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

Liu Jin is a martial arts graduate. To pass the martial arts examination, his cultivation level must be at least at the Bone Forging Realm after three breakthroughs, or even possibly the Blood Exchange Realm after four breakthroughs.

Zhou Yuanyuan figured he was no match for Liu Jin.

"Although Constable Zhu identified Xu Nian as the perpetrator of Liu Yin's death, there are still quite a few flaws if someone investigates carefully."

Zhou Yuan thought to himself, "Nothing in this world is perfect. I need to prepare in advance."

Zhou Yuan was alarmed; Liu Jin was not only an outer disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley, but also a despicable person with no morals.

Once the other party has any doubts, they won't care about any evidence at all.

A petty person like him wouldn't be afraid of his so-called county magistrate status.

"Genko, what are you thinking about?"

Cheng Jiuhe's voice interrupted Zhou Yuan's reverie.

Zhou Yuan looked up and found that everyone had left at some point, leaving only him, Cheng Jiuhe, and He Yuguang in the room.

"Yuanzi, didn't you ask me to help you find an apartment?"

Cheng Jiuhe, slightly drunk, said, "If it weren't for the fact that my Cheng family has been suppressed by that scoundrel Pang Yunlong recently, why wouldn't I give you a house?"

But with your personality, I doubt you'll take it for nothing.

"Perfect timing! Junior Brother He has a house he's selling. It's on the edge of the inner city, in a great location..."

"Junior Brother Zhou, please don't think I'm trying to flatter you."

He Yuguang said with a smile, "The family's money is really not enough, and Commander Pang is pressing us hard. There's no other way but to sell the house to raise money."

Although the He family cannot be considered a powerful clan, they are still a well-off family. Now, they are being forced by Pang Yunlong to sell their house to survive.

Li Lin's situation was not an isolated case. As soon as Pang Yunlong arrived in Gaoshan County, he used various pretexts to force each family to contribute money. Anyone who dared not contribute would have their family property confiscated and their clan exterminated.

The various families had long been suffering, but Pang Yunlong had a powerful background, so they couldn't do anything about him.

"Since Senior Brother Cheng says the house is fine, then there must be no problem."

Zhou Yuan said, "However, Senior Brother He, I don't have much money on hand, and I can't afford a house that's too big..."

"It's not big, just inside the courtyard. My dad bought this house when he was young. After we bought it, our family started to prosper, so he always felt that this house brought good fortune to our family."

He Yuguang said, "My father didn't sell it even when someone offered him four hundred taels of silver."

"Four hundred taels? I don't have that much silver."

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said with some regret.

After achieving the top rank in the county, he received many gifts, but even with what he had saved before, he only had a little over three hundred taels of silver.

He can't use all three hundred taels of silver to buy a house; he still needs to keep some for living expenses.

After all, he is now practicing martial arts, and he spends money like water every day. A hundred or so taels of silver won't last long at all.

"I was referring to the past. Now, how about two hundred and eighty taels?"

He Yuguang said.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Yuan reasoned that, based on the location Cheng Jiuhe had described, even if the house wasn't worth four hundred taels, it would still sell for three hundred and fifty taels without any trouble.

He Yuguang immediately offered several dozen taels of silver, naturally because of his newly appointed county magistrate status.

"In that case, thank you very much, Senior Brother He."

Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said.

Even a hero needs three helpers; sometimes it's unnecessary to reject everyone's good intentions.

…………

After Zhou Yuan inspected the house, he signed the contract on the spot and then gave He Yuguang 280 taels of silver.

The house was a riverside house; the backyard door opened right onto the riverbank, and across the river lay the inner city—quiet and safe.

There's a well and trees in the courtyard, so Zhou Yuan won't need to fetch water for forging and quenching weapons anymore.

Zhou Yuan was very satisfied with the house; it was like heaven and earth compared to where he used to live.

Zhuo Changyu was also very happy and busied himself tidying up the room.

When Li Lin learned that Zhou Yuan had moved, he sent him thirty taels of silver as a congratulatory gift and personally helped Zhou Yuan build a forging shed in the courtyard.

After finishing their work, the master and apprentice sat outside the work shed to cool off.

Zhou Yuan took the opportunity to ask Li Lin some questions about martial arts training and weapon forging.

