Qī Xuán Wǔ Fǔ, located in the capital city of Tiān Yùn Guó, Tiān Yùn Chéng, backed by Dà Zhōu Shān, is the only martial arts institution established in Tiān Yùn Guó by Qī Xuán Gǔ, a 600-year-old traditional school.

  As a major martial arts school, the Seventh Xuanwu Martial Arts Academy has many inherited martial arts and is home to many masters of martial arts. It has naturally become a sacred place for young people in Tianyun Country who are eager to learn martial arts. Correspondingly, the threshold for recruiting disciples and students at the Seventh Xuanwu Martial Arts Academy is also very high, and its not an exaggeration to describe it as "selecting one from ten thousand".

  A scorching summer day, at the foot of a mountain in the Big Zhou Mountains, on a clearing surrounded by trees, a teenager with bandages wrapped around his fists, bare-chested, stood in front of a giant tree trunk as thick as a man could hug, punching it heavily again and again.

  "Boom!" "Boom!" The dull sound echoed through the forest, and a large tree trunk was visibly dented, revealing grayish-white wood with specks of blood on it.

  The young mans name was Lin Ming, and he possessed a three-product martial arts talent.

  In the Tianyun Empire, half of the people have no martial arts talent at all and are not suitable for practicing martial arts. Among the other half, more than 80% only have first-rate martial arts talent, even if they practice martial arts, they will not achieve anything. The remaining less than 10% have about 90% with second-rate martial arts talent, and if they work hard in practicing martial arts, they can make some small achievements, but becoming a high-ranking martial artist is still a distant hope.

  Lin Mings third-rate martial arts talent could be considered top-notch, barely making it into the one-in-a-hundred category. However, this martial arts talent was still far from being enough to enter the Seven Profound Martial House!

  Lin Ming was well aware of this, and the beautiful girl Lan Yunyue, who had grown up with Lin Ming and cultivated together, also possessed a three-product heavenly gift. The two then agreed to take the Tianyun Wufu, which was much worse than the Seventh Xuanwu Wufu.

  The Tianyun Martial Manor belongs to the Tianyun Nation and has only been established for eighty years, with limited skills, inheritance, and foundation. The transmission of martial arts skills is crucial for warriors, and without good martial arts skills, it is difficult to complete the physical training stage and condense the meridians to reach a higher level of martial arts, as difficult as ascending to heaven.

  The Condensing Pulse stage is a realm that many warriors yearn for, and its also the first watershed in the path of cultivating martial arts. Once one reaches this stage, their lifespan increases greatly, and they can be enfeoffed as nobility, enjoying a life of luxury and prosperity, with blessings extending to their descendants.

  In terms of cultivating Xuanwu practitioners, Tianyun Wu Fu is far inferior to Qixing Wu Fu.

  Lin Mings heart was set on Wu, and he naturally dreamed of going to the Seven Profound Martial House. If his innate talent wasnt enough, he could only rely on diligence and perseverance to move the examiners, but the hope wasnt very big. Once he failed the examination for entering the martial house, he would have to waste half a years time waiting for the next one. For a martial artist, time was equally precious.

  Based on this, combined with Lan Yunyues reason, Lin Ming decided to enter the Tianyun Martial Arts Academy.

  Lin Ming and Lan Yunyue have been cultivating and playing together for many years. Although they are still young and not yet at the stage of discussing marriage, there is already a vague affection between them. Lin Mings parents also like Lan Yunyue very much and often invite her to their home for dinner.

  Lin Ming and Lan Yunyue have always had a good impression of each other, with only a thin layer of window paper left between them, waiting for both parties to grow up a bit more before breaking through this layer.

  Lin Ming attaches great importance to the agreement between them. He makes up his mind that even in the Tianyun Martial House, he will still strive for the Congealing Void Realm!

  However, on the day of the entrance exam for Tianyun Wu Fu, Lan Yunyue did not show up.

  Lin Ming thought that Lan Yunyue couldnt make it due to some matters, but later found out that she had entered the Seventh Imperial Sword Sect, and the one who sponsored her as a disciple of the Seventh Imperial Sword Sect was none other than Zhu Yan, the talented young master of the number one family in Qing Sang City, the Zhu Family.

