With Sun Ningxiang having spoken, Lin Yue, though unwilling, could no longer stubbornly object. Qi Yun and Zhao Wenzheng could only nod reluctantly. "Then let’s do as Junior Sister Ning Xiang wishes."
Liu Maolin breathed a sigh of relief at their words, a smile gracing his face.
Lin Yue glanced at Yang Jing practicing his fist techniques alone in the distance, then back at Sun Ningxiang beside him. His brow furrowed even more tightly.
He had always been fond of Sun Ningxiang. Seeing her speak up for Yang Jing now, an inexplicable wave of anger and disgust washed over him.
’A talentless moron... how is he worthy of having Ning Xiang speak for him?’
...
Liu Maolin excitedly made his way over to Yang Jing.
In a corner of the front courtyard, Yang Jing was striking a wooden post again and again. His punches were steady, and the impressions they left on the wood had deepened.
"Junior Brother, I have sothing to tell you." Liu Maolin walked over and patted Yang Jing’s shoulder.
Yang Jing heard the voice and stopped punching, turning around. With beads of sweat on his forehead, he looked at Liu Maolin beside him and asked in confusion, "Senior Brother, what is it?"
"We were discussing putting together a small team to spar with the other Martial Arts Halls, like Weiyuan and Iron Fist, to warm up for the training grounds assessnt. I suggested that you join, Junior Sister Ning Xiang also put in a good word for you, and no one else objected."
Liu Maolin continued with a smile, "This is a great opportunity. Getting more real combat experience might lead to an epiphany and help you break through your current bottleneck."
Yang Jing was taken aback. He hadn’t expected his senior brother to be talking about this. He asked, "Sparring with other Martial Arts Halls? Would we have to go to their locations?"
"Yeah. All told, it will probably take about half a month. We’ll be rotating between the different Martial Arts Halls," Liu Maolin said.
Yang Jing frowned upon hearing this. After a mont of thought, he shook his head. "Wouldn’t that an running around every day? It would interfere with my training. Thank you for your kind offer, Senior Brother, but I won’t be joining the sparring team."
His mind was currently set on his breakthrough, and he accounted for every hour of his day. He really didn’t want any distractions.
Liu Maolin hadn’t expected a refusal. He was stunned for a mont before quickly saying, "Real combat is a part of martial arts training, too. Exchanging pointers with others will broaden your horizons. You might even have an epiphany that helps you break through your bottleneck."
How could he have known that Yang Jing had a status panel? His path of cultivation was destined to be different from an ordinary person’s. As long as he trained to his limit, a breakthrough was a matter of course. For him, there was no such thing as a bottleneck.
In fact, joining this sparring team would only hinder his training progress.
"Thank you for the kind thought, Senior Brother," Yang Jing said sincerely, "but I’d rather just focus on my own training."
Liu Maolin tried to persuade him a couple more tis, but seeing Yang Jing’s firm resolve, he knew he couldn’t change his mind. Though he felt it was a pity, he had to drop it. "Alright, then. It’s good that you have your own way of thinking. Since you don’t want to join, I’ll go tell the others."
Yang Jing nodded, watching Liu Maolin depart.
He knew Liu Maolin ant well, but he had his own path to walk. His Martial Dao was destined to be different from everyone else’s.
Yang Jing then turned back to the wooden post. The whoosh of his punches sounded out once more as he resud his focused practice of the Mountain-Shattering Fist.
To him, nothing was more important at the mont than achieving his breakthrough. The sparring matches, by comparison, were trivial.
「anwhile.」
Liu Maolin returned to the group and sighed softly, a helpless look on his face. "Junior Brother Yang... he refused. He just wants to train on his own and doesn’t want to join the sparring sessions."
When Liu Maolin finished speaking, the others were all taken aback, their faces flashing with astonishnt.
This was, after all, an excellent opportunity.
Sparring with other Martial Arts Halls was a chance to make a na for oneself with a good performance, building a reputation in Yuhe County. One might even have an epiphany that would be of great benefit to their future training.
Even if one perford poorly, they would at least accumulate so real combat experience. That experience could prove crucial later on; it might even be the key to passing the training grounds assessnt.
In short, joining the sparring team offered nothing but advantages. And Yang Jing had actually refused?
After a mont of shock, the group quickly recovered.
Qi Yun raised an eyebrow, a cold sneer tugging at her lips. "At least he has so self-awareness. He knows he’s not up to snuff. If he ca with us to spar against the experts from the other halls, he would lose so badly that it wouldn’t just be his own disgrace. We’d be embarrassed right along with him, and the hall’s image would suffer."
Her impression of Yang Jing was still partially stuck in the past, back when he used to desperately try to curry favor with her and she had treated him with utter disdain. ’A re second-rate country bumpkin... worthy of being my follower? As if.’
Even after becoming a Mingjin Martial Artist, he was still second-rate in her eyes.
Or rather, what truly displeased Qi Yun was that after becoming a Mingjin Martial Artist, Yang Jing had stopped fawning over her and trying to win her favor.
If Yang Jing had continued to be at her beck and call after his breakthrough, just as he had before, she wouldn’t have minded having an extra Mingjin Martial Artist as a lackey.
This contrast in Yang Jing’s behavior was what truly infuriated her.
After Qi Yun finished, Lin Yue let out a disdainful snort. He turned to Sun Ningxiang, his tone laced with deliberate certainty. "See? I told you he was a lost cause. He doesn’t even have the ambition. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear; he can’t even seize an opportunity when it’s handed to him. There’s no need to waste any more effort on soone like that."
He aid his words at Sun Ningxiang, but they were also for everyone else present—especially Liu Maolin, who he knew was close to Yang Jing.
Sun Ningxiang’s brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of disappointnt passing through her.
’I thought soone as hardworking as Yang Jing would cherish an opportunity like this, but I never expected him to refuse. Is he really that unambitious? Perhaps he’s just like Lin Yue said... with no drive at all.’
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