I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 21 Demand

Follow Wu Qu back to Wu Village.

Although it was already getting dark when we left the city, the journey was still very smooth and we did not encounter any trouble. It was clear that the ten-mile journey from Wucun to Jingye City was relatively safe.

However, this was only because Wu Qu and Wu Ming were both martial artists, which allowed them to leave the city and return to the village as dusk approached. In fact, by the time the two left the city, there were hardly any people entering or leaving the city.

"Ming'er, take this one back with you."

Upon reaching the entrance of Wu Village, Wu Qu suddenly stopped, untied the bundle on his back, and inside were strips of dried meat. He casually pulled one out and handed it to Wu Ming.

"This……"

Wu Ming took the dried meat, weighed it briefly, and judged that it weighed at least five pounds.

Dried meat is meat that has been dehydrated and cured using a special method, so it is much more expensive than ordinary fresh meat. In addition, in this world, meat is expensive to begin with. Even the most ordinary fresh meat costs four or five hundred copper coins per pound, while dried meat is much more expensive, costing more than a thousand copper coins, which is a little over one tael of silver.

This large piece of dried meat, weighing five catties, is worth about six taels of silver.

"Take it."

Wu Qu smiled and said, "Your blood clotting is just beginning, and you need to nourish your blood and qi. You can't do without meat. I know you should still have some silver, but it would be best to supplement your diet with meat for every meal."

Since Wu Qu had said so, Wu Ming naturally had no reason to refuse. After thanking him, he accepted the gift. He already owed Wu Qu a lot of favors, so he didn't care about owing a little more. He would have a chance to repay it in the future.

Carrying the dried meat,

Wu Ming and Wu Qu returned home separately.

At home, Wu Qi and Liu had prepared a meal for him. When Wu Ming returned, Wu Qi saw the dried meat in Wu Ming's hand. He did not ask where it came from, but only said that he had learned a lot from following Wu Qu. He said that he could consult Wu Qu about anything in the future. If there was any trouble that Wu Qu could not solve, he could go to his sister Wu Yu and ask Xu Hao, the eldest brother of the Xu family, for help.

Silent all night.

The next day.

Wu Ming got up early, ate his meal, and then set off for the city.

He remembered the route clearly. Even without Wu Qu leading him, he entered the city easily, found the outer courtyard of the Seven Martial Alliance, exchanged his martial token for a rough weapon, and chose a corner in the martial arts academy to train.

As the sun passed noon, Wu Ming felt a faint trace of blood energy being refined within his body and guided into his dantian. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and head towards the dining hall located south of the outer hall of the Seven Martial Alliance.

at this time,

The entire dining hall was quite lively.

In the courtyard, there were rows of old wooden tables and rough four-cornered benches. Many men, dressed in martial arts jackets or simply shirtless, sat on them, each holding a rice bowl and eating heartily.

Wu Ming walked all the way to the inner side of the dining hall. The food here was all clearly priced and slightly cheaper than the restaurants outside. Therefore, the martial artists of the Seven Martial Alliance, unless they came from wealthy families, were willing to eat here.

"Give me a bowl of rice."

As Wu Ming spoke, he laid out ten large coins.

"Alright!" A servant immediately responded loudly, took the copper coins, and soon handed out a large earthenware bowl filled with rice.

The price of rice is not fluctuating much these days. A pound of raw rice costs about twenty copper coins. The ceramic bowls used in the Seven Martial Alliance's dining hall are very large, and a large bowl of cooked rice costs ten copper coins, which is not expensive.

In fact, the main foods here are divided into three categories: coarse grains, fine rice, and spirit rice. Poor families usually eat coarse grains, but warriors rarely eat coarse grains because they are of poor quality. For warriors who need to nourish their blood and qi, eating fine rice is essential. As for wealthy families, they often eat spirit rice.

Lingmi (灵米).

According to Wu Ming's understanding, this is a type of rice that did not exist in his previous life. It seems to be able to be grown only in so-called 'spiritual lands' and is extremely expensive, nearly a hundred times the price of fine rice!
The Seven Martial Alliance's dining hall also serves spirit rice, but few people buy it. After all, a bowl of spirit rice costs a full tael of silver, and unless you're from a wealthy family, even martial artists who have achieved secondary blood clotting often can't afford it.

"Why is this spirit rice more expensive than yesterday?"

Wu Ming glanced at the wooden board in the inner room displaying the prices and noticed that the price of spirit rice had reached 1,050 copper coins. When he came with Wu Qu yesterday, the price was 1,000 copper coins.

"Because of the recent rampage of demons, which has destroyed many spirit fields, the price of spirit rice has been rising continuously."

None of the servants inside answered. Instead, a young martial artist who had just walked over answered Wu Ming. Wu Ming recognized this man; he was one of the young men who had joined the Seven Martial Alliance with him yesterday, and his name seemed to be Chen Gui.

Judging from his clothing, he must have come from a wealthy family.

"Brother Wu, my name is Chen Gui, I met you yesterday."

Chen Gui stepped forward, ordered a meal from the inner room, and politely greeted Wu Ming.

"Brother Chen."

Wu Ming politely returned the greeting, exchanged a few words with Chen Gui, then took out a small piece of silver and placed it on the table. At the same time, he called out to the inner room, "Cut two more ounces of cooked meat."

"okay."

The servants inside quickly took away the loose silver, weighed it, and gave back several dozen copper coins. They also cut two ounces of cooked meat, placed it on a ceramic plate, and served it with a small dish of sauce on the side.

Based on his profound perception, Wu Ming had a clear understanding of his physical condition. After breaking through to become a Blood Coagulation Martial Artist, he needed to eat at least four or five ounces of meat a day to meet his daily nutritional needs for martial arts practice.

Compared to before the breakthrough, the demand is much greater.

of course,

Even if Wu Ming ate another pound or two of meat, he could still eat it. However, on the one hand, his absorption capacity was not strong enough, and it would be a waste if he couldn't absorb a lot of meat. On the other hand, which was more important, he was poor!

Eating half a pound of meat a day would cost two or three hundred copper coins, which would cost one tael of silver every four days, and about seven or eight taels of silver a month. Even if he ate so frugally, the fifteen taels of silver he had would only last for two months.

This amount of money is actually far from enough for practicing martial arts.

Putting aside everything else, there are many ways to nourish one's qi and blood within the Seven Martial Alliance alone. For example, there are foods that are more effective, such as spirit rice, fine meat, and even more expensive demon meat and medicinal cuisine!
This only covers the food. In places like the pharmacy, there are various tonic powders, each costing tens of taels of silver. The most luxurious of these is the 'medicinal bath'!
The starting price is several hundred taels of silver or more.

Wu Ming can only watch all of this now.

(End of this chapter)