The Importance of Medicinal Supplements

Evening.

The youths finally finished a full day of training.

As soon as Senior Brother Chen Chong called, "Finish the exercise," the youths who had been holding their stances immediately seemed to have had their bones pulled out. They swayed every which way; some plopped straight down onto the ground, while others braced themselves on their knees and gasped for breath.

The Coiling Dragon Stance Art was simply too grueling to practice.

They practiced at dawn, practiced through the morning, and had to practice again in the afternoon.

After an entire day, their shoulders and backs felt as though millstones had pressed on them all night. Their waists and hips were so sore they had stiffened, while their legs were numb and swollen, as if they no longer belonged to them.

Lu Chen was not faring much better.

He slowly withdrew his stance, feeling a stuffiness in his chest. Sweat streamed down his temples. His clothes had long since been soaked, dried, then soaked again, clinging uncomfortably to his body.

Yet there was a little more steadiness in his eyes than in the others'.

[Coiling Dragon Stance Art: Not Yet Initiated]

[Progress: 32/100]

After a day of hard training, his progress had advanced by a few more points.

That made Lu Chen feel that at least he had not been suffering for nothing.

"Brother Lu Chen, let's go. If we don't get to the dining hall soon, all the good meat will be picked clean."

Lu Yuan dragged himself over on two weak legs. Though he urged them on anxiously, he limped with every step.

Lu Chen glanced at him and could not help asking, "Are your legs holding up?"

Lu Yuan bared his teeth in a grimace as he rubbed his thigh.

"Holding up? They're about to break."

As he spoke, he could not help swallowing.

"But when I think of that bowl of meat soup in the dining hall, I feel like I can still walk."

The two headed toward the dining hall together.

As they passed the outer courtyard corridor, they happened to run into a young man.

The young man was around seventeen or eighteen. He wore the gray short robe of an outer courtyard disciple, with a cloth belt around his waist. He was not especially burly, but he was far sturdier than rural youths like Lu Chen and the others.

He was Guo Sheng, an older outer courtyard disciple.

He had arrived at Hidden Dragon Martial Hall half a year before Lu Chen's group.

"Junior Brothers Lu Chen and Lu Yuan."

Guo Sheng smiled and greeted them first.

Lu Chen stopped and clasped his hands.

"Senior Brother Guo."

Lu Yuan hurriedly called out as well, "Senior Brother Guo."

Guo Sheng walked over with a smile, his gaze sweeping over the two of them as he asked, "I heard that among you newcomers, there's a genius who mastered the Coiling Dragon Stance in three days?"

Lu Chen nodded. "Yes, Senior Brother Guo."

"It's Shi Hao from Stone Bridge Village."

Lu Yuan added from the side, rather enviously,

"Shi Hao is really lucky."

"I heard the Hall Master intends to take him as a personal disciple, just waiting for him to break through to Blood Transference and become a martial artist!"

"The Hall Master even specially allowed him to receive a bowl of Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup from the Medicine Hall every day!"

At this, Lu Yuan's eyes lit up. He could not help leaning closer as he asked, "Senior Brother Guo, you've been at the martial hall for half a year. Have you ever had this Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup?"

"Does it taste good?"

Guo Sheng's expression shifted slightly at his words. "Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup?"

"Looks like the Hall Master truly values that boy Shi Hao."

Lu Yuan was stunned. "Is that medicinal soup expensive?"

Guo Sheng did not answer immediately. Instead, he said slowly, "Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup is a fine medicine specially made by the Medicine Hall to nourish the qi and blood of martial artists."

"It contains tiger bones, old ginseng rootlets, blood vine, mountain deer sinew, and several other medicinal ingredients that warm and nourish the muscles and bones."

"One bowl a day costs at least three taels of silver over a month."

"Three taels of silver?"

Lu Yuan's voice changed.

He unconsciously stopped walking, his eyes widening round.

Lu Chen could not help but feel his heart jolt as well.

Three taels of silver.

For rural youths, that was no small sum.

Many families in Lu Family Village toiled bitterly all year long, yet after food and clothing expenses, they might not save even one tael of silver.

