Couriers earn more, as they charge based on the value of the goods. For a qualified escort, making three to five hundred taels a year is no problem.

But being a courier is also more dangerous, especially in these chaotic times.

Encounter a demon, you lose your life; run into bandits, you lose your money.

I’ve heard from those escorts at the security agency that very few people stay in this line of work for long. After making quick money for a few years, they immediately switch careers.”

Adam Harper squinted his eyes and said, “It’s all just risking your life for others. Isn’t there anyone who wants to go further on the path of martial arts?”

“If you want to go further, you have to have the ability.”

Samuel Thompson sighed, “Some people choose to join the army, but now the court is suppressing rebellions everywhere, and there’s war on the borders. You die even faster in the military.

Others wander the martial world, hoping to join those big sects, but the disciples of those sects have been trained since they were kids, all with outstanding talent and physique. How could they ever take a liking to people like us?

Some people drift in the martial world for years, end up down and out, and in the end, aren’t they still coming back to be someone’s bodyguard?”

Adam Harper patted Samuel Thompson on the shoulder. “Who knows what the future holds? Maybe you’ll go further on the martial path than anyone else.”

Samuel Thompson struggled to swallow the black rye bun in his hand. “I’m not thinking that far ahead. Right now, I just want to know when I can swap these black rye buns for white flour buns.

Eat black rye buns at the martial arts school, go home and still eat black rye buns—I’m about to puke from eating them.”

Though he said that, Samuel Thompson’s figure didn’t look like someone who was about to puke from eating too much.

He was a whole size bigger than when he first came to the martial arts school. Of course, his energy and blood were abundant, so even if he was fat, it was the strong kind of fat.

At this moment, Adam Harper was also thinking that he should find a way to make some money.

The ten taels of silver he got from Ma Gui were already half gone, almost all spent on food.

Scholars are poor, but martial artists are rich. Even if you don’t soak in medicinal baths or take elixirs, you can’t starve yourself while practicing martial arts, right?

With Adam Harper’s current appetite, he eats several times more than an ordinary person, and every meal must include meat to keep up with his physical exertion. That makes his expenses much higher.

“Sigh, in times like these, being born into the right family is what matters. Here we are, struggling over whether to be a bodyguard or a courier, but in the end, we’re just risking our lives for others.”

Samuel Thompson’s tone was seven parts sour, three parts envious, as he gestured with his mouth toward a small group in the distance.

That group had fewer than ten people, all wearing high-quality, breathable silk training uniforms.

They wouldn’t stay at the martial arts school for breakfast after morning lessons, and during major classes, servants would bring them all kinds of food. They stood out from the other disciples at the school.

Since childhood, their resources were on a whole different level compared to poor disciples like Samuel Thompson.

Some of the stronger ones weren’t even twenty yet, but had already opened three meridians.

These people all came from wealthy families. While not exactly martial arts clans, in these troubled times, they all understood the importance of strength, so they sent their children to the martial arts school to learn.

Another reason is that the Great Zhou is a nation founded on martial prowess, and martial artists hold a high status.

As long as you have strength, power and wealth are within your grasp!

Chapter 8: Actual Combat Assessment

Samuel Thompson envied those rich kids, but Adam Harper didn’t feel much about it.

It’s true that scholars are poor and martial artists are rich, and those people have innate advantages, but Adam Harper wasn’t lacking either.

He had a cheat!

With the Gluttonous Furnace for refining, and at critical moments he could sacrifice some emotions like love or affection—at worst, he could just be a cold-blooded killer.

Early in the morning, Adam Harper poured a bucket of cold water over himself.

It was early autumn, and the weather was a bit chilly, but Adam Harper didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

The water flowed down his not exaggerated but knotted and sinewy muscles, making Adam Harper’s physique look even more lean and powerful.

After teaching the disciples about weapons, James Thompson had them practice and get familiar with them for half a month.

He didn’t teach blade or sword techniques, just the basics of weapon handling, and half a month was enough for that.

During this half month, Adam Harper broke through to a hundred acupoints, and had opened four meridians.

The acquired stage of opening meridians and acupoints is all about grinding away—there’s not much technical skill involved.

The first ten acupoints might be hard to open, but once you’ve opened a hundred, it becomes second nature.

The acquired stage is called the Acquired Meridian Opening Stage, not the Acquired Acupoint Condensing Stage, because the real difficulty lies in opening the meridians.

But even that wasn’t much trouble for Adam Harper.

He sacrificed his sense of pain to the Gluttonous Furnace, so the excruciating pain of opening meridians couldn’t affect him at all.

As long as he was careful and there was no outside interference, his success rate for opening meridians was almost 99.99%.

Adam Harper estimated that his current level was about the same as those wealthy disciples at the martial arts school who had medicinal baths and meat every day.

After getting dressed and arriving at the martial arts school, he saw Samuel Thompson coming toward him with a worried look.

“What’s wrong? Did your dad beat you again?”

Samuel Thompson shook his head and sighed, “There’s a rumor that there’s going to be another assessment, and this time it’s an actual combat assessment where we fight each other.”

“Are there eliminations this time?”

“This time there aren’t, but getting beaten up still doesn’t feel good.”

Adam Harper: “……”

This guy Samuel Thompson really has no confidence in himself.

The fight hasn’t even started, and he’s already worried about getting beaten up.