If I Don't Give It, You Can't Take It!

After dealing with Huang Bao, evening arrived.

Lin Guanhuo first went to the butcher shop to buy twenty catties of prime spiced beef, then went to the tavern to get twenty catties of strong liquor.

Since it was freezing cold outside, this natural refrigerator meant there was no fear of the goods spoiling.

Afterward, he turned into a medicinal herb shop in the east of the city.

It was called Hundred Herbs Hall.

The shop was filled with a rich, medicinal fragrance.

The shelves behind the counter were lined with all sorts of porcelain bottles and wooden boxes—the pills that martial artists dreamed of.

However, these things were incredibly expensive; even the cheapest pill cost dozens of taels of silver. They were strictly for the wealthy.

"This is a Qi and Blood Pill. One pill is worth ten days of hard cultivation for an ordinary person. It's fifty taels of silver each," the clerk said, noticing Lin Guanhuo staring at the porcelain bottles.

Fifty taels for one?

Lin Guanhuo clicked his tongue.

He had risked his life killing and looting just to scrape together this much money, which was only enough to buy one and a half pills.

"Pills are good, but I can't afford them yet."

Lin Guanhuo shook his head and turned to the herb cabinets nearby. "I want Spirit Nourishing Grass."

This herb was relatively common and served as a raw material for various pills. Whether consumed directly or used in a medicinal bath, it provided benefits to the body.

After some haggling, he finally spent thirty taels of silver to buy ten portions of high-quality Spirit Nourishing Grass.

Although this herb was not as potent as the pills, its advantage lay in its gentle and lasting effects, making it perfect for medicinal baths to nourish the skin, muscles, and bones.

After paying, Lin Guanhuo stuffed all the bottles, jars, and meat into a dusty cloth bag.

This bag was called a Brocade Belt, which he had looted from Huang Bao earlier.

Although it was only a low-level, small storage bag with a space roughly the size of a large chest, it was still worth several taels of silver.

With it, Lin Guanhuo no longer had to carry big bags and small bundles around, drawing attention to himself.

Night fell over the Miscellaneous Room courtyard.

Lin Guanhuo carried a jug of good wine and found Liu the Cook in the kitchen.

"Uncle Liu, it's cold out today, so I brought you a jug of good wine." Lin Guanhuo smiled and handed the wine over.

Liu the Cook took the wine flask, pulled out the stopper, and took a sniff. The fragrance of the wine hit his nose. "Oh my, good stuff! Did you strike it rich, kid?"

"Strike it rich? Hardly. I just saved up a bit of money and wanted to improve my meals," Lin Guanhuo said with a laugh, then stated his purpose. "Uncle Liu, do you have any spare large vats? I'd like to borrow one to take a bath in my room."

"Is that all? That's nothing."

Liu the Cook pointed to the row of large vats in the corner used for pickling vegetables. "Those are all empty; just wash one out and you can use it. Take whichever one you want."

"Thanks, Uncle Liu!"

Lin Guanhuo didn't hesitate. He picked up a vat half the height of a man with one hand, as easily as if it were a chick, and strode back to his small room.

A moment later, in a secluded room in the Miscellaneous Room, Lin Guanhuo carried several buckets of boiling hot water from the bathhouse, poured them into the vat, and tossed in a portion of Spirit Nourishing Grass.

As the herb entered the water, the clear hot water instantly turned emerald green, and a faint medicinal fragrance began to permeate the air.

"Hiss—"

Lin Guanhuo took off his clothes and jumped into the vat.

The medicinal power seeped into his body through his pores, and a subtle, lingering strength began to nourish his entire body.

This was a medicinal bath!

If he were just training as before, the damage to his body would be difficult to recover from.

But with this medicinal bath, he could not only repair hidden injuries but also nourish his blood and qi with the medicinal power, tempering his physical body!

It accelerated the formation of Copper Skin.

