Lin Chen stood there for quite a while, his expression somewhat awkward.
From the moment he entered the Martial Arts Pavilion and reported his identity, a servant had led him to the rear courtyard. Then he had been stared at and examined by the two women in front of him until now.
"Not bad. At least you're not crooked or ugly. Junior Sister Kong, I'll leave him to you."
The woman on the left, who carried a heroic air, withdrew her gaze in satisfaction. After leaving those words behind, she clasped her hands behind her back and strolled away leisurely.
"Lin Chen, the one just now was the Pavilion Master of our Jingshui Martial Hall."
Seeing the confusion on Lin Chen's face, Kong Yinglei smiled and explained.
After returning from the Martial Affairs Office, she had told her senior sister about Lin Chen. Her senior sister had rarely shown curiosity and wanted to see him for herself.
Kong Yinglei knew Senior Sister Zeng better than anyone. The reason for her curiosity was simply to see what kind of person could make Inspector Shu go to such lengths to secure a slot for an Awakening Aperture Pill.
Now that she had seen him and satisfied her curiosity, she naturally left.
The Pavilion Master!
Lin Chen truly hadn't expected that the woman just now was the Pavilion Master of Jingshui Martial Hall. According to Instructor Yu, the masters of martial halls were all experts who had reached Great Completion in the Lian Zang realm (Organ Refinement Realm).
That Pavilion Master Wen looked at most in her early thirties. This was a thigh worth clinging to, someone with the potential to enter the ranked realms.
Wait, something wasn't right. Inspector Shu had said earlier that he had arranged to meet the Pavilion Master of Jingshui Martial Hall...
Damn it!
Instructor, you're in danger!
...
...
"Lin Chen, although you are staying at Jingshui Martial Hall, you are not a disciple of our hall but of Qingfeng Martial Hall. You cannot learn our Jingshui Martial Hall's Shuiyun Palm (Water Cloud Palm). Do you understand?"
"This disciple understands."
Kong Yinglei's words pulled Lin Chen back from his thoughts. He had a clear understanding of his own situation.
He was somewhat like those football club players from his previous life. If martial halls were clubs, then Qingfeng Martial Hall didn't have enough slots and had borrowed one from Jingshui Martial Hall. So he had been loaned out to Jingshui Martial Hall, but his ownership still belonged to Qingfeng Martial Hall.
"Other than Shuiyun Palm (Water Cloud Palm), the Martial Arts Pavilion is open to you for other ordinary techniques. But for you, the most important thing is still Qingfeng Palm (Clear Wind Palm). Do not waste too much energy on other things."
Kong Yinglei knew very well that although Qingfeng Martial Hall had accepted Lin Chen, it was more because they didn't need to provide an Awakening Aperture Pill slot and also to give face to Inspector Shu. They likely would not pay special attention to Lin Chen.
Because of this, she felt it necessary to offer a few reminders so that he would not delay his martial path.
"According to the regulations of the Martial Administration Bureau, the Awakening Aperture Pill can only be consumed within the martial hall. I will give it to you now."
As she spoke, a small jade box appeared in Kong Yinglei's hand. She tossed it directly to Lin Chen.
After seeing him catch it, she instructed, "Don't open it in a hurry. First check whether the seal has been tampered with. Confirm there's no problem before opening the box."
Hearing this, Lin Chen carefully examined the seal on the jade box to see if there was any sign that it had been torn off and reattached.
His behavior might seem like distrust toward the instructor before him, but when it concerned his own interests, no amount of caution was excessive.
In his previous life, he had suffered from exactly this kind of mistake.
Back when he had just entered society and was still somewhat shy, he had signed a contract with a company. To show his trust, he had only given the contract a cursory glance before quickly signing his name.
Seeing how thoroughly Lin Chen checked, Kong Yinglei's eyes showed a hint of appreciation. In her years overseeing martial hall recruitment, those students who had obtained an Awakening Aperture Pill slot in the past would, in order to show trust in her, open the jade box without even checking it.
For such students, she only felt they were foolish.
The Awakening Aperture Pill was extremely important. It did not merely open apertures and allow one to enter the Kai Qiao realm (Aperture Opening Realm). The medicinal power contained within would accompany one throughout the entire Kai Qiao realm.
If two students spent the same amount during the Kai Qiao realm, the one who had taken the Awakening Aperture Pill would break through to Lian Zang half a year earlier than the one who had not.
Even though the possibility of an instructor secretly swapping the pill was very small, at such a critical moment concerning one's future prospects, one should be even more cautious. Not the slightest mistake could be allowed.
"Instructor, this disciple confirms there is no problem."
