Chapter 2: Most Cost-Effective Martial Arts Practice

Lin Chen naturally understood Gu Fei's good intentions.

He wasn't the kind of person who was high-minded and cared about face. He didn't accept it before because he understood Gu Fei.

If he had accepted it long ago, Gu Fei would inevitably buy more beef every time he bought it, and he couldn't keep sponging off Gu Fei's beef.

Gu Fei is from the same village as him, and his family background isn't much better.

This time he accepted Gu Fei's good intentions, not because of Zhang Tao's mockery, but because he was preparing to start eating beef.

Although he didn't have much money on him, he couldn't really not afford even a jin of beef at fifteen wen a jin.

He didn't eat it before because the time hadn't come.

On the first day he entered the Wu Tang, he remembered a sentence from Yu Yu Jiaoxi.

"Learning martial arts, the more you pursue quick success, the more you spend."

Lin Chen, who had lived two lives, didn't find this sentence hard to understand.

There is an upper limit to a person's absorption and digestion capacity.

The more you pursue the limit of daily Qi and blood growth, the higher the price you pay.

Suppose eating one jin of beef can increase Qi and blood by 8 points, and the second jin can also increase by 8 points, but by the third jin, it might only provide 5 points of Qi and blood because the body's absorption and digestion are saturated.

For those students with wealthy family backgrounds, they naturally don't care about this bit of waste; what they want is a full effect.

Just like upgrading equipment in a game, it is enough for ordinary players to upgrade to +9, because the cost required to upgrade to +10 is the sum of all previous costs, but the attributes only increase by 1 point, which is completely cost-ineffective. Only wealthy "pay-to-win" players don't care about cost-effectiveness; what they want is the gap.

He didn't have much money. In these five months at the Wu Tang, his eldest brother privately sent him three hundred wen, plus the two hundred wen he earned from doing odd jobs, he only had five hundred wen on him.

He had to break one penny into two to spend.

Not eating beef, relying on eating enough and Warm Sun Boxing, he could also increase Qi and blood by 2 points a day.

The Wu Tang's six-month assessment requirement is for strength to reach two hundred jin.

This world has no precise Qi and blood measuring instruments, so the judgment of students' Qi and blood is to infer from strength.

The Wu Tang's six-month assessment goal is two hundred jin of strength.

When Lin Chen entered the Wu Tang, his Qi and blood were 500 points, and his strength was one hundred jin. From the changes in the Qi and blood values on the panel and strength, he derived the data.

5 points of Qi and blood = 1 jin of strength.

To meet the Wu Tang's assessment requirements, his Qi and blood needed to reach one thousand.

Five months have passed, and he is still two hundred points away from one thousand Qi and blood.

The reason he endured until now without eating beef was also the plan he formulated based on the strength growth of Gu Fei and other students.

There are four students from Linhu Village in this batch, including him. When they entered the Wu Tang, everyone's strength was around one hundred jin, which can be said to be not much difference in Qi and blood values.

Gu Fei started eating beef every day from the third month. The other two started eating it a month earlier than Gu Fei. The weight of beef consumed by these two to reach two hundred jin was fifty jin more than Gu Fei's.

Eating beef a month later, according to the growth of their own Qi and blood at their age, would result in 60 more points of Qi and blood value in a month, which is 12 jin of strength gained by themselves.

Fifty jin of beef in exchange for 12 jin of strength?

Lin Chen felt it wasn't that simple. Finally, after observing other students, he reached another judgment.

The higher one's own Qi and blood, the stronger the body's ability to digest food.

This point is not hard to understand. High Qi and blood represent a strong body. Eating the same jin of beef, he can digest all the nutrition of this jin of beef, while those with slightly lower Qi and blood will have a slightly worse body, and perhaps the nutrition of one jin of beef can only be absorbed by seventy or eighty percent.

Therefore, the later you put it, the more Qi and blood will be increased by eating beef.

It was precisely because of this inference that he had endured until now without eating beef.

