Hong's Martial Arts School.
"Still want to drink? No, not even if you pay extra. If they don't give me the soup, I can't make it appear for you. This medicinal soup is once every four days. Your strength isn't enough, drinking too much isn't good for your body either."
Shi Lei shook his head repeatedly.
Zhang Lingshan asked again, "Then Senior Brother, do you know of anything that can replenish qi and blood? I want to buy some to nourish my body."
"Go look at the pharmacy yourself."
Shi Lei said impatiently and left the Martial Hall in a hurry, busy with who knows what again.
After he left, Tie Feng immediately came over and said mysteriously, "I have something good here to replenish qi and blood. Mountain Brother, do you want to try some?"
"What is it?"
"A kind of tiger meat. The tiger is a creature of pure yang. Eating tiger meat will give you more strength when practicing Zhengyang Stance. You'll get twice the result with half the effort!"
Saying that, he fumbled out an oil-paper package from his Pregnant and took out a small piece of dried tiger meat, showing it to Zhang Lingshan. He said meaningfully, "This stuff is quite hard to come by. Ordinary people can't buy it even if they want to."
"How much?"
"Oh, it hurts our friendship to talk about money, but this stuff isn't mine, I'm just keeping it for someone else. How about this, two taels of silver, and I'll take the risk and sell it to you."
"That expensive?"
"Expensive? This has always been the price, okay? This is an internal price. You can't buy it outside no matter how much you offer. If you don't want it, then forget it."
Tie Feng showed a hint of displeasure.
Zhang Lingshan thought for a moment and said, "Two taels it is. If it's really useful, I'll want more."
"I guarantee it's useful. Would we brothers lie to you?"
Tie Feng smiled broadly, grabbed the silver Zhang Lingshan handed over, and was overjoyed. He thought to himself, this short, stocky guy is indeed foolish and rich. He easily doubled his money. He'll buy another oil package and sell it to him later.
Zhang Lingshan didn't know Tie Feng's thoughts. He walked to the side and immediately stuffed the dried tiger meat into his mouth and started chewing.
This dried meat was very chewy. After chewing it into pieces that couldn't be bitten through, he swallowed it whole. A faint heat immediately ignited in his stomach, as if there was a bag of hot water hidden in the dried meat.
With a pop.
The hot water spread in his stomach, giving him a warm feeling, but it quickly dissipated.
Miraculously, after eating just one piece, his stomach felt a little full.
And after three pieces, his stomach was full. When he practiced Zhengyang Stance at this time, he felt heat surging from the center of his abdomen, spreading to his limbs and bones.
It was just as Tie Feng said, twice the result with half the effort.
Zhang Lingshan was overjoyed and immediately practiced with even more vigor.
If Hong Zhengdao were here, he would see at a glance that Zhang Lingshan's Zhengyang Stance had already gained a bit of essence, but the apprentices practicing in the outer courtyard didn't have that discernment. Moreover, everyone was busy with their own things and didn't have the time to pay attention to Zhang Lingshan, this inconspicuous little person.
Time quickly passed while standing in the stance.
When Zhang Lingshan felt his stomach was empty again, he checked the panel.
Name: Zhang Lingshan
Martial Arts: Zhengyang Stance (Minor Accomplishment)
Energy: 0.1
'Three pieces of dried tiger meat take two hours to digest and can increase energy by 0.1.'
Zhang Lingshan made a summary.
It was just time for lunch. He continued to eat a large bowl. By the time it was time for the afternoon meal, another 0.1 energy was credited.
Adding the 0.1 from the afternoon meal.
This meant that during the time he practiced at Hong's Martial Arts School, he could get a total of 0.3 energy.
It was still a bit slow.
But there was no better way at the moment. He could only go back and practice extra, eat three more pieces of dried tiger meat, and then buy a bowl of Eight Treasures Soup to drink.
Calculating this way, he could get 0.5 energy per day.
'The efficiency is still a bit low, I need to find a way...'
Zhang Lingshan pondered secretly.
So, after leaving Hong's Martial Arts School in the afternoon, he went back to the previous pharmacy, but he didn't ask for Eight Treasures Soup. Instead, he spent five taels of silver and had the clerk weigh twenty-something kinds of medicinal herbs, one qian each.
