Chapter 9: One Patch of Tiger Bone Paste Every Seven Days

For Apprentices at the martial arts hall, three meals a day are included in the tuition.

Zhou You is currently eating lunch; the food is quite good, with rice, flour, vegetables, and meat all available, and one can eat their fill without limits.

Because he feels the pinch of the 20 taels of silver for tuition, he does not stand on ceremony and keeps his head down, eating non-stop.

Perhaps he can earn back the cost by eating?

He just received two pieces of news, one bad and one good.

The bad news is...

Zhou You gained an unexpected windfall of 40 Experience Points due to self-cultivation and leveling up.

He thought about upgrading Meng Hu Quan to lv4, but the panel prompted that his strength did not meet the standard, failing to satisfy the upgrade conditions.

It turns out that besides Experience Points, skill upgrades also require strength, speed, and defense points to be raised to certain figures.

No wonder the Outer Courtyard Apprentices are all burying their heads in practicing Meng Hu Quan to temper their strength.

Aside from increasing proficiency, this fist technique can also grow strength, improve agility, and incidentally strengthen endurance.

Relying solely on the two basic skills of Square Circle Steps and Imperial Felling Hands is simply not enough to cultivate Force.

He can only add points to the three basic stats first to meet the threshold for upgrading before talking about anything else.

That is the bad news; the good news is...

"Trial Project 1 (Unrated): Hundred-Day Initiation."

"You must complete the condition of Force initiation within the three-month deadline, otherwise this trial fails."

"Success in the Trial Project will grant an Experience Point reward."

A brand-new trial has begun, requiring him to develop Force to meet the requirements for initiation into the martial arts hall.

Zhou You eats until he is eighty percent full, wipes his mouth, and stands up.

Time is tight; he must race against the clock to cultivate and accumulate Experience Points.

"Zhou You, what's the rush? The Tiger Bone Paste is being distributed this afternoon; eat your fill first."

Seeing that he is about to leave immediately, Song Fugui hurriedly tries to keep him.

As it turns out, the martial arts hall distributes Tiger Bone Paste once every seven days.

This medicinal patch is a specialized accessory for Meng Hu Quan; when Apprentices use this medicine externally, it significantly increases strength and can break through the bottlenecks of Meng Hu Quan.

Because it consumes too many materials, the martial arts hall provides it once every seven days and will never give out extra.

"It's a pity; Tiger Bone Paste is good stuff, you can't even buy it with money."

Song Fugui sighs endlessly.

Among the Outer Courtyard Apprentices, there is no shortage of those with deep pockets; if they could shorten the time to Force initiation, many would be willing to pay.

Alas, the Secret Medicine is hard to come by; without connections, you can't buy it even if you hold silver in your hands.

Tiger Bone Paste—just hearing the name, one knows that tiger bone is the main ingredient.

Fierce tigers only appear in the wild in the mountains and are exceptionally ferocious; it takes a team of thirty to fifty hunters to hunt and kill one.

Therefore, tiger skin, tiger bone, and the like are luxury goods exclusive to wealthy families; how could the price be cheap?

Zhou You feels this deeply, thinking to himself that practicing martial arts is truly a money-burning endeavor!

Even if there is only one patch of Tiger Bone Paste every seven days, it is still quite expensive.

Calculated this way, the 20 taels of monthly tuition is not too expensive after all.

"Brother Li, once this Tiger Bone Paste is used, you will be ninety percent of the way to Force initiation."

"When you become a Zhengshi Xuitu, don't forget your brothers."

The novice Apprentice speaking is named Zhang Shu, and the Brother Li he is currently fawning over is none other than Li Hao, the most outstanding among the new students.

Li Hao is noncommittal, "I hope so."

Watching Li Hao's departing back, Song Fugui shows an envious expression.

"Li Hao's family has been martial officials for generations; although they have fallen on hard times now, a rotting ship still has three pounds of iron."

"He entered the hall at the same time as me, and in just two months, he is about to develop Force."

"I heard he used medicinal wine in private, tsk tsk!"

Inside the martial arts hall, healthy competition among Apprentices is encouraged, with the survival of the fittest.

Although Tiger Bone Paste is not sold extra, there are no restrictions if an Apprentice has the connections to obtain medicinal wine or Secret Medicine to improve their strength.

Zhou You shrugs; there is no helping it, he has no money.

Song Fugui's family is wealthy, but he suffers from having no connections and does not entertain such thoughts.

