All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 22 Meat

Backyard den.

Wei Hongyu examined the silkworm cocoons that Zhou Qing brought and found that the silk was of excellent quality, even better than the last batch.

"The quality of the silk this time is very good. If both batches of silkworms are of this quality, I can give you an extra tael of silver for each batch."

"The cost of the medicine is five taels of silver. Once you deliver the silkworm silk, I'll give you another three taels in cash."

After pondering for a moment, Wei Hongyu responded to Zhou Qing's request.

She had originally promised Zhou Qing three taels for each silkworm, but the silk this time was of very high quality, so she decided to give him four taels instead.

"Thank you, Senior Sister!" Zhou Qing clasped her hands in thanks.

“Your physical constitution is already quite good, but it’s a pity that your blood and qi are damaged, which has delayed you for a while. Now that you have a stable income from raising silkworms, how about giving me another two taels of silver as payment for meat dishes?” Wei Hongyu pondered.

"It will take at least a month for this batch of silkworms to grow up, and I'm afraid I won't be able to raise five taels of silver in a short time."

Zhou Qing hesitated. He had already heard that in addition to the three-month supply of Qi and Blood Soup costing five taels of silver, the martial arts school also offered a one-month supply of meat dishes costing five taels of silver.

However, the meat dish is served only once a day, consisting of just a few thin slices of meat.

Apart from a few wealthy disciples, very few people would pay five taels of silver to buy meat dishes.

"That's alright, you can make up the two taels of silver next month."

Meat dishes are highly effective in replenishing qi and blood, so you'll only benefit from them.

With your aptitude and the aid of meat-based remedies, breaking through the skin barrier within a month and a half is a sure thing.

Of course, this is just my suggestion; whether you accept it or not is entirely up to you.

Wei Hongyu added.

She said all this because she appreciated Zhou Qing's hard work and dedication.

Often, choice is more important than effort.

The skin and flesh hurdles are the easiest to overcome; breaking through them as early as possible will give you more time to train your tendons.

Training the major tendons and muscles throughout the body is much more difficult than training the skin and muscles.

A martial artist of average talent, with sufficient resources, can generally reach the Tendon Refining level within two years, but it is very likely that it will take ten or eight years to reach the Bone Refining level.

Twenty-five and thirty years old are two turning points. The further you go, the more difficult it becomes to strengthen your tendons.

Because refining tendons is difficult, and there is a qualitative improvement after breaking through, the Bone Refining Realm is revered as a Martial Master.

Wei Hongyu didn't believe that Zhou Qing, an ordinary silkworm farmer, could possibly become a martial arts master.

Out of goodwill, I hope he will seize the opportunity when conditions permit, so that he will have a chance to enter the Body Refining Realm, and even the Tendon Refining Realm in the future.

With the cultivation level of the Flesh Refining Realm, one can secure a good job among the wealthy and powerful families in town and live a life of plenty.

If one can break through to the Tendon Refining Realm, even if one reaches the county town, one will be among the upper echelons of various powerful forces.

Unless it's a fight to the death, martial artists at the Bone Refining Realm and Grand Martial Artists at the Blood Exchange Realm will not make a move.

This place is backed by the Shiwan Mountains and borders the Heishui River to the west. It is rich in resources, and any disputes between the major forces can basically be resolved through negotiation, so that they can make money together.

“In that case, I will make up the money as soon as possible,” Zhou Qing said thoughtfully, deciding to follow Wei Hongyu’s advice.

Wei Hongyu is an honest person; she certainly wouldn't lie to him.

He wanted to see what the effects of this meat dish were.

"Okay, in that case, I'll register you now."

Wei Hongyu nodded, took a roster from the bookshelf, and wrote his name in the roster.

"If you come to the martial arts school to practice this afternoon, you can get a meat meal tonight."

"Thank you, Senior Sister!" Zhou Qing clasped his hands in thanks, somewhat impatient.

He slung the basket back over his shoulder and left the study, heading towards the front yard.

As he exited the gate, he saw Lin Qiu walking towards him, and immediately lowered his head and clasped his hands in a salute.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Lin."

"Hmm." Lin Qiu nodded, his expression grim.

'Looks like I'll have to be more careful at the martial arts gym from now on.'

Zhou Qing frowned as he watched Lin Qiu's retreating figure.

Although according to the feedback from the Green Silk Gu, Lin Qiu is not a Gu Master, he is the nephew of that Taoist Master Lin.

It's suspicious that a Gu master's nephew would choose to learn martial arts instead of raising Gu.

When faced with something that might threaten one's safety, it is necessary to be suspicious of everyone.

