Back at Douqiong Martial Arts Hall.

Li Bashan walked straight into the dojo, his tiger-like eyes fixed on Hong Ya.

Hong Ya, less than 1.5 meters tall, habitually squatted on a chair, her small face buried in a bowl, revealing only a bun of tied-up hair.

Suddenly, Hong Ya felt an intense sense of oppression.

She lifted her head warily, licking the grains of rice off her lips with her tongue, and protectively cradling the bowl like a chick guarding its food, she said helplessly, "Senior Brother, your food was specifically set aside by Aunt Wei for you, so don't worry, there's plenty left, you'll have enough to eat."

Li Bashan glanced carefully at the food in Hong Ya's bowl, reciting a string of dishes in his mind as if reading a menu: "Cabbage tofu, chicken drumstick, braised meatballs, beef cubes…"

The meals in the inner courtyard of Douqiong Martial Arts Hall are not those factory 3D-printed synthetic foods but are all purchased with great expense through connections, using natural ingredients then cooked by the culinary skilled Aunt Wei.

Although the bags of synthetic food are labeled [Synthetic food is as healthy, safe, and nutritious as natural food], Master Li Guishen is inherently an old-school person and still trusts things that directly grow from the ground more.

For this, a small portion of Douqiong Martial Arts Hall's annual income is spent on this, which ends up in the bellies of the master and their six brothers and sisters.

Li Bashan doesn't understand synthetic or natural; he just purely thinks the food in the inner courtyard tastes better than outside. Evidently, with the largest frame, he eats the most, with the appetite of five people in one.

Li Bashan swallowed his saliva, his Adam's apple moving, and looked at Hong Ya's protective face which turned slightly red: "Hong Ya, you eat slowly, Senior Brother won't steal your food."

Upon hearing this, Hong Ya guarded the bowl even tighter, with a look like "you said that last time too".

Li Bashan chuckled, walked towards the inner courtyard, and left a sentence: "Master asked me to bring people back, Hong Ya, you redo the registration in the hall, I'll come over in a bit."

The voice lingered on while the figure had already vanished.

Hong Ya continued guarding the bowl until she confirmed that Senior Brother couldn't possibly show up and snatch it, her face of vigilance slowly dispersed, switching to a complicated look at the "Little Junior Brother" in front of her.

Master Li Guishen had already instructed her earlier, obviously considering Senior Brother's rugged personality, fearing he'd be careless after bringing people back.

Registration and initial assessment of the Little Junior Brother had to be done by the most meticulous and reliable among the siblings, which was Hong Ya.

Feeling the weight of the Master's trust, Hong Ya was secretly pleased and completely forgot that it was precisely because of her rashness earlier that nearly led to the "Little Junior Brother" becoming fertilizer for the trees before even entering the door.

Hong Ya looked at Feng Mu with a complicated gaze. Though the other party was unaware of becoming their Little Junior Brother, Hong Ya knew clearly that it was pretty much a done deal.

Just from Master's earlier monkey-like smile, oops, wrong, wrong, I shouldn't describe Master, the respected elder, like that.

It was rather the usually well-groomed Master, when instructing her seriously earlier, had forgotten to remove the two pieces of vegetable stuck in those full yellow teeth.

Hong Ya knew the Little Junior Brother was set in stone; the so-called assessment of qualifications and temperament was just Master maintaining authority, going through the formal process.

At other martial arts halls, the examination would definitely be serious, as they even have root bone requirements for apprentices or members, fearing it would ruin their brand reputation.

But we know our own matters. Douqiong Martial Arts Hall never looks at those superficial criteria when accepting apprentices or members; it focuses on inclusivity, only targeting the students' wallets.

As for officially accepting one as a disciple, Hong Ya doesn't know how others do it, but Master Li Guishen believes in being carefree and contingent on fate.

Clearly, the Little Junior Brother was fate that fell from the plaque. Just curious how this bad fate turned into good fate?

During Hong Ya's speculations, Feng Mu's mind was also racing.

What the hell?

Isn't this a meal gathering? But you're not eating me; you're making it really difficult for me.

The only person eating in the dojo was Hong Ya, while the other trainees in the venue were sweating and practicing various sparring or using the equipment intensely.

