When he saw the effect of the Furnace Skill, Lu Yu was overjoyed.
This skill was truly out of this world. It could actually channel energy in two directions.
Under normal circumstances, when he used up his own strength, he would obtain health vitality that was multiplied by several times, allowing him to quickly develop his skills and increase his abilities.
And during battles, he could burn his health vitality and obtain strength that was multiplied, and instantly erupt with terrifying combat strength.
This skill was already very powerful by itself. The moment it was activated, it could double one's Strength or double one's Health Vitality.
Skills that could multiply one's powers were truly heaven-defying.
Meanwhile, Lu Yu's inner strength skill was the Great Dao Heaven Devouring Skill that he was practicing, which also had the multiplier effect.
With these two skills combined, the multiplier factor was further multiplied, allowing Lu Yu to increase his battle prowess exponentially!
It was already noon time. His wife, Giovanna, had quickly prepared a table of dishes.
In their simple home, the two of them sat down at the dining table and started eating.
It was a small home, but it was extremely heart-warming.
Their two children were in school and would not be back at noon. They would only be back in the evening.
As they ate, Giovanna spoke.
"Oh yes. This morning when I was on my way back from work, I met Lu Shui's teacher. She specially came to look for me and told me that Lu Shui was worried about increasing the financial burden on her family. She had already taken the initiative to withdraw from school, but the teacher didn't agree as she needed the parent's approval."
"I didn't agree to this matter. No matter how difficult it is, we have to ensure that the children can continue their education. Otherwise, they won't have a future. Don't you agree, old man?"
"However, you don't have to worry about this matter. I've already applied for an additional job. In the future, after I get off work in the afternoon, I'll go work for a few more hours. I'll be able to get off work at 9 or 10 at night. It may be a little tiring for me for a while but it's not a problem."
When Lu Yu heard this, his heart ached for his wife.
Early in the morning, while Lu Yu was still practicing and developing his skills, his wife, Giovanna, had already gone out to work.
After coming back for lunch, she still had to work in the afternoon. That was already two jobs.
Now, in order to save up enough money for their children's education, she had to get another job. It was simply too tiring.
Such was the situation in this world. Powerful martial arts practitioners had a respectable status. They did not lack money at all. They could focus on developing their skills, gaining experience and fighting.
As for ordinary people, just trying to stay alive was extremely difficult and exhausting.
For instance, with Lu Yu's family, the family of four did not encounter difficulties in feeding themselves. With the Federation's allowance that came with Lu Yu's Martial Arts Warrior status, they were able to scrap by.
However, the bulk of the expenses were spent on their two children.
Even though he was only in high school, the expenses were already quite high. After all, to develop into a Martial Arts Warrior required numerous teachers and resources.
This money naturally needed to be paid by the parents.
And this was only for the present. Simply sending the two children to school required his wife to work three jobs.
In the upcoming martial arts exam, if the two children qualified and entered a martial arts academy, that was when they would really start their training.
At that time, the expenses would truly increase massively. It was quite common for expenses to multiply by tens of times.
Of course, if they were extremely talented and could qualify for the top ten martial arts academies in the Federation, they would be able to receive funding from various aspects of the Federation. At that time, they wouldn't need to spend money for them to study at the Martial Arts Warrior University.
However, it was extremely difficult to qualify for the top ten martial arts academies.
Only one out of a thousand could have the chance to be selected.
This was especially so for children from ordinary families. They could only rely on themselves from a young age, unlike those kids from well-to-do families. These well-heeled kids could obtain various precious resources from a young age and they were already assured of a winning start at the starting line.
When they reached the age for the martial arts exam, children from ordinary families would not be able to compete with those with good family backgrounds unless they possessed heaven-defying talent.
Lu Yu sighed and said, "It's fine. Recently, my skills evolution has been quite smooth. In the Federation Martial Arts Trial two days from now, not only will I be able to retain my Martial Arts Warrior status, but I will also be able to increase my rank further and obtain a higher allowance. When that time comes, you won't have to work so hard anymore."
In reality, if Lu Yu participated in the Trial now, he would at least be a Grade 6 Martial Arts Warrior.
Compared to the allowance that a Grade 1 Martial Arts Warrior received, it was a few times more. Although it was not enough to let the family live a good life, it was definitely not a problem to cover the family's expenses.
However, his wife, Giovanna, didn't know any of this. When she heard Lu Yu's words, she only thought that Lu Yu was trying to comfort her and put up a strong front.
After all, a few days ago, Giovanna had learned from Lu Yu that his health vitality had been regressing non-stop, and his skills evolution had been declining. It was very likely that he wouldn't pass the Grade 1 Martial Arts Warrior test.
Only a few days had lapsed since then. Even if his condition had improved, it would not have improved much.
Giovanna smiled and comforted him.
"It's okay, old man. I know your situation. You don't have to force yourself."
"Some time ago, I heard some news about your old war comrade, Old Li, who was also old and weak. He insisted on practicing hard. In the end, he caused his health vitality to flow in the reverse and he ended up in hospital. It took him quite a while to recover and get discharged."
"You don't have to force yourself. Just let nature take its course. After all, you're already so advanced in age. You have to be careful. If you become an ordinary person, then so be it. We can still survive even if we're a little tired. Don't end up hurting yourself. It won't be worth it."
Lu Yu nodded slightly and didn't say anything else.
In any case, he would know the results after the Federation Martial Arts Trial in two days' time. By then, he would be able to relieve his wife's burden.
Lu Yu was well aware that his current abilities had greatly improved.
From this morning's testing result, he already knew that he was a Grade 6 Martial Arts Warrior. He was just one step away from becoming a Grade 7 Martial Arts Warrior.
Furthermore, after eating the meat of the Aquila, Lu Yu's powers had increased significantly once more. He not only improved his various attributes, he had also obtained a powerful skill: Furnace.
If he used the Great Dao Heaven Devouring Skill and the Furnace skill concurrently, the multiplication factor would increase. Lu Yu's powers would multiply many times over and his strength would be incredibly terrifying. He might even have reached the strength of a middle-grade Martial Master.
However, Lu Yu hadn't fully absorbed all of the Aquila poultry meat he had just consumed.
Later on, when Lu Yu practiced the Great Dao Heaven Devouring Skill and completely absorbed all the energy within the Aquila poultry meat, his abilities would further rise by quite a bit!
Additionally, Lu Yu discovered that by eating the meat of the Fearsome Beast Aquila, he could also improve his abilities by a lot.
Although the meat of the Fearsome Beasts might not be as nutrients-rich as those expensive ingredients and herbs, when compared to such exotic items as Wild Mountain Ginseng, there was still a big gap in nutrition.
However, the benefit of Fearsome Beast meat was that it was cheap!
After all, to other martial arts warriors and ordinary people, Fearsome Beast meat was not very useful and the price was thus relatively cheaper.
Lu Yu could use this to his advantage and continuously buy Fearsome Beast meat at a relatively lower price. After eating it, he could rapidly increase his abilities in all aspects through his SSS-class Gluttony Talent and the Great Dao Heaven Devouring Skill.
After lunch, Lu Yu washed the dishes and planned to immediately refine and absorb all of the Aquila poultry meat in his stomach to further advance his powers!