Hodar walked into the Inner Courtyard, stood quietly outside a large room, and knocked gently on the door.

"Come in!"

Liu the Monk’s voice came from inside.

Hodar pushed the door open and entered. He saw Liu the Monk’s short, stout body stuffed into a grandmaster chair. In one hand, he held a ledger; with the other, his fingers flew across an abacus with a loud CLACK-CLACK-CLACK.

"What is it?"

Liu the Monk didn’t even look up, his head still buried in his accounts, his tone slightly impatient.

Having followed Liu the Monk for many years, Hodar instantly understood that his master was in a bad mood. He spoke cautiously,

"Master, your disciple wishes to report on a matter concerning the registered disciples..."

"What could be so important about a registered disciple that you have to bother me now! Can’t you see I’m swamped!"

Liu the Monk rolled his eyes but still suppressed his impatience, giving his eldest disciple some face.

"Fine, fine, out with it."

Hodar lowered his head.

"It’s about that Xie Yuan. You know, the one with decent talent we considered making a Core Disciple? He came to the dojo today, and I checked his progress. He’s had an unexpected breakthrough, and I think..."

"You think? What do you think!"

Liu the Monk, still flicking his abacus beads, listened with one ear, distracted. His brow furrowed tighter and tighter until he couldn’t help but interrupt.

"Don’t tell me you’re going to ask me to accept him as a Core Disciple again."

"Er, yes..."

"Blockhead! You absolute blockhead!"

Liu the Monk slammed his hand on the table and finally looked up at his eldest disciple.

"Do you know how much silver it costs to train a single Core Disciple?

"Over a hundred taels!

"Don’t you know the dojo’s situation? Wang Heihu and Old Ghost Fang are about to start shitting on my head! Those two dogs are working together, trying to cut off our new students and drive us out of Panlong Town so they can monopolize the market!

"The dojo is seriously short on silver right now, and you’re talking to me about accepting a Core Disciple? You think I don’t want to? I’d love to make every single student a Core Disciple, expand the dojo, and march right over to those two places to show off our strength! It’s not that I don’t want to! It’s that I don’t have the money!"

His short, fat finger was nearly poking Hodar in the nose.

"You never think about the dojo! All you know is how to train, eat, and spend money! How are you the eldest disciple?! The dojo would go bankrupt in your hands!"

Hodar took the vicious tongue-lashing with slumped shoulders.

After Liu the Monk finished venting, he threw his head back and gulped down a cup of tea. Seeing Hodar deftly refill it for him, his anger subsided slightly.

But he still snapped,

"Get out! Don’t disturb my accounting!"

"Yes, Master..."

Hodar backed out of the room, pulled the door shut, and turned with a sigh.

’I wanted to recruit a promising talent, but given the dojo’s circumstances... sigh...’

’Oh well. In the end, Junior Brother Xie isn’t some peerless genius who can change the dojo’s fate. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.’

He started walking back toward the outer training grounds. Before he even got there, he heard the commotion suddenly die down, which he found strange.

’Why did it get so quiet all of a sudden? It was just bustling with noise a moment ago. Now it’s like someone grabbed everyone by the throat.’

Hodar quickened his pace, rounded a corridor, and saw two figures on the grounds—one standing, one lying down.

Xie Yuan was standing. Xu Yang was sprawled on the ground.

A storm of questions filled Hodar’s mind. He pulled a nearby disciple aside and asked in a low voice,

"What happened?"

The disciple snapped out of his daze. Seeing it was Hodar, he quickly said with respect,

"Senior Brother! Just now, Senior Brother Xu Yang and Xie Yuan were, uh, going to... spar..."

Hodar’s brow furrowed as he listened, and he couldn’t help but scold,

"Nonsense! Junior Brother Xie just broke through. How long has it been since Xu Yang broke through? What is there to spar about?"

He knew what kind of character Xu Yang was. The guy liked to find disciples weaker than himself to "spar" with, proving his worth by bullying the weak. Even those whose skills were on par with or better than his would rather throw the match and admit defeat to avoid trouble, given his background.

In reality, Xu Yang’s skill was average at best, and his foundation was unstable. The "pill-guzzler" moniker wasn’t for nothing. But because no one dared to get serious with him, he had become increasingly arrogant and condescending.

Hodar couldn’t stand it, but his master had specifically reminded him several times that Xu Yang was the dojo’s current cash cow and they had to keep him. Thus, he could only turn a blind eye.

