This arm earned a second-class merit.
Li Linhan was busy and said, "The company has been a bit chaotic lately, keep a low profile."
"The Youthful and Strong Faction hasn't finished stirring things up?"
"Some say it might take at least half a year, not sure. When the Central Faction rose to power back in the day, they took a big piece from the Elder Faction. Now there's even less to go around, and the Youthful and Strong Faction's blade might cut into us and the subsidiaries."
"I heard they want to increase the subsidiary contributions, is that true?"
"Chatted with Lao Liu and the others a few days ago, everyone thinks the same, the higher-ups are just testing the waters below."
"Then we're in for tough times again, hope they don't cut our wages."
Zhou Leng furrowed his brow and then relaxed it.
Besides normal learning and cultivation, Zhou Leng worked part-time at the Pioneer Company as a student, dissecting magical beasts' corpses.
He earned about a thousand yuan per month on average.
Adding the state's monthly allowance of over a thousand, Zhou Leng now had an income of more than two thousand a month.
With the skyrocketing prices these years, inflation was particularly severe. Even the cheapest pound of duck breast cost over ten yuan. This income was more than enough for daily expenses but far from sufficient for cultivation.
A regular meat herbal cuisine cost over a thousand yuan.
The cheapest Qi Nourishing Pill cost ten thousand yuan per pill.
He had only eaten meat herbal cuisine at Uncle Li's house, and it was all scraps from the Pioneer Company.
The biggest problem was that when the university entrance exams ended this month, the state would stop providing allowance next month.
"Here it comes." Li Linhan walked out carrying a large pot, and Zhou Leng quickly stepped aside.
Li Linhan opened the lid, a faint smile on his face, and said, "Time to eat."
A strong scent of meat and herbs mixed with a faint fishy smell spread through the room with the thick white steam.
Zhou Leng's throat moved as he swallowed and went to get bowls and chopsticks.
Soon, the two sat by the dining table.
A pot of meat herbal cuisine, a small bowl of braised pork, a plate of blanched broccoli, a plate of stir-fried greens, and a rice cooker full of mixed grain rice.
"The martial exam is coming up, eat more. Come here for a meal of meat herbal cuisine every day until your martial exam is over."
Zhou Leng held the bowl and bowed slightly.
"Eat up!" Li Linhan placed a large piece of braised pork on Zhou Leng's mixed grain rice.
"Alright."
Zhou Leng took a deep breath slowly.
Li Linhan picked up a piece of broccoli and chewed slowly.
Zhou Leng picked up a piece of meat from the meat herbal cuisine, white with black stripes, and recognized it as Demon Wolf meat, then moved it toward Li Linhan's bowl.
Li Linhan's face turned cold, and he blocked it with chopsticks and pushed it back, saying, "You finish it all yourself, don't even think about leaving until you do."
"Uncle Li..." Zhou Leng said.
Li Linhan snorted softly and continued eating.
Zhou Leng silently withdrew his chopsticks and put it into his mouth.
As the Demon Wolf meat entered, the rich herbal aroma was followed by a peculiar meat scent, a fusion of milky and woody aromas.
Finally, there was a faint hint of staleness, not strong but lingering.
He chewed vigorously.
Even after a night of stewing and softened by the herbs, it was like undercooked beef tendon, impossible to chew through.
By the fourth piece, Zhou Leng's teeth were sore, and his cheeks were numb, requiring Qi manipulation to help chew.
Too exhausting, he switched to braised pork and vegetables for a break.
Halfway through, sweat poured out of him as if he was eating mutton hotpot in the midsummer heat.
Li Linhan's wrinkled, sauce-colored face showed a faint smile.
"Have some soup. Unfortunately, we can only buy scraps of magical beast from the Qi Blood Realm, can't even dream of getting Innate Realm. As for the high-end Fierce Beast and Giant Dragon meat scraps, don't even think about it."
"This is already very good." Zhou Leng mumbled, mouth full of meat.
"We'll stew some beef tomorrow. By the way, the city has been restless lately, try not to go out at night."
"There's a Demon?" Zhou Leng asked.
"Rumor has it Innate Realm experts are fighting over some mysterious treasure, they're being quite heavy-handed."
"What treasure?" Zhou Leng's eyes lit up.
"No news, it's kept very secret."
"Are Grandmasters involved?"
"Strangely enough, there's been no news of the Grandmasters in the past couple of months, no idea what they're up to."
"Third Brother is about to advance to the Innate Realm, right?" Zhou Leng glanced at the photo of the Li family's five members.
"Almost. That kid was so ordinary when he was young, who knew he'd turn out to be the most successful in the Li Family. Innate, heh, I didn't even dare to think about it."
Li Linhan couldn't suppress his smile.
"Don't say so ordinary, except for Zhang Xinglie, no one in the neighborhood can hold a candle to Third Brother." Zhou Leng said.
"Zhang Xinglie... that kid is extraordinary, Third Brother can't compare to him. Your Third Brother in this life, Innate is the limit, but Zhang Xinglie, with the talent of a Grandmaster, even the ancestors are blessed."
