Chapter Forty-Four: Earning Money Like This

It wasn’t a change in appearance.
Rather, it was his bearing, his gaze—he seemed to have become an entirely different person.
If, yesterday, Du Huaishan had been nothing more than an outstanding new recruit with star potential, then today, he was a beast quietly biding its time.
During the afternoon’s combat training, Chang Sui’an also noticed the difference in him.
There was a latent, almost imperceptible murderous intent in Du Huaishan’s eyes.
Chang Sui’an had no doubt: if anyone pushed him too far, Du Huaishan would act decisively and without hesitation.
And this was just what he hoped to see.
For these new recruits about to go to war, any softness or mercy was a blade turned against themselves.
After a full day of training, what Du Huaishan looked forward to most was Luo Zongwen’s comprehensive class.
Today, Luo Zongwen systematically explained to him the levels of force application in martial arts.
In truth, there was never a unified standard for power levels in traditional martial arts; every school and sect used different terminology.
Among the more widely circulated are Xingyi’s “Ming, An, Hua” stages, which borrow from Daoist concepts; some speak of “Hui, Hao, Jing, Jue” or relate them to “Earth, Water, Fire, Wind”; in Taiji, it is said, “Formless and shapeless, the whole body permeated with emptiness, responding to things naturally, fulfilling one’s destiny,” which contains alchemical implications and represents the highest state.
But according to Luo Zongwen, the so-called levels of force are simply the body’s muscles and bones applying strength in different ways.
By this measure, Du Huaishan was just stepping into the first stage—understanding force—and was striving toward the integrated, whole-body power.
Back in his quarters, he continued to record his training reflections and insights.
“November 24: Instructor Lin Zhaoshu explained some connections between mythological beasts in ancient texts and the monsters and ghosts we encounter. I found a prototype for the four-horned specter—it’s a blend of the legendary Yingzhao and Tulu. I’ve named it Yinglu.”
Unfortunately, as for the nine-tailed shadow in the blood-red illusion, he found quite a few possible matches, but not one with nineteen eyes.
Du Huaishan suspected the nine-tailed shadow was probably another hybrid.
“November 25: My dietary plan is working; my weight has dropped further but my muscle mass remains unchanged, indicating a reduction in body fat.”
“November 26: Instructor Lin Zhaoshu demonstrated the hardness of Red Marrow Steel today. He fired a horse rifle at close range at a cotton armor, but it didn’t penetrate.”
“November 27: Instructor Chang Sui’an completed teaching all five forms of Xingyi’s elemental fist, and I had a unified sparring session with Instructor Luo Zongwen. Next week, it seems we’ll start weapons training.”
On his day off, Du Huaishan went to the blacksmith’s as planned and collected a rolling wheel he’d ordered.
Tan Hai, Wu Ming, and Yang Anfu helped him carry it back, still puzzled as to why he’d spent so much money on such a strange contraption.
But once they tried it out on the training ground, none of them were an exception—every single one of them threw up!
Bear in mind, they’d all taken Sister Zhou’s zipline mobility class and spent a long time working on their sense of direction.
“Huaishan, what kind of rolling wheel is this? It’s impossible to control! Not only does it make your head spin, it’s even scarier than Zhou’s rotating iron cage. I was terrified of crashing into someone!”
Guo Tingyu spat several times, exclaiming.
“I can’t take it either…” Wu Ming clung to Yang Anfu’s arm and retched again.
“I want to try!”
At that moment, Li Anqi came over eagerly.
Seeing Du Huaishan and the others training, other recruits who were also practicing on their day off gathered around, curious.

Li Anqi placed her feet on the rolling wheel’s base and gripped the bar tightly. With a gentle push from Du Huaishan, the wheel spun out.
At first, Li Anqi could manage, but as the wheel picked up speed, the loss of balance, the dizziness, and especially the uncertainty of where she’d end up—this unknown fear—finally made her scream.
“Ahhh…”
With a slap, Du Huaishan stopped the wheel at the finish line.
Li Anqi tumbled off, clutching his hand, unable to help herself: “Ugh…”
Luckily, Du Huaishan reacted quickly and wasn’t vomited on.
But Tan Hai and the others, standing close by, were not so fortunate—he let them deal with her.
Du Huaishan was speechless.
Would anyone, faced with a woman covered in vomit—no matter how pretty or well-endowed—still have any romantic thoughts?
“Excuse me, may I give it a try?”
A cool, clear voice came from beside him.
Du Huaishan glanced over and saw a slender, agile figure—it was the woman with the coiled hair.
After all this time, he’d learned her name was Xu Yuan.
“Of course.”
It was just a training apparatus; the more people tried it, the more ways Du Huaishan found to master it quickly.
