Chapter 16: Great Increase in Strength
Lu Yuan returned home carrying his items. After he set down the essence blood of the Desert Fierce Tiger, he saw Xiao Hua waiting at the door. The weather had warmed slightly, so while she still wore a cotton dress, she had taken off her sheepskin Vest.
She stood gracefully in the courtyard. Without her bulky winter clothes, her figure looked even taller and more slender, utterly flawless.
"Yuan, it’s time to eat."
After putting his things away, Lu Yuan smiled. "Alright, coming now."
With that, he stepped out of his house and walked next door, side-by-side with Xiao Hua.
As soon as he entered, he saw the table laden with dishes—meat and vegetables.
There was also a pot of wine.
To his surprise, Xiao Hua’s mother was already at the table. She gave Lu Yuan a gentle smile when she saw him. "Yuan, hurry and sit."
Over the past several days, the two families had grown much closer.
Her mother had come to treat Lu Yuan almost like a nephew.
"Yes."
Lu Yuan replied with a sound of assent and sat down.
Then, he took a small bottle from his clothes. "Auntie, inside are a few Elixirs for coughs and wheezing. You should take them. They ought to be more effective than regular medicine."
He had bought them on a whim at the Military Preparation Warehouse for a little over ten silver.
It was an amount Lu Yuan could easily afford.
Xiao Hua’s mother would have certainly refused anything else, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn down medicine. After all, she was the only one who needed it, and there would be no way to dispose of it if she didn’t use it.
She could only accept it. "You child," she said, "why are you buying things so recklessly? If you have silver, you should save it to buy resources for your own cultivation. You don’t need to waste it on me."
But despite her words, a look of gratitude appeared in her eyes.
After all, she and her daughter had only ever had each other to rely on, and only they knew the hardships they had faced.
In all these years, besides Xiao Hua, this was the first time anyone had shown concern for her health.
"What are you talking about? I’m all alone here. You’re the only elder figure in my life. It’s only right that I show my respect."
After Lu Yuan said this, Xiao Hua’s mother didn’t press the issue.
Instead, she just kept piling food into his bowl. "This is snow rabbit meat we bought today. Hu’Er just finished stewing it. Go on, Yuan, try some."
Lu Yuan nodded and ate heartily.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua poured him wine.
The three of them enjoyed the rare, warm moment, truly like a family.
Xiao Hua’s mother even felt a little dazed.
’Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if things stayed like this forever.’
But immediately after, reason triumphed over emotion.
However, when she looked at Lu Yuan now, her gaze was no longer probing and wary as before, but warm and affectionate.
After the meal, Xiao Hua cleared the table.
After helping her mother to bed to rest, Lu Yuan returned to his own home.
The essence blood of the Desert Fierce Tiger couldn’t be wasted. He had to absorb it as quickly as possible.
After buying the medicine, he only had a little over ten silver left.
It was enough for his daily expenses for the next few days, but to get the cultivation resources needed to accelerate his breakthroughs, he would need a great deal of silver.
Therefore, he didn’t dare to indulge himself in the slightest.
Once inside his house, Lu Yuan smeared the Desert Fierce Tiger’s essence blood evenly all over his body and began practicing the Tiger Subduing Posture.
He lay prone on the floor, his body drenched in blood. As his chest and abdomen pulsed, a series of deep, muffled sounds emanated from within him, and his spine rippled up and down his back.
Lu Yuan could clearly feel a stinging pain on the surface of his skin; he was clearly absorbing the essence of the tiger’s blood.
Four hours passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.
HUMMM!
Every muscle in Lu Yuan’s body trembled. His tendons and bones resonated, emitting a series of low hums.
The system data suddenly popped up in his mind.
[Tiger Subduing Posture Body Tempering (10928/10000 Great Success. Ready to break through?)]
[Golden Bell Shield (10271/10000 Great Success. Ready to break through?)]
Lu Yuan’s heart leaped with joy at this change. He had thought it would take at least three sessions with the Desert Fierce Tiger’s essence blood to be ready for a breakthrough.
He never expected a single session to be so effective.
’Break through.’
In the next moment, Lu Yuan clearly felt his physical body undergoing a tremendous transformation.
Although he had yet to reach Bone Forging, the improvement to his Golden Bell Shield had made his tendons and bones far stronger than before.
The most obvious change was to his skin and flesh. A metallic sheen flashed across his body.
Tugging lightly at his skin, he found it was much tougher than cowhide.
Achieving Perfection in Body Tempering, further enhanced by the Golden Bell Shield, raised his power to a whole new level.
He felt that the strength of his tendons and bones was already comparable to that of an ordinary martial artist who had reached the Minor Achievement stage.
In other words, although the current Lu Yuan hadn’t broken through to Bone Forging, much less reached Tendon Refining, his physical fortitude was already on par with someone who had.
He couldn’t compare to the geniuses of those realms, but he would have no problem facing ordinary experts—and that was without even mentioning his Sword Skill, which had reached the level of Entering the Stance.
If he encountered an ordinary Tendon Refining expert, he could put up a fight.
He might even be able to win.
As for opponents in his own realm, he was confident he could defeat anyone, even a disciple cultivated by the Noble Families.
At that moment, Lu Yuan’s confidence soared.
Over the next few days, he spent almost all his time at home cultivating. In his free time, he went next door to work on repairs to their house after a long winter of being covered in snow and ice.
Xiao Hua’s roof needed patching. If the snow and built-up ice weren’t cleared away soon, the roof would surely leak as the weather warmed. Naturally, the job fell to Lu Yuan.
In the blink of an eye, six or seven days passed, and his time off duty came to an end.
By then, Lu Yuan had finished repairing both his own house and Xiao Hua’s.
On this particular morning, he had just finished cultivating.
Lu Yuan opened his system data.
[Name: Lu Yuan]
[Age: 16]
[Cultivation Technique: Breaking Blade Eight Techniques (3416/50000 Entering the Stance)]
[Tiger Subduing Posture Body Tempering (12415/30000 Perfection)]
[Golden Bell Shield (13044/30000 Perfection)]
[Wolf-Chasing Arrow Skill (50123/10000 Great Success)]
[Arrowhead Array (10983/10000 (Great Success). Ready to break through?]
In the past few days, he had used up all the essence blood of the Desert Fierce Tiger. It certainly hadn’t disappointed him—the growth of his cultivation base was significant.
This made his need for cultivation resources even more urgent.
’Break through.’
Then, Lu Yuan’s mind was flooded with a new level of understanding regarding the Military Array. A faint, shimmering Soldier Pattern even appeared on his body.
It looked like an arrowhead.
This was a manifestation of having mastered a Military Array to the Perfection stage. When leading his men in battle, he could enable them to fight with double their usual combat strength.
Moreover, he could channel the power of the Warriors under his command, transforming himself into the tip of the arrow, charging at the very front to shatter the enemy’s Defense.
This greatly increased his own strength in combat.
[Arrowhead Array (983/30000 (Perfection))]
A smile touched Lu Yuan’s lips. With his current strength, entering the Wasteland to take care of a few Northern Barbarian Scouts should be no problem at all.
Even if the other side had a few more Entry Level masters, it wouldn’t be a major issue as long as he had his Military Array.
He then got up and headed outside.
He planned to find Old Huang and tell him to get everyone ready.
At the same time, he would also go to the Merit Tower to see if there were any suitable missions.
This time, his goal was to earn enough military merit as quickly as possible to exchange for resources.
If he could reach the rank of Centurion, he would have even more resources to command.