The proof of Emperor Wu began with daily rewards for diligence.

At midnight, the Diligence Log is updated on time.

[In the past day, you meditated for 9 hours, practiced the Six Harmonies Sword Technique 16 times, engaged in one low-intensity sparring session, used the Reversal of the Sun technique 5 times, and attempted to fuse two mid-grade lightness skills for 1.5 hours...]

[Today's evaluation: Working tirelessly day and night, delighted by the prospect of battle, diligence reward index 2 (3).]

[Reward Settlement]

[Gain an additional 18 hours of meditation-derived True Qi, advancing to True Qi Realm Level 1 (44% → 56%)]

[After using "Remnant Yang Reversal Blood" five times, Qi and Blood value (162.5% → 161%)]

[Gain an additional 32 times of experience in using the Six Harmonies Blade Technique, and two low-intensity combat experiences, increasing proficiency to (2398/10000)]

[Gain an additional 10 uses of the "Reversed Blood" skill, increasing the skill's perfection level to 15%.]

[Gain an additional 3 hours of Lightness Skill Fusion Experience.]

As the golden book appeared above Chen Jue's head, the two spirit stones in his hand, one new and one old, also lost their luster.

good news.

Under the influence of the Three Cycles of the River Chariot, Chen Jue's internal energy surged remarkably, gaining 18 strands of true energy per day. If he continued to cultivate step by step, he would only need three days to reach the second level of the True Qi Realm.

bad news.

He was running out of spirit stones, and if he didn't find a way to beg for alms soon, the triple reward of hard work might be cut off.

"Maintaining that reward coefficient based on spirit stones is still too expensive, costing 1.2 spirit stones every day."

"If converted to money, that's 12,000 coins a day, plus other cultivation expenses..."

"Tsk tsk, even the scions of powerful families probably can't burn money as much as I can..."

Chen Jue felt a sense of emotion, but he never considered interrupting his cultivation method of "one part effort, three parts reward".

The lack of money wasn't a problem with his martial arts talent; it was a problem with him.

Whether you take out a loan or resort to robbery, just find a way to solve the problem.

Next came the experience of swordsmanship, actual combat, secret techniques, and the integration of lightness skills, which were poured into his mind one by one.

A moment later, Chen Jue looked at the last line of the reward settlement.

It has to be said that he does have some luck.

Unexpectedly, he unlocked another way to use his martial arts talent.

It is known that the daily reward settlement always provides a "perfect" experience.

Therefore, the fusion experience he gained was—

Two intermediate-level lightness skills, from beginner to mastery, can at most be combined to create another intermediate-level lightness skill.

However, once the two intermediate-grade lightness skills are cultivated to perfection, they can be merged to obtain a superior-grade lightness skill.

Following this logic, a very bold idea suddenly arose in Chen Jue's mind.

"What would happen if I mastered all the lightness skills and martial arts techniques I acquired individually, and then combined them into a single set of lightness skills and martial arts techniques?"

This idea is very bold, but it has a strong possibility of being implemented.

After his initial excitement, Chen Jue selected the most basic and easiest-to-learn "Wind-Splitting Saber Technique" from among the many martial arts techniques he had robbed, as his future experimental subject.

……

After spending another three days at his uncle's house, Chen Jue finally cultivated the Five Elements True Qi to 110 strands, successfully breaking through to the second level of True Qi.

At this moment, the strands of true energy within his body had intertwined into lines, further enhancing the strength and quantity of his true energy.

The True Qi Realm is a period of accumulation for martial artists.

Unless one's aptitude is limited and they are unable to further expand their meridians and accumulate more true qi, it is not recommended that martial artists use their precious true qi to refine their bodies, as it would be a losing proposition.

Given this premise, it can be concluded that although Chen Jue's total amount of qi and blood increased with the improvement of his realm, the overall increase was not significant.

Without using his true energy, he might still be unable to defeat a martial artist at the seventh level of true energy, but it would become much easier for him to control a martial artist at the sixth level of true energy.

Meanwhile, during these three days, he prioritized mastering the light-body technique "Soaring Dragon Body Technique" from beginner to expert, and also reviewed the basic alchemy method and the basic inscription method.

Both "alchemy" and "inscription" are difficult to learn and master, but they are extremely lucrative industries.

He has a natural talent for hard work; it would be truly unjust if he didn't learn these money-making skills.

During this time, Pei Qingying visited him again.

The supplement sent this time is a bowl of bird's nest soup, which is supposed to increase blood and qi by three times the amount of medicinal food, but the total increase is only 17%.

After deducting the 5% of his Qi and Blood consumed during three days of cultivating "Reversed Blood of the Setting Sun", his Qi and Blood value reached 173%.

The effects of the medicinal diet are waning, but the consumption of the secret technique "Remnant Sun Reversal Blood" is increasing as both proficiency and the blood-burning effect improve.

Chen Jue had no choice but to painfully stop his in-depth research on the secret technique "Reversed Blood of the Setting Sun," limiting his maximum strength increase to 15%.

On the seventh day of his leave, Chen Jue, dressed in a simple long gown, returned to Wuyi Lane.

A week earlier, he had brutally murdered three scions of powerful families here, scattering their valuables in various hidden locations.

After a week of waiting, coupled with the continued turmoil in the outer city, this unsolved case was finally shelved indefinitely, and the hidden agents and patrols deployed around the area also withdrew one after another.

Following his memory, Chen Jue retrieved all the scattered valuables one by one.

Of these, about 60% of the valuable items were missing.

But this was a necessary loss, and Chen Jue didn't feel it was a pity.

With the money in hand, Chen Jue deliberately took a long detour to sell it in the unfamiliar black market in the southern part of the city.

Because he was in a hurry to sell and cash out, he drove the price down very low. In just half an hour, he sold all his valuables and made 100,000 taels of silver.

"Young man, these goods of yours are worth at least 150,000, and you're only offering them for 100,000? Isn't that a bit of a waste?"

"Or perhaps you have some excellent connections, young man? Why don't you help us get rich too?"

As soon as Chen Jue left the black market, he was surrounded from both sides by a group of martial artists who had been watching him for a long time.

He glanced at the appearance of these martial artists and couldn't help but feel speechless.

Aren't these people just the black market's security personnel?

Compared to the people of the West City, the people of the South City are really rude. What era are we living in? They still resort to double-crossing.

They weren't afraid of ruining the black market's reputation.

"Boss, why waste words with him? Take him down first, sever his tendons, and slowly make him spit out the money."

A shrewd black market security guard offered advice to the robust martial artist in front of him.

Chen Jue found this amusing. He gripped his sword and stared directly at the burly martial artist, saying, "Do you often do this kind of dirty work?"

Seeing Chen Jue's imposing aura, the burly martial artist didn't attack immediately. Instead, he remained cautious, saying, "Don't listen to that skinny monkey's nonsense. He's just trying to scare you..."

As he spoke, he moved closer to Chen Jue, and his henchmen behind him understood and surrounded Chen Jue from all sides.

"However, some of the things you're selling, young man, are indeed of dubious origin... many of them are items reserved for the privileged and powerful within the inner city."

"Alright, if you're willing to explain where these things came from, we'll let you go."

"Otherwise, if you alert the owner of these valuables, you might be in big trouble."

It turns out that some of the possessions of the sons of powerful families are easily identifiable.

Chen Jue has learned new knowledge about disposing of stolen goods.

"No need," Chen Jue said loudly.

"What do you mean it's unnecessary?" The burly martial artist asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course, there's no need to go to that trouble..."

Chen Jue drew his sword with one hand, revealing a gleaming blade three feet and one inch long.