Exotic Beast Meat

Before long, Chen Jing walked out of Pockmarked Qiang's house.

Chen Jing now had two lives on his hands. His heart was still racing, but his fear had vanished.

The first time he killed someone, he'd been a little nervous. The second time... all that remained was calm.

Next, Chen Jing hurried to Scarhead's place.

This time, Chen Jing came out even faster than before. As the saying went, the first time was unfamiliar, the second was easier, and by the third, he could do it with his eyes closed.

"These three had this much money on them alone. Who knows how much more they've got stashed away!"

Chen Jing glanced down at the heavy pouch of silver at his waist. It held far more than he'd brought when he first became a disciple.

At the thought, Chen Jing drew a deep breath, his gaze turning cold. "Sure enough, in this world, making big money through hard work is harder than climbing to the heavens."

"If I want silver, I have to prey on people."

"And these wicked men... the more of them die, the better."

The next morning.

Chen Jing got up early as usual and walked into the Fist Academy to practice, as though nothing had happened the night before.

While he was absorbed in his training, several new disciples arrived to become students.

As usual, Fei Feng said a few words before examining the newcomers' bones.

But when he reached the third person, he suddenly froze in place, then burst into laughter. "Good! Good! Good!"

"An upper-grade bone structure!"

Fei Feng could barely contain his joy. He was so excited that even his beard trembled.

"What's your name?"

"Master, this disciple is Xiang Lingfei!"

Xiang Lingfei promptly answered.

"Good! Good! I'll personally teach you the stance technique!"

With that, Fei Feng began demonstrating on the spot. His attitude toward Xiang Lingfei was worlds apart from how he'd treated the first two.

Fei Feng's unusual enthusiasm startled quite a few disciples.

Everyone knew he was usually icy toward people. No one had expected him to grin like the God of Wealth today.

Watching Fei Feng, someone couldn't help muttering, "Tsk, upper-grade bone structure really does make all the difference."

"I just wonder what this junior brother's like..."

"Maybe in a few days, Master won't even spare us a glance anymore."

Just then, Zhuang Tao came over with a smile. "What, junior brother? Never seen Master like this before?"

Chen Jing replied casually, "I haven't."

Then he went back to practicing his punches.

Fei Feng's enthusiasm toward anyone wouldn't affect Chen Jing's own progress.

So instead of standing around watching, he'd get more out of another round of the River-Breaking Fist.

"You really are steady, junior brother!"

Hearing Chen Jing's answer, Zhuang Tao shook his head with a smile. "But I like that about you!"

"Anyone else would probably already be making sour remarks."

Seeing Zhuang Tao about to start taking shots at everyone, Chen Jing reluctantly stopped practicing and changed the subject. "By the way, senior brother, that piece of Green-skinned Horned Pig meat you gave me the other day worked really well. Where can I buy more?"

The Green-skinned Horned Pig meat Zhuang Tao had given him not only filled the Exemption Bead with energy; even after he'd used it once, a tenth of the energy remained.

Chen Jing now realized that Green-skinned Horned Pig meat was definitely a powerful tonic for the Exemption Bead. That was why he'd asked Zhuang Tao where he could get some.

At his question, Zhuang Tao smiled. "Green-skinned Horned Pig meat? You want more?"

Chen Jing nodded. "Yes. I wanted to ask how much it costs, too."

Zhuang Tao's expression changed. He answered seriously, "The Green-skinned Horned Pig is an Exotic Beast, so its meat is naturally precious. For martial artists like us, it's also excellent for replenishing our qi and blood."

Then Zhuang Tao asked, "Junior brother, do you know what an Exotic Beast is?"

Chen Jing shook his head.

Zhuang Tao explained, "An Exotic Beast is bigger, fiercer, and more dangerous than an ordinary wild animal, but its meat is greatly beneficial to martial artists."

"Now that everyone practices martial arts, they know eating meat is good for them. But ordinary people don't realize that one piece of Exotic Beast Meat is more effective than eating meat three times—or even five times!"

"The Green-skinned Horned Pig is one of the most common kinds. Its meat is fresh and flavorful, and rich in qi and blood, so it costs a good deal more than ordinary meat."

As he spoke, Zhuang Tao suddenly furrowed his brow and carefully sensed the flow of qi and blood in Chen Jing's body.

