Now Lu Yu's qi blood reached 17 points. With the nearly doubled increase in qi blood, he clearly felt a significant enhancement in his strength, and the speed of his punches improved considerably.
After pondering for a while, Lu Yu understood the meaning of qi blood: in this game, qi blood is like the combat power in traditional games; it is a comprehensive reflection of a character's overall strength.
The higher the qi blood, the stronger the combat power.
In this way, as long as you find a way to increase qi blood, you can enhance your own strength.
Although qi blood can be directly increased through experience points, this is not the best choice because qi blood can also be increased by cultivating casually and improving cultivation techniques.
Upgrading Fierce Tiger Fist from the first layer to the second requires only 100 experience points and can grant an increase of 5 qi blood points. Breaking through a realm also costs just 100 experience points and grants a 2 qi blood point increase.
Upgrading from the second layer to the third requires 500 experience points. After the upgrade, the increase in qi blood will definitely surpass 5 points, and upgrading cultivation techniques can also enhance realms, saving the 200 experience points needed for realm upgrades, earning more qi blood boosts.
Calculating this way, directly using experience points to increase qi blood has the lowest cost-effectiveness, followed by using experience points to upgrade realms.
The most cost-effective method is using experience points to upgrade cultivation techniques, which not only yields more qi blood but also saves the experience points needed for realm upgrades, and acquires new skills—a win-win situation.
Lu Yu set his next small goal: accumulate enough experience points to upgrade Fierce Tiger Fist (second layer).
Wondering if Yang Xiu is still strolling with Miss Han; he hasn't seen him at the training ground all afternoon.
After an afternoon of cultivation, Lu Yu's qi blood increased by another point, reaching 18 points.
With the increase in qi blood, he ate significantly more during dinner, finishing six bowls of porridge until he felt full. When he wanted to eat a seventh bowl, the pot was already empty.
After dinner, those with patrol duties went to patrol, while those without continued their evening cultivation, followed by bathing and sleep.
This continued for three days, and Lu Yu hadn't seen Yang Xiu at the training ground for quite some time. He became familiar with the inner courtyard guard who replaced him, exchanging a few words during shift changes.
He learned that his name was Zhang Lun and he seemed to be the steward's nephew.
After upgrading the cultivation techniques, Lu Yu could increase 2 qi blood points daily through cultivation. But when his qi blood surpassed 20 points, the increase rate slowed down, allowing only a 1.5 qi blood increase daily.
Lu Yu walked on the dirt road during his daily patrol, while the other three patrolled on the other side, reluctant to interact much with Lu Yu.
Over the past few days, Lu Yu realized that his apparent excellence may have led to being ostracized; no one wanted to interact or communicate with him.
However, it was all fine, as Lu Yu also didn't care to say much to them, just a bunch of NPCs.
Suddenly, an urge to pee struck him. He glanced around and noticed the three were still far away, so he stepped into the forest, relieving himself under a large tree.
"Did you see what I mentioned last time?"
A somewhat familiar voice came through, causing Lu Yu to instinctively turn towards its direction, recognizing the familiar silhouette in the forest.
"Isn't that Yang Xiu? The other seems to be Han Yu? What are they doing here?" Lu Yu showed a hint of confusion.
In his conversations with Zhang Lun, Lu Yu learned that Miss Han's name was Han Yu. As for Han Yu and Yang Xiu's relationship, Zhang Lun didn't elaborate much. But from his tone, Lu Yu could tell Zhang Lun probably liked Han Yu.
"I found what you mentioned while my father wasn't watching, but it was hidden in the study's secret chamber. There are mechanisms inside; I can't take it out, or my father will surely discover it."
Han Yu intentionally showed a look of distress on her face, then her expression changed to ease, saying, "However, if you're willing to marry me, I can definitely convince my father to give it to you."
Yang Xiu remained silent, without responding.
Seeing Yang Xiu's attitude, Han Yu's expression shifted, filled with resentment, and she cried out, "Why won't you marry me? Why? Do you like another woman?"
Yang Xiu quickly covered her mouth, "Shh! Keep your voice down, don't let others find out, it'll harm your reputation."
"Mmm mmm mmm..."
Their voices softened, making it hard for Lu Yu to hear them. Shortly afterward, he saw Han Yu rushing away, her speed surpassing his.
Han Yu, with tears streaming down, burst out of the forest, her silhouette disappearing into the distance, followed by Yang Xiu appearing on the road.
Lu Yu stared in surprise at Yang Xiu emerging from the woods. Upon seeing Lu Yu by the wall, Yang Xiu was again surprised by his sudden appearance, confirming that Lu Yu hadn't seen what transpired in the woods.
"Instructor Yang, why are you here?" Lu Yu asked.
Glancing at Lu Yu, "It's none of your business, don't ask too many questions." With that said, he turned and left; within ten seconds, Yang Xiu's silhouette vanished on the road.
Lu Yu watched the disappearing figure, returning to his normal expression. It seems that Yang Xiu and Han Yu's relationship isn't that good, and Yang Xiu might have his personal motives.
