Chapter 172

Liang Qu stood up, feeling the difference in his internal qi and blood.

Compared to before practicing, it was a bit more mellow and thick.

"It's a pity that the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body is still far off, but the Strengthening Qi has shown initial results, and circulating qi and blood is smoother and more comfortable."

Condensing the golden body is the greatest feature of the "Vajra Sutra of Subduing Dragons and Tigers," although it is divided into multiple stages.

The deeper the cultivation, the stronger the golden body; if assisted by corresponding heavenly treasures, it can further accelerate cultivation.

But no matter what, it's impossible to condense it successfully just after starting; otherwise, this technique would be too shocking.

Dragon tendons and tiger bones are beneficial for golden body condensation, and Liang Qu himself was favored by the River Lord Emperor, doubling his martial talent, making his learning speed for techniques and martial arts faster than ordinary people.

Even so, wanting to initially condense the golden body without heavenly treasures would take no less than several months.

Liang Qu didn't know how fast others were, but he figured it was far inferior to his own.

He was very greedy for the effects of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body, especially the characteristics of carrying dragon roars and tiger howls when unleashed, deterring ghosts and spirits, and slaying demons.

The Great Merit Exchange Book had a rich variety of techniques with all sorts of characteristics; although he hadn't looked carefully, he didn't recall any technique with such characteristics, so it must be rare.

The world is full of wonders; any strange phenomenon will appear as long as you look in a large enough range.

Having one more rare skill is definitely not a bad thing.

"Comfortable! Time to sleep!"

Returning from Fengbu County after cracking a major case, Liang Qu had been granted two days off and had no intention of rushing to work.

A working man, resting for a night.

The next day.

Mother Zhang, who did the cooking, pushed open the side door and entered, seeing Liang Qu in the courtyard brandishing the Fubo and practicing spear techniques.

"Master is back?"

"Yes, I came back last night. Good morning, Mother Zhang. You can make a bit more breakfast. Oh, by the way, I won't be eating at home tonight, so just make enough for the Master."

"This poor monk has matters to attend to tonight, so there's no need to save food for me."

The old monk pushed open his door and came into the courtyard, offering a salute.

Liang Qu nodded, not asking where the old monk was going; the two living under the same roof was a matter of mutual convenience, so it wasn't appropriate to ask too much.

"Then don't cook tonight. Mother Zhang, you can go home and rest after finishing lunch."

Mother Zhang nodded in agreement.

Liang Qu gave her time off, and with her decent monthly wages, she was naturally happy to have an extra half-day of leisure.

"By the way, Mother Zhang, is the price of grain still rising? If it is, I'll give you some more money so you don't run short."

Liang Qu took a silver ingot from his bosom.

Practicing martial arts gave him a big appetite, and he needed a lot of beef and mutton; the food money alone was a significant monthly expense, and Mother Zhang's meager wages couldn't cover it, so he naturally had to give her money first and settle at the end of the month.

Mother Zhang waved her hand: "It's enough, it's enough! The price of grain has already fallen!"

Liang Qu was puzzled.

"Fallen? How did it fall? It's not time for the harvest in April, is it?"

"It fell just yesterday. My husband told me that refined rice in the rice shops is now thirteen wen a jin. It can't compare to the eight wen a jin it used to be, but it's much cheaper.

I don't know how it fell; it just suddenly dropped in those two or three days."

Mother Zhang gestured excitedly.

She was very excited, but her knowledge was limited, and she didn't understand why the price of rice would fall before the harvest.

"It's the County Magistrate."

The old monk on the side spoke up.

"Master, you know?"

"I haven't heard everything, but I can guess a bit. On the day the benefactor left, the county office ordered the grain price in the whole county to be raised again, selling grain at twenty wen per jin, two wen higher than the original market price.

Then they sent people along the river to seek grain and spread the word. I looked carefully, and the people spreading the news mainly traveled along the river.

Water transport in Huainan is developed, and there are many grain storage preparations along the river; many places have an excess of grain.

By the fifth day, merchant ships came to sell grain, and after that, more and more came one after another; the piers of several surrounding towns were crowded with grain ships.

Until the day before yesterday, the County Magistrate stopped raising prices, and the grain price plummeted."

"So that's it."

Liang Qu suddenly understood.

