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nThe rest of the journey went smoothly. After ten minutes, he arrived at the village indicated in the address from Senior Brother Wang.

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nThis village was different from the other villages he had encountered along the way.

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nAt the entrance, many villagers and vehicles carrying goods were entering and exiting the village. It was bustling like a farmers’ market.

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nPast the village entrance, both sides of the street were lined with supermarkets, bakeries and other shops that sold daily necessities. All the shops were open for business.

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nThis scene was just like when there was no war in the west, as if the village was completely unaffected by the war. It was like a paradise.

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nChen Yiming wandered around the village and finally found the address given by Senior Brother Wang. It was a drugstore called Jihe Hall.

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nThe space in the drugstore was not big. It was about five meters wide and less than ten meters deep.

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nThere were not many items on the shelves, with only a few common drugs scattered around. It looked like business was very bad.

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nAn old man with gray hair, dressed in a black cloth robe, was using an abacus to do his accounting at the counter.

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nHe was probably getting on in years, and was farsighted. He had to get close to the account book from time to time to read it clearly.

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nChen Yiming had just entered and was about to speak when two figures appeared behind him, blocking out the light from outside. The interior of the shop darkened significantly.

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nTwo brawny men had followed him into the shop and blocked the entrance completely.

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nThe man on the left had a round face while the man on the right had a long face. They were both about two meters tall, and were a head taller than Chen Yiming. Their bodies were completely covered with well-defined muscles, unlike ordinary villagers.

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nThe old man looked up at him and asked, “Young man, you look unfamiliar. What’s the matter?”

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n“I’m Chen Yiming from Mantis Snake Sword School. Senior Brother Wang introduced me to you,”

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nChen Yiming blurted out.

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nAt this moment, he realized that his actions of checking the apartment numbers had been noticed by someone, and they suspected that he had bad intentions.

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nBefore the old man could verify his identity, the round-faced man interrupted, “So it’s Brother Wang who introduced you to us. We’re on the same side.”

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nAfter he finished speaking, he laughed out loud. He was no longer as fierce as before, and a strange sense of joy appeared instead.

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nThe thin-faced man turned to him angrily and punched him in the chest.

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n“Foolish little brother, don’t believe everything others say. First, let’s see what Old Man Zhang has to say.”

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nThe old man adjusted his reading glasses and sized Chen Yiming up.

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n“Soft and weak, about 1.8 meters tall, white training robe, wooden sword, basically matching what Grandson Wang said.”

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nThe round-faced man touched his swollen chest and looked unconvinced.

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n“I told you he was one of us. Big brother, you always overthink things. You didn’t have to punch me so hard, it still hurts.”

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nThe thin-faced man glared and lectured him.

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n“You deserved it, you don’t ever learn your lesson. Why are you talking so much? That’s not part of your job.”

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nThe round-faced man and the thin-faced man were twin brothers, but their personalities were completely different. The round-faced man was loud and boisterous, and he had a one-track mind. The thin-faced man, on the other hand, was calm and rational, and he took things seriously.

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n“Little brother, don’t take it to heart. This is the Wang clan’s village. These two brothers are from the village’s patrol team. Grandson Wang has already told me about you, just come with me,” the old man said as he walked out from behind the counter.

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n“So it’s Senior Brother Wang’s family. No wonder all of them are so muscular. It must be a talent shared by everyone in the clan,” Chen Yiming thought to himself.

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nThe old man slowly walked to the corner wall and took out a bunch of keys to open a secret door in the wall. Then, the two of them entered the hidden room of the drugstore one after the other.

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nThe air was filled with the pungent smell of Chinese medicine.

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nA U-shaped cabinet as tall as the ceiling stood with its back against three walls. Each of the drawers was labeled with the name of its contents.

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nOther than that, a few large wooden boxes were placed on the ground, each more than a meter wide.

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nThe old man pointed at the cabinet and said, “The left side of the cabinet contains dried mutant beast meat that can help increase one’s power. Those in the right side of the cabinet can help increase one’s physical strength. And those in the front part of the cabinet can help increase one’s speed.”

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n“Using these three types of dried meat can make up for the limitations of the physical body to a certain extent.”

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n“We have a special document that proves that these dried meat are produced by the otherworld farms. We will definitely not trick you by selling a fake product.”

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nChen Yiming looked in the direction that the old man was pointing.

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nDried black ringed snake meat, 3,000 yuan per kilogram.

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nDried snow deer thigh meat, 4,000 yuan per kilogram.

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nBengal tiger tail, 100,000 yuan each.

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nThe prices were too high for him. He was not like many other trainees who had been going out to work for a long time. All his expenses had to be paid with his family’s money, and he could not afford such a huge expense.

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nSeeing that the old man had gotten impatient, Chen Yiming asked quietly, “Is there anything cheaper?”

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nThe old man was taken aback and replied with some confusion, “Of those that suit the style of the Mantis Snake Sword School, the black ringed snake meat is probably the cheapest. This snake meat can not only nourish the body, but also make the body more flexible.”

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n“But you have to know that the human body is a system. It’s impossible to just strengthen one aspect, so it’s best to eat these different types of meat in combination.”

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nChen Yiming’s face turned red as he shrugged.

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n“I’d like to know which is the cheapest type of mutant beast meat here.”

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nThe old man glanced at him and immediately understood the situation. He squatted down and opened a wooden box.

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n“Black pork, smoked and dried. 200 yuan a kilogram.”

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nThe black pork, which had been cut into pieces, was tied up with ropes and placed neatly in a wooden box. The surface of the meat was black, and the oil on it had not completely solidified.

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nAt first glance, Chen Yiming thought that it was just ordinary cured meat.

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nThe pigs were brought to the otherworld and raised there, then the cured meat was transported back. The journey there and back had increased the price by seven or eight times.

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nIn his previous world, athletes were forbidden from eating pork. Even if they were raised in the otherworld, since the price was much cheaper than the other dried meat, he wondered how effective it would be.

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nThe old man seemed to notice his hesitation and continued, “You get what you pay for. This is already the price offered to the Wang clan. It’s at least double the price for outsiders.”

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n“The stronger you are, the more energy you will use up. If you rely on ordinary meat, your body will suffer a deficit and you may injure yourself, which will make it harder for your future breakthroughs.”

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n“Let’s not talk about the other aspects of this black pork. In terms of replenishing the body’s energy, many other types of dried meat that are way more expensive cannot even compare to it.”

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nChen Yiming’s eyes lit up. The main function of the black pork was to replenish his body’s energy, which was exactly what he needed. He had his special ability to boost his martial arts talent, so the types of mutant beast meat that made up for his physical limitations were not important to him.

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nRecently, when he was training, he could feel more and more clearly that ordinary meat could no longer replenish his energy fast enough to keep up with the intensity of his cultivation.

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nJust as the old man had said, if he continued to rely on ordinary meat to replenish the energy consumed, it was really possible that his body would be injured.

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nHe made up his mind and immediately paid up for a piece of the meat to test its effect.

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nIt weighed over three kilograms and cost nearly 700 yuan.

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nAfter leaving the drugstore, he hung the smoked black pork in front of his bicycle. He was not afraid that other people would be concerned with something that cost several hundred yuan, and cycled back the way he came.

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