Chapter 129: Killing the Deer for Blood

"Yow..." the Blood Spirit Deer let out a shrill, miserable cry, wanting to let out a shriek.

Chen Mo held a Short Blade, stabbing it into the Blood Spirit Deer's neck with stability, precision, and ruthlessness.

"Quick, quick, quick, bring the basin over to catch the deer blood." Sun Shouren stood to the side directing; he called out, and Mo Hu hurriedly brought over a scrubbed-clean wooden basin.

Chen Mo's Inner Qi vibrated and struck the Blood Spirit Deer, forcing out every bit of its Qi and Blood.

The deer blood was scalding, wisps of heat drifting from the basin; what was rare was that this deer blood had no fishy smell at all.

"Where is the hot water? Bring the hot water over quickly, so we can skin this deer."

Sun Shouren rolled up his sleeves and shouted, picking up the skinning knife at his side.

"Foster father, if we just kill this deer like this, isn't it a bit of a waste?

You say, if we were to raise it, drain some blood and cut some meat every so often, wouldn't the returns be higher in the long run?"

Chen Mo finished draining the deer blood and suddenly spoke up to suggest.

"It's not that easy. If you want to raise this deer, you must have Heaven and Earth Power treasures to feed it, and it must be cared for and watched over by a specialist.

Every drop of blood and every piece of meat on its body can be said to be condensed from Heaven and Earth Power.

It is easy for you to cut a piece of meat off it, but who knows how many good things it would have to eat to grow it back.

Besides, the method for feeding this Blood Spirit Deer is only held in the hands of the Imperial Clan. You cannot take the things the Emperor bestowed upon you and sell them. It is best to hurry up and eat it; if you keep it to feed, it will only get thinner and thinner."

Sun Shouren shook his head lightly, explaining to Chen Mo.

Spiritual objects that increase Qi and Blood cannot be conjured out of thin air; raising this little deer likewise requires a large amount of Heaven and Earth Power treasures.

And since they did not know the method for feeding it, eating it quickly was the best choice.

Xu Dabao and Sun Li carried over a large wooden basin, inside which was a basin filled to the brim with hot water.

"Go to the Seventh Floor of our workshop and invite the best chef over; have him make a full deer feast. Tell him not to steal any while cooking, and find someone to watch him from the side.

If it were an ordinary deer, it wouldn't matter if the chef stole a bite, but with this deer meat, if he eats a piece, he might lose his life."

Sun Shouren turned his head to instruct Mo Hu, a deer hide already being slowly peeled off by him.

"This deer hide is a good thing. Take it back and find someone to tan it well; these two deer hides should be enough to make a close-fitting leather armor."

Sun Shouren handed the peeled deer hide to Chen Mo and instructed him carefully.

"This child understands." Chen Mo took the deer hide and set it aside, preparing to let it air dry first, and when he killed the second deer another day, he would process them together.

"Come, drink this deer blood quickly; the effect isn't good once it cools." Sun Shouren picked up a teacup and poured a bottom layer of deer blood for himself.

As for Mo Hu, he could drink four or five drops, and it would be considered good if Xu Dabao and the others could drink two or three drops each.

With their physical strength, this was the limit; if they drank any more, the surging Blood Qi would instead harm their bodies.

As for the remaining deer blood, there was at least over a jin left, so Chen Mo took it back to his own home first, preparing to drink it slowly.

"Go find a cup." Chen Mo walked into the small courtyard and called out loudly.

Seeing that he was in such a rush, Zhao Yu hurriedly brought a cup, and Chen Mo's Inner Qi vibrated, extracting a drop of deer blood into the cup.

"You still know that I saved the First Prince a while ago, right? That was a great merit.

Today at the morning court, the current Emperor conferred upon me the title of Qingmu County Baron and also gave me one thousand mu of prime fertile land. This deer blood was also taken from the body of the Blood Spirit Deer bestowed by the Emperor."

Chen Mo's face showed a smile as he explained all this to her.

"Ah! You were ennobled!" Zhao Yu's tone was astonished, and there was also a hint of the unexpected.

Although she knew Chen Mo had performed a great service, she really hadn't expected him to be ennobled.

"That goes without saying." Chen Mo smiled at her.

Zhao Yu could also not hide her joy; she and Chen Mo were one family, so how could she not be happy that her husband had been ennobled?

"However, the Emperor didn't raise my official rank, but bestowed upon me the status of a Recommended Scholar. In half a month, when the eighth of next month arrives, I will go to participate in the Martial Scholar imperial examination."

Chen Mo pulled her into his Huai and described to her in a low voice what he was going to do next.

"When I win the title of Martial Zhuangyuan and the Emperor confers my official position, how about I request a Title of Nobility for you?" he said slowly in Zhao Yu's ear.