Lin Chen believed that it shouldn't be just him who figured out this principle; there must have been students in previous batches who discovered it.

But discovering it is one thing, can they really wait?

At the age of fifteen, how could there be no vanity? When seeing other students start eating beef early, their strength reaching two hundred jin early, and enjoying the envious gazes of other students.

How many can not compare?

Can't compare to those with wealthy family backgrounds, but facing those from the same village or the same dormitory, watching them eat meat, can they remain indifferent?

Even having to suffer questioning and some cold mockery.

Not everyone is like him, living two lives, having a golden finger, and having a visualizable panel.

……

……

The next morning.

In the practice arena, while Lin Chen and others were practicing boxing, cheers suddenly came from the next class.

Lin Chen looked in the direction of the sound and saw a student with an expressionless face standing beside Yu Yu Jiaoxi Chen, but the slightly raised corners of his mouth exposed the student's inner emotions.

"Comparing people to people will anger people to death. We are still charging for three hundred jin of strength, while others have already passed the five hundred jin strength barrier."

Gu Fei looked envious, and Lin Chen also recognized this youth.

Lu Yongfeng!

The number one genius of their batch.

More accurately, the number one financially wealthy one.

If Lin Chen is notoriously stingy, then this Lu Yongfeng is notoriously a local tycoon.

On the first day he entered the Wu Tang, he ate beef every meal. When Gu Fei and the others started eating beef, he had already started drinking Qi-nourishing soup.

If many students can afford beef, then Qi-nourishing soup is a true luxury item.

One hundred wen a dose, students' hearts tremble when they buy it.

"If you are going to be angered to death, then do I have to fall to the ground and not live right now?"

He hasn't even eaten beef in the Wu Tang until now, who is he going to reason with?

"Also, we can't compare to others. Others want to practice essence and Qi within a year, while it's pretty good for us to practice essence and Qi within two years." Gu Fei patted Lin Chen on the shoulder: "Chen-zi, fortunately, you are here."

"Get lost!"

Knowing what Gu Fei was going to say, Lin Chen patted his hand away unhappily. Isn't it just saying that with him as a bottom-dwelling existence, it gives them some vanity?

Looking at Lu Yongfeng, he had some doubts. Is it really just as simple as practicing essence and Qi within a year and being able to enter the county town's martial arts hall for free to continue learning martial arts?

The martial arts hall in the county has regulations: students of the Wu Tang who can practice essence and Qi within a year can be exempted from tuition. If they practice it within two years, they can enter the martial arts hall by paying ten taels of silver. If they practice essence and Qi in the third year, it will be twenty taels. After three years, there is no chance to enter the martial arts hall.

Most students in the Wu Tang have self-knowledge and pursue practicing essence and Qi within two years.

The money Lu Yongfeng spent in the martial arts hall is already more than twenty taels. To say it's to save tuition for the martial arts hall doesn't make sense.

Perhaps he just has a lot of money, pursues vanity and face in the Wu Tang, and doesn't care about spending more money.

While Lin Chen was daydreaming, Yu Yu Jiaoxi, who was standing in front, spoke: "At the end of this month, there will be a Wu Tang assessment. Those whose strength fails to reach two hundred jin will have to leave the school."

Yu Yu Jiaoxi's sentence turned the gazes of the youths in the class from Lu Yongfeng in the next class to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen: ……

The Wu Tang has a total of three instructors, divided into three classes, with twenty students in each class.

In Lin Chen's class, there were only four students whose strength hadn't reached two hundred jin, but the other three were not far from two hundred jin; only Lin Chen was still forty jin away.

"Lin Chen, come with me."

Yu Yu Jiaoxi didn't sit on the chair on the side to watch the students practice boxing as usual today, but directly called Lin Chen's name.

"Chen-zi." Gu Fei looked at Lin Chen with some worry. In his view, Yu Yu Jiaoxi must be dissatisfied with Lin Chen, and calling him privately was likely to get a scolding.

"It's okay."