Whatever Yang Xiu's motives were didn't concern Lu Yu; he just wanted to go about his business, passively cultivate qi blood, quietly level up, and once he's strong enough, go to Celestial Wind Academy to find Su Peng.
All these days, the time spent in the game far exceeded that in reality, Lu Yu was beginning to consider this game as the real world.
Apart from eating, going to the toilet, and sleeping, Lu Yu devoted almost all his time to the game, completely integrating into this world.
He also learned a small part of the game background of the World of Divine Martial Arts.
From Zhang Lun's words, it's known that the Han family resides in a very inconspicuous small town under the jurisdiction of the Celestial Wind Province, Windmill Town.
The good news is, he is in the Celestial Wind Province mentioned by Su Peng.
The bad news is that getting into Celestial Wind Academy is as hard as ascending to the heavens.
When Lu Yu asked, "How do you enter Celestial Wind Academy," Zhang Lun gave a big comical look, as if an eagle saw a turtle saying to him: I'm going to fly higher than you.
To let Lu Yu understand the vast gap between himself and the Celestial Wind Academy, Zhang Lun explained the situation he knew.
To enter Celestial Wind Academy, first, Lu Yu must become a free man. A Han family servant doesn't qualify to join the academy. Legally, they became part of the Han family property when they were taken into the Han residence.
Only by becoming a free man will the law recognize you as a civilian, giving you the right to enter the academy for further studies.
And in the Han residence, there are two ways to obtain freedom: one is to make great contributions and receive the grace of the Han residence, becoming free. The other is to break through the Body Refinement realm, become an enshrined member of the Han family, serve them for ten years, and redeem the contract of servitude.
The former is not up to him, a new arrival at the Han residence. The latter, breaking through to a new height in the Body Refinement realm, is hard to achieve without ten or eight years.
After becoming a free man, one must first leave Windmill Town and head to Beifeng City. If you can get admitted by an academy in Beifeng City, there's a slight chance to enter Celestial Wind Academy.
Every year, Beifeng City has a few precious slots to recommend talents to Celestial Wind Academy, and only the best few have the opportunity to be recommended. Whether they can get in depends on whether they can pass the tests of Celestial Wind Academy.
"The eldest and second young masters of the Han family are practicing in Beifeng Academy in Beifeng City, backed by the entire Han family. Despite that, in the academy, they are only at middle to lower levels, with no chance of being recommended."
"But even so, the strength of the eldest young master is unimaginable to us."
"As for you, don't even think about it! The eldest young master reached the seventh level of the Body Refinement realm at your age and is a well-known genius in Windmill Town, but in Beifeng City, those stronger than the eldest young master are countless."
"Just honestly work as a protector! Don't daydream. At least when you are old, you won't worry about food and clothing, and you can have descendants to inherit your lineage."
Knowing that strength is the most important reliance on realizing his goals, Lu Yu became more earnest in his training (grinding), practicing whenever he had time, even grinding while on patrol.
With Lu Yu's relentless effort, the experience bar of the Fierce Tiger Fist had already surpassed the halfway mark, accumulating 150 experience points. One more day of patrolling and another day of practicing the Fierce Tiger Fist, and it could reach the third level.
The Fierce Tiger Fist - Hungry Tiger Pounce has also been upgraded from entering to being skillful, while Fierce Tiger Descending the Mountain was also practiced to some achievement.
[Name: Lu Yu]
[Realm: Body Refinement - Level 1]
[Qi Blood: 23]
[Cultivation Technique: Fierce Tiger Fist (Level 2)]
[Skills: Fierce Tiger Fist - Hungry Tiger Pounce (Skillful), Fierce Tiger Fist - Fierce Tiger Descending the Mountain (Some Achievement)]
[Experience Points: 150]
Once the skill level reaches skillful, upgrading becomes significantly harder, requiring a whopping 500 experience points.
After the group's practice ended in the afternoon, Yang Xiu appeared in the martial arts arena and said to the group, "You have been practicing the Fierce Tiger Fist for nearly a week. Solely practicing the fists cannot achieve the best effect. Starting tomorrow, we will begin sparring."
"Only fists that can defeat opponents are good fists; mere posturing is useless. From tomorrow onwards, the winner will receive a Body Refining Pill as a reward, one pill per day."
Upon hearing about the Body Refining Pill, the group's eyes showed enthusiasm, and they all became excited, as if they were assured of winning tomorrow.
Lu Yu heard from Zhang Lun that official protectors usually save money to buy Body Refining Pills from the logistics hospital to speed up training progress. Body Refining Pills are effective for those below the third level of the Body Refinement realm.
"Everyone, prepare well tonight! Sparring begins tomorrow morning."
After finishing, Yang Xiu left quickly, as if in a hurry.
Lu Yu grinded a bit longer, then returned to his room, exited the game, and after washing up, went to bed.
Tomorrow, there's finally a chance to battle in the game, Lu Yu was a bit excited, planning to sleep early today to recharge for tomorrow's battle.
As a fantasy martial arts game, it would indeed be too boring if you could only grind and not fight.