Chapter 3: An Investment is Necessary (2)

'There’s only one kind of investment in the martial world.'

In a secluded alley of Mayangxian City, there was a small traditional medicine shop.

Here, various traditional herbs were laid out for sale, and to me, a modern person, it was quite a nostalgic scene.

'Back in the day, every neighborhood had one of these traditional medicine shops.'

Immersed in old memories, I was sniffing the herbal scent when the shop owner, Mr. Huang, who was busy slicing herbs with a cleaver in the back, came out, thinking a customer had arrived.

"Who are you?"

"It’s me."

Seeing my face, Mr. Huang frowned.

"Is it you again?"

"How can you be so cold? It’s been a while."

"Been a while, my ass."

How can someone be so rude to someone they haven’t seen in a while? Has he never seen how rude people end up?

"As I said before, I don’t need any bellflower roots anymore, so bringing them is pointless. You might as well pickle them and eat them with soybean paste."

Mr. Huang replied curtly, indicating he had no intention of doing any more business.

In fact, Mr. Huang and I have had a long-standing business relationship.

In my first year in the martial world, I had fallen there with just a lighter in hand while on my way to a job interview. To survive, I did all sorts of things.

I begged, worked as a shop assistant, and even as a servant in a wealthy household. I did whatever I could.

Among these, I also worked as a herbalist. With no job opportunities, I climbed mountains to dig up herbs like ginseng, bellflower roots, and others, and sold them to Mr. Huang.

It was a business that didn’t even cover labor costs, but at the time, I needed a few coins to buy a small bag of rice.

If Mr. Huang hadn’t bought the cheap herbs I dug up, I probably would have starved to death that year.

However, after climbing mountains so much that my knees started to hurt, I decided I couldn’t continue and gave up.

Mr. Huang, who didn’t make much profit from it, started refusing to buy from me at some point.

Perhaps our needs matched?

So, we just exchanged greetings occasionally as we passed by, and it had been quite a while since we did any business.

Of course, I didn’t come to Mr. Huang today to buy anything.

"I didn’t come here for that."

"Hmm, then why are you here?"

"I have something important to discuss with you. A moment, please."

With a stern expression, I spoke, and Mr. Huang, looking as if I had eaten some hallucinogenic mushrooms from the mountains, invited me inside and offered a cushion.

The cushion was quite cheap. I sat down, squishing my buttocks, and gave a look asking for a cup of tea, but it was ignored.

"Did you find something valuable?"

"Not exactly... I want to buy something big."

"What money do you have? Hmph, what are you trying to set the mood for?"

Mr. Huang still looked full of complaints. However, he didn’t tell me to leave when I mentioned buying something.

It took a lot of courage to say it, but with a firm resolve, I swallowed hard and said:

"Ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum (十年何首烏)."

"Whoa!"

Ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum (十年何首烏)!

A supreme medicinal herb that grows for ten years in remote mountains, absorbing the essence of nature, known for its remarkable medicinal effects!

It’s no wonder Mr. Huang’s face turned pale.

"You, buying such an expensive thing...?"

"Of course. I’ve prepared the money."

I slightly opened my money pouch to show the silver coins.

Mr. Huang, reaching out involuntarily at the glint of the coins, was stopped by me with a "Hey!" and I tied the pouch back up.

"I will definitely buy the ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum today."

"Ugh, what do you plan to do with it...?"

"That’s none of your business."

My eyes flashed fiercely, and Mr. Huang fell silent.

Just as it’s none of my business whether Mr. Huang makes pickled or grilled bellflower roots from the ones he bought from me, it’s none of his business what I do with the ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum.

That’s the iron rule of transactions.

"Fine. Just remember, it’s quite expensive. ...Two taels of silver."

"Let’s negotiate a bit."

"What negotiation?"

Sometimes, modern language slips out, which is one of my bad habits.

"Just lower the price a bit, that’s all."

At this, Mr. Huang started foaming at the mouth.

"Out of the question! You know how precious ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum is. Negotiating? I’m only giving you a slight discount out of respect for you."

"I want to do business like a man, but two taels of silver is too expensive. One and a half taels would be enough."

"One and a half taels? You’re out of your mind. By the way, what do you mean by 'doing business'?"

After a few rounds of shouting, I realized Mr. Huang’s stance was too firm, and I could only manage to lower the price by three coins (though even then, I agreed to pay with a few licorice roots instead of money).

I had to swallow the bitter taste of excessive spending. I was a rich man just a moment ago, but now I’m barely able to afford rice.

I glared at Mr. Huang with a cold eye. But Mr. Huang ignored me, as if to say, "What do you want me to do?" I’ll definitely burn this place down when I become a master. What a damn old man.

"Alright. Let’s finish this business."

"What do you mean by 'finish this business'?"

Ignoring Mr. Huang’s grumbling, "Why are you always talking like that?" I firmly offered two taels of silver.

