When Steward Zhang went to the dungeon to find Bai Qiu, he discovered that Bai Qiu had actually been beaten, with bloodstains all over him.
Steward Zhang was furiously angry and severely scolded the dungeon guards and the two protectors who escorted Bai Qiu.
This time, he wrongly accused Bai Qiu, which led to Bai Qiu being brutally beaten in the dungeon.
In this regard, Steward Zhang felt somewhat guilty, and that's why he was so angry.
After berating the dungeon guards and the protectors who watched over Bai Qiu, Steward Zhang learned that it wasn't them who initiated the attack on Bai Qiu.
The Third Master of the Han family saw Bai Qiu being escorted into the dungeon by the protectors, and perhaps because he was upset in the garden, he vented his frustration on Bai Qiu, ordering severe interrogation.
On the surface, it was said to be a rigorous interrogation, but secretly, it was just venting anger.
After knowing it was the Third Master's orders, Steward Zhang's expression turned cold.
Seeing the two protectors bring Bai Qiu out, Steward Zhang said to him with a touch of blame and concern, "You, Bai Steward, really are a Bai Steward!"
"Why didn't you tell me when such a thing happened? You insisted on acting on your own, and now you've been beaten for nothing, and you've lost your position."
"Cough cough~ I just didn't want to trouble you."
"With the Han family's young masters, we servants can't speak up, nor can we stop them; it can only be this way." Bai Qiu replied with a helpless expression, realizing that under someone else's roof, he must lower his head, which is the sorrow of a servant.
"Absurd! If everyone lets the Han family disciples act willfully like you do, then the Han family would truly be finished!" Steward Zhang reprimanded sternly.
Others who heard these words lowered their heads, pretending like they heard nothing; only Steward Zhang dared to say such things.
"Cough cough~ I know I was wrong." Bai Qiu sincerely admitted his mistake.
Seeing him occasionally cough up blood, Steward Zhang waved his hand and asked the two to take him away to properly recuperate.
"Go back and heal first, and I'll arrange a position for you once you're well, but you can't continue as the steward of the logistics courtyard."
Bai Qiu was carried away by the protectors to heal, while Steward Zhang took Wang Qiang and Lu Yu for a tour around the inner courtyard, then led them out.
This time, he brought them in mainly to let them meet the master of the Han family—Master Han—so that when they enter the inner courtyard, they know who the Patriarch is.
"Wang Qiang, once the procedures are completed, you can move into the inner courtyard." Steward Zhang left this message and departed, as he was the steward of the whole Han residence, with many matters to deal with and very tight on time.
This time, it was because it involved Bai Qiu, a good friend from many years ago, that he spent so much time dealing with it; otherwise, he would just look at the end results reported from below and make a decision.
Wang Qiang and Lu Yu were also deeply regretful over Steward Bai's matter, feeling sorry for him.
The cause of this incident was simple: Han Fan probably lacked money but had no means of earning.
Disciples couldn't freely enter and exit the inner courtyard's warehouse, so he began targeting the outer courtyard warehouse.
Each time, claiming to inspect supplies, he entered the warehouse, secretly took some valuable pills, and swaggered out, with no one daring to stop him.
After Bai Qiu discovered this, he didn't dare report it, fearing the offense to Third Master Han and implicating Steward Zhang, so he secretly bought some pills outside to make up for the warehouse losses.
After several times, Han Fan found out that his theft had no consequences, so he became more reckless, almost daily scavenging from the logistics courtyard.
Until, for some unknown reason, he was caught red-handed breaking into the study, leading to the recent scene.
Perhaps because the outer courtyard warehouse was so easy to access with no one daring to stop him, and with things in the warehouse easily taken, it boosted his courage, leading him to dare break into the Patriarch's study.
Thinking of the study, Lu Yu recalled something; he seemed to have heard the word 'study' somewhere before?
The impression wasn't very deep, and Lu Yu couldn't immediately recall where he had heard it.
"Sigh~ we, in the end, are just servants. Steward Bai was beaten half to death just because he was suspected. When the truth came to light, Young Master Han Fan was only confined at home for ten days to contemplate his mistakes," Wang Qiang remarked with much emotion.
Han Fan was executed with a cane, fainted, and then Steward Zhang announced the punishment for Han Fan's theft from the outer courtyard warehouse, just like his father said, confinement at home for ten days to reflect on his actions.
But compared to his injuries, this punishment was nothing; the time spent recovering at home would certainly exceed ten days.
Thus, Steward Bai's case came to an end, and Lu Yu resumed his previous life—cultivation, eating, patrolling, sleeping...
In the evening, Lu Yu walked out of the logistics courtyard, having received his daily Body Refining Pill.
Casually throwing the Body Refining Pill into his mouth, crunching it as if it were candy.
Now the effect of the Body Refining Pill seemed weaker to Lu Yu; perhaps due to the rapid increase in Qi Blood, the second pill barely increased his Qi Blood by 2 points.
