"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
After trading several blows, Yuan Chengcai kept retreating. Jiang Shu's punches and kicks were fierce. Having already killed before, he understood even better that the Tiger Form Three Styles demanded a killing intent within.
The Tiger Form Three Styles were the more restrained you were, the more you tied your own hands and feet!
In just a few breaths, Jiang Shu struck Yuan Chengcai with a powerful punch, driving him back three steps and out of the chalk circle.
"The winner is Jiang Shu."
Half an hour later.
The sparring match at the martial arts school ended.
As if Jiang Shu's words had worked, after stepping onto the platform, Luo Yongcheng fought with increasing courage, won the match, and successfully obtained a dose of Secret Medicine.
"Thank you, Junior Brother Jiang."
After Elder Qiu had finished advising the apprentices and returned to his room to rest, Luo Yongcheng seemed to have made up his mind. He walked over to Jiang Shu of his own accord.
"Junior Brother Jiang, would you mind stepping outside...?"
"Sure."
It wasn't as if he couldn't spare this little time from his training. Jiang Shu nodded, stretched, and followed Luo Yongcheng out of the martial arts school.
The two walked for a while and soon arrived at Luo Family Pharmacy.
The pharmacy, once bustling with business, had fallen quiet. Only a few local toughs still stood guard outside as usual.
"Junior Brother Jiang, you can see the situation for yourself. If I want to protect my family's pharmacy, my only chance is to become a martial artist."
"Elder Qiu praised you last month, and this month you went on to win the sparring match. I know you need to train, Junior Brother Jiang, and that you're in desperate need of Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine. But as for me... If I could get more than two doses of Secret Medicine a month, maybe I could reach Full Body Vital Energy Circulation within two months."
"Then, even if I still don't catch Elder Qiu's eye and can't become a formal disciple, I'd still get one dose of Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine each month. My training would speed up considerably."
"I know that to martial artists like us, offering silver for Secret Medicine is an insult to you, Junior Brother Jiang. So I'm willing to trade my Luo family's secret recipe for your support with Secret Medicine for the next year."
Inside the pharmacy.
Luo Yongcheng took out a writing brush, dipped it in ink, and quickly wrote on a sheet of paper.
Before long, he had finished the recipe.
At the very top, four characters stood out:
Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine.
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"I know this Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe won't help you at all, Junior Brother Jiang. In Pingling County, the wealthy families have a monopoly on every medicinal ingredient of even slight value. You can only buy a tiny amount from a pharmacy. Even if you turn it into medicinal cuisine and sell it, what you earn is nowhere near the value of the Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine itself."
"Besides, doing that could attract the wealthy families' attention and put us on the same path as the Luo family."
"I only need you to promise me one thing, Junior Brother Jiang. Keep the recipe for Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine a secret for one year. If I, Luo Yongcheng, can't become a martial artist within that year, the Luo family pharmacy will naturally be finished. I'll quietly take my family and leave Pingling County."
"After that, you can do whatever you want with the recipe."
Luo Yongcheng picked up the Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe and drew a deep breath.
His grandfather was old. After a bout of intense joy and sorrow, he'd taken to his bed and hadn't gotten up.
His father and mother watched over him day and night, while business at the pharmacy dwindled by the day.
If things continued this way, within a year the family would be no better off than ordinary folk, with barely a few taels of silver in savings and every day spent scrambling to put food on the table.
Now that things had come to this, he had no other way forward.
Junior Brother Jiang was right. He was like a bird without feet, staking everything on one throw—if he landed, he died.
He could only pray that his ancestors would bless him, and that after taking enough Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine, he'd manage to reach the Skin Grinding Realm within a year.
If that happened, he could not only resolve the crisis facing the family pharmacy, but also buy back the Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe from Junior Brother Jiang and minimize their losses.
As for Junior Brother Jiang's progress in martial arts, it would certainly slow for a time, but he could make it up to him with more silver afterward. That ought to be enough.
Thinking this, Luo Yongcheng looked at Jiang Shu, his eyes full of hope.
He wished Jiang Shu would agree at once and answer with a simple "Fine."
But even after several breaths had passed, Jiang Shu still stood calmly before him, showing no intention of taking the recipe from his hands.
"Brother Luo."
After a long pause, Jiang Shu shook his head. "If Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine were just a resource for my training, I'd definitely help with your request. Unfortunately, this Secret Medicine is far more complicated than it looks."
"Have you ever wondered why Elder Qiu makes us spar every month? He's a Bone Forging Realm expert. Is there anything interesting about watching martial artists who haven't even reached the Skin Grinding Realm fight? He could simply stay away, prepare the Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine, and let us spar on our own. The winner could take it. Why go to all this trouble?"
