Sun Family's people had left, and Wang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. If nothing unexpected happened, this crisis should be temporarily resolved.
If something unexpected did happen, his only option would truly be to flee.
Sun Family was not something he could handle right now; a direct confrontation would likely leave his grave overrun with grass come next year.
The most effective solution was still to enhance his own martial strength.
This world has many faults, but the good thing is that many problems can be solved by personal martial might, and even better, he had ways to enhance his own martial prowess.
But speaking of martial training—
His supply of Tiger Bone Ointment was nearly gone.
This was a serious problem; without Tiger Bone Ointment, Wang Sheng could only use silver to buy meat as a substitute.
But now that he had become an official Martial Artist, his consumption rate was far higher than when he had just started practicing the Eight Section Brocade.
50 taels of silver truly could not withstand such usage.
Therefore, Tiger Bone Ointment was the best choice, as a small scoop was enough for one Eight Section Brocade session's consumption now that he was a Martial Artist, whereas before it was enough for 2 to 3 sessions.
It's easy to switch from frugality to extravagance but difficult to revert.
Having used Tiger Bone Ointment, which could quickly replenish his expenditure, ordinary meat no longer seemed appealing to Wang Sheng.
"I should still ask Uncle Li!"
The Tiger Bone Ointment was given to him by Li Wenguang; if he could learn about the raw materials, perhaps he could concoct it himself.
Worst case, he could delve into Medical Skill and develop a skill for crafting Cultivation resources.
However, just as Wang Sheng was planning to find Li Wenguang, Li Wenguang had already arrived at his doorstep.
"Yun Sheng, about your situation..."
"Uncle Li, don't worry, the problem has been resolved!"
"It's resolved? That's good to hear. You can rest easy now. Oh, and tomorrow your Brother Li is coming back—come over for a meal!"
Wang Sheng nodded. Li Wenguang's son, Li Yongfeng, was Brother Li.
In his memory, this Brother Li had always been good to him, taking care of him quite a lot during his childhood.
But later, as Wang Sheng started working as a Chrysanthemum Planting medicine farmer in Qingshan Village and Li Yongfeng leveraged his formidable physique to become an escorter, they had seen less of each other.
However, every time Li Yongfeng returned from escorting, he would bring gifts for him, treating him like a younger brother.
The offering of Tiger Bone Ointment also included Li Yongfeng's input.
Previously, when Wang Sheng was fervently practicing the Eight Section Brocade, Li Yongfeng had been out on an escort job. It was unexpected for him to return at this time; logically, it shouldn't have been so soon.
"I will come, Uncle Li!"
Having delivered the message, Li Wenguang was about to leave when Wang Sheng remembered the matter of the Tiger Bone Ointment and quickly called Li Wenguang back.
"Uncle Li, wait a moment, I wanted to ask about the Tiger Bone Ointment."
"Tiger Bone Ointment? Sorry, Yun Sheng, the ointment I gave you was the last bit."
Wang Sheng quickly shook his head and said, "Uncle Li, I'm not asking for more Tiger Bone Ointment, but rather how it's made. Now that I've become a Martial Artist, I can't afford the consumption of ordinary things. If possible, I'd like to try making it myself."
Li Wenguang looked bewildered.
Wang Sheng's ascension to Martial Artist had happened too fast; he hadn't quite adjusted to it yet.
Indeed, after their physiques had enhanced, their appetite had increased significantly compared to ordinary people. Now that Wang Sheng had become a Martial Artist, his consumption must be frighteningly high.
"Yun Sheng, I'm afraid you might be disappointed. The process for making Tiger Bone Ointment is actually quite simple—just mix all the materials together and simmer for about ten days.
However, the materials are not easy to obtain; it requires the Mountain Lord's accompanying herb, tiger bone herb, along with the Mountain Lord's tiger bone, essence blood, tiger oil, plus some rare medicinal materials like mountain ginseng to concoct such a jar.
My father was also just lucky to have encountered a severely injured Mountain Lord that couldn't move; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to produce Tiger Bone Ointment."
The Mountain Lord is what people commonly refer to as a tiger.
But according to the memories of his original self, ordinary tigers were called 'big cats.' Once they attained the strength of a Martial Artist, they would be referred to as Mountain Lord.
The Lord of the Mountains!
The weakest are Third Grade Martial Artists.
They are not something Wang Sheng can deal with right now, and he wouldn't bother trying.
As for why Li Wenguang said Wang Sheng would be disappointed,
it's because for over twenty years, there had been no news of the Mountain Lord near Qingshan Village, at most only rumors of a tiger sighting on some mountain peak.
In other words, even if Wang Sheng were strong enough, he couldn't find the raw materials.
Thinking about it, Third Grade Martial Artists might be strong to Wang Sheng, but for those big families, they're not much, so they would never let go of such resources.
The stronger the individual martial force in the world, the more concentrated the resources.
After understanding this, he realized that he needn't think about Tiger Bone Ointment, at least not for the time being.
Wang Sheng sighed inwardly and said, "I understand now, Uncle Li, thank you for enlightening me."
"Think of another way. Now that you're a Martial Artist, you should have a solution."
Wang Sheng could only agree.
He really had to come up with a solution himself.
After Li Wenguang repeatedly reminded him to eat, he left.
Wang Sheng returned to his room and fell into deep worry.
He had a hunch that once his Tiger Bone Ointment ran out, his progress in cultivating the Eight Section Brocade would definitely slow down.
Not only that, if the Eight Section Brocade had another breakthrough, the consumption would increase even more.
"When I think about it, Tiger Bone Ointment isn't the best solution after all!"
Tiger Bone Ointment required parts of the Mountain Lord like tiger blood and oil, but it wasn't easy to encounter a Mountain Lord, and even if he obtained another jar of Tiger Bone Ointment, there'd still come a day when it would run out.
What about the next time it was used up?
Wang Sheng felt that he had come to a realization.
This wasn't a long-term solution; he had to think of one that was more steady and sustainable.
What could regenerate and be acquired in a short amount of time?
Wang Sheng glanced at the remaining piles of chrysanthemums used as medicine in the room and suddenly had an idea.
If he remembered correctly, there should be a medicinal compound that replenishes Qi-Blood, where all the ingredients are plants, right?
Even some formulas came to mind.
Since chrysanthemums could be planted, then surely medicinal plants could be cultivated!
Even if it took a little longer, it was much more reliable than searching for a Mountain Lord.
"That really is a good idea!"
Wang Sheng planned to take immediate action.
This meant that the 14 hours he spent each day would have to be dedicated to leveling up other skills.
First on his list was Medical Skill; though he had some formulas for strengthening the body in his mind, he didn't know what those herbs were called in this world, so he needed to improve his Medical Skill to identify them.
What's more crucial was to see to what extent Medical Skill could progress after a breakthrough.
Another skill he had to level up was Planting Skill, specifically Medicinal Plant Cultivation.
He had a Chrysanthemum Planting Skill, which was even close to breaking through.
But the cultivation of each crop was different, so he needed to level up the corresponding skills to grow medicinal herbs.
However, this had to come after Medical Skill because without confirming the required herbs, he couldn't just start planting them.
And this was the most important thing; if he didn't make a breakthrough, he'd have to ingest enormous quantities of the medicinal compounds from his previous life to replenish Qi-Blood.
Wang Sheng decided to test the waters with his Chrysanthemum Planting Skill first.
But with that thought ——
"Indeed, no matter where you go, Planting Skill is invincible!"
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