Chapter 114: Allocating Resources

Zheng Ya is a charming woman with a slender figure, a gorgeous face, and abundant assets; coupled with those peach-blossom eyes, she left Cheng Feng dazzled and mesmerized.

In terms of looks, she is a beauty on the same level as Cuier and Chen Min.

But in terms of figure, her assets are slightly larger than Cuier's, though not as large as Cai'er's.

Cheng Feng is very satisfied with this.

Gold is not pure, and no one is perfect, right?

Once the matter with the Hong Sect was settled, Cheng Feng naturally stepped up the production and stockpiling of salt.

Before leaving, Sui Ran had asked Wang Hu to procure more fine salt, as the demand from the wealthy and powerful families in the Prefecture City was immense.

With silver to be made, Wang Hu naturally wouldn't let the opportunity pass, but he didn't agree outright, saying only that he would contact Sui Ran as soon as there was news.

When there would be goods was naturally up to Cheng Feng to decide.

Wang Hu didn't know the specifics either; he would only sell the goods to Sui Ran once Cheng Feng brought them over and gave the order.

He stayed at home for two days, spending quality time with his women and two sons.

It wasn't until the third day that he began to step up production in Room One.

Cheng Feng waved his hand and had Wang Hu purchase one hundred taels worth of coarse salt, then sent Babai to move it to the Hong Sect hall, which was the former Nie Mansion.

There were usually few people at the hall, as the disciples were all training at the Training Base.

After clashing with the group of people brought by Sui Ran, the Hong Sect disciples finally understood their own standing.

Without entering Strength Refining, one is just an ordinary person; in a situation where no sharp weapons are used and only fists and feet are compared, they were no match for a Strength Refining Martial Artist at all. The disciples spent the last month training frantically, and they yearned for strength even more.

This reminded Cheng Feng of the red-scaled giant snake beneath the Hong Sect's underground cavern.

Its carcass had been completely utilized and decomposed by Babai.

The scales, the four long fangs, and the snake meat—Cheng Feng had had Babai transport these things to Room One in batches under the cover of night. He had originally planned to wait until this batch of disciples was cultivated and the core elites were selected before feeding it to them to increase their strength.

According to the records in the Ghost Doctor Book, Strange Beast Meat is highly nourishing for Martial Artists.

But time was too tight later on, and the people's loyalty hadn't been tested yet. Fortunately, the incident with Sui Ran occurred, and not a single one of these disciples retreated, which made Cheng Feng decide that it was time to accelerate the disciples' strength.

Cheng Feng was actually internally resistant to the meat left behind by the giant snake, which might have survived by eating human corpses.

But he still wanted to test the effect of eating the meat himself first to see the progress of his Panmian skills.

The red-scaled giant snake did not have a triangular head, but was a round-headed meat snake, non-venomous.

If it could accelerate his Martial Dao progress, it was also a good choice.

Cheng Feng tried the cooked snake meat; it was fragrant and appetizing. After eating the snake meat and circulating the Thunder Blood-Bursting Art, a series of tests revealed that it had an effect, but not a large one.

Two large pieces weighing nearly a catty only increased Cheng Feng's Fortune Point by one, and the entire giant snake only yielded about two hundred catties of meat when butchered.

Cheng Feng estimated that even if he ate the whole snake, he would only get one hundred points, and it wouldn't necessarily be enough to reach the Blood Refining Late Stage.

It seemed it was better suited for those in the early stages of Martial Dao, as their progress would be faster.

He acted as soon as he thought of it. That afternoon, Cheng Feng took a piece of snake meat for Lao San and Qian Ming to try; Qian Ming's strength and talent were worth investing in.

Moreover, Cheng Feng wanted to pull Qian Ming, who was at the Skin Refining Late Stage, into the Hong Sect Offering Hall to serve as an Offering, which would also be a safeguard for the Hong Sect.

Lao San naturally ate until he was drenched in sweat and his face was flushed; Cheng Feng told him to hurry up and practice his stake-standing, as that would make it easier to absorb.

Among the many disciples in the Martial Arts Hall, Qian Ming was the only one Cheng Feng found acceptable; those he was more familiar with from the same period, like Da Niu, were no longer on the same path.

Cheng Feng told Qian Ming about some of the Hong Sect's affairs, implicitly indicating that he needed help.

The effect of the Strange Beast Meat made Qian Ming understand Cheng Feng's meaning instantly.

