The Martial Saint, starting with daily intelligence.

Steel Bone Club.

"Mundo, my old friend, what brings you in here?"

"You actually came to me on your own initiative."

"Would you like to try some of our newly arrived Raphael red wine?"

President Steelbone greeted him with a smile.

"Benjamin, the new member, Zhong Ming, please process his information for me."

Mondo took the red wine and said calmly.

"deal with?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not quite sure, is it him who's making you unhappy or something else?"

"You know I know absolutely nothing about your alchemist stuff or extraordinary inscriptions~"

Mundo, somewhat impatient, interrupted him directly.

"I found it."

"The perfect body! I have found the one who can perfectly bear extraordinary power."

President Benjamin was startled and unconsciously sat up straight.

"Could there be a mistake?"

"After all these years, you've been searching, and suddenly..."

Seeing Mondo's indifferent gaze, Benjamin shut up.

Are you doubting my abilities, or my judgment?

"Twelve Ancestral Dragon Needles, fifteen portions of Panlong Marrow Oral Solution, seven portions of Kailong Membrane Injection Reagent, and eighteen portions of Kuilong Eye Drops from my collection."

"He withstood it all by himself, and he didn't even reach his limit. He only reached about 70%. He can still hold about 15 more extraordinary reagents."

"Moreover, his body can continue to grow; this is far from his limit. Isn't this the perfect body I've always dreamed of?"

  

Benjamin didn't hear a single word of Mondo's praise.

Instead, he exclaimed, "What the hell!"

"You mean, all twelve of my club's Ancestral Dragon Needles are gone?"

"There are also fifteen doses of Panlong Marrow Oral Solution and seven doses of Kailong Membrane Injection Reagent!"

"Fuck you! He only paid a membership fee of three hundred silver coins, and he's already used up thirty-four extraordinary reagents that the club had stored for so long!"

Benjamin was practically gritting his teeth.

"I don't care what kind of bullshit perfect body he is. All I know is that his money is not even a fraction of what I need for these extraordinary reagents."

"Fuck you!"

"You need to pay more!"

"I don't care about these things of yours, but you should know what to do with the report submitted to the Extraordinary Committee."

Mondo looked at Benjamin and said calmly.

However, Benjamin sensed a murderous intent. Although it was fleeting, how could a battle-hardened superhuman like him not notice it?

"you."

"You just tried to kill me?"

Benjamin, the president of the Steel Bone Guild, had a face that twitched incessantly, his expression one of disbelief.

"We've known each other for almost forty years."

"We've been together on the Eastern Continent for over twenty years. Is all that friendship less valuable than a Chu person we've only met a few times?"

Benjamin felt a chill in his heart and was disheartened by the loss of their decades-long friendship.

"I said it twenty years ago: I, Mundo, have no friends!"

"You, Benjamin, are no exception; you can only be considered a decent collaborator, at best a half-friend."

Mondo said coldly, but the wine glass in his hand trembled slightly, clearly not as relaxed as he said.

"I've been searching for the perfect body for twenty-eight years. How many twenty-eight-year periods are there in a lifetime?"

"I'm willing to pay any price to achieve my goal, even my own life!"

Mundo didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

After Mondo left, Benjamin lay slumped in his chair, the red wine in his glass tasteless.

"Fuck~"

"What utter nonsense about a perfect body? It's a forbidden zone for demons and gods! What makes you think you can do that?!"

"With your talent and potential, you should have broken through to the seventh level of the extraordinary realm long ago, or even become a legend now. Why do you always have to pursue things that are so illusory?"

"I really don't understand you damn geniuses."

Benjamin cursed and muttered under his breath.

After things calmed down, Chairman Benjamin dutifully followed Mondo's instructions, recording and compiling the experimental data and reports that Mondo had fabricated.

There are many neutral organizations run by foreigners on the eastern continent.

Examples include the Far East Pharmacists Committee, the Far East Extraordinary Club Association, the Far East Extraordinary Inscription Committee, and the Far East Secret Treasure Auction House.

Every extraordinary club needs to compile basic information on its members who join each year and then submit it to the Extraordinary Club Association.

The association will allocate your potion quota, rare items, and extraordinary inscriptions for next year based on your enrollment this year.

Of course, if your own club has its own pharmacist and inscription master, then you can indeed ignore the association.

However, if not, this information must be submitted if the Extraordinary Club wants to continue operating.

···

【ding~】

[Daily Intelligence Update]

[International Intelligence...]

[Domestic intelligence: In seven days, a century-old spiritual ginseng will mature on the outskirts of Yunshan Mountain, 30 kilometers south of Jincheng. The guardian beast, a sixth-tier Blood-Striped Tiger, will break through to the seventh-tier Blood-Striped Tiger after consuming the mature ginseng. Moreover, on the night of the Blood Moon, it will become extremely ferocious and slaughter and devour the Yunshan Village that is near this area... (One-star intelligence)]

[Local intelligence: Liu's Pharmacy on Zhengnan Street will be purchasing a batch of medicinal herbs picked by mountain farmers around 9:00 AM today, among which is a Blood Essence Fruit. (One-star intelligence)]

"The intelligence has been updated today."