  Lin Ming was only fifteen years old, but he had been wandering around with his parents since childhood and was much more mature than children of the same age. He knew very well what it meant for Zhu Yan to send Lan Yunyue into the Seventh Rank Wu Fang.

  For a big family like the Zhus, when choosing a daughter-in-law, they not only look at the girls appearance and temperament but also her martial arts talent. A child with high innate talent has a great possibility of producing a genius. Although Lan Yunyues family background is ordinary, having a three-star superior innate talent in a girl is already quite good.

  Although the Zhu family wanted to find someone with even higher innate talent, its not like they didnt have any options. However, Lan Yunyue herself was beautiful and had a outstanding temperament, so its only normal that Zhu Yan liked her.

  For Lan Yunyue, the Seven Xuanwu Sect and the Tianyun Wu Sect were incomparable in terms of opportunities, glory, and future achievements. Especially the temptation of extending ones youth by tens of years after entering the Condensed Pulse Realm was something that a girl like her couldnt resist.

  Faced with such temptation, its probably not just Lan Yunyue who would choose Zhu Yan, especially since Zhu Yan himself is quite handsome and has a much better family background and future prospects than Lin Ming.

  Although he understood in his heart, it was impossible for Lin Ming to not be affected by this matter. He locked himself in the room for three days. Three days later, he walked out of the room, ate, slept, and cultivated, and his cultivation was even more diligent than before.

  Before Lan Yunyue left him, he had made up his mind to break through the Condensing Vessels stage and pursue a higher level of martial arts. Lin Ming still held this determination. If there was anything that had been holding him back before, then after Lan Yunyues departure, it only strengthened his resolve to become stronger in martial arts.

  He decided to change his mind and take the exam for Qi Xuan Wu Fu, even if this process was difficult.

  "Boom!" "Boom!" The dull sound of fists pounding the tree trunk still echoed through the forest, this kind of tree is called Ironwood, not only is its bark extremely tough, but it also has a very strong healing ability, many martial arts beginners would choose to practice their skills on such an Ironwood.

  Lin Ming didnt know how many punches he had thrown, but he finally exhausted all his strength. He sat down on a rock, leaning against the tree trunk, and took out some herbal medicine from his backpack on the ground. After crushing it, he applied it to his battered fists. A martial artist must use medicinal herbs to heal their body regularly, otherwise they would leave behind internal injuries. If these internal injuries accumulated, they could lead to disability or even death.

  This herb is called Iron Wire Grass, its named so because the green liquid squeezed out of Iron Wire Grass has healing properties, but when applied to wounds, it feels like being scrubbed with iron wires, causing heart-piercing pain.

  Lin Ming clenched his teeth and endured the pain, taking out a new white cloth from the package and wrapping it around his fist circle by circle.

  In fact, there are many herbs that are more effective than Iron Line Grass and have a mild medicinal property without any pain or itching, but none of them are affordable for Lin Mings family.

  Lin Mings parents ran a fairly large tavern in Qing Sang City, but the assets of this tavern did not belong to Lin Mings parents, but rather belonged to the Lin family of Qing Sang City.

  Although Lin Ming also had the surname Lin, he was already several generations removed from the main branch of the Lin family. The main branch handed over a portion of their business to distant relatives to manage, and Lin Mings parents ran this restaurant, earning a fixed income and a portion of the profits each year. This income was already quite substantial compared to ordinary families, enough for them to live a life of luxury and comfort. However, when it came to supporting Lin Mings martial arts training, they were barely scraping by.

  Lin Mings parents had originally hoped that Lin Ming would inherit the family business and become a wine shop owner, but seeing how determined he was to cultivate martial arts, they took out all of their savings to buy him medicine to heal his injuries.

  Nowadays, the familys savings are being consumed bit by bit, but Lin Ming has always been stuck in the first heavy practice of Tiandao.