But Qian Ming still hesitated, saying, "Brother Cheng, how does this make me face the Martial Arts Hall? How will I face the Martial Arts Hall Master in the future!"

Looking at Qian Ming's expression, Cheng Feng knew there was a chance, so he smiled and said, "Of course I know your feelings for the Martial Arts Hall. Besides, I'm asking you to go to the Hong Sect to help me train those new disciples; you definitely have a knack for teaching. Just help me guide these newcomers for one month. Ten days for two catties of Strange Beast Meat—consider this a part-time job. After all, a Martial Artist's consumption is not small, not to mention you've just entered the Skin Refining Late Stage and are on the verge of perfection. Eating more Strange Beast Meat can also accelerate your progress. Don't you want to enter Blood Refining as soon as possible?"

Hearing that he would get six catties of such meat a month without having to leave the Martial Arts Hall, Qian Ming agreed decisively. It was just a one-month part-time job; this was doable.

Thus, in the final month, the Hong Sect disciples ushered in a period of explosive strength. With Qian Ming's guidance and the red-scaled giant snake meat, the Hong Sect disciples, who were ordinary people, ate until they were sweating all over and full of energy, working even harder at their fist stakes. With the support of resources, the fist stakes that they could previously only practice once a day before their bodies gave out...

... could now be practiced three times a day.

Cheng Feng was also very willing to invest in the first batch of disciples.

It was almost two catties per person, which was quite a lot.

This left Qian Ming tongue-tied. The snake meat had many benefits even for a Martial Artist at the Skin Refining Late Stage like himself; if ordinary people ate it, was he trying to cultivate everyone into a Martial Artist?

Cheng Feng's grand gesture gave Qian Ming a new understanding of Cheng Feng.

Ordinary people's bodies haven't undergone long-term training, so with the supplement of resources, it all depends on their talent.

Sixty catties of meat, two catties a day, stewed into soup with medicinal herbs for every meal—this was already quite well-diluted.

For the medicinal herbs alone, Cheng Feng spent forty taels to buy herbs that warm and nourish Qi and Blood.

This bowl of medicinal meat soup, if put out, would be no different from the medicinal soups in the Martial Arts Hall, or even more nourishing. He put it all into this month to let this batch of disciples consume it to their heart's content.

Cheng Feng gave Wang Hu twenty catties of snake meat, and Sun Gui and Zhou Hai were naturally also given ten catties each by Cheng Feng privately, as a reward and also as an incentive.

In this way, of Cheng Feng's two hundred catties of Strange Beast Meat, ninety-two catties remained.

These pieces of meat were prepared for the women in the household.

Strange Beast Meat does not spoil easily and has a long shelf life; it can be said that the fresher it is when eaten, the greater the effect.

Cheng Feng considered his storage to be quite good, so there was no need to worry about that.

The three women who worked in the house, Xiao Ling, Xiao Fang, and Maomao, should also start practicing martial arts.

As for the good seedlings for martial arts that were specially selected, Cheng Feng also had to see if it was true, right?

Chen Zhu also had to practice at home; start from a young age, count every single one.

As for the Mountain Crushing Fist, in the display on Cheng Feng's Panmian, it was already close to being Proficient.

At the current level, teaching the women was completely stress-free.

Arrangements were made one after another; Sui Ran's arrival was not only a crisis, but also an opportunity.

A good opportunity to unite the Hong Sect disciples.

After arranging the matters, Cheng Feng quickly went to produce Fine Salt.

Working for two consecutive days, fifty catties of Fine Salt were finished.

In order not to arouse suspicion from Sui Ran, Cheng Feng still transported and sold it ten catties at a time.

Back and forth, Cheng Feng watched the silver in his hands rise like the tide.

Selling three times a month, with two hundred taels of income each time, he brought in six hundred taels a month.

This made the silver in Cheng Feng's hands grow more and more, and his confidence grew increasingly strong as well.

The expenditures of the gang had always been controlled by Cheng Feng, and the others would not say much about it.

Until the end of this month, the Hong Sect finally finished the training of the first batch of disciples.

And under the full tilt of Cheng Feng's resources, everyone was at the Strength Refining Initial Stage realm.

After all, in terms of talent, these people's Root Bone was not bad, they had just started practicing martial arts a bit late.

With resources, they could be considered to have entered the ranks of Martial Artists.

This put some pressure on Sun Gui and Zhou Hai.