48: Martial Arts Market

This Cultivation achievement gave Long Yuan great confidence, so it was natural for him to come out for a stroll. However, he was still quite cautious and dared not forget the spirit of Gou Dao. He had only Transmigrated to this Otherworld Great Ming for a little over two months, and his understanding of this Otherworld was still very limited. The unknown was the most terrifying. Who knew if there were any hidden Martial Dao Big Boss in Fengyang County? To avoid attracting attention, he used the 《Lian Xi Jue》 to suppress his Cultivation Realm to the Martial Apprentice Early Stage.

It's normal for a young Martial Apprentice to visit the Martial Arts Market, right?

Soon, he saw the bustling lights of Yuhua District, so he slowed down and strolled over.

The weather seemed to be getting warmer. Long Yuan remembered that when he first arrived, it was early March, still spring, but now it was early May, and early summer had already begun in the southern part of this Great Ming. He saw more and more pedestrians on the road, most of whom were Xuan Practitioners. Their attire mostly consisted of Profound Robes, mostly short ones, and many were dressed quite lightly. Some rode Spirit Beasts, some walked quickly, and others had Profound Weapons hanging on them, with large bags slung over their shoulders. A faint smell of blood emanated from the bags. They were covered in dust, clearly having just returned from hunting outside the city.

The shops along the street were one after another: selling books, tobacco, alcohol, and tea, clothes, food, weapons, Medicinal Herbs, daily necessities…

However, many people's main destinations were the several tall buildings in the central area. One was the official Martial Dao Building built by the Fengyang County Government, providing various services for Mystics; another was the Ye Family's trading building, mainly dealing in exotic beast acquisition, weapon forging, and high-end auctions. The Fengyang Artifact Refining Guild was located here; another was the Luo Family's trading building, mainly dealing in Medicinal Herb acquisition, sales, Medicinal Pills, and Medicinal Artifacts, etc. The Fengyang Alchemist Guild was located here, and there was also the Luo Family Hospital, the most famous hospital in Fengyang; and another was a large entertainment center built by the Qin Family, with various entertainment venues, large restaurants, and star-rated hotels, etc…

Long Yuan first visited the official Martial Dao Building and found that Martial Dao certification could be done here, from Martial Apprentice and Martial Artist to Martial Master. However, Martial Ancestor certification was not available, as the highest combat power openly acknowledged in Fengyang was only the Late-stage Martial Master, including County Magistrate Geng Yun and the Ye Family Old Ancestor.

Of course, he would not go for certification. Although the officials stated that those who obtained certification could receive a monthly official subsidy, Long Yuan did not want to expose himself, so he reluctantly gave up.

This subsidy could be considered a large sum for Mortals, but for Xuan Practitioners, it was merely icing on the cake and did not play a significant role; it was better than nothing. People came here for certification more because of a regulation in the Great Ming that Xuan Practitioners who followed the official academic path must register with the government and accept the supervision and management of the Jianxuan Envoy Department. So, Long Yuan might still need to come for certification and registration in the future, but definitely not now.

Here, he also saw that classmates like Ye He, Ye Xuan, Luo Ying, Qin Gui, Wang Yu, Zhang Li, and even Long Xiangning were all on the list, indicating they had all come here early to get certified and were on the Honor Roll. Although Ye He was now a cripple, his name was still at the top, suggesting that even the officials had some confidence in his recovery. However, his information should have been certified before he was crippled.

"Ye He, Martial Apprentice Mid-stage, test score: Qi and Blood value 401, strength 805 kilograms... This score is 405 kilograms higher than the official standard value, a 2x increase relative to his Qi and Blood value. And this was tested before he had fully Awakened, which shows that Ye He's S-rank talent is truly extraordinary..." Long Yuan thought to himself.

For Xuan Practitioners, Qi and Blood value is a basic measure. For example, the standard Qi and Blood value for Martial Apprentice Early Stage is 100, for Martial Apprentice Mid-stage it's 200, and for Martial Apprentice Late Stage it's 400. Strength is also a measure, generally similar to Qi and Blood value. For example, the standard strength for Martial Apprentice Early Stage is 100 kilograms, for Martial Apprentice Mid-stage it's 200 kilograms, and for Martial Apprentice Late Stage it's 400 kilograms. For some elites and Prodigies, their strength increase is very large. For example, Ye He's strength increased by 2x before his Awakening, truly worthy of being a Prodigy.

Looking at the others, Ye Xuan and Qin Gui were Martial Apprentice Mid-stage, while the rest were all Martial Apprentice Early Stage. Their scores were generally higher than the official standard, with strength increases between 1x and 2x, all exceeding 1x. No wonder they were listed on the Honor Roll by the officials. However... if it were two months ago, Long Yuan would have thought they were truly brilliant and had boundless futures, but now, well, it's just so-so, because he can already look down on them, and from a high vantage point at that...