If they encountered a famine year, forget saving money—even avoiding debt would be considered fortunate.

Three taels of silver could buy a family plenty of grain, enough for an ordinary rural household to get through an entire winter in peace.

Yet at the martial hall, it was only enough for Shi Hao to drink Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup for one month.

"One bowl of medicinal soup costs that much?" Lu Yuan was utterly astonished.

Guo Sheng smiled, his tone carrying the experience unique to an older disciple.

"You think practicing martial arts is just gritting your teeth and enduring?"

"You've been practicing the Coiling Dragon Stance these past few days. You should have felt it too. Martial arts consume qi and blood the most. If you train without replenishing yourself, sooner or later your body will be hollowed out."

"Ordinary rice can only fill your stomach. Meat is what builds strength."

"But if you truly want to break through to Blood Transference, eating meat alone is not enough."

"You also need medicinal supplements to preserve the qi and blood tempered out by stance arts and fist techniques."

He paused, and his tone turned meaningful. "The meals the dining hall provides you every day can at most keep you from going hungry."

"But one bowl of Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup every day lets Shi Hao recover his qi and blood faster and grow stronger muscles and bones."

"After training for the same day, you sleep through the night and still wake up with aching waists and sore legs."

"After he drinks a bowl of medicinal soup, he might be able to practice two more rounds tomorrow."

"That is the gap."

Lu Chen's expression shifted slightly as he listened.

Only after hearing Guo Sheng explain it did he truly understand what that bowl of Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup meant.

"No wonder Senior Brother Chen Chong said martial artists are all medicine jars."

"The benefits of taking medicine are enormous!"

But Guo Sheng said then, "Still, breaking through to Blood Transference is not so easy."

"Dietary supplements, medicinal supplements, talent, innate physique, hard work, and even luck... not one can be lacking!"

"Though this Shi Hao has shown decent talent now, if he wants to walk farther on the path of martial arts, he will still need more money to buy medicine!"

"One bowl of Tiger-Bone Body-Strengthening Soup is far from enough."

Lu Chen followed up with a question. "Senior Brother Guo, are there many people in the martial hall who, like Shi Hao, receive medicinal soup from the Medicine Hall every day?"

Guo Sheng glanced at Lu Chen, smiled, and said, "Not many."

"Among the outer courtyard disciples, almost no one receives such treatment."

"As for inner courtyard disciples, because they hold posts and receive stipends from other families and factions, drinking a bowl of Body-Strengthening Soup every day is not a problem."

"But as their realms rise and their martial training deepens, Body-Strengthening Soup has less and less effect on them."

"If inner courtyard disciples want to advance further, Body-Strengthening Soup alone is simply not enough. They need higher-quality Blood-Qi Powder."

Hearing this, Lu Chen could not help feeling that martial arts truly were a bottomless pit.

As one grew stronger, the quality of the medicinal supplements required rose by a huge margin as well.

No amount of money could fill it.

At this point, Guo Sheng began muttering to himself again, "Still, for the martial hall to produce such a promising seedling as Shi Hao is good news for the rest of us disciples too..."

After dinner, Lu Chen and Lu Yuan returned to the large communal sleeping platform in the outer courtyard.

At present, they were still only nominal disciples of the martial hall, so everyone could only squeeze together on one large communal sleeping platform.

Shi Hao, on the other hand, had moved into a private room because the Hall Master favored him.

The next day.

A rooster's crow woke all the youths.

"Damn it, we have to get up and practice again!"

"Ah, my waist..."

"I can't do this anymore. I can't get up. I'm not practicing martial arts anymore—I want to go home!"

Days of stance practice had tormented everyone until their waists ached and their backs hurt. Some could no longer hold on and had begun to entertain thoughts of retreat.

"I'm going to take the martial examination! I'm going to become a martial scholar!"

At that moment, Ma Sanjin roared as he climbed out of bed.

That shout was like a shot in the arm for many youths who wanted to give up, giving them a reason to keep persevering.

One after another, everyone got up and hurried to the Martial Practice Yard to train.