Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

"Do you know why Senior Brother Sun Tao is looking for me?" Xu Yang asked as they walked.

"I think it has something to do with the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon," the man replied, though he didn’t sound certain.

As they stepped into the Inner Courtyard side by side, an excited roar reached their ears. "Haha! I, Qiu Wenjie, have reached Qi Gathering Minor Achievement!"

Xu Yang followed the sound of the roar and saw Qiu Wenjie’s aura surging, his skin flushed crimson. He really had reached Qi Gathering Minor Achievement.

Xu Yang smiled. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Qiu Wenjie’s aptitude wasn’t particularly good. He had only started practicing martial arts about half a month later than Xu Yang. His reaching Qi Gathering Minor Achievement was undoubtedly thanks to the Qiu Family pouring money into his training.

To put it in perspective, Xu Yang himself had been training in martial arts for ten months.

It had taken Qiu Wenjie nearly seven months to advance from Qi Gathering Introduction to Qi Gathering Minor Achievement, making it virtually impossible for him to participate in this year’s Martial Arts Ascension Dragon.

However, he was still young. If he could reach Qi Gathering Great Success within three years, he might have a chance to participate in the next Martial Arts Ascension Dragon.

But considering it had taken him seven months just to reach Qi Gathering Minor Achievement, achieving Qi Gathering Great Success within three years seemed like a long shot.

"Junior Brother Qiu, since you’ve achieved Qi Gathering Minor Achievement, come and join us." Sun Tao’s voice rang out from a nearby gazebo.

Xu Yang glanced over. Everyone inside the gazebo was an Inner Courtyard disciple whose cultivation had reached Qi Gathering Minor Achievement or higher.

"Alright!" Qiu Wenjie replied. He reined in his elation and strode toward the gazebo.

"Wenjie, congratulations!"

Xu Yang joined him, and the two entered the gazebo together, sitting down next to Zhang Hong and Zhang Yong.

Of their small group of five, only Wu Yongfeng had yet to reach Qi Gathering Minor Achievement. Zhang Hong himself had just broken through a few days ago.

If one were to count, it had actually taken him even longer than Qiu Wenjie.

However, he lacked Qiu Wenjie’s resources; his natural aptitude was actually superior. He might even be able to reach Qi Gathering Great Success within two or three years.

Unless someone was willing to pour money into backing him, he had no chance of participating in this year’s Martial Arts Ascension Dragon either.

Right now, he and Zhang Yong were quietly congratulating Qiu Wenjie. Xu Yang’s gaze, however, swept across the gazebo. All told, there were now more than ten disciples in the Inner Courtyard whose cultivation had reached Qi Gathering Minor Achievement or above.

’Weiyuan Hall is considered one of the weakest among the martial arts halls. If even Weiyuan Hall has this many disciples at Qi Gathering Minor Achievement, the top-tier halls must have far more, and their ranks must be filled with even greater experts.

The competition for the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon is going to be intense.’

The more powerful a martial arts hall, the wealthier its disciples—that much was undeniable.

And to a certain degree, money was power.

Qiu Wenjie had little natural aptitude, but with the Qiu Family’s backing, he was still pushed to Qi Gathering Minor Achievement in seven months. The scions of Qingyuan’s most prominent families would only have even more money poured into their training.

As Xu Yang was lost in thought, Zhao Zhifei’s voice cut in. "Junior Brother Sun, everyone’s here. You can begin."

Sun Tao nodded and began to speak. "This year’s Martial Arts Ascension Dragon begins in just four months. As you all know, it involves live combat."

"This isn’t like the friendly sparring matches between us during regular practice. This is true life-or-death combat, where crippling injuries—or even death—are real possibilities."

"Yet, most of us disciples from the martial arts halls have little to no experience in such battles. Therefore, before every Martial Arts Ascension Dragon, the halls in Qingyuan jointly organize a training expedition for the participating disciples to gain real combat experience."

"Of course, this expedition isn’t mandatory. Participation is entirely voluntary. I ask all of you, my brothers, to think it over carefully. Those who wish to join can register with me now. You will be accompanied by Hall Master Level experts."

At his words, disciples like Jiang Ping showed no surprise; they had clearly heard of this before.

"Senior Brother Sun Tao, if I may ask, is this expedition to suppress bandits?" someone asked.

