The fusion succeeded!
Two Lower A Class Root Bones fused into a single Middle A Class Root Bone.
After his master, Zhang Desheng, left, Lu Changfeng immediately went to a corner of the training grounds to cultivate.
He quickly completed a set of the [Le Mountain Angry Vajra] technique.
WHOOSH...
Lu Changfeng exhaled. With his enhanced Root Bone, the effects of his cultivation had nearly doubled!
The rate at which his qi and blood increased was at least fifty percent faster.
At this rate, he estimated he could break through to the Blood Forging Second Layer in another two or three months.
’Hmm? Is the Exotic Beast Meat I ate this morning already digested?’
’That makes sense. A faster cultivation speed means my absorption ability is also stronger. At this rate, the Exotic Beast Meat my master provides won’t be enough.’
’I’ll just keep cultivating for now. I’ll figure things out when I run out.’
Lu Changfeng took a strip of Exotic Beast Meat from his waist and popped it into his mouth.
More than ten days passed like this.
The thirty strips of Exotic Beast Meat Lu Changfeng had just received from Zhang Desheng were completely consumed. At the same time, the increase in his qi and blood was astounding; the progress he made in just over ten days was equivalent to a whole month of cultivation before.
After some thought, Lu Changfeng sought out his master, Zhang Desheng, to explain the situation.
"PFFT! You’ve already finished the Exotic Beast Meat?"
Zhang Desheng spat out a mouthful of tea. He grabbed Lu Changfeng’s hand and sent a current of Inner Strength through it to assess him.
Just as he thought, his Closed-door Disciple’s rate of progress had increased significantly again!
Far from being annoyed, Zhang Desheng was delighted. The Talent Lu Changfeng was displaying was far greater than his own had been back in the day.
If he maintained this pace, he would definitely reach the Blood Forging Sixth Layer before the age of thirty!
"The Martial Arts Hall’s expenses have been a bit high lately, but if we tighten our belts, we can still squeeze some out for you. Don’t worry."
"How about this: starting next month, I’ll double the amount of Exotic Beast Meat I provide you! You just need to focus on your cultivation!"
"Here’s a portion of Exotic Beast Meat. Take it and continue your cultivation for now."
’It’s great to have a master,’ Lu Changfeng thought as he accepted the box of Exotic Beast Meat.
However, sooner or later, he would still need to copy stronger Root Bones or fuse them himself to upgrade his own.
As his Realm increased, his consumption of resources would only grow larger.
He had to find a way to earn money for Exotic Beast Meat himself.
Lu Changfeng had also made inquiries. Ordinary people had never even heard of this Exotic Beast Meat. It was impossible to buy, as it flowed out from the Inner City.
Perhaps he could ask his third senior brother, Liuu Ye, who was a merchant, about it.
As for earning money, the Martial Arts Hall itself had employers who posted missions. Disciples of the Hall could accept these missions to earn money, though a portion of the payment had to be turned over to the Hall.
Besides that, there were other ways to earn money in the Outer City’s underground black markets, but those were much more dangerous.
After leaving Zhang Desheng, Lu Changfeng once again buried himself in his cultivation.
During this time, at Lu Changfeng’s suggestion, Chunzhu also began practicing the Changle Palm Method.
This was because Lu Changfeng knew about Chunzhu’s Root Bone Talent.
Zhang Desheng turned a blind eye to this at first. However, after discovering that Chunzhu’s Root Bone was decent, he decided to do his Closed-door Disciple a favor. He offered to waive Chunzhu’s tuition, allowing her to practice in the training grounds and officially become a Named Disciple.
Ever since Lu Changfeng’s expenses had increased, Zhang Desheng was clearly leaving and returning to the Martial Arts Hall more frequently, often being absent for two or three days at a time.
When he returned, his face would sometimes show signs of exhaustion.
Lu Changfeng guessed his master was personally taking on commissions. While grateful, he couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed. ’Farming an old man for Gold Coins like this is just too much,’ he thought.
In any case, Lu Changfeng received a plentiful supply of Exotic Beast Meat every month.
