Only when the two men had stopped showing any signs of life did Lu Yuan finally stop punching.
"Whew..."
Lu Yuan took a deep breath and looked down at the two corpses, which were nearly unrecognizable beneath the blood and gore.
Though this was his first time killing someone, he felt none of the fear he'd imagined, and he didn't even feel sick. Instead, his heart grew calmer and calmer, as if this was only right.
In this world, if he didn't kill others, they would kill him.
Since that was the case, for the sake of living better himself and helping his family do the same, he could only send others to their deaths.
Without wasting any time, Lu Yuan dusted the lime off his hands, then bent down to search the bodies.
In the end, aside from a little over three taels of broken silver, he found nothing else of value.
He didn't linger. With a flash, Lu Yuan vanished into the depths of the night.
"Three taels and two mace of silver—that's the equivalent of three thousand two hundred copper coins!"
Only after returning home did Lu Yuan take the rag off his face and carefully count up everything he'd gained today.
As for his expenses, they amounted to nothing more than a packet of lime powder worth ten copper coins.
It was no exaggeration to call it a hundredfold profit. Sure enough, robbing and killing was the golden road to riches!
Lu Yuan had been thinking about how he could earn more money faster.
Now that he thought about it, eating people was a much quicker way to make money than eating bitterness!
With these three-plus taels of silver, not only was next month's tuition taken care of, but the days ahead would be much easier too. At the very least, he wouldn't have to live on wild-vegetable cakes and coarse-grain gruel every single day.
After putting the money away, Lu Yuan lay down to rest.
He needed to recharge so he could train better tomorrow.
Though he had snuffed out an immediate threat, even more serious dangers were sure to come.
So he had to grow stronger faster—strong enough to face any crisis!
The next morning, Lu Yuan arrived at Song Academy early.
He'd already heard plenty of talk along the way about two Black Tiger Gang thugs being killed, but he wasn't worried in the slightest.
In this world, people died every day. Too many starved to death, froze to death, or were killed by others.
At most, the authorities would spend a little money to have someone carry the bodies to the Chaos Burial Mound. They certainly wouldn't waste the effort to investigate the deaths thoroughly.
What's more, the two men had been Black Tiger Gang thugs. It was perfectly normal for them to have died in a vendetta.
Even if word got around, the common people would only clap their hands in approval, thinking some hero had rid the people of a scourge.
"Heh... hi-yah... heh..."
Not only had everyone arrived unusually early today, but they were also clearly working harder.
Evidently, with the second strength test only ten days away, everyone was training with fierce determination, giving it everything they had to claim one of the top three spots.
Chen Yong, who'd come this close to placing third, was especially relentless, sweating buckets as he trained like his life depended on it.
Every so often, he cast a sharp glance toward Lu Yuan.
Clearly, Lu Yuan had stolen the third place that should have been his, and the resentment of someone whose path to success had been blocked had taken root in his heart.
Lu Yuan hadn't noticed Chen Yong, but even if he had, he wouldn't have cared much.
Unless he never competed for anything, offending people was unavoidable.
Besides, with how quickly he was growing, there was no need for him to worry about such things.
About half an hour later, Lu Yuan finished another round of the Five Animals Fist.
[Five Animals Fist Beginner (115/200)]
This time, his proficiency had increased by a full 65 points.
Clearly, the Practice Makes Perfect fate was still in effect. Each time he practiced, he gained more proficiency.
At this rate, he'd need no more than two more rounds to successfully bring the Five Animals Fist to Minor Accomplishment.
However, though he could clearly feel that the qi and blood within him had grown from one thread to three after this round, his body was also more exhausted.
It seemed that nurturing those two newly added threads of qi and blood took a greater toll on his stamina.
He'd thought that after receiving a free serving of meat today, he'd be able to go from training twice a day to three times. But now it seemed he'd probably still have to stick to twice a day.
Of course, even so, Lu Yuan's progress was astonishingly fast.
The two men from the Inner Courtyard, Hong Lei and Fang Chang, aside, none of the thirty-odd martial apprentices in the Outer Courtyard had yet been found to have brought the Five Animals Fist to the Beginner stage.
If nothing unexpected happened, though, Lu Yuan would be able to bring it to Minor Accomplishment tomorrow.
And as time went on, the gap between him and the others would only grow wider, until he was leagues ahead.
Lu Yuan also seemed to have discovered the true terror of his Practice Makes Perfect fate. Not only did he get faster the more he practiced and always achieve results, but even without resources to support him, he could still improve at a speed beyond anyone's imagination.
After resting for a while, it was finally lunchtime.
Under the envious gazes of everyone else, Wu Yu, Chen Pi, and Lu Yuan each received their own serving of meat.
It wasn't a substantial cut like beef, venison, or tiger meat, just some pork and a few eggs, but they were still quite satisfied.
At the very least, they were finally getting to eat real meat. And for the next ten days, they'd be able to claim a free serving like this every day, enough to quickly restore the energy they'd expended that day.
The three, famished and ravenous, didn't bother with manners. They picked up their bowls and dug in.
The others could only smell the food while gnawing on the wild-vegetable cakes they'd brought from home.
"Next time, third place will be mine and mine alone!"
Off to the side, Chen Yong pulled a piece of jerky of unknown origin from his robes. It was already turning black. He glared at Lu Yuan as he gnawed furiously at the meat, his teeth grinding with rage.
"Ah, the hardship of it! I want meat too!"
"I *** swear, starting tomorrow I'll give up lust, never look at those picture books again, and rise with the rooster to train even harder. I'll make the top three next time and get to eat meat!"
Zhang San, Wang Er, and the others were all fired up too. Their craving for meat had reached its peak.
"Is this the wonder of martial arts?"
After a bowl of meat, Lu Yuan felt a warm glow spread through his whole body. The exhaustion from practicing the Five Animals Fist and the soreness in his muscles seemed to vanish completely.
He could even vaguely feel the meat rapidly transforming into surges of energy that continually nourished his body.
It was no exaggeration to say that this serving of meat might not let him practice the Five Animals Fist an extra time each day, but it would let him train a second time later in the best possible condition.
No wonder Chen Pi had always said that eating was the most important part of martial arts training: eat well, and you could train faster and better.
It was easy to imagine that with medicinal tonics or even Rejuvenation Pills, Lu Yuan could train three or four times a day—or perhaps even five or six.
After eating their fill, everyone rested briefly, then began training again with impressive discipline.
Lu Yuan was no exception. He was full of energy and more motivated than ever.
He immediately struck a stance, starting with the Bear Form Stance!
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