yasinovel Chapter 45 Examination
Chapter 45 Examination
Chen Luo, hiding behind a wooden pillar in the bamboo forest corridor, was startled.
He hadn't expected that Pharmacist Xu's intuition was so strong that he could vaguely sense that he was being spied on from such a distance. Luckily, he dodged quickly.
"Why is Pharmacist Xu here?" Chen Luo asked, puzzled. "He seems quite angry."
After he came out of the north wing, he secretly kept watch here, wanting to know which person from Qingyun Martial Arts School had come, and even more worried that the person was Linzhou's father.
But to my surprise, it turned out to be Pharmacist Xu.
"Pharmacist Xu seems to have some connection with Principal Huang."
Chen Luo suddenly remembered that the first time he learned about the existence of bone-tempering medicine was when the shopkeeper of the pharmacy said that Licheng Martial Arts Academy had bought bone-tempering medicine from Pharmacist Xu and also purchased Cuizhulan at a high price.
He breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the two did indeed have a connection. In any case, as long as it wasn't related to Linzhou, it was fine.
He didn't linger there any longer and turned back to his residence in the villa.
Upon arriving at the small courtyard of the residence, he saw a servant standing guard at the door. When Chen Luo entered, the servant hurriedly came forward to greet him, "Is this Young Master Chen? I am Huang Lan, and I have been instructed by Headmaster Huang to come and serve you."
"I've met you before." Chen Luo smiled politely at him, feeling a bit curious.
After all, he had never had a servant in either his past or present life.
"If Young Master Chen needs any errands or cleaning duties in the future, please feel free to give me your orders."
"In addition, here is three taels of silver, which is given monthly by Principal Huang as a subsidy for Young Master Chen." Huang Lan handed over a pouch, bowed slightly, and said respectfully, "I usually stay in the servants' quarters across the street."
"I understand. You can go out now. There's nothing else for now," Chen Luo said with a smile as he took the embroidered pouch.
After defeating Huang Lan, he practiced martial arts in the courtyard for a while. Perhaps because the environment was so good, he felt that every punch was smoother and more natural.
He practiced like this until noon, and after sweating a lot, he asked Huang Lan to boil a basin of water. After taking a hot bath, he felt refreshed and changed into the uniform of Licheng Martial Arts School.
The uniform consists of three sets: an outer robe, a shirt, and an inner lining. The outer robe and shirt are a deep blue, almost ink-black, made of thick and dense brocade. The hem is embroidered with a section of bamboo pattern in slightly lighter blue silk thread. The inner lining, which is close to the skin, is light white and made of soft and smooth fabric.
Having grown accustomed to wearing coarse linen clothes, Chen Luo found wearing such exquisite robes incredibly comfortable.
At the same time, the dark-colored outer robe draped over his body, combined with his already refined features and tall stature, instantly added a lot of heroic spirit to him.
After changing into his uniform, Chen Luo went to the kitchen that Gu Youcai had previously introduced.
The layout of the dining room was somewhat similar to that of Hongfutang. The spacious room had more than ten square tables, with a few disciples sitting around having their meals.
Three men stood in front of a small door in the corner. Without Chen Luo saying anything, one of them came forward.
He glanced at Chen Luo and cautiously asked, "Chen Luo, Young Master Chen?"
Several disciples who were having their meal turned to look at him when they heard the question.
Judging from the looks of it, they clearly know him.
Chen Luo naturally met their slightly scrutinizing gazes, then looked at the waiter and said, "It's me."
"As instructed by Principal Huang, you receive a monthly food allowance of ten taels of silver from us," the waiter said. "If there is a surplus each month, it will be returned to the school; if it runs out, you will have to make up the difference yourself."
He spoke without any attempt to hide his thoughts, and the disciples who were having their meal naturally heard him. They exchanged glances, their expressions changing slightly.
"Understood." Chen Luo nodded. "Give me a plate of stir-fried beef, a bowl of pork rib soup, and plenty of chopped green onions."
"Yes." After receiving the instructions, the waiter immediately went into the small door in the corner, which looked like the kitchen where cooking was done.
