Dual-wielding! 100x proficiency, I'll grind my way to godhood!

"Second place, Liu Tiezhu!"

A tall, thin man darted forward, his eyes fixed on the secret medicine like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey.

Fatty Wang handed him the porcelain bottle, which he took, uncorked, and swallowed a pill.

Everyone around was stunned.

"Are you crazy? You're going to eat it already?"

Liu Tiezhu wiped his mouth, turned around and rushed towards Zuiyue Tower, talking as he ran.

"I feel incredibly strong right now, I'm going to challenge Ru Hua! Nobody can stop me!"

Fatty Wang slapped the counter, pointing at his back and laughing and cursing.

"You and I are kindred spirits, don't lose to Ru Hua and embarrass me!"

Liu Tiezhu didn't even turn his head before plunging into Zuiyue Tower.

"Third place, Zhou Kui!"

A middle-aged man squeezed through the crowd, received the secret medicine, and rushed towards the Rouge Pavilion across the street.

"I'll take on ten!"

The people at the door burst into laughter.

Most of those who came to collect the secret medicine went into Zuiyue Tower and formed a long queue at the entrance of Ruhua Tower.

The madam grinned from ear to ear and turned to call out to the maid.

"Tell the girls to be at their best! We're definitely going to be packed tonight!"

After the last person finished collecting theirs, Chen Mo leaned against the counter, picked up the redemption list, and scrolled down the list line by line with his fingertips.

But the further I looked, the more something seemed off!

He discovered that there were many repetitive exercises.

After removing the duplicates, there are only thirteen new ones.

There are only two Xuan-rank gates; the rest are all Huang-rank.

It seems that the Yellow-Rank cultivation pool in Lin'an City has been completely drained.

If we keep collecting these, we're not collecting cultivation techniques, we're collecting waste paper.

Chen Mo snapped the booklet shut and tapped the cover twice with his knuckles.

"Manager Wang, close the door."

Wang Pangzi was adding tea to Liu Jingting's cup when his hand suddenly jerked, spilling half a cup of tea.

He stole a glance at Chen Mo and saw that the other man's face was expressionless.

"Young master, there's still a long queue outside. Many people have been waiting for two hours."

"close the door."

Chen Mo didn't even raise his head, his voice wasn't loud, but there was absolutely no room for negotiation.

Fatty Wang swallowed hard, not daring to offer any more advice. He ran to the door and bowed to the large crowd outside.

"Sorry everyone! The secret medicine has been distributed for today, you may all leave!"

The moment he finished speaking, an uproar erupted outside.

"What? I queued up all morning! Why can they just close it like that?"

"What about the appointment? I even brought the cultivation manual!"

Some people clung to the door frame and refused to leave, while others shouted at the top of their lungs.

Wang Pangzi gritted his teeth and forcibly closed the shop door. The noise outside instantly turned into a buzzing sound, like a swarm of wasps trapped inside their nest.

The shop fell silent.

Liu Jingting looked at Chen Mo.

"Young Master Zhang, will you still distribute the secret medicine and wine as usual tomorrow?"

"Send it as usual."

Chen Mo flipped through the roster, his fingertip pointing to the repeated names of the cultivation techniques.

"However, the rules need to be changed."

Chen Mo spread the roster out on the table and tapped the repeated entries with his fingertips.

"Yellow-rank martial arts techniques are just a few dozen kinds over and over again. What's the use of collecting four copies of the 'Mountain-Opening Palm'? If we open it for another day, all we'll get are these worthless pieces of paper."

"Starting tomorrow, we will no longer accept any Yellow-rank cultivation techniques, only Profound-rank and above. The same applies to pill formulas; duplicates will not be accepted. The higher the rank, the higher the priority for exchange, and the rest will be processed according to the registration order."

He picked up his teacup and blew away the foam.

"Tell the outside world that the raw materials for the secret medicine and the 'Heroic Man Wine' are running out, and the quantity is limited. Prioritize exchanging them for high-level cultivation techniques. One Xuan-level technique can be exchanged for three bottles, one Di-level technique for six bottles, and one Tian-level technique for twelve bottles."

