Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Xu Yang held back his strength while sparring with Qiu Wenjie, but after just a dozen or so moves, Qiu Wenjie cried out and surrendered.

He had only achieved Qi Gathering a few days ago, and his control over his True Qi was clumsy. Lasting for a dozen-odd moves was already considered impressive.

"Brother Xu, this is from my father."

The two stepped aside, and Qiu Wenjie handed three taels of silver to Xu Yang.

"Maybe you should stop giving me this. Now that you’ve successfully reached Qi Gathering, the Qiu Family no longer needs me." Xu Yang didn’t take it.

Qiu Yongqiang had been willing to invest in him when he was weak, and Xu Yang had never forgotten this kindness.

The Qiu Family was simply too small—too small to afford a resident Martial Artist Tributor. Yet, they might need one for certain situations. So, as a last resort, they came up with a desperate plan: to give him money without requiring him to guard the Qiu residence, only hoping he would step in when needed.

In the past, he could accept the money with a clear conscience, knowing he would absolutely help if the Qiu Family ever ran into trouble.

But now that Qiu Wenjie had reached Qi Gathering and the Qiu Family had its own Martial Artist, taking the money felt wrong. It was like the protection money the Sanhe Gang extorted from the folks at Bai Shi Workshop—blood and sweat money.

"My father told me to give you this. If I take it back, he’ll definitely beat me. If you want to return it, you’ll have to do it yourself."

Qiu Wenjie forcefully shoved the money into Xu Yang’s hands, got up, and went back to practicing his fist techniques.

...

「The Qiu Family Estate!」

"Elder Brother, you were looking for me?" Qiu Yongqiang said, cupping his fists in a salute to his older brother, Qiu Yongjian, who was seated behind a desk.

Closing the account book in his hands, Qiu Yongjian looked up at his younger brother. "Second Brother," he said, "I’ve noticed you’ve withdrawn three taels of silver from the accounts every month for the last few months. You just took out another three today. What is this money being used for?"

Qiu Yongqiang replied, "I’m using it to sponsor a promising Martial Artist I’ve found."

Qiu Yongjian’s brow furrowed. "Three taels of silver? What kind of Martial Artist is that cheap? Surely you’ve been swindled."

"No, Elder Brother, please let me explain..."

Qiu Yongqiang explained everything in detail: how Qiu Wenjie had first mentioned Xu Yang, and the series of events that followed.

"Second Brother, you’ve greatly disappointed me. I know you want to strengthen the Qiu Family, but you should have discussed a matter like this with me. Let’s put aside whether this Xu Yang even has any investment potential for a moment."

"You’re just giving him money without requiring him to guard our family estate. If trouble comes to the Qiu Family one day and he just stands by and does nothing, who can prove we ever sponsored him?"

"This sponsorship ends now. Wenjie has achieved Qi Gathering, so our family can focus all its efforts on cultivating our own Martial Artist. There’s no need to waste our resources on an outsider."

Having heard the whole story, Qiu Yongjian immediately began to scold Qiu Yongqiang.

"Elder Brother, Xu Yang is very loyal and values relationships. If our family were in trouble, he wouldn’t just stand idly by," Qiu Yongqiang said, frowning.

This was exactly the reaction he had expected from his elder brother, which was why he hadn’t mentioned it to him in the first place.

"But Wenjie has reached Qi Gathering now. We should be pouring all our resources into him, not someone else. With our family’s income, it’s already a struggle to support a single Martial Artist like Wenjie. Do you have any idea what the consequences of spending an extra three taels a month are?"

Qiu Yongjian stared hard at Qiu Yongqiang until his younger brother lowered his head in defeat.

’It’s not that I don’t know all this,’ he thought. ’It’s just that I gave my word.’

"Find some time to make things clear to him," Qiu Yongjian said. "It’s not that we’re breaking our promise. We simply don’t have the money."

"Alright."

Qiu Yongqiang nodded in resignation.

...

BANG! BANG!

Drenched in sweat, Xu Yang moved with the power of a great bear, his fists thundering through the air with each punch.

He felt his body growing hotter, his blood and qi churning like boiling water, rapidly approaching a critical point.

’Bear-Bursting Strength!’

He knew he was on the verge of mastering the Bear-Bursting Strength, the core of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. With his Comprehension score nearing forty, grasping the intricacies of the Fist Technique was becoming increasingly simple for him.

Once he mastered Bear-Bursting Strength, his combat prowess would increase dramatically. It was the hallmark of achieving a deep understanding of the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

’Ever since we entered the Inner Courtyard, the senior brothers who’ve already mastered Bear-Bursting Strength have been helping Lu Ren learn it. I wonder if he’s managed it yet.’

BOOM!

