Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

Fang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bluestone floor of the back courtyard of the Class A courtyard. His internal energy and blood circulated rapidly along his meridians, each strand of which was so solid that it was almost tangible.

The middle stage of the meat refining realm.

The breakthrough occurred late at night three days ago. With the double blessing of twice the root strength and twice the standing meditation, the medicinal power of the three bowls of top-grade Qi and Blood Soup every month was completely absorbed by his body, not a drop was left.

The bottleneck came quickly and was broken even faster, with no danger whatsoever in the entire process.

Fang Yuan opened his eyes and spread out his right palm.

A semi-transparent panel appeared.

[Host: Fang Yuan]

[Realm Level: Mid-stage Flesh Refining Realm]

[Innate Talent: 2x (Level 3 amplification requires 1000 taels of silver)]

[Standing Posture Talent: 2x (Level 3 amplification requires 100 taels of silver)]

[Comprehension Talent: 1x (Level 2 amplification requires 1000 taels of silver)]

New branch.

A person's aptitude and talent start at a price of one thousand taels.

Adding to the trouble caused by the Li family a month ago, this past month has been incredibly difficult for Fang Yuan, with constant price increases and refusal to sell.

Fang Yuan swiped his finger across the panel, closing the page. One thousand taels—the same price as a three-fold increase in root bone strength. Both paths presented by the system pointed to the same number.

Current savings: 542 taels.

The fifty-two taels saved before the assessment, the one hundred taels of reward, and the ten taels spent on the increase in standing meditation skills, after deducting costs and expenses, the net income from the Great Strength Pills this month was about four hundred taels.

There are still 460 taels short of 1,000 taels.

At the current rate, we can raise the funds in less than two months.

But Fang Yuan knew very well that the five words "at the current speed" were no longer valid.

He stood up and stretched his shoulders and neck. The basic six forms of the Stacking Waves Fist flowed naturally within his body, every subtle adjustment of his muscles and bones precise to the millimeter. The power path that he had to consciously correct when he first received the manual a month ago was now ingrained in his instincts.

"Brother! Brother Fang Ping is here!" Fang Ying's voice came from the front yard, with the unique penetrating power of a child.

Fang Yuan wiped his sweat and walked out of the backyard.

Fang Ping stood at the entrance of the main house, his face looking rather grim.

It's not just bad, it's exceptionally bad.

Fang Ping's lips were pale, and his hands were tucked into his sleeves, but Fang Yuan noticed that his left sleeve was trembling. He stood there like a wilted eggplant, his eyes darting around, avoiding Fang Yuan's gaze.

Fang Yuan glanced at his hand.

"Come in and speak."

The two entered Fang Yuan's room and closed the door behind them.

Fang Ping sat down in the chair, remained silent for several breaths, then pulled his hands out of his sleeves and laid them on his knees.

There was a fresh red swelling on the back of my left hand, and the skin next to my knuckles was scraped and oozing blood.

It wasn't from a fight. Someone grabbed my wrist and forced me to the ground.

Fang Yuan didn't ask about the injury, but went straight to the question: "Which spot?"

Fang Ping swallowed.

"All three are gone."

Fang Yuan's finger stopped on the table.

"The incident happened first this afternoon in the East Market grocery section," Fang Ping said, taking a deep breath.

His voice was hoarse, but his reasoning was clear. After spending more than a month with Fang Yuan, he had learned one thing: when reporting, he should suppress his emotions and state the facts first.

"Two people, dressed in gray robes with the character 'Li' embroidered on their chests. They were in the late stage of the Body Refining Realm, with abundant Qi and blood, not just for show. When they arrived at the stall, they bought all forty-seven remaining Strength Pills on the shelf."

"Bought them all?"

"I bought them all, paid for them, not a single tael less. Then," Fang Ping's Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice lowered by a third.

"Then I laid out forty-seven meatballs on the stall and crushed them one by one. I did it with my fingers in front of everyone."

