Chapter 51: Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake Perfection, Second Medicinal Bath, Golden Muscle and Jade Veins! Manor Master Lu, Tendons Severed?
Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake Perfection, Second Medicinal Bath, Golden Muscle and Jade Veins! Manor Master Lu, Tendons Severed?
「Several days passed.」
Wind and Cloud Association, Medicine Hall.
Inside the Pill Room, which was provided for the association members to practice Alchemy.
Zheng Jun sat cross-legged by a small furnace, painstakingly refining Ninth-grade Pills like the Tiger and Leopard Pill again and again. His success rate hovered around forty to fifty percent, and he was so busy from morning to night that he didn’t even have a moment’s rest.
However, his face was filled with satisfaction and fervor.
"Eight years! It’s been eight years!"
’Thanks to Young Hall Master Ji’s care, the Pharmacist has finally given me a chance to prove myself.’
’I must prove my worth to him, and to the old man!’
’I’ll keep refining!’
Huangqi, Codonopsis, Leopard Bone Powder... Batch after batch, he tossed them in.
Zheng Jun’s eyes were dark-ringed, yet his spirit was electrified. He shouted slogans to himself, panting as he controlled the furnace’s heat without a single break.
A group of Medicine Boys assisting him watched with trembling hearts.
They had already rotated through three shifts, but this newly appointed Pharmacist Zheng still hadn’t taken a rest.
They used to envy Pill Masters, thinking their status was lofty, but now... they suddenly weren’t so envious anymore.
...
Meanwhile, in the back hall.
Inside the special Pill Room that Huang Xuan had set up to refine the cure for his own chronic illness.
The old man held a handful of peanuts, cracking them open as he sighed with emotion.
"Young Brother Ji really has a keen eye for talent."
"I’ve had Xiaozheng under my wing for eight years and never realized he had the constitution of a workhorse!"
"His talent for Alchemy is mediocre, I’ll admit."
"But it’s hard to believe how energetic the kid is!"
"Working furiously for sixteen hours a day... Tsk, tsk. Even back when I was trying to win favor with my master’s family, I never worked myself to death like that."
"He’s managed to handle all those damn Ninth Grade orders from outside by himself these past two days. It’s certainly made things a lot easier for me..."
BANG!
With the sound of a Pill Furnace popping open.
He watched as the day’s batch of Hundred Herbs Pills and Cold-Relieving Pills tumbled out, perfectly round, after the young man lifted the Pill Furnace’s lid...
Huang Xuan chuckled, reached out from his sleeve to grab one, and sniffed it before letting out a comfortable hum.
"Now this is the divine life of retirement..."
Large batches of Ninth-grade Pills were being refined day and night by the junior apprentice he had promoted.
The Cold-Relieving Pills and Hundred Herbs Pills, which used to take up so much of his time, were now a breeze for Ji Xiu. As Ji Xiu’s skills grew more and more practiced, he never failed a single batch. The complex procedures seemed trivial in his hands, and he could exceed the quota in less than a couple of hours.
As a result, the old man was cheerful every day. Whenever he had free time, he would sneak off to the opera troupes and storyteller stalls.
Of course, it couldn’t compare to the Peach Garden Industry in Jiangyin Prefecture—a place known as the "City of Abundance, the Water Hub of Great Xuan," with its sprawling trade networks and commercial ports.
But idly sipping tea and listening to the filthy gossip and bullshit of the 500-li Anning County was its own pleasure. If he was happy, he’d casually toss down a handful of copper coins. If he was annoyed, he’d curse them out and leave in a huff.
Wasn’t this much more relaxing than his previous life of painstakingly saving money, hoping to save enough to return to Jiangyin Prefecture and make another attempt at the Qi Dao Pill Master realm, all while being on edge day and night?
As long as no big Skin Refining orders came in, he could earn money just by lying around.
Life was good.
"Oh, right."
"Ji the kid, has the Wind and Cloud Association been clashing with that bunch from the Tiger and Leopard Hall recently?"
Putting away the Pills, Huang Xuan seemed to recall something. His eyes narrowed as he suddenly remembered a rumor he’d heard yesterday.
"You’d better be careful. From what I can see, our three leaders at the Wind and Cloud Association might not be able to handle them."
"Under the heavens of this Great Xuan, beyond the Prefectures and Counties, there are countless demon lairs, traces of the Outer Dao, sacrificial rituals, and hidden secrets!"
"And for someone to crawl out of the treacherous 500-li Mountain Dao outside the County... who knows what kind of ruthless characters they’ve allied with out there?"
"I heard about what you did the other day. You’d only just formed the rudiments of Golden Muscle and Jade Veins, and the moment you ran into trouble, you made a grand public display and stole the show."
"It must have felt great, but you’ve also planted the seeds of disaster."
"In the end, for someone who hasn’t even completed the Bone Marrow stage, if a figure who can circulate Qi and Blood and perform Bone Marrow Tempering comes along, even a true master of Golden Muscle and Jade Veins would be crushed."
"A First Refinement fighting a Second Refinement... the gap is just that huge. If you get targeted and someone decides to make a move on you, you won’t even know what killed you."
