Chapter 20: Medicinal Cuisine
"Extortion and blackmail?"
The moment these words were said, both Jing Zhengqi and Jing Yunshan realized something and their eyes lit up.
"Martial artists possess great power. And when great power is within grasp, a martial artist may develop the tendency to kill. Each martial artist is considered an unstable factor in society and public opinions tend to be strict against them," said Jing Gufeng slowly. "Compared to a level-two martial artist like Li Pin, you're considered to be from the disadvantaged group."
Jing Yunshan nodded profusely. "That's right, that's right, that's right. I'm part of the disadvantaged group... Ahh!"
When Jing Yunshan spoke too quickly, he seemed to have affected his wound and thus he let out an agonized cry.
"Since you're part of the disadvantaged group, you naturally should learn how to use the law to protect yourself. After being beaten up by him, who is a level-two martial artist, you went to make peace. However, he made an unreasonable demand, requesting a sky-high compensation. In fear of his martial prowess, you're left with no choice but to abide. Then, you can spread the news of this matter out...."
Jing Gufeng said calmly, "With that, even if the martial society's president were to be backing him up, he wouldn't be able to save him. Let alone if it was just Fang Lingjue. "
"That's smart! Father, that's a really smart move! Wasn't the law devised for disadvantaged groups like us?"
Jing Zhengqi chimed in, "100 thousand and above would be considered a tremendous sum. He'd be jailed for at least ten years or more. After he's imprisoned and the wave passes, it'd be easy for us to find people to cripple him."
Jing Yunshan nodded vigorously in excitement.
He seemed to be able to envision Li Pin living a pathetic life in darkness after being jailed for extortion.
***
In the Li Family's house in Sanshun Town.
"Ahhhhhh, it hurts, it hurts so much…."
Li Yunyao's panting and unsuppressable gasps of pain sounded from upstairs.
Li Pin took a look at her speechlessly.
Wasn't he just feeling her bones[1] before starting her on martial arts practice?
Was there a need for her to cry out in such an exaggerated manner?
Of course, there'd be some pain involved in this process, but if she couldn't even withstand this little bit of pain, how could she possibly talk about practicing martial arts?
However, Li Pin had to admit, he had kept this going for a little too long because he was trying something out.
Since he could accurately sense his body's condition, would it be possible for him to sense the qi and blood circulation of another person?
The test proved that this was possible when there was direct contact. However, the degree of sensing was many times weaker.
"I'm done." After Li Pin pressed on her calf bone, he withdrew his hand and said, "Your aptitude—"
"Am I a rare martial arts genius?" Li Yunyao's eyes were filled with anticipation. "Was my path to becoming an Astral Cultivator delayed because I don't have enough Concentration Incense for meditation?"
Li Pin had wanted to finish his sentence with the word "average." However, he had ascertained that his "clairvoyance" gift was also effective on others. Even though the effect was multiple times weaker, it was still enough to allow him to accurately control the slightest hint of changes to the person's qi and blood.
With his ability, there was no way that Li Yunyao's cultivation progress would be too slow.
He immediately smiled and nodded. "Very outstanding. Although it's a far cry from being hard to find amongst ten thousand people, it's still one in a thousand. As long as you work hard and have discipline, you'll definitely be able to become a martial arts expert in the future."
Li Yunyao was so excited that her face flushed. "That's great! I knew I was a genius!"
"Come, let me teach you a technique to strengthen your qi and blood first."
Li Pin then taught Li Yunyao the Xuan Pin Gate technique.
This was the martial technique he was the most familiar with. This would also allow him to more accurately grasp the changes to Li Yunyao's qi and blood.
They practiced for half an hour before some noises arose from outside.
Lin Xiaolu was then seen walking over together with her father.
"Xiaolu, you're here!" Li Yunyao quickly called out. "Come, come, come! Come join me to practice martial arts and see who can become a martial artist first!"
Li Pin glanced at Lin Xiaolu.
Earlier in the morning, Li Yunyao had expressed her wish to have Lin Xiaolu join her in practicing martial arts.
Li Pin didn't reject her request since he felt that teaching one more person wouldn't make much of a difference.
Moreover, there were a few things he felt hesitant to try out on Li Yunyao. However, he wouldn't have the same worries when it was Lin Xiaolu.
Lin Zhenshan walked over a little hesitantly. "Li... Li Pin, I know that given your status, you'd definitely need to be paid a high tuition fee when you take in disciples. Our family can't afford much money. This is an aged medicinal herb that I obtained when I went to the mountains. You can see what you can teach her..."
