Chapter 24: Stone Lion River, Golden Scale Fish

Qin Jiang was stunned when he heard this. "Take them all off?"

Wang Minglang took a puff of his pipe, exhaled a cloud of white smoke, and grinned. "A half-grown boy still cares about this? There's no outsider, it's just us two, what are you afraid of?"

Qin Jiang's eyes shifted back and forth, nodding somewhat hesitantly. "Alright then."

After saying this, he started taking off his clothes directly.

"Hey, hey, hey, you're really taking them off? I was joking, just take off the upper body; the medicine bath is for the arms, not for those legs of yours." Wang Minglang hurriedly raised his hand to stop him.

*Inhale—! * Qin Jiang took a deep breath, silently took off his upper cloth garment, and jumped directly into the copper vat.

"Heh, see how wise I am? I knew from the beginning that I had to use a copper vat; if I had changed to a porcelain vat, it would have been stepped into pieces I don't know how many times!"

Wang Minglang, with his pipe in his mouth, used a long tube to draw water from the water trough into the copper vat.

Before long, the water in the copper vat had submerged Qin Jiang's shoulders, leaving only his head exposed.

No longer injecting water, Wang Minglang walked to the shelf on the left, grabbed a few herbs, walked to the right, picked up a mortar, and started pounding the medicine.

A moment later, the herbs were pounded into a paste. He carried the mortar to the copper vat. "Lift your arms."

Qin Jiang lifted his arms, and he directly grabbed the medicinal paste and smeared it on Qin Jiang's arms. In just a few seconds, the paste formed a soft shell on his arms.

"Alright, put them down," he said.

As his arms submerged in the water, it was as if a chemical reaction occurred, and the body temperature of his arms rose rapidly.

Wang Minglang walked to the side, took out a porcelain bottle from a hidden compartment, walked to the copper vat, and poured it into the water; it was a yellow liquid.

In an instant, a layer of yellow mist accompanied by a pungent odor volatilized, and at the same time, the clear water was rapidly dyed light yellow, and the heat in his arms climbed rapidly, becoming scorching hot.

Not idle, Wang Minglang walked to the herb shelf and pressed a button.

*Hoo~~! *

A rush of wind appeared under the copper vat, and in the blink of an eye, flames ignited.

Only then did Qin Jiang discover that there was a fire channel under the copper vat.

The water temperature in the copper vat gradually rose, and Wang Minglang picked up a few relatively fresh herbs from the herb shelf and came to the copper vat.

"After mastering the first layer, you should have already felt the existence of internal Qi. In the next few hours, you must control the internal Qi in your body with all your might to stay in your arms."

Hearing this, Qin Jiang closed his eyes directly and manipulated the internal Qi in his body to surge toward his arms. The scorching feeling became more intense as the water temperature in the copper vat rose.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, time passed constantly, and Wang Minglang threw herbs into the copper vat from time to time.

I don't know how long it had been, but Qin Jiang could no longer perceive the change in time, only feeling his arms gradually becoming scorching, and in the end, there was even a feeling of being roasted.

Long after, it had darkened outside the window, and Wang Minglang wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He looked at Qin Jiang; this was Qin Jiang, after all. If it were someone else, he wouldn't have been so dedicated.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have to do anything else all day.

A moment later, Qin Jiang opened his eyes, and a faint light flashed by.

He looked into the copper vat; the originally light yellow water had turned dark green, and the burning sensation in his arms had disappeared, replaced by a warm and cool feeling.

"Alright, come out, I have something to tell you." Wang Minglang sat on a stool to the side, crossing his legs and smoking his pipe.

Qin Jiang jumped out of the copper vat, mobilized internal Qi to steam off the moisture, and put on his clothes. "What is it?"

*Inhale~* Wang Minglang took a puff of his pipe and exhaled slowly. "I saw what happened last night."

Qin Jiang's eyes changed slightly. "You saw it?"

Wang Minglang nodded slightly. "Hmm, your experience is still lacking, but I've handled it for you. If there's anything like this in the future, no need to hide it from me."

"By the way, just pretend you've never seen the words 'Jinyu Pavilion'; don't say you know if anyone asks in the future."

Qin Jiang nodded slightly. "Understood."

Wang Minglang smiled gratifiedly. "Good, go back."

Walking out of Wang Minglang's courtyard, Qin Jiang looked back at it and turned to leave silently.

On the way back to Shan Man Lou, he looked at the panel. 【Current Martial Arts】

Longevity Five Qi Technique (First Layer) (9/250)

Iron Arm Fist (First Layer) (65/200)

Earth Dragon Body (First Layer) (3/200)

【Potential Points: 6.1】

The potential points in the jade pendant had been absorbed a bit more, and the experience points of the Iron Arm Fist had increased by 50. The effect of the medicine bath could be described as very outstanding. Converting it, it saved at least seven days of hard work.

