Chapter 226 |
Chapter 226 - The Elixir
Ordinary children, in general, eat in a crude manner, with many not even knowing how to use chopsticks properly and instead using their hands to grab food, making their eating habits quite unappealing.
In normal times, this behavior is still acceptable, but it's even worse when they have been hungry for so long.
However, Chen An's dining behavior appeared to be quite orderly, with every movement reflecting a sense of etiquette as if he had been well-educated.
Although his tattered clothes couldn't hide his embarrassment, that unique quality in him was still visible.
As he finished the bowl of porridge under the envious gaze of the children around him, Chen An quietly stood up and walked to the side.
After registering their names, their ordeal was not over yet.
Someone on the side would examine them, checking for any physical defects.
During the process, some people were kicked out from time to time.
The members of Changchun Hall were not lenient towards these people and simply drove them away.
Chen An watched this process silently from the side.
After sitting there for a while, members of Changchun Hall came over to take them away to the nearby residence of Changchun Hall.
In that residence, they were given accommodation and new clothes.
In the following days, they started training their muscles and bones and officially began martial arts training.
Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, over half a month had passed.
During this period of time, Chen An had been staying here.
To his surprise, it seemed that Changchun Hall was really nurturing them.
They were not doing anything extra, but were actually teaching them martial arts and guiding them in their martial arts training.
Although the martial arts they were taught were quite basic, equivalent to the Five Tigers Knife Technique and Sanda Boxing, it was still real martial arts.
For ordinary people in this world, being able to practice martial arts was already a great expectation.
Could it be that Changchun Hall had no ulterior motives and just wanted to recruit disciples?
Chen An was puzzled.
It seemed like that was the case based on the current situation.
But if they were really intending to seriously recruit disciples, weren't they recruiting too many people?
There were already hundreds of people here before.
And after that, every day, hundreds of people gathered from all over, probably children brought from various residences of Changchun Hall.
If Changchun Hall was really planning to train disciples seriously, then weren't there too many people involved?
It was not the more, the merrier when it came to training disciples.
Chen An had experience in the Sanhe Gang and was well aware of the training of disciples.
Training disciples required resources.
It's not just about teaching martial arts; there were also significant manpower and material resources involved.
Meals were one thing, but various medicinal items and ingredients were also essential.
Overall, the cost of training a disciple was not low.
If the disciples trained in the end turned out to be weak, then it would be a loss of investment.
If a sect suffered too many losses, it wouldn't be able to sustain itself.
So, the most sensible approach was to focus most resources on a few exceptionally talented individuals.
One elite was worth ten average talents.
This was the approach of most sects.
But Changchun Hall's approach was different.
They seemed to accept everyone regardless of the number and directly nurtured them.
It seemed like they didn't care about the cost.
This was clearly a bit unusual.
Chen An was puzzled, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.
Could it be that Changchun Hall was really that compassionate, that they were genuinely doing charity work this time?
Chen An was puzzled but couldn't find what was wrong.
However, for him, it didn't really matter how Changchun Hall was run for the time being.
His focus was still on his own cultivation.
As long as his strength was sufficient, no matter what Changchun Hall's intentions were or if they had other motives, it wouldn't matter.
In the end, strength was what mattered in this world.
Chen An continued to work hard.
Soon, he stood out among thousands of people.
With thousands of children, almost half of them had been practicing for several months before Chen An even started.
But Chen An surpassed them and became one of the top performers.
It was only natural.
After all, Chen An was a grandmaster reborn from the Xiantian Sect, and his past experiences and knowledge were apparent.
Now, he was simply practicing an ordinary body forging martial art, so it was an easy task.
Among the disciples here, even though there were some geniuses, none could compare to Chen An.
Because Chen An's progress was extraordinary.
How extraordinary?
In less than four months since he joined, he had already mastered the Changchun Boxing technique taught here to a perfect level, reaching the limit of progression.
It could even be said that if he had been a bit older and had a better foundation, he would have reached the body forging stage.
By the way, based on Chen An's current physical condition, he should be nine years old now.
Just a nine-year-old, but he was just one step away from body forging.
