All morning, everyone was practicing the Fierce Tiger Fist.
As the only one not getting hit, Lu Yu was basking in the envious (jealous) gazes of others.
Practicing boxing isn't about showing off, diligently and meticulously using the correct posture to perform the Fierce Tiger Fist is very physically demanding, so many people stopped to rest after going through the routine a few times.
Only Lu Yu had been practicing from the start until now; in this idle mode, he could feel the hunger pangs in his stomach, but didn't feel tired, so he could persist all the way through.
The hunger wasn't too strong yet, bearable enough, so he continued idling, just a little more to level up.
Each time he went through the routine, the experience bar for the Fierce Tiger Fist increased a little. To level up the martial arts to the next level required 100 experience points, while the Hungry Tiger Pounce skill upgrade only needed 20 experience points.
After idly running through the Fierce Tiger Fist for the twentieth time, Lu Yu received a skill upgrade notification.
[Skill Upgrade! Fierce Tiger Fist - Hungry Tiger Pounce (Novice) → Fierce Tiger Fist - Hungry Tiger Pounce (Slightly Accomplished)]
After the skill upgrade, during idle practice, Lu Yu's movements became noticeably more fluid, and his punching speed increased slightly.
Upon long pressing the skill, he learned that to reach the next level, he needed 50 experience points, and there were still 80 experience points remaining for the Fierce Tiger Fist upgrade.
Lu Yu was invigorated, feeling that his relentless efforts had finally paid off with a skill upgrade.
Moving on to continue striving...
Clap, clap, clap — sounds of applause resounded, and everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound.
Yang Xiu stood in front of the crowd and shouted loudly, "Alright, morning practice ends here. Next, you'll familiarize yourselves with the daily patrol areas. Once you finish the loop, you can eat."
Hearing they could eat, the weary and hungry crowd cheered, and Lu Yu stopped practicing, allowing his consciousness to regain control of his body.
While idling, he hadn't felt a thing; once he regained control, he immediately felt his limbs weaken, head dizzy, and a strong hunger pang from his stomach, so intense it felt as if his stomach wanted to devour itself.
"Wang Qiang, Li Shan, you two take them through the daily patrol route and then take them to eat."
Two who were already official Protectors came running over, and after saluting Yang Xiu respectfully, they led the group out.
As everyone was leaving the martial arts field, a young girl dressed in a refined and luxurious dress came running through the main gate with a red box. Seeing her, Wang Qiang and Li Shan bowed respectfully and said in unison, "Hello, Miss!"
The girl ignored them and hurried over to Yang Xiu, exchanged a few words with him, and then opened the box for him to see. Lu Yu, being a bit far away, didn't hear what was said.
However, he took note of the girl's appearance. Since the game setting seemed to be in ancient times, "Miss" undoubtedly had the power to decide the life and death of these household servants. Best to remember her face and try not to offend her.
Lu Yu habitually prepared for the worst.
Causally following the team, thinking about the girl's attitude towards Yang Xiu and the others earlier, Lu Yu felt Yang Xiu had the potential to be an exemplary household servant, especially given how he spoke to Steward Zhang earlier, saying he wouldn't let the Miss down...
Heh heh~
Currently, everyone was following Wang Qiang and Li Shan on the Protector's daily patrol path; on one side was a three-meter-high stone wall, and on the other, a dense forest, with a dirt path stretching into the distance.
Seeing that it would take a while before they finished, Lu Yu began to split his attention to explore other game features.
Opening the backpack, it was empty.
Opening the quest log, it was also empty.
Opening the area chat box, it was still empty.
Opening the friends list, needless to say, it was empty too.
When Lu Yu saw the opportunity to search for friends, he tried entering the number written on the delivery box since it closely resembled his character's account number, which should be Su Peng's account.
After clicking search, sure enough, he had found a person. He clicked to send a friend request, and in less than two seconds, Su Peng was added to his friends list.
Lu Yu was a bit surprised, not expecting Su Peng to be online. Just as well; Lu Yu had some questions for Su Peng and opened the friend chat box.
A semi-transparent blue chat box appeared in Lu Yu's field of vision, without obstructing his sight.
He typed in a long string of questions he wanted to ask and clicked send.
[Send failed, target exceeds ten kilometers from player, requires a Communication Talisman to reach, Communication Talismans available: 0]
Lu Yu: "..."
"Darn, all those words typed for nothing!"
Long pressing the Communication Talisman, he saw a prompt: Communication Talismans can be obtained through quests, NPCs, or purchased from the system shop.
Lu Yu found the system shop, and upon opening it, found that items required recharge to purchase. Arranged from lowest to highest price, Communication Talismans were in the first row.
100 points per talisman, which is 100 bucks each.
"... A hundred bucks just to send a message? This game is nuts!" Lu Yu couldn't help but comment.
Lu Yu wasn't extravagant enough to spend such a hefty amount for a single conversation with Su Peng.
Beep, beep, beep~ message alert sounds echoed.
Lu Yu glanced at the others and found that they showed no reaction. It seemed that only he could hear the voice.
[Su Peng: I'm currently at the Celestial Wind Academy in the Celestial Wind Province. If you're in Celestial Wind Province, you can come to Celestial Wind Academy to find me. Communication Talismans are very precious, and I don't have many, so if you have any questions, let's talk face-to-face. This is Jing Yang's account; you can add him as a friend, 1H%56YN589@#32...]
