Strength Greatly Increased

Lu Yuan returned home clutching his items. After setting down the blood essence of the Wasteland Fierce Tiger, he found Xiao Hua waiting at the door. As the weather had begun to warm slightly, she had already shed her sheepskin vest, though she still wore her cotton dress.

She stood gracefully in the courtyard. Without the bulk of the extra layers, her figure appeared even taller and more slender, flawless from head to toe.

"Brother Yuan, it's time to eat."

After putting his things away, Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Right, I'm coming."

He stepped out of the room and walked side-by-side with Xiao Hua toward the house next door.

As soon as they entered, he saw the table laden with food—meat and vegetables alike.

There was even a pot of wine.

Xiao Hua's mother was already seated at the table. Seeing Lu Yuan, she offered a gentle smile. "Sit down, A-Yuan."

After spending these past few days together, the relationship between the two families had grown much closer; the old woman had come to treat Lu Yuan almost like her own nephew.

"Right."

Lu Yuan acknowledged her and took his seat.

He then pulled a medicine bottle from his robes. "Auntie, these are some pills for your cough and asthma. Please take them; they should be more effective than ordinary medicine."

He had picked them up at the Armory for a little over ten taels of silver.

Lu Yuan could afford it.

Had it been anything else, Xiao Hua's mother would certainly have refused, but she could not say no to this medicine. After all, no one else had any use for it, and even if she didn't take it herself, she wouldn't know how to dispose of it.

She could only tuck it away and say, "You child, why are you wasting money on things like this? You should save your silver to buy resources for your own cultivation instead of squandering it on me."

Despite her words, a flicker of emotion appeared in her eyes.

After all, she and her daughter had relied solely on each other for so long, and only she knew the bitterness of those years.

For the first time in many years, aside from Xiao Hua, someone was actually concerned about her health.

"What are you saying? I am all alone, and you are the only elder I have. It is only right that I show you some filial respect."

Once Lu Yuan finished speaking, Xiao Hua's mother did not dwell on the topic further.

She simply kept piling food onto his plate. "This is Snow Rabbit meat I bought today. Hua-er just finished stewing it. Try some, A-Yuan."

Lu Yuan nodded and began to eat heartily.

Xiao Hua poured him some wine.

The three of them enjoyed a rare, warm moment, feeling truly like a family.

Xiao Hua's mother even felt a brief sense of daze.

Perhaps continuing like this wouldn't be so bad.

But immediately after, her reason overcame her sentiment.

Still, when she looked at Lu Yuan, the probing and vigilance of the past had been replaced by a gentle, maternal kindness.

After the meal, Xiao Hua cleared the dishes.

Lu Yuan helped the old woman to her bed to rest before returning to his own home.

He could not afford to waste the Wasteland Fierce Tiger's blood essence; he had to absorb it as quickly as possible.

After buying the medicine, he had only about ten taels of silver left.

It was enough for his normal expenses for the next few days, but if he wanted to acquire cultivation resources to speed up his breakthroughs, he would need a large sum of money.

Therefore, he dared not indulge himself in the slightest.

Once inside his room, Lu Yuan coated his entire body evenly with the blood essence of the Wasteland Fierce Tiger and began to practice the Tiger-Subduing Stance.

He lay prone on the ground, his body slick with blood. As his chest and abdomen heaved rhythmically, a muffled sound emanated from within, and his spine rippled up and down.

Lu Yuan could clearly feel a stinging sensation spreading across his skin, a sign that he was absorbing the essence of the tiger's blood.

Without realizing it, two hours passed.

"Hum!"

Lu Yuan's muscles trembled, and his tendons and bones hummed, emitting a series of faint, resonant sounds.

System data suddenly popped up in his mind.

[Tiger-Subduing Stance Body Tempering (10928/10000 Great Success, breakthrough available?)]
[Golden Bell Cover (10271/10000 Great Success, breakthrough available?)]

This change brought a surge of joy to Lu Yuan. He had originally thought it would take three applications of the Wasteland Fierce Tiger's blood essence to achieve a breakthrough.

He hadn't expected the effect to be this potent after just one use.

"Breakthrough."

The next moment, Lu Yuan clearly felt his physical body undergoing a massive transformation.

Although he had not yet reached the Bone-Forging stage, his muscles and bones had become significantly stronger than before following the improvement of his Golden Bell Cover.

The most obvious change was his skin and flesh, across which a metallic luster flashed and vanished.

A light tug revealed skin that was far tighter and tougher than oxhide.

With his Body Tempering at perfection, coupled with the augmentation of the Golden Bell Cover, his strength had ascended to a new level.

He felt that the strength of his muscles and bones was now comparable to that of an ordinary person who had achieved minor success in the Bone-Forging stage.

In other words, although Lu Yuan had not yet broken through to Bone-Forging, let alone reached Tendon-Refining, his physical strength was already on par with those who had.

He could not compare himself to geniuses of every realm, but against ordinary experts, he had no issues at all, especially when combined with his blade techniques that had entered the state of momentum.

He now had the power to fight against an ordinary Tendon-Refining expert.

He could even defeat them.

As for opponents in the same realm, he was confident he could defeat anyone, even the disciples cultivated by aristocratic families and powerful clans.

At this moment, Lu Yuan's confidence surged.

Over the next few days, he spent almost all his time practicing at home, and when he had nothing to do, he went next door to repair the house, which had been covered in ice and snow throughout the winter.

The roof of Xiao Hua's house needed to be patched up; if the snow and ice residue were not cleared off immediately, the roof would likely leak as the weather warmed up, so this task naturally fell to Lu Yuan.

In the blink of an eye, six or seven days had passed since his last rotation ended.

After both his own house and Xiao Hua's house had been put in order, he finished his morning practice on this day.

Lu Yuan opened his system data.

[Name: Lu Yuan]

[Age: 16]

[Technique: Blade-Breaking Eight Styles (3416/50000, Momentum)]

[Tiger-Subduing Stance Body Tempering (12415/30000, Perfection)]

[Golden Bell Cover (13044/30000, Perfection)]

[Wolf-Chasing Archery (50123/10000, Great Success)]

[Arrowhead Formation (10983/10000, Great Success) Breakthrough?]

Over the past few days, he had used up all the essence blood of the Wasteland Fierce Tiger, and it had not disappointed him; his cultivation had grown significantly.

This made him even more desperate for cultivation resources.

"Breakthrough."

Following this, Lu Yuan's understanding of military formations reached a new level, and a faint Soldier Mark even appeared on his body.

It resembled an arrowhead.

This was a manifestation of mastering a military formation to perfection; when leading his subordinates in battle, he could allow them to exert double their combat power.

He could even coordinate the strength of his soldiers, turning himself into the tip of an arrowhead to charge at the very front and break through the enemy's defenses.

During combat, this greatly increased his own strength.

[Arrowhead Formation (983/30000, Perfection)]

The corners of Lu Yuan's mouth curled upward; with his current strength, dealing with a few Northern Barbarian scouts in the wasteland should be no problem.

Even if the enemy had many experts who had entered the realm, with the military formation, there would not be any major issues.

He then stood up and walked outside.

He prepared to find Old Huang and have him notify everyone to get ready.

At the same time, he would head to the Merit Pavilion to see if there were any suitable missions.

His goal this time was to earn enough military merit as quickly as possible and then exchange it for resources.

If he could reach the rank of Centurion, he would have even more resources at his disposal.