And so, a little over two months later, in the training grounds, Lu Changfeng let out a low roar. The qi and blood in his body surged as he successfully broke through again!
Blood Forging Second Layer, achieved!
Name: Lu Changfeng
Root Bone: Middle A Class, Lower A Class x2
Talent: Middle Grade Talent [Swordsmanship]
Realm: Blood Forging Second Layer
Blood Forging Technique: [Le Mountain Angry Vajra] Minor Achievement
Martial Arts: [Gale Swordsmanship] Great Success
A little over four months had passed.
Lu Changfeng had cultivated from an ordinary person to the Blood Forging Second Layer.
During this period, he had two opportunities to copy, and rather than deliberately seeking out other targets, Lu Changfeng chose to copy his master Zhang Desheng’s Root Bone both times.
Two Lower A Class Root Bones could be fused into one Middle A Class, and four Middle A Class Root Bones could be fused into one Upper A.
This meant that Lu Changfeng only needed to copy four more Lower A Class Root Bones, and then he could perform the fusions to elevate his own Root Bone to Upper A Class.
Lu Changfeng was still young. For the sake of caution, waiting for a mere four copy intervals was a price he could afford to pay.
Furthermore, boosted by his [Swordsmanship] Talent, his [Gale Swordsmanship] had smoothly reached the Great Success realm, and this was while only practicing his Swordsmanship for one hour each day.
This just went to show the importance of Talent.
After breaking through to the Blood Forging Second Layer, Lu Changfeng spent ten days consolidating his cultivation.
Within those ten days, absorbing the benefits of his breakthrough, Lu Changfeng’s height and weight continued to shoot up, reaching 1.88 meters and 95 kilograms.
With his outer clothes removed, his muscles didn’t look bloated at all. Instead, they were extremely well-defined and packed with explosive power.
The blood vessels hidden beneath his muscles were exceptionally thick, and both the volume and flow rate of the blood within them far exceeded that of an ordinary person.
With a Middle A Class Root Bone, even if he relied only on ordinary Qi Replenishing Soup for his cultivation, Lu Changfeng was confident he could advance to the Blood Forging Third Layer within half a year.
By consuming Exotic Beast Meat, Lu Changfeng was confident he could advance to the Blood Forging Fourth Layer in just three or four months.
However, to maintain the fastest possible cultivation speed, the required amount of Exotic Beast Meat would have to double again.
This time, before Lu Changfeng could even ask, upon learning that he had advanced to the Blood Forging Second Layer, Zhang Desheng proactively doubled his supply of Exotic Beast Meat.
He would provide Lu Changfeng with one hundred and twenty strips of Exotic Beast Meat each month!
During this time, Lu Changfeng had been making inquiries from various sources and had finally figured out the origin and value of this type of Exotic Beast Meat.
This particular Exotic Beast Meat, which came from a creature resembling a cross between a snake and a lizard, was called Earth Dragon Exotic Beast Meat and originated from the Wang Family in the Inner City.
It was cultivated by the Wang Family using a unique Secret Technique.
Each strip of Earth Dragon Exotic Beast Meat was valued at around two taels of silver.
Moreover, with the recent turmoil in the world, the price of Exotic Beast Meat was on the rise!
This meant that Lu Changfeng was now consuming nearly three hundred taels of silver’s worth of resources every month!
The Martial Arts Hall’s total monthly income was only a few hundred taels of silver. Almost all of it was now being used to support Lu Changfeng’s cultivation.
Zhang Desheng was truly sparing no expense for Lu Changfeng, completely fulfilling his responsibilities as a master.
On this day, Zhang Desheng handed the large box containing one hundred and twenty strips of Earth Dragon Meat to Lu Changfeng, but he didn’t let him leave right away.
"Blindly training without the experience of bloodshed does not make a qualified Martial Artist."
"Changfeng, get your things. Today, Master is personally taking you to see some blood."
Lu Changfeng was slightly taken aback but nodded in agreement.
A short while later, Zhang Desheng left through the back door of the Martial Arts Hall.
Lu Changfeng followed by his side, an iron long sword hanging from his waist.