"Junior brother, are you... about to break through?"

Since Zhuang Tao had seen through his qi-and-blood condition, Chen Jing didn't bother hiding it. "Yes. Thanks to the Green-skinned Horned Pig meat you gave me, my qi and blood have increased a lot. At this rate, I should break through in the next couple of days."

"I see. Then let me congratulate you in advance, junior brother!"

Zhuang Tao smiled and cupped his hands, then continued, "In that case, I'll tell you the actual price. Green-skinned Horned Pig meat usually sells for twenty taels a jin, but if you know someone, you can get it for eighteen. That's cheap for Exotic Beast Meat."

"Making money is hard in this world. Once you break through to First Blood, you can go to the butcher's yourself. You'll be able to afford it."

After a pause, Zhuang Tao suddenly grinned. "But since you're about to break through... I'll bring you two jin this afternoon!"

Chen Jing quickly waved his hands. "Senior brother, that wouldn't be right. I'll pay you back the forty taels tomorrow."

Yesterday, he'd gotten quite a bit of silver from Brother Tiger, Pockmarked Qiang, and Scarhead.

Forty taels was still well within his means!

Hearing that Chen Jing intended to pay, Zhuang Tao waved his hand and laughed, "What kind of relationship do we have? What's a mere forty taels?"

"If I didn't like you, would I have given you Green-skinned Horned Pig meat last time?"

With that, he patted Chen Jing on the shoulder with a laugh and left.

That afternoon, just as promised, Zhuang Tao brought over two jin of Green-skinned Horned Pig meat.

Looking at the heavy piece of meat in his hands, Chen Jing solemnly thanked Zhuang Tao, then bent his head and continued drilling the River-Breaking Fist.

Zhuang Tao, meanwhile, returned to the Central Courtyard and, as usual, began sparring with Senior Brother Pu Shaojie.

"Junior Brother Zhuang, you really gave Junior Brother Chen two jin of Green-skinned Horned Pig meat?"

As their fists clashed, Pu Shaojie asked in disbelief, "He's been training for almost two months without breaking through to Blood Creek. Is he really worth all this effort?"

Zhuang Tao blocked a punch and countered in the same motion. "Junior Brother Chen is an interesting person. In all my time at the Fist Academy, I've never met anyone with a personality like his. Naturally, I want to get to know him better."

Pu Shaojie snorted and launched another punch. "But he still shows no sign of breaking through. Aren't you afraid all this investment will go down the drain?"

"Besides, even if he does break through, he's spent two months on it. Most of his potential will already be worn away. He'll never amount to much."

Zhuang Tao raised an eyebrow and blocked Pu Shaojie's punch. "Senior Brother Pu, you know me. When have I ever cared about strength when making friends?"

Pu Shaojie gave a derisive laugh, a flicker of contempt in his eyes.

In his view, Zhuang Tao's actions were completely pointless.

The strong should be friends with the strong.

The weak were weak.

They were fit only to guard a courtyard or serve as underlings...

And they wanted to stand as equals with the strong?

Did they think they were worthy?

At the thought, Pu Shaojie suddenly intensified his assault. His fist came down like an iron hammer as he warned coldly, "Junior Brother Zhuang, for the sake of our friendship over the years, I'll give you some advice."

"There's no good in associating with all sorts of riffraff. The strong have their own circles, and the weak have theirs."

"You're only hurting a weakling by dragging him into the strong's circle!"

"It'll also get you branded as soft and make the other strong think less of you."

Facing Pu Shaojie's words, Zhuang Tao remained calm. He deflected the attacks and replied evenly, "Senior brother, I've looked into Junior Brother Chen."

"His father pulls a rickshaw, and Chen himself practices martial arts by day and pulls the cart at night to earn money. He doesn't rely entirely on his father to support him."

"With that kind of perseverance and ambition, I believe that if he's given a chance, he won't disappoint me."

Zhuang Tao paused, then added something that made Pu Shaojie frown. "Besides, it's only a few resources. They mean nothing to me, especially when they're going to someone I've taken an interest in!"

Pu Shaojie's eye twitched. He seemed about to say something, but in the end, he only shook his head and replied, "I hope you haven't misjudged him, Junior Brother Zhuang..."