Chapter 7: Research! It Worked!

Hong’s Martial Arts Hall.

“Still want more? There isn’t any. Even if you pay extra, I can’t conjure it up if they don’t provide the soup. This medicinal soup is served once every four days; your strength isn’t enough yet, and drinking too much isn’t good for your body.”

Shi Lei shook his head repeatedly.

Zhang Lingshan asked again, “Then, Senior Brother, do you know of anything that can nourish qi and replenish blood? I’d like to buy some to build up my health.”

“Go look at a pharmacy yourself.”

Shi Lei said impatiently, then hurried out of the martial arts hall, off to attend to who knows what.

After he left, Tie Feng immediately sidled over and said mysteriously, “I have some good stuff here for nourishing qi and replenishing blood. Does Brother Xiaoshan want to try some?”

“What is it?”

“A type of tiger meat. The tiger is a creature of pure yang. If you eat tiger meat, you’ll have more vigor when practicing the Pure Yang Stance. You’ll get twice the result with half the effort!”

As he spoke, he fished an oil-paper parcel from his bosom, took out a small strip of dried tiger meat, and held it up before Zhang Lingshan’s eyes, saying with a hidden meaning, “This stuff is quite rare; ordinary people can’t buy it even if they want to.”

“How much?”

“Oh, it hurts our brotherhood 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 to sell it to you.”

“So expensive?”

“How is that expensive? It’s always been this price. This is the internal price; you couldn’t buy it outside for any amount of money. If you don’t want it, forget it.”

Tie Feng’s face turned sullen.

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 I lie to you, brother?”

Tie Feng beamed, snatched the silver Zhang Lingshan handed over, and was overjoyed, thinking to himself that this short, stocky guy was truly a fool with money; he’d made a hundred percent profit so easily.

He’d buy another oil-paper parcel to sell to him later.

Zhang Lingshan didn’t know what Tie Feng was thinking. He walked to the side and immediately stuffed the dried tiger meat into his mouth and began to gnaw on it.

The jerky was very chewy; it wouldn’t break even after being chewed into pieces. After swallowing it whole, a faint heat immediately ignited in his stomach, as if a hot water bottle were hidden inside the meat.

*Pop.*

The heat spread through his stomach, giving him a warm sensation, but it quickly dissipated.

The amazing thing was that after eating just one strip, his stomach felt a hint of fullness.

And after three strips were down, his stomach was stuffed. At this point, when he practiced the Pure Yang Stance, he felt heat surging from the center of his abdomen, spreading out to his limbs and bones.

It was just as Tie Feng had said: twice the result with half the effort.

Zhang Lingshan was overjoyed and immediately practiced even more vigorously.

If Hong Zhengdao were here, he would have seen at a glance that Zhang Lingshan’s Pure Yang Stance had already developed a bit of substance. However, the apprentices practicing in the outer courtyard didn’t have that kind of discernment, and everyone was busy with their own affairs, having no interest in paying attention to an insignificant person like Zhang Lingshan.

Time passed quickly while standing in the stance.

When Zhang Lingshan felt his stomach was empty again, he checked his panel.

Name: Zhang Lingshan Martial Arts: Pure Yang Stance (Minor Achievement) Energy: 0.1

‘It takes two hours to digest three strips of tiger meat, which adds 0.1 energy.’

Zhang Lingshan summarized.

Just then, lunch was served. He continued to eat a large bowl, and by the time he practiced until the afternoon meal, another 0.1 energy had been credited.

Adding the 0.1 from the afternoon meal, it meant that during the time he spent practicing at Hong’s Martial Arts Hall, he could get a total of 0.3 energy.

It was still a bit slow.

But there was no better way for now; he could only go back, practice more, eat three more strips of tiger meat, and then buy a bowl of Eight-Treasure Soup to drink.

Calculated this way, he could get 0.5 energy a day.

‘The efficiency is still a bit low; I need to think of a way…’

Zhang Lingshan pondered secretly.