Fang Ping made a pinching gesture, his fingers still trembling.

"After grinding the herbs, I swept all the powder onto the ground and stomped on it twice. No one, whether they were setting up stalls nearby or passing by buying things, said a word."

Fang Yuan leaned back in his chair, his face expressionless.

"What did you say?"

"Say..." Fang Ping licked his lips, "Say that the pill business is suspended immediately. I remember the exact last sentence clearly: 'Fang Yuan will bear the consequences himself.'"

"Was the Li family's name mentioned?"

"They didn't mention the Li family directly. But the 'Li' character on his chest was impossible to hide; everyone at the surrounding stalls saw it."

"Where's the Mercenary Guild's consignment shop?"

"I haven't had time to get there yet. The guild sent word that someone bought all the consigned stock at the original price, leaving none behind. The method was the same: buy it and crush it."

"Outer South Gate?"

Fang Ping lowered his head.

"The situation at the South Gate was even worse. They didn't grind the herbs; they just overturned our setup. They kicked over the table, crushed the medicine boxes, and even made Xiao Liu, the errand boy, get his face covered in dust by pressing him to the ground."

Fang Ping raised his left hand and shook it; the red swelling on the back of his hand was particularly noticeable under the light.

"This is what happened when I rushed over and tried to stop them, but one of them grabbed my wrist and shook me off."

The room was quiet for a while.

Fang Ping and others listened as Fang Yuan spoke.

After five or six breaths, Fang Yuan spoke, his tone no different from usual.

"What does the person who came look like?"

Fang Ping was taken aback; he hadn't expected him to ask that.

"One was fat, the other thin. The fat one had a square face and a black mole on his left earlobe. The thin one was tall, with a hooked nose, and spoke with a slight accent from another region."

"Are you skilled at grinding the herbs?"

"...It's ripe. It crumbles with a single squeeze, you don't even need to look at it, it's very fast."

"Did any of the surrounding shopkeepers strike up a conversation with them?"

Fang Ping thought for a moment and shook his head: "No. Everyone avoids us, even Old Zhao, who sells ironware across the street, has packed up his stall."

Fang Yuan tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

The Li family's first step was deterrence.

It's not strangulation, it's not eradication, it's intimidation.

The fact that they bought it and crushed it instead of robbing it shows that they still cared about their image and didn't want to escalate the matter to the City Lord's Mansion. They didn't directly mention the Li family's name, but deliberately showed their identification; this left them an out—they could acknowledge it or not, and the initiative was in their hands.

Only two guards at the late-stage Flesh Refining Realm were sent. With the Li family's resources, they could easily muster a whole line of Bone Refining Realm fighters. Sending only two late-stage Flesh Refining Realm guards for this task clearly meant: you're not worthy of our big names.

Fang Hao used the same tactic when he cut off his medication residue. He would first test the waters with minimal cost to see how the other party would respond, and then decide on the next step.

The difference is that Fang Hao is just a young kid; if he loses, he loses.

The Li family is different.

The Li family controls 70% of the elixir business in Liangshui City. Their "powerful pills" can take over 30% of the low-end market in a month; anyone would be furious.

But while jumping is fine, the method is very important.

The Li family chose the yin path instead of the yang path, indicating their hesitation. Fang Yuan carries the badge of a core member of the Fang family; any action against him must carefully consider the Fang family's stance. Today's event, rather than being a direct attack on Fang Yuan, is more of a test of the Fang family.

Fang Yuan's mind works very quickly.

Go and confront the Li family? Foolish.

Giving up and not doing it anymore? That's pointless.

Neither will work. Remaining calm and collected is the best approach.

If three roads are blocked, then open the fourth.

Fang Ping.

"exist!"

"All three sales points will be closed tomorrow."

Fang Ping opened his mouth, but swallowed the words back. He had followed Fang Yuan for so long and knew that Fang Yuan's suggestion to pause wasn't an admission of weakness, but rather a warning of potential pitfalls ahead.

"Then let's..."