Chapter 32 Not One Looks Like a Demon (4 more - s)

"...Why are you here?""Why wouldn’t I be here? This martial arts hall only has one cafeteria. Also, what were you planning to do with my meatballs?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Fang Yu hastily retracted his hand.

He had an inexplicable feeling that if he had slapped down just now, something bad might have happened.

"I forgot to mention it to that fatty. I’ll go and tell him later, your meatballs for the next two months are ours, and next time you can only get the basic food allowance. Don’t look at me like that, I’m just taking your share for the first ten days, the rest belongs to others."

The fatty Zhong Mei referred to seemed to be the chubby chef who was distributing the food just now.

Watching Zhong Mei swallow a meatball in one gulp.

Ring ring ring!

The tinkling resonance sounded again. A dense series of health bars popped up over Zhong Mei’s body and quickly disappeared.

Then, Fang Yu saw...

Fang Yu was immediately dumbfounded.

"You... you’ve gotten stronger?"

"Eh? How did you know? Hehe! That’s the effect of the Yuan Heart Meatballs! Let’s be clear, a deal is a deal, and there’s no backing out."

Munch all you want, eat till you burst!

With all those heart-piercing demons in you, I don’t know how you’re going to live after they bore out!

Though the heart-piercing demon’s resonance increased Zhong Mei’s health by 1 point, Fang Yu couldn’t bear to let such things into his body.

Zhong Mei ate another meatball, and after the tinkling resonance, everything calmed down, with no change to the health bar.

Cleaning up the rest of the food like a whirlwind, downing the soup in one gulp.

"Leaving."

She said she was leaving and vanished in an instant.

As swiftly as the thunder.

Fang Yu thought about it and hurriedly finished his food too.

To his surprise, he was still hungry after eating!

Could it be because I haven’t eaten anything in reality?

Fang Yu logged out, boiled a bowl of instant noodles, and ate.

Then he went back into the game.

His character was still at the dining table, but with his face down on the table, as if he had fallen asleep.

He sat up straight, the feeling of fullness from reality was gone in the game.

It seems that the character was indeed still hungry.

The cafeteria’s food wasn’t enough to fill the stomach.

No wonder Zhong Mei ate so fast, without seeming satiated.

But in reality, the amount of food provided by the cafeteria was already the normal amount for an adult.

The problem was that as the body became stronger, the demand for food also increased.

Fang Yu went to the fatty to ask for more food, but it cost money and was ridiculously expensive, so he decisively turned around and went back to the martial arts training ground to continue practicing his swordsmanship.

, proficiency +1.]

, experience points +1.]

After practicing for an hour or two, his stomach was growling with hunger again, slowing down his martial arts training efficiency.

On top of that, he felt a severe depletion of his physical strength, and he was incredibly tired, so he decided to call it quits.

Just then, Shi Zhongmei came over.

Upon seeing Fang Yu packing up, she was slightly surprised.

"Stopping practice?"

"Yes."

"What will you do now?"

"Go home, eat."

Zhong Mei rarely showed a toothy, shallow smile.

"You definitely didn’t get enough to eat at noon, did you? You’re now a martial artist, and the qi-blood powers all the strength in your body, leading to huge consumption. As a result, your need for food has greatly increased. When you go back, you can prepare some food supplements for yourself; what the cafeteria provides isn’t sufficient."

"Also, your training intensity today was excessive. When you go back, remember to buy some medicated plasters for your body. With such high-intensity training, your body suffers a lot of damage. If you don’t promptly apply medicine for maintenance, tomorrow you won’t even be able to make it to the martial arts hall."

This seemed to be advice from Zhong Mei’s experience.

Other senior brothers had mentioned this before too.

Fang Yu hadn’t taken it seriously because going to the pharmacy would cost quite a bit of money, and he was reluctant to spend it.

But from what Zhong Mei said, it seemed like this expense was inescapable.

