Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 694 Revenge (Part 1)

"Hold your breath, focus your energy, and let your waist and stance become one. How many times have I told you this?" Meng Ren said mercilessly, "If you want to get ahead, you have to sweat and shed tears. If you're unwilling to endure hardship now, do you expect a happy life later? Keep dreaming!"

The disciple who had been kicked to the ground did not utter a sound, but got up with a face full of shame and continued to stand in the horse stance.

Most of these disciples were previously displaced refugees who were starving.

It was Meng Ren who took them in, gave them food, and kept them at the boxing gym to teach them a skill so they could make a living.

Therefore, even if Meng Ren's words were harsh, his blows were still painful.

But to these disciples who had suffered greatly in their childhood, this seemingly fierce-looking bald man was their great benefactor.

Time passed slowly, the sun gradually rose, the sun blazed overhead, and the yang energy was abundant.

Large beads of sweat, mingling with the scorching sunlight, fell like rain.

Meng Ren raised his hand and squinted slightly at the sky.

After observing the disciples' performance, he waved his hand and said, "Alright, everyone, take a break. We'll practice again this afternoon."

Upon hearing his words, the disciples were greatly surprised and lined up in a long queue to receive the medicinal soup in a corner of the courtyard.

In the corner, a large, dark iron pot was filled with bubbling, red medicinal soup that emitted a pungent odor.

An ordinary-looking young man with a resolute gaze was serving soup to each of his disciples with a large iron ladle.

This medicinal soup may look unappealing, and its texture is even more mushy. One sip and you're hit with a barrage of bitter, earthy, and spicy flavors. Yet, this is the key support that allows the many disciples of Meng Ren's martial arts school to maintain their training and persevere.

These disciples came from few wealthy families; most were poor, or even homeless children.

Suffering from hunger and hardship from a young age, struggling for food and clothing, resulting in stunted growth and a weak foundation—that's a minor issue. Some people even suffer from hidden internal injuries due to malnutrition.

Practicing martial arts is not an easy or enjoyable thing.

In the early stages of martial arts training, insufficient nutrition can overwhelm the body's energy expenditure. Not only will martial arts skills fail to develop, but backlash may even occur, shortening lifespan.

Therefore, drinking a bowl of "Six Treasures Body-Nourishing Soup" has become an indispensable part of the daily training for martial arts disciples at the gym.

"Senior Brother...give me more."

"Thank you, Senior Brother..."

After the last disciple bowed his head in thanks, Meng Ren slowly walked up to Liu Zhi. "Zhi, how much medicinal soup is left? Enough for several uses?"

Most of the outstanding disciples who graduated from the martial arts school were sent to the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect on a voluntary basis.

They were trained as outer disciples.

But as time went on, several years passed.

There will always be some disciples who are unwilling to leave and want to find another way out.

Perhaps he lacked the talent to train in martial arts and went out to make a living. Or perhaps out of gratitude, wanting to repay Meng Ren's kindness, he voluntarily stayed.

Liu Zhi is the reason for the latter.

He had decent talent and was originally considered a key talent for development, with the opportunity to be sent to the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect for better opportunities. However, he decided to stay and take Meng Ren as his master.

Meng Ren has many things to do and can't stay at the boxing gym all the time. He does need a senior disciple like this to help him handle things.

So, going with the flow, the matter was settled.

“Master, I just estimated that the Six Treasures Body-Nourishing Soup can last for about four or five days.” Liu Zhi pondered for a moment. “The fox tail grass, Thousand Yang Water and other medicinal materials are still sufficient. The main problem is that the amount of white jade is not enough, and there are only a few black flame bear gallbladders left. At most, we can use them three or four more times.”

The Six Treasures Nourishing Body Soup naturally requires six different medicinal herbs, all of which are highly nourishing, yin-nourishing, fluid-generating, qi-tonifying, and blood-nourishing tonics. Furthermore, they are mild in nature and can be used gradually.

The most suitable candidates are those who are weak in childhood and have suffered hidden injuries, such as martial arts school disciples.

