Martial Arts for the Rich

Lu Hao sat on the ground resting for a long while before he barely managed to gather a shred of strength.

He struggled to his feet. His legs felt as heavy as if filled with lead, trembling uncontrollably beneath him. Every step made the muscles in his thighs and calves ache and swell, while a layer of cold sweat seeped out across his body.

Lu Hao remembered that after the original owner had forcibly failed Gate Breaking twice, he had looked exactly like this—completely drained and powerless.

He had not expected that even though he had successfully broken through, his Qi-Blood would still be exhausted to the point of collapse.

No wonder the original owner's memories always spoke of poor scholars and wealthy warriors. Every movement of the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique consumed Qi-Blood.

Not a trace of the Qi-Blood from that chicken leg the system had absorbed had gone to waste. If he had eaten the chicken leg directly, that bit of Qi-Blood probably would not even have lasted through half a round of stance practice.

No wonder wealthy people bought Blood-Qi Elixirs, even spending huge sums on Blood-Qi Pills to raise their Qi-Blood. Once he had a chance to earn some silver, he would buy Blood-Qi Elixirs and Blood-Qi Pills too, and see what effects they had after being equipped.

Lu Hao dragged his leaden legs back into the room, picked up a gourd ladle, scooped a ladleful of cold water from the water vat, and gulped it down. Only then did the weakness coursing through his body ease slightly.

He dragged his exhausted body over to fetch a basin of water, wiped himself down simply, and climbed into bed.

Lying there, Lu Hao thought about going to the market first thing tomorrow morning to buy some chicken legs. Then he thought that if he could permanently absorb the skill from beef, the Qi-Blood contained in beef would surely exceed that in chicken.

It was said that demon beasts appeared in the mountains outside Bluestone City. The Qi-Blood contained in the flesh and blood of those demon beasts would surely surpass that of ordinary livestock.

As he thought, Lu Hao gradually fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Lu Hao got out of bed at dawn.

He felt so hungry that his chest was pressed to his back. He had never experienced such hunger before. It was likely his body's signal of craving Qi-Blood after Gate Breaking.

He reached out and touched the half-tael of silver Shi Kang had given him. Half a tael of silver was five hundred copper coins. To increase his Qi-Blood, he could only spend the silver he had meant to use for repaying his debt.

Lu Hao arrived at the market on Joyful Street.

Following the original owner's memories, he first came to a shop that sold roast chicken.

A massive roasting oven stood at the entrance, several chickens hanging inside it. Fat dripped onto the charcoal, sizzling as an enticing aroma rushed into his nose.

The proprietress was a woman in her thirties. When she saw Lu Hao approach the stall, she cursed inwardly. That bastard who loved freeloading and always tried to take liberties with her had come again.

Though she cursed in her heart, she hurried forward, rubbing her hands haphazardly against her apron.

"Brother Lu Hao! Didn't you just pay the protection fee the day before yesterday?"

Lu Hao was stunned for a moment by her reaction, then quickly understood what was going on.

Though the original owner had not successfully broken through, he had still learned some fist and foot techniques in the Black Tiger Gang. He naturally amounted to nothing in the eyes of true experts, but bullying ordinary merchants was no problem.

Relying on the Black Tiger Gang's influence, the original owner had often flaunted borrowed authority on Joyful Street. Eating and taking things without paying had been commonplace. Whenever he saw a pretty woman, he always wanted to take advantage. The street vendors all feared and loathed him.

Lu Hao cursed the original owner in his heart, then asked, "How much are the chicken legs?"

The proprietress froze and blinked.

Whenever Lu Hao had come to her shop before, he had simply grabbed roast chicken and left, never paying a single coin.

Every time, he had stared at her chest with a revolting expression. A few times, under the excuse of collecting protection fees, he had grabbed her hand and refused to let go.

Had the sun risen in the west today? Not only had Lu Hao not stared at her chest, he had actually asked the price.

"Brother Lu Hao, listen to yourself."

