Chapter 59: Medicinal Herbs
Song Changming saw that the other party wasn’t going to argue, so he couldn’t be bothered to pay more attention. He directly bid on all the medicinal herbs he wanted, with full quantity, totaling over three hundred silver coins.
This was no small amount, especially in the eyes of ordinary people. Song Changming seemed to be throwing money around.
"With this, I won’t have to worry much about the herbal medicine for nearly two years in the future."
Thinking of this, Song Changming felt quite relieved; the money was worth spending, and he didn’t feel distressed.
As this was a large order, he only needed to provide an address to the merchant team. Someone would help deliver it to his door without him having to carry large boxes back.
After sorting out the medicinal herbs, Song Changming continued to wander alone.
During this delay, Lv Gang had already separated from him, moving ahead to observe other commotions.
Suddenly, Song Changming noticed a table with competitive bidding for spirit ginseng and reishi.
On the table were annotations of the year and starting prices, with the lowest being over forty years old.
Many people gathered here, watching the sale of these precious top-grade medicinal herbs.
"It is said that the northern mountains produce numerous mountain ginseng and reishi. Now, seeing it, it truly is so."
"Oh my, there’s even hundred-year-old mountain ginseng!"
Song Changming listened to the exclamations of the crowd and also noticed a large root labeled as a hundred years old, which had already been bid to an astonishing price of one thousand silver.
His body refining skill also required the medicinal power of such mountain ginseng. He was curious about the strong support a hundred-year-old ginseng could bring him if used for practice.
Unfortunately, he no longer had enough money and silver to participate in the bidding for this hundred-year-old ginseng, so he could only watch.
"Folks, there’s only one hundred-year-old ginseng, time is running out!" A leader of the merchant team shouted, drawing more people over.
Those with financial resources were all staring brightly at this rare ginseng, but the already bid price of one thousand silver made some of them hesitate.
"One thousand one hundred silver!"
"One thousand two hundred silver!"
"..."
Song Changming watched the increasingly ridiculous bidding for the hundred-year-old ginseng and suddenly remembered when Wang Xianwen once deceived him, using this hundred-year-old ginseng as an argument to make him interested.
Thinking about it now, he found it amusing.
If an ordinary hunter occasionally found such a rare medicinal herb, it would be like smoke rising from a grave, and this matter would have spread long ago. There’s no way it would have been his turn to find it.
But it’s not entirely his fault; a hundred-year-old ginseng is rarely seen throughout the Southern States, and he had never understood the real market for such ginseng, only knowing it’s precious, but not this precious.
As the bids became increasingly ridiculous, the merchant leader was beaming with smiles.
In fact, a hundred-year-old ginseng is also rare in the North, but one thousand silver is roughly the market cap price. Anything above is just excessive.
Song Changming didn’t have that kind of money, so he just watched the spectacle. Later, he spent nearly three hundred silver to buy three forty-year-old ginseng roots, each costing fifty-five silver.
And one sixty-year-old ginseng, which he got for one hundred thirty silver.
In the past, he mostly used twenty-year-old ginseng, and now that he had the chance, he couldn’t feel the effects of a hundred-year-old ginseng but could check the medicinal power of other high-aged ginseng as a reference.
Especially the sixty-year-old one, he wondered if it was worth the one hundred thirty silver.
Thus, today he spent nearly six hundred silver just on martial arts medicinal herbs.
In a short time, more than half of his savings were gone.
It must be said that the martial arts path is truly like most martial artists say, paved with money.
Without money, practicing martial arts usually ends up empty-handed.
With the ginseng in hand, he left the medicinal herb bidding area, and upon finding Lv Gang, he noticed that Lv Gang had acquired several items.
"Top-grade treasure silk from Hengyang Prefecture, my wife has been longing for it for a long time, today I’ll make her happy. And this, the famous Qinghe Jade from Taiching Prefecture, do you know how much silver this small piece costs..."
Lv Gang, upon seeing Song Changming, recounted his day’s haul like listing precious treasures, finally asking Song Changming what he had bought.
"Just martial arts medicinal herbs..." Song Changming briefly mentioned his purchases.
Aside from the medicinal herbs, he hadn’t bought anything else.
"Changming, there are many good things here, don’t just focus on buying herbs..." Lv Gang shook his head.
Song Changming glanced at the top-grade silk in Lv Gang’s hands and nodded, "Indeed, I could purchase some nice clothes for the elderly at home."
He still hadn’t married, so the only ones he thought about were his parents and his already married third sister.
"By the way, there are some martial arts secret records being sold over there. Do you think they’re genuine?" Song Changming pointed at a table not far away.
There were books displayed on it, each recording a set of martial arts, making Song Changming very interested.
Lv Gang saw it but was unimpressed, shaking his head with a light laugh, "Changming, those martial arts secret manuals of unknown origin are useless, especially those peddled on the market, most are fake.
Maybe the merchant selling them is more credible, but even so, these recorded books might contain errors.
If you follow them, practice wrongly, not only wasting time and effort but also injuring your body, it’s truly not worth it.
Moreover, even if these martial arts secret records are genuine and complete, without a master to guide you, it’s extremely challenging to practice them correctly.
Perhaps several years down the line, you won’t be able to truly master the skills. With this effort, it’s better to enroll in a martial arts hall and possibly pay more tuition, but it’s absolutely useful and reliable."
Song Changming, after listening, had clarity in his mind.
Simply put, these second-hand martial arts secret manuals aren’t genuine and can’t be trusted.
Practicing them has endless consequences, not just losing some money but possibly harming the body.
Song Changming thought about it and decided to let go of the idea, no longer considering the stack of martial arts secret manuals on the table.
At present, he didn’t lack martial arts to practice; there was no need to waste time and focus on these unreliable martial arts secret manuals.
After buying the items he wanted, Song Changming left the auction early.
In fact, he saw many treasures that tempted him at this auction.
However, the bidding was too high, like that hundred-year-old ginseng. His remaining silver was entirely insufficient, so in the end, he could only leave it.
Compared to the past, he has now firmly established himself in the county city, achieving a certain level of success and status.
That’s already quite good, at least Father Song and Song’s Mother are pleased with Song Changming’s accomplishments.
After becoming the patrol captain of the city district, his salary is enough to meet his basic body refinement martial arts needs.
If he encounters major tasks like the previous destruction of the Nine Bends Association, he might earn a substantial extra amount.
But that’s about the limit.
Considering the entire Donglai County City, as a patrol captain of a city district, he’s actually just a minor player.
Whether in terms of what’s seen and heard or available resources, everything is rather limited.
"Still, money and silver aren’t enough..."