But bullying a disciple who had just broken through—and one he held in high regard at that—was going too far!

Just as Hodar was about to say more, he realized something was wrong.

’Wait, the fight is over, so why is Junior Brother Xie standing while Xu Yang is on the ground?’

His gaze sharpened. An absurd thought popped into his head, and he couldn’t help but ask an equally absurd question:

"So... who won?"

And then, he received an absurd answer:

"Xie Yuan."

What?

’How is that possible?’

Hodar’s jaw dropped.

Xie Yuan had just broken through, while Xu Yang was close to breaking through to the 2nd Layer, and... Xie Yuan defeated Xu Yang?

Even if he was a pill-guzzler, the gap in raw power should have been obvious.

But the reactions of everyone present confirmed this answer.

Still in disbelief, Hodar couldn’t help but confirm it again.

"For real?"

"Absolutely. And... it only took one move."

’One move?’

Hodar stood there in a daze for a long moment, a blank look on his face.

Suddenly, without a word, he spun around and rushed back toward the Inner Courtyard.

’Today, I’m making Master accept him as a Core Disciple, no matter what!’

In the center of the training grounds, under a silent gaze from all around, Xie Yuan shook out his wrist and prepared to leave.

He didn’t have time for this nonsense. He still had to go home and chop firewood.

"Holy shit, Brother Xie! How are you so damn strong?"

Tao Jelin rushed over, shouting excitedly.

"It was nothing, Brother Tao. You’re exaggerating."

"You broke through so fast? And how could you beat the crap out of that guy right after breaking through? We both just broke through, so why am I the one who gets beaten up?

"How did you do it? That was awesome!"

Tao Jelin was like a total fanboy, chattering nonstop.

’Well...’

Xie Yuan thought for a moment, then said seriously,

"It’s nothing special. Mainly just my own sweat and tireless effort."

"So awesome!"

After Xie Yuan left, the disciples on the training grounds looked at each other and began to whisper amongst themselves. Gradually, the whispers grew louder.

The discussions died down for a moment when Xu Yang was helped to his feet by his lackeys, only to erupt again after he left with his head lowered.

Xu Yang had only just rounded the corridor. How could he not hear such a commotion? The other disciples had long been angry with him but never dared to speak out. Seizing this opportunity, they intentionally laughed even louder, and the sound was incredibly jarring to Xu Yang’s ears.

His face was so dark it looked like ink would drip from it. The flunkies around him didn’t even dare to breathe, afraid of incurring his wrath.

"Xie Yuan..."

Xu Yang clenched his fists tightly, his eyes turning red.

...

Back home, Xie Yuan thought to himself as he chopped thick logs in his courtyard:

’Boss Wan was generous and gave me an extra tael. But after buying medicinal soups and grain, there isn’t much left... It’s my fault for eating too much. No, it’s the fault of martial arts for consuming so much energy!’

’Tomorrow I’ll have to go back to the forest and see which lucky tree gets to go to the city and live the good life. A Phoebe zhennan would be nice.’

’Heh, speaking of which, the money I earned from that Phoebe zhennan came from Landlord Xu. The progress I made with it, I used to beat his son...’

’Now that I’ve beaten Xu Yang, he’ll probably be thinking about revenge. But plenty of people have their eyes on me, so who does he think he is? He can’t beat me now, and he’ll have even less of a chance in the future.’

’Still, just in case, I have to train harder and not slack off. If I can make a breakthrough in either my Health-Nourishing Art or Iron Cloth Shirt, I won’t have to fear anyone, at least not before reaching the rank of Martial Artist.’

Early the next morning, Xie Yuan wrapped himself in a cotton-padded jacket and headed into the mountain forest.

His stamina had increased, and his pace was faster. He reached the large wooded area around noon.

"The air here is so fresh! I think I can even smell a sweet fragrance."

Xie Yuan took a deep breath, feeling invigorated. He decided to practice a round of his techniques under a tree to warm up.

He was only halfway through his Iron Cloth Shirt Pile Skill practice when his mind began to wander.

’Why does the air smell so good today...?’

’It’s a little too fragrant. It’s never been this strong before...’

He twitched his nose, trying to find the source of the scent, when suddenly, "Ouch!"

A small, dark green fruit fell from the canopy above, landing squarely on top of Xie Yuan’s head.