Chapter 81: Harvest! Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins
Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Harvest! Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins
Preparing roast meat is no simple task.
Especially with pork from an uncastrated boar. It was gamy and rank, so much so that even the taste of burnt charcoal would have been an improvement.
But Zhu Ge ate with gusto.
Though the Long Fern Pig was gamy, its meat was packed with energy. After eating it, he felt a pleasant warmth spreading through his entire body.
’I usually don’t get to supplement my diet with such high-energy food.’
Zhu Ge knew in his heart that when it came to a Transformed Demon Beast like this, forget the original Zhu Ge—even the Teacher and Yu the Scholar would be lucky to taste it even once in their entire lives.
The only reason he could eat it was because he practiced Body Refinement, specifically the Great Sun Glaze Body, which allowed him to challenge foes above his level.
And why could he cultivate the Great Sun Glaze Body?
It was all because of his Kunpeng trait.
So, in truth, reaching this point was incredibly difficult.
The previous balance in Jianshan Village had been maintained because figures like the Teacher, the Tiger God, and Mr. Chong had formed a stalemate against one another.
The Teacher had intentionally tolerated the Tiger God and Mr. Chong, using them to keep other Demons, Ghosts, Spirits, and Monsters from entering the area.
But if it were the current Zhu Ge?
He would kill them.
If one Transformed Demon Beast came, he’d kill one. If a pair came, he’d kill them both!
The Teacher’s Confucian Daoist Literary Qi could be depleted and exhausted, but Zhu Ge’s body of steel and iron would not!
Kill them and eat their meat!
Eat their meat and get tougher!
Get tougher and kill even more!
"Awesome!"
Zhu Ge took huge bites of the meat, its juices splattering all over his hands and clothes.
His clothes were already in tatters, so he wasn’t afraid of getting them greasy.
After finishing the Long Fern Pig, Zhu Ge went on to roast and eat the bear’s heart, gallbladder, and paws, as well as another wild boar.
Hundreds, even a thousand kilograms of meat all ended up in his stomach.
This would be impossible for a normal person, but Zhu Ge felt he could still eat an entire roast bull—one the size of a Black-Horned Bull at that.
"The Martial Dao is just too demanding. No wonder peaceful eras are full of scholars." After he finished eating, Zhu Ge looked at the ground littered with bones and scraps, feeling a little shocked himself.
However, Red River Prefecture was covered in jungles and mountains, hiding countless Demons, Ghosts, Spirits, and Monsters.
It wouldn’t be difficult for him to eat his fill; he just needed to hunt.
Honestly, having escaped the burdens of the Fungus God and the Raincoat Fisherman, Zhu Ge could now focus completely on his own development.
Right now, he was like an unregistered person, completely off the grid.
Aside from a select few, no one even knew he existed.
This was the perfect opportunity for him to lie low and build up his power!
"SPLASH."
After eating, Zhu Ge washed his hands, stood up, and surveyed the valley, his heart filled with ambition.
He immediately began to scout the area.
Yunjiang was filled with mountains that grew taller the farther west one went, but the mountains surrounding this valley were all small, unimposing hills.
Easy to defend and difficult to assault—it was the perfect place for his base of operations!
"For the next year, let’s settle down here," Zhu Ge said to Hua Liusha in his mind. "Little Sister, your Yin Qi is perfect for sentry duty and scouting. I’ll leave the guard work to you."
"No problem!" Hua Liusha agreed at once. "Brother, you just focus on your training. Leave the rest to me!"
"Haha, good!" Zhu Ge chuckled, then added, "By the way, when you have the chance, you should send your Yin Qi out and see if you can find any treasures in the area."
"For example, Spirit Level treasures like the ones the Raincoat Fisherman used to give me—fruits, leaves, that sort of thing. They would be a great help to me."
"Understood, Brother!" Hua Liusha replied.
After his conversation with Hua Liusha, Zhu Ge began to formulate a plan.
