Records at the Apothecary and Brewing Medicine

Not long after.

Outside the metal cages.

Ling Wuyuan watched as one vicious tiger, trapped inside a cage with no room to dodge and reduced to a fixed target, was swiftly brought down by an apothecary clerk with a single tranquilizer arrow. Even after it collapsed and could not rise, the clerk added another tranquilizer arrow. Now thoroughly unable to get back up, it was already snoring away, while another tiger in a separate cage paced back and forth in extreme agitation, utterly helpless.

"Hmm~"

A certain thought sprang up in Ling Wuyuan's heart.

"Brains and tools really are among the fundamental gaps in strength between humans and beasts."

At that moment, right before his eyes, an apothecary clerk used something structurally similar to a syringe from his previous life to draw blood from the subdued tiger.

Throughout the entire process.

Several other clerks nearby kept their loaded crossbows trained on the tiger lying on the ground.

Putting everything else aside.

At the very least, their professionalism was maxed out.

Smelling the faint scent of blood in the air, the apothecary manager smiled and said to Ling Wuyuan, "I see this is your first visit, little brother. I'll give you a fifty percent discount on the medicinal ingredients you're buying this time."

"I hope little brother will favor our shop with more business in the future..."

Ling Wuyuan naturally agreed to such a proposal and discount on the spot.

"Of course, of course. I'll definitely come here whenever I buy medicinal ingredients in the future."

"After all, it's fresh!"

As he spoke, he gave a thumbs-up.

The tiger blood that had just been drawn was still giving off faint heat and a bloody smell. It could not have been fresher!

Hearing this.

The manager immediately burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha..."

"Of course. Everything here is one hundred percent genuine!"

He understood that, as a practitioner of the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique], Ling Wuyuan would inevitably need all kinds of precious medicinal ingredients over the long term. The introductory ingredients before him were merely the first appetizer.

In other words, to the apothecary, Ling Wuyuan was the sort of long-term, stable customer whose value could be seen with the naked eye.

Just like the other practitioners of the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique].

For many years to come, Ling Wuyuan would spend money here, like a steady stream flowing endlessly through a fixed channel.

Therefore.

Leaving Ling Wuyuan with a good impression was extremely important.

And precisely because of that.

Even though this purchase was not particularly expensive, the manager had still chosen to personally receive Ling Wuyuan, this new customer, and find a way to build rapport.

That was business~

When faced with customers who would have fixed needs in the future, he naturally had to win them over.

Giving him a fifty percent discount this time.

Was merely a sprinkle of water.

Although this transaction brought a small loss, it was only a few coins, easily earned back later.

Ling Wuyuan was quite satisfied with this as well.

It was naturally a good thing when someone voluntarily gave him a fifty percent discount.

As for buying medicine here from now on, that was no big deal.

It made no difference where he bought it. Since they were being so accommodating, he had no objection to giving them his business.

And so, it became a win-win situation.

After Ling Wuyuan left.

After thinking for a moment, the manager turned to one of his trusted subordinates beside him and said, "Have someone specially record every medicine this newcomer buys here in the future. If he starts purchasing the medicinal ingredients needed to cultivate the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique—Bone Forging Chapter], remember to notify me."

When cultivating the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique], practitioners needed somewhat different medicines at different stages of cultivation.

Thus, by observing when Ling Wuyuan purchased the supplementary cultivation medicines for the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique—Bone Forging Chapter], the apothecary could completely infer roughly when he had entered the [Bone Forging Realm].

After that came an extremely simple calculation.

Known conditions:

1. Ling Wuyuan is a newcomer who is just about to begin cultivation.

2. The time when he purchases supplementary cultivation medicines for the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique—Body Tempering Chapter].

Therefore:

The time when he purchases supplementary cultivation medicines for the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique—Bone Forging Chapter] - the time when he purchases supplementary cultivation medicines for the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique—Body Tempering Chapter] = the actual total time it took him to advance from the [Body Tempering Realm] into the [Bone Forging Realm].

Through the actual total time it took Ling Wuyuan to advance from the [Body Tempering Realm] into the [Bone Forging Realm], the apothecary manager could make a relatively accurate judgment of Ling Wuyuan's cultivation aptitude, independently determine whether he had a lofty future as a cultivator, and decide whether they needed to further win Ling Wuyuan over.

In this regard, it was not only Ling Wuyuan. The apothecary kept broad records on many people cultivating mid-grade Basic Cultivation Methods and even high-grade Basic Cultivation Methods.

In the past.

This strategy had also brought the apothecary abundant gains.

It had allowed them to successfully win over many connections worth cultivating.

Making their business ever more as steady as Mount Tai.

At night.

Inside Ling Wuyuan's room.

A thick medicinal smell and intense heat filled the space.

As the owner of the room, Ling Wuyuan sat beside a metal stove, seriously brewing medicine.

Although he had already been brewing it for a full four hours, according to the information recorded in the [Tiger Bone Body Strengthening Technique], he would probably need another two or three hours before the medicine was ready.

During this process, while brewing the medicine, he flipped through the teaching materials he had received earlier—the three basic martial techniques: [Basic Swordsmanship], [Basic Fist Technique], and [Basic Movement Technique].

As he read.

He silently simulated in his mind what it would be like to practice those moves.

The answer was that he could perform practically every move.

After all, his Physical Fitness was fairly good. There was no issue of moves being too difficult for him to use.

But whether he could seize the proper moment to use them in actual combat was a major problem. His combat experience was simply far too lacking.

Moreover, being able to perform them was one thing; whether they were standard was another.

After lowering the stove's heat.

Ling Wuyuan stood in a relatively open area of the room and began practicing [Basic Fist Technique].

As for [Basic Swordsmanship] and [Basic Movement Technique]?

The room was too small. There was simply no way to practice them inside.

To be honest.

The contents of this [Basic Fist Technique] were indeed very basic.

The first few moves were nothing more than straight punches, hooks, uppercuts, and similar techniques. Yet it clearly described which parts of the body should exert force when throwing each punch for the best results, and it gave detailed standards for every punch.

Those so-called standards could generally be described with four words.

[Fast], [accurate], [ruthless], [steady].

Though they did not sound difficult.

[Basic Fist Technique] used one sentence to describe the true difficulty of the matter.

[Basic does not mean simple, much less useless. It is the core foundation stone of a towering edifice. If an ordinary person spends twenty years and achieves something in Basic Fist Technique, they may be called highly talented.]