"Pfft!" The Green Silk Gu also indicated that it would hide inside the jade tablet when it was at the martial arts school in the future.

"Hmm, it's better to play it safe. I wonder what the world of Gu Masters is like?"

Zhou Qing was filled with curiosity.

He had initially thought he was able to become a Gu Master because of the jade tablet, but now it seemed the world was far more vast than he had imagined. "I should focus on practicing martial arts first; once my strength increases, I'll eventually be able to make contact with them."

evening.

Front yard of Baiyun Martial Arts School.

In the corner was a coal stove, and on top of the stove was a large pot filled with hot sand.

"Pfft!"

Zhou Qing stood in front of the large pot, repeatedly plunging his palms into the scalding sand and then pulling them out.

Every few times, he would change the position of his feet, using different strides and angles to coordinate with his hands.

His thin black training clothes were already soaked with sweat and clung to his body.

With each insertion, Zhou Qing couldn't help but grit his teeth.

The sand was hot and hard, and the constant tugging and pulling caused his hands to become red and swollen from the heat.

A moment later, Zhou Qing placed his trembling hands into a wooden basin beside him and soaked them in the poisonous water.

"Junior Brother Zhou is really hardworking."

"I guess Junior Brother Zhou wants to break through the barrier as soon as possible."

"He's really ruthless!"

The apprentices practicing stance training nearby couldn't help but sigh at this sight.

Before most apprentices break through the skin barrier and enter the skin refining realm, they mainly focus on stance training and soak their hands in poisonous water every day to temper their palms.

This process is called skin resurfacing.

However, there is an even faster way to pass the level in the martial arts school: repeatedly plunging your hands into hot sand and then soaking them in poisonous water.

After being subjected to the double abrasion of sand and toxic water, the skin on the palms will become bloody and mangled. Once the broken skin heals, the skin on the palms will become even more resilient.

This makes it easier to break through the skin barrier.

Stirring sand with your hands is something many tough guys in martial arts schools can do; they all come from poor backgrounds and are willing to risk their lives.

However, the White Cloud Palm Technique is a poisonous art, with poisoning as its primary method.

During the sand-frying process, the toxicity of the bone-rotting water used to soak hands will decrease over time.

They had to keep stirring sand and soaking in toxic water non-stop. This double suffering was comparable to self-harm, and few people could endure it.

Moreover, if one does not replenish nutrition in time afterward to accelerate the recovery of qi and blood, such cultivation will be less effective.

Therefore, very few people would use this skin smoothing method.

【Technique: White Cloud Stake】

[Progress: Beginner (530/800)]

'Progress has indeed increased!'

Zhou Qing looked at the text in his line of sight. The cultivation time was about the same. Today, he had increased his progress by 20 points, while yesterday he only had 15.

The reason he's working so hard is because he can start drinking Qi and Blood Soup to replenish his Qi and blood starting today.

And there are also meat dishes.

Wei Hongyu said that meat dishes have a great effect on replenishing qi and blood for martial artists who are undergoing skin resurfacing, and minor injuries can be healed quickly.

Otherwise, Zhou Qing wouldn't dare to practice like this.

"Time for soup!" A moment later, Xu Lin came to the front yard carrying a large wooden bucket.

Immediately afterwards, the apprentices who had paid for the medicine each received a bowl of bright red blood-nourishing soup.

"So Junior Brother Zhou has already raised enough money for the medicine. No wonder he dares to practice like this."

Seeing Zhou Qing also join the queue, the apprentices who couldn't afford the Qi and Blood Soup were surprised and envious.

Zhou Qing held the pungent-smelling blood and qi soup and drank it down while it was still hot. A spicy and stimulating sensation filled his mouth, esophagus, and finally entered his stomach.

A moment later, Zhou Qing felt a heat rising all over his body, so he continued to rub his skin.

As darkness fell, most of the apprentices left the martial arts school.

Wei Hongyu came to the front yard and handed him a ceramic jar.

"This contains raw meat for cooking. You can take it home and eat it before practicing stance training. Remember to make sure it's thoroughly cooked before eating."

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Zhou Qing clasped his hands in a fist salute and accepted the pottery jar.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Ordinary people absolutely cannot eat the meat here; it will kill them," Wei Hongyu added.

“I’ve got it.” Zhou Qing’s heart skipped a beat.

PS: Thank you to reader "Ten Turns Wine Worm" for the 500-point reward, "Qiong Zhu" for the 300-point reward, and "Black Cloud Taoist" for the 100-point reward. Thank you everyone for reading and supporting me with your monthly tickets. Today is Tuesday, the most crucial day for advancing in the next level, so please keep reading!
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(End of this chapter)