Chapter 11: Even the Landlord Has No Grain to Spare
Lu Yun said, "Jingsheng, I’ve come this time for more than just a visit. I have some instructions for you."
Upon hearing this, Lu Jingsheng immediately straightened his spine. "Please, Father, give me your orders."
"Go to the storeroom. The centennial ginseng, Old Mountain Lingzhi, snow lotuses, deer antlers... all the aged and potent restorative herbs I’ve collected over the years. Starting now, I want you to take stock of all of them. Don’t miss a single one. Bring them all to my courtyard."
"From now on, I will personally look after these items."
After listening, Lu Jingsheng’s face showed no trace of doubt or hesitation. In his heart, his adoptive father Lu Yun’s words were a sacred decree; they didn’t need to be understood, only executed.
"Yes, Father. I will see to it at once. I’ll have all the supplements inventoried and personally delivered to your courtyard before the day is out."
As night fell, the main house in Lu Yun’s personal courtyard was brightly lit.
The once-spacious room was now piled high with brocade boxes and wooden cases of all shapes and sizes.
A distinct, rich aroma of medicinal herbs filled the air.
These were all the rare supplements Lu Yun had gradually sourced and collected over the past few years, relying on the Lu Family’s wealth and connections.
He had originally intended to use them to nourish his body and slow the aging process as he grew older and his vitality waned.
He never expected that these potent supplements would now serve a greater purpose: becoming a valuable resource for him to obtain ’modified value’.
Lu Yun walked around the piles of brocade boxes and approached the mahogany Eight Immortals table in the center of the room.
On the tabletop sat two small, separate brocade boxes. They were particularly exquisite, decorated with floral carvings in red sandalwood.
He casually pulled over a Taishi Chair and sat down, his gaze falling upon the boxes.
First, he opened the slightly smaller one on the left.
The box was lined with bright yellow silk, upon which rested a single stalk of ginseng.
The body of the ginseng was thick, its rhizome densely ringed. The rootlets were long and distinct, and the entire thing glowed with a pale yellow luster as warm and smooth as jade. It was clearly of an advanced age.
This was a two-hundred-year-old wild ginseng.
Then, his expression unchanged, Lu Yun opened the slightly larger box on the right.
The ginseng in this box was even more robust and ancient in appearance. Its main root was as thick as a child’s arm, and its skin had an almost dark-gold hue.
It was covered in dense "pearl dots," its rootlets coiled like dragons. An even richer, more mellow medicinal fragrance wafted toward him.
Three hundred years old!
These two ginsengs were the most precious items in Lu Yun’s entire collection, the treasures he was most reluctant to part with.
The two-hundred-year-old one was valued at 100 Oceans, and the three-hundred-year-old one at 200 Oceans.
To obtain them back in the day, he had not only paid a fortune but also called in a significant favor, acquiring them from an old friend who was the descendant of a retired imperial physician from a fallen dynasty.
Such items had a price but were virtually impossible to find on the market; they were true natural treasures that money couldn’t always buy.
One Ocean was equivalent to 1,000 Daxia Yuan in paper currency issued by the Daxia New Country.
At market price, these two ginsengs were worth 300,000 Daxia Yuan!
And that sum of money was enough for an ordinary family of five in Yun Port City to live comfortably for their entire lives, perhaps even longer.
Lu Yun’s gaze swept slowly over the two ginsengs. For someone of his standing, wealth was little more than a number.
’What I care about now,’ he thought, ’is just how much "modified value" these treasures, which cost me a fortune and a great favor, can bring me.’
Lu Yun reached out, took the two-hundred-year-old ginseng, and held it in his hand, silent for a moment.
Without hesitation, he opened his mouth and took a hard bite out of the thicker end of the root.
The texture was dry and tough. It had a strong, earthy taste and a bitter medicinal potency that shot straight to his head.
’Ugh, it tastes awful!’
As if chewing the most common of foods, he forced himself to chew and swallow the piece he had bitten off—about a third of the entire root.
A moment later, a familiar, faint, mystical warmth slowly rose from his abdomen and spread through his limbs.
’It’s here!’
Lu Yun immediately focused his consciousness inward.
[Extreme Blue Martial Arts Modifier]
Name: Lu Yun
Gender: Male
Realm: Grandmaster of Huajin (Early Stage)
Cultivation Technique: Mountain-Breaking Inch Force Fist First Layer (Mastered)
Modified Value: 2
The modified value had changed from 1 to 2.
Lu Yun stared at the number, stunned for a moment before his brows knitted together tightly.
’How is it only... 1 point?’
That one-third of the ginseng he had just eaten was worth, at market price, at least thirty-some Oceans—that’s over thirty thousand, nearly forty thousand Daxia Yuan!
’All that money, and all I got was a measly 1 modified value?’
’The conversion rate for "modified value" is way too low!’
’Or could it be that these "natural treasures," at least by worldly standards, contain far less "value" for the "Extreme Blue Martial Arts Modifier" than I imagined?’
A sharp pang of regret washed over Lu Yun. ’At this rate, even if I devoured all the supplements in the storeroom, how much modified value would I even get?’
’This rate of consumption would bankrupt even the wealthiest of families!’
Lu Yun’s eyes were involuntarily drawn to the even more precious, three-hundred-year-old ginseng on the table.
’Whatever. What’s done is done. No point in overthinking it.’
Looking at the large remaining piece of the two-hundred-year-old ginseng in his hand, he hesitated no longer, stuffing it directly into his mouth and forcing it down.
The faint warmth surged again, a trace stronger than the first time.
He immediately checked the panel in his mind.
[Modified Value: 2 → 4]
’It increased by 2 points!’
’The centennial ginseng I ate first was worth 1 modified value, and this two-hundred-year-old one was worth 3 modified value.’
’In that case, this three-hundred-year-old one...’
Perhaps it was an illusion, or perhaps the "Extreme Blue Martial Arts Modifier" had neutralized the immense medicinal power’s impact on his body.
After swallowing an entire two-hundred-year-old wild ginseng, Lu Yun surprisingly felt no bloating or any side effects from the overwhelming medicinal potency.
’That part is good, at least,’ he mused. ’It means I can consume large quantities of these potent supplements without any fear of repercussions.’
Otherwise, even the body of a Grandmaster of Huajin wouldn’t be able to withstand the shock from such immense medicinal energy.
Lu Yun didn’t pause. He reached for the brocade box containing the three-hundred-year-old ginseng.
This time, his movements were even faster. He quickly chewed and swallowed this "ginseng king" with its even more mellow fragrance.
The taste was still awful, but the warmth that flooded his abdomen was noticeably more intense and longer-lasting than the previous times.
A moment later, the warmth subsided, and Lu Yun once again focused his mind on the Extreme Blue Martial Arts Modifier.
[Extreme Blue Martial Arts Modifier]
Name: Lu Yun
Gender: Male
Realm: Grandmaster of Huajin (Early Stage)
Cultivation Technique: Mountain-Breaking Inch Force Fist First Layer (Mastered) — Modifiable
Modified Value: 12
The three-hundred-year-old ginseng had provided a full 8 modified value!
With 12 modified value in hand, and seeing the word "Modifiable" appear once again after his Cultivation Technique, a flicker of excitement finally appeared in Lu Yun’s eyes.
’Modify!’ He no longer hesitated, his mind instantly issuing the command.