"Practicing martial arts is costly. To train well, you must keep up with both medicinal and food supplements. The supplements provided by the martial arts hall are just the basics; you’ll need to purchase additional nourishing food items and consume them daily, lots of meat and fish, in order to keep up with the consumption of martial arts training."

Fang Yu was dejected; it seemed like money was needed everywhere.

He had to think of ways to earn some silver.

Seeking some medicinal and dietary supplement formulas from Shi Zhongmei, Fang Yu then left the martial arts school.

At this point, it was already afternoon, a little while before dusk, but not far off.

Not long after leaving the martial arts school, Fang Yu was so hungry he could hardly stand it.

He randomly picked a stall on the roadside, spending five coins for a bowl of noodles.

The result was one bowl, then two, three... after five bowls, he finally felt a bit better.

Hasn’t he turned into a big eater now?

Seeing the noodle stall owner’s look of adoration, like seeing the God of Wealth, Fang Yu paid with a heavy heart and decided to head home.

His first stop was the pharmacy.

He recited the prescriptions Shi Zhongmei had given him, and to his surprise, the pharmacy’s clerk went about preparing them with practiced ease.

"Marvelous Eight Medicinal Soup, a fundamental nourishing tonic. People from your Yuanxin Martial Arts School come here for this often; we’re quite accustomed to it."

"There’s also the topical grass mushroom, used for relieving muscle fatigue, another formula you all frequently use. And this prescription you’ve provided..."

Alright...

Listening to the pharmacy shopkeeper recount his knowledge like listing family treasures, Fang Yu understood.

It seems everyone abides by the principle of proximity, going straight to the nearest pharmacy by the martial arts school to get their prescriptions filled.

From what the shopkeeper said, these formulas were quite common; any martial artist would know them and they aren’t of much value.

The real value lies in the medicinal materials.

"That’ll be three taels of silver in total. Boil the medicinal soup when you get back; it’ll last you 15 days. The other medicines are also for a 15-day supply. Use these first. If you run out, come back and buy from me."

At the end, the shopkeeper sneaked closer and whispered, "I’ve got some other prescriptions with even better effects, I’ll give you a good deal if you buy them."

Ghost!

No way he’s buying. What a rip-off!

When Fang Yu stepped out of the pharmacy holding several packages of medicinal materials, he felt like his heart was bleeding.

The martial arts school only provides meals worth two taels a month, and this pharmacy charged three taels for just half a month’s supply of medicine.

Sighing, Fang Yu made his way to his next destination—the marketplace.

As for dietary supplements, well, it was just about eating right.

Just buy more good fish and meat.

Fang Yu was busy calculating his money when he saw two giggling children running past him.

"We caught a demon! We caught a demon!"

"Off with the head! Off with the head! I want to see the beheading show!"

Demon?!

Fang Yu was startled.

He looked towards the two children running in the direction of the marketplace.

A bit further ahead, he could see a crowd gathered together, slowly moving forward, as if watching some exciting event.

Fang Yu’s spirit was instantly buoyed.

The atmosphere of a crowd! That executioner, release that demon, let me do it!

Fang Yu felt he might need to play executioner for once.

He quickly made his way to the front and squeezed into the crowd.

In the center of the crowd, people from the Foolish Underworld were escorting a large prison cart.

Pressured inside were five prisoners, supposedly the so-called demons.

Fang Yu, brimming with interest, took a closer look.

What’s going on?

Not one of them looks like a demon!

Damn!

Premature excitement!

Are you guys kidding me? Did you catch the wrong people?

Looking closer, Fang Yu saw a familiar face among the Foolish Underworld team.

It was none other than Yue Guang, the left-hand man from Li Qianxuan’s squad.

Fang Yu shouted, "Brother Yue," and waved at him.

But Yue Guang on the other side didn’t react.

Fang Yu looked up and finally noticed Yue Guang’s health bar.

Fang Yu: ...