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

Li Lin beckoned to Zhou Yuan and said, "Don't hold back, attack me with all your might."

"good!"

Zhou Yuan nodded. He had witnessed Li Lin's battle against Xu Nian and knew that even if Li Lin's martial arts cultivation was half-crippled, he wouldn't be injured by him.

After stretching his muscles, Zhou Yuan pushed off with his feet and leaped forward.

Although White Ape Tongbei Fist transforms a hammer into a fist, it is also a form of imitative boxing, emphasizing a body shape like an ape and striking from a distance.

Zhou Yuan took three steps in two, punching forward. Before he had even finished the first move, the second move was already poised to be unleashed, his offensive fierce and surging.

His blood and qi surged, his skin tightened, his muscles bulged, and his spine trembled like a dragon, making crackling sounds.

Li Lin's eyes lit up. He slightly shifted his body to the side, dodging Zhou Yuan's attack, and then threw a punch.

An expert's skill is immediately apparent.

Li Lin's punch created a loud bang in the air, and the wind from the punch whistled as it came.

boom!

Their fists collided, and Zhou Yuan took several steps back.

"Be careful!"

Li Lin shouted and strode forward.

With a flick of his long arm, like a monkey picking peaches from a tree, he threw a punch straight at Zhou Yuan's central palace.

Seeing that Li Lin was serious, Zhou Yuan did not dare to be careless and focused on responding.

Back when he was at the blacksmith shop, Li Lin would only give Yuan Qingfeng private guidance; he rarely taught his disciples personally.

It would be even more impossible for him to let his disciples practice their skills and give them pointers.

But now, with the tree fallen and the monkeys scattered, Zhou Yuan is the only disciple left under Li Lin's tutelage.

He not only poured all his wealth into nurturing Zhou Yuan, but also personally guided him from time to time.

This was undoubtedly a windfall for Zhou Yuan.

Seeing the wind of the punch coming towards him, Zhou Yuan slightly lowered his waist and hips, blocked with his arms, and shifted his feet, using skillful force to try to deflect Li Lin's force.

"Snapped!"

The arms collided, making a crisp sound.

Zhou Yuan took a step back, but in doing so, he also diverted and neutralized the force of Li Lin's punch.

He turned around smoothly, his arm like a hammer, and spun half a circle from behind, striking Li Lin directly in the ribs, his counterattack swift and unparalleled.

Li Lin exclaimed "Good!" and calmly began to unleash the White Ape Tongbei Fist.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged more than a dozen moves, and they appeared to be evenly matched.

"You've mastered the art of boxing; you've truly given me another huge surprise."

Li Lin stopped what he was doing, stood still, and looked at Zhou Yuan with a slightly complicated expression.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath to calm his churning blood and qi. "It's all thanks to my master's excellent teaching. If my master hadn't fed me moves every day, I wouldn't have been able to master the fist technique so quickly."

Li Lin shook his head. "I know my own limitations. I'm not actually a good teacher. Teaching boxing isn't something I'm good at."

Over the past twenty years, I have taught many disciples, but even Yuan Qingfeng is still far from mastering the art of boxing.

Skill can be built up through meat and precious medicines, but there are no shortcuts to martial arts; it can only be achieved through comprehension and time.

Zhou Yuan's mastery of the White Ape Cloak Hammer could be explained by resources, but his mastery of fist techniques undoubtedly shows that Zhou Yuan is a person of inner talent.

He misjudged the situation.

I misjudged Yuan Qingfeng once, and I misjudged Zhou Yuan a second time.

He originally thought that Zhou Yuan's talent was limited and that his second breakthrough was only achieved through hard work in Qi and Blood Danhe, and that there would be no further improvement in the future.

did not expect……

"Having broken through the barrier a second time and mastered the fist technique, there is hope for the martial arts exam this time."

A relieved smile appeared on Li Lin's face, and his mood, which had been gloomy for many days, finally brightened up a bit.

If Zhou Yuan can pass the county-level martial arts examination, perhaps—

Li Lin thought to himself, "The Flying Cloud Martial Arts Academy is pressing me harder and harder. If it weren't for everyone's recent preparations for the Martial Arts County Trial, I'm afraid I would have been completely crushed long ago."

But once the county examination is over, Feiyun Martial Arts School, or Pang Yunlong behind them, will definitely force him to hand over the Jade Blade.

