Supreme Martial Venerable: Starting with the White Ape Cloak Hammer skill point allocation

When Zhou Yuan entered Li Lin's study, he found that there was another person in the study.

A middle-aged man in his forties sat opposite Li Lin, a long knife hanging at his waist, his face serious.

Zhou Yuan was no stranger to this person; he had seen him once from afar when he was serving as a laborer on a river construction site.

Zhu Yiwei, the head constable of Gaoshan County.

"Since Master Li is going to instruct his disciples, I, Zhu, will not disturb him any further. Master Li will need to put in more effort in this matter."

Zhu Yiwei glanced at Zhou Yuan, saw that he was just an ordinary disciple in the Skin Tempering Realm, and then looked away indifferently, stood up and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Don't worry, Officer Zhu, I will arrange for my disciples to assist the government in patrols."

Li Lin also stood up and personally saw Zhu Yiwei out.

After returning to his study, he sat down again.

"What do you want?"

He began to speak.

"Master, I wish to learn weapon forging techniques—"

Zhou Yuan got straight to the point.

Li Lin remained silent, his gaze sharp as he looked at Zhou Yuan.

After a full several breaths, he slowly spoke, "My weapon-forging technique will not be passed on."

"But is there an additional tuition fee required?"

Zhou Yuan was taken aback and asked urgently.

Blacksmiths and forges are two completely different professions, and their social status is incomparable.

Blacksmithing is considered a lowly profession, while weapon forging masters are on par with martial artists.

The reason Li Lin was able to maintain a superior position in Gaoshan County was not because of his martial arts prowess, but because he was the only weapon forger in Gaoshan County.

Zhou Yuan works hard to forge an ironware item, but at most he can only sell it for a few hundred coins.

However, a blacksmith can easily sell a sword or knife for two or three taels of silver. If it is a high-quality sword or knife, it can sell for ten or even dozens of taels of silver and people will be scrambling to buy it.

You can't get rich by blacksmithing, but you can by forging weapons.

"It's not about tuition fees. You know the rules. Paying tuition fees to study in the academy, whether it's martial arts or blacksmithing, only makes you an apprentice. Only by successfully breaking through the barriers can you be considered my disciple."

Li Lin shook his head and said, "A martial artist like you at the Skin Tempering Realm is merely my nominal disciple. You can continue to practice martial arts in the inner courtyard and also refer to yourself as my disciple when you go out."

But some things are not passed on to those who are only nominal disciples.

Zhou Yuan had been working at the blacksmith shop for several months and knew that the hierarchy there was very strict.

Ordinary disciples are apprentices, doing the dirtiest work and enduring the most tiring hardships, with essentially no compensation.

If you successfully pass the test on your first try, you can become a disciple like Zhou Yuan and enter the inner courtyard to learn more martial arts.

If someone can successfully break through the barrier a second time, they will become one of Li Lin's key trainees, essentially becoming his personal disciple. Cheng Jiuhe is one such example.

Besides these, there is another category of successors. These disciples not only receive Li Lin's complete legacy, but can also inherit Li Lin's connections and resources, making them comparable to his own sons.

The art of weapon forging can only be learned by those who inherit its mantle.

"You don't come to the shop often, so you don't know that I have already taken Yuan Qingfeng as my successor. Therefore, this weapon forging technique can only be passed on to him, not to you."

Li Lin said expressionlessly.

Zhou Yuan fell silent, a dark-skinned, aloof face flashing through his mind.

The fisherman's boy who joined the blacksmith shop a few days later than him was said to have only one older sister. When he first came to the blacksmith shop, he didn't even have a pair of shoes.

Having become Li Lin's successor, Yuan Qingfeng's life has been completely turned around. Even if he fails to pass the martial arts examination in the future, he can still inherit Li Lin's blacksmith shop and live a life of plenty.

"Zhou Yuan, one should not be overly ambitious."