“White jade ginseng is easy to find; prices have gone up a bit, but you can always buy it with money… If all else fails, you can always find it in the wild. But…” Meng Ren frowned upon hearing this, “Black Flame Bear gallbladders… we need to think of a way to deal with that.” “Master, didn’t we find traces of Black Flame Bears last time we went into the mountains?” Liu Zhi suggested, “Prepare bait, lure them out, and kill them.”

“No, that thing is too cunning.” Meng Ren shook his head. “Once this method is used, it won’t fall for it again.”

Seeing that Liu Zhi still wanted to speak, he waved his hand and said, "Alright, Zhi, you'll be in charge of training the new disciples this afternoon. Don't worry about this."

Meng Ren always meant what he said.

Seeing this outcome, Liu Zhika had no choice but to swallow his suggestion.

Actually, he's been the senior disciple for quite some time.

They also vaguely realized that their master was not as simple as he seemed on the surface.

In fact, this boxing gym seems to have a powerful backer. It appears to be protected by another major force.

Of course, he kept this matter to himself and never mentioned it to anyone else.

Meng Ren was not only his savior, but also his mentor and family.

The boxing gym is his home.

……………

The sun hangs high in the sky, blazing like fire.

Meng Ren slowly walked out of the boxing gym and onto the street outside.

"Oh dear, Instructor Meng..."

"Child, quickly greet Instructor Meng."

"Hello... Instructor..." The little girl, with two pigtails, greeted him timidly.

"Good child, really good child." Meng Ren, with his shiny bald head, had an unexpectedly kind expression as he gently stroked the little girl's hair.

He responded with a smile as he strode quickly toward the central street without stopping. The boxing gym was initially established simply to serve as an outer stronghold for the Myriad Beasts Sect to cultivate new blood.

But Meng Ren had a frightening appearance; he was strong and muscular, with a fierce bald head and a loud voice.

At first, the neighbors all thought that someone had come to collect protection money.

However, as time went on, they discovered that it was different from other places.

The boxing gym, lacking its own fighting strength, became arrogant and domineering, causing trouble everywhere and demanding money and goods.

On the contrary, regardless of whether they were from wealthy families or were ordinary people, they were all admitted and treated equally, receiving the same education.

Once you get to this point, everyone will understand.

It's true that this boxing gym wants to make money, but it has a clever way of doing so. Its target is the sons of wealthy and powerful families, while it gives extra consideration to ordinary people like them.

In particular, there are so many orphans, homeless children, and those whose families have been torn apart...

The boxing gym even recruited him, giving him a job and a skill to rely on.

Gradually, Meng Ren began to be known as the "Great Philanthropist Meng" among his neighbors.

Despite his somewhat fierce appearance, people assumed he was kind-hearted despite his grotesque looks and didn't take him seriously.

Central Avenue, Guangcun Pharmacy.

In front of the pharmacy, racks were set up to dry various medicinal herbs: arisaema, viburnum, and dragon's beard stems...

A faint herbal aroma wafts on the breeze.

Perhaps because it is located on a street corner, the signboard is not visible and the location is not good.

Or perhaps it was noon, and at that time, there was only one apprentice yawning at the counter in the pharmacy, and no one else.

"Give me three ounces of lotus seeds, three ounces of auspicious cloud, and three ounces of jade chrysanthemum. Wrap them in a medicine packet, boil them into a medicinal soup, and make sure there's not a single dreg." Meng Ren strode towards the counter and quickly rattled off a string of words.

The apprentice at the pharmacy rubbed his eyes and said with a forced smile, "Sir, it's really unfortunate. Of the three herbs you mentioned, Jade Chrysanthemum is out of stock. How about I give you another one, the effects of which are about the same?"

"No, I only want this one, nothing else." Meng Ren shook his head. "Do you have any purple velvet ointment?"

"Unfortunately, sir, we don't have that either," the apprentice said with a wry smile.

"You don't have this, you don't have that... then what's the point of running a pharmacy?" Meng Ren said discontentedly. "Then I don't want any of that, just give me a pound of dragon beard candy."

“Sir, this dragon beard candy…” the apprentice said with a grim expression, “You’ll have to buy it from the restaurant next door. We only sell medicine here, not pastries.”