Zhou Leng nodded while eating.
"You're not actually weak; you were just delayed by the Demon," Li Linhan said.
Zhou Leng remained silent.
"The path of Martial Arts involves not only the talents we can see but also some we cannot. I've led so many soldiers and seen so many children, how could I not understand?"
"You're praising me too highly," Zhou Leng replied.
"It's not praise, it's... sigh, all these years, you've grown up alone, hammered into tough steel, just missing a chance. You were about to become successful, and then..." Li Linhan picked another piece of meat for Zhou Leng.
Zhou Leng ate silently.
"Oh, by the way, Xiao San sent you something, it should arrive in the next few days."
Zhou Leng guessed it was to help with the martial exam and quickly said, "I don't want anything expensive, maybe just some meat herbal cuisine, or I won't come."
"We'll see when it arrives," Li Linhan said.
Zhou Leng felt conflicted within.
Over the years, the Li Family hadn't hesitated to support him.
Yes, Uncle Li was a Vitality Stage martial artist of the Qi Blood Realm, with state subsidies, martial artist bonuses, and income from the Pioneer Company, not lacking that fifty thousand loan.
But he was covered in injuries and had to take medicine regularly, Third Brother also needed to advance to the Innate, even with military training, the required resources were calculated in the millions, a bottomless pit.
"Hurry and eat, finish and cultivate well," Li Linhan instructed.
Zhou Leng devoured the remaining dishes rapidly, and Li Linhan's face once again showed a kindly smile.
"I'm leaving." Zhou Leng started walking home.
"Don't forget to perform Qi Manipulation and transform the meat herbal cuisine," Li Linhan advised.
"Mm."
The unattended TV was still broadcasting the news.
"...The new breakthrough achieved in the joint research on demonized supergravity cultivation armor with the Demon Spirit World, weight limit increased to 30.28 tons, breaking the..."
Watching Zhou Leng close the door, Li Linhan returned to the dining table and sat down.
He silently gazed at a photo album for a while, turned off the TV, slowly stood up, removed the mechanical arm prosthesis from his left arm, and sat down to perform Qi Manipulation for recovery.
Zhou Leng entered the house, took off all his clothes, set the gradual tide sound alarm clock, and sat on the cushion before the sofa.
"I hope the Mystic Tide Technique can advance to Minor Achievement in the Second Layer Heaven."
He sat cross-legged, eyes tightly closed, chanting the Mystic Tide Technique mantra in his heart.
Corresponding characters floated before his eyes, forming phrases and chapters.
Heart Texts Like Books.
"The tide creates the universe, transforming into the four seas. Rivers connect the nine directions, reaching the Dan Lake. Water enters the Celestial River..."
At the moment of silently finishing the main text of the Mystic Tide Technique, Zhou Leng's body gave a slight shudder, as if jolted.
The floating script vanished, replaced by the interior of his own body.
Muscles, blood, bones, tendons, Qi, and so on floated before him like an expressive Chinese painting, like mist like water.
Inner Vision as a Painting.
In his stomach, a warm flow stirred, dispersing throughout his body.
Zhou Leng slowly breathed, from the Dantian Qi Sea in his abdomen surfaced a flow of True Qi, faintly carrying the sound of ocean waves crashing.
The Mystic Tide True Qi slowly traversed his body along the meridians.
Before long, in Zhou Leng's view, the Mystic Tide True Qi was like deep blue lines spread all over his body.
The Mystic Tide True Qi gathered towards the stomach, pulling in the hot energy from the meat herbal cuisine, following the path of the Mystic Tide Technique, slowly circulating.
After the hot energy of the meat herbal cuisine and the Mystic Tide True Qi ran a full cycle, they gradually merged.
The skin reddened; sweat oozed all over the body.
Before long, his abdomen slowly inflated, like a balloon, or as if he was four or five months pregnant.
Beneath the swollen skin, blue and red blood vessels twined menacingly.
In the stomach, the sound of tides intensified.
A dozen seconds later, the abdomen slowly retracted, returning to normal.
Before long, the abdomen inflated again, then slowly shrunk back, and so it repeated over and over.
With each inflation of the abdomen, the sound of the true Qi tide increased.
Forty-nine times, the abdomen calmed down.
At this moment, the sound of the true Qi tide roared in Zhou Leng's ears, like the windswept coast.
The Mystic Tide Technique, ordinary at first, layer upon layer building up, until finally, like a tsunami rushing ashore, fierce and intense.
Another several seconds passed, and Zhou Leng slowly exhaled a breath.
A faint wisp of white Qi flew out from his nose.
Zhou Leng opened his eyes, looked at his red skin and sweating body, walked to the bathroom, and shook his body, water droplets sliding off.
His face showed not a hint of joy.
The Mystic Tide True Qi had strengthened a bit, but was still stuck in the Minor Achievement of First Layer Heaven.
Since being injured by the Demon half a year ago, there had been no progress.