Bright Energy Realm, Second Test

With Lu Yuan's punch, it landed solidly against the wooden stake.

"Crack..."

The stake, thick as an arm, shattered instantly.

"Is this the power of a Bright Energy Realm martial artist?"

Lu Yuan glanced at the mangled remains of the stake, then at his own uninjured fist, feeling a surge of excitement.

The explosive force of that punch likely exceeded five hundred jin.

If that had landed on a person, the lethality would be unimaginable.

He could now easily handle three or five ordinary martial artists who hadn't yet entered the Bright Energy Realm.

If he were to master a specialized offensive fist technique, the damage he could inflict would be even more terrifying.

Of course, cultivation base remained the foundation.

He could not afford to slack off; he needed to bring the Five Animals Fist to perfection, continue to nourish and temper his blood-qi, and proceed with the second and third rounds of blood-qi tempering to become a Hidden Energy or even a Transformation Realm martial artist.

As for what lay beyond the Transformation Realm, Chen Pi knew little and could not tell him much.

However, at his current rate of progress, he believed he would reach it soon enough.

A Bright Energy Realm martial artist—it seems I am now qualified to participate in the Martial Examination!

Lu Yuan pondered this as he lay down.

Passing the Martial Examination would grant him official status, exempting him from taxes and corvée labor, and potentially opening the door to the martial academies in the commandery city, where he could access higher levels of martial arts.

However, Bright Energy was merely the minimum requirement; it did not guarantee success.

To ensure he passed, he would likely need to reach the Hidden Energy or even the Transformation Realm.

Lu Yuan was not in a rush; at his current growth rate, it was entirely possible he could reach those levels before the examination began.

His immediate priority, however, was finding a way to make serious money.

Without sufficient silver to support his training, his progress would inevitably be hindered.

The free meat provided by Song Academy was no longer enough.

Having mastered the Five Animals Fist, he generated more blood-qi per session, but the consumption was equally massive. Even if he spent his own money on two extra portions of meat, he doubted he could sustain two training sessions a day.

In short, setting aside the astronomical price of the Rejuvenation Pill, he needed to arrange for the medicinal soups, which cost several taels of silver each, as soon as possible.

Although becoming a Bright Energy Realm martial artist left Lu Yuan feeling exhilarated, the exhaustion of his body and mind soon lulled him into a deep, dream-filled sleep.

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning.

Yesterday's efforts—mastering the Five Animals Fist and tempering his blood-qi—had drained him of so much energy that he required a longer sleep to recover.

Stepping outside, even wrapped in his newly purchased padded jacket, he could feel the biting cold seeping into his body.

However, as his blood-qi began to circulate, the chill was quickly expelled.

When he arrived at Song Academy, the others were already hard at work.

Lu Yuan did not delay; he took his stance and began to practice.

With the Five Animals Fist mastered, his understanding and insight into the technique had deepened significantly.

Both his movements and his breathing were noticeably smoother and more rhythmic than the others.

Most importantly, each session generated far more blood-qi than it had before.

[Five Animals Fist: Mastery (135/10000)]

After the session, his proficiency surged once again.

However, Lu Yuan entered a state of total lethargy, not wanting to move a muscle.

He suspected that even with a hearty meat meal at noon and night, he would struggle to fully recover.

As it stood, until he could supplement his training with medicinal soups, he would likely be limited to one session per day.

Even so, at his current rate of proficiency gain, it would only take about fifteen to twenty days to reach the Great Perfection of the Five Animals Fist, during which time a second round of blood-qi tempering was well within reach.

If he had enough medicinal soup to sustain two or even three sessions a day, that timeframe would shrink drastically.

Of course, while his progress might seem slower compared to his previous pace, the journey from Mastery to Great Perfection was still accelerating.

"Fast progress is good, but if I want to maintain this pace, I must make money!"

Lu Yuan frowned.

Though he couldn't train any further, he didn't rush to leave.

After all, the free meat was too good to pass up.

Even if it only provided partial recovery, it was still a significant benefit.

Watching the others drenched in sweat, Lu Yuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Had he not awakened the Practice Makes Perfect destiny, even if he had been lucky enough to enter Song Academy, he would likely be just like them—toiling day and night with agonizingly slow progress.

In less than ten days, let alone successfully tempering the body with blood energy to become a martial artist of the Bright Energy Realm, even mastering the Five Animals Fist would likely be impossible.

It was even evident that, including the few newcomers, the thirty-odd martial disciples in the Outer Courtyard were working harder than the next, yet barring any surprises, most of them would likely never succeed in tempering their bodies with blood energy to become true External Energy Realm martial artists in this lifetime.

Even for Wu Yu, Chen Pi, and Gu Ming, who had already mastered the Five Animals Fist a few days ago, it would likely take months of accumulation before they could smoothly temper their bodies with blood energy and become External Energy Realm martial artists.

Fortunately, he was different.

Not only was it easier for him, but his progress was faster, and this advantage would only continue to grow.

After finishing his portion of meat at noon, Lu Yuan did not linger and left immediately.

Although he had enjoyed another hearty meal of meat that evening, he still had to rest for the better part of the day, and it was not until the next morning that he finally recovered completely and was able to resume his training.

Just like that, for three consecutive days, Lu Yuan could only maintain a pace of one training session per day.

The next day, in the morning.

Lu Yuan finally saw Fang Chang again, who had walked out of the Inner Courtyard with Hong Lei. Although only ten days had passed, there was an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity.

The two merely exchanged glances and nodded with a smile, after which there was no further communication.

"I believe you have all been training very hard over the past ten days. Today is the time to verify your training results!"

At this moment, Hong Lei smiled at the crowd and said.

Hearing his words, many people could not help but cast mocking glances at Lu Yuan.

Because for the past ten days, not only had he appeared increasingly lazy, but he had actually left immediately after eating the free meat.

This made them all feel that giving free meat to such a slacker was a complete waste of resources.

"Although in the path of martial arts, diligence cannot always compensate for a lack of talent—as it requires both good bone structure and financial resources—effort will always be rewarded. I hope that regardless of whether you make it into the top three today, you will all continue to train even harder in the future to secure a better future for yourselves!"

As soon as Hong Lei finished speaking, the crowd felt significantly encouraged.

"As expected of Brother Hong, not only is his bone structure excellent, but he also speaks so well!"

"We will always support Brother Hong!"

Wu Yu, Chen Pi, and the others all chimed in one after another.