My book friend Long Aotian

Chapter 57: Food is the First Thing

The next day.

Li Bailong waited for Mu Qingge to get up, ate breakfast cooked by Mrs. Song in Huaxin Tower, and then set off.

He has already written a script like "Shocked, the great thief of Zhaonan Kingdom is actually a writer of cool novels", and the rider hired from [Are You Dead?] to perform the task as an NPC is also in place, so the show can begin.

But the scheduled time is in the afternoon.

After all, the show has to be complete, and the pirates provided several dens. "The first den searched found important clues and evidence related to Long Batian," which seems a bit deliberate.

Moreover, the subsequent task report was not well written and failed to reflect the value of "the investigation team's hard work, outstanding struggle, and sorting out a clear chain of evidence from a large number of complicated clues."

The two set out late and only opened two piracy dens in the morning. Li Bailong looked at the sky, thought about the time agreed with the "NPC", and decided to delay.

"It's getting late."

He and the gangster walked out of the pirate den. County soldiers had already arrived to check and seal up the evidence. Li Bailong said, "I see that Junior Sister didn't eat much this morning. Why don't we go have lunch?"

Mu Qingge was full of energy today, as if he wanted to prove to his senior brother that he was not a scum in the police force who went with the flow and indulged in pleasure, so he worked very hard.

But when it comes to eating, she can't say "Brother, I'm not hungry, let's continue", because warriors have their own etiquette, which is...

——You may not be hungry, but you cannot assume that your companions are not hungry.

So she agreed without hesitation: "Okay, Senior Brother, food is the most important thing for a martial artist, so eating can't be careless... You have taken good care of me these days, so this time, I will come to pay the bill!"

"Please don't." Li Bailong said with a smile, "This is Lin County. If I let you spend money on the meal, my uncle will blame me."

He did not allow Mu Qingge to object and made a decision: "Let's go and try the Wuxiangzheng restaurant in Lin County, called Buwanglou. Sister Song should have ordered takeout from here for you."

The layout of Linxian Wuxiangzhengdian is the same as other places.

There were large flags with the word "Wu" and the royal store flag in front of the stores. The whole store gave off an aura that no mortals were allowed in. Passersby avoided it all the time. There were two warriors guarding the door. Any strangers entering the store had their martial arts certificates checked to confirm their warrior identities.

Li Bailong was a famous person in Lin County, so there was no need to check. He brought Mu Qingge into the store. Immediately, a clerk came out to greet them and led them to a private room on the second floor.

After a while, a cook came in holding two menus and saluted with a smile: "Jie Yuanlang, you haven't been here for a few days."

Li Bailong smiled and greeted him, then introduced him to Mu Qingge, "This is Master Wang, the chef of Buwanglou. I have been eating his cooking since I was a child. Master Wang, this is my Junior Sister Mu, a distinguished guest from the capital. You are a famous local chef, so please don't lose face in front of her!"

"Oh, you'll have to show your real skills then."

The cook smiled and greeted them, then respectfully placed the menu in front of the two people: "Lin County is a small place, and our restaurant does not have many types of martial arts dishes. Please don't be offended, Miss Mu."

Mu Qingge smiled and said a few polite words, then opened the menu, glanced at it, and was slightly surprised.

"Top-grade Juxi rice, produced in Hudong Road, measured and graded by Lintai Agricultural Academy, quality [ground level five or six], each ounce contains twelve bells of Yuanqi, and the unit price is three zhu of grain and two ounces of silver."

"Middle-to-high-quality silver-blood flour, produced in Shannan Province..."

For a county to have a martial arts feast of this quality, it must be because of the six major sects… After all, Lin County has three branches: Xuanyuan Sect, Lingyu Sect, and Cao Gang, which is more than some county towns.

Seeing her surprise, Chef Wang felt proud and started to introduce the restaurant's signature dishes one by one.

Mu Qingge shook her head and said with a smile, "I am only a seventh-grade internal force cultivator. I can't eat so much. Master Wang, please give me three taels of top-quality Juxi rice, one liter of ordinary Nanwu pearl rice, cooked into rice porridge with green plum snow water, and a can of Feiyun Ranch's top-quality meat sauce. That's enough."