The proprietress forced a cautious smile. "If you want to eat, just take it. Why talk about money with your sister-in-law? How distant that sounds!"

Lu Hao waved his hand.

"How much is one chicken leg? Tell me the price. Do I look like the kind of person who eats without paying?"

The proprietress blinked again, thinking, How are you not that kind of person? You are exactly that kind of person. But she would never dare say such words aloud.

She stared at Lu Hao for a moment, then stammered, "Chicken legs... ten... copper coins each. Half a roast chicken... twenty-five copper coins."

Lu Hao quickly calculated in his head. Before transmigrating, a roast chicken leg had cost roughly eight to ten yuan, while half a roast chicken had cost twenty-five to thirty yuan. In this world, one copper coin had about the same purchasing power as one yuan in his old world.

After thinking it over, he felt that buying roasted chicken legs was a little expensive.

He only had half a tael of silver. It would not support buying many roast chicken legs.

He wondered how much raw chicken legs cost. Raw ones should be cheaper.

With that thought, he nodded at the proprietress and turned to leave.

Watching Lu Hao's retreating back, the shop owner returned to the roasting rack and continued roasting chickens, all while muttering inwardly. What was wrong with Lu Hao today? He had actually asked the price of roast chicken, and he had not simply taken one without paying. That was truly strange.

Then she remembered that Lu Hao had not stared at her just now, either. Could it be that they had gotten smaller lately? She lowered her head and glanced down. Nothing had changed.

Lu Hao then came to the poultry shop at the end of Joyful Street. Several rows of slaughtered chickens and ducks were laid out before the shop.

When the owner saw Lu Hao approach, he hurriedly tossed the knife in his hand onto the chopping block, wiped his hands on his apron, and put on a flattering smile.

"Brother Lu Hao."

Lu Hao looked at the owner and asked, "How much are chicken legs?"

The poultry shop owner also stared at Lu Hao in stunned disbelief, utterly unable to understand why Lu Hao would take the initiative to ask the price.

He hurriedly said, "Brother Lu Hao, we don't sell chicken legs separately. We only sell whole chickens. One chicken costs twenty copper coins."

Lu Hao thought about it. Since the shop did not sell chicken legs separately, he would buy two whole chickens and try them out.

He just did not know whether the permanently fixed ability of "Equip Chicken Leg" would allow chicken meat, like chicken legs, to fully absorb its Qi-Blood.

So Lu Hao took out the half-tael of broken silver from his robes and handed it to the owner.

"Give me two whole chickens."

Seeing this, the owner thought inwardly, Who pays for two chickens with half a tael of silver?

He again put on a smile. "Brother Lu Hao, I can't make change for half a tael of silver. Why not just take the chickens?"

After saying that, he cursed Lu Hao inwardly.

But Lu Hao insisted on paying. While the owner said, "Brother Lu Hao, you insist on paying. You're being far too polite!" he happily gave Lu Hao four hundred and sixty copper coins in change.

He then fetched some straw rope, tied up the two slaughtered chickens, and handed them to Lu Hao.

Lu Hao carried the chickens home and washed them. He dug out a broken earthenware pot and scooped in two ladles of water.

He searched around the stove at home. It was spotless—there was no oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, or anything else.

Gritting his teeth, he boiled the chickens in plain water. Before long, the meat was cooked.

Lu Hao looked at the chicken boiled in plain water and had no appetite whatsoever.

At that moment, the system panel lit up.

[Absorbable chicken meat detected]

[Use the permanent fixation skill to absorb chicken meat?]

When Lu Hao saw it, he had not expected the permanent fixation skill to absorb chicken meat too. This was wonderful!

This meant that for the Qi-Blood in the same kind of meat, once the absorption skill for one part had been permanently fixed, all later absorption of that type of meat would have the same effect.

Next time, he could try to see whether raw chicken meat could be absorbed directly.

Lu Hao silently recited in his heart.

