Lu Yu moved out of the yellow mud hut and into the blue stone tile house, which made everyone else envious.
Especially Wang Can, who learned that Lu Yu had become a formal protector. Encouraged, he worked even harder on his cultivation and, under Yang Xiu's guidance, obtained more training time and advice, greatly increasing his cultivation speed.
Lu Yu didn't need guidance, but for others, Yang Xiu's input could significantly improve their cultivation speed.
Thus, Wang Can set Lu Yu as his target to chase, striving forward on his cultivation path.
While Wang Can was diligently cultivating, Lu Yu had already moved into his new home. Under Zhang Lun's instructions, others dared not go too far and assigned a well-located room in the outer courtyard to Lu Yu.
The room was near the logistics courtyard, convenient for collecting the monthly allowance.
Because he became a formal protector, Lu Yu received a set of new living items, three sets of clothes, and a new knife.
When he received the knife, Lu Yu was somewhat surprised. He practiced fist techniques, not sword techniques, so why carry a knife?
The person who accompanied him laughed and explained, "Martial cultivators in the body refinement stage may have strength beyond ordinary people, but their bodies still can't withstand blades or guns. Especially when the cultivation levels are similar, having a weapon can directly decide the outcome."
In the spacious new room, sitting on the finely crafted wooden bed and looking at the small red box in his hand, Lu Yu opened it and saw a pill that looked like a chocolate bean.
"Is this the body refining pill? Why does it look like a chocolate bean?"
Sitting on the bed, he picked up the body refining pill and tossed it into his mouth, munching it.
"The taste is also somewhat like chocolate, slightly milder than a chocolate bean."
Sitting on the bed, quietly waiting for the pill's effect, he waited for a while but felt nothing, and Lu Yu wondered if he had taken the pill incorrectly.
Just then, a warm current emerged from his stomach, surging to his limbs, causing his whole body to heat up, his muscles to tremble slightly, and soon, a layer of sweat appeared on his skin…
After a while, the warmth within him completely disappeared. Lu Yu opened his eyes, his whole body soaked in sweat, like he had just finished practicing fist techniques, his clothes drenched.
He opened the attribute panel; his Qi Blood increased by 4 points, becoming 27. The body refining pill was remarkably effective.
Consuming one body refining pill was equivalent to three days of practicing fist techniques in just a few minutes, and Lu Yu couldn't help but develop a craving for the body refining pill.
Unfortunately, he could only consume one body refining pill per day. The body refining pill was also sold in the system shop for 100 points per pill.
The annotation stated that each person could only consume one pill per day, and the effect gradually diminishes with subsequent doses until breaking through to the third stage of body refinement, after which the pill loses its effectiveness.
The bedding was soaked with sweat, and if he had known that taking the body refining pill would cause so much sweating, Lu Yu wouldn't have taken it on the bed.
Since it was still noon, he took the bedding to the bathhouse for cleaning, hoping the afternoon sun would dry it.
While drying the bedding in the yard, Wang Qiang came to his doorstep.
"Lu Yu, you've become a formal protector, so you don't need to do those temporary patrol duties anymore. You have a new patrol area, follow me."
"Okay, wait a moment." He paused what he was doing, entered the house, picked up his knife, locked the door, and followed Wang Qiang to his new patrol area.
System tasks hadn't changed; it was still daily patrols, earning 50 experience points per day, consistently.
Wang Qiang took Lu Yu around the logistics courtyard, emphasizing key areas to watch and places easily neglected, assigning patrol tasks around the logistics courtyard perimeter to Lu Yu.
The patrol requirement was from eleven o'clock at night to five in the morning, with patrols every half hour, mainly checking for any anomalies in the courtyard's warehouse.
During other times, the logistics courtyard had personnel on duty, so Lu Yu didn't need to patrol.
The night shift, a six-hour job, with previous easy patrols, Lu Yu even thought Han Yu was running a charity!
It turned out that was temporary work. Actually, Zhang Lun was responsible for patrolling the western courtyard's side gate; they were just familiarizing themselves with the patrol process, not actually tasked with patrolling.
However, as a formal protector, although he had labor responsibilities, there were corresponding benefits. Lu Yu could earn 30 gold coins monthly as a salary, with each body refining pill costing just 10 gold coins, allowing him to buy 3 pills a month from his patrol earnings.
Lu Yu silently calculated, realizing the monthly value of the body refining pills he could obtain exceeded his income for half a year.
But he couldn't calculate it like that, since he was only at the first stage of body refinement. As his cultivation level and strength increased, his salary would increase accordingly.
He hung the knife on his waist; other formal protectors also wore weapons, so Lu Yu didn't want to stand out by putting the knife in the player inventory.
With some time left in the morning, Lu Yu headed to the training ground for cultivation. As a formal protector, he could train independently of others and also use the training equipment on the training ground.
Realizing excessive reliance on system hangs might cause him to have fighting power but unable to utilize it, Lu Yu found a vacant wooden stake and practiced Fierce Tiger Fist.
When trying to perform the Fierce Tiger Fist, the training experience he previously gained while idle rushed into his mind, making Lu Yu feel as if he had truly practiced the Fierce Tiger Fist for a long time.