"The side dishes should be honey-roasted ham, braised chicken, freshly cut bamboo shoots, and fried lotus root..."

She ordered some and asked Li Bailong, "What do you want to eat, brother?"

The side dishes are just for filling the stomach, Li Bailong doesn't need them at all.

He ordered the main course directly: "Cut three pounds of Ningying beef, and five cans of top-quality meat sauce. Also give me a portion of rice porridge according to what Junior Sister made."

When these words came out, Mu Qingge was shocked, and then praised sincerely: "Senior brother is indeed a genius."

The world of martial arts is long and profound, and there are always many time-tested rules, experiences and legends that are constantly taught by teachers to younger generations. Among them, there is a piece of martial arts experience that is passed down from generation to generation, which is simple but correct.

The bigger a warrior's appetite is, the brighter his future is.

Master Wang was not surprised and said with a smile: "Your appetite has improved again. I have to congratulate you in advance. Miss Mu doesn't know that I watched Jie Yuanlang grow up. He has been able to eat since he was a child."

He took the menu, smiled and left. Not long after, he returned with a large tray on which were six sealed jars of meat sauce that were still emitting cold air, a balance scale, and two jars of rice.

"Please check it, both of you."

He showed the sealed rice and sauce one by one, opened the rice jar, added pearl rice in front of the two people, weighed it, and resealed it. After doing all this, he smiled and said, "My stove is in Area A3. Please feel free to watch and comment. Wait for a while. Goodbye, goodbye."

With that he left, went downstairs, and soon appeared in the kitchen area on the first floor.

The box where the two were was semi-open. Looking down from the fence near the table, they could see the chefs busying around in the kitchen area downstairs, and all their movements were in full view.

Whether upstairs or downstairs, in the lobby or in the private rooms, all the warriors dining here can see the chef's movements and the situation in the kitchen at any time.

This is the standard decoration of every Wuxiangzheng store in Daqi.

Because the ingredients that are handled and cooked by the chefs are the hard work and lifeblood of the warriors.

Li Bailong retracted his gaze and said calmly: "Food is the most important thing for a martial artist."

Mu Qingge was a noblewoman in the capital, and had lived a life of luxury since childhood. She did not fully understand this sentence, but when she heard her senior brother say this, she just nodded and agreed: "Yes, you can't not eat."

This world is devoid of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

But there are warriors.

To get started with martial arts, one must first strengthen the bones and body. Once the body is strong and harmonious, one can then refine the essence into qi and generate internal breath in the dantian, which is internal strength. Once the internal strength is achieved, one will have a glimpse into the path of martial arts.

Internal strength is the foundation of a warrior, the embodiment of a warrior's blood, energy and spirit, and the most miraculous power in the world, which can enable a warrior's flesh and blood to undergo an extraordinary transformation.

It circulates through the meridians, flows between the acupoints, and gathers in the legs and feet, so that one can fly over eaves and walls, and travel a thousand miles a day. Gathered in the arms, one can break monuments and split rocks, and destroy dead trees and rotten wood. Focusing the eyes, one can see like torches, and concentrating the ears can hear the sound of the wind. When practiced to a mysterious and profound level, one can even achieve communication between heaven and man, comprehend the ancient magic of controlling matter, and gain the terrifying power to control wind, thunder, frost and fire.

Everything has its causes and sources, so internal strength naturally cannot emerge out of thin air.

The legendary immortals who eat wind and drink dew and absorb the essence of the sun and the moon are just fabricated myths. The extraordinary powers of warriors that surpass those of mortals can only be nourished from food.

A martial arts boy who has just started to learn martial arts only needs enough ordinary food to strengthen his body and meet the needs of practicing martial arts. As his muscles and bones become stronger and his body is fully trained, he can extract a trace of Yuan Qi from a large amount of meat, eggs, milk and grains, and gather it into internal breath. Those who can do this have the talent to become martial artists.

As the practice deepens and the internal energy grows stronger, the warrior's appetite will gradually increase.