"My guess is that Elder Qiu is judging our talent by how quickly we advance in martial arts. The faster we progress, the better our chances of becoming formal disciples when we reach Full Body Vital Energy Circulation!"
"From what I've seen in my two months at Hungry Tiger Martial Arts School, Elder Qiu values talent first and perspective second."
"Take Han Dali, for example. He has decent talent, but his horizons are too narrow. If he hadn't sold himself to Zhou Family Restaurant for the sake of those three jin of meat every day, and if Elder Qiu had taken a liking to him, he might have reached Full Body Vital Energy Circulation within a year and become Elder Qiu's formal disciple. In the future, he could even have become a martial artist and reached the Skin Grinding Realm."
"Then what restaurant couldn't he work at? What meat couldn't he afford to eat?"
"But with such narrow horizons, seeing no farther than the end of his nose, he's doomed to spend his whole life trapped in a little place like Zhou Family Restaurant. No matter how hard he works, he'll never become a martial artist."
Jiang Shu paused there. The meaning behind his words was already clear.
He was only saying this because Luo Yongcheng had brought it up with him, and he still felt some regard for their friendship.
If Zhou Yang had asked to buy the Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine in his hands, Jiang Shu would have turned and walked away. That would have been the polite thing to do.
"Actually, if you want to protect the pharmacy, Brother Luo, I think you should give the Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe to Elder Qiu as a token of gratitude and ask him to step in. Elder Qiu is the only Bone Forging Realm martial artist in Pingling County who runs a school without relying on any wealthy family. He should have a voice among them."
"And what would it matter if either of us became a martial artist? Are Skin Grinding Realm martial artists really that impressive? Even a martial artist with Oxskin-level strength is only an attendant to a wealthy family. How many attendants can a single wealthy family have?"
"Brother Luo, your family's thinking was wrong from the very beginning. Your family only knows medicine. You don't understand business, martial arts, or monopolies. Would a wealthy family covet a tiny recipe for Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine? What do you think a wealthy family is? Which of their children hasn't eaten medicinal cuisine or used medicinal baths since childhood? How do the Luo family's resources for training compare with theirs?"
"The wealthy families have never wanted Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine. They want to monopolize every path to martial arts for ordinary people. If you want to train, you can only pay homage to the wealthy families and let them bleed you dry."
His words were barely spoken, yet they thundered in Luo Yongcheng's ears.
Luo Yongcheng had never thought of it that way. He'd always believed the wealthy families had targeted them because the pharmacy was making money and they coveted the Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe.
His pupils dilated until his eyes were wide.
He didn't believe it.
He didn't want to believe it!
If Jiang Shu was right, then what had everything he'd done this past year been for?
Training in martial arts?
If all he had to do was give the Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe to Elder Qiu as a token of gratitude, then why had he trained?
He could have done that on his very first day at the school!
Luo Yongcheng clenched both fists. His breathing had grown ragged, and he stared fixedly at Jiang Shu. "How do you know Elder Qiu won't swallow up my family's Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe, just like the Yao Family did?"
"Brother Luo, how does your family's Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine compare to Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine? Elder Qiu holds the recipe for Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine. Does he need your family's recipe to make the school look better?"
"Only if you've caught Elder Qiu's eye, and then offer him this gift, is there any chance he'll help. You think you can hand over the recipe and get Elder Qiu to help. Do you look down on Elder Qiu, or do you look down on those wealthy families?"
You were afraid Elder Qiu would swallow up the recipe, but not afraid that Jiang Shu would.
You didn't even trust the bond between master and student after a year together. Yet you trusted the friendship of someone you'd known for only two months?
Jiang Shu frowned slightly. His words had grown cold.
"Jiang Shu! You're talking nonsense! You just don't want to give me the Hungry Tiger Secret Medicine! You're afraid it'll hold back your own path in martial arts! You're selfish!"
"I haven't done anything wrong! If I were a martial artist, I could easily become an attendant to any wealthy family. The Yao Family wants my family's Blood Nourishing Medicinal Cuisine recipe! I'll go to another family. One of them will surely stand up for me!"
"I just want to protect this recipe. What have I done wrong?"
"You won't be able to protect it."
Luo Yongcheng was already hysterical. Jiang Shu had given him the most reliable advice, yet Luo Yongcheng refused to listen, lost in his own world.
Jiang Shu shook his head, said one last thing, then turned and left.
All beneath heaven bustled for profit; all beneath heaven surged for gain.
His falling-out with Luo Yongcheng brought Jiang Shu no negative emotions.
If anything, it only made his resolve in martial arts firmer.
He strolled through Pingling County's Inner City, taking in the bustling scene.
Nine great avenues and three markets, carriages and horses streaming like dragons. Buildings stood in clusters, with lofty terraces and towers rising above them.
It was a pity that none of it had ever belonged to the common people.
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