The Post Sky Tipping Era
Chapter 149 - 124 Treasures and Precious Items

Chapter 149: Chapter 124 Treasures and Precious Items

Although he had only taken a brief walk around You Shui Town, Li Yi could already sense the hardships of living in this era.

To put it crudely, martial artists like them, who lived life on the edge, were dozens of times more fortunate than the common people, who barely had clothes to cover their bodies or enough food to fill their stomachs. Moreover, they were even worse off than the people of ancient Earth, who could rebel if they couldn’t survive. However, people here didn’t even have that option.

Because this world had martial artists.

A martial artist could take on ten, a hundred, or even an army of thousands single-handedly if they were highly skilled.

Moreover, martial arts was a profession that consumed a great deal of resources. Only wealthy and powerful families could afford to support martial artists. Thus, martial artists naturally sided with rulers, further preventing heroes from emerging among the common people. Therefore, the structures of this world were twisted and malformed.

They were remarkably unjust.

Because of this, the times were indeed cruel.

After giving it some thought, Li Yi helplessly shook his head. He was struggling to survive himself; why should he worry about these things?

By this time, Zhao Qian had already arrived at the broker’s. She spent some money to rent a secluded courtyard from the broker and paid a hush money to settle the matter of their accommodation.

The brokers’ staff treated them with great respect and led them to their new residence.

Not long after.

A delicate quadrangle house by the river appeared before their eyes.

"This is the best courtyard we have. It’s expensive, but it’s definitely worth the money. Inside, you’ll find all kinds of furniture and utensils, and even the bedding is brand new. I just don’t know if you need a maid to do the laundry and cooking? The wages are very cheap—only one tael of silver for a whole year’s service. We also have pretty maids to warm your bed, varying from three to ten taels, depending on their literacy and ability to write,"

the broker said with a smile as he continued to introduce their services.

Zhao Qian glanced at Li Yi and her cheeks reddened slightly. She promptly said, "We don’t need any maids. Bring me two people who can butcher sheep, slaughter cattle, and stew meat. When they arrive, lead them straight to the kitchen to wait. Then, fetch me twenty mountain-raised yellow sheep. Don’t try to deceive me with domesticated ones—I can tell. As for the price, we’ll go by the market rate without shortchanging you."

"Yes, yes, yes, I’ve noted down your instructions, and I’ll get right on it," said the broker’s man, nodding and bowing repeatedly. Then he asked, "Do you need to purchase any Shan Zhen? We’ve recently caught an Eight Treasure Deer. It’s been raised for quite some days now, but we haven’t found a buyer. I fear today it’s just waiting for a noble person like you."

"Shan Zhen, Eight Treasure Deer? Good stuff. You can catch such treasures in this little town? You’re not trying to swindle me, are you?" Zhao Qian replied sternly, with the imposing air of a martial artist.

"Dare not, dare not,"

the broker’s man quickly explained, "That Eight Treasure Deer was a stroke of luck for a villager, who dug a pit and set a trap to capture it. He originally planned to take it to the city to sell for a good price, but fearing the long journey might cause problems, he sold it to us instead. We tried finding a few buyers, but who in this little town would be willing to part with such a delicacy? And so, it has been delayed for a few days. Today, we happened to meet the two of you, nobles, hence my mentioning it."

"How much for that Eight Treasure Deer?" asked Zhao Qian.

All of them had been injured and depleted their Qi-Blood. Having a mountain delicacy to replenish themselves would be beneficial.

The broker’s man gritted his teeth and said, "That Eight Treasure Deer weighs around fifty pounds. The boss said the very least would be two hundred taels."

"That’s a fair price. Bring it here, and if upon inspection, there are no issues, I’ll take it," Zhao Qian considered for a moment before nodding her head. Then she tossed an ingot of silver, "This is the deposit."

The broker’s man, upon receiving the money, immediately smiled, swiftly wrote out a receipt, and respectfully handed it over.

