The Perks of Being Poor?

After another training session, he swallowed three more Qi-Replenishing Pills.

By the time he came back to himself, his Body Tempering progress had unknowingly reached two percent.

He shook the small porcelain bottle in his hand. The last bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills was almost empty too.

He had also finished testing the effects of Ninth Grade Realm cultivation arts.

Without Qi-Replenishing Pills, he could only practice the boxing forms three times before exhausting his qi and blood. With food and rest, he could undergo Body Tempering two or three times a day.

In other words, without taking pills, he could temper at most nine body parts a day.

With Qi-Replenishing Pills, however, he could practice the boxing forms three additional times each session. For an ordinary Ninth-Rank Martial Warrior, three pills a day was the limit their body could endure, meaning they could temper eighteen body parts a day.

But after doing the math for himself, Su Xinghe set aside the hundred-percent bonus from his Perfect Mastery Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art.

As long as his supply of Qi-Replenishing Pills kept up, excluding eating, drinking, relieving himself, and sleeping, he could temper more than thirty body parts a day.

With the Listening to Tides Art's additional hundred-percent qi and blood boost, that was equivalent to sixty tempering sessions for others.

He only needed half the expenditure for twice the result.

This Listening to Tides Art was absolutely a supreme secret manual.

He wondered what kind of force the Heavenly One Sword Sect was, to give its disciples such a miraculous cultivation art for talent testing.

A faint rustling sounded.

A little ball of flesh covered in pale yellow fuzz wobbled upright from his bed. Its large sapphire-like eyes rolled around before it stuck out its tongue at him.

"Squeak, squeak..."

"What a lazy little thing!"

Feeling that faint spiritual connection in his mind, Su Xinghe knew it was feeding time.

But it had been fed too well lately. The Little White Bat had gotten so fat that it could no longer fly.

As for the reason—

He figured it was because his qi and blood were abundant, carrying traces of the Qi-Replenishing Pills' medicinal power.

He walked to the bedside and lifted the Little White Bat in his palm. The little fellow nudged its round head forward, trying to burrow into his arms.

Su Xinghe lightly weighed it in his hand.

It really had put on quite a bit of weight. It was already as big as a chick.

Silently, he picked up his short dagger and lightly sliced his palm.

Hm?

It did not even cut through!

He put more force into it and tried again.

The next day, Su Xinghe got up as usual.

He raised his arm, spread open his palm, and looked closely.

The five fingers on his right hand had already recovered, though their color was slightly darker.

But martial artists all had hands full of calluses. Without a careful comparison, no one would notice.

After breakfast, he arrived at the White Ape Martial Academy on time.

He joined the other disciples in the front courtyard, setting up his stance and beginning a new day of grueling practice.

After finishing his boxing practice that afternoon—

Su Xinghe went to the rear courtyard.

The moment he entered, he saw the old man brewing tea again.

"What are you doing over here, kid?"

Without even raising his head, Xie Guang continued fussing with the teapot before him.

"Elder Xie, you're in fine spirits!"

Su Xinghe flattered him first.

"It's too hot outside, so I came to beg a cup of tea from you."

As he spoke, he walked to the table, found a stool, and sat quietly to the side, watching.

Boiling water washed through the tea cups, rinsing away their stale scent. Before the fresh tea had even been steeped, a delicate fragrance already drifted out.

Four cups of clear green tea stood in a row. While they waited, Xie Guang raised his head.

"You're making fun of me, kid."

He still looked languid, as though he had not fully woken up.

"This old man's pitiful little bit of qi and blood is barely enough for daily use. If I practiced a few more rounds of boxing, wouldn't that cost me my life?"

Su Xinghe's heart stirred, and he picked up the thread.

"Elder Xie, don't joke around. Who could ever have enough qi and blood?"

"I feel like I'm about to break through to Inner Tempering, so I wanted to buy a few more bottles of Qi-Replenishing Pills from you and make a push through this bottleneck."

