Lu Heng quickly took the jerky out of the cabinet and placed it all on the table.
Lu Xiaoxiao sniffed it and smiled. "It smells so good!"
"Xiaoxiao, here." Lu Heng handed a piece of jerky to Lu Xiaoxiao.
After Lu Xiaoxiao took the jerky, she took a bite.
"Second brother, it's so salty," Lu Xiaoxiao said with a frown.
"Really?" Lu Heng quickly took a bite of the jerky in his hand and found that it was indeed as Lu Xiaoxiao said.
The two of them had never eaten the jerky by itself. They had always cut it into tiny pieces and mixed it into synthetic food paste, so they had not known until today that it could not be eaten by itself.
"It seems that we still have to eat it with some synthetic food."
Lu Heng shook his head and turned around to cook the synthetic food chunks.
As he cooked, he savored the flavor of meat in his mouth.
Given the usual portions of jerky he added into the paste, there really was not too much in terms of meat flavor. However, they would have a feast today
"It's done!"
Not long after, the synthetic food paste was ready. Lu Heng cut up half of the jerky they had into tiny pieces and mixed them into the synthetic food paste.
"Xiaoxiao, here."
Lu Heng brought two bowls of paste to the table and handed one of them to Xiaoxiao.
After Lu Xiaoxiao took a bite, she immediately said in surprise, "Second brother, it's delicious!"
"Let me try some too." Lu Heng took a bite as well.
As soon as he took a bite, he tasted the strong flavor of meat.
Even the tasteless synthetic food paste had turned into a delicacy.
"This is too delicious!"
Lu Heng began to eat large mouthfuls of the paste.
As he ate, he wondered to himself, 'If jerky is so delicious, then wouldn't eating fresh monster meat be like eating the nectar of the gods?'
'I have completely tempered all of my muscles. Thanks to these new food stamps I'll be able to eat monster meat with excellent tonic effects every day. I won't have any trouble with the internal strength cultivation technique for the time being.'
'Next, I have to find a way to get my hands on martial arts books so that I can study for the university entrance examination.'
Thinking this, Lu Heng decided that he would go straight to No. 1 High School to look for Liu Shiyao after bringing the saber over to Instructor Wu to check tomorrow.
…
7.25am the next day.
After Lu Heng got off work and washed up, he rushed over to the dojo as fast as he could.
He arrived at the dojo six or seven minutes earlier than the day he first received his saber.
This was primarily due to the effects of the muscle tempering sessions he had conducted during his breaks from work last night.
Whenever he took a break from work during his shift, he would either practice his saber technique or cultivate the Qi Gathering technique.
Last night, he practiced his saber technique ten times and carried out a total of seventeen complete muscle tempering sessions.
His increased muscle strength and running speed was precisely due to these seventeen muscle tempering sessions, which resulted in him arriving a little earlier.
'Later, I'll ask the coach to take me for a physical examination to see what level my current physical strength is at.'
Over the course of the following days, he would need to eat and nourish his body while tempering his muscles, so it was necessary for him to have a physical examination first so that he would be able to establish a baseline and figure out the progress of his training.
However, this was only one of the reasons. Another crucial reason was that he needed these physical examination results to convince Liu Shiyao.
He had thought about it carefully when he was working on the farm last night.
He had to show Liu Shiyao just how much progress he had made. Otherwise, he probably would not be able to convince her to help him borrow the books.
As he pondered these things in his heart, Lu Heng strode into the dojo.
In the past, he had to line up with everyone else. This was no longer the case…
Because he now had the right to carry a saber.
The dojo would award small privileges like these to those who had the right to carry weapons.
"Lu Heng, Lu Heng!"
Lu Heng was walking by when he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the crowd.
He turned his head and saw that it was indeed Fan Kun who had called his name.
Fan Kun saw him turn his head and gave him a thumbs up, saying loudly, "I'll look for you later when I'm free."
"Okay," Lu Heng replied and continued walking.
After entering the dojo, he went straight to Instructor Wu's office.
Instructor Wu would not be at the training hall at this time. He would either be preparing lessons inside his office, or cultivating the Qi Gathering technique in his office.
Of course, it was also possible that he was giving He Bing some personal lessons.
After all, Instructor Wu had promised He Bing that he would start teaching him how to cultivate the Qi Gathering technique.
Based on He Bing's personality, he would definitely arrive early after receiving such an answer.
Knock, Knock, knock…
Lu Heng gently knocked on the door of Instructor Wu's office.
"Wait a moment."
Instructor Wu's voice could immediately be heard from behind the door.
Lu Heng thought to himself, 'It seems that Instructor Wu is really teaching He Bing.'
'And there's a high probability that He Bing is currently undergoing his first Qi Gathering cultivation session.'
Had that not been the case, Instructor Wu would not have asked Lu Heng to wait outside the door.