So, after leaving Hong’s Martial Arts Hall in the afternoon, he went to the pharmacy from before. But instead of asking for Eight-Treasure Soup, he spent five taels of silver to have the clerk weigh out one *qian* of over twenty different medicinal herbs.

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 tiger meat is actually a medicinal ingredient that only pharmacies know how to process.”

“What a coincidence, a batch just finished drying today. How much do you want?” the clerk asked with a smile.

“Give me one tael’s worth to start.”

“Coming right up!”

The clerk was nimble and quickly prepared a package for Zhang Lingshan, which was more than twice the amount of the tiger meat Tie Feng had given him.

The corners of Zhang Lingshan’s eyes twitched slightly.

He knew that Tie Feng must have made a profit off him, but he didn’t expect it to be more than double. That was truly a rip-off.

The guy looked like an honest fellow with thick eyebrows and big eyes, but who knew he was craftier than a crooked merchant.

After receiving the tiger meat, he immediately ate a strip and found there was no difference in effect, so he bought four more taels’ worth.

With that, he only had eight taels of silver left on hand. He didn’t dare spend it recklessly; he had to save it just in case.

Fortunately, this many herbs and tiger meat would be enough for the time being.

Back home, Zhang Lingshan immediately began to boil the medicine. He ground one of the herbs into powder, made it into a paste, and drank it all at once to test the efficiency of the herb in increasing energy.

Soon, he discovered one herb called Spirit Root Grass.

After taking this medicine, it would immediately increase his energy by 0.1 in less than half an hour, and the price was very cheap—only one *qian* of silver.

Calculated out, one tael of silver could increase 1 point of energy, which was much more cost-effective than the soup Shi Lei sold.

Besides that, Zhang Lingshan discovered that some herbs, when drunk alone, would not only fail to increase energy but would actually cause it to drop.

Before the energy dropped, the energy points on the panel would flash red to warn him that the item was poisonous.

If he was fast enough to vomit the poison out, the energy points would remain stable.

This taught him a lesson: 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 he had enough energy, he would be immune to all poisons.

‘Spirit Root Grass, Iron Dendrobium, and Green Ling—these three herbs are the most cost-effective. I can rotate them so that toxins from one herb don’t accumulate and cause an energy drop.’

Zhang Lingshan summarized his experience and wrote everything he had learned on a piece of paper.

Only when he was too tired to keep his eyes open did he fall asleep.

Morning.

He was startled awake again by the same nightmare, and the same red marks appeared on his body once more.

Zhang Lingshan calmed himself down, then immediately pulled himself together. After taking three strips of tiger meat, he began testing his herbs again.

He didn’t rush to get his free meal until just before noon.

After eating, he went home to test the herbs again, then went out for the afternoon meal.

The second day was the same.

On the third day, Shi Lei waited for Zhang Lingshan to arrive, wanting to sell him more soup, but was flatly refused by Zhang Lingshan.

He had already tested several herbs that increased energy, and their cost-effectiveness was far better than that soup; who would care for that stuff anymore?

‘Has this short, stocky guy given up?’

Seeing that Zhang Lingshan didn’t even come to Hong’s Martial Arts Hall except for meals, Tie Feng was speechless. He had originally wanted to continue selling tiger meat to Zhang Lingshan, but it seemed he wouldn’t be able to sell any more.

“So much for a ‘tenacious heart for martial arts,’ even hitting his head against the wall—it makes me laugh.”

Rejected by Zhang Lingshan, Shi Lei’s face darkened, and he sneered with disdain.

It had only been a few days, and this loser had already given up. He had wanted to use him as a cash cow, damn it.

He downed the unwanted 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 show up for meals every day, trash!”

Zhang Lingshan ignored him.

After eating, he immediately returned home, practiced the Pure Yang Skill for a while to digest the food, and then took a bowl of the Spirit Root Grass paste.

【Energy +0.1】

Name: Zhang Lingshan Martial Arts: Pure Yang Stance (Minor Achievement+) Energy: 5

“It’s done!”

Zhang Lingshan was overjoyed. He had waited so long for this plus sign to appear that the flowers had already withered.

Finally, he could continue adding points!!

(End of chapter)