Divine Tang Era

Chapter 111 Teachings

After lunch, everyone went back to their respective rooms for a nap.

Xu Dan returned to his room, but he couldn't fall asleep at all. He lay on the bed thinking.

As July approached, the atmosphere in the wilderness grew increasingly eerie, and few dared to linger outside at night. During the day, people from the north, with nothing better to do and the principle of making some money while they could, dug and searched for treasure everywhere.

With so many people, there are so many problems. Nowadays, you can see fights, brawls, robberies, and murders almost every day caused by treasure hunting and digging.

Even worse, some people run gambling dens and prostitutes in the wilderness, engaging in illegal trade.

Although the authorities have sent people to patrol, the wilderness is too vast to cover everything, allowing these individuals to escape justice.

The wilderness has now become a hotbed of trouble. Adding to this, Li Zhu warned today that Xu Dan, being small and short, dares not go out again. It's only June now; it snows here in July or August, or perhaps even earlier. The weather on the plateau is unpredictable; no one knows when it will snow, but it usually comes very early.

I heard that the snow here is very heavy and seems to be going on and on, so we can't go anywhere.

When the time comes, I can't just stay at home all the time, not going anywhere and doing nothing. I'll have to find something to do to get some fresh air and relieve my boredom.

So Xu Dan wondered if he should start a small business to make money. He had considered starting a business before, but it seemed too troublesome, so he didn't do it. Now that the idea had resurfaced, he couldn't help but start thinking about what kind of business to do. Ideally, it would be something simple, profitable, and not too troublesome, requiring little mental or physical effort.

His first thought was hot pot.

Hot pot is simple. Just prepare the broth, and when the guests arrive, you order and serve it to them so they can cook it themselves.

There's just one troublesome thing: you need to prepare the ingredients, and if you don't have enough, you have to chop them.

I remember going to Yunnan Province before and having beef hot pot there. Unlike other places, the hot pot there was made with freshly sliced ​​beef, and you didn't need to order other dishes; it was all served directly to the customers as soon as they arrived. The broth was a rich and flavorful beef bone soup, with pre-prepared vegetables at the bottom, and a layer of sliced ​​cooked beef on top.

Because hot pot is prepared according to the number of people, it's gone once you've finished eating, unless you order a special portion.

This was the simplest hot pot he had ever eaten.

If you want to start a business, this is the simplest and most hassle-free way to do it. Everything is already prepared, so you don't need to chop vegetables or anything like that.

After thinking about it, Xu Dan felt that this business was worth doing.

Besides hot pot, you can also sell some small snacks, such as dried fish, and try to make as much money as possible, otherwise you won't make much money just by selling hot pot. Also, you can't sell ordinary hot pot; you have to sell the kind of hot pot that martial arts practitioners eat, the kind that's specially for replenishing qi and blood.

It doesn't matter whether anyone buys it or not; I'm just doing this to keep myself occupied.

It would be best to hire two more people, one to chop vegetables and the other to serve the food, so you don't have to do anything and can just stand by and collect money as the boss, living a carefree life.

However, I still need to practice archery and don't have much time to collect money, so I need to find someone to help.

Xu Dan thought it was feasible more and more. He lost his sleepiness and ran to buy all the crispy dried fish and dried squid slices from the fishmonger's stall, intending to use them as side dishes when he opened his shop.

The man selling dried fish didn't bring many of these snacks with him. After deducting what he and others bought in the morning, he only had about forty buckets of each kind left, which didn't cost much.

Xu Dan bought another 1,000 jin of seaweed.

He believes the broth he makes tastes best with kelp strips. Regardless of whether it sells or not, it won't spoil, and he can keep it to eat slowly even if no one buys it. Besides kelp strips, the broth also includes tofu, cabbage, radish, lotus root, and other side dishes.

We actually need potatoes, but where can we find potatoes now?

In addition to these, we also need to think about what local specialty vegetables we can add.

We'd better prepare now, otherwise there won't be any fresh vegetables when it gets cold. Also, we can grow some inside the Hidden Mystic Cauldron. The young spirit child has nothing to do all day, so we can let him grow vegetables inside.

As for whether it's illegal child labor, please, he didn't pay him, so what kind of employment is that?

Jingning is located in a remote border region, and the weather is colder than inland areas, so winter comes earlier.

