assessment are very slim. But… at least you won’t look too bad when you get eliminated…”

Saying this, Lin Zhiqin shook his head and added, “Practice on your own for now and digest what you’ve learned. Come upstairs to apply the ointment in half an hour. I’ll make the arrangements.”

Without looking back, he turned and walked out of the training room.

…

“One month, huh…”

Lu Yuan watched Lin Zhiqin’s figure disappear, lightly pressing his lips together.

He understood the implication in Lin Zhiqin’s words.

It seemed Lin Zhiqin didn’t expect him to be chosen at all. Teaching him the body training techniques now was just to do his duty, seeing how far Lu Yuan could get.

“But…”

“A month is a long time.”

Lu Yuan shook his head and habitually opened his professional panel.

Quickly, a notification caught his eye—

[You have acquired a new skill—Spirit Crane Body lv1]!

On the [Martial Artist] professional panel, [Spirit Crane Body lv1 (2/100)] was now listed.

Judging by the prefix description…

It was an advanced professional skill!

It was prominently placed between [Crane Stance] and [Crane Shadow Float].

…

Second floor of the Yuan Martial Arts Gym.

The last office at the end of the hallway.

Lin Zhiqin sat alone in front of a coffee table, staring blankly at an ashtray filled with cigarette butts.

He seemed to be deep in thought.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

The cigarette between his index and middle fingers inexplicably extinguished, and he looked up towards the door.

The office door, which he hadn’t noticed opening, was ajar.

A short-haired, ordinary-looking man stood in the doorway, quietly watching him.

“Coach Qin.”

Lin Zhiqin sat up slightly, his expression remaining calm as he looked at the man.

Qin Feng stepped in from the doorway.

His footsteps were light, almost silent on the tiled floor, and each step was precisely measured, exactly half a meter apart.

He walked slowly to the window, turning his back to Lin Zhiqin, and looked down at the pots of plants that had already withered below the windowsill.

“You taught the body training techniques to that student named Lu Yuan?”

“Is there a problem?”

Lin Zhiqin replied calmly, “He will eventually become a core disciple. He has the right to learn these techniques.”

“But that’s against the rules…”

Qin Feng sighed softly, “Senior Brother Lin.”

Lin Zhiqin’s eyes flickered for a moment, then he stood up from the sofa with a blank expression.

But before he could speak, Qin Feng changed his tone.

“However, you are the senior brother. What’s done is done. I have nothing more to say… I just want to remind you, Senior Brother Lin, to consider things more carefully next time. Stop always doing things outside the rules. The teacher dislikes you for this reason and even stripped you of your direct disciple status because you can’t seem to break this bad habit.”

As he spoke, Qin Feng turned to face him.

Lin Zhiqin let out a snort, almost as if he found it laughable out of anger.

“You’re talking to me about rules?!”

He seemed about to say more, but Qin Feng continued, “I’ve reviewed Lu Yuan’s file. He’s indeed a rare talent. No wonder Senior Brother Lin is putting so much effort into nurturing him, going to great lengths to secure a candidate position for him…”

Lin Zhiqin’s expression turned slightly cold as he said, “You’re mistaken there. Lu Yuan’s candidate status wasn’t something I fought for. I merely gave a little push from behind…”

He suddenly seemed a bit irritated and reached into his pocket for his cigarette pack.

“Speak up, what do you really want from me?”