William Parker gave Nathaniel Clark a look. Nathaniel Clark knew that William Parker wanted to tell him something in private, so he followed William Parker back to the dormitory.

"Nathaniel Clark, the martial master in my clan is my uncle. He told me that the beginning stage of practicing martial arts techniques is very important. It's best to use medicinal herbs together, so you can build a solid foundation and gain more strength later on."

As William Parker spoke, he opened his box and took out six packets of herbs, about to hand them to Nathaniel Clark.

Nathaniel Clark waved his hand to refuse. Under William Parker's puzzled gaze, he opened his own box and also took out several packets of herbs.

The two looked at each other and both laughed.

William Parker looked at the quality of the herbs in Nathaniel Clark's packets and exclaimed, "These herbs are even better than mine! But I've never heard of any big family with the surname Chu in our Da Ning County."

"These were given to me by an elder," Nathaniel Clark explained simply. At the same time, he understood in his heart that he owed Director Huang an even bigger favor now.

"I see. I was going to tell you some inside information about the academy, but it seems unnecessary now—you probably already know."

Nathaniel Clark really wanted to say he didn't know, but after thinking about it, he decided not to speak up.

After a brief chat, William Parker was in charge of starting the fire, while Nathaniel Clark went to fetch water.

When Nathaniel Clark finished filling the water tank, William Parker had already gotten the stove fire going. They put the herbs and water into the pot to boil. Instead of waiting idly in the courtyard, they headed to the academy's dining hall.

The dining hall had already prepared the food, much like a modern school cafeteria. Everyone took a tray to get their food: one meat dish, two vegetables, and unlimited rice.

Nathaniel Clark ate six big bowls of rice in one go, leaving William Parker dumbfounded.

In William Parker's view, since Nathaniel Clark could afford those herbs, his family must be well-off. Normally, people their age would eat two bowls per meal. Those who practiced martial arts might manage three, but six bowls was beyond his imagination.

Nathaniel Clark gave him the impression that while other students came to the academy for martial arts secrets, he was here just for the free meals.

Little did William Parker know, back at home, Nathaniel Clark only got three bowls of rice a day, barely half full each meal. The more he ate, the faster his strength grew. Now that he finally had a place with unlimited food, of course he would eat as much as he could.

Even after six bowls, he only felt about seventy percent full. If he wasn't worried that overeating would make it hard to practice martial arts, he could have eaten eight bowls.

After eating their fill, the two left the dining hall and returned to their room. By this time, the medicinal decoction was ready.

They poured the boiled medicine into their respective bath barrels, then added cold water to adjust the temperature. Both stripped off their clothes and jumped into the tubs to soak.

While soaking, they followed Instructor Chen's teachings to practice the internal technique of "Bull Demon Strength."

After just one cycle, Nathaniel Clark's eyes lit up. He glanced at William Parker and saw that William Parker still had his eyes closed and his expression unchanged, so he knew that William Parker's experience was different from his own.

He could clearly feel that as he circulated his energy, whenever the flow of qi reached his limbs, a bit of heat would seep into his skin there and merge with the qi.

This qi traveled from the Governing Vessel behind the dantian up to the Baihui at the top of his head, then down the Conception Vessel in front, returning to the dantian.

With each cycle, Nathaniel Clark could visibly see the color of the medicinal liquid in his tub becoming lighter.

After twenty cycles, the liquid in Nathaniel Clark's tub had become completely clear. He didn't continue soaking, but got out of the tub, glanced at William Parker's tub—its liquid was still light brown—and chose not to disturb William Parker. He got dressed and left the dormitory.

The training ground was very quiet at this hour, not a single person in sight.

Nathaniel Clark walked to the row of stone weights, found the one weighing 150 jin according to the labels, squatted down, grabbed the recessed handle, and with a burst of strength, lifted it over his head.

The stone weight was lifted with ease.

He then tried the 160 jin stone weight—still managed to lift it, but it took more effort.

At 170 jin, he got it over his head, but couldn't hold it for five breaths.

Although he failed, Nathaniel Clark's eyes were filled with barely concealed excitement. On his first day of practicing "Bull Demon Strength," he had gained nearly 60 jin of strength.

It was simply unbelievable.

Nathaniel Clark didn't keep trying, nor did he stay at the training ground. He quickly headed back to the dormitory.

He didn't know about others, but he was sure that gaining nearly 60 jin in one go on the first try was definitely abnormal.

Was it because the martial arts manual had opened the gate wider for the longevity fruit energy stored in his body?

Looks like he needed to recalculate the coefficient in his formula for the gate's water flow.

When Nathaniel Clark returned to the dormitory, William Parker had also come out of the tub, looking full of confidence.

"Nathaniel Clark, I feel like I could kill a tiger right now!"

He even swung his fists as he spoke.

"You feel your strength has increased?" Nathaniel Clark asked curiously.

"Of course! I don't know the exact amount, but it should be about ten jin."

William Parker walked to the stone weights in the courtyard and lifted the 220 jin stone weight off the ground in one go.