"Brother Jiang~ Brother Jiang~"

From far away, a shout came, and he saw Li Bo waving his arm and walking over quickly at the end of the street.

"Haha, I calculated the time was about right, and sure enough!" he said with a smile.

Qin Jiang realized, remembering the hard dish Li Bo mentioned during the day.

Li Bo tidied his clothes. "Let's go, Brother Jiang? The dish has already been arranged to be made."

Qin Jiang nodded. "Hmm, just happened to be hungry."

When the two arrived at Shan Man Lou, Li Lang was already waiting outside the building. Seeing the two, he hurriedly waved. "Brother, Brother Qin, you're here."

Li Bo nodded and looked at Qin Jiang. "Xiao Lang was a bit reckless that day; let him apologize to you properly tonight."

Qin Jiang smiled. "Too polite."

Walking into Shan Man Lou, the three walked to the second floor, and Li Lang called out to the waiter, "You can serve it."

The waiter wiped the table and responded, looking at Qin Jiang, who was being surrounded and walking to the second floor, with surprise. He hadn't expected the distinguished guest in Master Li's mouth to be Qin Jiang.

Going up to the second floor, the three walked into a private room, and the fragrance of various dishes made Qin Jiang's index finger move.

Qin Jiang looked at the dishes on the table; there were sixteen dishes in total, meat and vegetables matched, color and fragrance complete.

Just this table alone was worth three taels of silver! More valuable than his jade pendant.

The three sat down, and Li Bo raised his hand slightly. "Brother Jiang, try it quickly. The chef of this Shan Man Lou was originally the head chef of a restaurant in the inner city. Later, he owed silver from gambling and had his leg broken by someone, which is why he ended up in the outer city."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Lang. "Go urge them."

Li Lang nodded slightly and stood up to leave.

Qin Jiang didn't stand on ceremony and picked up a piece of meat to eat; it was salty and spicy.

After a while, Li Lang walked in with a plate and put it on the table; it was a carp with golden scales all over its body.

"Brother Jiang, this is a Golden Scale Fish, a rare variety from the Stone Lion River. On weekdays, this one alone would sell for ten taels of silver! I heard it has many benefits for the body, try it and see how it tastes," Li Bo laughed.

This was something he had only managed to get from the inner city by pulling strings, and it cost more than ten taels of silver.

Qin Jiang raised his eyebrows slightly. The Stone Lion River was the river where they fished when Black Mountain City was still a fishing village. It ran through the east and west of the city and passed through the inner city.

It seemed to be a source of the Canglang River, the largest river in Yuan Prefecture.

And the Golden Scale Fish was a specialty of the Stone Lion River, said to have once been sent to the Royal Capital as a tribute.

Picking up a piece of fish meat and putting it into his mouth, it was smooth and tender, very fresh and fragrant, perfectly retaining the original fragrance of the ingredients.

This chef's craftsmanship is very powerful! After eating the fish meat, a warm current merged from his stomach into his limbs and bones; this feeling was like being massaged.

He looked at the panel, and the experience points of the three martial arts had increased a bit, especially the Longevity Five Qi Technique, which increased by 4 points directly.

His eyes were surprised. It seems that if he has time, he can go to the Stone Lion River to wander around; occasionally improving his diet is also not bad.

"The taste is very good, you guys try it too."

Ten days later, in the backyard of Shan Man Lou, Qin Jiang wiped the sweat from his upper body and applied the Arm Washing Secret Medicine to his arms.

"Master Qin, your meal is ready, I've put it here for you," the waiter in the building said somewhat fawningly, placing the dish tray in his hand on the table in the courtyard.

Ever since the owner of Shan Man Lou knew that Qin Jiang was someone Li Bo had to treat with courtesy, he had specially enclosed a piece of the backyard with wooden boards to be used as a martial arts training ground for Qin Jiang.

On one hand, for the owner of Shan Man Lou, Li Bo was already a big shot, so Qin Jiang naturally went without saying.

On the other hand, it was also to prevent some drunk customers from being blind and bumping into Master Qin.

Those who could come to Shan Man Lou to eat were basically wealthy and powerful people in the outer city, and offending any one of them was not a good thing.

"Good, thanks for the trouble," Qin Jiang smiled.

"No trouble, no trouble, Master, eat well, I'll come back to collect the plates later." The waiter bowed his waist, retreated from the wooden door opened in the wall, and closed the wooden door casually.

Qin Jiang walked to the table and sat down, looking at the panel. 【Current Martial Arts】

Longevity Five Qi Technique (First Layer) (20/250)

Iron Arm Fist (First Layer) (199/200)

Earth Dragon Body (First Layer) (10/200)

【Potential Points: 6.8】

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 25 =====