What kind of extraordinary talent was this?
This terrifying talent had even alarmed many of the leaders of Changchun Hall, prompting them to visit personally to observe and assess Chen An's progress and training.
From their actions, it was clear that they initially doubted the news and thought it was fabricated by subordinates to gain merit.
But upon seeing it for themselves, they were astonished.
What kind of genius was this?
Chen An mastered the Changchun Boxing to perfection, and with his physical limitations, he could have easily reached the body forging stage.
As for other martial arts, he learned them just as quickly.
After attempting to teach him a few martial skills, the leaders of Changchun Hall were shocked.
At the moment, Chen An, with his exceptional prowess, was not the average talent he appeared to be.
Any martial skill he learned seemed to come effortlessly to him, without any obstacles.
Compared to the current Chen An, all the so-called geniuses they had seen before seemed inferior.
This performance was simply astounding and left everyone in awe.
In the end, even the Hall Master of Changchun Hall personally stepped forward, attempting to take Chen An as his disciple.
Naturally, Chen An did not refuse.
He had joined Changchun Hall to use it as a platform to find opportunities.
And within this platform of Changchun Hall, what position was bigger than being the disciple of the Hall Master?
Chen An had gained the highest status.
It was quite good.
Upon calculation, from the time Chen An started training to becoming the disciple of the Hall Master, it hadn't even been half a year.
And by this time, the other disciples who were training outside started to receive their arrangements.
In Chen An's observation, the initial disciples were called out and were then given a large amount of elixirs to swallow.
Chen An noticed this process and felt that something was off.
What was going on?
Martial artists taking elixirs during training wasn't unusual, as it was part of their cultivation practice.
But the amount of elixirs these people were given to swallow was too much, and often, those selected for this practice were not the most talented individuals.
The truly outstanding talents, like Chen An, had been identified early on and weren't included in this practice, avoiding the ingestion of these elixirs.
So what was the purpose of this scene?
Chen An felt that something was not right.
"An'er, don't overthink it."
Beside him, a big hand patted Chen An's shoulder.
Chen An's current master, the Hall Master of Changchun, had a smile on his face and, with a distant look in his eyes, said, "These are all expendables."
Expendables?
What did that mean?
Chen An stood there, looking at the Hall Master of Changchun, not understanding his words but sensing something from his attitude.
The term "expendables" was not a good one.
But the Hall Master of Changchun clearly did not want to say more and left after a moment.
In the following days, the majority of the disciples who had been gathered over the past year were involved in similar activities.
Under the guidance of Changchun Hall, they swallowed a large amount of elixirs and practiced a unique inner skill.
Officially, this was all for their benefit, allowing them to digest the elixir and cultivate internal energy through the inner skill.
It all seemed legitimate.
But in reality, any martial artist knew how ridiculous this sounded.
Nurturing internal energy was not as simple as it seemed, or else martial artists wouldn't be so rare in the world.
To think that these kids, who hadn't even reached the body forging stage, could cultivate internal energy was a pipe dream.
But these children were oblivious to this and threw themselves into the practice with joy.
They had a vague understanding of cultivation, knowing that cultivating internal energy was a sign of a true martial artist and that once they cultivated internal power, they would become superior beings and no longer have to endure hunger and suffering.
They worked hard with single-minded determination.
Meanwhile, onlookers expressed a sense of pity and mockery in their eyes.
Time passed slowly.
As time went by, Chen An finally understood what was happening here.
One day, he was taken by the Hall Master to an open area.
Of course, he wasn't alone; the Hall Master's son, Mei Changliu, was also brought along.
As the Hall Master of Changchun Hall, he held high status and had many wives and children, not just one.
But while he had many children, not all of them had the same martial talent.
Among the Hall Master's offspring, Mei Changliu was not the oldest, but was the one with the best martial talent.
Of course, this so-called best talent was still far from being able to compare to Chen An in the eyes of others.
Or to put it less politely, he wasn't even worthy of standing in Chen An's shoes.
Unfortunately, Chen An's martial talent on the surface was simply too terrifying.
(End of Chapter)