Medicinal Tea

"The movements and techniques reside in the heart and mind, achieving perfect integration."

After receiving guidance from Hong Jiu, Wu Ming gained many insights into the Falling Leaf Spear Technique. Even in his dreams, he kept replaying the scenes of Hong Jiu executing the spear art.

How gentle are falling leaves?

How swift is a spear thrust?

Logically, the gust of wind generated by a spear thrust should easily sweep away falling leaves. Yet, Hong Jiu's spear could strike and even pierce the erratic falling leaves. This power was more astonishing than piercing bluestone tiles with a single thrust.

It contained both fierce rigidity and absolute softness, a perfect blend of hard and soft, achieving that level of skill. It was undoubtedly a technique of the Unity Realm, far beyond what Scattered Hand and Proficient could compare to.

Given Wu Ming's understanding of techniques, directly comprehending hardness and softness to achieve Unity was clearly an overly ambitious goal. Therefore, he focused on understanding the specific movements displayed by Hong Jiu, the variations in angles for each move, and the transitions between them.

Over the next few days, he reread the classics of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique, memorizing the movements entirely. Every detail was imprinted in his mind, and he cross-referenced them with fixed diagrams and Hong Jiu's dynamic movements.

Thanks to his foundational skill in Quivering Spear Force, breaking down and practicing each movement individually was not difficult. The challenge lay in how to transition between movements and how to apply them flexibly in actual combat to achieve true integration.

The former required practice, while the latter, in addition to practice, also required a certain level of comprehension.

Wu Ming was steady and not prone to overreaching. He always started from the basics. After firmly memorizing everything, he began practicing the most fundamental movements. In about seven to eight days, he had mastered all sixteen forms of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique.

"Merely mastering the movements doesn't equate to true integration..."

In the Martial Academy.

Wu Ming stood in a corner, holding his spear, his eyes filled with contemplation as he slowly comprehended the spear art.

Scattered Hand and Proficient, unlike the number of Blood Forging stages, did not have very distinct dividing lines. These two skill realms were more like a smooth curve, with the entire improvement process being a steady ascent.

For instance, a Scattered Hand practitioner who had just learned to generate force would find it difficult to contend with a Proficient martial artist even with three people working together. However, if a Scattered Hand martial artist had basically mastered the movements and possessed some practical combat experience, even two of them would find it challenging to deal with a Proficient martial artist.

As Wu Ming was carefully comprehending the spear art.

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded.

"Wu Ming."

Chen Gui walked over from a distance, smiling as he clapped Wu Ming on the shoulder. "Let's go, let me show you something good!"

Wu Ming hadn't seen Chen Gui much during these seven or eight days. He heard that Chen Gui had some family matters to attend to. Seeing Chen Gui now, he didn't ask what he had been busy with recently, only saying with a hint of curiosity, "What good thing?"

"You'll know when you come."

Chen Gui half-dragged Wu Ming out of the Martial Academy and into a relatively spacious and quiet courtyard behind the Seven Martial Alliance. There were some houses here, and a pavilion was built in front of them.

Chen Gui led Wu Ming to the side of the pavilion.

Inside the pavilion was a stone platform, on which a tea set was placed. Chen Gui, with a smile, picked up a teacup and poured two cups of liquid. The liquid was light red, as if stained with blood, but it had a faint fragrance.

"This is Bloodgrass Tea, a specialty from my family. Try it and see how it is."

Chen Gui looked at Wu Ming with a smile and then took a sip from his teacup.

This was the inner courtyard of the Seven Martial Alliance, so Wu Ming didn't suspect anything. He picked up the teacup and took a small sip. His eyes immediately widened slightly as he felt a warm current flow down his throat, quickly spreading and making his entire body feel warm.

Vaguely, Wu Ming felt that the Qi and Blood within his body had also been stimulated, becoming slightly more active.

A good thing!

Wu Ming had a general understanding of the Bloodgrass Tea's effects. His eyes lit up slightly, and he then drank the tea in the cup. Soon, the warm current filled his limbs and bones, and his Qi and Blood became active, as if he had practiced diligently for half a day.

"How is it?!"

Chen Gui winked at Wu Ming.

Wu Ming nodded and said, "It feels like it has the effect of nourishing Qi and Blood."

"Hahahaha."

Chen Gui burst into laughter. "This is a new medicinal tea my family has cultivated. It will be sold in the city in the next few days. The price isn't expensive; one tael of medicinal tea only costs ten taels of silver. You only need to steep 'half a qian' daily to nourish Qi and Blood. Although the effect is slightly inferior to those potent nourishing medicinal formulas, its medicinal properties are much milder."

Speaking of which, Chen Gui looked at Wu Ming and said, "Brother Wu, if you come and help me, the conditions I offered you earlier remain unchanged. Additionally, I'll give you one tael of 'Bloodgrass Tea' every month. What do you think?"

After hearing Chen Gui's words, Wu Ming was somewhat surprised.

According to Chen Gui, this Bloodgrass Tea was worth ten taels of silver per tael. Of course, this was the price the Chen family sold it for externally, and the actual cost was much lower. However, the value was undoubtedly visible.

He had only tasted one cup, but he could feel the effect of the Bloodgrass Tea in invigorating Qi and Blood. With the assistance of this Bloodgrass Tea, his daily cultivation of condensing Qi and Blood would likely be equivalent to one and a half days of accumulation, which was quite significant.

Wu Ming was indeed tempted.

Mainly, compared to the rapid progress in his techniques, his progress in nourishing Qi and Blood was not exactly stagnant, but it was very slow. It would take at least over a year to accumulate enough Qi and Blood to support the Second Blood Forging.

If he had a supply of this Bloodgrass Tea, it would undoubtedly greatly improve his efficiency in accumulating Qi and Blood.

Seeing that Wu Ming was clearly tempted, Chen Gui added another incentive. "If Brother Wu feels that this treatment is acceptable, we'll go to the main hall of the Seven Martial Alliance to sign the contract. The commission from the Seven Martial Alliance can be covered by me."

The Seven Martial Alliance was the largest client for the Chen family's medicinal business. The Chen family naturally hired personnel through the official channels within the Seven Martial Alliance. However, martial artists in the outer hall who took jobs through the Seven Martial Alliance, while receiving the alliance's guarantee, had to pay twenty percent of their earnings as a commission to the Seven Martial Alliance. Chen Gui offered him ten taels of silver per month, meaning the Seven Martial Alliance would take two taels.

Now, Chen Gui said the commission could be covered by him, which was equivalent to adding another two taels of silver to his salary.

"Brother Chen is so hospitable; it would be impolite to refuse further."

Wu Ming's thoughts raced, and he finally made his decision, agreeing directly.

He was already familiar with Chen Gui and had some understanding of the Chen family's pharmacy business. It was also a very legitimate channel within the Seven Martial Alliance. In reality, the terms Chen Gui offered were extremely high for a Scattered Hand martial artist who had undergone First Blood Forging, even approaching the rates for some Second Blood Forging martial artists.

It was precisely because he had been summoned and guided by Hong Jiu, and the news had spread quickly within the Seven Martial Alliance's Martial Academy, that his value had immediately increased. Coupled with the Chen family's new 'medicinal tea' business, which likely genuinely lacked manpower, these combined factors were what led Chen Gui to offer him such terms.