20: Is this medicinal material authentic?

A piece of Nie Qi Grass, the vendor quoted one thousand five hundred taels.

Several people wearing animal masks kept bargaining.

"There are over a dozen of us brothers, and we all want Nie Qi Grass."

"If you give us a discount, we'll come back next time."

The vendor replied, angered, "Are you trying to threaten me with your numbers?"

"I have backing too."

The masked men hesitated.

At this moment:

Chu Qing examined the herbs.

He carefully checked them according to the diagrams and identification points drawn by Apothecary Li.

The vendor secretly sneered.

His craftsmanship was quite exquisite; only an Apothecary who had personally seen Nie Qi Grass could distinguish its authenticity.

However, if a customer found it to be fake in the black market, he still had a real one on him to produce.

If they didn't find out... then he was even less afraid.

A few minutes later:

Chu Qing said, "Is this medicine guaranteed to be real? I can pay more."

The vendor secretly sneered, "One hundred percent guaranteed!"

"I'll take it."

A wad of silver notes was handed to the vendor.

The vendor smiled and immediately completed the transaction.

The several masked men nearby were displeased.

"Kid, we had our eyes on this first."

"How can you cut in?"

"Believe it or not, once we're out of the black market, we'll rob you?"

Chu Qing smiled.

He carefully tucked the Nie Qi Grass into his embrace and said, "I'll wait for you outside."

"Either you kill me."

"Or I kill you."

With that, he strode out of the black market and then stood there, motionless.

Inside the black market:

The masked men's expressions turned ugly.

They actually just wanted to make a profit without capital.

But, someone like Chu Qing, who knew he was being watched, not only didn't run but waited outside—this was the first time they had seen such a person in the vast black market.

A masked man with an eagle mask whispered, "This guy is full of confidence."

"Should we... find a different target?"

The other masked men nodded.

They left one person to secretly watch the vendor, while the others continued to search for targets.

The vendor sneered.

He had Cultivated seventy or eighty Iron Tendons and possessed a fierce palm technique; his backing was powerful, and he was full of confidence.

"When the black market closes, if they dare to cause me trouble, I'll reveal my identity and show them a move; they'll definitely scurry away in defeat."

One minute... three minutes... People in the black market noticed Chu Qing.

They were curious, and after asking around and learning the details, they secretly marveled:

"How long has it been since such a fierce person came to the black market?"

Less than five minutes later, Chu Qing saw that the masked men weren't coming out, secretly sneered, and turned to leave.

[Grass Tread Flight +1]

The profession panel flickered.

One minute... five minutes... Grass Tread Flight was promoted to Proficient level.

Chu Qing adjusted his posture, exerted force with his legs, and over twenty major Tendons wriggled, causing his speed to greatly increase, with less self-depletion.

One hour... two hours... Around 2 AM, Chu Qing returned to Shiji County.

As he was about to enter Shiji County, the profession panel refreshed:

[Cultivation Technique: Grass Tread Flight Perfection — Cannot be upgraded]

[Promotion Conditions — None]

The next second, his speed doubled again.

Tipping his toes, his body was light, the green grass beneath his feet bent two-thirds of the way, and before he landed, Chu Qing had already whistled away.

"As expected of Grass Tread Flight."

His speed increased significantly again, and Chu Qing quickly arrived at Apothecary Li's pharmacy.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The knocking sound woke Apothecary Li.

A few minutes later:

Apothecary Li repeatedly examined the Nie Qi Grass, then hesitated and said:

"This hero... this Nie Qi Grass... is fake."

Chu Qing: Hmm?

Apothecary Li: Hmm!

Chu Qing was silent.

One minute... three minutes... Apothecary Li was sweating profusely, fearing that this person would slap him to death in anger.

Result:

Chu Qing let out a long breath and sneered:

"The black market is indeed very dark."

"He thumped his chest and said it was one hundred percent genuine, and I gave him an extra three hundred taels of silver, but he still cheated me."

"You go to sleep first, I'll go get another one."

With that, he turned and left.

Apothecary Li looked at his retreating figure and secretly smiled bitterly: "Those who dare to sell fake goods in the black market all have connections and backing."

"If you go to the black market, you'll only suffer losses and humiliation."

"By then... I'm afraid all the resentment will be directed at me."

Apothecary Li couldn't sleep.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

With Perfection Grass Tread Flight fully unleashed, Chu Qing headed straight for the Qinghe County black market.

