CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 29: UNEVEN

"What are the requirements to enter the Butcher Court?"

Passing by the Butcher Court, Chen Ku looked back several times. He was even more startled to see a living, breathing Fierce Tiger being led into the yard on a chain. He watched with envy, his heart stirring. Without a doubt, the Butcher Court is an ideal place for me, seemingly tailor-made for practicing the Transformation Diagram and accumulating Evil Qi. The prerequisite is that I need to be able to get in.

Curious, Wu Gui turned to Chen Ku and asked, "Do you want to enter the Butcher Court in the future?"

Inside Medicine King Hall, medicinal materials were processed and handled in the Three Great Courtyards. The Butcher Court used animals in medicine, the Hundred Herbs Courtyard used plants, and the Jinshi Academy used metals in medicine preparation. Among them, the Butcher Court was the most laborious. Its butchery and boiling processes required much more physical strength than those of the Hundred Herbs Courtyard. As for the Jinshi Academy, it was the most demanding in terms of a Pharmacist’s talent, already delving into the level of Alchemy Pill. Only those with extraordinary talent could enter.

Chen Ku, of course, would not reveal his thoughts, simply speaking without changing his expression, "Just asking out of curiosity."

It had to be said, the Butcher Court gave him an idea. Even if I can’t get into the Butcher Court right away, could I find a job as a pig butcher in the county town? Perhaps perfect the Skinny Dog Transformation to ’Transform’ Perfection first?

Wu Gui, unaware of Chen Ku’s thoughts and without suspicion, thought that Chen Ku was merely curious, having just passed by the Butcher Court. So, he explained in detail, "That’s simple. Once you’ve become an official ’Apprentice,’ you’ve met half the requirements. The other half depends on your preferences and the talent you show. Take the Butcher Court, for instance; you must at least have a talent for butchery—putting it simply, that means... having good Bladesmanship. Like Master Shang Yunfang, his Bladesmanship has reached an extraordinary Realm of virtuosity, allowing him to slice through an ox with ease, as if the knife moved on its own."

"Bladesmanship?" Chen Ku had seen it clearly just now: the skill with which the Bear Gall was extracted. The blade was far sharper than any surgical scalpel from his previous life, and the technique was exquisite to the finest detail. He whispered, "How formidable is Master Shang’s Martial Arts? Is he an Inner Qi expert?"

"More than just Inner Qi!" said Wu Gui. "He’s beyond that. But I don’t know exactly what realm that is because I haven’t become a full-fledged apprentice yet and have had no chance to learn those advanced Martial Arts. I only know about the three progressive stages: Strength Training, Force Transforming, and Inner Qi."

Beyond Inner Qi?! Chen Ku silently took note. To enter the Butcher Court, I need to become an official apprentice?

"So how does one become an official apprentice?" asked Chen Ku.

Wu Gui answered, "Either a master in the court takes a liking to you, or you improve in Martial Arts, achieving Perfection in Strength Training and possessing Thousand Jin Force. Naturally, you’ll be favored. Even if you go to help out in one of the Three Great Courtyards, having Thousand Jin Force is a significant advantage. Plus, there’s a ’monthly exam’ about every month or so where different masters come to pick people. You’ll find out then."

Is Thousand Jin Force enough? A thought flickered in Chen Ku’s mind. It seems I need to seize an opportunity to showcase my abilities.

Before long, they arrived at the Servants’ Room where the workers rested, and Wu Gui led him to Room 16. Entering, Chen Ku saw it was indeed a large dormitory room, about six or seven meters long and two meters wide, with four sets of bedding laid out on a heated brick bed.

"You’ll stay by the wall there. Everything has been prepared by Medicine King Hall," said Wu Gui, patting Chen Ku’s shoulder. "This is what the Servants’ Room is like. Get used to it. But if you have the chance to become an apprentice, you’ll have your own bed. Not just that, the food you’ll get as an apprentice will also be better than what we servants get."

This is simple but clean enough, Chen Ku thought, looking at the dormitory. Still, I miss my old school dorms—at least we had bunk beds there.

"Your roommates will probably get back from work for dinner in a while. As for daily Martial Arts practice, that happens early in the morning. The court assigns a master to provide guidance for one hour in the early morning on the Medicine King Hall’s basic Strength Training technique, the ’Spirit Ape Great Strength Skill.’ This is a Superior Martial Arts for the Strength Training phase. In the future, even if you leave Medicine King Hall, the Spirit Ape Great Strength Skill could help you become a good hunter in the mountains, providing you with plenty of strength!"

Having said that, Wu Gui continued, "There’s not much else to remind you of. I’ve got to get back to work in the front hall, so I’ll leave you to it."