"Hurry and take care of it. If there’s any mix-up, I won’t let you off," Zhao Qian said, receiving the receipt and speaking sternly like a domineering wealthy young lady, which was completely different from her usual demeanor.

However, Li Yi understood that outside, it was necessary to be strong and fierce; otherwise, people would think you’re easy to bully and would slack off in their work for you.

"This servant will take care of it right away. Please wait just a moment,"

said the broker’s man as he bowed deeply and scampered off, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

After he left, Zhao Qian reverted to her previous innocent and adorable demeanor, and said with a giggle, "Brother Yi, it seems we’re quite lucky this time. We were actually able to find a mountain treasure in You Shui Town. That Eight Treasure Deer is not a common sight; it’s a top-notch ingredient for nourishing Qi-Blood. It’s just a pity that it weighs only about fifty pounds, a bit small. If it was around a hundred pounds, now that would be truly valuable."

"What’s the difference between the Eight Treasure Deer and a regular deer?" Li Yi inquired.

"Ordinary deer feed on wild grass in the mountains and drink from common streams, but the Eight Treasure Deer is different. It’s a wild deer that’s undergone transformation and gained wisdom—a spirit monster that knows cultivation. It wanders the mountains eating only herbal grasses there, such as gastrodia, Earth Dragon, and rhizoma coptidis. If it’s lucky, it might even consume big medicines like ginseng. When thirsty, it only licks morning frost and night dew. After eating these things, the essence of the herbs stays in the deer’s body, and over time, the deer is no longer just a deer but a medicine."

Zhao Qian patiently explained, "So the fatter the Eight Treasure Deer is, the more it shows that it has eaten a lot of good things, and thus, it’s worth more money. The broker said that deer weighed about fifty pounds, which must be a young deer. So its value is greatly reduced. If it were an Eight Treasure Deer weighing over a hundred pounds, a single one would be worth at least one thousand taels of silver, not to mention a buck with antlers. Then the price could double."

"Eight Treasure Deer antlers are also rare medicinal treasures. Moreover, they are called Eight Treasures because the antlers, bones, skin, sinews, blood, whip, meat, and fetus all are treasures. Hence the name Eight Treasure. Actually, I think this name isn’t accurate; it should be Seven Treasure Deer instead because bucks with antlers don’t have deer fetuses, and only does have deer fetuses but no antlers."

"You sure know a lot," Li Yi commented, looking at Zhao Qian, who spoke with fluency, his admiration apparent.

This knowledge wasn’t simple; it required patience to learn and memorize, unlike him, who only knew how to blindly take out his phone and look it up on the internet.

Zhao Qian, praised, suddenly smiled so much that her eyes curved, and she continued, "Actually, the Eight Treasure Deer have another great use. If you can tame them, then leading an Eight Treasure Deer would allow you to search for herbs in the mountains, guaranteeing a full return every time, and you can make a lot of money. And it’s said that the Eight Treasure Deer can find a special herb that has no name. People here call it Lu Xian Grass, which is a real treasure medicine that can greatly supplement essence and blood. Any common man who consumes it can maintain his vigor through the night... Pah, pah, these last parts weren’t said by me, they were all told to me by Shou Hou."

Having said this, her cheeks instantly flushed red, and she hurriedly turned her head away, no longer daring to look at Li Yi.

As a girl, how could she mention such explicit things, especially in front of Brother Yi?

If she had known earlier, she wouldn’t have shown off, inadvertently letting her mouth run with things she shouldn’t have said.

Afterward, Zhao Qian sneakily glanced over, feeling uneasy, worried that her crude words had upset Brother Yi and ruined the good impression she had made before.

Li Yi just smiled and didn’t seem to find anything wrong. He continued to ask, "So besides mountain treasures, what else is considered valuable here?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qian quickly steadied her spirit, leaving her previous embarrassment behind and with a slight blush, replied, "Rare items amongst the mountains are called mountain treasures. Apart from the Eight Treasure Deer, there are the Red Gall Snake, Fire Frog, golden cicada, Seven-star Worm, and so on. These are all mountain treasures. But those hidden in the water are called treasures or ’water treasures’, like the Red Eyebrow Dragon Whisker Fish, Golden Turtle, tiger head black fish, Four-clawed Snake Lizard, Blood Coral, golden pearls birthed by a thousand-year-old clam, and so on."