"Give me the ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum (十年何首烏)!"

* * *

A supreme medicinal herb (灵药)!

Among countless traditional medicines with toxic side effects, only those with such miraculous effects that they can bring the dead back to life deserve to be called supreme medicinal herbs.

And the one in my hand—

Ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum (十年何首乌) is one of them.

'With this, I can overcome it.'

The reason I spent the enormous sum of two taels of silver was to overcome the wall.

The wall (壁)!

Every martial artist who enters the world of martial arts eventually faces a limit. I was no exception. I, too, have hit this limit.

When I first fell into the martial world, I was busy earning a living day by day. But once my life stabilized, I made every effort to learn martial arts.

If you fall into the martial world, it’s only natural to learn martial arts, just as it’s natural to learn how to use a smartphone if you fall into the modern world.

Thanks to that.

I managed to obtain a few secret manuals containing advanced techniques like the Three Talents Heart Method, and I immersed myself in the dream of becoming a martial master, practicing every night.

The result of my efforts was techniques like Twin Lotus Palm.

...But the limit came too quickly.

The wall blocking my path.

I couldn’t help but despair at this tragedy.

At first, I tried to overcome the limit through effort, but for someone who falls asleep every night exhausted from work, overcoming the limit of martial arts was almost impossible.

I realized that only those chosen few who can practice martial arts without working can overcome this limit through effort.

The limit that all poor martial artists call the wall of tears.

The wall of one-year internal energy (一年内功)!

No matter how much I practiced, my internal energy never grew beyond the one-year to two-year level. I understood the frustration of those who keep failing the second round of the real estate agent exam.

Without overcoming this limit, I can’t become a bodyguard.

A proper bodyguard, or even a warrior, has overcome this one-year wall, even if they are third-rate.

"Though it’s a shortcut, with this ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum (十年何首乌)...!"

Ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum (十年何首乌)

A supreme medicinal herb that has absorbed the essence of nature for ten years.

It’s said that by consuming such a medicinal herb, one can absorb about one-tenth of its essence.

In other words,

By combining the one-year internal energy I have now with the one-year internal energy from the ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum, I can achieve the two-year internal energy I so desperately wanted!

I looked at the ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum, still radiating its essence, and marveled at its lustrous appearance.

I have to eat it!

The two taels of silver that disappeared into Mr. Huang’s money pouch flashed before my eyes. I desperately wanted a refund.

But I soon made up my mind.

There was no reason to hesitate. This is an investment.

And now is the perfect time to buy at the bottom.

Though it’s a bit painful now, once I get a job, it will return as hundreds of taels of silver!

With my resolve set, I chewed and swallowed the ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum without even cleaning the dirt off it.

With the dream of becoming a top martial master and conquering the martial world!

—Rumble!!

"Ah, ah!"

An intense pain hit me. As soon as it entered my stomach, the immense natural essence of the ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum began to strike my internal organs.

It felt like a hedgehog was doing a tango in my stomach.

The natural essence, which was in conflict with my existing internal energy, stirred my internal organs and disrupted my meridians, causing me to lose control of my body.

My consciousness began to fade.

'No!!'

The reason one must immediately practice qi cultivation after consuming a medicinal herb is that the essence of the medicinal herb is natural and tends to disperse rather than stay in the body. Therefore, if one doesn’t immediately practice qi cultivation to convert it into one’s own internal energy, it will just be digested.

In other words, if I fall asleep now without practicing qi cultivation, all the essence that is currently raging will just turn into excrement.

All the hard work of carrying loads up and down mountains, fighting bandits, and enduring hardships will turn into two taels of silver worth of excrement!

That’s impossible!

To convert this essence into internal energy, I had to practice qi cultivation to control the energy.

I desperately focused my mind to avoid losing consciousness and practiced qi cultivation.

Fortunately, after about an hour of continuous qi cultivation, the natural essence began to be gathered.

"Ah! Phew... Ah! Phew... Ah! Phew... Phew..."

Now that I had control over the essence, the next step was to convert it into my internal energy.

* * *

Inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I desperately practiced qi cultivation.

Finally, after exactly two hours, all the energy was stabilized.

"Phew... Phew..."

They say that all trials that don’t kill you make you stronger. That’s exactly what happened now.

I had overcome it.

As I finished gathering the last bits of energy, I circulated my internal energy through all the meridians in my body.

I felt a surge of confidence, as if I had undergone a penis enlargement surgery.

If my internal energy was like a grain of rice before,

Now it was like a bean.

With the certainty that I had broken through the one-year internal energy wall, I opened my eyes, which had been tightly closed.

The world looked different.

"Is this the view of two-year internal energy (二年内功)?"

The sunset was spreading across the sky.

The red afterglow was incredibly beautiful.

"It’s beautiful."

A deep smile spread across my face.

Like the afterglow.