Lu Yu brought Little Tail back to the courtyard, and Han Yu, who had been watching the courtyard from upstairs, became excited upon seeing him.
Noticing the child following Lu Yu into the courtyard, she was somewhat puzzled, wondering who that child was.
"Someone come."
A guard, arranged by the shopkeeper to protect Han Yu, walked into the room, and Han Yu pointed to Little Tail downstairs and asked, "Who is that child?"
Coincidentally, the guard responsible for protecting Han Yu was the same one who took Little Tail for a bath earlier, and he replied honestly, "That's the beggar that Lu Steward brought back."
"A beggar? Why is he keeping a beggar by his side?" Han Yu muttered to herself.
The guard nearby thought she was asking him, and replied, "I don't know either, but that child is a girl."
"A girl?" Han Yu showed a thoughtful expression.
After returning to the courtyard, Lu Yu went into the room, took out a Hundred Refined Great Sword from his backpack, and began practicing in the courtyard.
After a period of training, Lu Yu found that although his Qi Blood hadn't increased, his strength had grown significantly, and wielding the Hundred Refined Great Sword was no longer as strenuous as before.
However, the weight of six hundred pounds still made it somewhat difficult for him to swing it freely.
He swallowed a Qi Blood Pill, then took three Body Tempering Pills, and began automated training of the Bladeless Blade Technique.
The Body Tempering Pills had long been exhausted, and the ones he was using now were purchased from the system marketplace.
Before every training, Lu Yu would take pills worth hundreds of gold to maintain such a rapid training speed, something ordinary Body Refinement Realm martial cultivators couldn't imagine.
After all, a spiritual weapon costs just over a thousand gold, and Lu Yu's single training session was equivalent to consuming one-tenth of a spiritual weapon's cost. With that amount of money, one might as well buy a spiritual weapon to greatly enhance one's strength.
The whistling sound made by the Hundred Refined Great Sword swinging was terrifying, but Little Tail had grown used to it.
Wearing an oiled paper folding hat bought by Lu Yu, she sat on the doorstep, quietly watching Lu Yu practice, occasionally looking up at the sky, seemingly reminiscing about her past freedom.
In fact, Little Tail didn't miss her past freedom; she thought her current life was very happy and she was satisfied. She looked up at the sky because the old beggar had told her that when people die, they ascend to become stars in the heavens.
She's actually looking at the star the old beggar turned into.
After finishing practice with the Bladeless Blade Technique, Lu Yu proceeded to train the Fierce Tiger Fist Technique.
As for the Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada, this place wasn't suitable for practicing it—the courtyard was too small, and with his current strength combined with his proficiency in the Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada, he would crash into a wall in one step.
Upgrading the Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada required 800 experience points, and spending time practicing it was not as effective as directly using experience points to upgrade. Once upgraded, practicing a few times to master it was sufficient, without the need to spend too much time on the Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada.
Looking at the rapid increase of the realm experience bar, Lu Yu felt that if he exerted himself a bit more tonight, he could break through to the third level of the Body Refinement Realm.
Han Yu opened the window, noticed Lu Yu still practicing, and curiously asked the guard outside, "Is Lu Yu always this dedicated to training every day? Apart from meals, he's constantly practicing?"
The guard responded, "Yes, Lu Steward is the most diligent person I've ever seen, almost practicing every moment."
Upon hearing this, Han Yu felt ashamed, knowing that even with her father's urging, she often thought about slacking off, yet this Lu Yu was practicing so diligently without anyone forcing him.
While auto-training, Lu Yu contemplated what realm he should reach before exposing Yang Xiu. Too weak, and it would be dangerous; too strong, and it would be a waste of time.
He needed to quickly obtain Han Mansion's grand gift so he could go to Celestial Wind Academy to find someone sooner.
After thorough consideration, he deemed that reaching the Qi Cultivation Realm was safest; Yang Xiu might also be in the Qi Cultivation Realm.