"International intelligence is of little use, just record it as usual."

"The domestic intelligence, however, has been updated right near Tianjin."

"Yunshan?"

"That place is not to be trifled with. Rumor has it that there are strange beasts in the depths of Yunshan that are comparable to grandmasters."

"Although it's on the outskirts of Yunshan, there's no guarantee that accidents won't happen."

The levels of exotic beasts are similar to those of extraordinary beings, divided into nine ranks, from rank one to rank nine.

As for the beasts above the ninth rank, they can no longer be considered "beasts" but rather demonic beasts!

These monsters are no less intelligent than humans, and their strength generally surpasses that of grandmasters and legendary extraordinary beings.

Let alone beasts above the ninth rank, most beasts above the fourth rank have developed intelligence and are no longer just ferocious beasts with only instincts.

Seventh-tier or higher beasts can sometimes even communicate or cooperate with humans.

"Even on the outskirts of Yunshan, there is a possibility of encountering beasts of the seventh rank or higher. It's a pity that this century-old spiritual ginseng has been wasted."

After thinking it over, Zhong Ming sighed.

"Forget it, the century-old ginseng is good, but I don't need it myself!"

Herbs containing the character "spirit" are generally called spiritual herbs, and their medicinal effects are effective for both seventh-order transcendents and martial artists who cultivate divine power.

Zhong Ming is still in the body tempering stage and has no true qi in his body. Even if he had a hundred-year-old spiritual ginseng in front of him now, he would not be able to use it.

"Let's find an opportunity to report this to Tingfeng Tower."

According to Zhong Ming's current data, it's just a mere sixth-tier beast; a few slaps would be enough to kill it.

However, if you accidentally encounter a seventh-tier beast, you might die on Cloud Mountain.

Generally speaking, there are no beasts of the seventh rank or above that can be found on the outskirts of Yunshan, but what if an accident happens?

Taking risks for a single medicinal herb is simply not in Zhong Ming's character.

Unfortunately, the spirit ginseng waits for no one. It will mature in seven days. If no one takes it then, it will be eaten by the sixth-tier beast, the Blood-Striped Tiger, and then break through to the seventh-tier beast, harming the ordinary people of an entire village.

Since I can't go myself, I should maximize my gains by reporting to Tingfeng Tower, which will allow me to make up for some of my losses.

In addition, if Zhong Ming tells Tingfenglou this information, he will also be involved to some extent and will be able to gain a little experience points.

Experience points are extremely important to Zhong Ming.

Both martial arts techniques and the erosion of extraordinary systems require experience points.

Therefore, as long as there is room for maneuver in the intelligence, Zhong Ming will try to salvage the situation. Even if things don't go well, he can still gain some experience points, right?

If you don't participate within the intelligence timeframe, you won't receive any experience points even if you participate afterward.

"Consider the Blood Essence Fruit mentioned by local intelligence as compensation for losing the Hundred-Year Spirit Ginseng."

In terms of value, the century-old ginseng is more than a hundred times more valuable than the blood essence fruit.

However, in practice, the Blood Essence Fruit can be used directly, and after consumption, it can be refined into a large amount of essence and blood.

Even if an ordinary Qi Refining martial artist has exhausted all their essence and blood, consuming a Blood Essence Fruit can restore more than 70% of their essence and blood in a short period of time.

"One Blood Essence Fruit should be able to add a dozen or so drops of essence blood to my body."

A Qi Refining Warrior might be able to recover fifty drops of essence blood, but when converted to essence blood mixed with gold, even ten drops are questionable.

"It can save me about half a month's worth of work."

Zhong Ming's essence blood has only recovered to 62 drops, which is still more than half away from 136 drops. It will take at least two more months to recover to its peak.

Only then can the second bone forging be performed.

These are all things that take time and patience; there's no use rushing them.

If one can consume rare and precious herbs or elixirs, this process can indeed be accelerated.

Ordinary medicinal diets and Qi-blood pills are becoming less and less effective for Zhong Ming; their effects are not as good as the refined Blood Moon energy.

The superior Qi and Blood Pill, the Essence Blood Pill, is indeed useful, but it's expensive!

Many pharmacies and alchemy shops couldn't buy them even if they wanted to. Even if they did sell them, the quantity was limited and the price was exorbitant, costing dozens of silver dollars for a single piece.

Where can I afford to spend that much?

···

The next day, Zhong Ming waited early at the food stall opposite Liu's Pharmacy.

Zhong Ming loves finding bargains and wishes he could have such information updated every day.