Lin Chen gave Gu Fei a comforting look, and regardless of the expressions of other students, he quickly stepped forward and followed behind Yu Yu Jiaoxi.

Based on his observation of this Yu Yu Jiaoxi for five months, Yu Yu Jiaoxi was definitely not criticizing him.

……

……

Back courtyard of the Wu Tang.

The small courtyard where Yu Yu Jiaoxi lived.

"Five months in the Wu Tang, never eaten a meal of beef in the cafeteria, all eating free rice and dishes... Lin Chen, you make me a bit surprised."

Yu Yu Jiaoxi looked at Lin Chen. He wasn't going to criticize Lin Chen, but was curious about the most notoriously stingy student in the history of the Wu Tang in his class.

Logically speaking, students from Linhu Village don't need to pay tuition. Compared to other students, this saves ten taels of silver. It's impossible that he didn't bring a single penny to the Wu Tang.

That's not coming to learn martial arts; that's really coming to sponge off the Wu Tang's food.

But he observed that Lin Chen wasn't here to sponge off food. Over these five months, he saw clearly who was diligent and who was slack among the students.

Lin Chen couldn't be counted as the most diligent in the class, but he was definitely in the top three.

"Yu Yu Jiaoxi, besides the disciple, the disciple's family also has an eldest cousin learning martial arts, and he has already learned for more than two years. The family doesn't have much silver for the disciple to learn martial arts. Being able to come to the Wu Tang to learn martial arts was something the disciple fought for by risking his life..."

Facing the instructor, Lin Chen didn't hide anything and directly told the family situation.

Yu Yu Jiaoxi's expression didn't change after listening. He had seen too many such situations in the Wu Tang.

The expenses for learning martial arts are not small. An ordinary family cannot afford two children to learn martial arts. After listening, he understood the intentions of Lin Chen's grandfather: just waiting for Lin Chen to be eliminated by the Wu Tang after six months.

It's just that Lin Chen's eldest brother hasn't practiced essence and Qi after two and a half years, I'm afraid it's also difficult to learn anything.

"Since you have an agreement with your grandfather, you should reach two hundred jin sooner. Is this giving up?"

"The disciple has not given up." Lin Chen shook his head: "Yu Yu Jiaoxi, you once said that learning martial arts, the more you pursue quick success, the more you spend. The disciple thought about taking it slowly."

"Taking it slowly?"

Yu Yu Jiaoxi's mouth twitched. He said those words hoping that students wouldn't waste too much money for the sake of comparison, but he didn't say it would be slow to this extent.

"The disciple will buy beef this month to accelerate the growth of Qi and blood." Lin Chen made a guarantee.

"Hmm."

Seeing that the instructor had no other instructions, Lin Chen spoke to leave. Yu Yu Jiaoxi nodded slightly: "Go."

……

……

Cafeteria!

When Lin Chen stood at the beef window, only a few students noticed at first, but as these few students discussed it, the gazes of all the students in the cafeteria looked over, including the few at the first table on the left, Lu Yongfeng.

"What did I see? The most notoriously stingy person in the history of the Qiaohe Town Wu Tang actually willing to buy beef today?"

"Youth is over."

"What does that mean?"

"It means youth is over. I don't know who said it, but it's very catchy, so I remembered it."

"What day is it today? Why would Lin Chen suddenly be willing to buy beef?"

"I heard it's because Yu Yu Jiaoxi called Lin Chen to the courtyard. I think Lin Chen was scolded by Yu Yu Jiaoxi, so he came to buy beef."

"Senior Brother Lu, when you first bought Qi-nourishing soup, it wasn't this sensational."

At Lu Yongfeng's table, a youth saw this scene and smiled.

"Attracting attention."

Lu Yongfeng smiled. In his view, Lin Chen and he were from two different worlds, unwilling to spend even a little money. Such a person is destined not to go far on the Martial Way.

PS: New book released, asking for collections, recommendations. The main tone of this book is healing, upward, positive energy...

(End of chapter)