Because internal strength is not only the foundation and lifeblood of a warrior, it is also a greedy beast.

When a mortal lives in this world, he consumes energy every moment. Even if he lies in bed motionless, he will naturally consume energy. If he does not eat, he will starve to death. If he does heavy physical labor, the energy consumption will be even greater.

This is especially true for warriors.

Once the internal breath is formed, it will circulate in the body endlessly and travel around the body. When the internal force circulates through the acupoints, it will naturally be consumed. It is a greedy and hungry beast. It is its nature to hunt for the original qi. As long as there is consumption and use, it will drive the warrior to absorb the original qi, just like once the human body is hungry, the appetite of the person will increase sharply.

Therefore, people who practice martial arts often have a huge appetite.

When the internal strength is cultivated successfully and grows to the scale of the ninth grade, which is the minimum standard of the nine-grade Qi flow system stipulated by the court, this person can be called a warrior. The scale of the ninth grade internal strength is not a standard that someone came up with on a whim, but a law summarized from an ancient phenomenon.

Just as water freezes at a certain temperature and boils at a certain temperature, when a warrior's internal strength reaches the ninth level, it means that it is difficult for him to replenish his daily loss of Yuan Qi from ordinary mortal food.

Because it is impossible for people to eat twelve hours a day.

Even if it could be done, the stomach and intestines would not be able to accommodate and digest so much food.

After reaching the ninth rank, if a warrior still wants to increase his cultivation and free himself from the huge daily appetite, he only has one choice.

Eat foods that contain a lot of Yuan Qi.

Eating one ounce of this food is better than eating five pounds of ordinary grain.

But, what a coincidence.

The methods of planting and raising rice, flour, grain, oil, meat, eggs, milk and vegetables, which contain large amounts of Yuan Qi, as well as the power of sales and distribution, are all controlled by the court... or in other words, the royal family and the six major sects.

Every warrior must go to the government to register his identity and have his internal strength rated, because the imperial court will issue imperial food and martial arts feasts to every registered warrior to meet their daily needs for Yuan Qi.

But the share distributed by the imperial court is only enough for daily maintenance and to ensure that your realm does not regress. If you want to continue practicing, or fight with others more frequently, then this amount of imperial food will not be enough.

Want more? That's fine too.

There are several roads.

First, take the military examination.

Warriors with meritorious service can be allocated more shares every month. If they are successful and included in the establishment, they will have a real iron rice bowl, and a part of the official salary will be special imperial grain.

Second, join the army.

In the army, the military benefits are the most generous. After all, they risk their lives, and the soldiers in battle consume a huge amount of energy every day, so of course they get the most allowances. If you can accumulate merits and get promoted, or even get a promotion, the military benefits will be even greater. The five major military systems of this dynasty recruit people every month, so come if you are called.

Third, go to work.

The court of the Great Qi Dynasty encouraged the sects to start businesses, and would return a large amount of grain vouchers as subsidies according to the tax amount paid by each sect. Grain vouchers were the vouchers and qualifications for purchasing martial arts feasts. If warriors wanted to purchase more imperial grain, including eating at official restaurants, they had to take grain vouchers and gold and silver to buy them.

In this way, the sects can run their industries diligently and pay taxes, and the grain permits they get can be used to attract and hire warriors to work. This will not only absorb a large number of warriors into employment and eliminate social instability, but also boost productivity. After all, warriors are much more efficient at work than peasants.

As for the warriors doing too much work, what should the peasants do?

Nonsense, of course they are going to farm and provide martial arts feasts for the warrior masters.

By the way, have more children.

——What else?

This system was initially established at the beginning of the founding of the country. After being repaired and improved by successive dynasties, it is now extremely mature. The State of Qi, with its naturally high degree of organization and violence, completed the centralized control of martial arts resources and built a huge ecosystem of "jianghu", which enclosed the warrior class.

Then, they can continuously harvest the labor and wisdom of large, medium and small sects and countless warriors, and use martial arts feasts as bait to make them voluntarily provide taxes, achievements, talents and lives to the country.

Because in martial arts practice, if you don’t make progress, you will regress.