The third pill increased by only 1 point; afterward, it took several pills to increase by just 1 point.
Because his Qi Blood had become much stronger, swallowing the Body Refining Pill no longer caused the trembling and sweating of the body like the first time he consumed it.
Now, when one pill went down, his body would just feel warm, and soon enough, he felt nothing at all.
Looking at his attributes, the growth in Qi Blood was becoming increasingly difficult.
[Name: Lu Yu]
[Realm: Body Refinement Stage Level 2]
[Qi Blood: 44]
[Cultivation Technique: Fierce Tiger Fist (Level 3)]
[Skills: Fierce Tiger Fist - Hungry Tiger Pounce (Mastery), Fierce Tiger Fist - Fierce Tiger Descending the Mountain (Proficient), Fierce Tiger Fist - Evil Tiger Roar (Intermediate)]
[Experience Points: 300]
After several days of training, the Fierce Tiger Fist cultivation technique still needs 800 experience points to level up, so with the current 300 points, 500 more are needed.
It will take at least three to four days to level up.
As a game, even during the novice phase, it's already so difficult to level up; Lu Yu finds it hard to imagine how challenging it will be later on.
Furthermore, the Body Refining Pill is supposed to be effective for Martial Cultivators at the third level of the Body Refinement stage, so why does it feel ineffective when I'm just at the second level?
Lu Yu is puzzled. Could it be that the quality of the Body Refining Pill made by the Han family isn't as good as those in the system?
As he reached his courtyard gate, he noticed a person inside, appearing to be a Protector from the inner court. Lu Yu wondered why he was here.
Just as he was about to inquire, the person handed a book and a porcelain bottle to Lu Yu, saying, "This is what Steward Zhang instructed me to deliver to you; he said it's your reward."
"This book is a common-grade body technique martial art—Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada. This bottle contains Body Tempering Pills, which can increase physical strength and are suitable for taking before training."
"Steward Zhang also instructed me to remind you to train diligently and strive to enter the inner court soon."
With that, the Protector left Lu Yu's small courtyard.
Looking at the martial art and pills in his hand, Lu Yu understood Steward Zhang's intentions.
Under normal circumstances, even if Steward Zhang valued Steward Bai highly, resolving this matter wouldn't warrant such generous rewards.
At most, it would be a bottle of pills, not martial arts.
Steward Zhang is investing in Lu Yu, valuing his potential, and thus is willing to invest heavily.
As for whether Lu Yu is trustworthy or has ulterior motives in entering Han Residence, by the time Steward Zhang took an interest in Lu Yu, this had already been thoroughly investigated.
Lu Yu's background is very clear, with his parents having been residents of Windmill Town and passing away in an accident during his early years.
Since the age of nine, Lu Yu has been surviving with other vagrant children in Windmill Town, even taking some beatings, all documented in the information.
Lu Yu went into his room and opened the martial arts manual entitled "Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada."
[Detected player learning common-grade body technique martial art—Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada]
[Generating Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada skill template, 1%... 2%...]
Soon, Lu Yu acquired the Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada skill.
Curious, he went to the training ground, and after several attempts, he found that Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada was equivalent to a movement skill in a traditional game, allowing for eight consecutive moves.
The movement speed, distance, and interval are all related to the skill level; the higher the skill level, the faster the speed, the longer the distance, and the shorter the interval.
Currently, Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada is only at the novice level, with short movements and weak bursts.
Upgrading Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada requires 80 experience points. After some consideration, Lu Yu applied the newly obtained experience points to the Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada skill.
If the skill level of Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada is too low, it wouldn't be useful; as a movement (escape) skill, the higher the level, the better.
Consumed 80 experience points.
[Skill Upgrade! Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada (Novice) → Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada (Intermediate)]
The next upgrade requires 150 experience points. Seeing the remaining points, Lu Yu did not hesitate to continue upgrading, as doing things well is crucial.
[Skill Upgrade! Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada (Intermediate) → Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada (Proficient)]
Further upgrading requires 300 experience points, but Lu Yu doesn't have enough, so he keeps the remaining 70 points to level up in the future when he has more.
When performing Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada, with a loud bang, Lu Yu's figure appeared four meters away, leaving a cloud of dust from the forceful ground impact.
Performing eight consecutive moves, he stopped thirty meters away, all within one second.
Thirty meters in one second—this speed almost rivals Han Yu's speed when he emerged from the woods back then, except that Lu Yu's speed is a burst, while Han Yu's was normal running.
Additionally, Lu Yu discovered that using skills consumes Qi Blood, although he never fully utilized the Fierce Tiger Fist, so he hadn't noticed before.
Using Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada eight times in succession consumed 16 points of Qi Blood, depleting almost a third of his Qi Blood in a short time, leaving Lu Yu somewhat tired and breathless.
"It seems that unless it's a life-or-death situation, I shouldn't perform Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada eight times continuously; it consumes too much Qi Blood."