Are Communication Talismans really that precious? Aren't they sold in the shop? Well! A hundred bucks each is indeed quite expensive. But Lu Yu still felt it was a bit strange; money shouldn't be an issue for Su Peng, right?
After adding Zhang Jingyang as a friend, Zhang Jingyang quickly sent him a message.
[Zhang Jingyang: Su Peng and I are both at the Celestial Wind Academy. Su Peng forgot to mention it earlier, but I think it's worth telling you, even though he said it's a waste of a Communication Talisman. We're waiting for you at Celestial Wind Academy.]
Seeing this message, Lu Yu knew it was really Zhang Jingyang. This was just his personality.
Lu Yu, Su Peng, and Zhang Jingyang had been brothers since childhood, from elementary school to junior high, then high school, and even university; the three were always in the same grade, same field, same class, same dorm...
It was almost unbelievably coincidental, especially since Lu Yu hadn't discussed his application choices with them before filling them out.
However, this trio, in the year they were supposed to graduate from university, three years ago, just before graduation, Su Peng and Zhang Jingyang disappeared without even having time to receive their diplomas or say goodbye.
Lu Yu searched for a long time but couldn't find any trace of them until today when Su Peng called him, confirming that the two hadn't died in some unknown corner three years ago.
To be honest, until now, Lu Yu really thought they had vanished from the world.
"Alright, the next goal is to head to Celestial Wind Academy to meet you guys. If you can't give me a satisfactory explanation for your sudden disappearance, I won't let it go!"
Lu Yu decided to make his way to Celestial Wind Academy as quickly as possible.
Celestial Wind Academy is in the Celestial Wind Province, so where am I now?
Lu Yu felt he needed to first figure out where he was before figuring out how to get to Celestial Wind Academy.
"Alright, have you all memorized the daily patrol route? If not, then let's go over it again."
"Yes!!!" Upon hearing they had to go over it again, the hungry and tired crowd snapped to attention, hurriedly shouting loudly.
Wang Qiang was just saying that; there was no way he'd take them for another round. Even if they weren't going to eat, Wang Qiang still needed to eat!
He led the hungry group to the cafeteria, where the official Protectors were seated, with tables full of meat and rice to their fill.
Watching the feast, the hungry crowd couldn't help but drool. Lu Yu, despite knowing this was just a game, found his mouth watering desperately, hungry for a taste.
Wang Qiang and Li Shan blocked the group, signaling them to the side: "Your food is over there."
The group looked to where Wang Qiang pointed, and there stood a large wooden barrel full of white porridge, mixed with other ingredients that looked nothing like the roast chicken, braised pork knuckles, or fish soup on the tables...
"We want meat too, we want meat too..."
Someone started shouting, and others joined in, the uproar growing louder.
"Quiet!" Li Shan shouted: "Only official Protectors can eat meat. You should be grateful you even have porridge! If you keep making noise, none of you will eat!"
"Alright, alright, calm down, Li Shan, you went through this too," Yang Xiu appeared in the cafeteria and said.
Wang Qiang and Li Shan stepped aside, making way for Yang Xiu to walk in front of the group. He kindly explained, "You used to live without knowing if you'd have your next meal. If you eat rich food like meat right away, you'll harm your body."
"Besides, this isn't ordinary porridge. The added ingredients help replenish and enhance your Qi Blood, which is beneficial for your training and will speed up your path to becoming an official Protector."
"Understood?" Yang Xiu glanced at the group.
As Yang Xiu's gaze swept over them, they instinctively recalled the pains from their arms, legs, and backs and meekly replied, "Yes, yes..."
"If you understand, go over there and each get a bowl. Line up for porridge; if it's not enough, you can get more. Remember, no cutting in line, or you won't eat at all today!"
A group of children, who were pickpockets and beggars in the town, willing to do anything to survive and unfamiliar with any manners, obediently lined up for porridge, not daring to cut in line or defy Yang Xiu's words.
After getting their porridge, they held their steaming bowls and ran outside, taking small sips and occasionally yelping because it was too hot, but unwilling to spit even a mouthful out.
Lu Yu fetched two bowls and began transferring porridge from one bowl to the other, repeating this process to cool it down faster.
Seeing Lu Yu "playing" with two bowls, Yang Xiu approached him, "Why are you holding two bowls?"
After glancing around and seeing no one else, Lu Yu realized Yang Xiu was talking to him and honestly replied, "I saw the others all took a bowl, but there were leftovers, so I took another to help cool the porridge faster so I can eat more."
"If I can eat more porridge, I can grow stronger faster, become an official Protector faster, and repay Master Han who has been kind to me."
After hearing his words, Yang Xiu took a closer look at him, recognizing him as the boy who could perfectly execute the Fierce Tiger Fist, and satisfied, reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
Halfway through, he remembered Lu Yu was rather dirty and subtly withdrew his hand without following through.
"It's good to have such thoughts. I have high hopes for you. If nothing unforeseen happens, you'll definitely be the first Disciple to become an official Protector this year. Work hard and strive to become one soon."
Yang Xiu encouraged Lu Yu, who appropriately showed delight at being praised by a prominent figure.
Seeing his expression, Yang Xiu was even more satisfied, "Eat well; nourishment will improve your training and help you grow stronger faster."
Noticing the conversation between Yang Xiu and Lu Yu, a slightly older boy in the crowd walked toward the place where the dishes were stored...