Low risk, stable and considerable returns.

"It's almost time."

Zhong Ming glanced at the pocket watch on his hand; there were still a few minutes left before the time indicated by the intelligence system.

Zhong Ming stood up, tossed a few copper coins onto the food stall table to pay the bill.

Zhong Ming looked to both sides, trying to find the mountain people who were selling medicinal herbs at the pharmacy.

"I've found you."

A man dressed in coarse linen clothes carried a bamboo basket on his back, with some leaves sticking out, most likely the leaves of some kind of medicinal herb, and he was wearing straw sandals.

Their clothing and appearance perfectly match the characteristics of mountain people.

Furthermore, the other person's eyes frequently glanced towards the nearby pharmacy, and at this moment, the direction they were walking and the direction they were looking were precisely towards Liu's Pharmacy.

When the other party was about 20 meters away from Liu's Pharmacy, Zhong Ming blocked his way.

The middle-aged man was startled, stopped in his tracks, and looked at Zhong Ming warily.

"Brother, don't be afraid, I mean you no harm. Are you carrying medicinal herbs in your bamboo basket?"

Zhong Ming explained with a gentle smile.

"I happen to need some medicinal herbs, and I see that you have some red crystal fruits in your bamboo basket. They look pretty good."

The mountain people hesitated.

"I do have some red crystal fruit here, but I also have some other medicinal herbs."

"Moreover, I am quite familiar with the manager of Liu's Pharmacy. I usually sell the medicinal herbs I pick to them at a fixed price. If you take all the top-quality red crystal fruits, then I won't be able to sell my other medicinal herbs at a good price."

Zhong Ming said with a smile.

"It's alright, as long as the quality is good, I can buy all the red crystal fruits in your bamboo basket and give you a 20% discount."

The other party was clearly interested.

Zhong Ming continued, "Two and a half layers, no more than that. You sell the medicinal herbs to the pharmacy, and then the pharmacy resells them to me. That's roughly three to five layers of profit."

"If the price is too high, I might as well just buy it from a pharmacy."

"Alright, as you said, the price will be increased by 25%, and if you like my Red Crystal Fruit, you must buy them all."

"Would I lie to you in public? It's just that the medicine is too expensive at the pharmacy, and I want to spend less money, while you want to earn more."

"Is that the case?"

The mountain dweller nodded, his wariness of Zhong Ming having largely dissipated.

The other party put down the bamboo basket, lifted the coarse cloth on top, and found a lot of medicinal herbs inside, one of which was the red crystal fruit.

Zhong Ming deliberately picked and chose, and after a few minutes, he glanced at the time.

In the few minutes that followed, no one brought any medicinal herbs to Liu's Pharmacy to sell, and Zhong Ming was now certain that the Blood Essence Fruit he wanted was hidden among this batch of Red Crystal Fruits.

What if I guess wrong?

At worst, they could just spend more money to buy everything from Liu's Pharmacy, but there might be some unforeseen circumstances, which is why Zhong Ming stopped the mountain people in advance.

The shopkeeper and the staff at the herbal medicine shop had very sharp eyes. Due to some accident or carelessness, they failed to notice that other similar herbs were mixed in with the medicinal herbs.

However, in a second transaction, the other party may well notice the difference.

If Zhong Ming really notices it, he'll have to buy it with real money, and even then, the other party might not sell.

Now that it's decided, there's no need to hesitate.

"It's alright. The quality is top-notch even by pharmacy standards. I keep my word, I'll take all of this batch of Red Crystal Fruit."

"Give me a price, based on your usual rates, plus 25%."

Zhong Ming spoke up.

"Okay, okay, I'll wrap it up for you right away."

The mountain people wrapped all the red crystal fruits in coarse cloth.

"There are thirty-five red crystal fruits here. According to the usual purchase price of Liu's Pharmacy, each fruit costs twenty-two coins, for a total of seven hundred and seventy coins."

"Add another 25%, that's it, that's it~"

The other party counted on their fingers.

Zhong Ming smiled helplessly and took out a few copper coins.

"Here are three copper coins worth one hundred cash. Is that enough?"

"That's enough, I still need your change."

Zhong Ming waved his hand.

"No need to look anymore. You're quite honest, not asking for an exorbitant price. Consider the extra amount a gift. It wasn't easy for you to gather these herbs."

When the Great Chu Dynasty first issued copper coins, one copper coin was equal to ten copper coins, but now the currency has inflated significantly.

One copper coin could only be exchanged for three to five copper coins. Even at the lowest rate, three copper coins worth 100 copper coins could be exchanged for at least 900 copper coins.

Zhong Ming often felt that the world's currency and prices were too disconnected.

A single silver coin is enough to cover the living expenses of most ordinary families for several months or even a year, but for martial artists or extraordinary individuals, it's only enough for a few days' expenses, or even less!