In the world of martial arts, grind your skill level to become a saint.

"You're probably referring to supplements, right?"

The middle-aged man nodded slightly and asked with a smile.

"Yes! It should be considered a tonic, something that can accelerate the enhancement of qi and blood without affecting the body's fundamental constitution!"

Su Hao nodded as well.

Now he understood that what he was looking for was collectively known as supplements.

"Of course there are, but there are many kinds of supplements, including medicinal herbs and meats. Naturally, the stronger the effect of these things, the more expensive they are."

The middle-aged man glanced at Su Hao, who was wrapped in a black robe, but didn't seem to care. He continued, "May I ask what kind of tonic you would like, sir?"

"Please introduce yourself to me."

Su Hao had no idea about these things, and then casually mentioned his budget to the other party, which was only about three taels of silver.

This amount was only achieved by combining his savings with the money he earned from selling books previously.

"Well..." Upon hearing that Su Hao's budget was only around three taels of silver, the man in blue hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"With this budget, we might first have to exclude medicinal herbs and meat. However, there is a rather special type of meat that is highly nutritious and has a strong effect on replenishing qi and blood. I wonder if you would be able to accept that?"

"Tell me about it." Su Hao nodded.

"This meat is called Red-headed Sea Frog Jerky, it costs three taels of silver per catty, but the smell is not very good... however, its effects are quite potent..."

The taste wasn't quite right?

Su Hao frowned, feeling this wasn't a major problem. "May I take a look?"

He had never heard of what a red-headed frog was, but since its jerky could sell for three taels of silver per pound, it must be quite a rare item.

"Wait a moment!" The man in blue nodded, then walked into the counter, rummaged around for a bit, and finally took out a large, semi-transparent porcelain jar.

He opened the porcelain jar, and a strong, fishy smell, similar to that of seafood like squid, wafted out.

It just has a stronger smell than squid.

The man then used a pair of wooden tongs to pick out a shriveled, grayish frog carcass with a touch of scarlet on its head, and placed it on the counter for Su Hao to examine.

Su Hao didn't pay much attention and simply picked up the shriveled frog carcass to examine it.

It didn't seem as bad as the pharmacy owner had said; he even had a feeling that it was just dried squid.

"Does this thing actually work?"

Su Hao asked with some doubt.

After all, this was the first time he had ever seen this species of frog, let alone eaten it.

Therefore, I also have some doubts about its efficacy.

"If it's useless, you can return it to the store and get your money back in full."

The man in blue laughed.

He runs a pharmacy; he wouldn't sell fake medicine for a few taels of silver and ruin his reputation.

Upon hearing this, Su Hao no longer hesitated and directly bought a pound of dried red-headed sea frog meat before leaving the pharmacy.

"A pound of sea frog meat cost three taels of silver, enough to cover a month's living expenses of eating meat at every meal. Truly, the poor are scholars, the rich are warriors!"

As Su Hao walked down the street, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Only now do I truly understand what Zhou Zhengtang meant by the expenses he mentioned back then.

Now, a pound of dried meat has almost emptied his savings.

This is even with the fact that he currently has many ways to make money.

If he only made a living by blacksmithing, it would be difficult for him to ensure that he could eat meat every meal, let alone buy supplements to replenish his qi and blood.

"Hopefully it works, otherwise this money will have been wasted..."

Su Hao sighed softly.

After purchasing the tonics, Su Hao did not linger but left the medicine street and headed out of the market.

Just as he returned to the vicinity of his residence in Rat Alley, he suddenly saw a large group of people in the area ahead, holding torches and chanting slogans such as "All beings are in bliss."

"Again?"

Su Hao looked around before hiding in a somewhat dilapidated and abandoned courtyard, leaning against a crack in the half-collapsed wall to observe what was happening outside.

He has noticed that these followers are starting their activities earlier and earlier. In the past, they would do so in the middle of the night and then into the night, but now they start as soon as it gets dark.

The sounds of the team grew closer, and Su Hao could vaguely hear some sounds like violently kicking down a door, but they were all drowned out by the chants.

It also contained some angry curses and a woman's screams.

Although Su Hao couldn't see clearly outside through the crack, he could tell from the movements that these people were definitely not up to any good.

As the group drew closer, Su Hao withdrew his prying gaze.

He didn't jump out of the courtyard again until these people had gone far away.

He glanced in the direction the people had left, then quickened his pace toward his residence.

However, when he returned to his small courtyard, his gaze fell on the several extra footprints on the wooden door, and the entire wooden door also showed signs of cracking.

It was clearly damaged by brute force.

However, it did not collapse because Su Hao had added an extra layer of iron plate for reinforcement.

Su Hao frowned, unlocked the door, and then plugged it in.

Seeing the slightly deformed iron plates reinforcing the walls on both sides of the doorway, a sense of gloom settled in his heart.

Clearly, those followers must have passed by his residence and tried to force their way in.

These guys are becoming increasingly brazen in their behavior.

"Looks like we need to speed things up!"

Su Hao felt increasingly urgent and uneasy.

He could imagine that if he had been at home, the lights inside would have attracted the attention of the marching believers.

Nobody knows what their next move will be after they discover there are people inside.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Su Hao went to the kitchen and started a fire to cook frog meat porridge.

He asked the pharmacy owner, who said that this thing could be grilled, stir-fried, or used to make porridge, and that it could be eaten in any way, but the fishy smell was impossible to remove.

It is precisely because of its strong fishy smell that it is covered up and processed by both men and women that its price is relatively low compared to other tonics.

However, Su Hao didn't care. He just thought the fishy smell was similar to that of squid. Besides, he didn't have the right to be picky. He was already lucky to be able to eat such a nourishing food.

After the porridge boiled, Su Hao threw in the soaked and chopped frog meat, added salt, oil, and ginger, then covered the pot and continued to simmer.

Twenty minutes later, a pot of frog meat porridge was ready.

Su Hao scooped up a spoonful and tasted it, his brows furrowing.

It really does smell fishy!

It seems that the boiling process brought out all the fishy smell inside.

However, it's still within an acceptable range.

Su Hao placed a plate of dried chilies roasted over charcoal, sprinkled it with a few grains of coarse salt, and then picked up a pot of frog meat porridge to eat.

As he ate the frog meat porridge, perhaps because of the chili peppers, Su Hao felt a warm sensation in his lower abdomen, and the warmth began to spread from his lower body upwards.

It feels similar to drinking a blood-nourishing soup.

"It really works!"

Su Hao also realized that it wasn't the chili peppers that were working, but the frog meat!

Su Hao quickly devoured the pot of frog meat porridge. Without stopping, he got up and began practicing his stance training in the courtyard.

The repeated practice of stance training quickly left Su Hao drenched in sweat.

But he still felt the warmth in his body rising.

It seems that the blood flow rate is also increasing and accelerating.

Most importantly, Su Hao discovered that the proficiency value, which had been increasing slowly, seemed to be increasing along with the accelerated flow of qi and blood in his body!