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Subduing Tiger Martial Hall.

Li Yun and Lu Kuan faced off.

In an instant.

Li Yun planted his foot and twisted his waist, his right fist sweeping out with the wind. The edge of his fist sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.

Lu Kuan didn't dodge. He raised his left arm to block, his wrist bone giving a soft crack as the edge of his palm followed through, cutting toward the opening in Li Yun's punch.

Li Yun spun and retreated a step, hooking his left fist back to slam the back of it into Lu Kuan's ribs.

Lu Kuan lowered his shoulder to absorb the force and shot out his right fist. His knuckles brushed within an inch of Li Yun's jaw.

Their fists whipped up a storm as their feet tangled in quick steps.

After a short while.

Their fists collided head-on. Both men withdrew at the same time, panting as they stepped back half a pace.

"Tsk, tsk. It's only been two days, and your boxing has already started to surpass mine."

Lu Kuan couldn't help blaming the old men in his family.

Such a fine seedling, and they still weren't willing to invest in him.

They said, "He's only got a seventh-grade constitution. So what if he has some aptitude?"

A poor constitution meant wasting more resources.

Wouldn't it be better to invest those resources in a proven genius like Zhu Daqi?

Lu Kuan still couldn't make decisions for the family, so there was nothing he could do.

"I'm really sorry. My father may run the butcher shop, but I can't ignore my second and third uncles' opinions.

"But I've decided to personally give you two more packets of Blood Replenishing Powder.

"At worst, I'll skip one trip to Spring Breeze Pavilion!

"How's that? Am I generous or what?"

"Oh?

"You're actually willing to go one less time a month to discuss the Dao with your Little Green.

"Senior Brother, I'm afraid I'll never be able to repay this kindness."

Hearing that the Lu Family wasn't willing to invest in him, Li Yun felt no particular way about it.

After all, investors naturally cared more about returns.

But hearing that Lu Kuan was willing to give up Little Green to support him did make him feel a little touched.

"Who told you to be such a freak? If you keep at it for three or five years, maybe you really will condense Bright Force.

"Then, with your minor mastery of boxing, you'll be a pretty formidable fighter among Bright Force martial artists."

After a pause, Lu Kuan puffed out his chest.

"Just look at you, the 'Martial Fanatic,' challenging people to spar every day. You might reach great mastery in boxing before long.

"Then you'll be invincible among Bright Force martial artists.

"Heh. Won't I have a powerful friend by my side then?"

Watching Lu Kuan joke around, Li Yun nodded.

He'd made up his mind to be friends with him.

"Alright, then. Thanks, Senior Brother.

"When I make it big, I'll buy Little Green's freedom and send her to your house."

"Wow, that'd be a steal. Little Green's redemption fee isn't cheap."

The two chatted for a while before Li Yun changed the subject and asked about what he'd seen the day before.

He wanted to find out whether Lu Kuan had any more information.

"Senior Brother, when I was delivering meat yesterday, I saw..."

After listening, Lu Kuan's expression turned serious. He lowered his voice.

"If you're sure you saw right, those people must belong to an organization called the Unity Society.

"The same thing happened in the county where I used to live.

"Those people set up porridge stalls in public and helped the poor, but behind the scenes, their hands were filthy. They did all sorts of despicable things.

"The county authorities cracked down on them back then.

"But as soon as the heat died down, a new leader appeared within two months.

"They're like wild grass that can never be cut down. They just move to a new place and set up another porridge stall.

"There's something downright sinister about them."

It seemed that his side job escorting deliveries carried some risk after all.

If he ran into something even stranger next time, even if Li Yun didn't want to get involved,

who knew whether the other party might come after him to keep things secret and silence him?

Looks like he didn't need a ninety-nine-percent guarantee of safety before taking a Bounty Pavilion job.

Ninety percent would do.

With the extra income, he wouldn't have to take escort jobs.

