In chaotic times, one can become a martial immortal.

As expected, it was just as Lu Yuan had thought.

Although he received another serving of meat at noon, after eating it, he still couldn't quickly recover to the point where he could practice the Five Animal Fist again.

It will probably take at least an afternoon to fully recover.

This means that Lu Yuan's afternoon was now free.

Although he could no longer cultivate, he seemed to have time to make money.

I spend my afternoons making money, and in the evenings I can practice the Five Animal Fist at home once a day, which still allows me to maintain a pace of two practice sessions a day.

This is only the beginning of mastering the Five Animal Fist. After reaching mastery or perfection, although each practice can generate more qi and blood, it will also consume more. If it cannot be replenished quickly, it may even lead to a serious deficiency in the body.

By then, even two training sessions a day, or even one a day, might not be enough to maintain.

To quickly replenish what is lost, ordinary meat might not be enough; one would need real large pieces of meat, or even medicinal soup and rejuvenating pills, which would cost an unimaginable amount of money.

The poor are scholars, the rich are warriors—that's the way it is.

Practicing martial arts requires not only diligent study and hard work, but also a constant investment of money.

In today's world, if ordinary people want to make money, they basically have no choice but to do manual labor, unless they take the wrong path. Not only is it tiring, but at most they can only earn a little money to fill their stomachs.

However, although Lu Yuan has not yet successfully completed his first Qi and Blood Tempering and cannot unleash his Ming Jin, he has already mastered the Five Animal Fist and can be considered a true martial artist.

Whether in terms of strength, speed, or reaction ability, they far surpass ordinary people.

Now, if he were to deal with those two thugs from the Black Tiger Gang again, he wouldn't even need to use lime powder; he could easily handle them.

After all, although the Five Animal Fist is actually only an internal training method and its lethality cannot compare to those real offensive techniques, as long as the strength is great enough and the speed is fast enough, it can still kill people with ease.

It's fair to say that even if he were to do manual labor, he alone would be equivalent to at least several ordinary strong men.

Of course, he didn't practice martial arts to do manual labor and continue being a beast of burden.

He wouldn't earn much money doing manual labor; it probably wouldn't even be enough to cover his daily expenses.

"With my current skills, I should have no problem either working for a security escort agency or as a bodyguard for a wealthy family. It's just that the money seems to come in a bit too slowly!"

Lu Yuan pondered to himself as he walked out.

Moreover, whether one takes a temporary job as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) or becomes a guard, there won't be much time left for cultivation.

Although you might make money, it will greatly affect your cultivation progress, making it a losing proposition.

What he needs most right now is a way to make a lot of money quickly without taking up too much time.

"It probably won't be long before we see A-Yuan at Song Academy!"

Seeing that Lu Yuan had only cultivated for a morning and left directly after eating the free meat, Chen Pi couldn't help but sigh and secretly shake his head.

Life is full of different aspects, and everyone has their own way of living. He can't control others, but he can manage himself, and that's enough.

The others naturally didn't say anything more and continued to cultivate even more diligently.

One of them had already mastered the Five Animal Fist. They didn't care whether Lu Yuan felt pressured or not, but they felt a lot of pressure.

"Someone like that isn't qualified to be my opponent!"

Chen Yong felt that it was ridiculous that he had previously regarded this guy as a target to catch up with.

In any case, if he practices one more time today, he'll show this guy what the real difference is in the next test!

……

"Never mind, let's eat first!"

After searching outside for almost an entire afternoon, Lu Yuan still hadn't found a good way to make money, but he started to feel a bit hungry.

Making money is something you can't rush, especially making big money. You have to rely on luck; you might just stumble upon it someday.

Moreover, he can still manage to maintain a pace of two training sessions a day, and his improvement speed is still not slow.

In a few days, he will be able to master the Five Animal Fist and even undergo a blood and qi tempering process to become a true external force martial artist. At that time, his ways of making money will definitely be broader.

After bringing the newly bought meat home, Lu Yuan first played with the little girl for a while, and then had a hearty meal.

As night fell, Yang and her daughter went to bed early.

Not long after, Lu Yuan, who had fully recovered, came to the courtyard alone.

Taking advantage of the night, he began his cultivation under the moonlight.

After achieving a certain level of proficiency, Lu Yuan gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Five Animal Fist.

Not only are the movements more fluid and natural, but the rhythm of breathing is also very rhythmic.

[Five Animal Fist - Minor Mastery (179/1000)]

"At this rate, I estimate that it will take me at most three more days to master the Five Animal Fist."

Lu Yuan glanced at the ancient scroll in his mind and pondered silently.

After he had mastered the Five Animal Fist, he could have attempted the first Qi and Blood Tempering with the wisp of Qi and Blood within his body.

According to Chenpi, unless one has exceptional physical attributes, the success rate is only 20% to 30%.

If you fail, your vital energy will dissipate, and all the time, effort, and money you've spent will be completely wasted.

Although one can undergo qi and blood tempering again after re-cultivating and refining qi and blood, if there are too many failures, not only will the success rate become lower and lower, but it may also completely damage the foundation, making further progress impossible.

In short, tempering one's Qi and blood is an extremely important hurdle for any martial artist.

Do not rush into it; only when your Qi and blood are abundant should you attempt to do so.

However, for others, nourishing qi and blood is a process of perseverance and accumulation day after day, but for Lu Yuan, it only takes a few days at most.

Therefore, he decided to wait three more days until he had mastered the Five Animal Fist before undergoing his first Qi and Blood Tempering in the best possible condition.

After this cultivation, although Lu Yuan's internal energy and blood had improved significantly, the depletion was considerable, almost completely draining his body.

After quickly wiping the sweat off his body, he lay down and soon fell into a deep sleep.

……

The next day, Lu Yuan slowly woke up.

Although he felt much better after a night's rest, he was still not strong enough to practice the Five Animal Fist again.

There was no other way but to eat the rest of the meat.

If this continues, even three meals of meat a day might not be enough to help him recover quickly.

Making money is now an urgent matter.

After he had recovered considerably, Lu Yuan finally arrived at Song Courtyard.

At this moment, Chen Pi, Wu Yu, Chen Yong, and the others were already cultivating enthusiastically.

Lu Yuan also noticed that there seemed to be several new faces in the crowd, and several familiar faces were missing.

Clearly, people were coming and going, some leaving and others entering.

As for Lu Yuan's arrival, no one paid much attention anymore.

It seems everyone has decided that he probably won't last much longer and will disappear from Song Academy completely.

……