Chen Ku amiably accepted, saying, "I’ll treat you to a drink in a couple of days." He now possessed more than one hundred taels of silver and several dozen taels of precious Herbal Medicine, making him relatively wealthy. A meal was nothing to fret over. It was more important to see if Wu Gui was someone worth engaging with further, as he could help Chen Ku understand many aspects of Medicine King Hall.

"Alright." Wu Gui laughed upon hearing this, and his impression of Chen Ku improved even more.

After seeing Wu Gui off, Chen Ku remained in the courtyard. He waited for the other three occupants of his room, all the while pondering his future plans for life at Medicine King Hall.

My Dog Nose’s ability to find Treasure Herb... I can’t let that go to waste, especially now that I’m in the county town. Medicine King Hall will have even more opportunities to deal with Treasure Herbs. This could help me learn the scents of many I’ve never encountered. Every Treasure Herb is useful even to an Inner Qi expert, let alone someone like me who is only at the Strength Training phase. That first Treasure Herb I found... I wasn’t qualified to use it myself; it just became capital for my advancement. But any Treasure Herb I find from now on, I must use for myself.

As Chen Ku was contemplating these matters, a large bell soon sounded from outside. Then, in just a few minutes, many people returned to the "dormitory" from various places.

Chen Ku watched as a man in his thirties with a small face and a big belly, his eyes somewhat narrow like beans, entered the room. Surprised to see someone, he paused before regaining composure and said with a smile, "You must be the new guy, Chen Ku. Your bedding was prepared half a month ago, and you’ve only arrived today."

"May I ask your name?" Chen Ku knew this must be one of the fellow servants living with him.

"No need to be so formal. Just call me Zhang Erniu," said Zhang Erniu, who looked to be about thirty and had a friendly attitude towards Chen Ku. Smiling, he added, "It’s just about mealtime. Let’s go get some food together, shall we? Want to try the Medicinal Meal from Medicine King Hall that’s rumored to be so amazing outside?"

Chen Ku asked, "Aren’t there two more brothers in this room?"

Zhang Erniu replied, "Oh, you mean Che Ping and Huang Wenbao. They’ve just gone to help out at a branch shop, collecting herbs and doing odd jobs. They’ve been gone for a few days but should be back in a couple more."

"Alright, then please lead the way, Big Brother Zhang."

Chen Ku was indeed interested in the Medicinal Meal of Medicine King Hall. Outside, he had heard that even the most common meals for servants were more effective than Muscle Enhancement Powder.

Shortly thereafter, the two arrived at the large dining hall situated behind Medicine King Hall. It was another vast courtyard. However, Chen Ku noticed that there were three long lines in the courtyard, and he smelled an incredibly fragrant aroma in the air, making him ask Zhang Erniu curiously, "Is that the Medicinal Meal? It smells so delicious?"

Zhang Erniu looked at him and shook his head with a laugh. "The scent you’re smelling is from the ’Apprentice Meal’..."

Chen Ku was slightly puzzled. "Apprentice Meal?"

Zhang Erniu gestured toward the three lines. "Apprentices are like half-disciples of Medicine King Hall. They line up in the middle during meals. Their standard for meals is two meat dishes and one vegetarian. We are just servants, lining up in the queue on the far right. Though our daily meals also vary, at most we get ’stewed dishes’ or ’medicinal congee.’ As for the Medicinal Meal, it’s only cooked once every seven days. They could afford to cook it daily, but they’re just worried we might not be able to digest it..."

Chen Ku looked at the line with the fewest people. "What about that queue?"

Zhang Erniu spoke in a low voice, "That’s the ’small kitchen’ meal—four dishes and one soup—for the masters. Attendants collect it in meal boxes to deliver personally to them."

Chen Ku fell silent for a moment and then joined Zhang Erniu in the queue. Before long, they reached the large pots where the food was served, and indeed, as Zhang Erniu had said, today’s meal for the servants was a ’stewed dish.’ It contained pork, cabbage, vermicelli, and radish, with not many slices of meat, just a bit of fat, along with two steamed buns.

In Dachen Village, such a meal standard could be considered "feast-level."

Chen Ku turned his head to look at the apprentices’ meal standard: two meat dishes and one vegetable. Today, the apprentices were eating ’bamboo shoot fried with pork,’ ’potato stewed with chicken chunks,’ and ’green beans with eggplant’...

And the meal boxes for the masters, being sent not far away, seemed to contain seven or eight extravagant dishes.

Three kinds of meals, three levels of quality. From the countryside to the county town... such is the disparity between people, he sighed internally.