Since he was going to do business, he naturally needed to stock up on supplies, otherwise what would he do if he ran out of stock halfway through the sales? Therefore, Xu Dan was not in a hurry to open the store. He slowly purchased the necessary items, storing dried goods in the Hidden Mystic Cauldron and items that needed to be kept fresh in storage bags.

He was a nobody, and he didn't buy much, so he didn't attract anyone's attention.

Two days later, feeling that it was about time, Xu Dan went to the archery range.

Under the large apple tree in the backyard, Xue An stood to one side, gazing ahead.

Xu Dan drew his bow and arrow. With a thought, a wisp of fire from his heart flowed along his arm and into the arrow, making the arrow seem to be on fire, blazing fiercely. He released his grip, and the arrow flew out like a meteor, piercing the target in front of him.

The target was made of some unknown material. Unlike when he practiced at home, the Yan Rocket did not pass through the bullseye. Instead, it stopped at the bullseye and burned to ashes.

"good."

Xue An praised, "You were able to forge the Flaming Arrow in such a short time, which shows your great talent. The Five Elements Arrow is the foundation of my Xue family's archery skills. The five elements are mutually generating and restraining, one begets two, two begets three. Once you get the hang of one arrow, the others will not be difficult to learn. When the five elements are perfected and the five spirits are combined and unified to reveal your true self, you can then cultivate the Heavenly Punishment Four Arrows."

Xue An thought for a moment and then said, "Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Today, I'll show you the secret archery techniques of my Xue family."

After saying that, he led him outside the city.

Although there are many people searching for treasure and digging in the wilderness now, it's not a sea of ​​people everywhere.

Xue An led him to a secluded corner, took out a bow and arrow, and said softly, "Watch carefully." As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Dan felt an aura burst forth from him, shaking the heavens and the earth.

"Heavenly Punishment is divine retribution. The Four Arrows of Heavenly Punishment are the punishments in place of Heaven. Behold my first arrow, slaying."

Xue An spoke softly, and a vast aura surged into the arrow, which was then shot out.

In a daze, Xu Dan seemed to see a bolt of lightning, carrying terrifying and boundless power, descending from the sky. With a loud "boom," the hill suddenly shrank, leaving Xu Dan dumbfounded.

"Did you see it clearly?" Xue An asked, putting away his bow and arrows.

Xu Dan didn't know how to answer; should he say he saw it clearly, or that he didn't?

Seeing him like this, Xue An didn't say anything, but simply led him back.

Have you read the summary of Qi and Blood Martial Arts that I gave you?

"I've seen it."

"Since you cannot cultivate Qi, then you should focus on studying Qi and Blood. The descriptions of Qi and Blood in the book are quite insightful and worth reading. For example, if you concentrate Qi and Blood in your feet, you can move forward quickly; if you concentrate it under your feet and turn it into clouds, you can fly through the air. However, it is generally not recommended to do this, because it will consume a lot of Qi and Blood, and the consequences will be unpredictable if you encounter an enemy."

As Xue An walked, he told Xu Dan about the various things recorded in the book, and personally demonstrated them, even having him do them as well.

Although Xu Dan had read the book, he didn't understand some of the things in it very well.

Now, under his demonstration, things that were previously incomprehensible suddenly become clear and understandable.

Back at the archery range, Xue An handed him a book. "This contains the training method for the Heavenly Punishment Four Arrows, a secret archery technique of my Xue family. Look at it here, and it's best to memorize it. Don't take it out or tell anyone. After all, it's a secret of my Xue family."

Xu Dan quickly agreed, picked it up to look at it, and memorized it.

"Heavenly Punishment is divine retribution, the will of Heaven. It means investigation, extermination, execution, and prohibition. The will of Heaven is the heart of Heaven, the true self, and also the momentum, the blood and smoke of an army. The Four Arrows of Heavenly Punishment are both difficult and easy. It simply involves the eruption of blood and energy, stirring the heavens and earth, transforming into boundless momentum, and merging with the energy of the five internal organs, achieving oneness. The difficulty lies in how to fuse the two. If the cultivation is not done correctly, it will cause irreversible damage to the body. Please read carefully, and remember to ask me if you don't understand. Do not practice it haphazardly."

"Understood, Master Xue."

Xu Dan is afraid of death, so how could he possibly practice kung fu randomly?

He might not even pick up money if it were on the roadside; this was a painful experience he had when he was in school and was bitten by a dog for picking up money.