A Win-Win Idea

"Train hard, then find a way to make money!"

Taking a deep breath, Gu Yang assumed the stance and began practicing.

Out of sight, out of mind—he poured all his emotions into cultivation.

Only by growing stronger as quickly as possible could he let his family live better lives sooner.

That night, Gu Yang trained until he was utterly exhausted before returning to his room. The moment his head touched the pillow, he did not even have the energy for stray thoughts before falling into a deep sleep.

In his dreams, he reached great heights on the Martial Path. Money was there for the taking, and his family lived in silks and fine food.

When he awoke from his night's dream, the dilapidated roof of the shack came into view. For a moment, Gu Yang was dazed and even hesitated before fully waking up.

After washing up, Gu Mother served thin porridge and pickled vegetables. Gu Yang ate with great relish.

He was too hungry. When one was hungry, everything tasted delicious.

After training all night, the food in his stomach had already been completely digested, leaving his belly empty.

Only after gulping down three large bowls of porridge did Gu Yang finally let out a satisfied sigh.

"Comfortable!"

The blazing sun hung high in a cloudless sky.

At one corner of the Martial Academy's Training Ground, Gu Yang was intently practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art.

Ten days had passed since the day they moved.

Over those ten days, Qin Hu had not paid him any further attention, simply leaving him to train on his own.

Of course, Gu Yang did not expect Qin Hu to keep giving him benefits.

After all, twenty jin of Black Tiger Meat was already enough to support his usual training. His current training conditions were no worse than those of the other Martial Academy disciples.

If he still could not stand out under such circumstances, then he would have no further value for Qin Hu to nurture.

But soon. He would soon give Qin Hu another small shock.

After ten days of nourishing his body with meat and training painstakingly day and night, the proficiency of his Blood Nourishing Stance skill had finally neared the threshold of its first breakthrough.

After completing a set of Stance Training, Gu Yang sat down against a wall to rest.

As he gently closed his eyes, starlight appeared in an instant.

Skill: Blood Nourishing Stance · Beginner (91/100); Azure Dragon Dance · Beginner (57/500)

Talent: None

With just 10 more proficiency points, the Blood Nourishing Stance would break through 100 points and enter a new realm.

And Gu Yang already knew what that realm was: Strength Training!

After more than half a month of Exercise, along with over ten days of Blood Nourishing Stance Art training, Gu Yang had already transformed.

His height had shot up from under 1.6 meters to just over 1.7 meters. The muscles across his body bulged in sleek lines, and with a single swing of his arm, his strength was nearing three hundred jin.

This was the strength one possessed only when Qi Cultivation was nearly complete. It also meant that Gu Yang was approaching the pinnacle of Qi Cultivation. Once he broke through, he would reach the realm of Strength Training.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Yang relaxed his body as much as possible and rapidly recovered his stamina.

At this rate, he would break through to Strength Training tomorrow and catch up to the cultivation progress of most disciples.

Gu Yang narrowed his eyes, resting while considering how he should join the sparring groups after his Stance Training broke through.

If he directly invited someone to spar, he did not know whether they would give him face.

From what he had observed, many disciples had fixed sparring partners.

If he rashly joined them, he might be excluded. The best way would be to have Qin Hu help arrange an opponent for him directly.

"Hey, have you heard? Li Zhiwu is spending money every day to hire people to spar with him."

"Haha, I know. Even if he paid me, I wouldn't go. What if he injured me?"

"Exactly. That guy is rotten to the core. He's the only one who could do something that harms others without benefiting himself."

"..."

Just then, a conversation drifted over from nearby.

Gu Yang looked up and saw two disciples walking side by side to a spot not far away, where they began sparring.

"Li Zhiwu..."

Gu Yang murmured the name, and a flicker of interest rose in his heart.

Nearly every sparring day, some Martial Academy disciples were injured during their exchanges. Since he had not participated in sparring before, he had never heard of this person or known anything about him.

Now, several key words—spending money, sparring—surfaced in his mind, and a win-win idea could not help but arise.

If he went to spar with that disciple named Li Zhiwu, would he not be able to earn money while training his Martial Technique?

Two quarters of an hour later, when Gu Yang saw the two disciples stop to rest, he slowly rose and walked over to inquire carefully.

As the two spoke a sentence at a time, Gu Yang also figured out the "truth" of the matter.

This disciple named Li Zhiwu would invite anyone he disliked to spar, then injure them.

Now that no one was willing to spar with him, Li Zhiwu was spending money to hire people to accompany him in sparring.

After learning the full story, Gu Yang politely took his leave and returned to his original spot, where he resumed practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art.

To him, the most important thing at present was breaking through to Strength Training. Everything else could be set aside for now.

Besides, although he was interested in making money, when he thought of how even disciples who had long since reached Strength Training could be injured, he decided to give up on the opportunity.

What if Li Zhiwu really injured him and delayed his training? The loss would outweigh the gain.

Soon, another set of Stance Training was complete.

As he drew the stance to a close, exhaled, and focused his mind, a line of small words flashed before Gu Yang's eyes.

Skill 'Blood Nourishing Stance' proficiency +1

"Keep going."

Gu Yang merely lowered his eyes for a glance before once again concentrating on practicing the Blood Nourishing Stance Art.

After more than ten days of constant practice, his stamina had greatly increased. He was no longer that "skinny dog" who had to rest for a while after practicing one set of Stance Training. Now, he was a man with endurance!

At dusk, Gu Yang left the Martial Academy. After meeting up with Gu Dashan, they headed northwest.

He did not notice that behind him, a pair of eyes had been watching his retreating figure all along.

That night, the family ate meat again. A large bowl of dried vegetables stewed with a small strip of fatty pork—though there was little meat, and each of the three only got a few bites, they still ate with satisfied expressions.

Eating Black Tiger Meat with dried vegetables, Gu Yang smiled as well.

This was probably what happiness looked like—seemingly plain and ordinary, yet enough to intoxicate one within it.

After dinner, Gu Yang went into the yard again to practice his Stance Training.

With a breakthrough imminent, Gu Yang trained until very late that night before stopping.

Though he had not trained himself to utter exhaustion, he was still bone-weary. After casually wiping himself down, he collapsed into bed and fell asleep.

"There are less than ten days left until this month's Minor Competition. Sharpening your spear before battle may not make it faster, but at least it will make it gleam. Work harder during this time—perhaps you can raise your ranking by a few places in the Minor Competition."

"Especially those of you who ranked at the bottom before. Get a move on now and stop slacking off!"

The next day, Qin Hu's voice rang continuously through the Training Ground, placing invisible pressure on the disciples practicing Stance Training.

A few of them grew so nervous that their movements became distorted, earning another round of scolding from Qin Hu.

Within the Martial Academy, every disciple understood the importance of the month-end Minor Competition.

It was the most direct and the most brutal assessment.

No Martial Academy disciple dared cheat before a group of Martial Academy instructors. Anyone caught cheating would be expelled without exception.

At this moment, many disciples at the bottom of the rankings were extremely nervous. Their gazes kept drifting toward the lower-right corner of the formation.

Fortunately, this time, someone was there to cushion their fall...