Lowering prices wouldn't work, but merchants were very happy to raise prices; they were afraid the county office wouldn't agree, but they didn't expect to fall into their own trap—it was all grain, and where could they sell it at a high price?

No wonder he saw several large merchant ships following the direction of Pingyang County on his way back.

Merchants chase profit; presumably, they hadn't heard the news that the grain price had fallen?

Transporting grain by water isn't that simple; with labor costs and losses, if the price was only thirteen or fourteen wen a jin, it definitely wouldn't attract anyone.

Going back and forth would very likely cause a loss, far worse than selling locally.

Once they arrived, the County Magistrate stopped buying grain, and the merchant firms could only sell on the spot, because taking it back would be another loss and cost, and the grain price in the original places wasn't as good as in Pingyang County.

Pingyang's grain shortage wasn't a natural disaster, but a man-made one; there hadn't been any major floods or droughts in the past two years, and grain reserves in many surrounding areas were very sufficient.

In any other place, it definitely wouldn't have had such an effect.

……

After lunch, Liang Qu went to the stable, mounted Chishan, and headed to Pingyang County with a large pile of gifts.

On the way, Liang Qu looked at the construction of the River Patrol Office; the soldiers were more or less all martial artists.

Their hands and feet were much faster than ordinary people, and their efficiency was doubled; the whole River Patrol Office was taking shape, and he feared it wouldn't be long before the office location could be moved from the building ship to the land.

Being on a building ship was ultimately inconvenient.

On the other side of Pingyang County, the construction of the Demon Suppression Division's office was also proceeding in an orderly manner, with progress following one after another.

When Liang Qu passed by, he saw a martial artist carrying a large wild boar over four meters long, gutting it and selling wild boar meat; occasionally, martial artists would pass by and buy ten or twenty jin.

Looking at the boar's physique, it was definitely a spirit monster; he didn't know which mountain it had been caught on.

In the previous Pingyang Town, such a scene could rarely be seen.

A scene of prosperity.

It's no wonder experts love to cluster together; in small places, you can't even find a place to buy spirit monster meat.

Ordinary people who earn money all want to move to the county town.

Martial artists with strength even more so want to go to the prefecture or the imperial capital to gamble for ethereal wealth.

Passing by the martial arts hall, Liang Qu dismounted, took out two from the many gift boxes, and walked through the corridor.

"Cao Shixiong Hu, Cao Shixiong Xiang! I'm back!"

"Liang Shidi Liang!"

Hu Qi and Xiang Zhangsong were teaching apprentices; seeing it was Liang Qu, they let the apprentices practice on their own.

Unexpectedly, after getting a few steps closer, both of them noticed Liang Qu's undisguised martial artist aura, and their expressions changed.

Hu Qi took a step forward, wrapped his arm around Liang Qu's shoulder, and looked him up and down.

"Liang Shidi Liang, you... broke through the Blood Barrier?"

"Cao Shixiong Hu has a sharp eye! From today on, Liang Shidi is a proper Four-Barrier martial artist!"

Liang Qu beamed with joy and shared the things in his hands with the two.

"Fast, too fast."

Xiang Zhangsong took the gift box; he had originally thought it would take Liang Qu some time to catch up to him, but he didn't expect it to be almost one after the other.

He still clearly remembered Liang Qu's appearance when he first came to the martial arts hall—thin, dark, and short, with politeness being his only merit.

In the blink of an eye.

Strong, bright, enthusiastic; that youthful vigor burst forth.

"Good, really good."

Xiang Zhangsong patted Liang Qu's shoulder, feeling many emotions in his heart.

Hu Qi took the gift box and asked: "Why did you think of sending us things? Did you run into trouble?"

"No, it's a happy occasion!"

News of the River Patrol Office only circulated within the River Patrol Office, and Hu Qi and the others didn't know yet.

Liang Qu recounted his experience in Fengbu County.

"I originally thought it was an ordinary spirit monster causing trouble, but unexpectedly, it gave me two major merits for nothing, a large sum of silver, and Brother Xu said I have hope for promotion, and I obtained some money and a mysterious iron bow.

I've already booked a private room in a restaurant last night; after I visit Master and Mistress, we'll chat together tonight!"

Hu Qi and Xiang Zhangsong scratched their heads in confusion.

What year is it today?

Liang Qu hasn't been gone for even half a month, right?