"I'm buying from you today!" Meng Ren glared at him, his eyes wide with fury. "Will you sell to me or not?"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

The pharmacy was small, only about twenty square meters. Meng Ren was tall, strong, and skilled in martial arts.

At this moment, his aura erupted, frightening the apprentice, an ordinary person, into trembling.

"Sell, sell," the apprentice at the pharmacy asked timidly. "How many do you want?"

"I want three catties, three ounces, and three li, not a penny less," Meng Ren said without hesitation.

As soon as he finished speaking, the apprentice in the pharmacy smiled, and the atmosphere relaxed: "Instructor Meng, please come in."

Meng Ren laughed as well: "Your acting is pretty good, kid. You almost fooled me too."

The apprentice reminded him, "Instructor Meng, we've already used the 'fire' character command; next time we'll use the 'continuous' character command. Don't forget."

"To be honest, isn't it troublesome to keep changing this password every time?" Meng Ren said helplessly. "If it weren't for my good memory, most people would have forgotten it long ago." "This is a password personally arranged by the sect leader," the apprentice said with a smile. "If the instructor has any objections, he can report it to the sect leader."

"What plan did you come up with, brother?" Meng Ren said in a muffled voice. "Fine, let's leave it at that."

Within the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, he could ignore anyone's words.

Only Han Yi was truly convinced.

I don't know why it's so complicated with all these people coming and going when we're all on the same side.

But since it was Han Yi who gave the order, there must be a reason behind it.

As Meng Ren pondered this, he strode forward.

I lifted the curtain and walked towards the backyard of the pharmacy.

This seemingly inconspicuous pharmacy is actually an external stronghold set up by the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect near the boxing gym.

Firstly, it was to facilitate reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. Secondly, it was to protect Meng Ren and his boxing gym, providing timely support.

After all, this boxing gym is currently the only place within the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect that can cultivate new talent, and it cannot afford to lose it.

Meng Ren knew the way well. He arrived at the backyard, walked to a room that was not open to the public, and pushed the door open without even knocking.

"Hey, Yaohui, is it your turn to be on duty this time?"

Sitting in the room was none other than Tao Yaohui, the deputy head of the Shadow Hall and Han Yi's only disciple by name.

The stronghold in Linqiu City is extremely important, so it is always guarded by experts from the Shadow Hall.

"Uncle Meng, what's wrong? Does the boxing gym need any help?" Tao Yaohui asked with a smile.

To maintain secrecy, the relationship between the boxing gym and the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect should be kept hidden as much as possible. Meng Ren generally doesn't come unless there's something really wrong.

Meng Ren didn't stand on ceremony and got straight to the point, plopping down in a chair: "The Six Treasures Body-Nourishing Soup is running out. The two main ingredients, white jade ginseng and black flame bear bile, are in short supply and won't last more than a few days."

“White jade ginseng, black flame bear bile…” Tao Yaohui frowned slightly, pondering.

He picked up the ledger next to him and glanced at it.

"Black Flame Bear Bile is manageable; there's still a considerable stock at headquarters. But White Jade Ginseng... we're out of stock here too. It'll probably take a while before we can collect enough from the market."

“White jade ginseng… how could that be?” Meng Ren asked, puzzled. “Isn’t this just a common medicinal herb? It’s just a bit more expensive. It’s not as rare and precious as black flame bear bile.”

"It's all because of what happened in Huayang City recently..." Tao Yaohui shook his head helplessly. "It's said that a sorcerer attacked and killed the commander of the government army's granary, and took the opportunity to set fire to and destroy the granary. This caused market fluctuations, and all the scarce supplies were seized by the government army."

"Alright, then send the Black Flame Bear Gallbladder over first. I'll figure out a way to get the White Jade Ginseng myself." Meng Ren could only nod helplessly upon hearing this. "Send it to the usual place. If I'm not here, give it to Liu Zhi."

“Uncle Meng, speaking of your eldest disciple, shouldn’t we find an opportunity to explain things to him?” Tao Yaohui suggested. “Or, we could just bring him into the Shadow Hall as an outer disciple. We can’t keep it a secret forever.”

"Hmm. I'll find a way to resolve this when the time is right." Meng Ren rubbed his forehead, seemingly also troubled by the matter.