Only after carefully inspecting it and confirming the seal was intact did Lin Chen raise his head to answer.
"Since you've confirmed there's no problem, open the box and take out the Awakening Aperture Pill inside."
Kong Yinglei nodded slightly. After Lin Chen opened the box, she continued, "You may swallow it whole or chew and swallow it. Once you feel a warm current in your abdomen, practice Nuan Yang Fist (Warm Yang Fist) on the spot. Stop only after you have opened your aperture."
"Yes."
Looking at the red pill inside the box, Lin Chen did not hesitate and swallowed it.
A few breaths after the pill entered his stomach, he felt his abdomen begin to heat up, and the strand of refined qi there became active at that moment.
After about ten breaths, that strand of refined qi began to surge through his entire body, as if trying to break free of its restraints and unleash endless potential.
Lin Chen took a deep breath and stopped hesitating. He began to throw punches, each movement of Nuan Yang Fist unfolding from his hands.
Driven by the Awakening Aperture Pill, every punch he threw was accompanied by the vibration of the apertures within his body. His qi and blood continuously climbed to new peaks.
This feeling could be described in one word: exhilarating.
Lin Chen swung his fists again and again, completely immersed in this marvelous sensation of constantly growing strength.
His punches cut through the air, and his qi and blood surged.
He did not know how many times he had performed Nuan Yang Fist when, in the next moment, he felt a sudden violent tremor in his left shoulder. Countless warm currents rushed toward it, and a dense strand of refined qi, as rich as the one in his abdomen, began to gather at his left shoulder.
Pa!
As this punch was thrown, it sounded like firecrackers exploding.
A punch like a cannon blast, aperture successfully opened.
Kong Yinglei glanced at the hourglass beside her. The hourglass measured half a shichen, and now the sand had run out. That meant Lin Chen had taken nearly half a shichen to open his aperture.
Taking half a shichen to succeed after consuming the Awakening Aperture Pill was not fast among past students. It could even be said to be extremely poor, breaking the martial hall's record for the slowest.
Kong Yinglei could not quite say she felt disappointed, after all, Lin Chen was not a disciple of her hall.
But in the next moment, something occurred to her, and her pupils suddenly contracted.
At the Martial Affairs Office earlier, no one had believed that Lin Chen had truly cultivated refined qi with only twenty taels, including her.
It was simply that in front of Inspector Shu, everyone had tacitly agreed not to probe deeper.
Even when she had mentioned this matter to her senior sister just now, the two of them had assumed that the materials submitted by the Martial School contained some exaggeration.
But now a thought suddenly surfaced in her mind. Perhaps Lin Chen really had cultivated refined qi with only twenty taels.
After students consumed the Awakening Aperture Pill, the speed at which they opened their apertures depended on the residual medicinal power within their bodies.
The more money one had spent during the Qi cultivation stage, the more medicinal soups and poultry meat one had consumed, the more residual medicinal power would remain in the body, because it would not all be fully absorbed.
After consuming the Awakening Aperture Pill, its medicinal power would also stimulate the body to absorb the residual medicinal power within.
The faster one opened an aperture, the more residual medicinal power there was in the body. This also meant more silver had been spent during the stage of cultivating refined qi. This was already common knowledge.
The fact that Lin Chen had taken so long to open his aperture meant there was almost no residual medicinal power in his body, or so little that it could be ignored.
This precisely indicated that Lin Chen had consumed very little Nourishing Qi Soup and had spent very little money.
Spending twenty taels to cultivate refined qi was very likely true.
Kong Yinglei's chest rose and fell slightly. Qingfeng Martial Hall had truly stumbled upon a treasure by accident.
At this moment, Lin Chen had no mind to observe the change in her expression. Feeling the surging qi and blood within his body and the increase in strength, he immediately summoned the panel, his attention drawn to the changes displayed on it.
Name: Lin Chen
Profession: Martial Artist
Realm: Kai Qiao realm (Aperture Opening Realm) (1/24)
Fate: Water Flows Where the Channel Is Formed - In the first realm of martial arts, persist steadily and advance step by step, unstoppable, with no bottleneck hindrances.
Martial path advancement successful. Based on the host's previous martial experience, calculating martial title.
Calculating title...
Seeing that the qi and blood section had disappeared from the panel, Lin Chen was momentarily stunned. Without a visible qi and blood indicator, he would no longer be able to see his daily progress.
But the newly appeared martial title filled him with anticipation.
So his panel was a profession advancement system. The reason there had been no change when he cultivated refined qi was because cultivating refined qi did not count as a realm breakthrough.