Tiger Bone Paste Once Every Seven Days

A martial arts school apprentice's three daily meals were included in the tuition.

Zhou You was eating lunch. The food was quite decent—rice, flour, vegetables, and meat, with all-you-could-eat portions.

Feeling the sting of the twenty taels of silver he had paid in tuition, he did not hold back, keeping his head down and eating without pause.

Maybe he could eat his money's worth back?

He had just received two pieces of news, one bad and one good.

The bad news was...

Zhou You had gained an unexpected windfall of 40 Experience Points from leveling up through self-cultivation.

He had wanted to raise Tiger Subduing Fist to lv4, but the System Panel informed him that his Strength did not meet the requirement and he could not fulfill the conditions for leveling up.

It turned out that besides Experience Points, leveling up a skill required Strength, Speed, and Defense to reach certain values.

No wonder the Outer Court apprentices were all bent over their training, practicing Tiger Subduing Fist and tempering their strength.

Besides increasing proficiency, this fist technique could build strength, improve agility, and reinforce endurance along the way.

With just the two foundational techniques, Square Step and Imperial Strike Hand, it was fundamentally impossible to cultivate Martial Force.

He could only raise the three base attributes first and meet the threshold for advancement.

That was the bad news. The good news was...

"Trial Project One (Unrated): Hundred-Day Initiation."

"You must fulfill the conditions for Martial Force initiation within the three-month limit. Otherwise, this trial will be considered a failure."

"Successful completion of the Trial Project will grant Experience Point rewards."

A brand-new trial had begun, requiring him to cultivate Martial Force and meet the martial arts school's initiation requirements.

Zhou You ate until he was eighty percent full, wiped his mouth, and stood up.

Time was pressing. He had to seize every second to cultivate and accumulate Experience Points.

"Zhou You, what's the rush? They'll hand out Tiger Bone Paste this afternoon. Eat your fill first."

Seeing that he was about to leave at once, Song Fugui hurriedly stopped him.

It turned out that the martial arts school distributed Tiger Bone Paste once every seven days.

This medicinal plaster was the exclusive complement to Tiger Subduing Fist. When apprentices applied it externally, it could greatly increase their strength and help them break through the bottlenecks of Tiger Subduing Fist.

Because it consumed too many materials, the martial arts school supplied it only once every seven days and would never give out more.

"What a pity. Tiger Bone Paste is good stuff—you can't buy it even if you have money."

Song Fugui sighed with feeling.

Among the Outer Court apprentices, quite a few came from wealthy families. If it could shorten the time needed to achieve Martial Force initiation, many would be willing to pay.

Yet secret medicines were hard to come by. Without the right connections, one could clutch silver in both hands and still be unable to buy them.

Just from the name Tiger Bone Paste, it was obvious that tiger bones were the main ingredient.

Tigers only appeared in mountains and wilderness, and they were exceptionally ferocious. It took teams of thirty to fifty hunters to kill one.

Thus, tiger pelts, tiger bones, and the like were luxuries reserved for wealthy families. How could their price possibly be cheap?

Zhou You felt this deeply. Learning martial arts really burns money!

Even if he only received one plaster of Tiger Bone Paste every seven days, it was still worth a considerable sum.

By that calculation, twenty taels of tuition each month was not all that expensive.

"Brother Li, once you use this Tiger Bone Paste, you'll be ninety percent of the way to Martial Force initiation."

"When you become a formal apprentice, don't forget your brothers."

The novice apprentice speaking was named Zhang Shu. The Brother Li he was so earnestly currying favor with was none other than Li Hao, the most outstanding among the new recruits.

Li Hao neither confirmed nor denied it. "Let's hope so."

Watching Li Hao's departing back, Song Fugui revealed an envious expression.

"Li Hao's family served as martial officials for generations. Though they have fallen into decline now, even a rotten ship still has three pounds of iron."

"He entered the school alongside me, yet in only two months, he's nearly cultivated Martial Force."

"I heard he secretly used medicinal wine too. Tsk, tsk!"

The martial arts school encouraged healthy competition among apprentices, letting the superior survive and the inferior be weeded out.

Although Tiger Bone Paste was not sold in additional quantities, there were no restrictions if apprentices had connections to obtain medicinal wine or secret medicines to increase their strength.

Zhou You shrugged. There was nothing he could do about that—he had no money.

Song Fugui's family had money, but they lacked the right connections, so he had no such hopes either.

