Bottleneck

"The Yuan Mulberry Hall is primarily responsible for the business involving Yuan Brocade."

Wang Jin continued, "The Firewood Gang owns a thousand acres of prime Yuan Mulberry fields in Emerald Cloud Valley. These trees are used to cultivate Origin Silkworms, making it the most profitable division in our gang, second only to the Beast Hunting Hall. If you join the Yuan Mulberry Hall, you will most likely be assigned to guard a plot of about ten acres."

Shen Mu could not help but ask in surprise, "Do the Yuan Mulberry fields really require someone to guard them?"

"Heh heh, Brother Shen, the Yuan Mulberry is not as simple as you imagine."

Wang Jin said with a mysterious look, "The Yuan Mulberry tree doesn't just produce Origin Mulberry Leaves; it also yields Origin Mulberry Fruit. This fruit has the effect of nourishing the yin and strengthening the yang, and it has always been highly sought after by high-ranking officials and nobles."

"The Firewood Gang arranges for people to harvest the Origin Mulberry Fruit every year, which is then uniformly dried and processed."

"These dried Origin Mulberry Fruits can be used to brew Origin Mulberry Tea. A single jin of the fruit fetches as much as one tael of silver. With a thousand acres of trees, we produce at least tens of thousands of jin of dried fruit every year. Do you still think this is a small amount?"

"The fields cover over a thousand acres of vast land. If no one were assigned to guard them, wouldn't people come to steal the harvest?"

Shen Mu deeply agreed; in this world, all channels for making money were controlled by the powerful.

With one jin of dried Origin Mulberry Fruit costing a whole tael of silver, it was bound to incite greed, so it was understandable that the Firewood Gang would assign members to guard them.

If there were ever a day without guards, he reckoned every household in Cloud Dragon County would be able to afford cheap Origin Mulberry Fruit.

"Is there any danger in guarding the Yuan Mulberry fields?"

Shen Mu couldn't help but ask.

"There is danger, naturally."

Wang Jin laughed, "There are four major martial arts schools in Cloud Dragon County. They cultivate martial artists by charging tuition, but many of their students come from ordinary backgrounds."

"After these apprentices achieve some success, they often develop bad intentions in order to advance their cultivation further. They don't dare to go into the Dark Night Beast Forest to hunt beasts, so they naturally set their sights on the Origin Mulberry Fruit..."

Shen Mu fell into deep thought. If guarding the fields were safe and allowed him to practice body tempering, he would be very interested.

But now that he heard Wang Jin say that martial arts apprentices might come to steal the fruit, he immediately lost interest.

Those who dared to steal the fruit must have some confidence in their own cultivation.

If these guys teamed up, wouldn't he be the one to suffer?

Seeing the hesitation on Shen Mu's face, Wang Jin smiled, "However, if you do join the Yuan Mulberry Hall, Brother Shen, you don't need to worry too much."

Shen Mu's mouth twitched. He was only at the first level of Boiling Blood, and with about forty taels of silver in his pocket, he had no shortage of cultivation resources for the next two or three months. There was really no need to gamble on the odds.

What if he actually ran into them?

Seeing this, Wang Jin understood what Shen Mu was thinking and chuckled, "Those who dare to steal the fruit are a minority after all. Plus, with a thousand acres of fields, you are only responsible for guarding ten. Once you discover someone stealing, you can immediately fire a signal arrow, and the other gang members guarding nearby will naturally come to assist..."

Shen Mu's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

If it were someone else, they might not have caught the implication in Wang Jin's words, but he understood perfectly.

Those who came to steal the fruit would inevitably be plagued by a guilty conscience.

As long as he discovered someone picking the fruit, he could simply fire a signal arrow to drive them away; he didn't have to capture them personally.

If the other party were arrogant enough to continue stealing even after seeing the signal arrow, the other Firewood Gang members guarding the surrounding areas would certainly rush over to help.

Once they formed a group, taking the thief down would be simple.

Seeing that Shen Mu understood the hidden meaning, Wang Jin nodded secretly.

If someone had told him these things when he first joined the Firewood Gang and reached the first level of Boiling Blood, how could he have ended up just collecting firewood money?

But it was too late to realize this now; once a member chose their hall, they could not switch.

This made him stomp his feet in regret for a long time, but there was nothing he could do.

Wang Jin felt a bit depressed, tilted his head back to finish the wine in his cup, wiped his mouth, and said with a bitter smile, "As for the Firewood Hall, Brother Shen knows plenty about it, so I assume I don't need to introduce much."

Shen Mu nodded.

Joining the Firewood Hall would likely be the same as Wang Jin—responsible for collecting firewood fees along a street.

There might be some profit, but definitely not as much as the Yuan Mulberry Hall. It was a bit like just drifting through life, though it was also the safest, as he would only be dealing with woodcutters.