Li Lin answered each question one by one, his fingers tracing over the weapon forged by Zhou Yuan, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Your weapon-forging skills have reached the basics."

A genuine smile appeared on Li Lin's face. "In that case, your chances of being chosen by Elder Luo are even greater."

"It's because my master taught me well."

Zhou Yuan said that he had actually mastered the basics of weapon forging long ago, but he had not shown it in order to conceal his knowledge of the "Collection of Weapon Mastery".

"It has nothing to do with me; you've worked hard enough."

Li Lin remarked that he had never believed that diligence could make up for lack of talent before, but in Zhou Yuan, he saw a possibility.

Hard work can indeed make up for a lack of talent to some extent.

He initially looked down on Zhou Yuan's talent and natural ability, but he had never seen anyone work as hard as Zhou Yuan.

Through persistent efforts, Zhou Yuan has created one miracle after another.

He was once the top scholar in the county, and now he has even mastered the basics of weapon forging.

Even if his future potential is limited by his natural talent, his minimum potential has already been raised considerably.

From a lowly craftsman to a martial arts scholar and county magistrate, Zhou Yuan has changed his destiny.

"Pang Yunlong was ambushed and injured while chasing Lin Jingsheng, and he won't be back for a while."

Li Lin said, "Prefect Yue has already left the prefectural city and will soon be inspecting Gaoshan County. He will definitely meet with you then."

Take this opportunity to give the Jade Blade to Lord Yue, and he will arrange for you to meet Elder Luo.

That's all we can do. As for the outcome, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate.

"Even if I can't join the Divine Weapon Valley, I can still participate in the martial arts examination. Master Li, is the martial arts examination really that difficult?"

Zhou Yuan nodded, then seized the opportunity to ask, "You failed the martial arts exam four times, didn't you, sir?"

At his peak, Li Lin possessed the strength to break through four levels, but he was merely a martial arts scholar.

"When I passed the test four times, I was already over forty years old and had long lost the energy to participate in the martial arts examination."

Li Lin shook his head and said, "Those who pass the martial arts examination in previous years generally break through the barrier three or four times, with the lowest being three times and the highest being no more than four times."

If you pass the test three times and still want to get into high school, then it depends on luck.

A few years ago, there was a county scholar in our Gaoshan County who was in a similar situation to you. He came from a humble background, but he was very lucky. He passed the martial arts examination on his third attempt and ranked quite high.

His name seems to be Liu Jin.

You can try your luck next year, but I advise you not to have too high expectations.

With your current strength, you'll need to hone your skills for a few more years to pass the martial arts examination. Your chances will be much better if you can break through the barrier four times.

"Did Liu Jin pass the level three times?"

Zhou Yuan's heart stirred, and he pressed for an answer.

"It was true a few years ago, but I don't know if he has broken through the barrier four times now. Breaking through the barrier four times is not easy. Even a genius would probably not be able to cross that threshold so easily."

Li Lin didn't pay attention and casually said, "Since we're on the topic, even if you cultivate the White Ape Cloak Hammer to perfection, you can only break through the barrier three times. That's because the White Ape Cloak Hammer is just an external enhancement method."

Actually, our school also has an internal cultivation method, which is not passed down to anyone but the master.

It takes internal cultivation combined with external strengthening to break through the barrier four times. Yuan Qingfeng had only been a disciple for a short time, so I hadn't had a chance to teach him this internal cultivation method yet.

Are you willing to learn?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan fell silent.

Everyone would naturally want to learn superior martial arts, but the fact that Li Lin asked this question indicates that things are not that simple.

"Master Li, is there any danger in this internal cultivation method?"

He hesitated for a moment, then asked in a deep voice.

"That's right."

Li Lin nodded and said, "Internal cultivation methods require extremely high talent. External martial arts, even if practiced incorrectly, will at most have no effect and cause limited damage to the body."

However, the internal alchemy method is different. If there is even the slightest deviation, it will damage the five internal organs and six bowels, resulting in serious injury or even death.

So it's not that I'm being overly proud of my own talent, but rather that ordinary people don't have this ability.

Even I only dared to cultivate this "Eight Directions Thunder Sound" internal cultivation method after breaking through three levels of cultivation and becoming physically strong.

"Understood."

Zhou Yuan nodded and said, "Teacher Li, I'd like to give it a try."

…………