At the White Ape Martial Arts Hall, Su Yu paid the new Tuition Fee and renewed his Herbal Medicine Fee for another three months. After that, he began to focus on his training.
Time flies when you're training. Soon, another three months had passed.
[Martial Arts]: White Ape Six Transformations (Minor Achievement 1998/2000)
"I'm finally about to break through again!"
Su Yu felt a flicker of excitement in his heart and began practicing the stances of the White Ape Six Transformations.
As he finished the final move, Spiritual Ape Returns to the Cave, familiar text appeared before his eyes.
[White Ape Six Transformations Skill Level +2]
[Martial Arts]: White Ape Six Transformations (Major Achievement 1/3000)
The next moment, the Qi and Blood barrier within his body instantly vanished. A powerful surge of Qi and Blood, like a waterfall cascading down a mountain, thundered through his limbs and bones.
"POP POP POP..."
He felt his Qi and Blood being stimulated throughout his body. A formidable power welled up, and wherever the Qi and Blood flowed, his muscles seemed to become more defined.
In just a moment, the breakthrough ended. Su Yu clenched his fists. The sensation of suddenly increased power from the breakthrough washed over him again, making him desperate for an outlet.
「Meanwhile, in the front courtyard's Martial Arts Arena.」
Jiang Liuchuan, dressed in fine brocade and waving a folding fan, was lounging in a Grandmaster's Chair, instructing a new batch of apprentices.
Starting this month, it was Jiang Liuchuan's turn to instruct the Outer Courtyard apprentices in martial arts.
"When practicing martial arts, focus on the intent, not the form. Look at you all, you look like a bunch of plucked, sickly chickens..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
"BANG!!!"
A dull, thunderous sound exploded across the Martial Arts Arena.
The apprentices jumped in fright and turned toward the sound.
They saw Su Yu in a corner, holding his punching stance in front of the Black Iron Stake.
The stake, as thick as a thigh and as hard as iron, was shaking violently from the blow. Where the fist had made contact, a fist print an inch deep was left behind!
"Not bad, kid!"
The folding fan in Jiang Liuchuan's hand paused, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"The roar of Qi and Blood, power penetrating the stake's core! Is this... the Third Barrier-Breakthrough?!"
'To think that on my first day of instructing apprentices in the Outer Courtyard, I'd run into one having a breakthrough. This must be fate.'
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Su Yu's mind was completely focused, mobilizing the Qi and Blood throughout his body. Like an enraged, vicious ape, he savagely struck the stake before him.
Another three consecutive punches, each one landing solidly. The Ironwood Stake, having endured countless blows, let out a weary "CREAK" and was finally knocked backward at an angle, its base churning up the soil!
"HISS—"
The new apprentices around them all gasped. Just what level of barrier-breakthrough was this? To be so terrifying.
'No wonder Senior Brother said every breakthrough shatters the limits of the human body!'
'I can't even imagine how strong a true Martial Artist must be!'
"Is he even human? If a punch like that landed on someone's body..."
"Senior Brother Su Yu, he really broke through! This is the power of a Third Barrier-Breakthrough!"
The eyes of the surrounding apprentices filled with envy.
Most of the apprentices in the Outer Courtyard now were new recruits. The previous batches, which had come and gone like a flowing stream, had almost all been eliminated. Only two or three from that time were still persisting.
Many didn't know about Su Yu's poor aptitude and said admiringly, "Senior Brother Su's talent is incredible. He's already at the Third Barrier-Breakthrough. At this rate, won't he be attempting to become a Martial Artist soon?"
"A Martial Artist... I'm so jealous. If I could become a Martial Artist, let's see who in my village would dare look down on me then!"
"I'm not aiming to be a Martial Artist, just one barrier-breakthrough would be enough for me! Then Xiao Hua wouldn't have left me..."
Jiang Liuchuan flipped through the roster of Outer Courtyard disciples and found Su Yu's information.
When he saw the evaluation "Poor Aptitude," he couldn't help but be astonished.
'He has poor aptitude!'
'How could someone like that manage three barrier-breakthroughs?'
Jiang Liuchuan strode over, his seemingly languid, charming eyes filled with curiosity.
"Senior Brother Jiang!" Su Yu immediately clasped his fist in a salute.
"Su Yu, come here. Let me check your constitution," Jiang Liuchuan said, and without waiting, he placed his hands on him.
Su Yu sighed inwardly. Knowing what Jiang Liuchuan was thinking, he complied.