The so-called Title-Bearing Lady is an honorary conferment by the Imperial Court to the legal wife or mother of an official.

Except for having no real power, a Title-Bearing Lady receives all the same treatment as an official of the same rank.

To put it simply, as Chen Mo's wife, if Zhao Yu were to bump into a minor ninth-rank official, she should perform a salute according to the rules, and that official would not dare to accept it, also out of regard for Chen Mo.

But it is different once she is conferred as a Title-Bearing Lady; according to the rules, that ninth-rank official would have to salute her.

Furthermore, Title-Bearing Ladies of the sixth rank or above in Jing even have the qualifications to submit memorials to the Imperial Court.

Of course, the person receiving these memorials would not be the Emperor, but the current Empress.

"Let's not do that; as a subject, how can one proactively ask the Emperor for things?" Zhao Yu shook her head lightly and said.

Of course, she also really wanted a Title of Nobility; in Great Gan, this was the highest honor and status that the vast majority of ordinary women could obtain.

As for the small number of women with extraordinary natural talent who could reach a very high realm in martial arts practice or Qi refining, such people certainly existed, but their numbers were relatively small, and they almost all came from aristocratic families.

Because women are not suited for practicing external martial arts, only women from aristocratic families have the qualifications to practice Internal Martial Arts for a long time and be able to come into contact with Qi Refiners.

And these women, they actually surpass ninety-nine percent of the people in this world from the moment they are born.

"Alright, you go find a bowl of water first and drink this drop of deer blood; it will be helpful for your cultivation and can also nourish your body." Chen Mo could naturally guess her thoughts.

She was worried that if he proactively opened his mouth to the Emperor, it would make the Emperor feel unhappy with him and affect his future official career.

So even though she wanted it in her heart, she still refused.

Zhao Yu soon brought a pot of water and carefully diluted the deer blood.

"Drink it slowly in small sips; if you feel your Qi and Blood becoming restless, go practice the Bright Jade Longevity Technique twice."

Chen Mo cautioned with a very cautious expression; Zhao Yu was not him, capable of devouring Qi and Blood power without limit.

"Alright." She nodded obediently and took a light sip.

Chen Mo, on the other hand, did not use a cup or saucer, directly using his Inner Qi to ingest the deer blood in clusters.

It must be said that of this Blood Spirit Deer's power of Qi and Blood, only thirty percent was in the meat, while seventy percent was in this blood.

Clusters of Qi and Blood entered his body, continuously enhancing the Transformation Pearl.

The Xuanyuan Ginseng, combined with the vast majority of the deer blood, provided roughly half of the Qi and Blood required for the Transformation Pearl.

Added to the other medicinal pills and Blood Essence Stones, even if he could not immediately undergo his next Mortal Transformation, he was definitely not far off.

At the very least, he should be able to do it around the time of the Martial Scholar imperial examination.

This was not urgent, however; with his current strength, taking the title of Martial Zhuangyuan would be as easy as reaching into a bag to retrieve an object.

As he absorbed all the deer blood clean, it was entirely converted into the Transformation Pearl.

Zhao Yu had also long since run to the side to practice her techniques, digesting the power of the deer blood.

Even if it were only a single drop, it was not easy for her to absorb.

However, as long as she could digest this Blood Qi power, while it was not enough to let her cultivate Inner Qi, it would certainly be no problem to make her physical strength more robust.

Chen Mo glanced at Zhao Yu, who was currently practicing, gave her a few moments of hands-on guidance, and then walked back to his own practice room.

Taking out the wooden box containing the Blood Essence Stones and Blood-Nourishing Pills, Chen Mo grabbed a Blood Essence Stone and decisively refined and absorbed it.

As for these medicinal pills, he did not intend to consume them now.

Medicinal pills were not like the Blood Spirit Deer; although they were also bestowed by His Majesty, there were plenty of similar pills on the market, and selling them would not attract attention.

Within the Capital, there must also be markets for Qi Refiners and Martial Artists to trade.

He had not known before because he had not yet integrated into this circle; now that he had been enfeoffed with a title and had a residence in the Inner City, people would naturally come to invite him to trade and exchange.

Having refined all the Blood Essence Stones, the Qi and Blood accumulated in the Transformation Pearl had reached about eighty percent.

Chen Mo immediately took out another Xuanyuan Ginseng and went to find his foster father.

Arriving at the main courtyard, the hired cooks had already begun preparing the venison, and the edible internal organs like the heart, liver, and intestines were being cleaned one by one.

Sun Shouren had also arranged for two Personal Soldiers to watch over them to prevent the cooks from stealing food while cooking.

