Demand

Following Wu Qu, he returned to Wu Village.

Although it was already a bit dark when they left the city, the journey back was very smooth, and they didn't encounter any trouble. It was clear that the more than ten-mile road from Wu Village to Jingye City was relatively safe.

However, this was also because both Wu Qu and Wu Ming were martial artists, which allowed them to dare to leave the city and return to the village when it was getting late. In fact, by the time they left the city, there were hardly any people entering or exiting the city gates.

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

When they reached the entrance of Wu Village, Wu Qu suddenly stopped. He untied the bundle on his back, which surprisingly contained strips of dried meat. He casually pulled one out and handed it to Wu Ming.

"This..."

Wu Ming took the dried meat and weighed it slightly, judging it to be a five-pound portion.

Dried meat was meat with the water removed and preserved using a special method, making it much more expensive than ordinary fresh meat. Coupled with the fact that meat prices were already high in this era, the cheapest fresh meat cost four to five hundred copper coins per pound, while dried meat was even more expensive, costing over a thousand copper coins per pound, or a little over one tael of silver.

This large piece of dried meat, weighing five pounds, was worth about six taels of silver.

"Take it."

Wu Qu smiled and said, "You've just reached the Blood Forging stage, and you need to nourish your blood energy. You can't lack meat. I know you should still have some silver, but it's best to supplement with meat for all three meals."

Since Wu Qu had said so, Wu Ming naturally had no reason to refuse. After thanking him, he accepted it. After all, he already owed Wu Qu many favors, so he didn't mind owing a little more. There would always be opportunities to repay him in the future.

Carrying the dried meat, Wu Ming and Wu Qu returned to their respective homes.

At home, Wu Qi and Liu Shi had already prepared food and were waiting for him. When Wu Ming returned and saw the dried meat he was carrying, Wu Qi didn't ask where it came from. He just said it was good that Wu Ming had gained experience by following Wu Qu, and that he could discuss any matters with Wu Qu in the future. If there were any troubles that Wu Qu couldn't resolve, he could also seek help from his elder sister Wu Yu and her husband, Brother Xu Hao.

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

Wu Ming woke up early. After breakfast, he set off for the city.

He remembered the way clearly. This time, without Wu Qu leading the way, he entered the city with practiced ease. He found the Outer Hall courtyard of the Seven Martial Alliance, exchanged his Martial Token for a rough weapon blank, and began practicing in a corner of the Martial Academy.

It was past noon when he felt a faint wisp of blood energy that had been refined within his body. After guiding it into his Dantian, Wu Ming finally let out a long breath and headed towards the Food Hall located on the south side of the Seven Martial Alliance Outer Hall.

At this moment, the entire Food Hall was quite lively.

Old wooden long tables were set up in the courtyard, and many burly men in training vests, or even bare-chested, sat on rough, four-legged stools. Each of them held a bowl of rice, eating with great enthusiasm.

Wu Ming walked to the inner part of the Food Hall. The meals here were all clearly priced and slightly cheaper than outside restaurants, which was why the martial artists of the Seven Martial Alliance, unless they came from wealthy families, were willing to eat here.

"One bowl of rice, please."

Wu Ming said, paying ten copper coins.

"Coming right up!"

A servant inside immediately responded loudly, took the copper coins, and soon handed over a large ceramic bowl filled with rice.

The price of rice fluctuated little these days. A pound of raw rice cost around twenty-odd copper coins. The ceramic bowls used in the Seven Martial Alliance Food Hall were large, and a big bowl of cooked rice for ten copper coins was not expensive.

In fact, the main meals here were divided into several types: coarse grains, fine rice, and spirit rice. Most poor families ate mostly coarse grains, but martial artists rarely ate coarse grains because their quality was very poor. For martial artists who needed to nourish their blood energy, eating fine rice was basic. As for wealthy families, they often ate spirit rice.

Spirit rice.

From Wu Ming's understanding, this was a type of grain that did not exist in his previous life. It seemed to be grown only in so-called 'spirit lands' and was extremely expensive, nearly a hundred times the price of fine rice!

The Seven Martial Alliance Food Hall also offered spirit rice meals, but few people bought them. After all, a bowl of spirit rice cost a full tael of silver. Unless they were from wealthy families, even martial artists who had reached the second stage of Blood Forging often couldn't afford it.

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

Wu Ming's gaze fell on the wooden board displaying prices inside. He noticed that the price of spirit rice had reached one thousand and fifty copper coins, whereas it was one thousand copper coins when he came with Wu Qu yesterday.

"Because of the recent severe rampages by demonic beasts, many spirit fields have been destroyed, causing the price of spirit rice to continuously rise."

None of the servants inside answered. The one who answered Wu Ming was a young martial artist who had just walked over. Wu Ming had an impression of this person; he was one of the young men who had joined the Seven Martial Alliance with him yesterday. His name seemed to be Chen Gui.

Judging by his clothing, he should be from a wealthy family.

"Brother Wu, I am Chen Gui. We met yesterday."

Chen Gui walked forward, also ordering a meal from inside, and politely greeted Wu Ming.

"Brother Chen."

Wu Ming politely returned the greeting. After a brief exchange with Chen Gui, he took out a piece of silver and placed it on the table. At the same time, he shouted to the inside, "Cut another two taels of cooked meat."

"Coming right up."

The servant inside quickly took the silver, weighed it, returned several dozen copper coins, and cut two taels of cooked meat, placing it on a ceramic plate. A small dish was also provided, with a shallow amount of sauce on it.

With his perception at the Micro-level, Wu Ming had a clear understanding of his physical condition. After breaking through to become a Blood Forging martial artist, to meet the nutritional needs of daily martial arts practice, he needed to consume about four to five taels of meat per day.

The required portion was much larger than before he broke through.

Of course, even if he had one or two more pounds of meat, Wu Ming could still eat it. However, on one hand, his absorption capacity was not strong enough; consuming a large amount of meat would be wasteful if he couldn't absorb it. On the other hand, and more importantly, was the reason of—poverty!

Eating a little less than half a pound of meat a day would cost two to three hundred copper coins. In four days, it would cost one tael of silver. In a month, it would cost about seven to eight taels of silver. Even eating so frugally, his fifteen taels of silver would only last for two months.

This amount of money was actually insufficient for practicing martial arts.

To say nothing else, within the Seven Martial Alliance alone, there were various methods to nourish qi and blood. For food, there were spirit rice, fine meat, and even more expensive demonic beast meat and medicinal cuisine!

This was just regarding food. In the Medicine Hall, there were also various nourishing medicinal powders, each costing tens of taels of silver. And the most luxurious among them was 'medicinal baths'!

The starting price was more than several hundred taels of silver.

For all these, Wu Ming could only look for now.