A moment later, the examination was over. Jiang Liuchuan's brow furrowed even deeper.
'There's nothing special here. His aptitude is average. Other than being handsome, almost on par with myself, his aptitude is even worse than mine. How did Su the kid manage to break through three barriers?'
'He himself had used Tiger and Leopard Marrow Soup, which cost five taels of silver per dose, just to reach the third barrier-breakthrough in about the same amount of time as Su Yu.'
The next moment, a thought suddenly struck him. He slapped his palm with his Feather Fan, his gaze toward Su Yu becoming bright and spirited.
'Good kid, so he's a genius with astounding comprehension!'
'That Senior Sister Lin isn't very thorough. When Su Yu had his second barrier-breakthrough, she should have added a note to the roster: "Astounding Comprehension!"'
'Although comprehension is far less important than innate aptitude, there's still hope for him to become a Martial Artist.'
With this thought, he smiled and said, "Su Yu, your aptitude is a bit lacking, but your comprehension is truly excellent. If you keep at it, there's hope for you to become a Martial Artist in the future."
Su Yu immediately adopted a serious expression. "Senior Brother, you praise me too much. It's all thanks to diligence making up for a lack of talent. It's just... now that I've reached the third barrier-breakthrough, the Martial Artist bottleneck is ahead of me. I wonder if Senior Brother has any advice?"
"You've come to the right person. My own aptitude is merely below average. Breaking through was incredibly difficult for me, but in the end, I still managed it!"
Jiang Liuchuan smiled and began waving his folding fan again, looking every bit the experienced veteran.
Su Yu immediately began to listen attentively. Breaking through to the Martial Artist realm was of utmost importance, and he had to prepare as best as he possibly could.
"I won't lie to you, the key to my breakthrough was money!"
Su Yu was stunned.
"Don't believe me? Back when I was trying to break through, after the third barrier-breakthrough, I started using the Red Jade Spirit Fire Soup, which costs ten taels of silver per dose! With the help of the Herbal Decoction, by the time I was ready to break through, my Qi and Blood had reached their peak!"
"But even that wasn't enough! For the actual breakthrough, I took a Red Refining Fire Evil Pill! This pill costs fifty taels of silver each. It's refined using the Fish Oil Essence of a Red Oil Fish King as the primary ingredient, supplemented with rare materials like Fire Salamander Essence Blood, tiger bone, and ginseng. When breaking through, it provides a powerful surge of Qi and Blood to shatter the bottleneck in one go!"
Jiang Liuchuan looked at Su Yu with a proud expression and said, "Tell me, is that difficult or not!"
"Difficult!" Su Yu replied sincerely.
'Consuming so many resources just to become a Martial Artist... this path of martial arts is as difficult as ascending to the heavens.'
"Your innate aptitude is even worse than mine, so you originally had no hope of breaking through. But your comprehension is astounding, so maybe you have a chance. However, you still need to switch to a better Herbal Decoction as soon as possible and strive to get your Qi and Blood to its peak for the breakthrough!"
"Alright, I've told you everything I should. Keep up the good work. I have high hopes for you, little brother! Take this. In three days, I'm taking a new concubine. You should come to the banquet."
As he spoke, Jiang Liuchuan pulled a gilded invitation from his robes and handed it to Su Yu.
Su Yu immediately accepted it without refusal.
'This Jiang Liuchuan is clearly a rich young master. I might be able to hear a lot of news at his banquet.'
'Right now, I'm completely focused on training and my information is limited. In these chaotic times, that's not a good thing.'
...
「The next day」
Su Yu took stock of his finances and found he only had a few taels of silver left, plus the ginseng root that Wang Yuechi had given him.
'According to Jiang Liuchuan, I really should switch to a better Herbal Decoction. That way, my cultivation will be faster!'
'But I can consume this ginseng root directly. Maybe it can substitute for some of the Herbal Decoction.'
'Sigh, I'm short on money again!'
'In my current situation, the fastest way to make money is to go fish at the Black Water River. I can't save these Breakthrough Points any longer. I have to add them to the Net Casting Skill first!'
The next moment, Su Yu opened his panel and added his accumulated Breakthrough Points to the Net Casting Skill.
[Skill]: Net Casting (Limit Broken 3 times)
[Trait]: Listening Wave Positioning. When you desire an object that exists within the net's range, a mysterious, intuitive pull will guide you, locking onto its position and greatly increasing the probability of capture.
[Breakthrough Points]: 0 (Progress 0%)