After resting, Li Yun suggested they keep sparring, but Lu Kuan wasn't interested.

"No, go find someone else."

Before Li Yun could say anything, Lu Kuan slipped away.

He was probably off to find that Little Green.

Li Yun glanced around at the other senior brothers and quickly picked out a target, walking over.

"Senior Sister Yu, want to spar with me?"

"You want to spar with me?"

"Yeah!"

"Come on."

Since reaching minor mastery in boxing, Li Yun had found that sparring with people whose boxing skills were weaker than his had become much less effective.

After a serious match, he'd gain only two or three points in total.

Sometimes even less, just the basic one point.

His progress had slowed to a crawl.

From then on, Li Yun tried to find people whose boxing skills were at minor mastery or higher.

The two of them went back and forth.

Yu Qingqing had far more martial virtue than the other senior brothers.

She genuinely held back her qi and blood, suppressing herself to about Li Yun's level.

As they sparred, she did her best to explain her understanding of Tiger Subduing Fist.

Li Yun was completely absorbed.

Muscle crashed against muscle.

Until they were both spent.

At last, they withdrew and went to rest in a corner.

"Junior Brother Li, your Tiger Subduing Fist is improving so quickly. It won't be long before you surpass me."

Yu Qingqing wasn't just being polite.

Every day, she practiced her stance work, but she also had to spend time maintaining her social circle.

That left her little time to practice boxing.

She'd reached minor mastery in Tiger Subduing Fist a long time ago, and it didn't feel like she was improving anymore.

"Senior Sister, you're giving me too much credit.

"I go out to escort deliveries before dawn. When I get back, I practice my stances, and then I have nothing to do all afternoon except work on my boxing.

"And so many senior brothers are willing to spar with me.

"Of course I've made some progress."

Since Li Yun spent every day getting "close" to Yu Qingqing, he could rely on her admirers to help him practice.

She didn't dislike it. Sometimes, she even played along.

He couldn't help feeling some fondness for her.

Yu Qingqing didn't feel much for Li Yun, but she did find him amusing.

She'd never seen a man get close to a woman and say so many flattering things, all just to spar with her.

She admired Li Yun's passion for martial arts.

"Actually, if you have nothing to do, you could take an escort job in the afternoon too.

"That way you'd earn more silver and fill your qi and blood sooner, so you can knock on the gate and try to condense force.

"There's no comparison between minor mastery in boxing at the Body Tempering Realm and beginner-level boxing with Bright Force.

"You should have felt it when sparring with the other junior brothers.

"As long as your opponent ignores the rules, keeps a steady pace, and uses force to meet you head-on, you won't be able to take it. You'll still lose in the end."

Li Yun knew that well.

When he sparred with his senior brothers, he could often feel their force striking his body.

It was far fiercer and more domineering than anything at the Body Tempering Realm.

"Ahem, Senior Sister. I saw someone at the Bounty Pavilion this morning looking for a guide to hunt on Crow Mountain.

"Would you..."

"Yeah."

At the mention of it, Yu Qingqing beamed.

She didn't care in the least that her laughter made her whole body tremble.

"That vixen Lin Biling was furious after losing to me last time. I have to thank you for helping me find that old hunter in the village."

After laughing for a while, Yu Qingqing came to her senses.

"Why bring that up? Are you thinking of going?"

Since it really was just a hunting trip and nothing had happened last time, there probably wasn't any risk.

Li Yun decided to go.

He could earn a commission and see whether he could find anything rare to sell for money.

Then he could buy several more packets of Blood Replenishing Powder.

"Yeah. I was wondering if you'd be willing to hire me."

"Can you handle it? This is really important to me, Senior Sister. If I lose, won't that woman laugh at me for ages?"

Yu Qingqing sized Li Yun up. It seemed she still remembered his refusal last time.

Li Yun grumbled inwardly.

This woman was really petty.

"Senior Sister, don't worry. I can handle it."