Chapter Four: The Influence of Power

Chen Fan continued with his bath. It wasn’t until the third round, halfway through soaking again, that he finally felt his body burning hot, unable to absorb any more medicinal power from the tub. The efficiency of his background cultivation could no longer be increased.

“As expected, there’s a limit—you can’t just keep soaking forever.”

With a trace of regret, Chen Fan stepped out of the tub.

This method greatly increased his cultivation efficiency, even accelerating the process of nourishing his blood and energy. It was extremely beneficial to him. In fact, these two hours of soaking had saved him the time of two background cultivation sessions.

“I wonder how long I’ll have to wait before I can use it again?”

The only drawback was that the monthly quota for these Blood-Nourishing Herbal Packs was far less than that of the Vitality Pills.

He could receive one Vitality Pill per day, collected monthly. As for the herbal packs, even with his status as the master's personal disciple, he could only draw a maximum of ten packs per month!

Besides the resources received from the martial hall, Chen Fan also carried a small porcelain bottle with him. Inside were ten Deer Fetus Pills he’d won in a martial competition.

He’d asked Li Linliu about them on the road, and it turned out the pills were indeed made from deer fetus as the main ingredient, containing a trace of innate energy. They could help refine true essence, speeding up the process. However, Chen Fan didn’t need them yet.

Thanks to the effect of the Vitality Pill, even after a whole night of soaking, Chen Fan didn’t feel the least bit tired. He practiced his techniques in his room for a while before finally going to sleep.

Over the next few days, Chen Fan grew more familiar with the martial hall, and also began testing the interval between uses of the herbal bath packs.

Several days passed, and he gradually figured out the secrets of the various resources.

The secret broth was similar to the kind served at the branch halls. While it could improve cultivation efficiency, it couldn’t be consumed in excess. The free weekly portion was all that was useful; drinking more did nothing.

But the Blood-Nourishing Herbal Pack was different. At most, he could soak two and a half times in one session—after that, the effect wore off. However, as long as he waited a day, he could soak twice more the next time!

Clearly, these baths did not accumulate toxins as easily as the broth.

“By this calculation, I need about one and a half herbal packs per day, but I can only claim ten a month—still not enough…”

Chen Fan was somewhat regretful. Even as the master's personal disciple, with benefits far exceeding those of the average core disciple, it still wasn’t quite sufficient.

Li Linliu had promised to provide him with cultivation resources for free, but that didn’t mean he could use them without limit. If he started hoarding or distributing them privately, even the wealthiest martial hall couldn’t afford the loss.

Evidently, Master Dong Guzhi believed that ten packs a month were more than enough for Chen Fan’s needs.

…

A few days later, he had used up all ten packs.

He returned to the resource distribution office and asked if he could buy more. The answer was yes—but he would have to pay.

A single Blood-Nourishing Herbal Pack cost five taels of silver—a startlingly high price! And this was already the discounted rate due to his status as the master's personal disciple.

Chen Fan still had nearly a hundred taels on hand. He immediately bought fifteen packs, which surprised the staff member in charge of resource allocation.

The man advised, “Chen Fan, as the master’s personal disciple, you can claim ten packs every month… These herbal packs are good, but they only assist with blood and energy—they can’t increase your cultivation out of thin air. If your foundational martial progress doesn’t keep up, these packs are useless!”

“To be honest, for your current level, ten packs a month is more than enough…”

For most people, the herbal bath packs were merely an aid for nourishing blood and energy—an occasional soak was sufficient, and their effect was even less than the secret broth!

But no matter how he was advised, Chen Fan remained firm in his decision.

He hardly spent any of his own money on food or cultivation; rather than letting it sit idle, he might as well invest in himself and strengthen his abilities as quickly as possible.

With enough resources, he could complete the background cultivation of “White Cloud Pine and Crane Palm” in less than half a month.

Moreover, the scattered techniques he’d recently comprehended were also being completed through background cultivation; in less than half a month, he would have mastered them all.

…

When he returned with the herbal packs in hand, Chen Fan saw several people already waiting at his door.

Among them was Feng Yuancheng, sporting a swollen and bruised face, along with several other disciples—all fellow townsmen from Feiling County.

The leaders were two Feiling County disciples whom Chen Fan had met before.

He had participated in the Feiling County gathering in recent days and now knew their names. One was Lin Shiyu, already twenty-four, a fourth-level martial artist, considered one of the stronger core disciples from Feiling County. He belonged to the Lin family—a prominent local clan—and was a clansman of Lin Mo, Chen Fan’s classmate back in Feiling County.

The other was Senior Brother Zhang, named Zhang Shanzhi, about the same age as Lin Shiyu, but only at the third level of martial attainment.

Chen Fan was surprised. “What’s going on here?”

Lin Shiyu hurried forward. “Chen Fan, you’re finally back!”

Chen Fan looked at them in confusion, especially at Feng Yuancheng. “Senior Brother Feng, did you get into a fight?”

Feng Yuancheng’s expression was extremely grim—he couldn’t speak.

Lin Shiyu explained, “Here’s what happened…”

In the past few days, news had spread that Feng Yuancheng and Chen Fan had been chosen as the master’s disciples. Some of the core disciples, out of envy and jealousy, had challenged Feng Yuancheng to wagered bouts in the ring.

Feng Yuancheng was soundly defeated, losing all his monthly resources he’d just received, and was beaten up as well.

Chen Fan frowned. “Senior Brother Feng, how could you be so reckless? Didn’t Master warn you not to spar with disciples whose strength greatly surpasses your own?”

Such customs were common in the White Cloud Martial Hall, and were not banned in order to encourage competition among disciples.

But Chen Fan hadn’t expected that only a few days after joining, Feng Yuancheng had already been thoroughly beaten.

Surely he wasn’t foolish enough to accept a challenge when he was at such a disadvantage?

Feng Yuancheng’s face reddened with shame. “Their words were unbearable, and… even though I’ve started training in true skills, the one who challenged me was only at the first level of martial attainment. His foundation was far inferior to mine, yet he was still stronger!”

The first level of martial arts was just the beginning of true energy transformation, without any body refinement—at this stage, one’s personal foundation had a huge impact, and generally, it was not much stronger than a practitioner of inner breath.

Feng Yuancheng had mastered two first-class foundational techniques and possessed strong blood and energy; an ordinary first-level martial artist shouldn’t have been a match for him.

Lin Shiyu’s face grew serious. “That person had mastered a true essence martial technique, and… was highly proficient in it!”

Chen Fan was enlightened.

He himself had sparred with Lin Qingyu, who had displayed an exquisite technique—even with only moderate proficiency, it was far superior to basic power-training methods; it, too, was a true essence martial technique.

The resources and teaching in the capital far surpassed those in Feiling County. True essence martial techniques were common here.

Feng Yuancheng had only just arrived in the capital and begun training in the White Cloud True Skill, and had no experience with true essence martial techniques.

But the core disciples of the main White Cloud Hall were all geniuses. Even if their foundations were no stronger than Feng Yuancheng’s, their years of additional training made them much more formidable.

At this level, victory and defeat in battle were no longer determined solely by raw power—true martial techniques had become a decisive factor.