Chapter 3 - Forcing Through to the Second Floor
Chen Fan followed a pathway and arrived at the Martial Arts Pavilion.
The Martial Arts Pavilion sat on a cliff, surrounded by blossoming mountain flowers and green trees. It was a tranquil place.
Chen Fan had come across several fellow outer sect disciples on his way there. They were each carrying a manual in their hand, treating them like treasures as they left. These people had just picked out a martial art they fancied from the Martial Arts Pavilion and were in a hurry to go practice.
A few onlookers cast mocking glances at Chen Fan, and a teenager in yellow clothing jeered, “Trash, what are you doing here at the Martial Arts Pavilion? Are you trying to slip in and steal martial arts while the Pavilion Guard Elder is drunk?”
“Audacious! You dare look down on the Pavilion Guard Elder? You should be punished for your crime!” Chen Fan shouted back.
The retort caught the teen in yellow by surprise. Not only the teen but even the other passersby got caught off guard.
“Trash, you dare shout at me!?” shouted the teen after returning to his senses, looking embarrassed and angry. He had intended to ridicule Chen Fan, but the latter had unexpectedly shouted back in retaliation, stunning him.
“Hmph, what kind of a place is the Martial Arts Pavilion? And have you forgotten how formidable the Pavilion Guard Elder is? Even a fly wouldn't dare try to sneak past him, let alone someone like me. And yet, you accuse me of trying to steal martial arts while the elder is drunk? What are you, if not looking down on the Pavilion Guard Elder!?”
The yellow-clothed teenager turned pale, glancing at the old man guarding the Martial Arts Pavilion’s entrance.
The old man was leaning against the steps, his head hung low, and his hand holding a gourd filled with wine. They could smell the strong scent of alcohol emanating from him, but they weren’t sure if he was truly drunk or just sleeping.
The teen in yellow released a sigh of relief after realizing that the elder was paying them no attention. Chen Fan’s words sounded true, but the teen really wasn’t looking down on the elder.
“Slander! Trash, don’t you dare accuse others! My respect for the Pavilion Guard Elder is endless, with no contempt toward him! You’re just slandering me!”
Chen Fan said in disdain, “Slander? You? Do I need to? Pavilion Guard Elder is magnanimous, so I won’t bother with you this time. Get lost!”
“Trash, just you wait!”
The yellow-clothed teenager glared at Chen Fan with hatred, then shifted his gaze toward the elder. Worried that continuing to argue would disturb the elder and lead to severe consequences, he hastily departed, leaving behind a threatening remark.
Chen Fan didn’t take the yellow-clothed teenager’s words to heart. He was no longer the same person as before; he wouldn’t let anyone humiliate him.
“Although I am only at the second level of the Qigong realm, my strength is at 2,600 jin, comparable to a late-stage, second-level Qigong martial artist. The elder said only third-level or above Qigong martial artists can enter the second floor, but... Let’s give it a try. If I fail, I’ll just choose a martial skill from this floor.”
After pondering briefly, he walked toward the stairs to the second floor.
Just as Chen Fan started up the stairs, he encountered an obstacle. A transparent barrier materialized in front of him, blocking his path.
Chen Fan was not surprised by this.
With so many disciples coming in and out of the Martial Arts Pavilion every day, the Pavilion Guard Elder couldn’t possibly keep an eye on all of them and determine who should be allowed on the second floor and who should stay on the first floor
This membrane functioned as a filter, allowing only those who met the required cultivation level to pass through. Chen Fan's second-level Qigong cultivation fell short of the standard, preventing him from advancing to the next floor.
Chen Fan wasn’t discouraged, however. His primeval qi swelled and surged out, pushing the membrane, trying to penetrate it and enter forcibly.
Chen Fan pressed forward, step by step, indenting the membrane with each step. However, the membrane was incomparably tough and wouldn’t break. Moreover, the force of the recoil kept increasing, trying to eject Chen Fan.
Chen Fan gritted his teeth and pushed forward with all his might, fighting against the rebounding force. His veins bulged, his face flushed, and his blood pumped rapidly as he summoned every last bit of his strength.
Outside the Martial Arts Pavilion, the Pavilion Guard Elder lifted his wine gourd and took a swig. Some wine spilled out from the corners of his mouth. A strange light flashed in his eyes as he mumbled, “Strong-willed and resilient. A decent seedling. Seeing as you tried to suck up to this elder, I’ll help you a little...”
Chen Fan was about to reach his limits; suddenly, he heard something rupturing and saw fissures appearing in the membrane, spreading like spiderwebs. Immediately after, he noticed the rebound from the membrane diminishing rapidly, so he took a fierce step forward.
With a poof, the membrane holding him back shattered. Due to the inertia, Chen Fan staggered forward, nearly falling.
Chen Fan steadied himself and realized he had already reached the second floor. As he glanced back, a peculiar light flickered across his eyes.
Earlier, Chen Fan had clearly almost reached his limits and would have been repelled by the membrane's accumulated rebounding force. However, the membrane's rebounding force had unexpectedly weakened, dropping to a level comparable to a third-level Qigong cultivator. This allowed him to pass through the membrane unhindered.
“What’s going on?”
Chen Fan was a little confused. However, overcoming the membrane’s resistance and being able to pick out a martial skill on the second floor was great news to him.
He didn’t bother thinking too deeply about it and rushed up to the second floor in just a few steps.
1. The martial arts tiers are based on the excerpt “天玄而地黄” found in an ancient Chinese divination text, Yi Jing or I-Ching, usually translated as Book of Changes or Classic of Changes. Multiple meanings can be understood here. The Heaven is colored Black (A very deep blue close to black), incredibly distant, or deeply Profound, unable to be comprehended, while the Earth is Yellow. Yellow could be interpreted as the color of Dirt, human skin, and millet (ancient China's most important food grain). Here, I have to decide which word to represent the two lower ranks. Black or Profound, and Yellow or Dirt. Profound sounds good and is a common word in cultivation novels, but calling a martial art Dirt rank sounds a little iffy, and using Profound/Yellow seems odd to have a random color in the rankings. What are your thoughts? ?