This, he called a big data experiment.
Xu Yuan stepped onto the rolling wheel. Once she was ready, she gave Du Huaishan a look.
He gave a push.
The wheel rolled swiftly, making almost a full circuit of the training ground.
At the end, Du Huaishan reached out to stop it.
Xu Yuan stepped off, a bit unsteady, her hair half undone.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Smoothing her hair, Xu Yuan looked back at the rolling wheel. “This is a remarkable training tool. Where did you get it?”
“I had a blacksmith make it for me.”
This was the first person Du Huaishan had seen use the rolling wheel without vomiting and still able to stand afterward.
Clearly, Xu Yuan must have trained in a martial art emphasizing agility—perhaps Bagua, or something similar—otherwise she wouldn’t have such strong balance and orientation.
Or perhaps, there was another reason:
A guardian spirit!
He’d learned this from Luo Zongwen.
A guardian spirit, besides boosting vitality and physical attributes, would, depending on its nature, enhance specific abilities.
For example, his own Yinglu, resembling a horse or sheep, gave him greater speed and, especially, endurance.
“I see,” Xu Yuan mused, thinking this must be a secret training method from Du Huaishan’s school. She pulled out a silver coin and handed it to him. “I’d like to pay to train with you, if that’s all right?”
Tan Hai and the others were stunned.
You could make money like this?
“Uh, sure, but you really don’t have to pay…”
Du Huaishan hadn’t expected her to be so direct.
“Take it.”
Xu Yuan pressed the silver coin into his hand and nodded. “My name is Xu Yuan, Class Ninety-Three, from Weakwater.”
“Du Huaishan, Class Eight, from Pingliao.”
Holding the silver coin, Du Huaishan had a feeling—this Xu Yuan was his kind of person.
Both of them were desperate to grow stronger.
“Wow, who would’ve thought—Xu Yuan is actually really pretty with her hair down,” Wu Ming remarked after Xu Yuan left, smacking his lips. “Too bad she’s so cold—doesn’t warm up to anyone.”
“Just look at where she’s from—Weakwater is the northernmost part of the Chiyu Empire. It’s freezing up there, all the women are as fair as snow.”
Yang Anfu looked smug.
“Fatty, you’re from Weakwater too—so how come you’re so chubby and dark?”
“Speak for yourself! You’re even darker than I am!”
While the two bickered, Tan Hai sidled up, his beady eyes scheming. “Huaishan, you paid four silver coins for this thing, and Xu Yuan paid one just for a single go. This is a gold mine! Why don’t we get a few more, rent them out in bulk? I even have a name for it—Shared Training Wheel!”
“You little rascal, you’ve invented the sharing economy!”
Du Huaishan hadn’t planned to get involved, but considering the amount of meat his training required, he really did need to earn some money to make up for it.
He couldn’t live off just one meal from Instructor Luo every night, could he?
So, together with Tan Hai and the others, he planned to commission another rolling wheel and a fixed turning ladder from the blacksmith.
These were the signature training tools of modern flying academies.
And it must be said, with these tools, Du Huaishan completely overcame his weakness in spatial orientation—it turned into his strength.
Tan Hai and the others, having benefited from training with him, performed better and better in Zhou Zhong’ai’s class.
At last, during the third week’s assessment,
Tan Hai and Wu Ming became the first group of outstanding performers to receive a reward of demon-ghost soul spirits from the Martial Hall.
With that, the Shared Training Wheel became famous. Soon, many recruits were spending money to rent Du Huaishan’s equipment for a shot at the soul spirit reward.
Du Huaishan and Tan Hai suddenly made sixty or seventy silver coins!
With money in hand, Du Huaishan finally bought beef shank.
With scientific, professional training methods, Luo Zongwen’s guidance, and a nutrient-rich diet,
after more than two months, his body had grown sturdier—he now weighed eighty-five kilograms, and had grown two centimeters taller.
Together with three vials of Red Marrow serum he’d gotten from Lai Yanlong, his fusion rate in the demonization state had already surpassed eight percent.
Now, Du Huaishan’s clean-and-jerk was up to one hundred eighty kilograms; his squat was around four hundred kilograms, and his deadlift even higher.
For comparison, the world record holder for deadlift on Earth—“The Mountain”—set it at 501 kg.
This meant that Du Huaishan’s muscle strength was gradually approaching the peak of human capability.
Granted, he had the boost from his guardian spirit.
But Du Huaishan was only sixteen.
Just three months of training, and he had already reached this level—far beyond the ordinary!
Not to mention,
when he entered his demonized state, with a 2.3-fold boost to his heart’s pumping power, his strength would more than double again!