A few seemed to also smell the food and felt hungry, taking some snacks out of their pockets to eat, while curiously eyeing Feng Mu.

Hong Ya wiped her mouth with a tissue, pushed the bowl aside, then thought it over, decided it wasn't safe, stashed the bowl into a bottom cabinet, and locked it.

Feng Mu's eyelids twitched at this: "Weren't you all initially exuding that cutthroat vibe, ready-to-kill aura? How did you all turn into clumsy gluttons? This way, the Calamity Iron in my stomach has no feeling at all."

Hong Ya picked up a registration book, cleared her throat and said: "Let me re-register your information, sorry about this afternoon."

Hong Ya apologized sincerely, her voice small but her attitude extraordinarily polite.

In fact, Hong Ya thought to herself: "Little Junior Brother, you will thank me in the future. Without my loud yell, there would be no bond between you and Master."

Feng Mu pinched his nose; things deviated significantly from his expectations.

Speaking of which, Li Bashan returned with a bucket of food—literally a food bucket, like the bucket Wang Xiuli uses for mopping at home, except one was wooden, the other iron.

A full wooden bucket of food, with mixed vegetables, meat, and rice, already scooped out a chunk in the middle.

Li Bashan held the wooden bucket in one hand, as a normal person would hold a bowl, and used a wooden spatula to scoop food into his mouth while walking.

He wolfed down food, his mouth all greasy.

Seeing Li Bashan eat in such a manner, many trainees in the dojo had rumbling stomachs, and even Feng Mu started salivating.

Li Bashan stopped eating, his fierce face showing a struggle as he scooped from a bucket and extracted a big chicken leg, handing it to Feng Mu.

"Sorry about this afternoon, have this as an apology." Li Bashan's mouth was still full of food, speech muddled.

Hong Ya's eyes almost popped out in surprise, seriously suspecting that this Senior Brother in front of her was an imposter.

Feng Mu declined Li Bashan's kindness, who then quickly shoved the chicken leg into his mouth, and with a bite, he chewed up both meat and bone and swallowed it in one go.

"What terrifying teeth."

Feng Mu was internally shocked; normally he doesn't dare chew on iron lest it breaks his teeth, but he suspected that if it were Li Bashan, no such concerns would exist.

Feng Mu sighed inwardly, not being a heinous madman after all.

Since Douqiong Martial Arts Hall sincerely apologized, with such polite and friendly manners, even sharing a chicken leg... it would be challenging to make a scene, especially since there's no plaque to smash outside anymore.

The most crucial was, when he first entered, the outer signboard was absent, without a plaque.

"Fine, today's not suitable for turning faces, let's join Douqiong Martial Arts Hall now, and later find a chance to test Calamity Iron's digestion."

Feng Mu realized by now, roughly guessing Douqiong Martial Arts Hall's intent — merely wanting him to be a student member, aiming to earn some money from him.

Indeed, with so many gluttons in the hall, the expenses must be significant.

No longer pretending, Feng Mu let Hong Ya re-register his information, and took out the money from his pocket again.

Unexpectedly, Hong Ya refused the money, and instead, upgraded his ordinary membership card to a premium one.

Feng Mu was suspicious and uncertain, his mind clouded as fog, with a face showing dumbfoundedness and bewilderment.

Seeing his expression, Hong Ya was inexplicably pleased, smiling, "For the wrongdoing this afternoon, no payment is required, follow me now to receive your training uniform."

Feng Mu hesitated for three seconds before being dragged into the dojo by the enthusiastic Hong Ya.

While following, Feng Mu thought to himself, "If not for the money, it must be for me personally?"

How strange.

Originally, I planned to gradually showcase my talents, hoping those at the martial arts hall would recognize and appreciate me, discovering true value beneath apparent mediocrity, leading to training and development.

What's happening now?

Why does it feel like skipping the prior steps and headed straight to the last one?

The stark contrast in Douqiong Martial Arts Hall's attitude made him wonder what had changed, or if some discerning eye recognized him?

Feng Mu was puzzled, feeling a bit nervous, even more so than when suspecting the big guy might eat him raw, but the more wary, the calmer his façade remained, continuously showing a look of idiotic bewilderment as if struck by falling fortune from heaven.

Oh well, let's see what secret Douqiong Martial Arts Hall has up its sleeve...

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