He soaked in the vat for several hours until the water turned cold and the medicinal liquid became clear water, only then did he stand up.

For the next few days, Lin Guanhuo kept an extremely low profile.

During the day, he continued to do his chores in the Miscellaneous Room courtyard, working diligently as always.

At night, he buried himself in hard cultivation!

He practiced his Draw Sword technique to hone his martial arts and used the medicinal bath to temper his body.

That disciplined and fulfilling life allowed his strength to climb steadily at a terrifying speed.

A few days later, late at night.

Lin Guanhuo slowly rose from the medicinal bath.

This time, he clenched his fists, his muscles instantly tensing.

In that moment, the skin all over his body turned a deep, bronze color!

The hue was no longer faint or flickering; it was as if a solid suit of metal armor had covered his entire body.

Lin Guanhuo picked up a long saber from the table and drew the back of the blade firmly across his arm.

Clang!

With that single stroke, only a shallow white mark remained on his skin, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

This was the current strength of his physical body!

Lin Guanhuo's face lit up with joy as he muttered to himself, "I am now only a thin layer of window paper away from the Body Tempering Realm."

"It should happen within the next day or two..."

The next day, at the courtyard canteen.

Lin Guanhuo, Xu Dadao, and Li Hu sat huddled around a dilapidated table.

"The steamed buns are decent today. They're piping hot and filling!"

Xu Dadao grabbed a black steamed bun and handed it to Lin Guanhuo.

Although these buns tasted terrible, each person was limited to one per meal, with no extras allowed. This group of laborers relied entirely on this food to survive.

Lin Guanhuo reached out to take it.

But he didn't expect...

Whoosh!

The very moment his fingertips brushed against the bun!

A hand suddenly shot out and snatched the bun away.

He'd been intercepted!

At the same time, a voice rang out: "Hey! Thanks!"

A familiar voice, a familiar routine.

It was none other than Huang Dazui.

Right now, Huang Dazui held Lin Guanhuo's bun, shaking it in his hand with a smug look on his face. "I was just getting hungry. This bun is mine now! Thanks! Hahaha!"

Huang Dazui acted as if he were on great terms with Lin Guanhuo, showing no trace of politeness.

Seeing this, Lin Guanhuo frowned slightly.

Especially when he saw Huang Dazui stuffing a steamed bun into his mouth while laughing without a care in the world.

Lin Guanhuo couldn't help but feel a wave of disgust.

He had already given Huang Dazui a steamed bun a few days ago; he hadn't expected this guy to be so brazen as to push his luck.

If you are nice to people like him, he thinks you are a pushover.

This type of person never stands on ceremony with others; they only know how to take advantage of people while never giving anything back.

If they fail to take advantage of you, they might even resort to verbal abuse, accusing you of being stingy.

Thinking of this, Lin Guanhuo decided not to indulge him any further.

Lin Guanhuo simply raised his hand.

"Smack!"

An extremely crisp sound of a slap suddenly exploded in the air!

Huang Dazui didn't even see what happened. He only felt his vision go black, followed by a massive force hitting his face. His entire body spun around twice like a top before he crashed heavily onto the floor, face-first.

The steamed bun in his hand rolled away across the ground.

The cafeteria fell silent in an instant.

Everyone had their mouths agape, watching this scene in disbelief.

Lin Guanhuo withdrew his hand without even shifting his position; he remained seated steadily, his expression as calm as if nothing had happened.

"I let you have it before because I thought we were all just struggling to make a living, but you don't know when to quit?"

Lin Guanhuo pulled out a cloth to wipe his hands, his tone indifferent: "Didn't your mother teach you that if you can't feed yourself, it's because you're incompetent?"

"You..."

Only then!

Huang Dazui clutched the side of his face, which was rapidly swelling up. He lay on the ground, dazed for a long time, before he finally realized he had been hit.

Lin Guanhuo looked down at him from above: "What I give you is yours. If I don't give it, you are not allowed to snatch it."