Chapter 23 Martial Arts Difficulties (2 more updates)

Shi Zhongmei laughed.

This scene seemed all too familiar.

When she first joined the martial arts hall, she too gambled until her eyes turned red, emptying her pockets completely.

It turned out she had decent potential and mastered the basics after just five bowls.

The amount of money Fang Yu has is likely not enough.

She clapped her hands, signaling another junior sister to bring over the soup medicine.

Fang Yu immediately gulped down a bowl without waiting.

[System Notification: Player has consumed [Yuan Family Soup Medicine], Experience Points +5.]

Fang Yu: ???

Why are there only 5 experience points.

Is the second bowl half off? So greedy!

Fang Yu gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and sensed.

This time, with some experience, his eyes soon opened.

The effect of the medicine had passed.

"How is it?" asked Shi Zhongmei.

Fang Yu remained silent, shook his head, and drank the medicine.

Thump thump thump.

He drank loudly, as if in vexation.

The soup medicine entered his stomach.

[System Notification: Player has consumed [Yuan Family Soup Medicine], Experience Points +2.]

He closed his eyes to sense.

After a while.

Fang Yu opened his eyes.

"Dammit!"

Speechless, what useless soup medicine, does it even work?

Is Senior Mei tricking me?

Fang Yu’s face filled with suspicion.

"Why are you looking at me?"

She didn’t look like she would deceive anyone.

"..."

Fang Yu scratched his head.

"Senior Mei, can I get an advance on next month’s soup medicine?"

Shi Zhongmei shook her head.

What to do now.

The next cup costs 4 silver taels.

Go back and ask my elder sister for money? Isn’t that too embarrassing?

Just now he left proudly with five silver taels for household expenses, and now he has to go back and ask for money.

He couldn’t lose this face.

But... he has no way to earn money right now either.

Waiting until next month for the soup medicine wouldn’t do; it’d be too late.

If he doesn’t pull ahead of most players now, his slight advantage will be gone in a month.

Does he really have to go back and beg Li Qianxuan for money... he’d feel like quitting and deleting his account if he had to, his pride couldn’t bear it.

While Fang Yu was worried about collecting money, Shi Zhongmei smiled faintly and suddenly spoke.

"I can’t give you an advance for next month’s soup medicine, but I can give you my share of this month’s."

"Even, I can transfer the free monthly soup medicine of other fellow disciples to you."

What?

There’s such a good deal?

Fang Yu thought he had heard it wrong.

When rounded up, isn’t that just freeloading?

What a peerless kind woman.

She couldn’t have fallen in love with me at first sight, could she?

Fang Yu pondered; his character wasn’t that handsome.

Charisma, must be his charismatic personality!

Snap!

Fang Yu grabbed Shi Zhongmei’s hand.

"Senior Mei, I will definitely not let you down!"

"What are you doing!"

Shi Zhongmei frowned, coldly withdrawing her hand.

Eh? Eh? Eh Eh!

This reaction.

Could it be... I misunderstood??

She doesn’t like me?

Then why is she so good to me, giving me free soup medicine?

"Let’s be clear, giving you the soup medicine comes with conditions."

Ah!

So there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

I’m not a stunningly gorgeous man whom everyone flocks to.

Everything comes with a price.

"What are the conditions?"

Shi Zhongmei asked calmly.

"It’s simple, I want the meatball from your three meals a day."

"One meatball per meal, three meatballs a day, equivalent to one Silver Tael."

"Then, calculate the value in Silver Tael to exchange for the medicine portion."

"Your next bowl of medicine, if obtained from your master, would require four Silver Taels."

"Converting it into meatballs to offset the cost, that would be four days of meatballs, totaling twelve."

"The meatballs obtained from you will be shared equally by those who provide the medicine."

"Are you willing to accept these terms?"

Shi Zhongmei spoke clearly, but Fang Yu was completely baffled.

"Meatballs?"

Shi Zhongmei seemed well-prepared and never deceived others.

All trades are fair and voluntary.

Taking out a brocade box from her bosom, Shi Zhongmei opened it.

Inside was a white meatball covered with black veins pulsating as if it was alive.

The brocade box seemed to have an insulating effect.

The meatball was still emitting wisps of fragrance as if it was freshly cooked.

"This brocade box, called Warm Food Brocade, was specifically bought to preserve the food’s best flavor and quality as much as possible."

"As for the meatball inside the brocade box, it is the one we provide in our meals, called Yuan Heart Meatball."

"The main ingredient of the Yuan Heart Meatball is demon flesh, specially cooked through the martial hall’s secret methods, greatly beneficial for those who practice Martial Arts..."

Speaking of the Yuan Heart Meatball, Shi Zhongmei seemed somewhat fascinated.

Every whiff of the meatball’s fragrance brought a deep satisfaction to the core.

But soon, she noticed Fang Yu’s stunned expression, his eyes widened as if seeing something unbelievable, his face filled with astonishment.

Because, in Fang Yu’s eyes.

The meatball in Shi Zhongmei’s hand had a completely different name.

[Drill Heart Demon: 0.1/0.1.]

A meatball... with a health bar?

Or some kind of demon??

What’s with the 0.1 health point?

Fang Yu looked rigidly at Shi Zhongmei.

"Senior Mei... is this some kind of new pet?"

"What pet? Don’t be narrow-minded; despite the Yuan Heart Meatball looking a bit strange, it’s greatly beneficial for martial artists; watch closely!"

Before Fang Yu could speak to stop her, Shi Zhongmei had already swallowed the Yuan Heart Meatball!

Jingle jingle —

The next instant, Fang Yu’s pupils shook, accompanied by a bell-like resonating sound, an unforgettable image unfolded before his eyes.

The moment Senior Mei swallowed the Yuan Heart Meatball, thousands of very short health bars simultaneously appeared within her body.

Her entire person was obscured by the dense health bars; one couldn’t even see her face!

What was even more horrifying, all the names on these health bars were the same!

[Drill Heart Demon: 0.1/0.1.]

[Drill Heart Demon: 0.1/0.1.]

[Drill Heart Demon: 0.1/0.1.]

[Drill Heart Demon: 0.1/0.1.]

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of Drill Heart Demons, like parasites, densely infested inside Senior Mei’s body! They vibrated like living creatures, emitting faint jingles, forming a resonance.

In that moment, Fang Yu seemed to witness tens of thousands of tiny bugs burrowing in and out of Senior Mei’s skin pores, her entire body becoming a nesting ground for bugs!

Was this still a human?

This was a person made of bugs!

Fang Yu pointed at Senior Mei and staggered back in fear, collapsing to the ground.

"You... you..."

"Did you hear? Qi resonance! This is the effect of the Yuan Heart Meatball, causing Qi to vibrate, thereby strengthening the body!"

The ringing ceased, and the dense health bars on Shi Zhongmei gradually faded.

Only then did Fang Yu see Shi Zhongmei’s enraptured expression.

She really didn’t know anything!

Fang Yu breathed heavily.

After Shi Zhongmei experienced the wonderful effects of the meatball, she glanced at Fang Yu sitting on the ground.

She sighed, then came over to help him up.

Just as she took a step towards Fang Yu, he frantically retreated using hands and feet, widening the distance.

"What are you trying to do?!"

"Helping you up; what’s wrong with you?" Shi Zhongmei looked puzzled.

Fang Yu eyed Shi Zhongmei’s own health bar.

[Shi Zhongmei: 150/150.]

Weighing the current difference in strength between them, Fang Yu quickly calmed himself and forced a small smile.

"I’m fine."

What am I here for?

Am I here to learn Martial Arts?

Why does it feel like I’ve stirred