My martial arts have no bottlenecks.

Chapter 39 Martial Academy

Liang Cheng packed everything up, wrapping the important items, such as the kraft paper, in an oil-soaked cloth and sewing them close to his body into a hidden pocket of his inner shirt.

Before leaving, Yang Wei called him to his study, remained silent for a moment, and handed him a yellowed envelope.

"Once we reach Linwu City, I'll try to deliver this letter to the Qiao family." Yang Wei's voice was hoarse. "Back then, when I was cultivating in the outer sect of the martial arts academy, I made a mistake and ended up as a son-in-law in the Qiao family. Later... Anyway, when you see your master's wife and junior sister, please check on them to see how they are doing."

He stared at Liang Cheng, his tone elusive: "Remember, no matter what family wants you to be their son-in-law, don't agree. The path of martial arts must be earned through your own fists and kicks. Don't follow in my footsteps."

Liang Cheng carefully put away the letter: "Disciple understands."

Three days later, Chen Bainian's merchant ship sailed north with the wind. Liang Cheng boarded the ship and lived alone, with all his living necessities provided.

Five days later, the majestic city walls of Linwu City came into view.

The bluestone street was wide enough for eight horses to ride abreast. The buildings on both sides had flying eaves and brackets, and the shops had fluttering flags. What surprised Liang Cheng even more was the pedestrians on the street—people with Ming Jin cultivation could be seen everywhere, and there were also quite a few An Jin martial artists.

"Linwu City governs twelve towns, with a population of one million, and is a gathering place for geniuses and elites," Chen Bainian introduced from the side. "What I call the tycoons of the three towns are nothing here."

Chen Bainian escorted them all the way until they could see the outline of the Martial Arts Academy ahead.

It was a cluster of buildings built against the mountain, with gray and white high walls stretching for miles. At the main gate stood a ten-zhang-high stone tablet with four gilded characters "Linwu Martial Arts Academy" written on it, the strokes powerful and vigorous like dragons.

Hundreds of teenagers had gathered in the square in front of the monument, each one full of energy and with sharp eyes. Liang Cheng glanced over them and sighed inwardly.

There were many martial artists with internal strength in the arena, and quite a few with external strength as well, and most of them were no more than twenty years old. This was the true atmosphere of the martial arts academy.

Registration is now open!

At this moment, a middle-aged deacon in purple robes ascended the platform, his voice booming like a bell: "All those holding direct recommendation certificates, register on the left; the rest of the examinees, proceed to the preliminary examination on the right!"

The queue then split up.

Liang Cheng walked to the left and saw Yun Jinghong at the front. There were only about thirty people in the line, including Leng Xinghan.

Leng Xinghan tightened his grip on the bow, because most of the direct recommenders present were at the Transformation Realm cultivation level.

"Name, origin, cultivation level."

The elderly man registering didn't even look up.

"Liang Cheng, Yangwei Martial Arts School, Linhai Town, Huajin (a type of martial arts skill)."

The old man wrote down the registration, glanced at his certificate, and then wrote in the register: "Go over there to have your bone age measured and your cultivation level verified."

At the bone-measuring point was a translucent jade tablet. Liang Cheng placed his palm on it, and the jade tablet emitted a soft light, revealing the characters "seventeen".

"A seventeen-year-old at the peak of internal energy cultivation?" A steward in blue raised an eyebrow. "Not bad."

Next came the actual test of cultivation level.

Liang Cheng was led to a stone platform with nine bronze pillars standing on it, each pillar engraved with markings.

"Use your strength to strike the pillar," the steward explained.

Liang Cheng took a deep breath and did not use his full strength. He only used three-tenths of his strength to punch the pillar. He had been using his hidden strength during the spring hunt and could not show it too much.

"Buzz—"

The bronze pillar lit up from bottom to top, climbing section by section. It paused slightly at the eighth section before finally lighting up the ninth section, but the light was noticeably dimmer.

"Early stage of Transformation Realm".

The deacon nodded and marked the names on the register.

Not far away, the bronze pillar in front of Yun Jinghong instantly lit up its nine sections, its light blazing intensely, even showing a faint tendency to reach the top.

"Mid-stage Transformation Realm!" someone exclaimed.

Countless geniuses followed, causing a stir from time to time.

Liang Cheng remained calm. He had long known that there were countless geniuses in the world, but this was the kind of atmosphere a martial arts academy should have.

After all the direct recommenders had been examined, the purple-robed deacon stepped onto the stage again:

"Thirty-seven people were directly recommended, and twenty-eight people were at the Transformation Realm. According to the rules, those at the Transformation Realm directly entered the Inner Gate, while the rest entered the Outer Gate."

As soon as he finished speaking, the faces of several young men at the peak of Dark Force turned pale. Leng Xinghan gritted his teeth. Although his archery skills were superb, he had not yet broken through the threshold of Transformation Force.

