Emily Owen was just thinking this when she saw Henry Owen hand over the carrying pole: “After you finish washing up, help me fetch two buckets of water. I want to take a bath.”

　　If there’s any drawback to this utility courtyard, it’s that there’s no well inside.

　　Fortunately, there’s Emily Owen.

　　Don’t be fooled by this woman’s lack of talent for housework or her sickly appearance—her physical foundation is still there, and she’s quite good at heavy labor.

　　She occasionally breaks a carrying pole or a wooden bucket. But in the ancient world, wooden items are far cheaper than ceramics, clothing, or ironware.

　　Emily Owen puffed out her cheeks, but still took the carrying pole, went outside the courtyard, and brought back two buckets of water.

　　As she set down the buckets, she remembered something: “Oh right, when you go to the canteen for breakfast later, remember to give the lunch lady one tael of magic silver and ask her to prepare two days’ worth of drinking water for you.”

　　When Henry Owen heard he had to hand over a tael of magic silver, his face twitched slightly.

　　Just for two days’ drinking water? Isn’t that way too expensive?

　　A steamed bun outside only costs three copper coins. Can’t he just buy it outside?

　　Just by looking at Henry Owen’s expression, Emily Owen guessed what he was thinking. The corners of her lips lifted slightly: “You’ll understand when the time comes.”

　　Henry Owen put down the willow twig he was using to brush his teeth and looked thoughtfully at Emily Owen across from him: “What I really want to know is, why are you so familiar with Zhengyang Martial Hall? The legendary Great General of Anbei, Grace Carter, after inheriting her father’s position, always stayed in the army. She never joined any immortal martial sects in her life, nor did she ever come to Xiushui City.”

　　The so-called King of Martial Might of Daning, Great General of Anbei, Grace Carter, was precisely the “little sister” standing before him.

　　She was originally twenty-eight years old, which by modern standards would be considered a leftover woman.

　　But after the two of them were reborn, for some reason Emily Owen’s appearance and figure reverted to that of a fourteen-year-old.

　　“Are rumors from the jianghu really worth believing?” Emily Owen chuckled hoarsely, her eyes showing a look of reminiscence. “I joined the army at sixteen. Before inheriting the Iron Mountain Qin family, I once changed my name and joined the Wuxiang Divine Sect, but after my identity was exposed, I was stripped of my status as a direct disciple.”

　　Henry Owen felt relieved at these words.

　　That explained why, when they escaped from the tomb, Emily Owen insisted on coming to Xiushui Prefecture.

　　The two of them quickly finished washing up and went together to the main training ground in the east courtyard of the martial hall to join the morning practice.

　　There were seven or eight hundred inner and outer disciples in the east courtyard combined.

　　Together, they faced the rising sun, breathing in and out, absorbing the pure yang energy of the early morning sun into their bodies and transforming it into true essence.

　　This was the Nourishing Essence Technique—absorbing pure yang energy to nourish one’s own vital essence.

　　Henry Owen only began his breathing exercises after taking a “Nourishing Essence Pill” rewarded by the hall master, Lei Yuan.

　　Facing the sun, Henry Owen felt pain all over his body, as if thousands of steel needles were piercing into his flesh.

　　His face twisted in agony, but he had no choice but to endure.

　　He had crawled out of a grave, returned from death, and his limbs and organs had all been corroded by yin energy, making him especially sensitive to the fierce yang fire.

　　Yet he had no choice but to practice the Nourishing Essence Technique. Only the power of pure yang could improve his constitution and resist the poisonous cold of yin.

　　Aside from taking “Yang Harmony Powder,” this was the only way he could prolong his life.

　　However, the effect of the Nourishing Essence Pill left Henry Owen quite satisfied.

　　After refining the pill, it was indeed equivalent to ten days of cultivation, adding ten days’ worth of true essence to his body.

　　They continued their breathing exercises until the beginning of the hour of the dragon, by which time their whole bodies felt unbearably hot.

　　This was because the intensity of the sunlight had exceeded their limits.

　　Except for the inner disciples who continued to practice under the morning sun, the outer disciples all finished their breathing exercises and, under the supervision of the martial instructors, began practicing martial techniques.

　　They split into groups—some practiced sword, some practiced saber, and others wielded spears and staffs.

　　Among them, the largest group, over ninety people, practiced the Wind-Chasing Saber.

　　Henry Owen kept at it until a quarter past the hour of the dragon, when his whole body began to emit wisps of blue smoke. Only then did he stop his breathing exercises and move to the last row of inner disciples to practice saber techniques with the others.

　　He still hadn’t fully mastered the Wind-Chasing Saber, and most of the time his moves were just for show. But the supervising martial instructor beside him didn’t scold him; instead, he gave him a friendly smile, his eyes full of appreciation.

　　The story of an outer disciple who hadn’t even learned the Wind-Chasing Saber by yesterday morning, yet managed to injure Long Sheng with a single slash and embarrass the West Courtyard instructor Samuel Grant, had already spread throughout the martial hall.

　　The east and west courtyards had always been at odds, so they found Henry Owen especially pleasing to the eye.

　　By the time Henry Owen finished morning practice, he was already gasping for breath, his hands and feet trembling.

　　This made him think again of the “virtual training” in the martial arts treasury.

　　He couldn’t afford not to practice his saber techniques.

　　Henry Owen needed time to cultivate his internal skills and accumulate true essence.

　　He also needed a lot of practice to truly integrate those saber moves into his flesh and bones, making them instinctive.

　　But in his current state, even half an hour of energy cultivation and an hour of saber practice a day was exhausting.

　　Only the “virtual training” in the treasury could help him solve this problem.

　　The problem was, one martial arts point could only be exchanged for ten days of practice time, which Henry Owen felt wasn’t worth it.

　　These martial arts points had come to him in a muddled way.

　　Until Henry Owen figured out how to reliably earn martial arts points, he cherished them all the more.