One by one, the disciples stepped forward, punching the air with varying degrees of force. The best managed five or six echoes. Lin Hong stepped up with a smug expression, his Yuan Power surging.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Seven sharp, thunderous echoes erupted from his fist. The crowd roared in approval. Lin Hong smiled, glancing at Lin Dong and Lin Yi, expecting the same display.
'This guy is complacent because of seven echoes, if he knew that I have upgraded the Second Grade Art 'Penetrating Fist' to the Manifestation Grade Art 'Shaking Heaven Fist'. He would die from shock. Anyway, I won't display such art in this children's playground.'
Lin Yi mused as he merely stood in the middle of stage, while keeping his outer expression neutral. He punched the air with precise, perfect form.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Six echoes, one less echo then Lin Hong, but his power was clearly restrained, matching the expectations of a prodigy at the Sixth Layer Tempered Stage.
Lin Zhentian nodded and the surrounding crowd murmured, acknowledging his talent but not seeing a shocking gap from last year. Last year, Lin Yi scored three echoes with fourth stage tempered body.
Only Liu Yan and Lin Xiao shook their heads helplessly, they glanced at their other son Lin Dong, with a hopeful expression.
'This brat is doing it on purpose. He is hiding his strength, so that Dong'er can get more resources… he even hides it from me. I wonder what kind of power he possesses right now, earth Yuan or?'
Lin Xiao's mind flashed with drifted thoughts, he hurriedly shook his head with a sigh, thinking of the silent and always mysterious personality of his second son, which can't be seen through.
Lin Yi returned to the stand and started observing the stage,
Lin Dong glanced at him speechlessly for a while and then his expression became firm, walking forward stepping into the arena.
'Yi, I understand that you want to help me secretly. Today I will show you that I can progress without your help. Although I am grateful, I don't want to step on my brother's sacrifice.'
He took a deep, shuddering breath, his face a mask of fierce concentration. His clothes were damp with sweat from an intense, final session with the Ancestral Stone Talisman that very morning. He channeled his entire being into the single technique.
Boom!
The punch was not flashy, but the quality of the Yuan Power was dense and unified. The initial, small echo exploded into a rapid sequence of sonic blasts that shook the very foundation of the arena.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Nine echoes! The sound was deafening, the nine sonic cracks merging into a single, terrifying roar that silenced the hundreds of spectators. A visible ripple of compressed air shot out, momentarily distorting the atmosphere.
The silence that followed was heavy and profound, filled only with the ragged breathing of the exhausted Lin Dong.
Lin Zhentian's eyes, usually cold and detached, were wide, gleaming with an incredulous shock.
The three, Lin Mang, Lin Ken, and Lin Rong, all rose simultaneously from their seats, their expressions a mixture of disbelief and utter astonishment.
"Nine… nine echoes?!" Lin Hong gasped, his previous pride instantly shattered. He had been the highest benchmark, the prodigy who had once reached seven echoes at the Seventh Stage. Nine echoes is legend, even for him.
Lin Zhentian, specializing in martial arts, finally found his voice, which trembled with excitement. "A complete mastery of the Penetrating Fist! And in the Seventh Grade! This is… unheard of! It usually requires the Yuan Power of the Eighth or even Ninth Layer to generate such pure concussive force!"
Lin Xiao, standing in the competitor area, felt a surge of emotion so powerful he almost wept. His son, his disgraced family's hope, had done the impossible.
Lin Yi watched the entire scene, his expression unchanged. He noted the exact shade of shock on Lin Zhentian's face and the calculating schemes and jealousy in Lin Mang's eyes.
'Perfect. The nine echoes solidify Lin Dong's position as a true, homegrown genius. It accelerates his rise, forcing the clan to invest in him immediately. It also gives them something else to obsess over, keeping their eyes off me. He has surpassed the original plot trajectory by a significant margin. Good. The faster he rises, the sooner the plot proceeds,'
Lin Yi calmly assessed, mentally calculating the next plotline and possible future trajectories.
…
Later that evening, in the main cultivation hall of the Patriarch's manor, a tense meeting was underway. Lin Zhentian and Lin Mang sat across a polished stone table from Lin Xiao, Lin Dong, and Lin Yi.
"Lin Xiao," Lin Zhentian began, his voice still tinged with residual shock. "Explain this. Your son, Lin Dong, went from the Third Stage to the Seventh Stage of Tempered Body in under a year, mastering a technique that took even Lin Hong an extra year to master. What secret resource did you acquire?"
Lin Xiao straightened, his heart tensed a little, but his face was now resolute. "I acquired no external resources. My son's talent, his perseverance, and the personal guidance I provided is the source of his current strength."
Lin Mang scoffed, leaning forward. "Personal guidance? Don't joke around. The Qingyuan Art is a mid-tier technique at best. It cannot produce this level of perfection in four years, especially not at the Seventh Stage. Lin Dong, look at me. Tell us exactly how you managed nine echoes."
Lin Dong, though usually nervous, met the elder's gaze with newfound confidence. He knew he could not reveal the Ancestral Stone Talisman, nor would he reveal Lin Yi's subtle help, as his father had instructed him to keep the truth about his sudden rise simple and minimal.
"I… I simply followed my father's instructions. He gave me the circulation route for the Qingyuan Art, and I found a quiet, secluded place to meditate. After that, everything just seemed to flow naturally and I condensed the Yuan seed. I only focused on the training itself."
"Naturally?" Lin Mang interjected, tapping the table sharply. "There is nothing natural about nine echoes at the Seventh Layer! What about your brother, Lin Yi? He is at the Sixth Stage, yet only showed Six echoes. Did he help you? Did he find the treasure?"
All eyes turned to Lin Yi, who stood slightly behind his father and brother, his presence was silent from the beginning.
...
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