Chen Mo walked straight toward the study, where Sun Shouren was currently sitting and handling official business.

He had received his appointment from the Imperial Court and would be departing soon.

"His Majesty rewarded you with a residence in the Inner City, so you will certainly need many servants to help look after it.

You are unfamiliar with the place and people, so this is hard to manage; I have already let Sun Ji go help you find good servants and a steward.

You don't have any reliable 'born-in-the-house' servants right now, so you can only hire or buy some people to use first; as long as you don't entrust them with major matters, there shouldn't be any problems letting them look after the residence."

Seeing Chen Mo walk over, Sun Shouren stopped his work of organizing official documents and spoke to give instructions.

So-called 'born-in-the-house' servants refer to children born to slaves in the master's household; they are slaves from birth and serve in one master's house for generations.

Such servants are exceptionally trusted by the master's family and, when facing other servants, can almost be considered half-masters.

Such people cannot be obtained by offering more money; they can only be acquired through the accumulation of a family's foundation.

"Thank you, Foster Father." Chen Mo bowed and saluted; this indeed saved him a great deal of effort.

"This is a small matter. Tomorrow I will lead your fifth brother and the others to set out for Nanshou City. You must prepare well for the Imperial Examination; although your strength is sufficient, you must still prepare for the policy questions.

As long as your policy questions are not too poor, your title of Zhuangyuan will be a certainty."

While Chen Mo's strength was indeed very strong, he still had one minor shortcoming: the policy questions.

Although this did not account for a high percentage during the martial examinations, it would be unjustifiable if it were too poor.

However, as long as Chen Mo did not just write nonsense when the time came, there would basically be no major problems.

"This child understands." Chen Mo replied with a smile, holding out the wooden box containing the Xuanyuan Ginseng.

"This child previously tasted this Xuanyuan Ginseng bestowed by the Imperial Court and discovered it has the effect of warming and nourishing the physical body; I thought you, Foster Father, might have use for it."

Sun Shouren reached out, tore off a ginseng rootlet, and put it in his mouth to chew; after a short while, his eyes lit up.

"This is indeed a good thing; it is useful to me."

For so many years, he had used Inner Qi to warm and nourish his physical body, and the effect was good, but there were always some deficiencies.

The Xuanyuan Ginseng could allow his somewhat deficient physical body to further reach perfection.

Even if the effect was only a little, sometimes a breakthrough in cultivation might just depend on this little bit.

Although the Tongxuan Pill could help him break through the Postnatal Realm.

The success rate was not one hundred percent after all; consuming this Xuanyuan Ginseng to warm and nourish his body first could make his probability of breakthrough higher.

"Wait here." Sun Shouren accepted the Xuanyuan Ginseng and stood up.

After speaking, he hurried away and only returned after a long while.

"Here, take this and cultivate well." He tossed over a small parcel.

As Chen Mo's foster father and elder, now that Chen Mo needed resources to cultivate, he naturally should contribute his part.

These items were what he had accumulated over many years, and he had originally intended to hand them over to Chen Mo later.

Now that he had received this filial offering from his foster son, handing them over directly now was also fine.

Chen Mo took it and could feel that there were at least thirty-five or thirty-six Blood Essence Stones inside, along with many miscellaneous Mirage Spirits.

"Many thanks, Foster Father." He did not refuse and accepted them happily.

With these resources, once he found a way to sell the Blood-Nourishing Pills later, it would be enough to complete his next Mortal Transformation.

Then the two chatted for a few more moments, and Chen Mo did not disturb him further, letting his foster father continue handling official business.

The main courtyard kitchen had already become lively, with several hired master chefs frying, stir-frying, and braising, carefully processing the venison.

Chen Mo took a bowl of braised deer brisket to send to Zhao Yu first, and urged her not to eat too much, suggesting it would be best to finish it in several sittings.

After finishing these matters, he returned to the main courtyard, where Mo Hu was directing people to take out and unseal the fine wine in the wine cellar.

Besides the venison, there were so many other dishes that they could almost pile up the table, including many rare seafood items.

Venison is a good thing, but apart from Chen Mo who could eat more, others could eat at most seven or eight pieces.

Eating any more would require preparing ice water in advance to soak in, so as to digest the restless Blood Qi; even so, the Blood Qi could still potentially harm the body.

Therefore, besides the venison, other major dishes from the north and south had to be prepared.

Besides his own people, Lu Chuan was also invited and brought Ma Jianxin along to attend the banquet.

The crowd feasted happily, and it was not until late at night that they dispersed.

The next day, Sun Shouren led the main army outside the city to set out, rushing toward Nanshou City.

Chen Mo, however, remained in the Capital to cultivate, preparing for his next Mortal Transformation.

(End of this chapter)