Lotus Town's Nine Harmonies Hall

Time flows like a crack in the sky, white clouds shift like grey dogs.

In the blink of an eye, another two months had passed.

Liang Qisheng kept up his daily routine of heading into the mountains to gather herbs, and in his spare time, he practiced the Black Tiger Fist, steadily improving his strength.

As he grew more familiar with the Black Tiger Fist's forms, Liang Qisheng had carved the thirty-six stances deep into his bones.

They had become nearly instinctual.

The original fist techniques, in his hands, now carried far greater power.

Especially the first sixteen stances—he had perfected them through repetition.

In fact, he had begun to derive other killing moves that suited his own physical condition.

Of course, throughout this process, the Hundred Herb Scripture played a massive role.

That day, as if struck by sudden enlightenment, after fully comprehending the Hundred Herb Scripture, Liang Qisheng gained a very clear pharmacological understanding of a vast number of herbs.

It was like having freeloaded the combined memories and experience of several old herb gatherers.

He started attempting to brew various medicinal decoctions to replenish blood and qi.

He went up the mountain to gather herbs and trade them for money, using that to buy food—that was one thing—but he never skimped on himself.

After all, the purpose of earning money was to better train in martial arts and create better conditions.

So using the finest herbs on himself cut out the middleman's profit margin.

Taking various tonic medicines replenished the blood and qi he consumed during training.

His entire body remained in an extremely vigorous state of blood and energy.

In just over two months, his whole physique had undergone a massive transformation.

Just standing there, blood surging, yang energy abundant, he was like a rising sun, radiating intense heat.

Throughout this process, the Black Tiger Fist continuously improved, and the data in Liang Qisheng's mind shifted accordingly.

"Name: Liang Qisheng Realm: Flesh Refining. Lifespan: 67 and a half years. Technique: Black Tiger Fist 52% (+) Auxiliary: Hundred Herb Scripture! Merit: 0!"

Just from the data alone, Liang Qisheng's foundation had improved by no small margin.

Not only had the Black Tiger Fist's training progress surpassed 50% for the first time, but his lifespan had also continued to increase.

"As expected—poor man studies, rich man trains. Only with the pill formulas from the Hundred Herb Scripture can I take it further."

"...The speed at which those medicinal decoctions improve me, reinforcing my bones and foundation, combined with the technique transformed by merit, allows me to settle things once and for all, eliminate hidden dangers, and fully turn external power into my own."

Liang Qisheng multitasked.

On one hand, he relied on the data merit points to transform.

On the other hand, as a modern person and a transmigrator, he maintained a strong sense of caution.

Having been given a second life, he valued his own life far too much to entrust everything to something intangible.

Now that he had found a method to improve in tandem, he was naturally quite pleased.

Moreover, as the medicinal decoctions continuously boosted him, his skin, flesh, tendons, and membranes absorbed them endlessly. Liang Qisheng felt his physical constitution undergoing further transformation.

One day, upon waking, he discovered that large patches of his skin were peeling off.

It was like a cicada shedding its shell or a snake sloughing its skin—the new body that emerged was far tougher.

This was a long-term method, one he could keep using, subtly reshaping his body over time.

It could digest all the foundational power from technique transformations.

After reaching Flesh Refining, though he had never gone all out, Liang Qisheng found that when he ventured deep into the mountains, even tigers, leopards, and wolves were no longer his match.

The fierce beasts he once had to avoid, he now killed on sight whenever he encountered them.

Thus, his harvest far exceeded that of ordinary hunters or herb gatherers.

He often carried several hundred jin of massive prey out of the deep forests.

Having been spotted many times, his reputation quickly spread.

Sometimes, if he happened upon other herb gatherers or hunters in danger, he wouldn't hesitate to lend a hand.

Of course, if it threatened his own life, Liang Qisheng would definitely flee as far as possible.

He would never easily put himself in a perilous situation.

So by the end, everyone knew.

Old Zhao's family had produced a real tough nut.

Old Man Zhao had passed away, but the nephew he left behind was even more capable than him.

Whether it was going into the mountains to gather herbs or entering the woods to hunt, he was a master at both.

Even those unruly old hunters, each one proud and stubborn, would treat him with respect and show genuine admiration whenever they met him.

On top of that, Liang Qisheng wasn't the type to stir up trouble.

On the contrary, as long as his own core interests weren't involved, he quite enjoyed being charitable and doing good deeds.

Thus, he managed to maintain a good reputation that spread far and wide.

That day, the sky was just barely light.

Liang Qisheng got up, slung a bamboo basket over his back covered with black cloth, and without even eating breakfast, headed straight for Lotus Town.

Lotus Town was one of the nine towns under Shiwu County's jurisdiction, and also the trading hub for deep-mountain hunters and herb gatherers.

Of course, there were other merchants who came to the village to buy herbs and animal hides, but they offered extremely low prices.

So, following his usual habit, Liang Qisheng would stockpile his herbs and hides, waiting for the right time to sell them in town.

On one hand, the prices were much higher; on the other, it was a matter of confidence in his own strength.

Flesh Refining was enough to establish a foothold in town.

He kept a low profile, and as long as he was a little careful, he wouldn't run into any major trouble.

By the time he reached Lotus Town, the sky was fully bright.

Liang Qisheng first dealt with some ordinary herbs and animal hides, earning over a dozen taels of loose silver.

Then, he arrived at Nine Harmonies Hall.

Nine Harmonies Hall was one of the top powers in Lotus Town, and its pawnshop was quite famous. But the real master behind it was said to come from Shiwu County itself.

Thus, it straddled both the lawful and the lawless, and even the local constables treated it with a measure of deference.

"What are you pawning?!"

As he stepped through the door, he looked up to see a counter as tall as a man, behind which sat a clerk, who asked the question.

Liang Qisheng knew his clothes were too plain—not shabby enough to look desperate, but certainly not the attire of a wealthy man.

"You can't make the call. Call your manager over."

He didn't waste words with the man, speaking directly.

"I've seen plenty of hunters from the deep woods, and they all have big mouths."

"...Tell me, what good stuff do you have that would require our manager here to take a look?"

In the clerk's eyes, someone dressed like this was mostly just a mountain folk. What good things could they possibly have besides some wild mountain goods?

Even deigning to serve them was already doing them a favor—this was Nine Harmonies Hall, after all.

Liang Qisheng didn't bother with more talk. He opened the bamboo basket directly.

Lifting the black cloth, a complete, striped tiger hide appeared before their eyes.

He looked up expressionlessly, glaring at the clerk, and continued speaking.

"Can you make the call now?!"

Clatter!

Startled, the clerk's body swayed, and he fell straight off his stool.

Forgetting all about that, he scrambled toward the back courtyard.

"If you'd just taken out that tiger hide earlier, would I have dared to slight you?"

"You're really too wicked—bringing it out late just to watch me make a fool of myself!"

The clerk cursed inwardly, but his feet didn't dare slow down as he ran toward the back courtyard.

The weather had recently turned cold, and Nine Harmonies Hall needed to present fur pelts to their master.

So they had long posted notices, issuing a procurement list to the many hunters under their banner. One of the items on that list was tiger hide.