Sun Tao shook his head, his voice turning grave. "This year, we’ve been assigned a mountain sweep."

The moment those two words were spoken, the atmosphere grew tense. Xu Yang noticed that even the breathing of disciples like Jiang Ping had become heavy.

"Senior Brother, what’s a ’mountain sweep’?" Zhang Yong asked.

"A mountain sweep means entering the mountains to hunt Exotic Beasts," Sun Tao explained. "If any of you are worried and have masters in your family, you can ask them to accompany you for protection. The primary goal of the mountain sweep is still to gain real-world fighting experience."

Upon learning what a mountain sweep entailed, Zhang Yong immediately decided not to participate. After being led into a disaster by Xue Fangsheng, he was all too familiar with the horrors of the mountains.

Zhang Hong and Qiu Wenjie didn’t intend to join either. They had little hope of succeeding in the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon, so there was no point in them participating.

It wasn’t just them; several other disciples who felt they had no chance also opted out.

"A bunch of cowards," Lu Ren sneered. "If you’re so afraid of dying, why are you even practicing martial arts? The only reason you have no hope for the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon is because you lack the money. This time, we’ll have Hall Master-level experts with us in the mountains. If you dare to risk it all and manage to kill an Exotic Beast, you can use the rewards to push hard for the next four months. You might actually stand a chance at Dragon Ascension.

I’m sure the Martial Arts Hall arranged this mountain sweep with that very possibility in mind."

Lu Ren finished, looking up at Sun Tao.

He was determined to participate. It wasn’t just to gain combat experience; he also wanted to take his shot.

Although the Gu Family provided him with resources, it was far less than what the disciples from top-tier families received. Only by seizing this opportunity and risking it all could he hope to secure a high rank in the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon.

Sun Tao nodded. "That’s correct. That was indeed part of our consideration."

Xu Yang saw that many were now tempted. Lu Ren’s words were undeniably persuasive.

’He really wanted to point out that Zhang Yong’s group had thought the exact same way last time. Eight of them had gone into the mountains, and only five had come back.

And what good was having Hall Masters accompany them? How many could there possibly be?

The mountains were vast. Unless a Hall Master was assigned to shadow every single disciple, it was no different from having no protection at all.’

"I want to risk it. Let’s team up, and we’ll split whatever we get equally." Zhang Hong had changed his mind.

This was his only chance to participate in the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon. If he missed it, Qi Gathering Great Success would likely be the peak of his achievements for the rest of his life.

"I’m still young, so I’m not going," Qiu Wenjie said, his mind clear.

Zhang Yong gritted his teeth. "I’m in!"

He too had been swayed by Lu Ren’s words.

With his current resources, reaching Qi Gathering Great Success in time for the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon was not a sure thing.

Even if he managed to scrape his way to Qi Gathering Great Success, he feared he still wouldn’t be able to achieve Dragon Ascension against so many rivals.

After he spoke, both he and Zhang Hong turned to look at Xu Yang. If he joined them, the trio’s chances of survival would increase dramatically.

"I’m not that ambitious. I won’t be joining. You two be careful." Xu Yang shook his head.

’The mountains were dangerous; a wise man does not stand beneath a crumbling wall. As long as he played it safe and cultivated steadily, reaching Qi Gathering Great Success in four months shouldn’t be a problem.

Now that the Qiu Family had absorbed the Hong Family’s businesses, his stipend from them had increased from three taels to five. Combined with his monthly allowance from the Liu Family, his Cultivation Resources were by no means scarce.

In four months, he was confident he could comprehend Mixed Element Strength. And even if he couldn’t, he could just use his panel to upgrade it.

At that point, relying on his Great Success Level Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, securing a good rank wouldn’t be difficult. There was no need to risk his neck on an adventure in the mountains.’

Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong were visibly disappointed.

Even Lu Ren glanced over, clearly not expecting Xu Yang to back down again, unwilling to risk his life.

In the end, fueled by Lu Ren’s rousing speech, out of the sixteen people Sun Tao had gathered, only three chose not to participate.

Those three included Xu Yang and Qiu Wenjie.

’Time to practice my fist techniques.’

Xu Yang rose and walked out of the gazebo.

With both his Comprehension and Root Bone raised to 60, he hadn’t yet had a chance to train. This was the perfect opportunity to test the effects of his Upper Grade B Root Bone and enhanced Comprehension.