Li Lin sighed inwardly, but showed no sign of it on his face. He looked at Zhou Yuan and slowly began to speak.

"The military examination for selecting officials consists of three parts: strength, fist, and weapon."

Strength mainly tests a martial artist's physical strength and blood energy. Ten bronze tripods, ranging from a hundred to a thousand catties, will be prepared in the examination room. Only those who can lift the tripods can pass the martial arts examination with high marks.

Boxing tests fist and foot skills, without weapons, and is a competition held in a ring.

Weapons are similar to fists and feet, except that one is done unarmed and the other is a weapon.

The White Ape Cloak Hammer technique we cultivate is both a cultivation method and a martial art, which already gives us an advantage compared to other martial artists, so you don't need to cultivate a separate weapon.

"Finally, the county will calculate the scores based on the three evaluations and select the top fifty as martial arts scholars."

Li Lin's expression was serious. "Because the selection of candidates is based on their rankings, whether one can pass the exam depends not only on one's own abilities but also on how many people are competing against one another."

The martial arts examination also had "small years" and "big years." If one was unlucky and happened to be in a year with many applicants, the difficulty of passing the exam would increase significantly.

Zhou Yuan asked, "Is this year considered a big year or a small year?"

Li Lin sighed, "I inquired about it when I went to the county government to submit your examination documents. This year is a big year."

This year, over 800 martial artists passed the test on their first attempt, and more than 200 passed it on their second attempt, making it the year with the highest number of test takers in the past decade.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan's heart sank.

More than two hundred people passed the test twice, but only fifty people were able to pass it in the end. This is an extraordinary level of difficulty.

He thought he had the martial arts high school a sure thing, but now it seems he still can't let his guard down.

"With your current abilities, barring any unforeseen circumstances, passing the exam shouldn't be a problem; the only issue is your ranking."

Li Lin pondered for a moment and said, "Now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you."

My father-in-law once had a relationship with a prominent figure in Shenbing Valley. When that figure was young, he personally forged a jade knife and gave it to my father-in-law.

That important figure once promised that if my father-in-law had any children or disciples who reached the entrance standards of the Divine Weapon Valley, they could go to him with the Jade Sword, and he would personally accept them as disciples.

If you achieve a good ranking in the county-level martial arts examination, I will give you the Jade Blade, allowing you the opportunity to join the Divine Weapon Valley ahead of schedule.

…………

Inside a brothel in the inner city, several young men were embracing women on either side.

One of them was none other than Yuan Qingfeng, who had recently joined the Feiyun Martial Arts School.

The man sitting opposite him was named Qin Wu.

"Brother Qin, you've really gone to a lot of trouble this time. A night at the Red Sleeve Pavilion can cost several tens of taels of silver."

Yuan Qingfeng spoke, a hint of envy flashing across his face.

Compared to his previous impoverished days, he now lives a truly decent life.

"Brother Yuan, just enjoy yourself. My father-in-law just sent me three thousand taels of silver."

Qin Wu laughed and said, "The old man can't take it anymore. He'll have to beg me sooner or later. You think I'm going to offend Commander Pang with three thousand taels of silver? Are you trying to fob me off? Once I pass the martial arts exam, I'll definitely become Commander Pang's honored guest. Then the old man won't have a choice but to submit."

"Speaking of which, your brother-in-law—"

Yuan Qingfeng pondered for a moment.

"I don't have any brothers-in-law. The old man only has me as his son-in-law. Once his two sons are gone, all his assets will be mine."

Qin Wu interrupted him, "Brother Yuan, the Pang family of Shenbing Valley is in dire need of manpower right now. The old man is out of touch with reality, and we can't do that."

"Once we both pass the county exam tomorrow, we'll serve Commander Pang together. Then, this Gaoshan County will be our territory, and you can sleep with whomever you want."

Qin Wu laughed heartily, disregarding Yuan Qingfeng's presence, and began to joke and play with the woman beside him.

Yuan Qingfeng was burning with excitement and followed suit. He was confident of passing tomorrow's county exam, so he figured it wouldn't hurt to celebrate a little earlier tonight.

On the eve of the county-level martial arts examination, some indulged, some were terrified, and some were still working hard. The diverse reactions of people reflected the different feelings each person had about life.

…………