"Zhou You, you just entered the hall; improving your strength is the most important thing."

"Don't be like Fang Guiqi, secretly saving up the Tiger Bone Paste to sell for money, losing the big for the small."

Of the three in the same dormitory, Liu Bing and Song Fugui use the Secret Medicine as soon as they get it.

Only Fang Guiqi—perhaps because he just arrived from out of town and is strapped for cash—never uses the Tiger Bone Paste when he gets it; it is said he finds people to sell it privately.

"One patch of Tiger Bone Paste sells for at least 5 taels of silver outside."

That much?

Zhou You shakes his head after hearing this; selling Secret Medicine for a few taels of silver is truly picking up sesame seeds and losing the watermelon.

Within the three-month deadline for new students, improving strength is the top priority; this move is a total waste of a great opportunity.

In this world, if one lacks the power to protect oneself, no matter how much silver one earns, one cannot keep it.

In the afternoon, Lu Qiang distributes the Tiger Bone Paste to all the Apprentices.

"Tiger Bone Paste is the signature Secret Medicine of our Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall; it is strictly forbidden to be spread outside."

"It is refined from twenty-eight types of precious medicinal herbs, and its medicinal power nourishes the skin, flesh, and bone marrow, having an extremely miraculous effect."

"Come over one by one to collect it, one patch per person."

Li Hao in the crowd showed a look of disdain.

Tiger Bone Paste is essentially just a waste-product utilization of medicinal dregs; it can only fool these ignorant Apprentices in the Outer Courtyard.

In the hands of the Hall Master Wang Jianxiong, the true Secret Medicine is a concoction named "Mountain Monarch Life-Changing Pill."

This Secret Medicine is the true Spirit Medicine for those who practice martial arts, but unfortunately, it is only provided to Inner Court Disciples and has never flowed to the Outer Courtyard.

Big Senior Brother Lu Qiang is one of the Disciples qualified to consume this pill.

Tiger Bone Paste is, at best, a byproduct of refining the Mountain Monarch Life-Changing Pill.

Zhou You received his Tiger Bone Paste; the palm-sized medicinal patch was cut from tiger skin and coated with a thick, viscous medicinal paste that shimmered with an amber luster under the sunlight.

The pungent medicinal scent that rushed to his nose made his spirit jolt.

This item is an external medicinal patch; one simply applies it directly to the chest or back, allowing the skin pores to absorb the medicinal power.

Other Apprentices lifted their lapels, each applying the Tiger Bone Paste to their bodies, and began to practice the Tiger Subduing Fist.

When practicing the fist, the blood boils and the pores open, making the absorption of the medicinal paste faster and better.

White mist could be seen steaming from the tops of their heads, with the faint posture of a Meng Hu Quan tossing and turning.

Zhou You did not hesitate, raising his hand to stick the Tiger Bone Paste onto his chest.

Wisps of heat flowed into his body through his skin; the Tiger Bone Paste had an overbearing name, and its medicinal power was equally overbearing, the speed of absorption feeling like it was being poured into his body.

With such good effects, he must not waste it.

Taking advantage of the medicinal power taking effect, Zhou You began practicing the Imperial Felling Hands and the Square-Circle Steps on the spot.

"……Experience Points +1."

"……Experience Points +1."

Suddenly, a ding sound came from his mind, and the panel changed.

Strength +1.

Speed +1.

Defense +1.

Using the Tiger Bone Paste for the first time, under the infusion of the massive medicinal power, he actually gained the miraculous effect of a +1 increase in all three attributes.

"Zhou You, don't waste it; Secret Medicine has the best effect the first time it is used."

"Also, stop obsessing over the Imperial Felling Hands and Square-Circle Steps; practicing the Tiger Subduing Fist is the foundation."

Song Fugui's advice reached his ears.

Zhou You was ecstatic inside; he had found an auxiliary path to strengthen himself without needing Experience Points.

Secret Medicine can improve one's base attributes.

With the three attributes raised to 6 points, he had already met the data requirements for upgrading the Tiger Subduing Fist.

"Lv3→lv4, Experience Points -30."

Name: Zhou You.

Strength: 6.

Speed: 6.

Defense: 6.

Experience Points: 27.

Occupation: Martial Arts Apprentice.

Skills: Imperial Felling Hands lv3, Square-Circle Steps lv3, Tiger Subduing Fist lv4.

One patch of Tiger Bone Paste directly broke his predicament, allowing him to successfully advance to the next level.