Breakthrough

Chapter 46: Breakthrough

Chen Mo picked up two thick, succulent pieces of braised pork and placed them into a freshly steamed bun, still steaming hot.

The sauce from the braised pork soaked into the fluffy bun, making it mouth-watering just to look at. Chen Mo finished it in just three bites.

"I'll eat something simple for lunch. I bought two pork knuckles, and I'll stew them for you later."

Zhao Yu smiled and brought over a large bowl of clear stewed lamb ribs, along with a small dish of raw garlic sprouts seasoned with sesame oil and salt.

Chen Mo nodded and took a bite of the garlic sprouts. They were fresh and crisp, with a slight garlicky spiciness that spread in his mouth, perfectly cutting through the richness.

"Don't fuss over me, let's eat together," Chen Mo said after swallowing his food.

"There's still soup in the pot, I need to watch it." Zhao Yu didn't sit down and turned back to the kitchen.

Before long, she returned with a clay pot containing a bowl of milky white chicken soup, a layer of yellow chicken oil floating on top. It was clear this was a soup made from an old hen.

"Someone was selling old hens on the street today, so I bought one. This soup is so flavorful," Zhao Yu said proudly, clearly confident in her cooking skills.

She first used chopsticks to tear apart the old hen, which had been stewed to complete tenderness, then took a coarse porcelain bowl and a wooden spoon to serve two bowls of soup.

"Here, you eat more," she said, handing a bowl of chicken soup with more meat than broth to Chen Mo.

"You too," he said, accepting it with a smile. He tasted it carefully; the chicken soup was rich and very delicious.

Chen Mo loosened his belt and ate heartily, starting with a large bowl of braised pork with sixteen steamed buns.

He then gnawed on a small basin of lamb ribs and finally drank several bowls of chicken soup to finish. After this meal, he felt as if his throat was greased.

Threads of Bloodline Power within his dantian were continuously transforming and flowing into the Mortal Transformation Pearl.

After the meal, Zhao Yu brewed a pot of tea and added some white sugar. The tea leaves and sugar were newly bought, indicating she usually scrimped on these for herself.

"I've made quite a bit of money from my business recently. This is your share of the profits." Zhao Yu took out the money she had prepared from her embrace.

She hadn't forgotten that the money Chen Mo had given her when she started her business wasn't a loan, but considered an investment.

Moreover, without Chen Mo, her business probably wouldn't have gotten off the ground so smoothly.

"So much." Chen Mo was slightly surprised. The small packet of money Zhao Yu produced consisted mostly of copper coins, but there were also a few pieces of loose silver, totaling over an ounce.

Considering how long she had been in business – less than two months in total – and during that time she had also made him two sets of clothes. Even though she made the clothes herself, the fabric alone would have cost four qian of silver.

The meals he had eaten during his two subsequent days off would have cost three to four qian of silver in terms of ingredients alone.

To have this much profit under such circumstances meant that Zhao Yu had earned at least three taels of silver during this period, which was a considerable income.

"Yes, your brothers from the military camp have been taking care of me. They often come to my stall to eat, and because of your influence, no one in town dares to bother me."

Zhao Yu smiled faintly. Her words were indeed true.

Many of the personal guards in the military camp knew that Chen Mo's wife had opened a small food stall in town, so they were willing to patronize her business whenever they ate out.

Zhao Yu would also give them extra small dishes or add more oil when stir-frying.

But this wasn't the main reason. Most of the personal guards rarely ate out of the camp; their usual haunts were taverns and gambling dens.

The most important reason was that she was Chen Mo's wife, and Chen Mo was General Sun's adopted son.

With this connection, whether it was the town's constables, bailiffs, or even idle ruffians, who would dare to extort her?

Others had to spend money to grease the wheels to conduct their business peacefully, and for every tael of silver they earned, more than half of it would be skimmed off by various parties.

But whether she earned a lot or a little, the money stayed with her. No one dared to target her.

It was precisely because of this that she, as an outsider, could set up her stall in town. Otherwise, if an outsider tried to do business here without establishing connections, her stall would likely be overturned on the first day.

"Keep this money for now. When I come back to eat in the future, I'll still have to pay," Chen Mo said with a smile.

Having a home felt truly different from before. Previously, he would rush into town to eat and leave immediately after.

Now, he had a place to rest and relax, and Zhao Yu could even help him wash his clothes, saving him time.

Not to mention, as her business grew, he didn't even have to pay for meals.

This would allow him to accumulate inner energy faster, and any surplus money could be used to purchase medicinal soups.

Chen Mo's reason for returning to town this time was also to find a reliable herbal medicine shop to buy some soups to replenish his qi and blood, thereby accelerating the accumulation process.

He had some money on him now. After killing the Azure-robed Daoist, Chen Mo had obtained a considerable sum of money, plus the silver his adoptive father had given him when he redeemed Zhao Yu.

He now had nearly fifty taels of silver on hand, which was not a small amount and was enough to sustain him with nourishing soups for some time.

"Alright, I'll keep it for now." Zhao Yu did not refuse and added with a smile, "I also made you a new inner garment. You can try it on later."

"I'll try it on later. Do you know of any reliable herbal medicine shops in town? I need some medicinal soups for my martial arts practice."

Compared to himself, Zhao Yu had spent more time in town and was more familiar with it. Asking her about this matter would be reliable.

"Yes. Then go to Liu San and Liu Daifu's pharmacy on the west side of town. They are established locals, and they won't cheat you."

Zhao Yu was quite familiar with this, as some medicinal ingredients were not only medicinal but also spices used in stewing meat.

Having obtained the name of the shop, Chen Mo set off immediately. A moment later, he walked out of the pharmacy chewing on a slice of red ginseng, with a slight expression of pain.

It was because the medicinal ingredients were too expensive. Chen Mo had prepared three doses of blood-replenishing soup with Polygonum multiflorum as the main ingredient, each costing one tael of silver.

He also bought a whole prepared red ginseng, which alone cost a full ten taels.

These items, used sparingly, could support his cultivation for about a month.

If used without restraint, they would last at most ten days.

From this, it was clear why the saying "poverty breeds scholarship, wealth breeds martial arts" held true.

As Chen Mo swallowed the ginseng slices prepared with brown sugar, he could clearly sense the Bloodline Power converted from the red ginseng continuously flowing into the Mortal Transformation Pearl.

At this pace, even if he couldn't achieve Mortal Transformation before the xiucai examination, he would certainly be able to for the juren trial.

Returning home with the purchased medicinal soups, he handed the three doses to Zhao Yu. These soups would need about an hour to simmer.

He would drink these medicinal soups at home whenever he had his days off.

As for the red ginseng slices, they were effective whether eaten directly or steeped in water. He could bring them to the military camp and eat two slices daily.

Although the effect was not as potent as the medicinal soups, their advantage lay in convenience and affordability.

Stable days always passed quickly. Half a month flew by, and Chen Mo's Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist naturally achieved a breakthrough.

Three to five days after the breakthrough in his fist technique, Chen Mo went to find his adoptive father, preparing to ask him for an inner energy cultivation method.

His dantian had accumulated a significant amount of inner energy, but due to the lack of an inner energy cultivation method, he could only look at the inner energy within his dantian.

Only by obtaining a genuine inner energy cultivation method for study and detailed explanation could he begin to attempt to utilize this power.

Apologies for the late update.