  The foundation-building stage is the first stage of cultivating martial arts, which involves refining ones true yuan and tempering the body. There are six levels in total: Level 1: Cultivating strength; Level 2: Cultivating flesh; Level 3: Cultivating internal organs; Level 4: Transforming tendons; Level 5: Tempering bones; Level 6: Condensing meridians. After this, the martial artist will enter the stage of gathering yuan.

  After applying the iron wire grass juice to his wound, Lin Ming rested for half a time, allowing the wound to fully absorb the medicinal properties of the herb. Just as he stood up and prepared to continue practicing his fist, a chubby boy with a delicate long sword in hand walked out of the forest. Seeing Lin Ming, he smiled and said: "Ming brother, today is the day for signing up for the Seven Profound Martial House entrance exam, you didnt forget, did you? Youre still here practicing your fist?"

  The young mans name was Lin Xiaodong, slightly younger than Lin Ming. He had grown up with Lin Ming since childhood and they were as close as brothers.

  Lin Xiaodong is actually a direct descendant of the Lin family, but although he is a direct descendant, there are also high and low positions among the direct descendants in the family. Lin Xiaodong happens to be one of the lower ones. Lin Xiaodongs parents are also businessmen and live very close to Lin Mings house.

  Lin Ming glanced at Lin Xiaodong and then turned to the tree stump, saying: "At first, there were many people signing up, queuing for one or two hours, just waiting there is also a waste of time."

  "Come on, you dont even let go of this little time, are you that desperate?" Lin Xiaodong said with some exaggeration. He walked closer to the tree stump and saw the fist prints and bloodstains on it, then looked at Lin Mings bandaged hands and took a deep breath, saying: "Youre really crazy, Iron Wood is already beaten up like this, with this kind of training method, relying solely on iron wire grass, your hand will be injured, and if youre not careful, itll be crippled!"

  Lin Ming didnt speak, the path of martial arts was to fight against heaven, with his third-grade heavenly gift, it was very difficult to enter the sixth stage of Body Tempering, if he didnt work hard when he was young, there would be no hope at all. If he worked hard, he might accumulate hidden injuries and become disabled, but it was also possible that before the accumulated hidden injuries erupted, he could succeed. Once he succeeded in entering the stage of Qi Condensation, his True Qi would refine his body, and the hidden injuries would disappear.

  For Lin Ming, this was a battle with his back against the wall, and also a gamble that risked his life.

  Lin Xiaodong sighed and took out a cloth package from his bosom, opening it layer by layer, saying: "Ming Ge, this is for you."

  Lin Ming turned his head to look, but saw a bright red blood ginseng quietly lying in the cloth bag. This blood ginseng looked at least one hundred years old, was a fine medicine for nourishing wounds and blood, once used a thin slice was enough, and the medicinal properties were warm and gentle, the medicinal power was strong and powerful. Just this ginseng, the value was at least one hundred and fifty taels of gold, equivalent to Lin Mings family income for a year.

  Lin Mings son hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I dont want this Blood Ginseng."

  Brother returns to brother, but this blood ginseng is too expensive. Lin Xiaodongs family is only the junior branch of the Lin familys direct descendants, and although their family situation is much better than that of Lin Mings family, if it were used for Lin Xiaodongs cultivation, it would not be very generous either.

  Lin Xiaodong stuffed the Yunnan Baiyao into Lin Mings hands and said, "This Yunnan Baiyao was bought for you. Ive been practicing for three days and fishing for two days, my internal injuries are not that serious, using this would be a waste. If you dont use it, Ill have wasted my money. If you push it back again, it wont make sense. Actually, my dad doesnt have high expectations of me either, he just hopes that in this lifetime, I can keep the Lin familys heirloom safe and not lose it to the next generation."

  Lin Ming fell silent for a moment, then put away the Blood Qi, saying: "Alright, Ill take this Blood Qi. For the sake of this ginseng, I must break through the Congealing Vessels realm."

  "Haha, thats more like what youd say! Not only do we need to break through the Condensed Veins realm, but also take down that Zhu Yan. That son of a bitch, Ive had my eye on him for a long time!"

