Easy Qualification

Ninth year.

On a drizzly spring morning, Xian He shouldered several large sacks and left the Inner World.

It was morning on the Tianyun Plateau too, though here it was late spring.

Summer was just around the corner, but the mornings were still bitterly cold.

Xian He had just set the steamed buns on the table when the early risers crowded around.

"Steamed buns, one Copper Coin each. Limit of one hundred per person."

Xian He had brought eleven hundred steamed buns today. If all went well, he'd make eleven hundred Copper Coins.

Steamed buns were a low-grade food. Eating one increased bone structure, Force Dissipation, and true qi by 8%.

Bone structure = cultivation speed; Force Dissipation = defense against external injuries; true qi = Qi Control and the ability to break through qi defenses, meaning internal attack and defense.

Though steamed buns had all sorts of remarkable effects, Xian He didn't intend to charge too much.

They tasted much like Wood Powder Porridge. If he priced them too high, he might not sell them all.

"One Copper Coin?"

"That's twice the price of Wood Powder Porridge, but they look delicious."

"Give me one to try first. If it's good, I'll buy more!"

"I'll take one too!"

Xian He didn't hand out the buns right away. He called for everyone to line up: first come, first served.

Without rules, there could be no order. What kind of mess would it be otherwise?

While selling buns, Xian He ran into Yan Dong's wife. She had a thick waist and broad hips, and was as strong as a cow.

If she hadn't persuaded Yan Dong to concede yesterday, Xian He couldn't have won so easily.

"Sister-in-law, how many would you like?"

"O-one..."

"One?"

"O-one hundred..."

At that number, Xian He paused in surprise.

She was probably planning to resell them.

Whatever she intended to do with them, he'd sell her as many as a hundred.

"Thank you!" Yan Dong's wife said, hoisting her sack and striding away.

Yan Dong had been badly injured, and with the family's source of income gone, she had no choice but to try her hand at reselling.

After she left, Xian He's buns began selling much faster. The customers who came after her bought dozens or even a hundred at a time, probably hoping to resell them too.

Xian He didn't care about that. He just wanted to sell the buns as quickly as possible.

Once he was done, he still had to attend the Azure Light Competition's qualifying round!

After the qualifying round, he still had to buy some flax seeds!

Once he grew flax, he could have it woven into linen at the tailor's shop, then sew the linen into sacks. That way, he could store the wheat in the warehouse instead of leaving it outside in the sun and rain.

Dawn's first light lifted the veil of night and spilled across the sky in a brilliant glow.

Thanks to the low price and the orderly line, Xian He soon sold every bun.

He entrusted the remaining hundred buns to Old Man Yun, asking him to pass them on to Xiao Kuang, then headed to the qualifying round.

After yesterday's contest, sixty-four competitors had made it through the preliminary round.

Whether by design or not, Xian He had been paired today with a martial artist at the peak of White Obsidian Three Star.

But Xian He wasn't worried at all.

Through practicing Grand Ancestor Long Fist, he'd broken through to White Obsidian Three Star, bringing the strength of one arm to eight hundred pounds.

After eating a Plain Boiled Egg and a Fried Egg, his strength had increased by 8% + 10% = 18%, bringing it to nine hundred and forty-four.

With the Crystal Pomegranate's added strength of one hundred, he could strike with a force of one thousand and forty-four.

After eating Beggars Chicken, Eight-baked Chicken, steamed buns, Yangchun Noodles, and Five-Color Steamed Buns, his true qi had increased by 15% + 18% + 8% + 10% + 12% = 63%, bringing it to three hundred and twenty-six.

In the first round, Xian He slapped his opponent across the face, leaving a level-two flaw on his left cheek. His opponent's slap, meanwhile, couldn't even inflict a level-one acupoint seal.

In the second round, Xian He gave his opponent a bloody beating.

This opponent was more timid. After getting his face smashed, he immediately conceded without even striking back.

Xian He advanced.

Watching Xian He walk away, Xiao Yang's face darkened. "Two slaps, and he took down a martial artist at the peak of White Obsidian Three Star. That useless nobody seems to have gotten even stronger. Li Zhen, can you handle him tomorrow? If not, we should send Xiao Hou to assassinate him."

"Why waste that money? Don't worry, boss. With the boiled eggs and Fried Eggs you got for me, plus my Blood Burning Secret Method, I can kill him with one slap!" Li Zhen thumped his chest as he promised.

The Blood Burning Secret Method was also called the Life Burning Secret Method. For every year of lifespan burned, the next attack gained one hundred points of strength.

He was ready to go all out and burn ten years of his life. Surely that would be enough to take Xian He down!

Xiao Yang put a hand on Li Zhen's shoulder and promised, "If you can take Xian He out tomorrow, I'll give you those twenty thousand Copper Coins."

"Thank you, Boss Xiao Yang!" Li Zhen exclaimed, overjoyed.

Twenty thousand Copper Coins would feed his whole family for decades.

Meanwhile, Xian He arrived at the grain shop.

This was his second visit. The first time, he'd bought some wild vegetable seeds.

"Do you have flax seeds?" Xian He asked the shopkeeper.

The grain shop stocked mostly wood powder, followed by wild vegetables. There were only a few sacks of rice.

Once he could produce flour on a large scale, perhaps he could sell it to the grain shop.

He could sell wild vegetables too, but they were dirt cheap: one Copper Coin bought several pounds retail. The shop would probably pay one Copper Coin for dozens of pounds, which wasn't worth it.