"I refuse to accept this!" A red-faced youth stepped forward. "Although I am only at the peak of the Dark Force realm, I have defeated a Transformation Force cultivator, a level above my own. How can the Martial Academy only consider realm?"

"Oh?" The purple-robed deacon glanced at him. "Then take one of my moves."

Without the steward making any move, he simply flicked his sleeve, and the red-faced youth was struck as if by a heavy blow, staggering back seven steps, his face flushed, but he ultimately did not fall.

"You do have some skill." The steward nodded. "You are allowed to enter the outer sect, first rank. If you rank in the top ten in the grand competition three months later, you can be promoted to the inner sect."

The red-faced youth, panting, clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Steward!"

A glimmer of hope flashed in Leng Xinghan's eyes, but then the steward said, "The rest of you, follow the rules."

Chen Bainian was thrilled to see Liang Cheng become an inner disciple; his initial investment had yielded substantial returns.

However, Liang Cheng couldn't care less about him. He greeted them from afar and then, along with the other inner disciples, was led to the East Courtyard by the martial arts academy disciples.

Along the way, pavilions and towers were scattered about, and shouts echoed from the training grounds. Liang Cheng noticed that many of the disciples who were cultivating were only in their early twenties, yet their auras had already reached the Transformation Realm.

"The inner courtyard is divided into three dormitories: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity," the senior brother who led the way explained. "Newcomers all enter the Humanity dormitory, which has one hundred members, the Earth dormitory has fifty, and the Heaven dormitory has only ten disciples."

The Autumn Grand Competition allows participants to compete for Earthly and Heavenly Abodes. Disciples of the Heavenly Abode receive three times the resources of those of the Earthly Abode and ten times the resources of those of the Human Abode each month.

Yun Jinghong suddenly asked, "What is the strongest cultivation level among the disciples of the Martial Academy now?"

The senior disciple who was leading the way paused for a moment: "The chief disciple of Tianshe had already reached the perfection of internal cultivation techniques half a year ago, but the real prodigies..." He looked at a solitary mountain peak in the distance, "Those are the true disciples, who have already condensed their true qi."

The air fell silent.

It seems that reaching the level of "Transformation of Strength" at seventeen is just the beginning here.

Upon arriving at the residential compound, each person was assigned a quiet room. Liang Cheng pushed open the door and entered. The room was simply furnished, with only a bed, a table, and a cabinet. On the table were a jade plaque, a set of gray-white martial arts clothes, and a book of courtyard rules.

The jade plaque was warm to the touch. The front was engraved with "Ren She - Liang Cheng" and the back had the number "one hundred".

"These are contribution points," the senior brother who led the way said. "They are automatically distributed at the beginning of each month: 100 for human contribution points, 300 for earth contribution points, and 1,000 for heaven contribution points. You need contribution points to borrow cultivation techniques from the Martial Arts Pavilion and to exchange for pills and weapons."

Liang Cheng opened the academy rules, and the first rule was shocking:

"Private fights are strictly prohibited within the martial arts academy, but can be settled in the arena."

The second page lists ways to earn contribution points: completing school tasks, hunting monsters, achieving consecutive victories in the arena, etc.

As I was flipping through the pages, Yun Jinghong's voice came from outside the door:

"Liang Cheng, would you like to come and take a look at the Hidden Martial Pavilion?"

Liang Cheng packed his things and went out the door.

Yun Jinghong changed into the gray-white robes of the Martial Academy, her temperament still ethereal.

The two walked side by side, attracting the attention of many senior disciples along the way. Newcomers are always the focus of attention in their first few days after admission.

Zangwu Tower is a three-story tower with flying eaves and hanging bells, exuding an ancient and weathered charm.

The receptionist was an elderly man in a gray robe who was dozing at his desk. He was startled awake, squinted to examine the jade token, waved them in, and then went back to dozing.

The lobby on the first floor is filled with bookshelves, with martial arts techniques and skills categorized into different types.

Liang Cheng glanced at it and saw familiar names such as "Raging Bull Strength" and "Iron Bone Skill," but what was hidden here was obviously much more profound than what was circulating outside.

Liang Cheng found the cultivation manual catalog and was thrilled to see the Stone Armor Technique listed at the top. However, when he saw the contribution points listed afterward, he felt helpless.

1,500 points!

However, the most important thing is the internal cultivation method. Only by learning the internal cultivation method can one strengthen their qi and blood, strive to condense the true qi seed, and break through to the true qi realm.

However, the internal training method requires at least 3,000 contribution points. The martial arts academy is also a brutal system of survival of the fittest; there is no free lunch. If you want to advance further, you can only rely on yourself.

After briefly exploring the first floor, Liang Cheng and Yun Jinghong had to leave temporarily because only true disciples could go up to the second floor.

"Looks like I need to find a way to earn contribution points."

As soon as I got back to my dorm room, I heard a commotion.

"stop!"