Meat Prices Rise, Time to Make Money

"Zhi'er, what brought you here?"

A flicker of panic appeared on Shen Yuniang's face.

Zhang Zhi said nothing. After glancing at Lu Fan, her gaze fell on the meat in Shen Yuniang's hands.

"Mother, wasn't this meat Old Lu's?"

Zhang Zhi's words startled Shen Yuniang, but she quickly realized what had happened.

It seemed Zhang Zhi had overheard their earlier conversation as well.

But she felt no shame over it.

"What do you mean, Old Lu's? Your father paid for this meat."

"Old Lu doesn't have many years left anyway. There's no use in him eating this meat. It would be better used to help you break through your bottleneck."

Shen Yuniang spoke to Zhang Zhi as if it were only natural.

"Besides, you've been training so diligently lately. You must be burning through your vitality and blood faster. Don't you need more meat to nourish yourself?"

"But..." Zhang Zhi parted her lips, wanting to say something more.

At that moment, Shen Yuniang's next words lodged Zhang Zhi's rebuttal in her throat, leaving her unable to speak.

"Zhi'er, your father only entered the Dark Force stage at thirty. Your talent surpasses his. As long as you work a little harder, you'll definitely enter the Dark Force stage before you turn twenty. Then everyone in Chi City will know that you're a true genius."

"I'm sure your father would be very happy to see that."

After saying this, Shen Yuniang stuffed the meat into Zhang Zhi's hands without waiting for her reply.

Zhang Zhi gripped the meat and fell silent for a moment before turning to leave.

"All right, Old Lu. Let's leave it at that."

Shen Yuniang glanced at Lu Fan, then turned and hurried after her daughter, Zhang Zhi.

After the two women had gone far away, Lu Fan let out a quiet sigh and touched the Evergreen Formula tucked into his clothes.

Although the meat had been taken, he had obtained the most important thing: the martial arts manual.

And Shen Yuniang had been right about one thing. Over the years, he had indeed saved up quite a bit of retirement money—enough that he would not be without meat for cultivation, at least for the time being.

After leaving Blackstone Martial Hall, he headed straight for a butcher's stall in the neighborhood market.

"What? Meat has gone up by thirty percent?"

After leaving the butcher's stall, Lu Fan looked at the noticeably smaller portion of meat in his hands, his expression darkening.

Perhaps because of the refugees, grain prices in the city had begun to rise. As a result, meat had become thirty percent more expensive than usual.

He had originally thought that even without a free supply of meat, his savings would keep him from running short for a while.

But now it seemed that was nothing but wishful thinking.

The rising prices of grain and meat meant that the world was becoming increasingly chaotic.

And that meant strength was becoming even more important.

After returning home, Lu Fan immediately cooked the meat and began cultivating.

With the nourishment of meat, his cultivation progressed even better than he had imagined.

After he wolfed down a large amount of meat, the surging vitality and blood within it was amplified a hundredfold and completely absorbed into Lu Fan's body.

The familiar searing sensation exploded from his stomach. The hundredfold-amplified vitality and blood was like molten iron, burning through his meridians all the way to the tips of his limbs.

This surge of vitality and blood was even more violent than the previous ones. Although his meridians had widened considerably after reaching the fifth level of the Evergreen Formula, they still seemed somewhat narrow before this torrent.

Under his guidance, the rampaging torrent of vitality and blood continuously strengthened his meridians and the vitality and blood in his dantian.

As his vitality and blood churned, the aura within his body quickly rose higher and higher.

By the time the sun rose, Lu Fan had completed the fifth level of the Evergreen Formula, and his strength had reached the middle stage of Bright Force.

If not for his lack of vitality and blood to replenish himself, his cultivation progress could have been even faster.

But behind that rapid growth in strength was the enormous amount of meat he had consumed.

"Only three taels of silver are left."

"This probably won't even be enough for two or three meals."

Lu Fan looked at the silver on the table and shook his head with a bitter smile.

It seemed he would have to find a way to make some money.

But before that, he still had to cultivate.

Over the next few days, Lu Fan worked as a cook in the martial hall's kitchen during the day and used the meat to nourish his body and cultivate rapidly at night.

In just four days, he had reached the late stage of Bright Force.

But what troubled him was that his money had nearly run out.

He was clearly on the verge of breaking through to Dark Force, yet without the support of the vitality and blood from meat, his cultivation speed had slowed considerably.

If he relied solely on cultivating by himself, it would take at least several more months to break through to Dark Force.

With the nourishment of meat, however, that time could be drastically shortened.

"Sure enough, I need to find a way to make money."

In the kitchen.

Lu Fan looked at the steaming pot of meat, his eyes filled with intense desire.

If he had such a large pot of meat to himself, it would be more than enough for him to enter the Dark Force stage.

Of course, this meat was meant for the young disciples training in the hall. Naturally, he would not touch it.

Still, he had to think of a way to get some silver. Otherwise, his cultivation progress would remain stuck.

After the martial hall closed, Lu Fan did not return home directly. Instead, he went to a restaurant in the city.

He casually ordered some tea and a bowl of noodles, then found a seat in a corner.

With his late Bright Force strength, he could hear nearly every conversation at every table in this small restaurant clearly.

An hour passed. He had finished his noodles and refilled his tea several times, yet he had not heard the information he wanted.

Just as he was preparing to get up and leave, a deliberately hushed conversation from a table in the corner reached his ears.

"Hey, have you heard? It seems the Qin Household has been hit lately. Several shipments they sent out were robbed."

"Yeah. I heard the Qin Household is recruiting skilled fighters to make sure their next shipment gets through safely. Anyone at the middle stage of Bright Force or above can apply."

"I heard that too, but apparently no matter how high a price the Qin Household offered, they still couldn't recruit many people."

"Seems so. And not a single Dark Force expert in the city has gone over there. Maybe someone's targeting them."

"Targeting them? I heard the Feng Household and the Qin Household have been rather tense lately. Could it be..."

Lu Fan naturally heard every word of their conversation clearly.

"The Qin Household?"

For no apparent reason, the image of Qin Yaxin flashed through Lu Fan's mind.

The Qin Household held considerable influence in Chi City, yet someone actually wanted to target them.

Perhaps, just as those men had said, another Lineage was deliberately targeting them.

No matter what, Qin Yaxin had always treated this old man fairly well.

And the Qin Household was currently hiring people at high prices, so there was no reason for him not to go.

With that in mind, he quietly left the restaurant.

But before heading to the Qin Household, there was one more thing he had to do.

He needed to buy a mask first.

Otherwise, if he went to the Qin Household looking like this, his identity would be exposed immediately.