With a ding, a tea cup fell to the ground.

Ignoring the tea splashed across his clothes, Xie Guang stared straight at Su Xinghe across the long table.

"What did you say?"

This was part of Su Xinghe's talent plan, and also a choice forced upon him by circumstance.

The two bottles of Qi-Replenishing Pills from last time had contained only forty pills in total. After last night's consumption, they were nearly gone.

"I think I'm about to break through to Inner Tempering."

Su Xinghe pretended to sound uncertain.

Xie Guang did not even spare a glance for the freshly brewed tea. He grabbed Su Xinghe's hand and hurried toward the strength-testing stone locks in the central courtyard.

As they walked, he muttered to himself.

"Ah, if only the old chief were still here. This poor old man doesn't even have a thread of internal force left in him now. If I want to check your qi and blood, I can only use crude methods."

The central courtyard was the domain of the Inner Disciples.

But because they were short on manpower, the two senior brothers had both been sent out to handle the martial academy's affairs.

They were both Inner Tempering apprentices, their one-arm strength reaching five or six hundred jin. Even when facing higher-ups from small gangs, they could stand on equal footing.

Su Xinghe found a four-hundred-jin stone lock and easily lifted it one-handed.

Under Xie Guang's expectant gaze, he switched to a four-hundred-and-fifty-jin one.

Pretending to strain with all his might, he barely raised it over his shoulder.

"Good!"

"Good! Good!"

"Give it another ten days or half a month, and your strength will definitely merge completely into your qi and blood."

"Then my ten bottles of Qi-Replenishing Pills..."

Su Xinghe looked somewhat sheepishly at the managerial elder, whose face was full of kindly reassurance.

Xie Guang nodded and was just about to agree.

Then his expression suddenly turned serious.

"What happened to those two bottles of pills from last time?"

"That was forty pills. Don't tell me you ignored the strain on your body and ate them all!"

That hit the nail on the head.

Su Xinghe could only nod honestly, then shake his head again.

The old man's face changed again and again, until he twisted his beard into a rope.

Then he suddenly thought of something.

"You took leave a few days ago?"

Su Xinghe nodded.

"I heard your younger brother got married?"

Su Xinghe nodded again.

Only then did Xie Guang's expression improve somewhat. He said earnestly,

"Forget it... Take it easy from now on. Don't let the other disciples find out, or I won't be able to explain it to the academy master either."

With ten bottles of Qi-Replenishing Pills in his arms, Su Xinghe was still utterly bewildered.

Until, after dinner, he stepped outside and saw Little Beggar squatting by the main road, waiting for him.

Only then did realization strike him.

"Taking leave, getting married..."

"Selling pills..."

"Was it because his family was poor?"

"Want to eat together?"

Su Xinghe waved at the youth.

"Boss!"

Little Beggar called out somewhat awkwardly.

He had been watching the street just now. How had he failed to notice the boss arriving in advance? Could it be that the boss's divine art had reached great mastery, and his detection range now exceeded Little Beggar's own?

I need to work harder!

Thinking that, he hurriedly shook his head.

"I've already eaten. I just came by to check on you."

"Mm!"

Su Xinghe nodded and turned to walk through the gate.

"Xiao He, you're back. Have a cup of tea first. Dinner will be ready soon."

Inside, Su Cheng was chatting with Chen Guilan. When he saw Su Xinghe enter, he stood with a smile to greet him.

The two elders were preparing to open a shop on the street-level floor, but they had not decided what to sell yet. Every day, they either went out to survey the market or asked around about supply channels.

After greeting them, Su Xinghe headed for the well in the rear courtyard. After practicing boxing all day, his whole body felt sticky and uncomfortable.

The moment he stepped into the small courtyard, he heard the laughter of Su Haitao and his wife from the row of rooms.

"This is what home feels like..."

He felt that all his effort and sacrifice had been worth it.

A bucket of icy well water washed away the tail end of summer.