But, will that take too long?
...
Ma Gang, seeing the person climbing in through the window, angrily said, "Can't you use the door? Coming in through the window at this time!"
"There's important information."
Ma Gang patted the woman in bed and said, "Leave."
The woman hurriedly left the room with her clothes, not causing either of the men in the room to turn their heads despite the occasional exposure.
"Han Yu has left Han Mansion and is now staying at the inn next to Jimin Hall."
"What? Han Yu left Han Mansion!" Ma Gang excitedly jumped out of bed.
"Ahem~ Be mindful, don't be so revealing. I'm leaving." With that, the person climbed back out the window.
Ma Gang glanced down, not paying attention to what had happened, focusing on how Han Yu appeared in Windmill Town.
As long as they seized Han Yu to threaten Han Yaozu to hand over the cultivation technique, they wouldn't have to hide in that desolate mountain and forest anymore.
Regarding Lu Yu, he tossed the thought aside; dealing with Lu Yu was only necessary because he could interfere with their plans. Now that the target had appeared, exposure was simply irrelevant.
Looking outside, it's still bright, with a long time until evening, but Ma Gang's heart was already impatient. He shouted outside, "Old woman, find me someone else!"
...
Han Yu stayed idly in the room, watching Lu Yu train from morning to afternoon, and then from afternoon to evening. Except for eating, he was continuously practicing, causing her to feel tired from watching and losing interest in observing.
After dinner, she went to bed early to rest.
Lu Yu had long discovered that Han Yu was residing in the inn opposite, her unrestrained gaze was unmistakable, but Lu Yu couldn't be bothered to mind her.
After dinner, Lu Yu continued to practice the Fierce Tiger Fist. He needed just a little more experience points to upgrade, so he decided to stay up all night if necessary.
If he didn't upgrade with this little bit of experience points, he wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully, and might get up and sleepwalk to practice.
As the night deepened, Windmill Town was very quiet, with only occasional calls of the night watchman. The lights by the pharmacy were also all extinguished, and Lu Yu was practicing the Fierce Tiger Fist in the darkness.
Although there were no lights, Lu Yu could see the scenery in the courtyard clearly. Cultivation enhances all kinds of abilities. Even without moonlight tonight, Lu Yu could see the night view twenty or thirty meters away.
Around him, two or three meters away, it felt no different from daytime, like looking at things in the shadow during the day.
[Through diligent practice, the realm has broken through to Body Refinement Level 4, Qi Blood +8]
He finally heard the system notification he had longed for.
At the moment of breakthrough, Lu Yu felt a surge of pure Qi Blood within his body, nourishing his internal organs. He exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
Moreover, this Qi Blood that emerged during the breakthrough also surged to the surface of his body. Lu Yu felt his skin becoming more resilient and thicker.
The remaining Qi Blood surged into his head, and Lu Yu instantly felt his vision clear a lot. Immediately after, he saw someone appear in Han Yu's room, rolling Han Yu in her quilt and preparing to leave through the window facing the courtyard.
Lu Yu's eye twitched. He would rather not have seen this scene; it would have been much better if he were asleep now, with nothing happening.
Ma Gang, who jumped out of the inn carrying Han Yu, hadn't expected anyone to be standing in the courtyard so late without any lights on, just staring into space. Really had nothing better to do after a full meal!
"Damn, since you've seen me, you're just out of luck!"
Charging towards Lu Yu with the quilt roll, he got closer and finally saw clearly that the person in the courtyard was Lu Yu, who he intended to kill.
Immediately, Ma Gang showed a grin, thinking: Perfect, I can complete the task of killing Lu Yu too. Today is really my lucky day!
He attacked Lu Yu with his bare hands, thinking Lu Yu couldn't take even one punch from him; he'd finish him off with one punch while taking the young Miss Han away.
The next second, he saw an extremely exaggerated weapon appear in Lu Yu's hand. Before he could react, he found himself getting farther and farther away from Lu Yu...