  Zhu Yan... Lin Ming let out a soft sigh, his own innate talent was not bad, but Zhu Yans innate talent was at the very top. Zhu Yan had already been recruited by the Seven Profound Martial House and was one of its high-ranking disciples, with strength that reached the peak of the third stage of Body Tempering. Even so, Lin Ming still set a goal for himself to surpass Zhu Yan, not because of Lan Yunmu, but because in pursuit of the realm of martial arts, it was necessary to cross threshold after threshold and climb mountain after mountain. Even if he spent ten or twenty years, or even several decades, he might be able to catch up to Zhu Yan.

  ……

  At the foot of Mount Tai Zhou, there is a complex of buildings stretching for twenty miles. This is where the Seventh Xuanwu Mansion and Tianyun Wu Mansion are located. Today is the day of registration for the entrance examination of the Seventh Xuanwu Mansion. In front of the main gate of the Seventh Xuanwu Mansion, a bustling crowd has gathered in the square.

  Lin Ming and Lin Xiaodong had intentionally delayed their arrival, but when they arrived at the square, they found that they had still underestimated the number of registrants. The registrants formed three queues, each stretching for tens of meters, and at this rate, it would take at least half a time unit to finish registering.

  "Wait then." Lin Xiaodong sighed and reluctantly stood at the end of the line.

  "En." Lin Ming nodded.

  "Huh, there are very few people over there." Lin Xiaodong pointed to a small door not far away, where there were only a handful of people scattered about, and the floor was even covered with a red carpet.

  "Thats a noble district..." Lin Ming noticed the words written on the sign.

  Since the Seventh Imperial Guard is established in Tianyun Country, using Tianyun Countrys land, architecture and resources, it will naturally give some face to the aristocratic class, and even many matters of the Imperial Guard will be handed over to the aristocratic class to handle, such as todays school enrollment registration.

  "Depend on it." Lin Xiaodong grumbled, nobles needed to be conferred by the imperial family, a hereditary honor. The Lin family had money, but they were not nobles.

  Lin Xiaodong was about to scold a few sentences of aristocratic parasites to find some psychological balance, but at this time, the door was pushed open, and two young men walked out from the door. One of them wore blue clothes, with an exquisite long sword around his waist, and a golden crown on his head, looking very handsome.

  Lin Ming saw this man frowning slightly, and it was precisely Zhu Yan.

  The daughter of the Zhu family married into the imperial family and became the emperors favorite concubine, making the Zhu family the undisputed first family in Qingyang City, and they were enfeoffed as nobles, which is why Zhu Yan had the ability to send Lan Yunyue to the Seven Xuanwu Factions.

  "Damn it, I didnt check the almanac before going out today and ran into a ghost." Lin Xiaodong grumbled.

  Zhu Yan and the young man walked out shoulder to shoulder, with several attendants waiting outside the noble district following behind them. Judging from the situation, Zhu Yan was taking the young man to register, and the two were heading towards Lin Mings place. If they continued walking like this, they would naturally run into each other.

  With Lin Mings status and strength, if he were to run into him, he might end up at a disadvantage. However, Lin Ming didnt dodge, instead calmly watching as Zhu Yan walked over.

  Zhu Yans footsteps paused slightly as he saw Lin Ming and Lin Xiaodong. Initially, he was slightly startled, then furrowed his brow, finding Lin Ming extremely displeasing. Although he had already won Lan Yunyue over, she refused all intimate advances before marriage. It was clear that Lan Yunyue still had feelings for Lin Ming in her heart, and felt some guilt. She chose Zhu Yan only because of the Seven Mysteries Martial Sect, but no man could tolerate his future wife having another person in her heart. Zhu Yan was no exception.

  "Your name is Lin Ming, right? I really didnt expect you to follow me all the way here. You have a cultivation base of the first layer of Body Tempering and want to take the Seven Fiery Hells Trial?"

  Zhu Yans sarcastic tone was evident, he would never allow Lin Ming to enter the Seven Profound Martial House, no matter how insignificant Lin Mings strength was to him. However, as long as this guy remained in the Seven Profound Martial House for a day, it would be impossible for Lan Yunmu to forget about Lin Ming.