After ordering, he casually found an empty seat and sat down. While waiting for the food, he inevitably exchanged glances with the other disciples who were dining.
This time, their scrutiny was even deeper.
Chen Luo understood the reason.
Because learning martial arts at a private school not only involves exorbitant tuition fees, but also requires a large sum of money for food and lodging. In particular, Licheng Martial Arts School is one of the most prestigious private schools in Qingshan County, making its expenses even more exorbitant, truly a money pit. Even those from wealthy families would find it painful to learn martial arts there.
However, the fact that he was promised various favors by Principal Huang naturally attracted a lot of attention.
However, what's rather strange is that these disciples' gazes remained merely scrutinizing, as if with a sense of restraint, without revealing any hostility towards him.
When Chen Luochao nodded to them, they would also nod politely.
Soon, the waiter brought over the soup, and he didn't think much of it anymore, burying his head in his rice.
The food in the kitchen tasted quite good, and the soup was also very nourishing. He felt genuinely happy at the thought of being able to enjoy these dishes every day from now on.
After quickly finishing his meal, Chen Luo did not return to his residence, but went to the training ground.
He was somewhat curious about the teaching level of Licheng Martial Arts Academy.
According to Principal Huang, all the instructors at Licheng Martial Arts Academy possessed the strength of the seventh level of the Nine Yang Force, which means that they were all once qualified to enter Qingyun Martial Arts School.
The reason they weren't selected is probably because they failed the trials and were eliminated.
That's right, Chen Luo had heard that having seven levels of strength didn't guarantee entry into the Qingyun Martial Arts School. One still needed to undergo trials and become an Inner Realm Martial Artist before officially joining the school.
Moreover, the pass rate for the trial is very low, reportedly only one in ten succeeds.
However, even though they didn't pass the trial, the fact that they were able to reach the seventh level of strength is still remarkable. Any one of them would have been a top disciple receiving special training in any martial arts academy.
Upon arriving at the training ground, three men dressed in white martial arts robes stood about two zhang apart on either side. They were clearly instructors and easily identifiable.
In addition, several disciples were gathered in front of each of the three instructors, practicing the Nine Yang Force. The instructors would occasionally give them pointers and demonstrations.
Through the Nine Yang Strength realm practiced by the disciples, Chen Luo also keenly discerned that the three instructors seemed to have clear divisions of labor. The instructor on the left had five disciples at the first and second levels of strength in front of him, the instructor in the middle had three disciples at the third level of strength in front of him, and the instructor on the right was giving one-on-one guidance to a disciple at the fourth level of strength.
Following this classification, he approached the instructor on the right, a lean, middle-aged man.
The instructor on the right and the disciple with the fourth level of strength all noticed Chen Luo. The demonstration of the Nine Yang Strength paused, and their eyes all turned to him. Chen Luo smiled politely at them, and they tacitly looked away. The instructor turned to continue instructing the disciple, his tone stern, "Lower your center of gravity a little more, and condense the third level of strength a bit more. You always overlook these details, which results in the strength not being condensed smoothly enough."
Chen Luo, who was standing to the side, quietly used his vertical pupils to look at the disciple who was being instructed. He found that, as the instructor had said, the dantian qi vortex was unstable due to various small oversights, and it was very sluggish when it swirled and stagnated.
The instructor was quite skilled, Chen Luo thought to himself with admiration.
If one were to point out the disciple's problem with the naked eye without relying on the vertical pupils, one would need an extremely high level of understanding and insight into the Nine Yang Force, which this instructor clearly possessed.
"Practice it on your own first, just like I said."
After observing for about fifteen minutes, the instructor finished speaking with his disciple, then looked at Chen Luo, sizing him up a few times. "Chen Luo?"
"Yes." Chen Luo nodded. It seemed that Principal Huang had already greeted everyone in the school, from the teachers to the servants, and everyone knew his name.
But this instructor was not as polite as the other errand boys. He spoke in a flat tone and said concisely, "From the first level of strength to the fourth level of strength, practice them in turn in order."