Liu Jingting had already spread out the paper. His hand holding the pen paused for a moment, and he raised his eyelids slightly.

"Brother Chen, this Heaven-rank cultivation technique... there are probably only a handful in the entire Lin'an City."

"If you have it, I'll exchange it; if not, oh well. I'm not in a hurry."

Fatty Wang also came over, his face twitching.

"Young master, if we raise this threshold, at least half the people will leave tomorrow! Won't those people outside cause a huge uproar?"

Chen Mo glanced at the direction of the shop door and twitched his lips.

"Let them make a scene. When they've had enough, those with Xuan-rank items will come to exchange."

Liu Jingting wrote the notice in a flash, and the five characters "A Man's Dream" at the end were written in a large and eye-catching style.

He picked it up, blew on the ink, and opened the door with Fatty Wang, then posted the notice on the outer wall.

The remaining crowd swarmed around them in a flash.

The person in front of them was standing on tiptoe and reciting, and when they got to "From today onwards, only Xuan-rank and above cultivation techniques can be exchanged," their voice exploded again.

"W-what? You don't want the Yellow Rank anymore?!"

The crowd erupted into chaos, even more so than when the doors were being closed.

"Mysterious rank? Where am I supposed to find a Mysterious rank technique? My family only has a Yellow rank fist technique passed down through generations!"

"I spent a lot of money last night to buy a Yellow-Rank skill! You're just going to refuse to accept it like that?"

"Raw materials are scarce? Will they still be collecting Yellow-tier materials in the future?"

Just as things were in chaos, a man dressed in silk squeezed out of the crowd and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"What's all the noise about! I have a Xuan-rank technique! My family has a Xuan-rank footwork technique hidden away!"

Immediately, someone tugged at his sleeve, their voice trembling with tears.

"Brother! Brother, please have mercy! If you switch, could you share a bottle with me? I'll pay! Double! Triple, whatever!"

The man yanked his hand away.

"Do you think I need your little bit of money? I don't even have enough for myself! Get lost!"

The two immediately started pushing and shoving each other, almost coming to blows.

Inside the shop, Chen Mo had no time to care about the chaos outside.

Just as he was about to put away the new Yellow-Rank cultivation technique, there was a knock on the door from the backyard.

Three strikes, two long and one short.

It was a code that Chen Mo taught Wang Fucheng.

Chen Mo raised his chin at Fatty Wang.

Fatty Wang immediately understood, walked through the shop to the backyard, and opened the door.

Wang Fucheng stood outside the door, dressed in casual clothes.

He quickly glanced around the courtyard before looking at Fatty Wang and bowing slightly.

"Manager Wang, is Young Master Chen here?"

Fatty Wang quickly stepped aside to make way.

"Yes, yes, please come in, Lord Wang."

Wang Fucheng approached Chen Mo and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Young master."

Chen Mo nodded.

Wang Fucheng glanced at Fatty Wang and Liu Jingting before slowly speaking.

"Young master, I have important news to report."

Chen Mo stopped what he was doing and gave an order to Fatty Wang.

"Find the new cultivation technique I received today; I'm taking it with me later."

After saying that, he turned around and went to the side room in the backyard with Wang Fucheng.

There was only a square table and two chairs in the side room.

Wang Fucheng didn't sit down; instead, he stood in front of the table, took out a blue porcelain bottle from his pocket, and gently placed it on the table.

It was a porcelain bottle containing the secret medicine.

"This was given to me by the owner of Zhenwei Martial Arts School."

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Wang Fucheng's mouth.

"Among the first batch of people to receive the secret medicine this morning were members of Zhenwei Martial Arts School. They immediately delivered it to the county government office and gave it to me as a greeting gift. After going through all this trouble, it's back in your hands again."

Chen Mo picked up the porcelain bottle, twirled it between his fingers, and then put it back in its original place.

"What does he want to do?"

Wang Fucheng lowered his voice and spoke.

"They want to investigate the Zhao family massacre case in Qingshi Town."

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. Was he just walking into someone's death?

Then he wouldn't stand on ceremony.