  "Whether I can pass the exam or not is my own problem. I didnt follow anyone to get here, I came to the Seventh Rank Wu Fang only for the pursuit of my martial arts."

  "Martial arts? You, a mediocre talent, dare to say youre pursuing martial arts? How arrogant! " Zhu Yan said, his finger joints cracking with a soft sound, and the long sword at his waist seemed to have come alive as it slid out of its scabbard! With a swift slash, a visible wave pattern shot out, cutting off half the crown of a nearby large tree.

  With a rustling sound, a large number of branches and leaves fell to the ground. The people around looked wide-eyed, after all, most of them were about the same age as Zhu Yan, or even a few years younger, yet Zhu Yans martial arts realm made them feel inferior.

  Zhu Yan swung out this sword to give Lin Ming a warning, letting him understand the gap between them. "I have a four-product heavenly gift, I started practicing martial arts at the age of twelve, and Ive used countless spiritual pills and wonderful medicines. Now that Ive entered the Seventh Rank Wu Fa Tians Sword Sect, my cultivation has reached the peak of the third heavy body, but its only just beginning to peek into the door of martial arts. And youre only in the first heavy body, how dare you speak nonsense about martial arts!"

  Zhu Yan spoke with an air of superiority, Lin Xiaodong got angry, "Surname Zhu! Youre only two years older than us, whats with the attitude? If we swapped ages, Id take you down with one hand!"

  Zhu Yan furrowed his brow, turned his head towards Lin Xiaodong, took a casual step forward, and burst out with true yuan from within his body. "Who are you?"

  Lin Xiaodong was suppressed by Zhu Yans aura, and a sentence was stuck in his throat. He took a step back, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, patted his chest and said: "Remember this, Lin Xiaodong is not to be trifled with!"

  "Lin Xiaodong? Hmph, the Lin familys children are only worth remembering with one hand, and youre just a clown. What qualifications do you have to talk to me? Not just you, including Lin Ming, if it werent for Lan Yunyue, you wouldnt even have the qualifications to converse with me! I advise you, as a person, you must have self-awareness. Lan Yunyue is not someone you can match up to."

  Girls with a natural talent of three products, and good looks and temperament are originally very rare. Most of them are concentrated in large families, but the interests of large families conflict severely. How can excellent women marry into other families to expand their bloodlines? Most will require the man to join the family, so Zhu Yan said that.

  "A thousand taels of gold, and dont appear before me again!" Zhu Yan said, pulling out a stack of gold notes from his sleeve.

  The people around were stunned, one thousand two hundred gold coins, this is an extremely exaggerated amount, enough for a martial artist in the body-refining stage to use high-grade medicinal herbs for two or three years.

  "A thousand taels of gold, are you trying to bribe me?!" Lin Xiaodong pushed the gold ticket back with a flourish. In fact, he was also putting on a show, for him, a thousand taels of gold was also a huge fortune.

  Zhu Yans hand shook, and a powerful backlash directly sent Lin Xiaodong flying out. He coldly looked at Lin Ming, waiting for his answer.

  Lin Ming took a deep breath and said slowly but powerfully, "Zhu Yan, in terms of innate talent, I am not as good as you. In terms of family background, I am even less than you. However, when it comes to cultivating martial arts, its not just about innate talent and financial support, but also the most important thing - the heart of a true warrior!"

  "You cultivate martial arts for wealth, status and vanity, I cultivate martial arts to pursue the ultimate way of martial arts. The way of martial arts is not the martial arts of those with innate talent, nor is it the martial arts of those with power and money, but the martial arts of those who are single-mindedly devoted to martial arts. One day, I will surpass you!" Lin Ming said, his last sentence almost in a slow and clear tone, his voice ringing out clearly, and everyone nearby heard him loud and clear.

  Three-product innate wants to catch up with four-product innate, and the family gap is huge, this kid is crazy!

  When Lin Ming said this, Zhu Yan was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Good, very good! Im waiting for you!" After finishing his sentence, he put away the golden ticket and with a soft whooshing sound, his long sword returned to its scabbard. Zhu Yan gave Lin Ming a deep look before turning around and leaving.