For the next year, he didn’t plan to study things like the Confucian Dao, or at least he would treat it as a secondary task.
After all, a breakthrough in his Martial Dao was imminent, and only by breaking through could he extend his lifespan.
However, he did need someone to gather food for him.
He couldn’t just eat meat.
Meat, eggs, and milk were sources of protein, but he couldn’t neglect carbohydrates and vitamins either.
’First, let’s take stock.’
Zhu Ge took out the fish creel that Hua Liusha had stolen.
Along their journey, the Raincoat Fisherman had collected a lot of "taxes," which was to say, grain.
He had no idea if the Raincoat Fisherman had handed that grain over to his superiors.
"Little Sister, how do I check what’s in this thing?" Zhu Ge turned the fish creel over and over, unsure how to see its contents.
From the outside, this half-creel looked like an ordinary grass bowl, completely empty inside.
"Brother, you just have to focus your attention on the creel," Hua Liusha answered.
Hearing this, Zhu Ge immediately fixed his gaze on the grass bowl, concentrating his full attention on it.
In just an instant, he perceived a vast, pitch-black space within.
The first things he saw were long strings of coins.
Dark gold, silver, and antique bronze. They had the classic "round coin, square hole" design, symbolizing the round heavens and square earth, and were strung together with hemp rope.
’Gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins?’
Zhu Ge was stunned.
So much money!
The difference between gold, silver, and copper coins was their metal content, and the exchange rate set by some silver merchants was roughly 1:10:100.
But the real exchange rate was far from that simple. The actual purchasing power of a single gold coin far exceeded that of one hundred copper coins.
This was true even in times of peace, to say nothing of the current chaotic era.
The value of gold coins was surely even higher.
A single copper coin could buy several *dan* of grain, and a house in Yuan Yang City cost only a few silver coins.
By that measure, Zhu Ge’s family had previously earned only about one silver coin per year.
Now, a quick glance revealed that the grass bowl contained over a dozen gold coins, several thousand silver coins, and more than a hundred thousand copper coins.
He was a "thousand-coin household"!
This was not a world with a highly developed economy; here, possessing a thousand coins made you a bona fide tycoon.
However, Zhu Ge wasn’t particularly concerned about this. His surprise lasted only a second before it passed.
He only had a year to live; he had no time to worry about how much money he had.
His core focus was on the Raincoat Fisherman’s other belongings.
"Herbal medicines, books, weapons..."
Zhu Ge’s eyes swept over the contents, and he saw many things that piqued his interest.
"WHOOSH—"
He took out all the books, temporarily ignoring the medicines and weapons.
Having spent some time with the Raincoat Fisherman, he understood just how suspicious and cunning the man was.
Back then, the Raincoat Fisherman had tested him repeatedly just for eating a single piece of fruit.
Therefore, he would absolutely not touch the remaining medicines and weapons without a special reason, not until he had the relevant knowledge.
Caution was the key to survival!
Unfortunately, there was no grain in the grass bowl. He didn’t know if the Raincoat Fisherman had turned it in or what had happened to it.
Zhu Ge would have to find time to return to Jianshan Village and bring back grain; otherwise, he would have no staple food.
Fine flour, delicate noodles, feasts of fish and meat—these were the products of a highly developed society.
Now that Zhu Ge wanted to practice the martial arts, he had to nourish his body well. To do that, he couldn’t go without fine flour, delicate noodles, and plenty of fish and meat.
Fortunately, Jianshan Village still had a large stock of red rice left over from last year. The Raincoat Fisherman had only collected a portion of it, as Zhu Ge and the others had moved the majority into a cellar.
’I need people to till the fields, to help process meat, to grow vegetables... Only then can I focus on my martial training, and maybe even study the Confucian Dao.’
’Duan Lei and Ji Fuhui would have been good choices, but with Demon Beasts lurking everywhere, it’s actually more convenient for me to be alone.’
’Wait a minute...’
’Demon Beasts?’