Difficulty (Seeking Follow-ups)

When Li Yuan carried the tiger carcass directly back to Blue Stone Village, he went straight to the homes of Li Zhi and Chen Quan, the father of Chicken Brother, to call them over and help process it.

Skinning, deboning, and portioning the meat—the group busied themselves for the better part of the day.

In the process, he asked Li Zhi and the others if they wanted to move to the county town, but they all refused, saying they weren't used to living there.

Seeing this, Li Yuan could only nod, then gave some silver to Li Zhi.

The remaining tiger meat was shared; he gave a few dozen catties each to his uncle and Chen Quan, and since there was still more than half left, he decided to keep it for himself.

He wasn't short on money at the moment, so there was no need to sell it; he would just keep it to eat slowly.

Although this tiger meat's nourishing effects were far inferior to the previous Black-Striped Tiger, it had the advantage of volume, and once made into jerky, it would last him a good while.

After finishing with the tiger, Li Yuan lit a fire and roasted a few catties of fresh meat.

The meat sizzled, fat dripped into the flames, and a rich aroma filled the air.

Li Yuan sprinkled on some salt, and once it was charred on the outside and tender on the inside, he blew on the heat and took a large bite.

The texture was a bit coarse, leaving a faint, gamey aftertaste in his mouth.

"It's alright, edible enough."

He took some chili powder from the side and sprinkled it evenly over the roasted meat.

The feeling of eating meat in such large mouthfuls was truly satisfying; it had been a long time since Li Yuan had eaten his fill so heartily.

He ate five or six catties in a row before patting his belly in satisfaction.

"It's fine for satisfying a craving, but it's far too lacking if I want to rely on it to quickly nourish my blood and qi."

Li Yuan knew clearly that the efficacy of this ordinary tiger meat and that of the Black-Striped Tiger were worlds apart.

After resting for a while, Li Yuan remembered there was one more thing to do today: moving house.

With the improvement of his strength and income, continuing to live in the dirty, chaotic, and insecure Shanty Town was no longer appropriate.

He had long since set his sights on a small, vacant courtyard near the edge of the Inner City, and today was the perfect time to go take a look.

The location of the courtyard was decent, and it even had a perimeter wall, making it much better than the Shanty Town.

The landlord was a middle-aged man dressed in silk robes.

He sized Li Yuan up a few times, and seeing that although Li Yuan was young, his frame was upright and his gaze calm—not like an ordinary poor laborer—his tone remained quite polite.

As a landlord, one had to have a bit of discernment.

"This courtyard is detached, quiet, and the tiles were all renovated last year," the landlord introduced. "As for the rent, it's three taels of silver a month."

Li Yuan walked around the inside and outside of the courtyard.

The yard wasn't large, but it was enough for his daily fist practice, and the interior featured a main room plus a small side room; although the furnishings were simple, it was kept clean and tidy.

"That works." Li Yuan nodded in satisfaction, and after some haggling with the landlord, they reached an agreement.

The final deal was fifteen taels of silver for half a year.

After receiving the silver, the landlord's smile grew even wider; he briskly wrote up the lease, and both parties pressed their thumbprints.

Once the keys were handed over, the landlord took his leave.

After confirming the move was settled, Li Yuan returned to his old residence, packed up his belongings, and soon moved into the new courtyard.

Once settled, Li Yuan's life returned to a regular rhythm.

Most of his time each day was spent tempering his fist techniques and accumulating blood and qi, with occasional trips up the mountain to gather the medicinal herbs required by Su Wan.

In the blink of an eye, two months passed.

During this period, the Iron Arm Technique was finally successfully mastered.

However, he also realized that while he now had a foundation for his upper-body techniques, his current speed relied mostly on the strength and velocity brought by his robust blood and qi, and he lacked corresponding lethal leg techniques.

If he were to encounter opponents who were agile or skilled in long-range skirmishing, he feared he would be forced into a passive position.

He couldn't very well carry a bow and arrow with him all day long, could he? Besides, whether arrows from a heavy bow could pierce the defense of the Stone Skin Realm remained to be verified.

That afternoon, Li Yuan was in the backyard as usual, receiving individual guidance from Yang Chong.

Suddenly, Liu Yan ran in, breathless and with a look of joy on her face.

"Master! Eldest Senior Brother... Eldest Senior Brother has recovered!" Liu Yan shouted, panting.

Yang Chong was stunned, his movements coming to a halt. "Recovered? What do you mean he recovered?!"

"Eldest Senior Brother's injuries are healed! His... his blood and qi have recovered. If you don't believe me, go see for yourself; he's in the front yard right now," Liu Yan explained.