In that instant, it felt as if his blood had exploded. His veins bulged, his muscles swelled, and his strength surged violently. A burning rage welled up inside him, and his True Qi ignited like gunpowder.

The great dragon of his spine seemed to roar to life, sending a series of crisp cracks running up his back, vertebra by vertebra.

"Has Xu Yang gone mad?"

A tyrannical aura erupted from him, startling the nearby Zhang Hong, who scrambled backward, terrified of getting caught in the path of Xu Yang’s fists.

"Be quiet! He’s mastered Bear-Bursting Strength," Wu Yongfeng said, his face filled with envy.

He had reached Qi Gathering long before Xu Yang, yet he still hadn’t a clue about mastering Bear-Bursting Strength.

"He actually mastered Bear-Bursting Strength," Lu Ren muttered, a look of disbelief on his face.

Numerous senior brothers had been feeding him moves, sparring with him for over a month using Bear-Bursting Strength. It was only a few days ago, upon hearing that his fiancée had been defiled by Jade Butterfly, that he had finally mastered it in a fit of pure rage.

He never imagined that just a few days later, Xu Yang would also master Bear-Bursting Strength, and all on his own.

"Xu Yang’s Comprehension... it’s really not much worse than Junior Brother Lu’s," Zhao Zhifei remarked, a sharp glint in his eyes.

It was as if he were in direct competition with Lu Ren. Whenever Lu Ren made a breakthrough, Xu Yang would immediately follow suit.

Jiang Ping shook his head. "I’d say their Comprehension is about equal. But it’s a shame his Root Bone is so much worse than Junior Brother Lu’s. What good is high Comprehension? Cultivation level is what truly matters."

"The Martial Arts Ascension Dragon is less than a year away. Without reaching the level of Qi Gathering Great Success, you aren’t even qualified to register."

"Look at his aura. The amount of True Qi in his Dantian is probably only a third of Junior Brother Lu’s."

"Forget reaching Qi Gathering Great Success within a year—I’d say even two or three years would be a stretch for him. Once he passes the age of twenty, he’ll be living in a completely different world from us for the rest of his life."

Gu Fang nodded in agreement. "I’ll admit I underestimated him a little. But he’s also a complete idiot. With that level of Comprehension, if he had married into the Liu Family, their wealth could have easily pushed him to Qi Gathering Great Success within a year, even with his Lower C-class Root Bone."

"He would have had a shot at the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon and could have actually made something of himself."

"But now... this is as far as he’ll go. With only a few taels of silver a month for Cultivation Resources, reaching Qi Gathering Great Success in two or three years is nothing but a pipe dream."

...

’Bear-Bursting Strength is certainly powerful, but the backlash from the explosive burst is pretty rough.’

Xu Yang calmed his rampaging blood, qi, and True Qi. As his body gradually returned to normal, he felt a profound soreness and weakness spread through his limbs.

’Impossible to reach Qi Gathering Great Success within a year?’

’Before, that would have been true. But ever since I obtained the Vajra Skill, the growth rate of my True Qi has completely changed.’

’The Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist is, at the end of the day, just a Fist Technique. When it comes to cultivating True Qi, how could it possibly compare to a specialized Cultivation Technique like the Vajra Skill?’

’Even without relying on the panel, I’m confident I can reach Qi Gathering Great Success within a year.’

’I’m not standing still.’

’My Comprehension and Root Bone are constantly improving.’

’In a year, both my Root Bone and my Comprehension will have doubled from their current values. My Root Bone alone will surpass Lu Ren’s.’

’By my estimates, even if my Root Bone doesn’t reach A+, it will at least be Lower A-class.’

’And with my Comprehension reaching A-class as well, Qi Gathering Great Success is just a conservative estimate. I might even reach the Marrow Cleansing realm.’

’It’s not that people like Gu Fang and Jiang Ping are stupid or don’t understand the importance of Comprehension.’

’It’s just that while the Comprehension I’ve shown is decent, to them, it’s nothing special.’

’To put it simply, if my Comprehension is a 40, theirs might be a 30 or a 33. There’s a gap, but it’s not a huge one.’

’That’s why, even though my displayed Comprehension is similar to Lu Ren’s, very few people are optimistic about my future.’

’This is also why Lin Cheng said on the very first day that the most important thing for practicing martial arts isn’t Root Bone or Comprehension, but money.’

’For most people who manage to reach Qi Gathering, the differences in their Root Bone and Comprehension aren’t that vast. It’s a gap that can be closed, and even overcome, with enough money.’

’If one tael of silver isn’t enough, use ten. If you still can’t close the gap, it just means you don’t have enough money.’

’There really isn’t much of a difference between a 30 and a 40. But what about the difference between a 30 and an 80, a 90, or even 100?’