"Of course, there are also mountain treasures, also called earth treasures, which refer to the big medicine buried under the soil, such as hundred-year-old ginseng, Mountain Spirit, Tai Sui, and the like. Hence, when we refer to ’treasures,’ we are talking about these rare items. Each treasure, depending on its age, has a different degree of rarity. However, all these are the essences of nature and the terrain, and consuming them is very beneficial for a Martial Artist’s cultivation."

After listening, Li Yi had his horizons greatly expanded. Some things became clear to him, and he realized that there were such precious things in this world. It seemed he had much to learn about the Four Seas and Eight Continents, having just arrived.

Zhao Qian now entered the yard, led the horse into the stable, and then said, "These days, mountain and water treasures are becoming harder and harder to find. There are many Martial Artists in the world, and everyone wants to rely on these treasures to nourish their Qi-Blood and break through in their cultivation. The reason why my father was able to successfully become a Qi Cultivation Expert was that when I was a child, I accompanied my father on a trip past a village. We happened to encounter the rare sight of an ancient tree struck by lightning. That bolt of lightning not only killed the ancient tree but also brought out an Earth Dragon that had become climatized inside the tree."

"My father obtained that mountain treasure, and with this opportunity, he was able to break through to Blood Refining and Spleen Opening. Of course, another part of the reason was that at that time my father’s Qi-Blood was still at its peak. If a few more years had passed, and the Qi-Blood of a Martial Artist had declined, even an Earth Dragon would have been of no use."

She then related an extraordinary story and recounted a part of Zhao Ge’s growth history.

"I didn’t realize Master had such an opportunity. It seems quite difficult for an ordinary person to become a Qi Cultivation Expert," said Li Yi.

"Indeed, it’s not easy. For an ordinary person practicing martial arts, talent is a very important hurdle. And it’s not enough to have good talent; one must also reach the Blood Refining Peak before the age of twenty-nine to have a chance to break through to Refining Points. If you reach thirty and the Qi-Blood starts to decline, then you can forget about a breakthrough for the rest of your life. In reality, reaching Blood Refining by the age of thirty is already considered to be decent talent. Brother Yi killed Han Sui and Jin Bufen not long ago; they were stuck at the Blood Refining Peak and without the chance, would have remained that way for life."

"Only by mastering Blood Refining and Spleen Opening can you control Qi-Blood, so experts in Refining Points can maintain their martial prowess peak until the age of sixty. After that, they will slowly lose Qi-Blood due to old age and weakening bodies. But even so, a Refining Points expert can retain a core of Heart Blood. Once it erupts, even if they are on the brink of death, they can instantly regain their peak strength and fight their enemies."

Zhao Qian continued, "That’s why a Martial Arts Hall needs to establish itself and requires an expert in Refining Points to be in charge. Without an expert in Refining Points, the Martial Arts Hall cannot last long. Even if it flourishes for a time, it is prone to decline. If it wasn’t for father’s battle with the Yin God, which injured his Divine Soul and left him unable to summon that Heart Blood, then the Han and Jin families wouldn’t have dared to be so presumptuous."

At this point, she blamed herself again because her father’s injury had a lot to do with her.

"Don’t blame yourself. With me here, everything will get better. After rebuilding Zhao’s Martial Arts Hall, next time I’ll bring more nutrient solution to help Rong Niang and Shou Hou recover and strengthen their Qi-Blood. Who knows, they might also manage Blood Refining and Spleen Opening and become Qi Cultivation Experts. By then, Zhao’s Martial Arts Hall will be a top power in Sanyang City."

Li Yi walked over and, like Rong Niang, patted her head with a smile to comfort her.

"Hmm, with Brother Yi here, these challenges are nothing," Zhao Qian nodded obediently, not doubting for a moment that Li Yi could make it all happen.