Long Yuan secretly chuckled and continued to stroll. He saw that the building also sold Cultivation Techniques, weapons, Medicinal Pills, Medicinal Herbs, beast materials... almost everything. Compared to online, the prices seemed to be quite a bit higher, but goods from official channels were definitely guaranteed in quality. Some people were willing to spend here precisely because of this, as it was at least better than accidentally getting scammed at a private shop.

To his surprise, he also saw the Wang Family's meat business, the Zhang Family's crop business, and the Long Family's aquaculture business here!

Their floors were actually rented from the government, which was related to their insufficient strength to build a trading building independently, so they cooperated with the government. Of course, doing business here represented the government, and the goods were definitely genuine and fair to all, young and old.

Long Yuan observed for a moment and found that the Wang Family and Zhang Family's businesses were much larger. Each of them rented five floors, with people coming and going, bustling with activity. The Long Family, however, only rented half a floor. Some of their products were mainly supplied to the Wang Family for sale, as the Wang Family had a better reputation and a much larger sales volume than the Long Family. Therefore, the Long Family was actually dependent on the Wang Family. Even renting this half floor was something the Long Family gritted their teeth to do, their purpose naturally being to see if they could make a name for themselves and grow their business. But just by looking at the customer traffic on both sides, it was clear that the Long Family's plan had likely gone wrong, as very few people patronized the Long Family's business, and they probably couldn't even recoup the rent.

Long Yuan was pleased to see this; such ruthless families driven by profit deserved to suffer. He walked around once and left the official Martial Dao Building empty-handed, heading straight for the Luo Family Building.

The exterior of this building appeared quite ancient. The most prominent symbol on the small plaza in front of the building was a huge gourd hanging from a thick vine. This sculpture probably symbolized the meaning of "hanging a gourd to save the world"...

Walking inside, Long Yuan realized that this building was actually divided into two sides. One side was the largest Luo Family Hospital in Fengyang, serving not only Xuan Practitioners but also Mortals. This side had the largest flow of people, who came and went with hurried steps, and the atmosphere was tense and solemn. He also saw several people quickly pushing a stretcher cart rushing in, with people around them screaming and getting out of the way. The injured person on the stretcher had their head wrapped in thick gauze, and blood continuously seeped out from the gauze, covering their entire face, making it impossible to see their original appearance...

Long Yuan sighed. It seemed that no matter which world, medical care was always a key focus for people, and in the Profound Qi era with severe beast disasters, medical care was even more crucial.

"Was Ye He treated here?" Long Yuan suddenly thought of this question.

He secretly checked the information captured by the Heavenly Dao Eye and found that Ye He was indeed initially rescued here. However, although his life was saved, since they could never restore his shattered Qi Sea here, and even the Luo Family Old Ancestor expressed helplessness, he could only be transferred back to the Ye Family for recuperation.

Regarding Ye He's injuries, Long Yuan had consulted relevant medical classics in the Treasure Pavilion and found that restoring the Qi Sea during the Martial Apprentice stage was not too difficult and did not require very precious Heaven And Earth Treasures. This was much better than higher levels later on and during the Cultivation of Immortals, as the Qi Sea and Dantian of those powerful individuals were extremely strong, and once shattered, the consequences were extremely severe, requiring very Advanced Heaven And Earth Treasures to possibly recover.

Therefore, in his opinion, Ye He's injury was not beyond his capabilities. In fact, with his current Martial Master strength and the Divine Sense power of a Golden Core Late Stage, he could completely treat it. However, there was currently no good reason for him to intervene, and he didn't want to get involved. Everything was based on the standard of not exposing his ultimate secret.

The other side of the Luo Family Building was where the Luo Family operated their Medicinal Herb and Medicinal Pill business, and this was also Long Yuan's main destination for the evening.

He generally looked around and found that the Luo Family's Medicinal Herb market was enormous, basically stored and sold by category, and there were also some comprehensive shops to allow customers to purchase all necessary medicines at once.

The Luo Family engaged in retail, wholesale, and acquisition in their business. Many people who found Medicinal Herbs in the wild or outside the city could bring them here to sell. Their acquisition prices were always fair and well-reputed, and money was credited immediately upon sale. Therefore, people seemed very willing to trade with the Luo Family.

Long Yuan saw many people carrying large and small bags of Medicinal Herbs to sell to the Luo Family. These were just the people visible on the surface; there were also professional Medicinal Herb growers, and since their cultivation yielded larger quantities, their transaction volume should also be greater. Otherwise, how could it support the Luo Family's vast sales floor?

"Rejuvenation Grass, Silver Silk Lotus, Earth Spirit Ganoderma, Mother-Bitter Child-Many, Tianqi Flower, One-Year Ginseng..."

As he walked around, Long Yuan compared the Medicinal Herbs he saw with the contents of the Treasure Pavilion's pharmacopoeia, gradually becoming familiar with them...

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