The primary reason for this was that newbies were especially afraid of being disturbed when they were undergoing their first Qi Gathering cultivation session.
Any distractions during the cultivation process might cause a mistake, which would have serious consequences depending on the severity of the situation.
Thinking this, Lu Heng stood quietly at the door.
In any case, he was not in a hurry. Moreover, it was only He Bing's first session, so Instructor Wu would not allow him to temper all of the muscles in his body. He would likely only temper the muscles in his limbs during this session. As such, it would not take long.
Time passed quickly.
About ten minutes later, Instructor Wu said, "Come in."
Lu Heng pushed the door open and entered.
As soon as he did, he saw He Bing standing beside Instructor Wu.
Lu Heng asked, "Senior Brother He, how do you feel?"
"Great!"
He Bing walked over to Lu Heng and said excitedly, "The speed at which the Qi Gathering technique tempers the muscles is much faster than the Pranayama technique. I feel like I've become much stronger after just one cultivation session."
He Bing clenched his right hand into a fist and struck a pose toward Lu Heng to show off his biceps.
"Lu Heng, when you are able to start cultivating the Qi Gathering technique, remember to do so quickly. Don't delay it. The earlier the better."
"For me, it's already a little late. If I could have started earlier, the effect would be better."
He Bing wanted to impart some life lessons and experience to Lu Heng.
At this moment, Instructor Wu interrupted him and said, "Don't dwell on such things. Your aptitude and comprehension ability are both good. Despite this being your first Qi Gathering cultivation session, you managed to temper more than 30% of your body's muscles. With a little effort, you will be able to surpass others."
When He Bing heard that, he turned around and asked, "Instructor, how long will it take before I can temper the rest of the muscles?"
Instructor Wu replied with a straight face, "Don't be so impatient. First master what you learned today."
He Bing asked another question instead, "Instructor Wu, how long did it take you to temper all the muscles in your body back then?"
"Two years and a month," Instructor Wu replied.
"I won't take that long, right?"
The smile on He Bing's face started fading.
"Nope, you'll take even longer," Instructor Wu said lightly.
Hearing this, He Bing's smile completely disappeared. He muttered, "Sigh, I now realize how talented Grandmaster Liu really is! If I remember correctly, it didn't take long for him to be able to temper all the muscles in his body..."
"You realize you're talking about Grandmaster Liu, right? How can you and I compare to such a person? He Bing, you'd better not compare yourself with a genius like Grandmaster Liu. Understand your own limitations and be realistic in your expectations. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to progress in your martial arts." Instructor Wu warned.
He Bing quickly explained, "Instructor Wu, don't worry. How could I dare to compare myself with Grandmaster Liu? Grandmaster Liu is my idol."
"It's good that you understand that."
Instructor Wu nodded slightly and then looked at Lu Heng.
"Lu Heng, you too. Don't aim too high just because of what you've achieved so far. You have to be grounded in reality."
"People like us with mediocre levels of talent can only look up to martial arts legends like Grandmaster Liu."
After saying that, he looked at them both and said, "Of course, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't compare yourself at all. You have to find someone suitable to compare yourself with."
"For example, the people in our dojo who have the potential to become martial artists. They are your goal and your rivals."
"Can you remember all of that?" Instructor Wu asked.
"Yes." Lu Heng and He Bing nodded at the same time.
"Okay, that's it for now."
"Lu Heng, Show me your saber."
Lu Heng quickly took the saber from his waist and handed it over to Instructor Wu.
Clang!
Instructor Wu pulled the saber from the scabbard and carefully examined it.
He had thought about it all night after he went home yesterday, and the more he thought about it, the more he regretted giving the saber to Lu Heng.
He was worried that he would be implicated if something happened.
Although he had asked Lu Heng to bring the saber over every morning to be checked, it was still not foolproof.
He had been young before, so he knew that young people were impulsive.
If a young man like Lu Heng encountered some trouble outside, he might pull out the saber and cut people in the heat of things.
While checking the blade, Instructor Wu was thinking of ways and excuses to reverse his decision.
On the other hand, Lu Heng was naturally unaware of Instructor Wu's thoughts. He simply thought that Instructor Wu was being particularly careful and meticulous with his inspection.
"Instructor, I want to test my physical fitness and see what my results are like now."
After hearing his words, Instructor Wu suddenly had an idea.
He could use the physical test results as an excuse to take the saber back.
Thinking this, he inserted the saber back into the scabbard and said to Lu Heng and He Bing, "Alright, I'll have you both take the test and see how much you've improved in this period of time."
He figured that he would be able to use He Bing's physical examination results by comparing them with Lu Heng's.
At that time, he would say to Lu Heng, "He Bing's results are so good, but he still doesn't have a saber of his own. You should just leave this saber in the dojo first. When you catch up to He Bing, you can take it back."