"Sky Collapse!"
Seeing Ma Gang dare to run at him barehanded, Lu Yu unhesitatingly took out his Hundred Refinement Great Sword and delivered a Sky Collapse strike.
The six-hundred-pound Hundred Refinement Great Sword in hand, even if Lu Yu couldn't unleash the full power of Sky Collapse, it was absolutely not something Ma Gang, with bare hands, could withstand.
Upon contact, Ma Gang's arm was broken by the immense force, and in less than a split second, his arm and back were merged into one, becoming a pile of flesh, directly blasted away by a single Sky Collapse.
[Killed a Body Refinement Level 6 Martial Cultivator, gained 412 experience points]
Body Refinement Level 6! Lu Yu didn't expect him to be a Body Refinement Level 6 Martial Cultivator. Realizing this, he gained a clearer understanding of the power of Sky Collapse.
Under normal circumstances, to deal with a Body Refinement Level 6 Martial Cultivator, he would have to go all out for a slim chance of winning.
This was considering he had his Fierce Tiger Fist cultivation at a perfected level, only feeling a slight chance to defeat a Body Refinement Level 6 Martial Cultivator.
But, without any defenses, a Body Refinement Level 6 Martial Cultivator couldn't withstand Sky Collapse.
Let alone a Body Refinement Level 6, Lu Yu doubted even a Body Refinement Level 7 could withstand it.
Moreover, when dealing with martial arts like the Bladeless Blade Technique, the best choice is to dodge, not to take it head-on.
If the Martial Cultivator had held back even a bit, he wouldn't have been left with no ability to dodge.
Seeing the quilt roll fall to the ground, Lu Yu admired her, as she was still asleep. Upon checking, he realized Han Yu had been drugged before being rolled up in the quilt.
Not bothering with her, since she was wrapped in the quilt, she wouldn't catch a cold sleeping here at night, and no one would dare bother her now.
Returning to the courtyard, closing the door, after training so late, he felt a bit sleepy himself, lying in bed ready to sleep.
He recalled when he broke through his realm, it seemed like his Qi Blood had increased quite significantly, far more than in previous realm upgrades.
Lu Yu had once heard Wang Qiang say that the transition from Body Refinement Level 6 to 7 is a hurdle, and crossing it brings enormous improvement. So it seems, the transition from Body Refinement Level 3 to 4 is also a small hurdle, making such a significant improvement normal.
Looking at the experience bar for upgrading to Body Refinement Level 5, requiring a full 2000 experience points, now having 1047 experience points, he wondered whether to upgrade the Bladeless Blade Technique.
What made him hesitate was he didn't know whether upgrading the Bladeless Blade Technique would increase his realm.
The more he thought, the more restless he became, tossing and turning in bed, seeing that dawn was about to break, Lu Yu finally made up his mind to upgrade the Bladeless Blade Technique!
[Through diligent practice, Bladeless Blade Technique has been enhanced to the second level, Qi Blood +10]
"And then?" Lu Yu looked at the short and weak system notification, feeling a bit frustrated.
Upgrading the Bladeless Blade Technique to the second level indeed added a lot of Qi Blood, equivalent to the maxed-out Fierce Tiger Fist, but the realm didn't increase.
The first half of the Bladeless Blade Technique only has three levels, and the first level can only be practiced up to Body Refinement Level 4, so the upgrade didn't enhance the realm.
If cultivating to Body Refinement Level 4 still can't comprehend the second level of the Bladeless Blade Technique, additional Qi Blood cannot be cultivated, which is considered a lack of talent.
Conversely, if someone with a lower realm comprehends a level far beyond their current realm in a cultivation technique, they are considered a genius with high comprehension.
As for Lu Yu, he's known to be a "cheater!"
Barely anyone can enhance their realm through comprehending a cultivation technique; those who can are either supreme geniuses or cheaters.