Yang Chong seemed unable to believe his ears. "Really?! You mean Cao Chuan... he has recovered his Iron Skin Realm?"

After receiving another affirmative look from Liu Yan, Yang Chong could no longer contain himself; his figure blurred as he rushed toward the front yard.

Li Yuan and Liu Yan exchanged a glance, then immediately stepped forward to follow.

In the front courtyard, a number of disciples were gathered in a circle, looking toward Cao Chuan.

In the center of the crowd, Cao Chuan's complexion was still somewhat pale, but his eyes seemed much clearer than before.

At this moment, Yang Chong had one hand resting on Cao Chuan's shoulder, his eyes closed in concentration as he carefully sensed the state of the blood and qi within him.

Before long, Yang Chong opened his eyes and exclaimed with great joy, "Good! Very good! Your foundation is still intact. Chuan'er, you have truly recovered!"

He patted Cao Chuan's shoulder firmly, his face flushed with excitement. "I knew it! Heaven never closes every door! You must consolidate your strength well; in time, you will surely return to your peak!"

His gaze slowly swept across the surrounding crowd.

Some of the disciples looked at him with expressions of awe.

Liu Yan and Zhao Qin wore expressions of genuine, heartfelt joy.

Lin Mingsheng offered him a gentle smile and gave a slight nod.

Li Yuan stood at the very back, his expression calm as he watched quietly.

Finally, Cao Chuan's gaze returned to Yang Chong. He took a deep breath and said calmly:

"Teacher, I am sorry. After this Inner City competition, this disciple... has realized many things."

"It is fine, as long as you have returned," Yang Chong comforted him.

Cao Chuan's return naturally allowed the Five Animals Academy to radiate vitality once again.

Moreover, with Cao Chuan fully recovered from his severe injuries, his blood and qi began to slowly return to the levels they were at before he was hurt.

This reignited hope in Yang Chong's eyes, and from that day on, Yang Chong returned to his usual state.

His focus was no longer entirely on Li Yuan alone; sometimes he would head out, though no one knew where he went, and he would be gone for the entire day.

However, the one thing that remained consistent was that the monthly portion of Black Paste Yang Chong was supposed to provide never ceased.

Li Yuan took this in stride. What he needed most right now was stable time to accumulate strength.

With his skills, as long as he practiced step by step, breaking through was only a matter of time.

Whether his master taught him or not, while it had an impact, it was not significant.

In the days that followed, Li Yuan's life rhythm remained the same.

He hunted, gathered herbs, and ventured deep into the mountains and forests to fight fierce beasts, using this to temper his fist techniques and hone his spirit and will.

He became increasingly familiar with the terrain surrounding Wuxi County.

During this time, it was inevitable that he would encounter some bandits and outlaws lurking in the wilderness.

These people were generally quite weak, likely relying on their numbers to occasionally block the road and rob travelers.

Li Yuan struck a few times, killing several of them, only to find that there was really no profit to be made from these people.

The best one among them, who was at the same Stone Skin Realm as him, only yielded ten taels of silver after being thoroughly searched—not even enough to buy a catty of meat.

Li Yuan shook his head; it seemed that trying to get rich this way was not very realistic.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed.

Li Yuan's Bear Form Fist was getting closer and closer to Great Success, and his blood and qi had grown steadily during these days.

However, the usually quiet Lin Mingsheng had actually cultivated both the Ape Form Fist and the Deer Form Fist to the Great Success realm, and even his Crane Form Fist was on the verge of reaching that level.

If all three fist techniques reached Great Success and his blood and qi accumulation were sufficient, Lin Mingsheng would qualify to attempt a breakthrough to the Iron Skin Realm.

This cultivation speed was actually a few points faster than Li Yuan, who possessed a skill panel.

This made Li Yuan sigh inwardly; indeed, one should never underestimate anyone—neither talent nor hard work was in short supply.

At the same time, Li Yuan discovered a problem.

While this technique could certainly enhance the defense and strength of his arms, it was extremely time-consuming to cultivate, requiring repeated hammering and soaking in medicinal baths.

Although the difficulty of cultivating this technique was lower than the Five Animals Fist, it wasted even more time than the Five Animals Fist.

More importantly, it slowed down the progress of his other skills.

Therefore, he decided to temporarily set aside the cultivation of the Iron Arm Technique and focus on bringing his three fist techniques to Great Success to break through to the Iron Skin Realm.

Only then would he return to cultivate the Iron Arm Technique with the strength of the Iron Skin Realm.