"Brother Wang, come, let me toast you again. Your words tonight have been truly beneficial to me."

Shen Mu raised his cup, speaking with sincerity.

"Heh heh."

Wang Jin shook his head, laughing, "This is something you earned for yourself."

Just as he had said before, if Shen Mu had gone straight to the headquarters to register and pick a hall after reaching the first level of Boiling Blood, it would have been too late even if he had explained the situation of the three halls later.

The fact that Shen Mu had specifically sought him out to host a banquet in gratitude for his past care showed that he was a person who repaid kindness.

By saying just a few words today, he had formed a good connection. If he ever needed anything in the future, as long as it wasn't too difficult, he believed the other party wouldn't refuse.

His own son was already sixteen and would need to start body tempering in two years. If he reached the first level of Boiling Blood by then, perhaps he would need some care from Shen Mu, who would be well-established in the Yuan Mulberry Hall by then.

The two clinked their cups and downed the wine in one gulp.

"Brother Wang, I have one more doubt, though I don't know if I should ask..."

Shen Mu seemed to remember something, his expression hesitant.

Wang Jin chuckled, "Heh heh, Brother Shen, feel free to ask whatever you wish. As long as this brother knows it, I shall tell you everything."

"Alright then, this brother will ask."

Shen Mu inquired, "As far as I know, Brother Wang, you reached the first level of Boiling Blood five years ago. Based on the normal rate of cultivation, you really shouldn't still be at the first level after five years."

Seeing Shen Mu bring this up, a flash of dejection crossed Wang Jin's face.

Noticing something was wrong, Shen Mu hurriedly said, "Brother Wang, if my words have caused offense, I hope you will forgive me. If you don't want to..."

"It is fine."

Before Shen Mu could finish, Wang Jin interrupted him with a bitter smile, "Brother Shen is right. Under normal circumstances, having reached the first level of Boiling Blood five years ago, I certainly shouldn't still be at the first level now."

"To advance from the first level of Boiling Blood to the second, one needs to digest at least twenty catties of unranked beast meat, using the abundant blood energy nurtured within to break through the second-level barrier in one go!"

"Back then, after I reached the first level, it took me about half a year to successfully digest twenty catties of beast meat, and I immediately began my attempt to break through to the second level."

"However, what I never expected was that I would encounter a bottleneck. The blood energy I had nurtured launched several consecutive strikes, yet it never managed to shatter the barrier of the second level."

"In the years that followed, I consumed beast meat several more times and attempted to break through again, but the barrier of the second level was like a natural chasm, leaving me unable to find a way in..."

A bottleneck?

Hearing this, Shen Mu's expression turned somewhat complex.

Although he had suspected as much, hearing Wang Jin say it himself made him feel a sense of shared sorrow.

Once a person encounters a bottleneck, some may find it impossible to advance even half a step for the rest of their lives.

For Wang Jin to hit the second-level bottleneck right after reaching the first level—wasn't that just too unlucky?

I just wonder, with the Martial Dao Tree accelerating my cultivation speed, will I also have a day where I encounter a bottleneck?

Shen Mu thought to himself.

The banquet lasted from noon until nightfall.

Through his conversation with Wang Jin, Shen Mu gained a much deeper understanding of the internal situation within the Firewood Gang.

It wasn't until other peripheral gang members arrived with the collected firewood fees that the banquet finally came to an end.

"Brother, you've reached the first level of Boiling Blood, and I have nothing much to give you. Take this silver; consider it my congratulatory gift."

As they parted, Wang Jin took out five taels of silver and handed them over.

Shen Mu hurriedly waved his hand in refusal, "Brother Wang, this absolutely will not do."

"Take it."

Wang Jin said with a displeased look, "You still have a long road ahead of you, but this brother's life is pretty much set. You called me 'big brother,' so I can't let you call me that for nothing. Besides, if my kid joins the Firewood Gang in the future, he will surely need your help."

"Then... alright, thank you, Brother Wang."

Shen Mu hesitated for a moment before accepting the silver.

"I'm heading back."

Wang Jin waved with a smile, picked up the money bag containing the incense fees, and turned to leave.

Watching Wang Jin's retreating figure, Shen Mu's expression was complicated.

It was true, as Wang Jin had said; if he hadn't sought him out, he wouldn't have heard about the three halls of the Firewood Gang.

Presumably, it was because he had repaid the favor, and Wang Jin had recognized his character, that he was willing to befriend him—and even invest money into this relationship.

However, he was also well aware that if he hadn't reached the first level of Boiling Blood in just one month, showing Wang Jin his potential, the other party wouldn't have been willing to spend such a significant sum.

Whether in his past life or this one, there is no such thing as kindness without a reason; it is merely because you have demonstrated your worth.