Afterward, he took out the dried tiger meat and asked, "Do you have this kind of dried tiger meat here? I just asked at the butcher shop, and they said this kind of dried tiger meat is actually a medicinal herb, and only pharmacies process it."
"What a coincidence, we just finished drying a batch today. How much do you want?" The clerk said with a smile.
"Give me one tael's worth first."
"Alright!"
The clerk was quick and immediately got Zhang Lingshan a package, which was more than double the amount of dried tiger meat Tie Feng had given him before.
Zhang Lingshan's eyes twitched slightly.
He knew that Tie Feng must have made a profit off him, but he didn't expect him to have made more than double. That was really damn scamming.
That kid looked like he had thick eyebrows and big eyes, but who knew he was more cunning than a crooked merchant.
Taking the dried tiger meat, he immediately ate a piece and found that the effect was no different. So he bought another four taels' worth.
This way, he only had eight taels of silver left. He didn't dare to spend it carelessly anymore and had to save it for emergencies.
Fortunately, these medicinal herbs and dried tiger meat were temporarily enough.
Returning home, Zhang Lingshan immediately started boiling medicine. He ground one kind of medicinal herb into powder and boiled it into a paste, then drank it all at once to test the efficiency of this herb in increasing energy.
Soon.
He tested out one medicinal herb called Linggen Grass.
After taking this herb, it would immediately increase energy by 0.1 within less than half an hour, and the price was very cheap, only one qian of silver.
Calculating it, one tael of silver could increase energy by 1 point, which was much more cost-effective than the medicinal soup Shi Lei sold.
In addition, Zhang Lingshan found that some medicinal herbs, when taken alone, would not only fail to increase energy but would also decrease energy.
Before the energy decreased, the energy points on the panel would turn red and flash to warn him that the substance was poisonous.
If he had enough time to vomit out the poison, the energy points would remain stable and not decrease.
This made him understand a principle: if someone poisoned him in the future, he could force the poison out or use energy to counteract it.
In other words, as long as his energy was sufficient, he would be immune to all poisons.
'Linggen Grass, Iron Shi Hu, Qing Ling, these three medicinal herbs are the most cost-effective. I can rotate eating them to avoid too much accumulation of toxins from one herb causing energy loss.'
Zhang Lingshan summarized his experience and wrote everything down on a piece of paper.
He didn't fall asleep until he was too tired to keep his eyes open.
Morning.
He woke up with a start again. The same nightmare, the same red marks reappeared on his body.
Zhang Lingshan took a moment to compose himself, then immediately perked up. After taking three pieces of dried tiger meat, he began testing his medicinal herbs again.
He didn't rush to mix in for food until it was almost lunchtime.
After eating, he returned home to test medicinal herbs again, and went for another meal in the afternoon.
The next day, it was the same.
On the third day, Shi Lei waited for Zhang Lingshan to arrive and still wanted to sell medicinal soup, but Zhang Lingshan refused outright.
He had already tested out several medicinal herbs that increased energy, and their cost-effectiveness was much better than that medicinal soup. Who would still care about that?
'Did this short, stocky guy give up?'
Tie Feng saw that Zhang Lingshan only came to Hong's Martial Arts School to mix in for food and didn't even practice. He couldn't help but feel speechless. He originally wanted to continue selling dried tiger meat to Zhang Lingshan, but it seemed he couldn't sell it anymore.
"What 'unwavering determination to learn martial arts,' and 'even banging his head against the wall,' it's hilarious."
Shi Lei's face immediately sank when Zhang Lingshan refused him. He sneered disdainfully.
It had only been a few days, and this good-for-nothing had already given up. He had wanted to use him as a cash cow, damn it.
He drank the unwanted medicinal soup in one gulp, then pointed at the apprentices and shouted, "What are you all looking at? Practice properly! Do you want to be as useless as him? Only knowing how to mix in for food every day, good-for-nothings!"
Zhang Lingshan ignored him.
After eating, he immediately returned home. He first practiced Zhengyang Technique for a while to digest the food, then took a bowl of Linggen Grass paste.
【Energy +0.1】
Name: Zhang Lingshan
Martial Arts: Zhengyang Stance (Minor Accomplishment+)
Energy: 5
"It's done!"
Zhang Lingshan was overjoyed. He had been waiting for this plus sign to appear until the flowers wilted.
Finally, he could continue adding points!!