Immortality Path: From the Blind Man at the Pharmacy
Chapter 269 - 153, 154. Gratitude, again, Yingui in its infancy, unfamiliar Barbarian Tribes (Large Chapter - Subscription Request)_4

Chapter 269: 153, 154. Gratitude, again, Yingui in its infancy, unfamiliar Barbarian Tribes (Large Chapter - Subscription Request)_4

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Let’s follow Teacher Su’s advice."

Then he walked away.

Upon returning to Hanping Village, Song Cheng naturally wanted to wander around, and to avoid trouble, he deliberately put on the typical decoration of a common disciple of the Yingui Association—a bamboo hat.

To be able to make purchases, he also retrieved a token for common disciples of the "Yingui Association" from Sister An’s house, found an unused "Merit Book," quickly added 3 merit points with a few strokes, and stamped it with the seal of Sister An as the Guild Master of the "Yingui Association."

It should be mentioned that the Yingui Association was established almost a year and a half ago.

With Sister An’s capabilities and the foundation of Hanping Prefecture, the Yingui Association was already well-established.

In the current Hanping Village, gold and silver were no longer the currency, merit points were.

The use of gold and silver was limited to basic necessities such as clothes, food, housing, and transportation, while essential items had to be purchased with merit points.

However, gold and silver could also be exchanged for merit points.

It was roughly 200 taels of silver for 1 merit point.

Conversely, 1 merit point could be exchanged for 100 taels of silver.

In fact, the items one could buy with 1 merit point normally cost around 100 taels outside, which was an encouragement for disciples to obtain merit points by completing tasks.

What could merit points be exchanged for?

The list was extensive.

Apart from clothes, food, housing, transportation, beauties, and wealth, there were also resources, pills, divine weapons, and most importantly... Cultivation Techniques.

Originally, to support Miss An in establishing the Yingui Association, Song Cheng had personally handwritten a great number of Cultivation Techniques.

There were techniques for Power Realm, Force Realm, Form Realm, and Qi Realm.

The first three realms had the most techniques, including many Secret Techniques.

It is worth noting that Song Cheng had achieved perfection in the first three realms.

For the first two realms, he had even reached the ultimate level.

A few words from him could produce the effect of a "true transmission in a single phrase."

With these techniques, along with the support from Madam Tong’s pills and more, the "Exchange System" of the Yingui Association was incredibly rich.

At this moment, Song Cheng strolled onto the village road of Hanping Village...

In the distance, the fields had just been harvested, and the aroma of rice was still wafting through the air; shops, brothels, and peddlers’ stalls lined both sides of the street.

Master Shui Mo’s blacksmith shop was still at the corner of the street; the heavy, dusty curtains lifted occasionally, allowing glimpses of the bright sparks from within. Outside the blacksmith shop, a martial artist was standing, flipping through a Merit Book, seemingly hesitant about spending merit points to purchase a "Weapon Pill."

Thousand Treasures Pavilion had also reopened in a new building. The first floor still engaged in the business of gambling on weapons, but unlike before, every clerk would patiently explain the products on sale. The second floor carried on the sale of Soul Strengthening Pills, Soul Nourishing Pills, Heaven’s Favor Pills, and if one had enough merit points, they could even secure a "Soul Refiner" "profession" for their relatives and friends.

Among them, the Heaven’s Favor Pill was actually the Medicinal Human Pill.

But the name Medicinal Human Pill didn’t sound very pleasant, so Miss An changed the name.

The Heaven’s Favor Pill signifies that because of Heaven’s favor, you can ascend a major level, but as the favor of Heaven is exhausted, that’s as far as it goes.

Song Cheng found a pavilion, exchanged 1 merit point for 100 taels of silver, then ordered fine wine and dishes. While enjoying the local flavors of Hanping Village, he feasted heartily.

All around him were a variety of sounds, a range of topics, all of which he overheard.

"Have you heard? Mr. Song has come back again, reportedly breaking through another major Realm."

...

"I’m about to break through to the Form Realm. Once I reach the Form Realm, I’ll be eligible for a free Heaven’s Favor Pill and join the Tiangang Camp."

The Tiangang Camp is the military camp composed of Qi Realm medicinal humans established by Song Cheng.

...

"The Guild Master is only issuing Grade D tasks recently, and we can only earn one merit point at a time. When will there be higher-level tasks?"

"Soon, when the time is right, we will be heading south. Then there will be plenty of tasks for you to accomplish."

Tasks were the source of the Yingui Association’s merit points.

Miss An set them up as four levels: "A, B, C, D." But currently, only "Grade D tasks" were available.

...

"Miss Cheng from the brothel has debuted, and I’ve heard that two masters from the Tiangang Camp are vying for her."

"With the Tiangang Camp taking action, we better not even think about it... I heard Miss Cheng is so beautiful that she would shame flowers, and her skills in music and dance are unmatched."

...

"Did you hear about the Top-Quality Delicacies Pavilion introducing Nine Delicacies and Flower Carving Chicken? Apparently, it’s limited to thirty servings a day, selling out is the end of it."

"But as far as I know, the Top-Quality Delicacies Pavilion actually only sells twenty a day, why is that?"

"Don’t you know? It’s because a significant person reserves ten every day."

...

"Brother Huang, what Cultivation Technique have you recently practiced that has greatly increased your strength?"

"That ’Red Python Force’—if you take a look, you’ll know why the creator of the technique is so breathtakingly brilliant... Such techniques I’ve never heard of before, I’m afraid they’re only available at the Yingui Association."

...

Hanping Village was bustling and noisy, with all the semblance of a market town.

And the rising smoke everywhere carried the hustle and bustle of the human world.

This was a small village teeming with hidden dragons and crouching tigers; even the "density" of experts could not be compared with the Imperial Capital.

Not only was Song Cheng progressing in this world, but all the members of the Yingui Association in Hanping Village were also making progress.

As Song Cheng watched, he suddenly felt something was amiss.

Upon closer reflection, perhaps it was the lack of confrontation.

If martial artists lacked confrontation, they would also lack vigor.

With that thought, he decided to write another book, a weakened version of the "True Form of Xuanwu," slightly adjusted to focus more on offense and less on defense, called "Nine-Headed Red Python Form," and use it as a reward to hold some sort of martial competition.