The rhythmic sound of flesh and wood colliding echoed, not fast nor slow, not rushed nor impatient. For the first time, Lu Yu genuinely executed the various moves of the Fierce Tiger Fist—Hungry Tiger Pounces, Fierce Tiger Descending the Mountain...
Although his fists hurt when striking the wooden post, completing the set of moves felt terrific.
It was like the exhilaration of running twenty laps around the track, with all the blood boiling, feeling as though he might float away.
The more he fought, the more energetic he felt, the deeper he became enthralled. Unbeknownst to him, everyone around him had left, and Lu Yu hadn't noticed.
"Ha!" With the last punch of the Fierce Tiger Fist thrown, the wooden dummy slightly swayed. The martial arts wooden dummy was designed for Martial Cultivators at the third stage of the Body Refinement realm, and certainly not something Lu Yu could break.
Seeing the wooden dummy merely wobble, Lu Yu felt a little disappointed; he had just thought he could smash the dummy with a single punch.
"Seems I've gotten a bit carried away; I need to stay humble and avoid arrogance," Lu Yu advised himself. Playing this game involved a certain risk, so caution was necessary.
Thinking of the seemingly fragile Han Yu whose strength unexpectedly surpassed his own, Lu Yu's inflated ego instantly cooled down.
Lu Yu is a very cautious, prudent person, but in some ways, he also appears quite impulsive and adventurous. These two contradictory traits are both evident in him.
Cautious and prudent. Lu Yu prepares for the worst in most situations. For instance, when he decided to write full-time, he reserved enough food money to last three years in case the full-time writing did not go well and he couldn't earn money.
Impulsive and adventurous. Despite knowing that playing this game might involve life-threatening risks, Lu Yu entered this unknown God Martial World game without hesitation.
He is a person of contradictions.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve, Lu Yu walked toward the direction of the cafeteria.
"Lu Yu, get over here, these five bowls of porridge are yours," Wang Qiang called out as Lu Yu entered the door.
Seeing the five bowls of medicinal porridge on the table, he was somewhat surprised; he originally thought coming so late meant missing out on the medicinal porridge. He already knew that medicinal porridge was a benefit for newcomers, and in the future, if he wanted to drink it, he would have to pay for it himself, at 1 gold coin per bowl.
"Is this what's left over from today?" Lu Yu asked with some doubt.
Wang Qiang rolled his eyes, "Those wolf cubs are like wild boars gone mad with hunger; how could there be leftovers? This was specially reserved for you."
"Even though you have become an official Protector, you can still enjoy this month's benefits. Moreover, there's an advantage: you are guaranteed five bowls of medicinal porridge daily. If you want more, you'll have to snatch them yourself."
"Alright, I'm not going to chat with you more, hurry while the porridge is still warm, eat it. If you want anything else, go find it in the kitchen; as a Protector, getting enough to eat is quite easy."
Patted Lu Yu on the shoulder, Wang Qiang left the cafeteria.
Lu Yu found that as his Qi Blood increased, his appetite became better and he ate more and more.
After eating five bowls of porridge, he could still eat a large roast chicken, plus two drumsticks.
After finishing the meal, he went to take a shower and returned to his new room to rest. Conveniently, he had nothing to do in the afternoon, and the refrigerator in real life had been eaten almost empty these days, needing to replenish the stock.
Lu Yu exited the game, placed the helmet properly, grabbed his phone and keys, and went out.
Perhaps because the food in the game was so delicious, it led to his appetite opening up, and he finished in a few days what would usually last half a month.
He bought a large pile of things at the supermarket, holding four or five of the largest supermarket bags in one hand without feeling heavy, returning home easily under people's shocked gazes.
After categorizing the food, this time he bought enough to eat for three months; fresh meat and vegetables were all stuffed into the refrigerator, filling the depleted fridge.
There were also a lot of fast food and easy-to-store foods—boxes of instant noodles, whole boxes of compressed biscuits, whole boxes of chocolate, vacuum-packed cakes and bread, several boxes of milk... all placed under the computer desk in the bedroom for easy access when hungry.
After storing the supplies for wartime, Lu Yu went out again, with a premonition that he would not go outside for a long time after this outing, although he used to not go out even for ten to fifteen days while serializing novels.
He went to a buffet restaurant he had wanted to visit but thought was too expensive to indulge. Lu Yu had a hunch that this time he should eat enough to make it worth the price...
"Take care," a group of waiters stood at the door seeing Lu Yu off, without saying 'Come again,' as the manager did not allow it.
It was impossible to break the bank of a buffet restaurant, but today Lu Yu taught the buffet restaurant owner what heartache truly meant.
Lu Yu waved goodbye to the farewell hostesses with a satisfied face, feeling that the restaurant's attendants were particularly enthusiastic, especially with so many people fussing over him alone as he ate, he felt a bit embarrassed to continue eating.
No choice, for some reason, today he particularly wanted to eat meat, and ended up eating all the restaurant's meat dishes in a short time, outpacing the kitchen's cooking speed.
Then a group of waiters carrying plates of vegetables and fruits crowded around Lu Yu, using them to block his desire to continue eating meat. Finally, amidst the complaints of other guests, they managed to supply meat dishes again.
Failing to block Lu Yu's mouth, who knows, tomorrow the barbeque buffet might turn into a vegetable and fruit buffet on platforms like Meituan and Alipay.