The higher the level of internal strength, the greater the need for martial arts, and there is not even room to lie down.

Because as a high-level warrior, once you don't take in enough Yuan Qi, the hungry internal breath will gradually erode your Yuan Gong foundation and cultivation level, destroying all your years of hard training in an instant.

It won't be until your power regresses to the ninth level that you will stop in anger and helplessness.

This process of regression in cultivation and erosion of foundation is truly the most horrific torture in the world.

It is precisely because of this mechanism that the imperial court's control was unprecedentedly strong, allowing it to unscrupulously implement the unified tax collection system for officials and gentry, suppress local power, and vigorously promote all necessary reforms.

Because the real elite and powerful army of our dynasty is composed of all warriors.

An army of 300 warriors can suppress an entire state, and can crush and kill a mortal army of tens of thousands at will. The logistical pressure of 300 people is almost zero for the imperial court.

Therefore, it is possible to improve the literacy rate of the people and increase the number of martial arts children without any worries.

So what if everyone can read? So what if people are enlightened? Can they still rebel?
Such a country, such a world.

It was like an indescribable, horrible creature that could not be looked at directly, living unconsciously, breathing unconsciously, swallowing and exhaling the lives of everyone.

Just like Li Bailong asked Long Aotian before, do you think it is easier to dominate the world or to crack down on piracy?

Even a powerful and arrogant person like Long Aotian has to admit that fighting piracy is much easier.

The food was served one after another.

Side dishes like honey-roasted ham and braised chicken are fine.

In the world of warriors, Yuanqi foods such as Juxi rice and Ningying beef have always been served in separate meals. Only those with very close relationships or very high status would not care about this.

As a senior brother, Li Bailong gave Mu Qingge a piece of beef. The little girl refused twice, but finally cut off about one or two taels of beef with chopsticks to taste it. She was only a seventh-rank warrior, and her staple food was porridge and meat sauce.

It is said in "Wu Jing" that every meal must include porridge and every meal must include meat sauce. Meat sauce is made by boiling precious Yuanqi food into porridge and making sauce, which is more conducive to digestion and absorption. This is how all novice martial artists should eat.

People like Li Bailong who eat big chunks of meat are enviable in every sense.

"I am now at the fifth rank, and I need to reach the fifth rank before the martial arts exam, so I need to prepare in advance. Starting today, I need to increase my food intake, and I need to report back to the sect in two days."

The imperial court’s ability to control warriors is beyond imagination.

Because all martial arts offerings must be collected and purchased at designated places, the imperial court is well aware of the Qi replenishment situation of every warrior, and if they want to check, they will be able to find out.

As a young scholar with astonishing talent, Li Bailong would certainly attract attention. If someone discovered that he ate very little but his internal strength improved by leaps and bounds, this violation of the law of conservation of Qi would inevitably cause a huge stir in this world.

There may even be unimaginable terrifying beings who come directly to explore his secrets.

After all, most warriors in this world have to follow the system of "food is the first priority for martial arts" to survive.

The court generally defines warriors who are able to escape the control of this Yuanqi Resource System and, to some extent, get rid of their dependence on Wu Xiang as—

A member of the demon sect.

According to this definition, Li Bailong can collect willpower by writing books, and then Long Aotian can directly convert it into Yuanqi for him to absorb as internal strength...

He is simply a natural born demon lord.

Because this chapter involves settings, it is a long chapter with 4,500 words. Today's update has about 8,000 words.

Food is the most important thing for Wu, which is one of the core settings of this book and one of the fundamental contradictions at the bottom of the world view. There are a lot of heartwarming plots and stories in the future, all of which revolve around this setting, so I have to finish telling it here. It’s a bit long, please forgive me, after all, it is to facilitate the development of the subsequent plot.

I am quite satisfied with this setting, which can basically explain the suppressive relationship between the government and the martial arts world in a Chinese martial arts world, as well as questions like "Why don't the martial arts masters, who are so strong, rebel and become emperors?" No matter what kind of world it is or what kind of privileged class there is, the logic of rule will not change.

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(End of this chapter)