Chapter 25

Rival: Qi and Blood Bar

“Two buckets...” Qin Huai looked at the two wooden buckets on the ground, and his heart stirred.

He had been practicing martial arts for more than a year, but he had only had a few bowls of soup. He had never seen a scene where blood and Qi were calculated by buckets.

“Wow, two buckets. My family is rich, but I’ve never been so extravagant.” Li Zhang was drooling as he watched from the side.

“How many bowls does a bucket hold?”

“Who knows?”

Everyone was at a loss, even Li Zhang and the other young master’s apprentices. Only the eight big martial arts centers could afford such a generous gift, but it was not common.

“These two buckets are not just a matter of how many bowls of blood and Qi soup. We boiled them overnight and added in two demon legs.” Fang Han chuckled.

Hiss~

Li Zhang took a deep breath. “I’ve heard from the old man that demon meat is more effective in replenishing Qi and blood. If you make it into Qi and blood soup, you’ll achieve significant improvements. The reason why the Qi and blood soup is like that is that demon meat is too expensive. Ordinary people, or even ordinary wealthy merchants, can’t afford it. Anyway, this is only to allow more people to increase their vitality.”

The others came to a realization, and their gaze toward the wooden buckets became more and more passionate.

“You guys should practice hard. When you break through the realm with lightning speed, we senior brothers and sisters will also prepare a generous gift for you!” Fang Han put his hands on his waist, invigorating everyone’s fighting spirit.

After hearing those words, the crowd seemed to be on steroids. For the entire morning, they did not even need Fang Han’s urging, and they were all fully focused on their practice.

Fang Han pulled Qin Huai to the side. “Now that you’ve reached level 10, you’re no longer an apprentice. You’re now an official disciple of the dojo”

He chose his words carefully. “There are three ways for a martial arts center to make money. The first is to collect registration fees from examinees from all over the country who wish to learn martial arts.

“The second is to deliver goods for the shops in the city, big and small, and guard the restaurants to prevent them from being harassed by gangs and mountain bandits. Or someone will hire us to move out of the town and collect protection fees.

“The third is the main source of income for the dojo, mining, smelting iron, and making weapons and armors to sell to all parties. Behind the dojo, which is also the White Flow Mountain, is a huge mine. The disciples will go to the mine to mine and refine iron.”

Qin Huai listened to Fang Han’s words with a calm expression. This was because he had already heard about the mine from Luo Fei.

“But this mine doesn’t belong to the dojo alone. It’s divided equally with the Thunderbolt Dojo.” Fang Han’s eyes turned cold as he spoke. “The disciples of the Thunderbolt Dojo also learn blacksmithing, so we share this business equally.

“But even though it’s said to be evenly divided, there’s actually no clear boundary. It’s okay to make iron. Most of the time, it’s just business fights. There’s not much blood.

“But even though mining in the mountains is easy, the disciples of the two dojos have conflicts almost every day.”

Fang Han continued, “You’ll be going into the mountain for the first time at six in the evening today, so be careful of the Thunderbolt Dojo’s disciples who will attack you.

“Alright.” Qin Huai nodded. “The other six dojos should have similar businesses, right?”

“Yes.” Fang Han’s expression relaxed a lot when he said this. “There are three most profitable businesses in Pingnan City: ironware, prostitution, medicine, and blood Qi soup. Our Changshan Dojo and the Thunderbolt Dojo are fighting for the White Flow Mountain and the iron mine.

“The Crane Dojo, Tyrant Fist Dojo, and Six Harmonies Dojo are fighting for the medicine fields in the Small Medicine Mountain and the medicine shop business in the city.

“The remaining three are the Yao Mountain Saber Dojo, Three Tassels Spear Dojo, and White Wave Fist Dojo, which are known as the second class of the eight great martial arts centers. They often deceive women who would escape to Pingnan City and send them to brothels to earn money.

“The final one is the blood Qi soup. All eight big martial arts centers are making it.”

After listening to Fang Han’s words, Qin Huai had a clearer understanding of the eight major martial arts centers. As for why the third-class Changshan Dojo dared to compete with the unique Thunderbolt Dojo, he could roughly guess the reason.

After the second white dragon, he could clearly feel that his abilities, be it in terms of attack or defense, had greatly improved.

