Noticing Something

Just over a week later, in the Martial Arts Training Room.

Bang! Bang! Bang! A punching bag swung from side to side under the blows.

Lu Hao treated the bag before him like an enemy, driving his fists into it again and again.

"All right, that's enough for today."

Hearing Li Siyuan speak beside him, Lu Hao stopped and wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel.

"You've made good progress these past few days, Lu Hao. At this rate, you're almost at the minor accomplishment stage in both Basic Leg Technique and Basic Fist Technique. Tomorrow, you can start practicing Basic Blade Technique."

"It's all thanks to your teaching, Teacher Li. Without you, I don't know when I would've honed my combat techniques this far."

"That's your own talent, Lu Hao. It has little to do with me. You'd have done just as well with another teacher."

After giving Lu Hao a few pointers on how to apply force, Li Siyuan left.

Lu Hao practiced his punches a few more times, then went to wash up and shower.

Lu Hao opened the panel.

[Slaughter Point System]

[Host: Lu Hao]

[Vital Blood: 157/199 cal +]

[Spirit: 231/279 Hz +]

[Storage Space: 1 cubic meter]

[Slaughter Points: 1,175]

Over the past week, Lu Hao had studied Basic Leg Technique and Basic Fist Technique while raising his Vital Blood to its limit. His Slaughter Points had since climbed past a thousand.

When his Vital Blood first reached 199, he had tried adding more points, but the panel told him he didn't have enough Slaughter Points. When he tried again after getting home yesterday, it told him the cost was 1,000 points.

The barrier to a third bone tempering really is hard to break. At the current rate of one Slaughter Point to ten calories of Vital Blood, a thousand points amounted to ten thousand calories needed to break through.

That was ten thousand calories of Vital Blood—a level normally reached only by a Rank Seven grandmaster. To need that much before even becoming a martial artist was absurd. Not even pouring money into pills could get someone there.

Besides, forget ten thousand. Even a thousand calories of Vital Blood would burst someone who wasn't yet a martial artist. A third bone tempering was difficult beyond belief.

Just how monstrous are the people who manage a third bone tempering on their own?

After washing up, Lu Hao set out for the slaughterhouse. He couldn't afford to delay collecting Slaughter Points.

"Lu Hao, back again? You're the first one here today too. Ah, to be young."

As he reached the slaughterhouse entrance, a voice came from behind him. Lu Hao turned and saw the owner, whom he had often run into over the past week.

The owner's surname was Zhang. He wasn't a martial artist, but his son was one and attended Northwest Martial Arts University. Instead of focusing on his training, though, his son spent lavishly at school.

Boss Zhang was at his wits' end. Nothing he had tried had worked. He had planned to support his son until he reached the upper ranks, then have him return to take over the slaughterhouse. Now, it seemed his son was a lost cause.

Seeing Lu Hao arrive first every day and work diligently at slaughtering, Boss Zhang couldn't help thinking, Now there's a fine young man. He also imagined all kinds of tragic circumstances in Lu Hao's past and had grown quite concerned about him.

"Morning, Boss Zhang. I had nothing to do at home, so I thought I'd come early."

The slaughterhouse was currently the only place Lu Hao could earn Slaughter Points. Of course he came early.

After chatting with Boss Zhang for a few minutes, Lu Hao hurried inside to start collecting Slaughter Points. Every animal meant two precious points. If he slaughtered one fewer, that was two points lost.

Seeing how eager Lu Hao was to work, Boss Zhang sighed. Kids from poor families really do grow up fast. Old Wu's getting muddleheaded, calling this boy disturbed. He seems perfectly fine to me.

That evening, after dinner, Lu Hao told his mother he intended to undergo a third bone tempering.

"No. It hasn't even been half a month since your second bone tempering. Why would you attempt a third already? Let's get your Vital Blood to its limit first, then decide whether you should try."

Bai Qiuyao looked at Lu Hao with worry written all over her face.

"Mom, my Vital Blood has already reached its limit. It's at 199 calories. I have to undergo a third bone tempering now, or it can't increase any further."

"What? Hao'er, you haven't taken some kind of forbidden drug, have you? How else could your Vital Blood reach its limit so quickly?"

At that, Bai Qiuyao seized Lu Hao's arm and sent a wisp of Vital Blood into his body to examine him.

She found nothing wrong. On the contrary, his Vital Blood surged powerfully through him. That meant he hadn't forced it higher with pills.

But that made no sense. After a second bone tempering, most people needed at least three or four months of nurturing their Vital Blood to reach its limit, and they had to keep taking Blood Vitality Pills throughout that time.

Lu Hao had broken through only about half a month ago and had already reached the limit without taking any pills. It seems my son has come across some kind of opportunity.

"Hao'er, remember this. If anyone asks when you completed your second bone tempering, tell them it was last December. Say you used a lot of pills to bring your Vital Blood to its limit over two months, then completed your third bone tempering. Understood?"

Bai Qiuyao looked at Lu Hao sternly.

"Yeah, Mom, I understand. That's what I'll say if anyone asks." Lu Hao knew his mother had noticed something, but it couldn't be helped. For safety, he needed someone watching over him when he broke through, so there was no way to hide how quickly he had progressed.

His mother hadn't pressed him. By telling him to move the date of his second bone tempering back and say he had used a great many pills, she was showing him how to conceal it.

If his parents saw a little of what was going on, so be it. They wouldn't tell anyone. He couldn't hide his progress forever, but as long as he grew strong quickly enough, no one would dare make a move against him.

He would build a solid foundation early on. With his parents shielding him, he only needed to grow strong quickly, and then he would have nothing to fear.

In the original story, once Fang Ping reached Rank Seven, no one pried into his secrets anymore. When he was in the lower ranks, plenty of people had.

In the end, strength was everything.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. My Vital Blood has reached its limit and can't rise any further. Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen to undergo a third bone tempering."

Lu Hao smiled as he spoke.

"All right. Since you've chosen the martial path, I can't interfere too much. Follow your own judgment from now on. But if you need anything, you must tell us. Your father and I may not be able to help with everything, but we can provide plenty of resources."

Bai Qiuyao didn't know what opportunity Lu Hao had found, but she knew she could no longer impose her own views on him. All she could do was support his martial path and offer what help she could.

Until Lu Hao grew strong, she would shield him from those who coveted what he had.

"Yeah, I know. I'll tell you if I need anything."

Lu Hao said this as he walked toward the Martial Arts Training Room.