Martial Arts Is a Money-Guzzling Beast

At the dinner table, Lu Hao listened to his mother talk about interesting happenings at the Investigation Bureau, occasionally joining in the discussion.

"Mom, I'm planning to undergo a second bone-marrow refinement."

"Second bone-marrow refinement? Hao'er, the difficulty of a second refinement is no small matter. Why don't we just break through to become a martial artist directly? You can still reach high realms that way."

Bai Qiuyao was very worried. She had previously sensed that Lu Hao's blood-qi had reached its peak, and that any further breakthrough would require a second bone-marrow refinement. However, the barrier at 179 was not so easily shattered.

If the breakthrough failed, he might even damage the foundation he had already built, which carried significant risks.

"Mom, I have confidence. Besides, I want to go to Magic Martial University, to see the place where my brother died, and to see the enemies he fought."

"Furthermore, a second bone-marrow refinement can increase my potential significantly. You understand the principle that being one step ahead means being ahead at every step better than I do."

"This... your brother was a hero, but you don't necessarily have to follow in his footsteps. Your brother's spirit in heaven would surely want you to have your own goals, rather than blindly chasing after him."

Bai Qiuyao couldn't bring herself to reveal the truth about the Abyss to Lu Hao. It was cruel to her; as a younger brother, he didn't even know exactly how his older brother had sacrificed himself.

"Mom, I'm not a child anymore. I have the confidence to face humanity's enemies, and I will carry my brother's will forward, step by step."

Lu Hao looked at his mother with determination. In his memories, his brother was so gentle and refined, always treating him with special care and bringing him delicious food whenever he returned. But now, he had died in the Magic City Abyss. When he had the strength, he would definitely pacify the Magic City Abyss.

"...Sigh, Mom can't stop you. But Hao'er, you must protect yourself. You are the only son I have left. If anything happens to you, I truly don't know if I could go on living."

As Bai Qiuyao spoke, tears began to stream down her face. Her husband had spent half his life stationed in the Abyss, and they could only meet a few times a year. Her eldest son had died in the Abyss, and now her youngest son wanted to follow in his footsteps. She was truly terrified.

She feared that her youngest son would also die in the Abyss. She wanted to argue with him, even to protect him by keeping him away from the martial path, but she couldn't do that. The situation in the Abyss was becoming increasingly severe; he would have to face it sooner or later.

This was the tragic reality of this era.

Seeing his mother cry, Lu Hao quickly comforted her.

"Mom, I'll be careful. Big brother's spirit in heaven will protect me. He will ensure my martial path goes smoothly."

After dinner.

"Hao'er, since you're going to attempt the second bone-marrow refinement, is your money enough? Do you still have bone-refining pills, body-strengthening liquid, and blood-qi pills? If not, you must tell Mom."

"Mom, don't worry, I've prepared everything. I'm not short on money for now, and if I need anything, I'll definitely let you know."

Lu Hao returned to his room and took two bottles of pills from the cabinet. Inside were three bone-refining pills, three blood-qi pills, and three bottles of body-strengthening liquid. These had been purchased by his predecessor. Originally, there had been five blood-qi pills, but he had used two that morning while attempting to break through the barrier.

That attempt had caused his blood-qi to backflow, damaging his meridians and creating the scene he woke up to upon transmigrating. As for the damaged meridians, they had mostly recovered thanks to the second-grade healing pill.

Looking at the three pill bottles, the three first-grade bone-refining pills cost 1.5 million, the three first-grade blood-qi pills cost 900,000, and the three bottles of body-strengthening liquid cost 900,000.

Just these items cost 3.3 million. Martial artists were truly money-guzzling beasts. And this was just for the resources an average person needed for a second refinement; one could only imagine how much it would cost to reach a high realm.

He put the pills back in the cabinet. He had his killing points to restore his blood-qi, which worked much better than blood-qi pills, and the blood-qi restored through his system was even better for refining bones than the pills. The only thing Lu Hao might actually need was the body-strengthening liquid.

Lu Hao went to the practice room to begin his stance training. He practiced the horse stance; he had been taught to practice it by his father since he was a child, so his foundation was very solid. He had started practicing it in high school, and he was now not far from the second stage, the "Solid Stance" realm.

Therefore, today's task was to practice the horse stance for five hours. As for the Refinement Method, it was currently on hold. Since Lu Hao's blood-qi hadn't broken through, he couldn't refine his bones, so he would focus on the horse stance for today.

Five hours later, Lu Hao lay on his bed, drenched in sweat. The horse stance emphasized being solid and stable. Lu Hao had already grasped a hint of the technique and estimated he would break through soon.

The next day, his mother woke up early to make breakfast and left, while Lu Hao's biological clock automatically woke him up at six o'clock.

After breakfast, a new day began with horse stance training.

At noon, after eating outside, Lu Hao headed to the slaughterhouse.

Now that he knew the function of killing points, Lu Hao looked at the pigs before him as if they were walking killing points. If he spent the whole day slaughtering here, how many killing points could he get in a single day?

However, Lu Hao was just thinking about it. Spending the whole day at the slaughterhouse—not to mention whether his mother would find out—would leave him no time for stance training.

As a foundation, if he didn't practice his stance well, he wouldn't be able to master any combat techniques later. Could he really rely on killing points to become a blood-qi martial artist, only to be easily defeated by others?

That was impossible. Since he had a system, he had to become an existence invincible among his peers, a talent capable of fighting across realms.

Lu Hao was quick and agile; he killed the incoming pig without even blinking. Old Wu, standing to the side, was stunned.

He thought to himself that this kid was truly a killing machine. Yesterday he still seemed a bit naive, but today he was slaughtering without a blink, and looking at his excitement, he was afraid the boy might be a psychopath.

Could it be that he had been oppressed for too long, leading to a warped psyche?

Old Wu watched Lu Hao from afar as he slaughtered. He didn't dare to get close; he was genuinely afraid that Lu Hao might just slaughter him too.

Lu Hao, meanwhile, was thinking that his mental energy should be mostly recovered by tonight. He could break through the blood-qi barrier tonight and then begin the second bone-marrow refinement, which would also put his mother's mind at ease.

At the same time, he was considering a question: whether he should even go back to his senior year of high school. For him, he should be able to reach the second bone-marrow refinement before school started. There were one or two students at Beiding No. 1 High School who had already reached the second refinement, but they had all taken leave to practice at home and prepare for the college entrance exam.

Should he talk to his mother about it? After all, what he could learn in high school was truly limited, and it would take up the time he could spend at the slaughterhouse. If he practiced at home, he might be able to reach the high stage of the first grade by the time the exam arrived.

Yes, that was the decision. Once he broke through to the second bone-marrow refinement, he would talk to his mother and ask for leave to practice at home.

Thinking of this, and looking at the "+2, +2" increases on his panel, Lu Hao couldn't help but whistle a little tune.

On the other side, Old Wu, who was watching Lu Hao, saw him smiling at a pig while whistling and became even more certain of his thoughts. This was a child whose psyche had been warped by the pressures of life.

It seemed he should be a bit more lenient with his own brat in the future; if he turned out like this... Old Wu shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Lu Hao had no idea how much shock his behavior had caused an old butcher.