He shook his head.
"Before, I suspected you might have some reclusive expert backing you up, protecting you."
"But after you said what you said, I thought about it for a moment and realized it made sense."
"If you had some grand background, would you have taken that thankless job as a Groom? It doesn’t add up."
"This backwater Anning is only connected to Jiangyin by a few Water Routes. The five-hundred-li Mountain Dao outside is almost completely blocked off. It’s a poor, remote place. Besides me, who’d be bored enough to come crawling in here?"
"Most likely, you just got lucky and stumbled upon a fragmented volume of some Pile Skill somewhere. You figured out a few things on your own, but you have no real foundation or backing."
"I’ve been through a lot in my decades, and I’ve got plenty of experience in the Jianghu."
"So today, I’ll teach you a lesson: when things look bad, we run."
"You do as much work as you’re paid for in silver coins. It’s not a life-or-death bond, so why tie yourself to them until you die? Don’t think just because that old man Lu Chengfeng appreciates you, you have to..."
He spoke leisurely, not yet finished, while Ji Xiu just listened from the side.
He was thinking to himself that his current life was quite good—just practicing Alchemy, training his Pile Skill, and serving as the Medicine Hall Master, progressing in his Cultivation step by step.
All that Jianghu drama was fine to read about in books in his past life, but in reality, you only have one life to live!
’Unless I’m backed into a corner with no other choice, it’s best to avoid trouble whenever possible.’
As Pharmacist Huang said.
’The human body has the Nine Great Limits, which represent the Three Gates and Nine Realms!’
’Since I have the Primordial Daoist Talisman, if I can’t beat a Second Realm Bone Tempering expert after breaking through the first Great Limit, then when I break through the second Great Limit in the future, won’t crushing you be as easy as beating a dead dog?’
’A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years.’
’When I achieve Great Success in my Divine Skill, hmph hmph...’
’A gentleman takes his revenge from morning till night!’
At this thought, a fire lit up in Ji Xiu’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but rub his fingers together.
"Pharmacist... the Pills are refined, and it’s been several days since my last medicinal bath..."
Huang Xuan laughed heartily.
"Kid, you think I’d shortchange you?"
"The usual place. Follow me!"
Hearing this, Ji Xiu’s eyes instantly lit up.
...
[Soaring Serpent Cloud-Chasing Technique Advance Progress +1!]
[Soaring Serpent Cloud-Chasing Technique: (30/30)]
[Cultivate the Profound Turtle, become the Soaring Serpent, perform Blood Nourishing and Tendon Forging through Static and Dynamic Postures, achieve Refining Perfection, and comprehend ’Profound Blood Flood Dragon Tendons’...]
[Superior Pile Skill, ’Turtle and Snake Grand Foundation Stake,’ has been successfully cultivated!]
[Currently available Martial Arts/Skill Dao to advance: 1]
"Incredible!"
Amidst the dense, fragrant medicinal steam, the young man propped his arms on the edge of the wooden tub and let out a groan, his head tilted back.
’Old Huang’s medicinal baths are really something else. For the first ten minutes, my skin burned with a fiery pain. But later on, as the medicinal effects stimulated my flesh and major tendons, that tingling numbness of gradual quenching...’
’I can clearly feel my Flesh, Bone, Skin, and Membrane transforming bit by bit. The feeling is even stronger after practicing my Pile Skill!’
Unlike the first medicinal bath, where he had shed countless layers of dead skin and filth,
this time, the surface of Ji Xiu’s skin was smooth and flawless, covered in a jade-gold luster like the first light of dawn.
It was completely different from the faint layer he had before.
If he could cultivate the legendary ’Divine Soul Inner Illumination’ of the Immortal Outsider Dao,
he would be able to clearly perceive that the fascia connecting his flesh to his Spinal Dragon had completely transformed, now glowing with a faint luminescence!
’Perfection of Tendons and Ligaments... I should have reached it.’
’However...’
’I wonder if reaching this stage means I’ve fully cultivated the first Secret Treasure of the Nine Limits of the Body, the ’Golden Muscle and Jade Veins’?’
’It’s time to have Master Duan inspect my results. I’ve been holding back all these days, waiting for this very moment to shock everyone!’
’Hundred Days Foundation Establishment?’
’I’ll seize every moment!’
The young man laughed heartily, then dried himself off and put on his clothes.
However, when he stepped into the outer hall,
he saw Lu Hongyu, with her exquisite figure and enchanting, serpentine waist. It was a rare visit from her.
Not only that,
but the woman who was usually so graceful and confident...
this time, contrary to her usual self, her beautiful eyes were dim and her face was pale.
"Mr. Huang, this time, you’re the only one who can help..."
Her voice was laced with exhaustion.
Before her, Pharmacist Huang’s brows were tightly furrowed.
When he saw Ji Xiu push the door open with no Medicine Boy following behind him,
he pondered for a moment and, without trying to hide anything, spoke in a grave voice.
"You’re saying..."
"Manor Master Lu... had his bones and major tendons severed by ’Tomb Tiger’ Yang Daohan?"
"This... is not going to be easy..."