"System, use the chicken meat absorption skill." One whole chicken vanished, appearing beside the Equipment Slot for the Black Tiger Method.

After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

[Qi-Blood in body: 10/10]

[Chicken meat durability: 80%]

The sensation of weakness Lu Hao had felt earlier was now completely replaced by the abundant Qi-Blood filling his entire body.

Seeing that his Qi-Blood had fully recovered, he knew that his current body's capacity limit was ten units of Qi-Blood. One whole chicken could provide fifty units of Qi-Blood.

In other words, for twenty copper coins, he could obtain fifty units of Qi-Blood.

Lu Hao walked into the courtyard and began practicing the Black Tiger Stance Art and Black Tiger Fist Technique.

Perhaps because he had already stepped into the realm of first-level Gate Breaking, when he practiced the Black Tiger Art today, he felt that his lower stance was more stable and his methods of redirecting force flowed more smoothly.

As for the Black Tiger Fist Technique, the sound of his fists tearing through the air could be heard clearly with every move and stance.

After he completed five rounds of stance practice and five rounds of fist technique, the numbers on the panel changed.

[Skill: Black Tiger Stance Art (Beginner)]

[Progress: 5/500]

[Skill: Black Tiger Fist Technique (Beginner)]

[Progress: 5/500]

[Qi-Blood in body: 0/10]

Immediately afterward, that same feeling of collapse from yesterday struck again.

Lu Hao's stomach was empty, his limbs heavy, and a layer of cold sweat seeped across his body.

His legs went weak again, and he slumped to the ground.

Sitting there, Lu Hao thought it over and decided that he could not allow his Qi-Blood to drop to zero. Once it did, he would collapse. At the very least, he needed to keep one unit of Qi-Blood in reserve.

Fortunately, he had already equipped chicken meat. He silently recited in his heart.

"System, absorb chicken meat."

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later.

[Qi-Blood in body: 10/10]

Lu Hao once again felt Qi-Blood surging abundantly through his body. He got up and continued practicing the Black Tiger Method.

For the entire day, Lu Hao went back and forth between practicing the Black Tiger Method and replenishing his Qi-Blood.

By evening, the sun was setting. Several streaks of orange-red sunset clouds hung on the distant horizon, and the clouds themselves had been plated with a faint layer of gold by the sinking sun.

Lu Hao completed his final round of Black Tiger Stance Art for the day and stood with his stance withdrawn.

[Skill: Black Tiger Stance Art (Beginner)]

[Progress: 50/500]

[Skill: Black Tiger Fist Technique (Beginner)]

[Progress: 49/500]

[Qi-Blood in body: 1/10]

The Qi-Blood from both whole chickens had been completely absorbed by Lu Hao. His entire body felt as though it had been struck by a fierce tiger, practically falling apart, every muscle sore with pain.

Lu Hao was bent over, one hand braced on his knee and the other on his waist, gasping for breath when a knock sounded at the door.

Dragging his sore, weak legs, he opened it and saw Shi Kang.

Shi Kang's eyes widened into perfect circles when he saw Lu Hao's appearance.

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled continuously down Lu Hao's forehead. His fitted martial outfit had long since been soaked through with sweat.

"Brother Hao, what did you do to get this exhausted?" Shi Kang stepped forward and grabbed Lu Hao's arm.

"Nothing." Lu Hao waved his hand. "I just loosened up my muscles and bones."

Shi Kang clearly did not believe him. He circled Lu Hao once, looking him up and down.

"Brother Hao, are you really all right?"

"I'm really fine. You don't need to worry." Lu Hao raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and the two entered the room.

"Brother Hao, I heard some news today," Shi Kang said.

"Lin Qiniang ordered a Glazed Hairpin from a jewelry shop in the city, spending fifteen taels of silver.

"She has already paid five taels as a deposit. In a few days, when she gets that hairpin, she will have to pay the remaining ten taels.

"If that happens, how will she repay the silver she swindled from you?"