Fang Han said, “It might be an exaggeration to say that the breathing technique was the strongest technique among the eight dojos, but it was definitely not a lie.”

It was probably because the Changshan Dojo’s master is a very powerful existence that could make the Thunderbolt Dojo afraid. In addition, although the first few stages of the breathing technique were low in combat power, the first few stages were the weakest.

Fortunately, the Changshan Dojo had the advantage in numbers. With the two added together, they dared to compete with the Thunderbolt Dojo for business.

“By the way, don’t eat too much blood and Qi soup every day. Do it according to your ability,” Fang Han remembered and quickly explained. “Although you won’t die suddenly if you drink too much, the Qi and blood will overflow, and the blood from your nose will cause the Qi and blood soup to be wasted. So, just take an appropriate amount every day.”

…

The day’s training ended. Qin Huai carried the two buckets of blood and Qi soup back to his small house.

Fang Han told himself that these wooden buckets were special and had excellent sealing effects. The soup was also long-lasting, so there was no need to worry about the loss of vitality.

He lifted the lid of a wooden bucket, and a rich meaty aroma assaulted his senses. The plump meat was soaked in the scarlet soup, which greatly increased one’s appetite.

Qin Huai scooped up a strip of demon meat with one hand and scooped up a bowl of soup with the other.

When the meat and soup entered his stomach, a burning sensation instantly engulfed his entire body. His skin also turned red as if it was on fire.

“This blood and Qi soup is much more effective than the ones I used to drink.” Qin Huai’s eyes shone.

The soup from before was definitely diluted. They were even selling it to him for 15 taels. Sure enough, there was no shortage of black-hearted vendors everywhere.

However, it was all good now. He had already drunk the Qi and blood soup without any impurities.

He then put the demon meat into his mouth. It was strong and smooth, fragrant and delicious. Even if it was simply processed, it was already delicious enough.

Moreover, after the demon meat entered his stomach, Qin Huai’s body was trembling and boiling.

“Eh?” He suddenly looked at his personal panel. There was an additional column on it.

Name: Qin Huai

[ Vitality ]: 23.413

[ Cultivation Methods: Breathing technique (Level 11, 1821/2000), Qi-nurturing technique (Level 50, 7/1000), Breath Control technique (Level 10, 501/1000), Thunderflash technique (Level 0, 100/1000) ]

[Skills ]: [Alchemy (advanced, 571/1600) ], [Forging (intermediate, 73/400)]

[Stage: Level 2 Blood Refinement]

“After I ate the demon meat, a vitality column showed up.” Qin Huai was curious, so he tried to drink another bowl of blood Qi soup. Immediately, the number after [ Vitality ] changed from 23.413 to 23.414.

“A bowl of soup only increased my vitality by 0.001.”

He ate another 500 grams of demon meat and saw that his vitality had increased by 0.005.

“If a black-plate disciple gets a bowl of blood and Qi soup every three days, his blood and Qi will increase by 0.122 a year. Too bad I can’t compare the effects of this blood Qi soup yet.” Qin Huai was slightly regretful.

For the time being, it was impossible to compare the effects of Qi and blood soup and cultivation method advancement.

...

“But we’ll know in eight or nine days,” Qin Huai muttered. The speed at which he was improving his breath enhancement technique had slowed down.

He could only increase his speed by one level a day, so it would take eight or nine days to reach level 20. At that time, he should be able to see some changes.

He ate two catties of demon meat and two bowls of blood Qi soup in one go. Just as he was about to refill the bowl, his nose started bleeding.

“It seems like this is my limit.”

Qin Huai quickly wiped the blood from his nose and saw his vitality increase from 23.414 to 23.425.

With his current body, he could only eat this much a day. In the words of medicine, this was to make up for his mistakes.

He calculated that the two buckets of blood and Qi soup were about 20 catties of demon meat and 60 bowls of blood and Qi soup. A 0.16 increase in vitality was equivalent to more than a year’s worth of a black-plate disciple, so this gift could be considered generous.

“Qin Huai, let’s go. Prepare to enter the mountain.”

Fang Han knocked on the door and opened it. “It’s your first time entering the mountain, so I’m worried. I’ll accompany you to get familiar with it.”