"The vendor who cheated me definitely had confidence."

"Perhaps he left early, or perhaps he's still in the black market, relying on his backing."

"But, no matter the situation, I must seek justice."

"The more than one thousand taels of silver I worked so hard to earn cannot just go to waste."

He sped up, fully activating Grass Tread Flight, all the Iron Tendons in his legs mobilized, running frantically.

When he had covered one-third of the journey, the profession panel flickered:

[You have completed the second condition for Iron Cloth.]

Chu Qing's heart stirred: "Good timing."

He immediately pulled out three Iron Cloth Secret medicines and swallowed them.

[Cultivation Technique Iron Cloth Mastery — One hundred refinements daily, consuming Secret medicine, one thousand days to become Proficient.]

[Promotion Conditions — 1: Ten Secret medicines]

"The number of Secret medicines has increased, but the conditions have decreased."

"It's good that I have many Secret medicines."

"Continue to promote!"

More Secret medicine went down his throat.

[Cultivation Technique Iron Cloth Proficient — One hundred refinements daily, consuming Secret medicine, one thousand days to achieve Major Achievement.]

[Promotion Conditions — 1: Thirty Secret medicines]

He had no more Secret medicine, so he couldn't promote further.

But, it was enough.

For a Proficient Cultivation Technique, one Secret medicine could Cultivate 2 Iron Tendons.

He had twenty Secret medicines, swallowed them all at once, enough to Cultivate all the Iron Tendons for Iron Cloth.

He activated Iron Cloth and Cultivated.

[Iron Tendons +10%]

[Iron Tendons +10%]

The profession panel flickered.

Chu Qing's chest, back, and limbs felt hot, and Iron Tendons quickly formed.

Ten minutes... half an hour... all forty Iron Tendons of Iron Cloth were Cultivated.

In addition to the overlapping Iron Tendons in his limbs, his chest and back each gained ten Iron Tendons.

Thus, his total number of Iron Tendons reached 76.

The increase in Iron Tendons caused his strength to surge significantly.

At the same time, his skin became taut and tougher than three to five layers of old cowhide.

He had a feeling:

Even an ordinary person wielding a long saber or iron sword wouldn't be able to cut through his Flesh.

Hard work, and he became stronger again.

"He said it was genuine, but still gave me a fake."

"I even gave him an extra three hundred taels."

"Isn't this bullying an honest person?"

...Around 4 AM, the black market disbanded.

Over a dozen masked men surrounded the herb vendor.

The other people in the black market scattered, not bothering to watch the commotion.

The vendor sneered, pointing to his own mask:

"What? You want to rob me?"

"Do you know who my brother-in-law is?"

"You haven't even bothered to ask how many people I've cheated in this black market? Who dares to cause me trouble?"

"Don't think that if you kill me, no one will know your identities."

"As long as you are within the Bingjia Sect's thousand-mile jurisdiction, even if you burrow into a rat hole, my brother-in-law can find you."

Bingjia Sect?

The eyes of the dozen masked men constricted.

For more than one thousand taels of silver, was it worth it?

Just then, a loud roar came from afar: "Where is the vendor selling fake medicine?"

The roar echoed across the fields.

The fake medicine vendor sneered and loudly said:

"I'm right here, come if you dare."

Whoosh!

A figure passed through the masked men and rushed to the fake medicine vendor.

The fake medicine vendor sneered, "My brother-in-law is..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the figure charge over without slowing down.

The vendor sneered: "Want to fight?"

"With so many Iron Tendons and a fierce palm technique, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

He roared, extending both hands, his skin turning bluish-black.

[Iron Sand Palm]

He struck Chu Qing's chest with both palms.

The next second:

The vendor's expression changed dramatically; his hands felt like they had struck old cowhide.

This was — Hard Cultivation!

[Mantis Fist]

Chu Qing's eyes showed Killing Intent, and his arms crossed, chopping fiercely.

Bang!

The vendor's Flesh shattered, his sternum collapsed, almost folding him in half, and he flew backward.

The next second, Chu Qing pursued, raising his long leg high and striking fiercely:

[Red Snake Leg]

"Kill!"

Boom!

The vendor's upper and lower body folded in half, and before he landed, Chu Qing grabbed his corpse and dashed away.

The dozen masked men stood rooted to the spot, silent for a long time.