As Lu Yuan's punch landed squarely on the wooden post,
"Crack..."
the arm-thick post shattered to pieces.
"So this is the power of a Bright Energy martial artist?"
Lu Yuan glanced at the post, now broken beyond recognition, then at his completely unharmed fist. He couldn't help feeling elated.
The force behind that punch had probably exceeded five hundred pounds.
If it landed directly on someone, the damage it could inflict was easy to imagine.
At this point, he reckoned he could easily handle three or five ordinary martial artists who hadn't reached Bright Energy.
If he learned another fist technique specializing in offense, the damage he could deal would be even more terrifying.
Of course, cultivation was always the foundation.
He couldn't afford to slack off from here on. He had to master the Five Animals Fist, keep nurturing and tempering his blood and qi, and undergo his second and third rounds of Blood Qi Tempering, until he became a Hidden Energy or even a Transformation Realm martial artist.
As for what lay beyond Transformation Realm, Chen Pi knew very little and couldn't tell Lu Yuan much.
Still, at his rate of cultivation, Lu Yuan believed he would reach that level before long.
"Now that I'm a Bright Energy martial artist, I should be eligible to take the Martial Examination!"
After lying down, Lu Yuan pondered to himself.
If he passed the Martial Examination, he would earn an official title. Not only would he enjoy numerous privileges, such as exemption from taxes and corvée labor, but he might also get the chance to go to the Martial Academy in the prefectural city and encounter higher levels of martial arts.
However, Bright Energy was only the minimum requirement for taking the Martial Examination. That didn't mean every Bright Energy martial artist could pass.
To make sure he passed, he would probably need to reach Hidden Energy or even Transformation Realm.
So Lu Yuan wasn't in a hurry. At his rate of growth, he might well become a Hidden Energy or even Transformation Realm martial artist before the Martial Examination began.
His most urgent task, however, was to find a reliable way to make a lot of money.
Without enough silver to support him, his progress from here on would surely suffer.
The free meat from Song Academy was nowhere near enough anymore.
He had already reached mastery in the Five Animals Fist. Though each training session now nurtured more blood and qi, it also consumed much more. Even if he paid for two extra meat meals, training twice a day might still be too much to sustain.
In short, never mind the Rejuvenation Pills, which cost a fortune. He needed to arrange for ordinary medicinal broth, at several taels of silver a portion, as soon as possible.
Becoming a Bright Energy martial artist had left Lu Yuan a little exhilarated, but physical and mental exhaustion soon caught up with him. With his mind full of pleasant hopes, he quickly sank into a deep sleep.
When Lu Yuan opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning.
Both mastering the Five Animals Fist and undergoing Blood Qi Tempering the day before had consumed a great deal of his energy. He needed a longer sleep to recover.
Even with the new padded jacket he'd bought wrapped around him, the moment he stepped outside, he could still feel the bone-piercing cold seeping into his body.
But as the blood and qi circulated within him, the chill was quickly driven away.
By the time he arrived at Song Academy, everyone was already training hard.
Lu Yuan didn't waste any time either. He assumed the proper stance and began practicing with them.
After mastering the Five Animals Fist, his understanding and insight into the technique had naturally deepened considerably.
His movements and breathing were noticeably more fluid and rhythmic than everyone else's.
Most importantly, after each training session, he nurtured far more blood and qi than the others.
[Five Animals Fist, Mastery (135/10000)]
After one training session, his proficiency surged once again.
But Lu Yuan had also entered the refractory period. He didn't even feel like moving.
Even if he ate his fill of meat at both lunch and dinner, it would probably be hard for him to recover completely.
For now, until he had medicinal broth to support him, he could probably manage only one training session a day.
Even so, at his current rate of progress, he would likely need only ten or twenty days to cultivate the Five Animals Fist to perfection. He might even undergo his second round of Blood Qi Tempering in that time.
With enough medicinal broth to support him, he could train twice a day, or even three times. That would cut the time down considerably.
Of course, compared with his previous pace, he seemed to be progressing more slowly now. But considering the process of advancing the Five Animals Fist from mastery to perfection, he was still getting faster the more he practiced.
"Training quickly is all well and good, but if I want to keep up this pace, I need to find a way to make money as soon as possible!"
Lu Yuan furrowed his brow.
Though he couldn't continue training, he still didn't leave in a hurry.
After all, free meat was too good to pass up.
Even if it only helped him recover a little, it was still worth having.
Watching the others continue sweating buckets as they trained, Lu Yuan couldn't help sighing to himself.
If he hadn't awakened the Practice Makes Perfect fate, then even if he'd been lucky enough to get into Song Academy, he'd probably be just like everyone else: training day and night, yet making painfully slow progress.
In less than ten days, he wouldn't have managed to undergo Blood Qi Tempering and become a Bright Energy martial artist. He might not even have been able to master the Five Animals Fist.
It was clear that the more than thirty martial apprentices in the Outer Courtyard, including the newcomers, were all working harder than the last. But barring an unexpected turn of events, most of them might never undergo Blood Qi Tempering and become true External Energy martial artists in their lives.
Even Wu Yu, Chen Pi, Gu Ming, and the others, who had mastered the Five Animals Fist several days ago, would likely need months of preparation before they could undergo Blood Qi Tempering and become External Energy martial artists.
Fortunately, he was different.
His training was easier, his progress was faster, and that advantage would only keep growing.
After finishing his portion of meat at lunch, Lu Yuan left without lingering.
Though he had another hearty meat meal that evening, he still rested for most of the day. It wasn't until the next morning that he had fully recovered and could train again.
For three days in a row, Lu Yuan could manage only one training session a day.
The following morning,
Lu Yuan finally saw Fang Chang again, walking out of the Inner Courtyard with Hong Lei. They had been apart for only ten days, yet somehow, a faint sense of unfamiliarity had grown between them.
They exchanged glances and smiled, nodding to each other, but didn't speak again.
"I'm sure you've all trained hard over the past ten days. Today is the day we put your progress to the test!"
Hong Lei smiled at everyone as he spoke.
At his words, quite a few people glanced at Lu Yuan with knowing smiles.
Over the past ten days, he had seemed lazier and lazier. To top it off, he even left after eating his free portion of meat.
They all felt that giving free meat to a lazybones like him was a terrible waste.
"Though hard work alone can't make up for a lack of talent in martial arts—you need both the right constitution and money—effort is always rewarded. Whether or not you make the top three today, I hope you'll train even harder from now on and earn yourselves a better future!"
Hong Lei's words stirred everyone's spirits.
"As expected of Brother Hong! He's not only gifted, but he knows just what to say!"
"We'll always support Brother Hong!"
Wu Yu, Chen Pi, and the others chimed in one after another.
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