"Uncle Lin, you're too kind. We're neighbors, and I also watched Xiaolu grow up. I consider her my sister. There's no need to stand on ceremony," Li Pin said.
However, Lin Zhenshan was unwilling to give in.
Upon seeing this, Li Pin didn't insist on refusing the gift but chose to accept it.
"Learn well from Brother Li. Do what he tells you to. Understand?" Lin Zhenshan instructed Lin Xiaolu solemnly before he left.
Lin Xiaolu nodded vigorously.
She had seen Li Pin in action at Starlight Center and on the public bus on their way back, and it left her completely mesmerized.
She had never liked her personality and felt that she was too weak. However, she didn't know how to change herself. Li Pin's appearance was like a ray of light that illuminated her heart, pointing her in a clear direction. That was why she chose to come despite knowing that she might be considered presumptuous.
"Let me feel your bones first," Li Pin said. "It'll hurt a little for the first time. Bear with it."
Lin Xiaolu nodded.
Li Pin quickly got started.
Unexpectedly, despite looking weak and frail, Lin Xiaolu bore with the pain and didn't make a sound while Li Pin was feeling her bones.
Moreover, he was also surprised to discover that Lin Xiaolu's aptitude was a lot better than Li Yunyao's. Although she couldn't be considered a rare find in 10 thousand, she was still considered outstanding.
After having a grasp of her aptitude, Li Pin started to teach both girls.
***
After an hour or so, Li Pin told both of them to continue with their practice while he went into the living room.
"My gift still has a lot of potential to dive into. I can explore more ways of using it."
Li Pin glanced at the medicinal herbs and supplements the villagers and Lin Zhenshan had sent over. After some thought, he first picked up the Dragontiger Pill which had the effect of strengthening the qi and nourishing the blood.
After taking one pill, Li Pin circulated the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique.
Although he couldn't accurately sense the ingredients in the Dragontiger Pill, he could somehow discern the degree it strengthened his primordial qi.
"Using the benchmark of primordial qi increment from practicing the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique for one cycle, the Dragontiger Pill... increases primordial qi by 401%, and the effect can persist for... 8.6 cycles, which is two days."
This was an item that practically allowed a martial artist to obtain four times the exp for two days…. Li Pin didn't expect less from an item that was only catered to the members of the martial societies.
Li Pin then took out a few more of the supplements and tried them in turns.
Li Pin sensed the item's effect, only to discover….
"Primordial qi No.1. The effect is... no effect?"
"The growth rate of primordial qi is reduced by 14%?"
He then tried out a few other supplements.
The effects of each supplement were basically a decrease or increase of effects at around 10-30%. It was similar to eating nutritional meals.
Li Pin was left speechless at these findings. These were considered supplements?
In the few days that followed, Li Pin patiently took the various medicinal herbs that replenished primordial qi according to different recipes.
He accurately sensed the immediate effect each medicinal herb brought him after they were digested.
"Mutton Angelica soup[2]; increases primordial qi by 104%"
"Black chicken poria; increases primordial qi by 91%."
"Ginseng softshell turtle; increases primordial qi by 148%."
Li Pin tried different combinations.
Through the limited ingredients he had, he came up with the recipe for two optimal medicinal cuisines.
The first dish used primarily ginseng, dwarf lilyturf, astragalus, lotus seeds, and black chicken.
It could increase the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique's strengthening effect on primordial qi by 260 to 280%. The exact degree of the effect would be affected by the cooking process.
The cost would be approximately one thousand gold yuan per day.
For the second recipe, Li Pin used the aged wild ginseng gifted by Lin Xiaolu's family. The recipe boosted the primordial qi's growth rate by 514% at one point.
Li Pin later made the additional effort to check the books, and together with his highly accurate senses, he concluded that this wild ginseng had an age of about forty-five years.
This aged wild ginseng could be sold for a high price of thirty to forty thousand yuan. By adding just a little of it to other supplementing ingredients, the cost would still add up to ten thousand yuan per day.
"Really…the poor should study to become scholars while the rich should learn martial arts."
Li Pin took a look at his account balance and then purchased one month's worth of supplies without any hesitation.
1. In Chinese context, feeling one's bones is a way to tell a person's fortune as well as to read their character. MC should be using a similar method to assess Li Yunyao's aptitude. ☜
2. Referring to Angelica sinensis. ☜
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