You only broke through the skin barrier thanks to the Qi and Blood Pill, and your potential is almost exhausted. Martial arts are hopeless for you. If you can steadily work your way up in blacksmithing, relying on the power of the White Ape Cloak Hammer, you might not become extremely wealthy, but your life will certainly be better than the average person.

Li Lin waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, and while you're at it, gather all the disciples in the inner courtyard. I have something to say to them."

Seeing Li Lin's resolute attitude, Zhou Yuan did not press the matter further, bowed, and withdrew.

A moment later, all the disciples gathered, and Li Lin came before them.

There are dozens of disciples in the blacksmith's workshop, but only four or five are at the Flesh Refining Realm, while the rest are at the Skin Tempering Realm like Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan also saw Yuan Qingfeng.

Yuan Qingfeng and Cheng Jiuhe stood at the front, clearly already martial artists at the Body Refining Realm.

At the same time, I had only just broken through the barrier once, while Yuan Qingfeng had already broken through the barrier twice and advanced to the Body Refining Realm. This talent was truly terrifying.

"You've all heard that last night, the notorious thief Xu Nian sneaked into the outer city and killed a constable in the Wenroufang neighborhood."

Li Lin's gaze swept over the crowd, and he said in a deep voice, "This is a provocation against Gaoshan County. The county magistrate is furious and has ordered all the major forces in the county to organize manpower to cooperate in the search and arrest."

"Starting today, all martial artists in the shop who have broken through to the next level must participate in patrols."

We were responsible for Tong Li Fang, patrolling in pairs on a rotating basis.

"Be smart, everyone. If you spot Xu Nian, don't rush in foolishly. Come back and report first, and the constables will handle it."

"The shop won't let everyone work for nothing; everyone who participates in the patrol will receive three taels of silver as a reward for their hard work."

A substantial reward will be given for finding Xu Nian's whereabouts.

Zhou Yuan was stunned when Li Lin began to explain.

He left the character "Xu" after killing Gao Dazhuang just to distract the enemy, but he never expected it would cause such a huge mess.

Fortunately, it was just a patrol, so there wasn't any real risk.

Just as Li Lin was letting everyone form teams freely, an unexpected person walked up to Zhou Yuan.

"Senior Brother Zhou, would you be willing to join my patrol team?"

Yuan Qingfeng stood in front of Zhou Yuan with a hint of pride, as if in his opinion that Zhou Yuan should be extremely grateful for his initiative in asking him to team up.

Yuan Qingfeng took the initiative to approach Zhou Yuan, which surprised everyone around them.

"Junior Brother Yuan has become Master's successor, but he comes from a poor background and has no connections. He probably wants to recruit some followers. Junior Brother Zhou comes from a poor background and has average talent, so he is a perfect fit to be his follower."

"It is Zhou's good fortune to be noticed by Junior Brother Yuan. As the saying goes, even a seventh-rank official is inferior to a prime minister. If Junior Brother Yuan passes the martial arts exam in the future, Junior Brother Zhou will also benefit from it."

"It's a pity my family has a small fortune, otherwise I would also like to follow Junior Brother Yuan."

"..."

After Li Lin left, the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

"Senior Brother Zhou?"

Yuan Qingfeng's voice carried a hint of impatience and displeasure, "There are many fellow disciples who want to team up with me, Senior Brother Zhou, you should cherish this opportunity."

Zhou Yuan chuckled. "So self-important?"

"I'm sorry, Junior Brother Yuan, I usually spar with Senior Brother Cheng and we've developed a good understanding, so I'd like to team up with him."

Zhou Yuan cupped his hands and said, "If Senior Brother Cheng refuses me, how about I team up with Junior Brother Yuan instead?"

"I won't take what others don't want."

Yuan Qingfeng snorted coldly, "You come from a poor family and should have seized every opportunity you could, but you're useless even when given the chance."

If that's the case, then so be it.

Yuan Qingfeng turned and walked away, thinking that such an incompetent person was not even qualified to be his underling.

There were quite a few disciples like Zhou Yuan in the courtyard who had undergone skin tempering, and some were willing to become his lackeys.

…………