"Zhou You, you just entered the school. Increasing your strength is your highest priority."

"Don't be like Fang Guiqi, secretly saving up Tiger Bone Paste to sell for money and losing the watermelon while picking up sesame seeds."

Of the three sharing the same dormitory, Liu Bing and Song Fugui used their secret medicine as soon as they received it.

Only Fang Guiqi was different. Perhaps he had just arrived from elsewhere and was short on cash. He never used the Tiger Bone Paste he received; Zhou You had heard that he found someone to sell it privately.

"One plaster of Tiger Bone Paste sells for at least five taels of silver outside."

That much?

Zhou You shook his head after hearing that. Selling secret medicine for a few taels of silver really was losing the watermelon while picking up sesame seeds.

Within the three-month deadline for new recruits, improving one's strength was the foremost priority. Doing this simply squandered a golden opportunity.

In this world, without the strength to protect oneself, no amount of silver earned could be kept safe.

That afternoon, Lu Qiang distributed Tiger Bone Paste to the apprentices.

"Tiger Bone Paste is the signature secret medicine of our Jianxiong Martial Arts School. Spreading it outside is strictly forbidden."

"It is secretly refined from twenty-eight precious medicinal materials. Its medicinal potency nourishes flesh, skin, bones, and marrow, producing extraordinarily miraculous effects."

"Come forward one at a time to collect it. One plaster per person."

Li Hao, standing amid the crowd, wore a disdainful expression.

Tiger Bone Paste was essentially just a way to make use of discarded medicinal dregs. It could only fool those ignorant Outer Court apprentices.

The true secret medicine in School Master Wang Jianxiong's possession was called the Mountain Lord Life-Replacing Pill.

This secret medicine was the true spiritual medicine for martial artists. Unfortunately, it was supplied only to Inner Court disciples and had never made its way to the Outer Court.

Senior Disciple Brother Lu Qiang was one of the disciples qualified to take this pill.

Tiger Bone Paste was, at most, a byproduct of refining the Mountain Lord Life-Replacing Pill.

Zhou You received his Tiger Bone Paste. The palm-sized medicinal patch was cut from tiger hide and coated with a thick, sticky medicinal paste that gleamed amber beneath the sunlight.

The sharp medicinal scent that rushed into his nose jolted his spirits.

This was an external medicinal patch. He only needed to stick it directly to his chest or back and let his skin's Pores absorb the medicinal potency.

The other apprentices opened their robes, each applying Tiger Bone Paste to their bodies before beginning to practice Tiger Subduing Fist.

When practicing the fist technique, their blood boiled and their Pores opened, allowing them to absorb the medicinal paste faster and better.

White mist visibly rose from above their heads, while the vague posture of tigers seemed to tumble and surge around them.

Zhou You did not hesitate either. He raised a hand and pressed the Tiger Bone Paste onto his chest.

Thread after thread of heat burrowed into his body through his skin. Tiger Bone Paste had a domineering name, and its medicinal potency was equally domineering, flooding into him as though it were being poured directly into his body.

With such good effects, he absolutely could not waste them.

As the medicinal potency took effect, Zhou You began practicing Imperial Strike Hand and Square Step on the spot.

"...Experience Points +1."

"...Experience Points +1."

Suddenly, a ding sounded in his mind, and the System Panel changed.

Strength +1.

Speed +1.

Defense +1.

The first time he used Tiger Bone Paste, the enormous flood of medicinal potency had actually produced the miraculous effect of increasing all three attributes by 1.

"Zhou You, don't waste it. Secret medicine has its best effect the first time it is used."

"Also, stop stubbornly grinding away at Imperial Strike Hand and Square Step all the time. Cultivating Tiger Subduing Fist is the true foundation."

Song Fugui's advice reached his ears.

Zhou You was ecstatic within. He had found an auxiliary path to becoming stronger without spending Experience Points.

Secret medicine could enhance one's innate attributes.

With all three attributes raised to 6 points, he now met the requirements to advance Tiger Subduing Fist.

"Lv3 → lv4, Experience Points -30."

Name: Zhou You.

Strength: 6.

Speed: 6.

Defense: 6.

Experience Points: 27.

Class: Martial Arts Apprentice.

Skills: Imperial Strike Hand lv3, Square Step lv3, Tiger Subduing Fist lv4.

One plaster of Tiger Bone Paste had directly shattered his predicament, allowing him to smoothly advance another level.